Glen Hansard...deserves to be heard

Glen Hansard is in a couple of bands and also does some solo work.  His genre of music would be indie and folk rock.  The two bands that Hansard is in are The Frames and The Swell Season.  The Swell Season consists of only Hansard and Markéta Irglová.  Hansard has done a movie with Irglová entitled "Once".  This is the movie that introduced me to Hansard and one which will I never forget.  It it truly an amazing movie and I would highly recommend seeing if you have not had the opportunity to do so already.  The reason that I personally love listening to Hansard's music is because of his immense vocal ability.  The amount of passion instilled within this man is truly unimaginable.  His voice is just so genuine and believable to the point that you feel his lyrics and his music.


His voice blends beautifully with Irglová's on their numerous harmonies on the songs they perform together on.  One song by The Swell Season that you may know, as it is probably their most popular song, would be "Falling Slowly".  This is a very beautiful song that had appeared in "Once" and it actually won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 80th Academy Awards.  The song was also covered by Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox on season 9 of American Idol which I think helped gain some popularity.  A song by The Frames entitled "Seven Day Mile" was featured on an episode of House which helped gain popularity as well.  This is an amazing song as well.  The lyrics to the song are very powerful and while I think most people can probably apply the lyrics to themselves, the song is apparently about the drummer of The Frames contemplating whether or not he should stay in the band.

If I had to choose, I would probably say that my favorite song by Glen Hansard is "Say It to Me Now".  The passion in this song is truly amazing.  I can't get over the emotion in Hansard's voice.  Everything about his performances show emotion.  Even his guitar.  He has been using the same Takamine acoustic since the early '90s when he bought it.  The wear on the guitar could not be much more visible, yet it is the only guitar he uses in his performances.  There is a huge hole in the guitar under the strings where a pick guard would be placed.  Nevertheless, he always uses that guitar and it just adds to his performance.  Some other songs I would recommend listening to are "Leave", "Lies", and pretty much any other song that Hansard, The Frames, or The Swell Season have performed.

Nate Ruess...deserves to be heard

Nate Ruess is the lead singer of the band "Fun".  This may cause you to wonder why I didn't say that "Fun...deserves to be heard" and the reason is that Ruess was the lead singer of a band named "The Format" which broke up in early 2008.  It was at this point that Fun started to form.  However, I think if you like Fun, you would probably like The Format as well considering the fact that Ruess is the focal point of both bands.  Both The Format and Fun have an indie pop rock style to them.  The Format was not an extremely popular band, but their fans were very devoted to them and to Ruess and they did have some hit songs.

I am going to focus on Fun for the rest of this entry considering that they are the band which is still together, but I simply wanted to mention The Format so you can take a listen to them if you find that you like Fun.  Fun has recently been gaining a lot more publicity through TV.  Their single off their new album "We Are Young" has appeared on Glee, Chuck, and it was featured in the Chevrolet commercial during the Super Bowl which showed the Chevrolet Sonic doing tricks.  All of these made the song very popular and rightfully so.  The song really displays a lot of passion and the reason Ruess is the focal point of both of these bands is because of the sheer uniqueness and talent that can be heard in his voice.  He has a very soft voice which is calming yet powerful.  They performed an acoustic version of "We Are Young" that they posted on their website which is just a great performance.  I have posted this video above if you would like to give them a listen.  On a side note, the women featured in the song, Janelle Monae, has incredibly white teeth.  Just figured I'd mention that.

If you are into indie pop styles of music or if you're not really sure what that is, but you like soft pop rock type of music, this is probably a band you would want to check out.  Maybe you're someone like me who just loves listening to random bands, no matter what their style, and seeing if you feel that connection with their music.  Either way, Fun is truly a very talented band and the soft vocal ability of Ruess is not something that should go unnoticed.  Also, if you do like Fun and want to check out The Format, a couple of songs that I enjoy by them are "Faith in Fast Cars" and "Snails".

John Butler Trio...deserves to be heard

John Butler Trio is a very talented band from Australia.  While they are a pretty popular band over there and there YouTube videos have a ton of views, I still feel like most people I know have not heard of them.  I would classify there style as a mix of alternative rock and folk rock.  Their music is very chill and easy to listen to. Also, for the most part, the songs have meaning behind them.  The song "Peaches and Cream" is about Butler's wife and daughter.  He basically sings about how they have completed his life.  One line which is repeated throughout the song is "she filled my half empty cup."  This is in reference to his daughter and it emphasizes the fact that he was only living half of his life and fulfilling half of his purpose before she came along.

One of the reasons that I really like John Butler Trio is the fact they are a jam band.  I love watching live performances where a four or five minute song turns into ten or fifteen.  They just play and have fun and feel the music.  That is something that I really appreciate in a band.  It just makes them more enjoyable because when a band is jamming, there passion for music come to light.  

One specific performance of one specific song is really what got me into John Butler Trio and I still consider the best performance without any lyrics that I have ever heard.  There is not one word in the song, yet it mesmerizes me each and every time I listen to it.  The song is "Ocean" and it was performed at Federation Square which is in Australia.  There are obviously many other performances which are all amazing, but I just have a love for this specific performance.  I highly recommend you listen as I have posted the video to the right.  

Another interesting note is that John Butler actually puts fake nails on his fingers to help with finger picking which he is very good at.  You can actually see the fake nails in his live performances so take a look at them in the Federation Square video if you choose to watch it.  To end this entry as it should be ended, John Butler Trio AND the song "Ocean", deserve to be heard.

Whole Wheat Bread...deserves to be heard

Word Press

Earlier this week, a friend of mine sent me a link to a YouTube video on Facebook chat.  I opened it up and a was a song by a band called "Whole Wheat Bread".  It was pretty good and I decided to listen to some more songs by them and they are a  pretty talented group of musicians.  They are also a punk rock band like the band that I talked about last week.  I do listen to many other styles of music, but this is a band that happened to come into my life this week so I thought it would be appropriate to talk about them.

Whole Wheat Bread consists of three band members and they have a very interesting sound.  Some of their songs remind me of Blink 182 in that the guitar licks sound similar.  Apparently others feel the same way because a user on YouTube actually uploaded a song named "Feel Like Shit" by Whole Wheat Bread but the title and description of the video say that the song is by Blink 182.  Coincidentally, this is actually one of the songs that does remind of Blink 182 a bit and I would definitely recommend listening for yourself.  Many of their songs are about relatively simple subjects.  However, the reason that can be a good thing is because simple subjects are usually things people can either relate to or at least understand.  For example, "No Future" is about the desire to remain young and living rebelliously.  "Staying True" is about just that.  You have to stay true to yourself for your friends.  Basically, be yourself around them and only then can you truly be their for each other.  Whole Wheat Bread also records some rap songs as well, but for the most part they stick to their punk rock sound.

I think the simple messages in their songs can be very important in life.  Simple messages can go a long way.  I'm curious if you know any bands that also have simple messages in their songs which have a lot of meaning behind them?