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Small Sur – Labor

Hi. It’s been a while, I know. But I have some important stuff to tell you. Namely: you need to listen to this tune.

So, here’s the thing… it’s a strange thing, listening to songs by friends. If you haven’t caught up on my past with Dave, you can check out my past posts here (Dave was #5 in my list of 30 South African Bands you need to hear), and here (I said some things about Dave’s debut album that came back to me when listening to this track, but more about that below…)

Anyway, back to what I was saying: it’s a strange thing. In a nutshell, Dave and I go back a few years. And as the guy who first inspired me to pick up a guitar, I have a lot to thank the guy for. So even though it’s coming up on a decade since I last saw the guy, I’m of course going to feel this completely unwarranted, unnecessary sense of parental connection with his stuff.

And that totally unwarranted, unearned feeling I have right now? Pride.

Back when I last wrote about Dave, I said that his debut solo album was good, but that I felt brilliance was still around the corner for Dave.

With this release, I think Dave has finally reached that level that I always knew he would. That level where he floored me. And I feel like he’s inspiring me all over again, like he did when I first saw him sitting on floor at camp, playing guitar.

In the end, like so many of us, it looks like all Dave was waiting for was the other piece of the puzzle. Which brings us, after a major meander, to the topic of this blog post – Blue and Bordeaux. Blue and Bordeaux are Dave McMillan, and his wife, Candice. Now, as I say, I haven’t seen Dave in a good few years, so I’ve never met Candice; but I can tell you that I bet her and Dave together are an unstoppable team. There’s a quality to this girl’s voice that you simply can’t describe in words — but that’s what music is for, really. And Dave’s voice is the best I’ve ever heard it. Together, the two seem the perfect foil for each other.

And, I kid you not, this song has me excited again. I’m blogging about once every four months right now, so you know I only pop my head up when I have something worth posting about.

Know Me Well, a tune off their forthcoming album, “Wanderlings”, is just amazing. It’s everything I always was waiting for from Dave. But, as it turns out, it looks like it was actually what I was waiting for from Blue and Bordeax.

Wanderlings is out, April 2013.

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Blue and Bordeaux – Know Me Well

***

1. THROUGH THE DEEP DARK VALLEY – THE OH HELLOS

I have a lot to thank The Oh Hellos for. 2012 saw me lose faith in the music blogging gig, and they were the band that managed to pull me back out of a serious “blogging funk”, with their release “Through the Deep Dark Valley” – which is easily one of the most sincere celebrations of pure music I’ve ever heard.

There’s something about this album that is at once totally accessible (in some respects, it sounds like a band you might have had playing on your block), while at the same time unspeakably beautiful. It’s a weird thing that I’m probably not explaining very well, but the music is… friendly. Warm. Welcoming.

I simply cannot believe that “Through the Deep Dark Valley” is the first full-length album from siblings Maggie and Tyler Heath. It’s just so emotionally rich, with a seamless story, it’s like they’ve been spinning these tales their whole life. An album that really does need to be listened to in its entirety to fully appreciate, I really mean it when I say, “Please listen to this”. Damn near to album of the year for me.

Stand out track: This is really a tough one, because, as a concept album, each song builds on the other. But if I had to pick one, I’d go for “Second Child, Restless Child”.

2. HANDWRITTEN – THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM

Straight up, straight forward, chest-beating rock tunes. And “45″ is pretty much a masterclass for bands on how to open an album. It’s just… well, perfect.

Brian Fallon has one of my favourite voices in contemporary music, and on “Handwritten”, he’s in amazing form; sounding even more raw and honest than on “The ’59 Sound” (which, incidentally, was in my “Best Albums of the Decade” post for 00-09, so their track record so far is pretty good with me).

There’s one thing that the Gaslight Anthem do so well, and I love them for it: when you’ve loved and lost, but want to pick your chin up and take on the whole world… this is the album for you.

Stand out track: “Here Comes My Man”

3. THE LUMINEERS – THE LUMINEERS

I don’t know what it is with Americana, but it seems to be the genre of music that just skips my head and instantly connects with my heart. I remember the first time I heard Whiskeytown, it was like that. And the same thing happened with the Lumineers. I heard “Flowers in your Hair”, and as soon as the percussion kicked in about 60 seconds into the tune, I was in love.

