Rewind: Gregory and the Hawk at Mac’s Bar, plus Emily Leong

On June 8, Gregory and the Hawk (a.k.a. Meredith Godreau) was to be in Cleveland for the WMC Fest. Due to a turn of events, Mr. Harvdog and I had to be in Michigan that weekend, but luckily GATH was going to be in East Lansing, which is on the way to where we needed to be.

Road trip!

Playlist: Train

It took Pandora and a tender moment to introduce me to Train. They have been around for a while, but as with most things mainstream, I have stayed away.

The song that came up on Pandora was “Marry Me.” The title is romantic, but the lyrics are actually very context-specific. Still, it was a good listen.

I will admit I was not brave enough to wade through all of Train’s songs, so what you have in this playlist are only from their two most recent albums. The list is short but sweet. Consider it an introduction to Train.

On RS: The Sheepdogs

I am going to be honest: I didn’t much care that The Sheepdogs were on the cover of Rolling Stone as much as one of the guys in the band look like Jacob Marshall from Mae. After flipping to where the feature was and discovering (with some dismay) that it was not Marshall at all, I decided to read it since I was there already.

If you read RS, then you know that they don’t always talk about their fronties with a relish. The feature on Lady Gaga was written with more obvious admiration than the feature on Katy Perry even though one should be able to say that they are equal in pop appeal, although to who they appeal may vary. Anyway, this particular feature made me smile, made me laugh, and made me feel bad in all the right times. By the time I finished it, I was in front of a computer, on the Sheepdog’s MySpace, listening to their tracks.

Owl City: All Things Bright and Beautiful Concert

Edit: I’ve updated the set list to include Meteor Shower, which I had mistaken for Swimming in Miami, although I could still swear that he played that song.

Spoiler Alert! I will talk (possibly endlessly) about the show – the front acts, Owl City’s performance, set list, and the like – and post a few images. People who do not want to such information are requested not to read on.

As you all must know by now (especially if you frequent the iTunes “Recent Hits” tab), Owl City released his sophomore album last week entitled All Things Bright and Beautiful. Listening to a record is very different from seeing an artist perform live, so when the opportunity presented itself (Amex/LiveNation presales are the best!), he and I grabbed ourselves a pair of tickets to the show.

Review: Owl City’s All Things Bright and Beautiful

In April, when the original launch of Owl City’s album got pushed into June, I was more upset than I wanted to be. Why? Because I really love Owl City. I think the music is fun, the lyrics are witty, and Adam Young’s a wonderful guy. (Have you read his blog? Gosh, he’s amazing.) Perhaps to placate angry fans, Young gave his fans a little preview of the said album and I knew, even then, that I had to get my hands on it.

Well, I did. And here’s what I think…

Oh Fortuna!

I love Oh Fortuna! It just sounds sooo epic. Chances are you’ve heard of Oh Fortuna too but you just didn’t know it. Even though it is probably the most used (and parodied) score, it is not usually referred to in its name.

Browsing through my iTunes library the other day, I noticed that I have two versions of Oh Fortuna.

The Everglow Follow-up

A few weeks ago, after Mae announced that The Everglow digital download is going to be $5 on Amazon for the month of April, I started a little giveaway.

Congratulations to Dee, Richard, and Aaron! I’ve gifted the album to you if you’ve already confirmed which e-mail you want it sent to. :)

I just wanna take a quick second to share Dee’s beautiful thank you, not because it’s a thank you, but because of what it implies about Mae’s music. She wrote

Thank you for giving me a new way to relive those moments when I felt infinite.

I never thought of putting it that way. I always felt that Mae’s music revitalized me in a way I can’t quite explain, but Dee put it perfectly. Now that I think about it, that’s exactly how good music should make you feel – infinite.

<3

Redeeming Anberlin

I say “redeeming” because I have long ago decided that I didn’t like their music. No, really. Despite the Amazon recommendations, despite the iTunes recommendations, despite the thumbs up I occasionally gave their songs on Pandora, I refused to download their songs. I didn’t like them.

Until Sunday anyway.

Mae’s The Everglow

At this point, there’s no reason to write a review about “The Everglow.” Released in 2005, this album probably has a million rave-iews out there already. So I’ll just talk about the 2006 me who stumbled on “The Everglow” and fell in love with the artists behind it.

Recommended: Sail by the Stars

There’s a post in this blog somewhere in which I talk about looking for a new band to obsess over, as my beloved Mae has decided it was time for them to go. :( That said, I have been looking around for artists that will charm me, hopefully in the same way that Mae did. I was pleased when I came across this artist.