What I’ve Been Listening To: July 2014

What I've Been Listening To
August 1, 2014 Jeremiah Craig 0 Comments

Since I started writing these “What I’ve Been Listening To” posts, each month I was certain I was leaving out songs that I heard on podcasts or music blogs. This month I was actively keeping track of pretty much everything I listened to and put it all in one playlist (which became enormous). I then widdled the playlist down to the songs that I liked the most so I think that this is the most comprehensive and complete month playlist I’ve made yet. Spanning from World Jazz to Bluegrass to Classical to Rock because that’s how music lovers like me roll. I made a Spotify playlist and a Google Music playlist (sorry no Rdio this month, they didn’t have all the songs).

Tih – Torbjorn Omalm


Jazz has always been a genre open to music styles from different parts of the world. “Tih” uses the standard fusion interments of electric guitar, bass and drums but the scales and melody played contains folk elements from the Finnish speaking areas of Sweden in the Lapland/Torne valley.

Desert Dancer – Hijaz


The groove on this is downright sick. You can’t help but tap your foot to that bass line. “Desert Dancer” uses instruments from the middle east along with the upright bass and piano. This is one of my favorites I listened to this month. Its pretty much perfect.

Cirandas – Benjamin Taubkin


Similar to the style of the first two, “Cirandas” is jazzy but uses musical elements of South America. The vocals are soothing and the instrumentation is rich but not overdone.

Maine Line – Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper


I just found out about Michael Cleveland this month and man have I been missing out. The dude is a tremendous bluegrass fiddle player. He plays so clean and effortlessly and he’s built a good band too!

I’ll Stay Around – Ricky Skaggs


I read Ricky Skaggs’ autobiography this month so I went back and listened to his albums again and I was reminded that even though he broke into the country music scene he never lost touch with Bluegrass. “I’ll Stay Around” is from his first album which featured Bluegrass and Country songs.

Battle at Hoback – Two Steps from Hell & Nick Phoenix


I know I had Two Steps from Hell on last month’s list but I found this soundtrack they worked on with Nick Phoenix and I had to share. The best part about this soundtrack is that its a score to ebook Colin Frake on Fire Mountain written by Nick Phoenix. You read that right. Cool, huh?

Planet of the End Credits – Michael Giacchino


I hadn’t heard anything from Michael Giacchino since his score from Star Trek Into Darkness but my favorite score composer is back with a score for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. The score contains all the elements I love of a Giacchino score: mystery, beauty, power and the signature way he writes for the harp.

Searching for Iambs – Alfred Deller


I’ve always preferred traditional Irish ballads to the English style ballads even though there are a lot of similarities. The English style just seems a little bit too pompous to me most times but I still got into a collection of English folk songs I found. I am half English along with half Irish, so I guess I should embrace the English side of me every once and awhile.

Concerto Grosso in D Minor for Two Violins and Strings: Op 3, No 11 (First Movement) – Vivaldi


I have a playlist of my favorite Classical works which I was listening to this month and when the fist movement from Vivaldi’s Concerto Grosso in D Minor I was reminded why it was there on the playlist. The echo effect that the second violin plays off of the first violin makes you feel like you’re in a large cave.

Violin Concerto in D Major Op 77 (First Movement) – Brahms


This piece is also on my favorite Classical playlist just because of the sheer virtuosity of the violin. I also find it impressive how much emotion Brahms wrote into such technical and difficult parts. I saw this entire work performed by a live orchestra once. Talk about a moving experience. I haven’t heard anything like it live since.

Don’t Let It Bring You Down – Neil Young


I feel like Neil Young’s After the Gold Rush album gets over shadowed by Harvest and some of his other more popular albums but I think its spectacular and quite possibly my favorite Young album. “Don’t Let It Bring You Down” showcases everything I like about Young from his songwriting to his guitar playing to the way he sings.

Under My Thumb – The Rolling Stones


Once and a while you just need some Rolling Stones in your life. So one day this month all I listened to were Stones albums.

Do You – Spoon


Spoon is coming back with a new album and “Do You” is one of the first singles. The entire song is produced beautifully and sounds great. Especially the vocals and the guitar.

Juneau – L’Anarchiste


I get a sort of folky Radiohead vibe from this band which sometimes gets a little dull but for the most part I think the soundscapes and production of the songs off of their Traveler album are enjoyable.

 

How about you? What did you listen to this month? Let me know in the comments.