It absolutely freaks me out to think of this as a debut album. It’s just ridiculously accomplished. More than any band on this list, I think The Lumineers have an incredibly tough job ahead of them. Where they go from this album, I have no idea.

Stand out track: “Stubborn Love”

4. STRANGER IN THE FIRST PLACE – ROBERT FRANCIS

You know, the lack of recognition for Robert Francis still boggles my mind. I first wrote about him 5 years ago, when I heard his debut album, “One by One”. At the time, the guy was just 19, and inspired something close to hero worship in me.

The guy is now 25 (24 at the time of this album’s release), and still writing songs that are well beyond his years, telling his stories with a dusty road and jack daniels soaked tinge.

“Strangers in the First Place” probably isn’t going to be for everyone, and I accept that by now; but, to my mind, it’s probably one of the best alt-folk records of the last 5 years.

If there was one dude I wanted to be in my own musical career on this list, it’s Robert Francis. The guy is a musical titan.

Stand out track: “Some Things Never Change”

5. CHANNEL ORANGE – FRANK OCEAN

You know, to be honest, I’ll be very surprised if this album isn’t on 90% of the lists in this post. Frank has always been the most intriguing member of OFWGKTA to me, and when I heard “Channel Orange”, I knew there was a reason.

This album is just so, so ambitious. And there are really 100 reasons why it shouldn’t have worked. But it just does.
The thing I love about Frank Ocean’s stuff is that the guy just clearly knows so damn much about music and the shared history of genres… and he somehow takes that knowledge, tips his hat to tradition, and then steps on, pushing boundaries into places where no one else has the guts (or vision) to go.

I dunno. I guess what I’m trying to say is: this is creativity, pure and simple. And it completely blows me away. And while other albums may resonate more for me in terms of playability and comfort, this is – without question – album of the year for me. The scale of what this kid has accomplished is, quite frankly, unfathomable.

Stand out track: “Pyramids”

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Burgo’s Top 5 Albums of 2012

The usual caveat applies: these are “Burgo’s Best Songs of 2012″, so of course it’s a subjective list. Enjoy.
Oh… and despite the numbers, these really are in no particular order.

1. The Gaslight Anthem – 45
Pretty much a masterclass for other bands on how to open an album. A fantastic, straight-forward, fist-pumping rock tune. 3:30 of pure musical joy.

2. Robert Francis – Eighteen
Super tough call between this one and “Some things never change”. Really, I can’t tell you how I picked “Eighteen” between the two, apart from the mood I was in on the day. 5 years after first writing about Robert Francis, the guy is still soundtracking my life.

3. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Same Love
It says something about Macklemore & Ryan Lewis that the dudes can flip from the hilarity of “Thrift Shop”, and land with “Same Love”. There’s something incredibly warm about this tune, that keeps it from lapsing into the “society issue song” territory. It’s a heartfelt tale, and is one of my favourite songs of the year, both from a personal level and a musical appreciation level.

4. Polica – Wandering Star
Just a great, great album, but this track is undeniably the highlight. If anything, this live version is even better, but the recorded release still gives me shivers.

5. Frank Ocean – Lost
Man, it was a tough call between this one and “Bad Religion”. Both are amazing, but how awesome is this track from Frank Ocean? Just killer.

6. The Presets – Promises
You know, it’s not often you hear dance tunes on this blog. But “Promises” from Aussie outfit, “The Presets” is an exception. This is a tune, plain and simply. Dare you to not sing along.

7. Asta – My Heart is on Fire
So Asta was this year’s winner of Triple J’s “Unearthed High” competition. The “High” refers to “high school”. Yep, a high school girl wrote this song. Hard to believe, right? Honestly, one of the catchiest songs of 2012, high school student or not.

8. The Lumineers – Flowers in Your Hair
When that percussion picks up around 60 seconds into the song, I fall in love every time. Another great album opener, this tune clocks in at just 1:51… but for those last 50 seconds, I relive every happy memory in my lifetime. It’s that kind of feeling.

9. The Oh Hellos – Second Child, Restless Child
Damn near to album of the year for me, The Oh Hellos make me love music again every time I listen to them. Off their debut full-length album, “Through the Deep Dark Valley”, it should be noted that the album is a concept album and really should be listened to in its entirety to get the full value out of each song… but “Second Child, Restless Child” stands out as its own story.

