This list is like buckshot, not precise, not organized, but still guaranteed to break the skin.

Beck - Sea Change

I keep coming back to this record. It’s several years old, but it’s just haunting and beautiful and sad. Great bass playing and string arranging.

John Mayer - Continuum

Yes, he’s now tabloid fodder. Yes, he’s overexposed. Yes, he still kicks ass. If “Slow Dancin’ in a Burning Room” isn’t the best breakup song ever, I don’t know what is.

Mute Math - Mute Math

Go ahead, try not to dance. I dare you. Family friendly, as well. Oh, also, perhaps the best live rock act I’ve ever seen. Ever. These guys were opening for Matchbox 20 and Alanis on a big tour this year, and my first thought was… “Wow. Poor Rob Thomas and Alanis.”

Ray LaMontagne - ‘Till The Sun Turns Black.

Otherworldly. A throwback to a different era.

More later…

A few of my recent favs:

Coldplay - X&Y

I love this album. I am not a die hard Coldplay fan, because evidently die hard Coldplay fans don’t like this album all that much. But whatever. Awesome, beautiful pop/rock.

The Fray - How to Save a Life

I know, I know…too commercial, right? NO. Love it.

Travis Cottrell - Alive Forever

Best worship album in the last 5 years or so (for the not-super-trendy bunch). This guy’s voice rocks and he actually knows how to arrange songs. What?!? I know…who woulda thought.

Wow. Has anyone else noticed that I’ve been a comment killer lately? I commented on the Wall-E post, was only the 4th one, and no one else wrote after me.
And now it’s happening again!!

Please! Someone save me from this curse! I’m The Comment Killer!!!

Daniel, don’t worry, many people have confessed to feeling this way, including me. :) Thanks for the feedback.

Don’t give yourself too much credit, Daniel. It’s just the summer lull. People have fewer things to procrastinate on, thus, fewer comments.

That’s good news to me…

As a diehard Coldplay fan, I have to say that even though I think X&Y is pretty good, it doesn’t come close to the masterpiece that is Viva la Vida. You should check that one out. Also, I just started listening to Adele. Her stuff is soulful and jazzy with a newer spin. Sort of like Amy Winehouse, but better, and without the personal drama.

For the Faithful:
Starfield: I Will Go • big, big, pop rock worship from teenagers. They’re America’s version of Hillsongs

33 Miles: 33 Miles • a little homogenized, a little too auto-tuned, but fun pop worship nevertheless. Especially if you always wished Rascall Flatts would make a worship record.

Bethany Dillon: Imagination • This has to be one of the best records I’ve heard in years. Great songwriting, great arrangements, and really creative playing. It definitely defies the 3-chords-and-the-truth formula of most CCM music out there.

For the Bubble Gum Pop fans:
Kip Fox: Astronaut • unsigned kid from Phoenix. Can sing the lights out. Hired world-class players to do his record and some hack to do the artwork. http://www.kipfox.com to get it or sample it. Good, upbeat pop music that’ll make your head bob.

Dave Barnes: Me and You and The World • This record is easy to listen to, really really soulful, and masterfully performed. Leans to the acoustic side and every now and then there’s a groove that’ll make a whiteboy move his neck from side to side. Scrumptious music indeed.

For The Musos:
Tal Wilkenfeld: Transformation • a few years ago at NAMM there was a teenage gal in the booth next to me (Sadowsky) and she was doing random duo jams with guitar players who were willing to sit in. Amazingly good and she created a pocket so deep, Hall C almost fell into it. I figured she was just a prodigy (and NAMM is like a circus of prodigy children because manufacturers want to exploit them for marketing) but I later saw her on the Crossroads DVD playing bass for Jeff Beck. She’s 19 now and did her own record. Wayne Krantz on guitar. Wowee. The cd is like a hot tub filled with amazing bass playing and the best sounding Silverface Deluxe Reverb you’ve ever heard.

For The Bluesos:
Jonny Lang: (anything, but specifically Long Road Home) • He sounded 45 when he was 15. Great player, but used the guitar to support the music, not his ego. He came to faith a few years back and won a Grammy for gospel on his latest record.

Ian Moore: Modernday Folklore • This record is in my top 10 records of all time. Vocals that make me wish I could sing, guitar playing that takes me back home, and songwriting and lyrics that should have won multiple Grammys.

It Goes Without Saying:
John Mayer: Continuum • It’s almost the perfect record. I concur with everything Chad said. This record will sit on my top 10 list probably for the remainder of my life. And yes, Slow Dancing In A Burning Room kicks nine kinds of ass for a bunch of reasons. That song, in particular, though, has one family un-friendly moment. Be warned. (but don’t dare take it out…)

Jackson Browne: I’m Alive • shut up and buy it.

