The sun has peaked its head over and onto us here in Ireland, so the tunes have been a bit more joyful as a result. ‘Tis on days like this that one gets reminded that it’s not ALL bad. Just mostly, in dark corners filled with ravenous mutants and so on. Here’s a few cheerier cuts to have a little boogie to, or a glass of wine, or cook your dinner to, or re-organize your bootleg pog collection. There are many things to do to music.
Newton Faulkner – Brick By Brick
Newton‘s “Write It On Your Skin” is as sunny as a singer-songwriter record can get in my view. It’s a touch introverted, a touch extroverted; a touch technical, a touch simple. The dreaded legend has a distinctive style that allows him to cultivate real heart and real groove while showing off a little. In other words, if you’re a musician, you hate him as much as you love him. “Brick By Brick” is a hopeful jaunt against the inevitable betrayal that life will put your way on occasion. Sometimes you’ll need to build it all again, and that’s okay, so long as you do.
J Mascis – Every Morning
The Dinosaur Jr. frontman’s latest album “Tied To A Star” didn’t quite rub me as well as “Several Shades Of Why”, but most things don’t so tat isn’t saying much. However, the lead single “Every Morning” is J at his absolute most danceable. Bang this one on in the morning as you leave for work, and if the weather holds up you’ll be in for a winner of a day, I promise!*
*I take zero responsibility if your day turns out to be shit.
Andy McKee – Rylynn
You’ve heard this before, probably, it’s the man’s biggest ‘hit’, and it’s actually a great piece – that inter-section can be quite rare. “Rylynn” is an exceptional slice of musicality you just have to bear witness to to truly understand. Get it int’ ya!
City And Colour – Body In A Box
A song decrying funerals isn’t exactly hip happenin’ musical subject matter, but our Dallas Green makes it work. Why? Because he’s one of the warmest sounding singers I can think of. His music is filled with a delicate malaise of empathy – he isn’t singing to you so much as having a one-sided conversation about what’s making his brain tick. You don’t need be a ball of anguish to find solace in his words, because the melodies are always just the right level of flowery that you become intoxicated with their scent. Top class.
Barn Owl – Ancestral Star
This isn’t for your morning stroll to work or the shops or whatever you do with your weekdays in the AM when you aren’t sleeping, but it’s for when the sunny evening hits and the sky becomes aglow with the colors of another day survived. We’re all floating around in a large void of meaningless that we’ll never understand. But you’re here too, and that’s cool. You’re cool. Stick it on loud and just listen……
