Review - Iron & Wine

Band: Iron & Wine
Album: The Shepard’s Dog
Label: Sup Pop
Rating: 4 out of 5
Sam Beam has come a long way since he recorded The Creek Drank the Cradle out of his own house. The singer-songwriter has progressed over the years with each recording. His original tracks mainly showcased acoustic guitars, banjo and slide guitar- all of which were recorded by Beam. He has gradually built the sound of Iron & Wine by surrounding himself with other musicians. The extensive assortment of instrumentation on Iron and Wine’s latest release The Shepard’s Dog really shows how far Beam has come.

I was recently strolling through a long list of music blogs and almost every blog in some way or another mentioned Iron & Wine. With this type of hype there is no doubt that they’ve become a very influential band within the Indie world. Their earlier releases were made up of basic instrumentation that put the listener to into a dreamy state. If you need to be awake and alert, listening to Iron and Wine’s earlier work might not be a good idea. But with The Shepard’s Dog comes music that is a little bit more accessible as it movies from dreamy to mellow-chill. This is an album you can listen to when you’re doing your work and still be productive. Because of this The Shepard’s Dog will really expand the band’s fan base.

Those who are worried that The Shepard’s Dog is too far of a departure from Beam’s previous work shouldn’t be concerned. His vocals and distinct songwriting are the driving force behind Iron & Wine that hasn’t changed. There are songs that could only be done by the band like the track “Flightless Bird, American Mouth” or “Resurrection Fern.” There are also songs that one might be not expect to hear on an Iron & Wine release such as the surprisingly funk driven “Wolves (Song of the Shepard’s Dog).”

The wide range of instrumentation on The Shepard’s Dog really stimulates the listener throughout the whole album and makes it Iron & Wine’s best release to date.

DJ Palumbo

Daryl Palumbo, singer of Glassjaw and Head Automatica, has a new project as a DJ/producer in the group SPORTS. They will be releasing their debut MIX CD entitled, "I'm Hungry" an eclectic mix of 70+ minute selection of breakbeats, freestyle, electro, ghettotech and funky house/disco. "I'm Hungry" will be a hand numbered, limited edition pressing of 1,000 copies with full color art.

Now Form a Band

Last.Fm launched a new program to make better music. Their new blog nowformaband.last.fm gives some insight of how you can promote your own music with low cost and without a record label. Anybody that is looking to promote their band has to check out this blog it has some really great information.

Foreign Born on Chuck

Did you catch Foreign Born on Chuck on Tuesday? If not you can check it out here. They performed the song "Into Your Dreams" which you can download below.

mp3:
Foreign Born Into Your Dreams

Fall TV Premiere Week

We are now in the middle of the biggest week in Fall TV premieres. While Fox and the CW had several of their television shows premiere last week, the major networks like ABC, CBS and NBC choose to compete together this week with the bulk of their fall lineups. There are 10 brand new shows all premiering this week, Monday to Friday, alone. There are several shows that have been highly anticipated or overly marketed (ie. Bionic Woman, Chuck, Dirty Sexy Money) while there are some that have flown lower on the radar (ie. The Reaper, Moonlight, and Aliens in America- premiering next week).
Personally old favorites are most highly anticipated on my list. Monday brought Heros... I have it Tivo-ed to watch this week, shhh don't tell me what happened yet, and How I Met Your Mother. H.I.M.Y.M. is a great little show that doesn't strive to be more than it is. This is the key to its success. You could argue that it is worth it to watch what Neil Patrick Harris' character, Barney, will come up with next.
But my true love returns tomorrow, Thursday, at 9pm- The Office. Rumor has it that Michael believes the offices has become cursed. This season opener runs for one hour, along with the next three episodes.
Enjoy the old and the new shows premiering this week and in the weeks to come. Let me know what show you are most anticipating and what you think of the new shows coming out!

Amazon MP3 Beta Launched

Amazon.com has launched a beta version of their new MP3 store. This represents the first real service that can compete with iTunes. Amazon's downloads are DRM-free making the songs compatible with whatever MP3 player you have. Only EMI Music and Universal Music Group are the only major labels that are working with Amazon as of right now. This is due to the DRM-free service, the other labels want more protection for their artists so the songs cannot be duplicated. The biggest difference between iTunes and Amazon MP3 is that Amazon offers varied prices. iTunes has been very stubborn in the fact they are set to the .99 cents for every song. Amazon MP3 has some songs for .99 cents and others are .89 cents while albums range from $5 to $9. Nothing like some healthy competition, right now Amazon is offering some better deals. It will be interesting to see if iTunes matches the prices. Check out Amazon MP3 here.