10. Walk the Moon – Anna Sun
Seriously, if you can listen to this song and not sing along with the “What do you know? this house is falling apart/What can I say? this house is falling apart/We got no money, but we got heart” lines, then please leave a comment below. I want to know what it’s like on your home planet.

11. Milo Greene – 1957
Really surprised this track has slipped under the radar… it should be showing up on more end of the year lists. That “I’ll Go I’ll Go I’ll Go I” refrain is just killer.

12. Michael Kiwanuka – I’ll Get Along
Smooth, velvety, warm, funky… yeah, I can live with this tune.

13. Lord Huron – She Lit a Fire
The understated guitar lines in this song are a thing of absolute beauty. She Lit a Fire is a standout track on an album full of great tunes.

14. Of Monsters and Men – Little Talks
Of course this song had to be on this list. Of course, commercial radio stations did their best to ruin this song for everyone, but despite that, I had to include it.

15. The Tallest Man on Earth – 1904
As usual, Kristian Mattsson just kills it with nimble guitar picking and emotion-tinged vocals that just trip right all over your heart.

Full playlist:

This has been a post from Burgo's Music Blog

Burgo’s Best Songs of 2012

Not least of which, it’s a beautiful song.

This has been a post from Burgo's Music Blog

I don’t think Keaton’s that good an actor, I do think this is real, and I think it’s heartbreaking

So, a week or so ago a band called “Lambs Become Lions” dropped an email in my inbox about their new album, “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose”. The email was pretty brief, but they won me over with the way they finished off the pitch.

“Maybe this band becomes our lives. Maybe we play every city we can get to. Maybe we make tons of hopefully great music videos. Maybe we move on to new adventures. Maybe we don’t. For now, it’s all about this music.

It’s an incredible feeling having your own potential determined by those of us making the music – but we still want and love when people check out the songs. We’d like you to be one of the first.”

I’m a sucker for sentiments like that, so I gave the album a spin… and absolutely loved it. Problem is, I emailed the guys back to get a bit more detail about the band bio and so on (as their website hardly paints a picture), but still haven’t received a reply.

So, while this post is a bit light on band details, I will tell you that lead singer Eric Conlon has the kind of voice that just feels… comfortable. And the music itself feels… light. Basically, this is music that exemplifies the “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose” saying. And that’s a whole bunch of awesome.

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Lambs become Lions – Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose [STREAM]

In case you haven’t noticed, I haven’t been writing on this blog much these days. Part of that is just life getting in the way; getting married and starting a new job tends to have that effect. But perhaps the even larger part is that I just haven’t been inspired by much music lately, which is a terrible affliction for a music blogger.

Thankfully, then the Oh Hellos came around to change that.

The first full-length album from this brother/sister combo, “Through the Deep, Dark Valley”, is simply beautiful. A self-contained concept album, it’s one that you really need to listen to all in one go, in chronological order. When you do, you’ll find – like I did – that you hardly notice the passing of one song to the other. This is just a story that weaves emotion around you effortlessly, and by the end you feel… well, this is going to sound totally cliched, but redeemed. You really need to listen to the whole thing to get the full effect, but at the very least listen to “I have made mistakes” and you’ll know what I mean.

Seriously you guys. Listen to this music. I haven’t told someone to do that in a very long time, with much conviction. But you need to listen to this.

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The Oh Hellos – Through the Deep Dark Valley [STREAM]

Although the video (directed by one of my favourite actors, Idris Elba) is, well… a tad confusing, it’s undeniably one of the most beautiful strange things I’ve ever seen. And Elba is absolutely unforgettable in it.

Conveying this absolute sense of loss, and then undeniable, unfettered joy, it’s simply spell-binding. I think this video will tell a different story to everyone who watches it… but to me, the sheer fearlessness of it all is just absolutely crushing.

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Mumford & Sons – Lover of the Light [VIDEO]

Honestly, the Gaslight Anthem exemplify the saying that simplicity is beautiful. Just like this song.

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The Gaslight Anthem – Here Comes My Man [VIDEO]

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Antony Hegarty – Landslide (Fleetwood Mac Cover)