New Music!

First thoughts on Josh Ritter:

Reminds me of:
Billy Joel
The Beatles
Bob Dylan
Jason Mraz, but more mature
John Mayer
Rolling Stones
Motown
Radiohead
Bob Seger

That was on a first listen through the album. Not only that, but I was hearing things I don't really have the musical vocabulary to express. Most of what I was hearing is less than current, you'll notice, but the combination of these influences makes Josh's music unique and fresh. I highly recommend The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter.



First thoughts on Carrie Underwood:

I love Ashley Monroe, and I love her delicate little voice, but take an Ashley tune like "Flat on the Floor," and add Carrie's powerhouse vocals and you have pop-country perfection.

The rest of the album follows suit. I loved Some Hearts but Carnival Ride is, in my opinion, exponentially better. From the first listen, I just believe that this album is more Carrie, and less management and producers trying to create a strong first album. I'm not knocking that because obviously it worked, but this seems more authentic.

And as long as I've recently brought up the subject of covering songs and how I'm not usually a fan, she lent me another surprise with an impressive take on Randy Travis's "I Told You So," with Vince Gill on background vocals.

Carnival Ride is highly recommended as well.

(embedding is disabled, so this is the new single, All-American girl.)