5.03.2008

Sweet music

I’ve been looking forward to writing this post for weeks …

There’s a new Weepies album out.

And it blew my expectations away. As if the husband-wife folk music duo of Steve Tannen and Deb Talan hasn’t made enough beautiful music to fill a lifetime, they’ve gone out and done it again with the dreamy “Hideaway.”

You could say The Weepies have been the soundtrack for us over the last year or so. I fell hard for them the first moment I heard their amazingly soothing harmonies and melodies last year, and I immediately turned Kates on to them. And then I went on a crusade to introduce them to anyone else who was willing to listen.

We’ve been playing them constantly over the last several months, and they helped make our long, cold winter so much more bearable …

And perhaps one of the coolest memories I’ll take away from Phoebe’s birth is the comments we drew with The Weepies playing in our hospital room. It was something Kates told me she wanted when she went into labor, so shortly after we arrived in our hospital room that Friday evening the iPod got plugged in and The Weepies were turned on. We had their music looping for the entire night and into the morning … And we turned the whole birthing staff onto them, too. Every time a new nurse came into our room that night, questions were asked about the music we were playing. And later, when the anesthesiologist arrived to administer Kates’s epidural, the nurse was giving him the whole giddy schpeel about the music, before he could ask about it …

Needless to say, this new album was hugely anticipated in our household this spring. The only other times I’ve looked so forward to an artist releasing new material is with Ben Folds, and that’s pretty huge considering my music interests and how long it takes me sometimes to warm up to a new artist or album …

Thanks to a couple Paste previews, I’d been listening to the title track and “Antarctica” over and over for weeks … Initially, I was a little surprised at “Hideaway,” which is a little more electrically-charged than their previous, more acoustic stuff. But like The Weepies of the previous two albums, the tune is so simple, catchy and singable, I couldn’t get it out of my head. “Antarctica,” too, is constructed of such a sweet -- and surprising -- melody that I started to believe I might be in for a real treat with the new album …

On April 22 it arrived. And I was propelled into bliss …

Indeed, the album is a little more electric and darker than their previous two releases, but it’s hardly a downfall. This album takes on a fuller sound that’s worth taking along …

The first two tracks, the twinkling “Can’t Go Back Now” and the celestial “Orbiting,” along with the title track, are easily my early favorites on the new album. The Weepies’ relatable and sincere lyrics are in “Can’t Go Back” as Tannen sings, “You know there will be days when you’re so tired that you can’t take another step / The night will have no stars and you’ll think you’ve gone as far as you will ever get.“ Then, on “Orbiting,” Talan takes the lead vocals on what might be the sweetest-sounding chorus, though the song is heartache-driven lyrically.

Still, there‘s a lot of good stuff beyond the first three tracks, too. “Not Dead Yet” is an upbeat standout. While the title says it all in “Just Blue” and “How You Survived the War” -- both songs are about loneliness, melancholy days and trying to move on when things aren’t going exactly your way …

“All Good Things,” a song on which The Weepies collaborated with Mandy Moore (a nice alternate version with Mandy singing lead appears on her “Wild Hope” album) also is a pleasant addition to the album.

The album ends appropriately with “All This Beauty,” a feel-good, upbeat gem that includes horns and sings “All this beauty / You might have to close your eyes / And slowly open wide.”

It describes my sentiments on The Weepies perfectly.

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I’ve had quite a few listens now of one my other new favorite albums: Ingrid Michaelson’s “Girls and Boys.” … It took me far too long to get a hold of this one, but I finally did last week. Much like Regina Spektor and A Fine Frenzy, all I needed was to hear Michaelson’s sweet voice sailing lightly over the pianos and acoustic guitars and I was hooked. “The Way I Am” is a song I may never get sick of hearing, and “Breakable” and “The Hat” rank right up there …

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I got the new Counting Crows a couple weeks ago too, thanks to my friend Raechel … Honestly, though, I had a better time hearing the new stuff live. “Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings” is good, but I don't think it measures up to the earlier stuff. Like I said, sometimes it takes me awhile up to warm up to a new album … I’m hoping that’s the case here.

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One of my favorite actor / musician blogs to read is the Mates of State "Band on the Diaper Run" about touring with their kids. (Other good blogs: Zach Braff, and Jenna Fischer …)

I don't read them often, but it's fun checking in every once in awhile when I think of it. So I was on a little Mates of State kick the other night and I logged on. Good stuff, as usual … For a good chuckle, check out Kori’s post about their daughter’s love affair with Feist’s “1-2-3-4.” (Every time I think about or hear the song, I have to mention the Letterman performance, which by the way, featured the Mates singing background …So good!) ... Magnolia's multiple personalities is a good one too.

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