So I’m a little late with the post this week, got caught up in a whirlwind of financial accounting work, doesn’t that just sound exciting! Anyways amidst the craziness of this week I still found time to enjoy the warm comfort of music, as I always do and, this week I found myself listening to quite a bit of MoZella. I have had her latest album for a couple of weeks but this is the first time I really took time to focus on the music. The album is really well produced with lots of catchy stuff happening in the background, while managing to never become distracting from MoZella’s lyrics. I recommend this album with a warning though, after one listen you will find yourself singing the lyrics  in your head, as they are intoxicating.

Highlights

1. Luvsik
2. Manhattan
3. Magic (Oh Oh Oh)

Such a simple idea but so resonant, especially those last three lines. I don’t care who you are, at some point you have been in such a situation, and it is a very cliche thing to write about, yet for some reason this song in particular doesn’t feel so cliche. Nice to see that there are still some people out there who can write old ideas in different and interesting ways. Well done MoZella, well done.

This weeks album choice was really a no brainer for me. I have had jacksoul’s last album for a while now and enjoyed listening to it every now and then, but this week it really took off for me.One of my school assignments this week required me to pick 5 tracks from an album and more or less pick them apart. I had to note all of the instruments, how the mix was constructed, how each song was built, just general information like that. My teacher warned us to not pick an album that we are overly fond of as sometimes picking things apart like this can really ruin the music, however, with jacksoul I found quite the opposite happening.

Since I had never really listened closely to the CD before I was missing a lot of the little things that really make it so great. The subtle synth lines in the background, the use of different instruments to drive tracks forward, and the great lyrics.

One of the most amazing parts of the album is the story that surrounds it. While first working on the very beginnings of the CD the groups lead singer, Haydain Neale, was involved in an accident that put him in the hospital fighting for his life for a fair amount of time. Despite the accident,  Neale did not give up on the album and continued to slowly create new material. If the accident wasn’t enough, Neale was then diagnosed with lung cancer, which would eventual claim his life on November 22, 2009. Again faced with hardships, Haydain continued to push through and finished his last album.

I’ll leave you with a quote from his wife, Michaela,

“Through all these challenges, Haydain’s sense of humour and love of music were ever-present. He constantly brightened the room with his singing and his smile. His joyful presence and beautiful voice will be missed by us all.”

R.I.P. Haydain Neale (September 3, 1970 – November 22, 2009)

iTunes

Lets start with a few stats. My iTunes library currently is home to some 4373 songs that would last 12 days played end to end. While this is a significant amount of music, I would not consider this collection anywhere near complete, there are are some stark absentees that I just haven’t gotten around to adding yet.

Now I love being able to just flip through and listen to whatever I’m in the mood for, or just throwing on shuffle and seeing what comes up. You should note that shuffling my library can result in anything from Cool Jazz to Metal to Country, musical whiplash often occurs. The problem that comes around is sometimes I will add something and then lose it in the vast list of songs. It’s not always a sign that the CD is bad either, just me having the memory of a goldfish.

Today for example, while scrolling into the J’s to find a John Mayer CD, the name Joss Stone caught my eye and I realized that I had only listened to her latest album “Colour Me Free!” once. I had completely forgotten that the CD existed even though the quality of music is superb. Sure it is nice to rediscover artists every once in a while, but as I scroll through my library I am finding more and more things I have forgotten about.

All of this has lead me to wonder how I might better organize my iTunes library to prevent me from losing these gems. I try and use the “Recently Added” playlist more often now, but I’m sure some of you out there have some more suggestions, so lay it on me!

So I have to admit, this is a pretty old album and one that I hadn’t listened to in quite some time. I’m not entire sure what prompted me to put it back on, but boy am I glad I did. Adele has such a great voice and the vibe of the whole CD is just so awesome. If you haven’t listened to 19 before you are missing out.

Highlight tracks:

1. Chasing Pavements
2. Hometown Glory
3. Best for Last

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So every year I compile a list of my favourite albums that were released over the previous 12 months. As with every other year narrowing down the choices was not easy. I have to say that 2009 was a pretty good year for music. Several new albums from big artists like John Mayer and Alicia Keys were released along with some solid entries from lesser known groups.