Bonnie Raitt: Luck of the Draw • shut up and buy it.

Lyle Lovett: iTunes Essentials/ Basics • it’s $21.78 for these first few, but it represents a great cross-section of his most endearing work. Lives in my hometown. Goes to my home church. Scored Julia Roberts for a while.

anything by GWAR is always good.
-PC

So, to recap -

John Mayer, Bonnie Raitt, Lyle Lovett, and… GWAR.

Any questions?

(one of these things is not like the others, one of these things is not the same.)

I’ve seen GWAR more times than one would expect. It’s like Lucha Va Voom, but except midget Mexican wrestling and burlesque, it’s fake blood and ritual sacrifice. But I digress…

I spent many years telling myself I was a songwriter. Those years are over. But there are still some artists/songs that inspire me to write. At least to write like this…

Ray LaMontagne - I agree with Chad. “Till The Sun Turns Black” is phenomenal. Songwriting at it’s essential core. But I’ve recently returned to his debut, “Trouble”. I was playing the sing “Jolene” the other night, singing my heart out. Only then did I realize the gravity of the situation he must have found himself in when he wrote that tune. I actually went and hugged it out with Sara for a minute. THAT, is effective. Or affective. I’m not sure. Regardless, lyrics like this matter:

“Lately my hands they don’t feel like mine
My eyes been stung with dust, I’m blind
Held you in my arms one time
Lost you just the same”

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals- I’ve been a fan of Mr Adams since the Whiskeytown and early (See: Heartbreaker) days. Finally, he’s got a band that knows him better than I think he knows himself. Music about drinking and loss and family and bluegrass and more drinking. Very organic, yet pop sensibilities that really hook you. Listen to “Dear John” from Jacksonville City Nights.

Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers - this dude writes the music I tried to, when I was 20. I failed, he didn’t. Nicest dude in the world, prolific songwriter (almost as much as Ryan Adams, actually) and great player/singer. He’s released a ton of indie/solo/raw stuff. Their last 2 records have been pop/rock masterpieces. Every song has inspired me with it’s 3-4 chords and simple storytelling.

“You live and learn, me, well I learned to let go
Parents and bosses and people who don’t want you to grow
I think that anything that you want to you can do
And no one is going to tell me just who the hell I should sing to
And this, this is my life
On the 4th of July
It isn’t much, but at least it’s mine”

Craig Cardiff- I’ve tried to sell the Addison Road crowd on Craig Cardif before. He’s the shit. Old school singer-songwriter with a guitar and very unique voice. I emailed him to ask him about a lyrical reference to what I believed was a Ben Folds song. (Another HUGE influence/inspiration) Any artist who emails you back with a genuine response is rad. The lyrics in question, are from a song called “Revival Day”, which, as Craig explained to me, are about his mother’s battle with cancer. Specifically, the drive in a borrowed car to see a faith healer as a last-resort to save her life. He had just bought Ben Folds’ “Whatever and Ever Amen”, and he and his mother were listening/singing along to a wonderfully sad song called “Evaporated”. Here’s a particular sample of Craig’s lyrics from “Revival Day”:

“In a borrowed car, we sang ‘Evaporated’
It’s beautiful when you go low and I go high
I watch you dear
And oh, we’ll beat this
If I believe enough, the Lord will provide

We lay our names into pieces
We sing in tongues, salvation through their eyes
Jesus saves if you let him
The donation plate will pass through the aisle ”

THAT inspires me. THAT influences me.

sorry about the GWAR reference….too much Beavis and Butthead as an impressionable youth. That being said…..nobody laugh. I dig Randy Travis. His Gospel songs are slow and simple, but remind me of my time living in the south. His voice is soothing and comfortable. Okay….gay country mode off……bring on the fake blood.
-PC

You’ve got a Friend- James Taylor
When I hear this song I like to think that JT is actually my friend, and that all I have to do is call out his name. Also, his promise is not only “I’ll be there,” but “I’ll come runnin’.” I pray that I can be that kind of friend for somebody. And I do know that Carol King wrote that song.

Someone Saved my Life Tonight- Elton John
“It’s four o’clock in the morning, dammit- listen to me good.” Greatness.

Prodigal Son Suite- Keith Green
I wore out my Keith Green CD in high school (in the 90’s, not the 70’s). I love the end of the song where the father spots the son coming down the road, and the song goes back to a major key (forgive me, music gods, if that’s not really what happens in the song).

Fix You- ColdPlay
Believe it or not, I first heard this song when Michael posted a Star Wars clip that had this song as the background music. This is the only ColdPlay song that makes sense to me.

Herbie Hancock - Possibilities

Stanley Clarke - Toys of Men

Marcus Miller - Silver Rain

Jamie Cullum - Twentysomething