stuff I like this week

I can't stop listening to this song! Bruno Mars sounds so fantastic. The rap sounds SO much like "96,000" from In the Heights, which I think is part of why I love it. There's even a lyric "I be in a whole new tax bracket/we in recession but let me take a crack it/I'll take everything left and split it up/So everyone I love could have a couple bucks", which reminds me not only of Benny's rap in "96,000" but how Usnavi talks about splitting it up for him, Abuela and Sonny. Anyway, "Billionaire" is a great summer song, I end up belting out the chorus every time I hear it.



Another song I can't stop listening to! I also love the video. I love the lead singer's voice. I actually got their entire album after hearing this song a few times, I liked it so much!



Zac's cover of "Oh Darling" is one of my favorite things ever. I got to see it again this week and I was extra reminded of why. This is my favorite version of it.

lots of stuff I love right now

There's always so many songs and stuff that I love at any given time so I decided to compile a bunch of it into a post. So, here are some songs and videos of songs and a few other things I love right now!

"The Story of Your Life", To Have Heroes - To Have Heroes is Andy Skib's "solo" project, away from MWK and playing in David Cook's band. I love Andy's voice and I love the way it's complimented by the acoustic nature of his EP. This song is just gorgeous, lyrically and instrumentally and as a writer, I find myself really relating to the idea of it. I love the way the words in the verses are quick and then the choruses and bridge slow back down. Extra perk of this song, and what kind of explains that varying structure for me, is that it was written by Jason Mraz and Isaac Hanson at Fool's Banquet!



"The Weight of Her", Butch Walker - I love this song so much! It reminds me of Tom Petty. Also, the awesome spoken bridge: "What am I supposed to talk about with you anyway? I graduated the year you were born. I don't wanna have to drive around listening to your burned CDs through your shitty car speakers of every band you think you discovered. It's just gonna make me feel insecure!"



"Shady Esperanto and the Young Hearts", Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers - I can't stop listening to this song! It's so freaking catchy and this video is hilarious, if just because it's like, the SK6ers in a legit video and they're so awkward and goofy as usual plus a marching band.



"Perfectly Lonely", John Mayer - God, I love this song. The guitar on it is so addicting and his voice and the lyrics and I love John Mayer. Watch him bounce! Also, I love that in this video, he basically admits that it is not a very long-lasting feeling! That's all I wanted, JM.



"Texas Rain", Sleeperstar - These guys are so wonderful. This video is from the show I saw them and I was standing basically right where this view point is. I love Chris' voice and he is also rather cute. I also love that this video does a good job of showing Shaun, because I loved watching him drum.



"Song Burning in Hell", Steel Train - So much of why I love Steel Train is present in this video. From Jack being adorable and his big red guitar to the pounding drums to the random high-pitched harmonies to the percussion jam in the middle to the crowd participation moments to Evan and his fro to everything about them. I saw them play this song twice and it's so much fun live and makes me want their new album right now!



"River", Isaac Hanson - This video kind of sums up why I love Isaac. Taylor had the flu for almost a whole week of this fall's tour, the first show being in Boston, so Ike and Zac stepped up a little extra. Isaac busted out "River" from 3 Car Garage for his solo there. I just love how surprised he is when the crowd sings back to him, his goofy face when he wants it later, how much he can still sell a song he wrote when he was 15, how kickass his voice is sometimes and just how awesome he is in general.



I could probably do this weekly and I just might!

Band of Brothers: Jonas Brothers and NeedToBreathe

Jonas Brothers
Brothers: Kevin Jonas (guitar), Joe Jonas (lead vocals), Nick Jonas (lead vocals, guitar, piano, drums)
Other Members: None

Ohh, Jonas. What can I say about these three? Mostly, I love them. And they have some really great songs that get overlooked because of who they are and how popular they are and their fanbase. I love me some catchy pop and that's not even all they offer. "A Little Bit Longer" anyone?

While I love Kevin and Joe, I am always quick to admit that Nick is the talent. Not to say that the older two aren't good at what they do. Joe is an amazing and energetic frontman and Kevin has so much heart, but so much lies in Nick. He plays three instruments, he writes a lot of their songs (though sometimes with his brothers, also sometimes alone) and he sings about half of the leads. Their group started because of Nick, who was signed as a solo act and then ultimately, the idea of the group of three brothers came along. I'm curious what is going to happen with these three as their fame starts to dwindle, as it inevitably will. I really, honestly hope they end up like Hanson, still making music and having a close following even when they aren't so much in the limelight because I do think they have a lot more talent than people give them credit for.