10. 30 Seconds To Mars – This Is War

I have to admit I heard about 30 Seconds To Mars quite some time ago but never really got into their music. In passing I heard one of the songs on the internet and had to find out what I was listening to. The song turned out to be Kings and Queens which would be a single off their upcoming album and one of my new favourite songs.

9. Owl City – Ocean Eyes

Almost everybody and their grandmother has now heard of the new sensation that is known as Owl City. Every tuesday I check the iTunes Store to see what new albums have been released and one week noticed a CD cover that featured one of my favourite architectural buildings.The album, Ocean Eyes, was only a week old at the time and from a group I had never heard of, but after listening to about 20 seconds I knew I needed the CD.

8. Lights – The Listening

Lights is a young and upcoming artist from the GTA with a lot to offer to the world of music. The albums is filled with well written songs that are packed with good lyrics and catchy hooks. The backing synthpop music will most definitely get stuck in your head after a listen but it never seems to feel like a bad thing.

7. Paramore – Brand New Eyes

Who said that girls can’t rock? Whoever they were, they were simply wrong. Brand New Eyes features plenty of great songs that I think could be released as singles and succeeded on their own. What I think is really great about the album is the variety. The album moves between more energetic songs and laid back tunes which, when listening to the album end-to-end, creates the feeling that the music is rolling along like a wave.

6. Passion Pit – Manners

Most would call this an “unconventional” album. The vocals aren’t particularly strong or beautiful by any means, but the music behind them is just so damn catchy. The electronic rifts just grab the attention and force you to keep listening. As with any album some of the tracks stand out more than others but almost every track has some little melody that will make you want to listen to the entire song.

5. Jets Overhead – No Nations

My first introduction to this group was when their song “Heading for Nowhere” was featured as the iTunes Single of the Week. After this I heard a few more songs but didn’t really get into the group until more recently. Jets Overhead was touring around with Lights and so attending that concert was a no brainer. Let me just say, this group is phenomenal live. I also found out a friend of mine personally knew the group and I got to meet them backstage following the concert and what a great bunch of people they are.

4. Norah Jones – The Fall

When I heard that Norah Jones’ new album would stray away from her traditional sound I was a little worried, but I have to say the result is superb. The jazz roots are still very much present but the overall sound has more edge and is very unique. If have heard some of her older material and didn’t like the laid back feel, don’t allow that to prevent you from listening to The Fall.

3. Metric – Fantasies

I have to say, what a great year for Canadian music, four artists managed to make my top 10 list and man more were added to my music library over the course of the year. Metric has been around the Canadian Indie scene for a while but this was my first indulgence into one of the bands works. This CD was really the catalyst that drove me further into the both the Canadian indie scene and electronic music. While I wouldn’t categorize this album as electronic it blends in elements from that genre to create a catchy sound.

2. John Mayer – Battle Studies

Now I have to admit that this choice comes with a fairly large bias. John Mayer is one of my favourite artists of all time so it was almost a guarantee that I would love anything he put out. What I love about Mayer is that he is not afraid to reinvent himself. Every album he has released is an evolution of his previous material but at the core of it all his songwriting talents always shine through.

1. Dave Matthews Band – Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King

It’s really hard to go wrong with Dave Matthews Band. The group has been putting out awesome music for years and 2009 was no different. Big Whiskey opens with a laid back instrumental piece that made me think I would be listening to a slower paced album. Let me tell you that is not the case. The very next track explodes into a fury of energy that drives the rest of the album forward.

Highlight Tracks:

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James Morrison’s sophomore album, Songs for You, Truths for Me, closely follows in the footsteps of his debut release, but dials back the prominence of the acoustic guitar. Morrison’s voice still drips with soul and mirrors the vocal timbre of a performer twice his age, ravaged after spending years drinking and smoking. Through the combination of strong songwriting skills, and masterful production Songs for You, Truths for Me takes the listener on a trip through the artist’s diary filled with both love and heartache.

