The Music Note

I watched Josh Rouse's online Stageit concert  last night.  I had never watched a show through Stageit prior to this, but it was a fun experience.  The sound quality was great - really clear with very little distortion, and there was a live chat window, where fans could communicate with each other, as well as request songs for Josh to play. Josh opened the set with two new tracks - A Lot Like Magic and Simple Pleasure . I liked these songs, both had catchy, upbeat melodies, which I found myself tapping my foot and swaying along to.  For the remainder of the show, Josh played a variety of tracks from previous albums, in addition to taking requests.  I noticed that lots of people were requesting songs from Nashville , with some people even suggesting he should do a show where he plays  Nashville in it's entirety (not only is Nashville  my favourite, I like the idea of dedicating a show to a an entire album in general, especially for an artist ...

More Than This  was the first single to be released from Roxy Music's final studio album, Avalon , in 1982.  Not only is it one of my favourite Roxy tracks, I also think it's the song which best represents the band's transition into the smooth and more polished sound which was so present in their later work.  Bryan Ferry's vocals blend effortlessly through verse and chorus, with lines which contribute to the atmospheric feel of the track - "Like a dream in the night / Who can say where we're going...Why the sea on the tide / Has no way of turning".  Just as impressive is the instrumental outro, which, led by lush synths and layers of guitar, more than makes up for the absence of vocals in the final few minutes of the song.

Photoshop Handsome was the third single released from Everything Everything's addictive 2010 debut, Man Alive.   Falsetto vocals deliver random lyrics which are, at times incoherent and for the most part, don't make a whole lot of sense. However, this really doesn't matter as the music is so amazingly energetic and fast paced, there isn't much time to ponder over lyric meanings.  This, along with enthusiastic instrumentation, creates a track that is unique, adventurous and overall, a joy to listen to. "I will gain an extra life..."

Today, I was excited to hear that Josh Rouse is teaming up with S tageit , to play an online concert on Sunday May 20.  The show is taking place in Valencia, and according to Rouse's website , he will be playing at least one new song, as well as older material.  He will also be taking live requests, which is very cool. The concert is the first in a possible series, called Late Night Conversations . I think this is such a great idea.  I'm looking forward to hearing new material as well as songs from previous albums.  It will be interesting to see which tracks get played as a result of the live requests too! Tickets are available here , and are being sold on a 'pay what you can' basis.

Hearing the new Passion Pit single yesterday, got me in the mood for listening to their debut Manners  on the way into work this morning.   To Kingdom Come is my favourite track on the album.  I love this song.  I could have it playing on a loop, countless times and I wouldn't tire of it.  It's blissfully melodic, with sweeping synths throughout.

Passion Pit's new single Take A Walk, the first release   from their upcoming album Gossamer,  is now streaming on the band's website.  I've had a few listens so far, and feel the track is a definite grower.  The song is upbeat and anthem-like, with marching choruses.  The band's signature synth hooks, which featured so heavily on their 2009 debut, Manners, are also present here. Gossamer  is released on July 23.

Josh Rouse is a singer-songwriter who I feel is truly underrated.  I first discovered Rouse's music in 2006, when a friend sent me three albums of his - 1972, Nashville and Subtitulo.   Admittedly, it took me some time to appreciate how good his music is, but after gradually downloading his back catalogue (he has just released his ninth studio album), I realised how much I had grown to love his work.  His songs have a timeless, classic feel, with beautifully crafted lyrics.  I now consider Rouse to be one of my favourite, and most played musicians in my music collection. What I admire most about Rouse, and what I feel sets him apart from the average singer-songwriter, is the way in which he experiments so freely with different genres in his music.  Each of his studio albums touch upon varying themes and concepts, meaning that no two of his albums could ever be accused of sounding the same.  This creates an interesting and exciting listening experien...