Frontman Responds

Alex Gaskarth, frontman for All Time Low, has responded to the incident of the girl being suspended for three days for carrying a picture of the band in their underwear. The picture can be seen here.

"Personally, I'm a little upset that anyone would find that picture to be 'offensive.' We tried our very hardest to look as sexy as possible and I think that maybe the administrative figures responsible for suspending the student were just jealous of our dashing, young physiques. I don't see any harm in carrying that particular picture around in a school environment. In fact, I've been speculating that studies may prove that the picture actually stimulates brain activity, and promotes greater levels of success in the classroom. But that's just one theory..."

Review - New Found Glory

Band: New Found Glory
Album: From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II
Label: Drive-Thru Records
Rating: 4/5
Seven years ago New Found Glory released an EP titled From the Screen to Your Stereo. It was at a time when the band was just starting to gain popularity. The EP worked for the band because it took some really cheesy songs and made them fun. Big success came with the track “The Glory of Love” from The Karate Kid. Nowadays, New Found Glory is known as one of the creators of the pop punk genre. With their return to Drive-Thru Records comes From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II.

New Found Glory has perfected the carefree fun-in-the-sun sing along. The biggest difference from Part I to Part II is that this time around the band decided to feature other artists on a majority of the songs. The best features include Patrick Stump on “King of Wishful Thinking” and Lisa Loeb on her own hit “Stay.”

It’s pretty simple to decide if you like this album or not. If you’re a fan of New Found Glory’s other music you’ll also enjoy this album. Others that don’t love the New Found Glory vibe or aren’t into cover songs should take a pass on this one. But don’t criticize the album because you hated it before you even listened to it. Is that asking for too much?

Despite it’s good qualities, From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II does have some weaker moments. Johnny Cash’s “It Ain’t Me Babe” could have been better if the band had stuck closer to the original call-and-answer style of the song. Instead of having Sherri Gilbert (of Eisley) do a solo answer to lead singer Jordan, Jordan did the call and Sherri accompanied him on the answer. “Iris” came a little too close to the original and could have been catchier. All I can say about the instrumental “Amelie J'y Suis Jamais Alle” is that it was an interesting song choice.

The tracks on From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II are sure to spark some fond memories. Listeners will likely say, “Hey! I remember this song!” and have some obscure memory attached to it.

Once again, NFG has brought its fan some good clean fun.

Recommended tracks: Kiss Me, King of Wishful Thinking, Stay, Don’t You (Forget About Me)

The track list for From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II is as follows:

1. Kiss Me originally by Sixpence None the Richer, from She's All That
2. It Ain't Me Babe (featuring Sherri Gilbert of Eisley) originally by Johnny Cash, from Walk the Line
3. The Promise (featuring Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional) originally by When In Rome, from Napoleon Dynamite
4. King of Wishful Thinking (featuring Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy) originally by Go West, from Pretty Woman
5. Stay (featuring Lisa Loeb) originally by Lisa Loeb, from Reality Bites
6. Lovefool (featuring Adam Lazarra of Taking Back Sunday and Stacy Dupree of Eisley) originally by The Cardigans, from Romeo and Juliet
7. Iris (featuring Will Pugh of Cartel) originally by The Goo Goo Dolls, from City of Angels
8. Don't You Forget About Me orignally by Simple Minds, from The Breakfast Club
9. Intro (Amelie J'y Suis Jamais Alle) from Amelie
10. Crazy for You (featuring Max Bemis of Say Anything) originally by Madonna, from Vision Quest
11. Head Over Heals originally by Tears for Fears, from Donnie Darko

Promo Pic of All Time Low

What type of band does promo pics that will get their fans suspended from school? Apparently All Time Low does because a girl that goes to school at a middle school in Maryland got suspended for 3 days for having this picture posted outside her locker.

This funny little incident just happens to be right next to the bands release date for their new record So Wrong, It's Right, due out Sept. 25th. Which brings up the question is this picture/incident so wrong that it could be just right to help promote their new album?

30 Rock Takes Home the Emmy

I can't believe 30 Rock won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. They had a great season and they really deserve it. I'm glad they are getting some credit because I think that show is underrated. I'm looking forward to the new season especially with the season opener including Jerry Sienfeld.

Another notable Emmy that went out last night was Jeremy Piven (Entourage) Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. That was a tough category. I personally would have liked to see Kevin Dillon (aka Drama from Entourage) win. Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) was also deserving in this category.