The album starts off with jazzy blues tune, “The Only Night,” which speaks of stealing a night away with a loved one. The horn blasts that usher in the start of the tune instantly grab the ears’ attention and set the tone for what is to come. The preceding tracks continue to follow the rise and fall of this relationship with the culmination of the story in “Broken Strings.” The second song, “Save Yourself,” opens with a simple acoustic guitar line but quickly builds into a swirling arrangement of strings, horns, and saxophones. Amid the wave of sound, short melodic hooks constantly pop out of the mix, grab your attention, and remind you that this is no simple pop chart. The height of this relationship can be found in “You Make It Real,” a simple love song, while in “Please Don’t Stop The Rain” we see the lovers’ affair take a turn for the worse. This drum driven chart shows off Morrison’s dark vocal quality as he dips into his lower register and growls some of the lyrics.

The end of the album’s romance is realized in the song “Broken Strings,” a heartbreaking duet performed with Nelly Furtado. Its dramatic shifts in volume — from loud crescendos to hushed moments of relief — mirror the struggle between the couple as their relationship comes to a close. The song opens with Morrison singing solo, backed only by a synthesizer, until a second verse when the bass and drums kick in. From here, “Broken Strings” continues to build through the addition of new instruments until Nelly Furtado makes her entrance at the end of the chorus. At this point most of the instrumentation is cut back leaving only Furtado’s voice at the front of the mix and a drum kit with a large amount of reverberation at the back. The cycle then starts over and the song continues to rise and fall until the plaintive ending, “Let me hold you for the last time, It’s the last chance to feel again.”

Following “Broken Strings” the album moves away from telling one flowing story and breaks off into other themes. “Nothing Ever Hurt Like You” harkens back to the classic sounds of Motown and carries a solid groove reminiscent of James Brown’s soulful style. An active bass line and a vamping electric piano progression carry the main pulse of the song while a horn section adds to the vibe by playing gradual crescendos, helping to create a fluid sense of build and release.

Straying from the albums earlier groove-like sound, “Once When I Was Little” opens with an electric piano and a lightly strummed acoustic guitar. The stripped backed motif coincides well with the lyrical content, which describes the simplicity of life in times not so long ago. Although the song builds into more complex sections, featuring additional instruments and layers of Morrison’s vocals recorded at various distances, it always returns to the simple musical theme that opened the track.

Arguably my favourite track on the album, “If You Don’t Wanna Love Me,” opens with a laid back guitar line that is rich with textural colour. The sound of the guitar attempts to mimic Morrison’s voice through the use of a clear tone, with just a touch of distortion that creates a raw, bluesy timbre. There is also a great deal of reverberation present in the guitar’s tone that creates a wet, dripping-like echo as the strings are hammered and muted. As the song continues to build we are introduced to limited bass and drum lines that leave plenty of room for the guitar player and eventually the strings to fill. Upon leaving the bridge section the strings continue to swell and take prominence only to be conquered by Morrison reaching up into the heights of his vocal range to belt out some of the final lyrics.

The end of the album references Morrison’s first album with two relaxed, acoustic-emphasized songs, “Dream on Haley” and “Love is Hard.” In both tracks the overall volume of the band is pulled back when Morrison starts to sing, allowing the vocals to become the centre of attention. In “Dream on Haley” the electric guitar is still fairly prominent, using a vibrato effect to create the sensation that the sound is swirling back and forth. Alternatively, “Love is Hard” almost completely removes the electric guitar from the mix, instead using it only to add small background melodies towards the end of the song.

Over the course of Songs for You, Truths for Me, listeners are guided through a series of personal songs that could have been stripped right out of a diary. Emotions range from emphatic expressions of love like “Precious Love” and “Fix the World Up for You” to the bitter breakup in “Broken Strings” and the ultimate conclusion that “Love Is Hard.” By using a variety of instrumentations and different production techniques, the music is able to reflect the emotion conveyed in the lyrics. This connection deepens the impact of the lyrics and allows listeners to relate not only through spoken words, but also through musical ideas.