Caroline Reese & The Drifting Fifth - Tenderfoot JA

Well 2017 has well and truly gotten started and as par for the course, I have been away from doing this blog for quite a while now. So you could call this a comeback but that seems to hold a lot of responsibility for me that I wouldn't feel safe solely keeping on my shoulders. Like a blind date, lets just keep things casual and simple. So without further ado, here we go with what I have been listening to this January. It was relatively slow starting, but by the end of it great albums were being churned out faster than I could've possibly listened to them. You can see what I've been listening to here.

The Proper Ornaments // Foxhole

My third pick of the month is the mellow sounding sophomore LP from the London boys. Previous to this record, I hadn't heard of these guys, and that surprised me because their indie pop rock scene is something I actively try to stay on top of, including upcoming acts etc. Foxhole as a whole ranges in sounds, from the orchestral instrumentation to the more sombre vocals and stripped back guitar. It does bare bones really quite well, almost playing the less is more angle at certain times and pulling it off quite superbly.

   

Courtney Marie Andrews // Honest Life

At this point is where Americana took over my life in a big way. The album by Courtney Andrews was released around August last year for the rest of the world (don't hold me to that statistic) but was only just released this month in the old UK. Better late than never is the phrase I am going to stick to with this one for a small piece of mind. Anyway, Courtney is yet another youthful artist that is incredibly prolific, always creating top quality music at quite a powerful rate. Honest Life is a LP filled to the brim of brilliant tracks that show her talent as a songs-woman in terms of vocals as well as writing ability seeing as she personally wrote all of the tracks herself. And that fact shouldn't be as surprising as it is in today's world.   

Caroline Reese & The Drifting Fifth // Tenderfoot

It may not be much of a surprise after my last choice but my number one is another Americana banger. But gone are the bare vocals and plugged in is the foot stomping electric guitar. This is the fourth full length release for Caroline Reese and second with the incredible Drifting Fifth backing her up. On Tenderfoot specifically, Reese and the band do a great job mixing the emotionally powerful lyrics with complimenting yet still up beat guitar and drum parts. I guess that is one of the main reasons I have listened to it so many times this month. It always finds a way to soundtrack my life in ways I wouldn't have expected it to even fit. Enjoy one of the singles 'What I Did' below.

Courtney Barnett - Three Packs A Day YTV

YouTube Video

Yes, yes, yes, new music from Courtney Barnett. Singing about instant noodles has never sounded so cool as it does in this 2 minute 50 second song of brilliance. It again showcases what she does best, sing catchy songs about everyday mundane life that everyone can relate to. I'm just waiting for the next track about struggling to find the perfect parking space. Another thing about this song that I love is the added harmonica solo which few songs wouldn't be improved by. Enjoy!

Stone Age Brain - Jen Cloher Ft. Courtney Barnett SCS

SoundCloud Song

This is a great live performance of a track Jen Cloher originally did with a man called Tim Rogers. In this version he has been replaced by the ever increasingly popular Courtney Barnett. There are several reasons why I prefer this track over the original: I really think the acoustic guitar sound compliments the vocals and makes the lyrics easier to hear rather than the electric guitar which slightly overpowers them. Also I prefer the girl/girl vocals as opposed to the boy/girl vocals of the original mainly because I think Tims voice is a bit too harsh on the ears for a track that sounds like it should be more mellow. But who knows, maybe I have just fell in love with Courtneys voice too much to prefer another instead. Enjoy!

 

D.O.T.F.

This week has been incredibly stressful with university deadlines and what seems like a lot of work to do. I have managed to squeeze time to write this in the midst of job tasks. So this fortnights designs I have chosen two album covers of two artists that are really hot right now. One being Courtney Barnett and the other is Swearin'. I really like the cartoon style that links these two together.

 

I like the look that it could be a bad tattoo just with the random little symbols dotted around and dots and crosses to fill in the gaps.

This is obviously a sketch of a famous pice of art by Katsushika Hokusai. It has what I assume to be added peas rolling in the waves. Again it has a very sketchy look to it with just a touch of tone to give the wave depth.

YouTube Video Of The Week! 29/10/13

This week I have decided to post a couple of videos just because I have had a hard time deciding which video is better and figured why not just do them both. My first one is Los Campesinos! with a track called Avocado Baby. This is the first I have heard of them since their album We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed and I really think they have came back very strong. They still have that unique vocals that I remember but they have got a more rock guitar sound which I love. Super catchy and you don't get bored with the rhythm, it stays pumped and driving the whole way through. More of the same please :)

My second video is from an artist called Courtney Barnett. I don't really know a great deal about this Melbourne artist except she makes beautiful songs with simple and yet meaningful lyrics. I found out about her in the latest issue of Q magazine, my favourite music monthly. I really enjoy hearing her accent so clearly in her songs and something about her song writing really makes me sit up and take notice of the words she sings. Definitely hoping for her to produce more great songs like this one.