Matt Nathanson remains one of my favorite “strummers” of all time. Don’t get me wrong, I love watching Mayer or Clapton tear through the fretboard as much as the next guitarist but for when it comes to crushing it on the rhythm, I will take Nathanson any day of the week. From 2:39 on, Nathanson’s right hand is out of control. With strumming that hard, no wonder his guitars tend to look like this.
This video was brought to my attention along with the knowledge that some of John Mayer’s biggest hits—Neon, Why Georgia, Comfortable, No Such Thing, Man on the Side—were actually co-written by John’s former Berklee classmate Clay Cook. Cook, a solo artist in his own right, has also been an active member of country-cross over favorites The Zac Brown Band since 2009.
I think I like Cook’s version of “Comfortable” better, and not just because he throws in “your mouth was fuckin’ dirty.” Overall the song seems to have more feeling behind it and after listening to Cook’s versions of some other songs they’ve cowritten that seems to be par for the course. I like Mayer and the guy can certainly wail on a guitar like no one else from his generation but I can’t help but wonder if he’d have been as big without Cook’s influence.
Hypothesis:
My girlfriend has better taste in music than your girlfriend.
Data:
-Liz told me to check out Dawes.
-This video is a live Dawes performance.
-This video rocks fucking hard.
Conclusion:
My girlfriend has better taste in music than your girlfriend.
Note: I am currently up to my eyeballs in embryology and thus unable to give this a full write up, but will get to it sometime in the morning. In the mean time, watch this video and revel in it’s awesomeness.
Uh, the thing that gets the most media coverage is essentially the equivalent of a bar fight, right? It’s, uh, Kim Kardashian’s ass or Charlie Sheen’s crazy, or you know, name the celebrity…Demi Moore now is having trouble and the world becomes fixated on these people because, um, America thinks that being rich is actually the way to go, and they think that being famous is actually the way to go. That’s what we’re told and that’s what television does, and that’s what movies do. And it’s the idea that like, the self is not important—what’s important is trying to be someone that you’re not. And I think that it’s the exact opposite that’s important in life.
And you know everybody knows this too but its cloudy, fucking cloudy. Looking at magazines and seeing people be rich, and famous, and successful and thinking “I wanna be that person,” but I think what’s really important is the fucked up unique people that we are as individuals. And I think that society keeps telling us that that’s not it, that if you fix your nose or you lose weight or you do whatever the fuck, it’s better and that you need to be somebody that you’re not, when really I think that we all need to teach our kids and teach ourselves that actually being the person you are is actually the most important thing you can do. I don’t want my kid growing up thinking, fucking, that he or she is not the coolest person in the world, you know what I’m saying? That they’re not like—who they are in their weird, wacky—if they have a fucked up nose, or if they’re…like…not good at math, but they’re, you know—if they’re—that kind of unique shit. Playing music you see it more and more, right? I play music and every time I write a song I think, “I’m trying so hard to clear away the shit,” and it’s so hard to write what’s just actually in you.
So I’m not preaching in any way, I’m just saying like as people every day we have to get up and we have to try really hard to be our unique selves. And if people tell us that that’s not cool, then those are the people we don’t fucking hang out with. Seriously, cleaning up the plate a little bit. You don’t need that many friends. So I wrote this song in the hopes that—I wrote it for myself, for those days where you feel like being you is not enough and that’s actually not true at all.
Don’t remember what I was watching that this popped up as a related video on Youtube, but this cover of Gorillaz “Feel Good Inc.” by Dustin Prinz is…just watch it. Not only does he kill it on the acoustic guitar but he manages to play and sing the rapping verse part—which have totally different melodies. Oh, and he kind of sounds like Jack Johnson, so there’s that.
Here’s the official 34th & Now Study Playlist on Spotify. It’s 143 songs—so far—and 9 hours long. Most of the songs are laid back and mellow enough for studying/working/reading without being distracted. For the past four days now I’ve gone through the entire nine hours and then some getting ready for our first midterm Monday. I recommend listening on shuffle. It’ll probably be updated regularly as all I do is study.
Artists Featured Include:
Bon Iver
Head & The Heart
Iron & Wine
The National
The Villagers
Rosi Golan
William Fitzsimmons
Matt Nathanson
Mazzy Star
Lydia
The Cinema
Tegan & Sara
The Civil Wars
Joshua Radin
Metric
Frightened Rabbit
Manchester Orchestra
John Heart Jackie
Limbeck
Schuyler Fisk
Mansions
Other Lives
Noah & The Whale
Ingrid Michaelson
City & Colour
Hey Rosetta!
Gear and Stuff just posted a huge pic dump with a ton of great shots. I’ve always wanted to do a series of headstock pics of my guitars. One of these days I’ll get around to it.
I remember everything!
I remember every little thing as if it happened only yesterday.
I was barely seventeen…and I once killed a boy with a Fender guitar
I don’t remember if it was a Telecaster or a Stratocaster,
but I do remember that it had a heart of chrome and a voice like a horny angel!
I don’t remember if it was a Telecaster or a Stratocaster,
but I do remember that it wasn’t at all easy.
It required the perfect combination of the correct power chords,
and the precise angle from which to strike.
The guitar bled for a week afterward and the blood was - ooh -
dark and rich like wild berries.
The blood of the guitar was Chuck Berry red.
The guitar bled for about a week afterward but it rung out beautifully,
and I was able to play notes that I had never even heard before.
So, I took my guitar and I smashed it against the wall,
I smashed it against the floor,
I smashed it against the body of a varsity cheerleader,
I smashed it against the hood of a car,
I smashed it against a 1981 Harley Davidson.
The Harley howled in pain.
The guitar howled in heat.
And I ran up the stairs to my parents’ bedroom.
Mommy and Daddy were sleeping in the moonlight.
Slowly I opened the door, creeping in the shadows,
right up to the foot of their bed.
I raised the guitar high above my head,
and just as I was about to bring the guitar crashing down upon the centre of the bed,
my father woke up screaming:
“Stop! Wait a minute! Stop it boy! What do you think you’re doing?
That’s no way to treat an expensive musical instrument!”
And I said “God dammit Daddy! You know I love you,
but you’ve got a hell of a lot to learn about rock and roll!”
Meatloaf, “Wasted Youth”
Zach Williams is most definitely the next big singer-songwriter. Hailing from Georgia, Williams has been making a name for himself since 2004 with his soulful, penetrating vocals and honest lyrics. Here’s “Fears” off his album Story Time. You’re welcome for this one.
“And sometimes I pull the ‘66 down off the wall! Here are some shots of my 1966 Fender Jaguar. It is sunburst and 100% original…it even still has the “mute” (although the mute is worn down too much and so it doesn’t really work anymore!)”
Toronto Canada, December 12, 2011
(via deebeeus)
It’s the little things you miss when you’re 1900 miles away for Med School.
Here’s Company of Thieves with “Modern Waste” off their new album Running From a Gamble. Genevieve gets pretty bad-ass on this track and the fuzzed out guitar breakdown is great.