I still adore this song:


NeedToBreathe
Brothers: Bear Rinehart (lead vocals, guitar), Bo Rinehart (guitar)
Other Members: Seth Bolt (bass), Joe Stillwell (drums)

I'm still pretty new to NeedToBreathe but it's safe to say that they'll be sticking around on my list of favorites. Their music is more faith-based than any other I listen to, based mainly on Bear and Bo's father being a preacher and their upbringing. What I love about them is that while they do have those songs that are very obviously about their faith and they're clearly very in tune with each other through that, it doesn't define them or their music. Some of my favorite songs of theirs are those, especially since Bear tends to sound just a little bit more awesome (see below) but their regular old rock tunes are flat out amazing as well, and catchy to boot. I mean, "Girl Named Tennesse"? Love it.

Bear has such a soulful rock voice and Bo's is so smooth and they blend together so ridiculously well, in that way that only brother's voices can. Listen to these two:

Band of Brothers: Kings of Leon

Kings of Leon
Brothers: Nathan Followill (drums), Caleb Followill (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Jared Followill (bass)
Other Members: Matthew Followill - cousin (lead guitar)

One of the first things I read about Kings of Leon, after hearing Only by the Night, was that they exist because Caleb wanted to be a singer. Nathan, who was set to go to college, decided to not go to school and instead help his younger brother out getting a music career going. They eventually decided that a band would be best and bought a bass for 14-year-old Jared and told him to learn how to play it. The band was born.

These are four guys that want this. The fact that they went from guys who weren't even an official band to having the success that they currently do in just a matter of years says a lot about their drive and their talent. They don't just get by, they are amazing. They create music that I love to pick apart because each element is just that good. I love pounding out Nathan's beats, singing along to Jared's bass lines, wiggling my fingers to Matthew's solos. And Caleb's voice, Caleb's words, are just haunting and amazing and incredible in every way. This band creates a whole that completely exceeds the sum of its parts, yet those parts are so huge on their own.

Listening to their albums is an experience as well, as you can pretty much hear them get better and better and their style grow and develop. Youth and Young Manhood almost sounds like a different band from the one on Only by the Night. But if you listen to the two in the middle, the sound is so clearly progessive. You start to hear elements of Aha Shake Heartbreak in songs on Y&YM. There are songs on Because of the Times that would fit in on Aha Shake as well as they would on Only by the Night. They've said themselves how fun it is to play songs from the earlier albums now that they've improved as musicians because those songs sound like they always wanted them to. Yet, some of those early songs, like "Trani", were pretty kickass even back then.

The media loves to jump on these guys, saying that they're fighting backstage, they aren't getting along, they're breaking up. This is a band who have already done the cliche rock star thing. They did the sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll route, they're already on their way back from that. They're brothers. They're family. They're going to fight. But watch any interview with these guys and you see how much they want this. You see how much they support each other. They've all sacrificed to make this happen. They've reached something so huge because they've just been plugging away. They don't always get along. Caleb gets a lot of the glory because he's the only lead singer and that's just the way it works. Nathan steps up a lot, maybe because he's the oldest and has kept it all together for so long or maybe because he just likes to put himself out there. They seem paired off some of the time, Nathan and Caleb are more the leaders, Jared and Matt hang in the back a little more. But when all's said and done, they're four boys from Tennessee who make some awesome music and put on great live shows. I really don't doubt they're going to be doing that for a long time to come.

This makes me laugh:

Band of Brothers: Hanson

Hanson
Brothers: Isaac Hanson (guitar, lead vocals), Taylor Hanson (piano, lead vocals), Zac Hanson (drums, lead vocals)
Other Members: None

One of the things that fascinates most about Hanson is how young they were when they started. Isaac was 11, Taylor was 9 and Zac was 6. So essentially, being a band together has been their life. They started out just singing and added instruments by the time they recorded their first major label album. Listening to that album now, as someone who was a fan of it at the time and became a bigger fan of the band years later, is mind-blowing to me. They were so young, yet it is so good. Only Isaac sounds exactly the same then as he does now, Taylor is a slightly higher (and purer) voiced version of his current self and Zac sounds like an 11 year old who can sing and barely sounds at all like he sounds today.

