John Mayer - Continuum

I caught John Mayer a week or so ago on the PBS Show, "Austin City Limits". What a great show! Nothing fancy, just some great grooves, deep, meaningful lyrics and great vocals. The band was flawless, and John's guitar playing keeps getting better and better every time I see him play live. By the way, I have to mention something here. Although I suppose he is a good-looking kid, I can't stand to watch his facial expressions. It's like trying to watch Joe Cocker or something. One side of his face is fine, usually smiling when he is really getting in to it, but the other side of his face looks like it's trying to vomit! Oh, well, as long as the music is good, don't change a thing, John! I'll close my eyes if I need to.

The most amazing thing to me, is when he is laying down complicated guitar rhythms, he can still sing as comfortably as if he wasn't playing at all. Actually, I think the more difficult it is to play, the better he will play it. It seemed like he got bored sometimes playing his actual solos, and couldn't wait to get back to slapping a rhythm out. If you have the CD, you can hear what I'm talking about on the song, "Gravity".

Well, everyone has heard the song "Waiting on the World to Change", so I won't give you much on that one. It's success pretty much speaks for itself. Every track on the album is good, though, with some rising above the others. It comes with a second disk of live tracks, which I like, because it gives the band a chance to groove out on a couple of the songs. The song "Belief", for instance, sounds like it is meant to be played live.

One of my personal favorites is "Gravity", which kind of speaks about life's struggles, and how no matter how hard you try, there is always something trying to pull you down.

On the song "I Don't Trust Myself", there is a really eerie sounding harmony, which I thought at first was a pitch modulator on the lead vocal, but I think he actually plays the melody on his guitar, and sings the harmony. It's an odd combination of sounds, and a unique trick.



I think the most honest, heartfelt track is "Stop This Train". (The video is shown above, from a fan who posted it on YouTube. There is a video from the "Austin City Limits" show, but the sound is soft, so I posted this one instead), in which John addresses the subject of inevitable death, and his fears of growing old and living the rest of his life without his parents. In fact, it includes a conversation with his father (real or made-up, it's still a great reflection), in which his "old man" says "Turn sixty-eight. You'll re-negotiate". He also eluded to this thought on "No Such Thing" from "Room For Squares" when he wonders if his parents "wished for anything better".

I would call 3 of these songs Break-up Songs, "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room", "Dreaming with a Broken Heart", and obviously, "I'm Gonna Find Another You". The songs are published and copy written in 2006, but you can't help but think that these might be written about a certain Ms. Simpson. Who knows?

Here is the full song list:

Waiting on the World to Change
I Don't Trust Myself (with Loving You)
Belief
Gravity
The Heart of Life
Vultures
Stop this Train
Slow Dancing in a Burning Room
Bold as Love
Dreaming with a Broken Heart
In Repair
I'm Gonna Find Another You

KT Tunstall - Eye to the Telescope

I thought that KT Tunstall was fairly new to the music scene, but the 28 year old Scottish singer/songwriter/performer has apparently been playing with several different bands throughout the UK, and has developed a huge following there. As a matter of fact, her debut solo album, "Eye to the Telescope", although not released in the US until 2006, had already been on the charts in the UK since 2004.

The following performance of "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on the UK TV show "Later with Jools Holland", was the one that really got her solo career moving.



Her big break in the North American market came when the "American Idol" contestant, Katharine MacPhee, chose to perform "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" for the show. The song rose up the Billboard charts after that. The irony here is that KT admittedly loathes shows like "Idol" because the performers are completely "controlled" by the producers of the show.

Although "Black Horse" has been her most popular song, there are many other great tracks on the CD, including the spacious and dreamy "The Other Side of the World", the spiteful "Another Place to Fall", the bluesy "Miniature Disasters", and the soulful "Stoppin' the Love".

"Suddenly I See" is another track that has gotten some attention on the charts. This track is fun and uplifting, with a tempo that I would call a "fast walk". One of those songs that if you're not careful, will be stuck in your head all day.

Here is the full songlist:

The Other Side of the World
Another Place to Fall
Under the Weather
Black Horse and the Cherry Tree
Miniature Disasters
Silent Sea
Universe & U
False Alarm
Suddenly I See
Stoppin' the Love
Heal Over
Through the Dark

KT Tunstall combines a lot of styles from female artists that I enjoy, and I would recommend this album to anyone who enjoys Melissa Etheridge, Sarah McLachlin, Bonnie Raitt, or Sass Jordan.

Welcome to the Beat Writer!

A critic? I wouldn't really call myself that. I am just a fan. There are few things in this world that can make you feel, I don't know, alive?, relaxed?, sad?, angry?, satisfied? Or is it just that? Yeah. There are few things in the world that just make you FEEL, like the sound of a good song makes you feel.

And when I hear a good song, or a good artist, or something odd or interesting, I like to share it with people. And by share it, I don't mean illegally download the files off of the internet, and then make copies for everyone that I know. That's not sharing. Especially with artists that I enjoy. Why would I want to steal from them? Sure, some of them are multi-millionaires, and maybe they can afford it. So what? They made music for my enjoyment, and if I like it, I will buy it. Besides, I like to OWN my music. I like the CD artwork, the lyrics, the credits, everything. I want to know who wrote the song, and who plays each instrument.

And the sound? Why would anyone have the need to have 40,000 ultra-compressed songs in mp3 format? Most of the time, they sound like crap! It took the music industry years and years and years to get the music to CD quality, and now you just want to compress all that great sound down to a size small enough to download? Not me. I would be happier with just ONE good song on CD. I didn't suffer through eight-tracks and cassettes just to revert back to bad music later.

Anyway, here is my first post, and I am already on a rant! This should be fun. I will do my best to cover as much music as I possibly can, and give you my honest opinion about it, if anyone really wants to know what I think. I will try to get as much info as I can about the artists and music, and post videos when I can, too. I will also leave links for you to buy the CD's off of Amazon.com, so that you can experience the music too. Please, buy them if you like them. I want all musicians to get paid for their work. Thanks and enjoy.