Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The Music of Summer 2010

Here in Houston, we've got our first taste of cooler weather. It'll only get up to the mid 80s today. By Texas standards, it's time for a jacket.

As my listening habits naturally follow the seasons, I thought I'd give a rundown of some of my favorite songs from this past summer. I put them all on a CD and have been listening to it during my commutes. See what y'all think.

Haven't met you yet - Michael Buble - If there's a favorite song for the year, this one gets it. Absolutely love this tune.

Nobody's Perfect - KISS - From Sonic Boom, the new CD. This song--and the CD as a whole--hearken back to KISS's original mission statement: to be the Beatles on steroids. This is a good, old-fashioned rock and roll tune and I'm tapping my foot every time.

Someday - Rob Thomas - All this guy does is write great, catchy pop tunes. We should all be so fortunate.

Hey, Soul Sister - Train - No, I haven't grown to hate it. In fact, I've pulled out my guitar and am learning to play it. You know you're old when the reference to Mr. Mister is considered classic.

Tighten Up - The Black Keys - My favorite new "discovery" of 2010. Excellent CD and this is my favorite tune.

American Slang - Gaslight Anthem - The descendants of Springsteen. Put this CD/song on your car radio, roll down the windows, and drive fast.

Anchor - Alejandro Escovedo - New CD by the guy who shared the stage with Springsteen in Houston back in 2008. While I don't immediately like the new CD as much as 2008's Real Animal, it's good to see (let's say it again) good old fashioned rock and roll still being made well.

Mockingbird - Rob Thomas - I could have put most of the songs from his 2009 CD on this list, but left it at my two favs.

Need You Now - Lady Antebellum - I love a good breakup song and this is among the best of the lot. The dueling singers, male and female, put this in a class of its own.

Heartbreak Warfare - John Mayer - Part two of my breakup mini-trilogy. I'm still a sucker for a mix CD with a perfect track order.

Breakeven - The Script - This one grew on me and, through multiple listens, have grown quite fond of it.

The High Road - Broken Bells - You've heard it on some commercial (can't remember the one). One of the few "indie" songs I listened to while the sun blazed down.

This Too Shall Pass - OK Go - I'll admit that the video is what hooked me.

Ishin Densy - Keane - As a child of the 80s, I've grown to dislike a lot of it. However, Keane's new CD channels early 80s Brit-pop to make a new sound for themselves. Later on the CD, they pull out the Rocky theme song.

Southern Pacifica - Josh Ritter - One of the fun discoveries via the Starbucks/iTunes free songs. Really dig the chilled-out nature of this song. Makes me want to get to the beach with my guitar, watch the sun set, lit a fire, and play.

Summer Day - Sheryl Crow - Sheryl does "Motown" with a California vibe. If Ritter's tune is the song I listen to at sunset, Crow's song is the one you listen to during the day while you're driving to the beach.

California Gurls - Katy Perry - Yes, I like this song. The first five or so times, I didn't. The next one hundred, I got to where I really like it.

Modern Day Delilah - KISS - The lead track off Sonic Boom and the opening song at the recent concert here in Houston. KISS was my first, favorite band. With Sonic Boom, they've captured their mid-70s sound. The guitar solo by Tommy Thayer is fantastic.

That's my list. Are there any songs you've loved this past summer? And come back tomorrow for Forgotten Music.

4 comments:

Perplexio said...

Some of the somewhat new songs I heard over the past few months that I've grown to enjoy:

Gotye - Hearts A Mess: Brilliant indie electronica from Down Under. Normally this stuff isn't my bag, but was introduced to the music by an Aussie music blogging couple <a href="http://yourzenmine.blogspot.com</a>YourZenMine</a> and was and still am quite taken by it. Wally De Backer has a great voice that suits the sonic pallette from which he samples quite beautifully.

Black Country Communion - <i>Black Country</i>: This one just came out last Tuesday. The title track from the supergroup's debut album. Deep Purple's Glenn Hughes handles most of the lead vocals and that cat still has a serious voice and tremendous range on him. There's a lot of great songs on the album but the title track thus far is my favorite. Given that Jason Bonham is the drummer these guys sound like Led Zeppelin meets Deep Purple with a 21st century twist to them!

Oh and the wife & I have been playing a bit of the new Maroon 5 as well as the latest Train album. I dig the Train album but I haven't heard enough of the new Maroon 5 to return a verdict just yet.

Unknown said...

I was happy to see that you gave a mention to The Gaslight Anthem. My brother turned me onto them and I've fallen in love with these guys. Their first album, Sink or Swim is absolutely brilliant.

Evan Lewis said...

My favorite music this summer came on three of Putumayo's Caribbean collections. Great stuff by groups I've never heard of and can find almost nowhere else.

Randy Johnson said...

I'm a longtime KISS fan(saw them live twice before they removed their make-up), but not familiar with this one. I'll have to check it out.

I first became aware of The Black Keys when Bill Crider posted on them. I've grown to love their eclectic style.

I think all I ever heard of Sheryl Crow was her first album(hey, I just I'm talking albums; chalk it down to my advanced age of sixty-one(next month)).

The rest I don't know.

The releases(I'm getting there) playing a lot this summer on my computer(I ripped it to my music file so I could listen while I work) are Les Baxter's Panic In Year Zero(recommended by Richard Robinson which, I believe, he got from a post I did on the movie of the same name) and a couple of Stevie Ray Vaughan sets.