The thing about these three is that they made it work. It's something that, given their age, was likely started for them, yet they have embraced it since those early days. Any time they are posed with a question about their early start or what they'd rather do or what they'll be doing ten years from now, it always goes back to how much they love creating and sharing music. Like the Bee Gees, it hasn't been easy for them. Their first hit is a song that has stuck them with an image that even now, they can't shake though it's starting to finally be driven home that they are so much more than that one song. The struggle they had with their label led to them owning and running their own independent label. They basically do it all themselves.

I think Hanson is also a great example of how individuals can be different, yet compliment each other so well. They truly balance each other out. Their voices, while quite different from each other, blend so well that it's sometimes hard to pick the harmony apart, even when you know who's likely singing what. Isaac is always the lowest, with his rockier, bluesy tone. Taylor tends to sing the middle, his harmony voice blending with his brothers way more than his unique and soulful lead singing voice might have you believe. Zac, with the crystal clear falsetto, usually tops the harmony. Their voices together are truly gorgeous. The lead singing has gone from mostly Taylor to a pretty fair share of Zac as well, with some (not enough!) Isaac thrown in too. They've all gotten more versatile instrumentally, with Zac sometimes playing piano on songs where he did the primary songwriting or sings lead, Taylor covering drums or adding an additional guitar, Isaac playing some bass and Zac has started to incorporate more variety in his percussion instruments for acoustic sets. Their range of styles has been apparent since Middle of Nowhere ("Look at You" vs. "With You in Your Dreams" anyone?) and I love that that has continued to be such a signature part of their albums. They even balance each other personality-wise, a dymanic that is clear in their documentaries and podcasts. Isaac, the oldest, wears his heart on his sleeve, tends to be most pessimistic in the studio, but shares his excitement just as easily. Taylor is the peacemaker, the one who keeps things moving, the most optimistic. Zac is the youngest, still somewhat the goofiest but also the one who sees things the most as they are and just wants to get it done. At the end of Strong Enough to Break, the three are sitting in a hotel lobby and Isaac says, "I just realized something." He points to himself. "Pessimist." Points to Taylor, "optimist". Points to Zac and he and Taylor both say "realist." It's such an interesting and necessary dynamic that makes watching them work almost as entertaining as listening to the product of that work. Of all the brother bands, they are the ones who will likely be doing this for the rest of their lives, with the least amount of baggage or drama within them. They love it and I love them for it.

I also love this:

Band of Brothers: The Bee Gees

The Bee Gees
Brothers: Barry Gibb (lead vocals, guitar), Robin Gibb (lead vocals), Maurice Gibb (guitar, piano)
Other Members: None

The Bee Gees are the first group I found on my own, which is funny in and of itself, considering it was 1997 and they'd already been performing professionally for over 30 years. They were kids when they started singing around Australia and Robin and Maurice were still teenagers when their first single hit big.

These guys went through a lot together. Their early footage is fun to watch, if only because it's an adult-sized Barry and a kid-sized Robin and Maurice (aka the twins who couldn't look less like twins). After their first round of fame in the late 60s, they kind of self-destructed. Robin quit the band and went solo, Barry and Maurice tried to carry on without him and they all got married, got addictions and fought with each other via the press. But, they got it all sorted out and then 1975 happened and with it came the Bee Gees most people know today. They didn't invent disco, but they were such a signature sound of that era that they may as well have. In 1978, five of the Top 10 songs were written by the Gibbs. They got so famous that it blew up in their faces and the hype turned into intense backlash and yet they stuck through. When it was obvious that people no longer wanted the Bee Gees (I think they might have figured that out from the Bee Gee Free Weekends on radio stations and the mass burning of disco records), they started writing for other artists like Barbra Streisand and Dionne Warwick. They never stopped working. They never stopped going with the flow and incorporating contemporary sounds with their signature style. They always sound like the Bee Gees but you can always tell what decade they're in. I personally love their 80s and 90s albums and the range of styles they explore. I love that they refused to give up, even when they could have just said "well, guess our time is up". Their success in the late 90s was so much fun for me, as a new fan, to watch and be a part of. I can't imagine my mid-teen's without Still Waters and "Alone" and so many of their songs.

