Happy MLB Opening Day

Since I'm a huge baseball fan, Opening Day is one of my favorite days of the year. I know three games have already been played, but today is the first day with a full slate of games. Plus, almost every day from now until October should provide me with baseball to watch, so I'm in a good mood! A couple years ago, I wrote a post highlighting some baseball related music. That's certainly not the only time I've brought the sport up on this blog though. I figured I could add to those posts with a couple new items.

* The other day, Salon.com posted a list of baseball's 27 greatest songs. Check it out here.

* The Baseball Project, a supergroup comprised of members from R.E.M. and other bands, released their third album last week, the appropriately titled "3rd." The album contains songs about Babe Ruth ("The Babe"), the sad fall of Lenny Dykstra ("From Nails To Thumbtacks"), Dale Murphy's Hall of Fame candidacy ("To The Veteran's Committee"), and many more. The whole album is a lot of fun if you're a baseball fan. I mean it starts out with a voice just reading off numbers from famous baseball records over a driving electronic beat... Below I've included a song about the history of the Oakland A's. Since MLB.tv prevents me from watching Twins games in Iowa, I've adopted Oakland as my second team.



* Lastly, this connection is a bit more superficial, but Philadelphia-based pop punk/indie rock group Modern Baseball released an album earlier this year, that is an enjoyable listen. For a much longer write up on the band, you can read this post over on Grantland. If you'd rather just hear the music, below is a song of theirs.



Happy Opening Day!

Vancouver Sleep Clinic

Last week was my "Spring Break" from school. However, while the week started with temperatures nearing 70 degrees, last night I had to scrape ice off my car as snow fell around me. I thought that maybe I should make a "spring mix" to encourage the warm weather to hurry up, but I'll hold off for one more week and succumb to the sweet sounds of winter courtesy of Vancouver Sleep Clinic.

Vancouver Sleep Clinic is the moniker of 17 year old Australian Tim Bettinson, who makes some pretty gorgeous music along the lines of Bon Iver, or fellow Aussie and blog favorite Hayden Calnin. While we here in the northern hemisphere are (hopefully) seeing the end of winter, this album should perfectly soundtrack the upcoming winter for the southern hemisphere. I've included a song from the band's Soundcloud page below, but I recommend going and listening to (or buying) the whole album. At the very least, head over to the Soundcloud page and check out the beautiful track "Vapour."




Want to check out Vancouver Sleep Clinic?

Band website
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Soundcloud
Spotify (below)

I Don't Care / I Don't Mind

I don't have time for a proper blog post, but a while ago these two songs came up back to back on my iTunes. Since then, I've been meaning to post them together, partially because I found it amusing and partially because they are both relatively unknown gems.

"I Don't Care" by Breakfast in Fur is from the New York band's self-titled EP released in 2009. You can download that EP and another EP through the band's Bandcamp page for whatever price you'd like.




"I Don't Mind" by The Decemberists is from the Portland, Oregon band's "5 Songs EP," originally released independently in 2001. It was later re-released, and the whole thing is worth checking out. I also really enjoy the track "Oceanside" off this EP.

Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings Concert

First some advice: If you get a chance to see Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings perform live, take it!

Last week I went to see Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings here in Iowa City, and it was up there with the most fun I've had at any show. Right from the start, the band took the stage and informed the crowd that we wouldn't be needing our chairs that night. What followed was one and a half hours of soul, funk, singing, dancing, and just a general air of happiness.

Lead-singer Sharon Jones was diagnosed with cancer last year, but it has done nothing to hold her down. Quite to the contrary, Jones sang and danced all night with an energy that would have been impressive from anyone, let alone a 50-something who had just battled cancer. Her positive energy was incredibly infectious too as I'm not sure I've ever smiled more during a concert. Throughout the set, she pulled fans on stage to dance with her, led a dance tutorial of moves from decades past, and just sang and danced her heart out.

The tour was in support of the band's January release "Give The People What They Want." While I haven't written about it yet, it is an excellent album that I've been listening to a lot. Below are two tracks from the album. It may not quite be able to do justice to the band's live show, but it's an excellent stopgap until the next time they visit your town. Enjoy!

Out this week (3/4/14) - Featuring new Nick Waterhouse

There were an insane number of intriguing new releases this week. The one that I was most excited about was the sophomore album from Nick Waterhouse, "Holly," and it has not disappointed one little bit. I've only listened to it a couple times so far, but I see this being one of the albums I return to over and over throughout the whole year.

Nick Waterhouse's music combines rock & roll, old school r & b, and soul. While all of these were present on his debut album, he seems to have found a way to put them together with more punch on "Holly." I previously posted a stream of the track "This Is A Game," so here's another track from the album, this one featuring a nice saxophone solo.



Also out this week is the fourth album from Seattle-based Cataldo (the stage name of Eric Anderson). My only introduction to the band was this post on Songs For The Day, but one listen through the album has me sold. Here's the album's closing track.



KHUSHI (who apparently shares his name with a poorly rated Bollywood movie) released his debut EP this week. The three original songs are an exciting debut somewhat similar to previous blog favorite Hayden Calnin (who has his second EP coming out later this month!).



If none of these grabbed you, there were also new releases by Drive-By Truckers, Wake Owl, Eagulls (on Partisan Records, who never seems to fail me), and Nothing. It looks like new releases are finally starting to pick up after a slow first couple months.