Bob Dylan's "Gotta Serve Sombody"

Somehow I always come back to the blues... This song is as plain as a soul/blues song can be, but there's something about how Bob Dylan sings it that really impresses me.

Chris Thile

I can't believe I didn't blog about this guy yet! And you might not believe that I am blogging about a Mandolin player, but yes, I am.

The first time I heard about this guy was on CKUA when I heard the song "If the sea was whiskey" off of his "How to grow a woman..." album. The harmonies and dynamics really impressed me so I looked him up and found I greatly enjoyed the whole album. Some people call the genre "Newgrass" and I'd agree. Bluegrass plus something that makes it relevant today - I haven't yet figured out what exactly that thing is. My favourite tracks are the title track, If the Sea... and Dead Leaves & The Dirty Ground (White Stripes cover).


I never bothered looking up any of his other albums for a few months. But recently I started listening to the disc again and realized I really needed to look into his other stuff. So I downloaded "Not all who wander..." and "Deceiver". I haven't really touched Deceiver yet, but "Not all who wander.." is simply amazing. The layering of melodies is very intriguing. He wrote all the songs on the album, and I haven't found a single one I don't like. My favourites are "Club G.R.O.S.S." (funny reference to Calvin and Hobbes) and "Big Sam Thompson". Club G.R.O.S.S. is such a groovy jazz piece. And thinking he wrote that whole album when he was 20 just makes you shake your head.

I hope this guy doesn't let the fame get to him and stays away from the booze and drugs! :) I anticipate many good albums to come.

AllMusic Profile

Albums at Amazon.ca (including samples)
How to grow a woman from the ground
Not all who wander are lost (read the reviews!)

Here's an amazing cover of Fiona Apple's Fast As You Can. The recording is pretty bad though - you'd have to know it to appreciate it:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=pBfr3mkiCjM

Imogen Heap - Hide and Seek

I've been using seeqpod.com a lot at work to listen to music - I message back and forth with a guy that started a week after me and say - hey, check this out, and hey that song you recommended really sucks. Yeah - unfortunately we have quite incompatible tastes. Today he sent me a link to a David Bowie song, and again I asked myself why Bowie is famous.

Anyway - all the seeqpoding occasionally turns up a few good songs. And today the one I was really impressed by was by Frou Frou singer Imogen Heap. Supposedly this song was, like, on the O.C., like, OMG... it's so awesome!!!111 But since I'm still TV less and also O.C.-DVDless, I didn't have the foggiest.

If this embedding thing works as I hope you'll be able to listen to the song right here and now. Left mouse button down the playing button.

I also came across this interview with Imogen - I always love hearing about songwriter's lives and songwriting process.