Their dynamic was always interesting as well. Barry, the oldest, is the leader, the one who talks the most and is the most passionate when discussing their career. Robin is the quirky, quiet one. Maurice is the down-to-earth, funny, snarky one. They're more based on vocal harmony than any other group here, in the sense that only Barry and Maurice played instruments live and even then, the majority of the sound came from a backing band. Their voices are distinct. Very few people sound like Barry, no one that I know of sounds like Robin and Maurice, who rarely sang lead, balanced those two unique voices out perfectly. They create absolutely amazing harmonies. Their work as producers and the sound they created for themselves is incredible. They write awesome songs. And they always, always share the credits. Pretty much every single Bee Gees song is credited to all three brothers. It's always clear in interviews that they loved their crazy delinquent childhood, that they enjoy having spent their lives working together and that while they don't always get along, they appreciate each other as people and musicians.

Like the Beach Boys, the Bee Gees have a sad ending too. Maurice died about six years ago and that pretty much ended everything, and understandably. While the Beach Boys could continue to function eventually, I can't imagine the Bee Gees as they were without Maurice. It makes me sad to think what else they could have gone on do but I respect that they haven't forced it and that if eventually Barry and Robin do work together, it will be because they are ready to and want to. A good thing is gone though, and I miss it.

This video blows my mind. They're SO famous here, their little brother Andy is in the height of his own career and they're all just on stage, being ridiculously famous together. So awesome:

Band of Brothers: The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys
Brothers: Brian Wilson (lead vocals, piano), Dennis Wilson (lead vocals, drums), Carl Wilson (lead vocals, guitar)
Other Members: Mike Love - cousin (lead vocals), Al Jardine - friend (rhythm guitar), Bruce Johnston - friend (piano, guitar)

Sometimes talking about the Beach Boys now depresses me because of how it all turned out in the end. The two I like the best and who's talents were vastly underrated simply because Brian exists, are dead. Dennis died before I was even born, so it's always felt a little bizarre that he's my favorite. Brian was the genius, and then he became the tortured genius. Dennis was the rebel middle child, the wild spirit. Carl was the baby, the gentle one with the angelic voice. It wasn't until Brian started declining that Carl and Dennis really started to shine and in my opinion, it was Carl that held it all together after Dennis died. Once Carl died, it all kind of fell apart. Brian, who really didn't perform as a Beach Boy much at all even when his brothers were still around, started performing on his own. Mike and Bruce started performing as The Beach Boys with a myriad of other people and Al was left to just do whatever. It's always strange to speak of them so darkly, but that's how it is. Their early music is sunny and happy, their history, not so much.

That said, the brothers really are the root of this group for me. Mike did sing lead quite often and essentially took on the "leader" role but he probably had the least talent of them all. Al had a few tunes to sing lead on but for the most part, was the sidekick friend. Bruce was similar and was essentially brought in as a replacement for Brian. My favorite Beach Boys album is 1970's Sunflower which features a lot of songwriting from Dennis and proves his strength in that area. Carl has one of my favorite voices in music and I especially love when he's singing a song that Dennis wrote (such as "Only With You", one of my alltime favorite songs in the universe and "It's About Time", the most kickass Beach Boys song you will ever hear). It's because of my love of their contributions that I tend to love that music more than the early 60s music that most people know the Beach Boys for, though of course, I love and appreciate that as well. I'm a sucker for harmony and they really had some amazing vocal arrangements throughout their career (see below). The three brothers are extremely different, though, and played very different roles in the group and saw both of those things affect their lives in very different ways. Brian, the crazed musical genius and the one largely behind the signature sound of the group, was in and out of the live group for years and a perfectionist in the studio. He performed only when he was stable enough to, yet he's been performing the music pretty consistently in recent years. Dennis, the wild drummer, was a drug addict and alcoholic, had Charles Manson living in his house for a time and recorded a brilliant solo album before his accidental death in 1983. Carl performed with the group until his death from cancer in the late 90s and to me, was the real heart and soul of the Beach Boys in their later years.

The thing about the Beach Boys is that while so much of the group is based on the Wilsons, the fact that they are brothers kind of stays in the back of my mind, even though their early family life and the way their father treated them played a large part in the dynamic among them. I think part of it is because they were from a different era, they aren't a group that I can watch interact with each other all that much. Still, a large part of what fascinates me about bands of brothers is that there is that much talent among them and that they are able to turn that talent into amazing music and that plays a large part in why I love the Beach Boys so much.

And of course, there's the harmony. Please love this: