Migration

We're ripe for change. Perhaps better said, we're ready for change. It's only natural right? Every so often a shift occurs. Sometimes unseen. Sometimes right in your face. Perhaps the best of all, is the quiet revolution. The slow burn of new ideas infecting one soul at a time. This country is built on shift, and why not? You could easily conclude it's a neutral experiment perhaps left to fend for itself. Or something like many of us do, started but not finished. I find in this country's short history change stems from many things, but perhaps nothing more profound than music. Just over a decade ago, online music review sites and blogs were emerging as new sources of music. The smallest one mand band in his garage or on his porch had a voice and in a night could have song recorded, a video and have it online for the world to see. It was refreshing for someone like me, who craves the undiscovered in music land. But it's not as easy as it once was. Our old reliable review sites have grown cold, boring. Expected. I try to follow as manny record labels as I can, through the regular social media channels and there's a pulse. A new wave if you will, unseen but certainly heard. I'd love to coin a fresh hip term for it, like EMO or INDIE, but at the time I feel it's best left to evolve. I don't want to disturb it. I've found over the past year more new bands off the radar, all with a common thread, based in sound. It's very exciting to me. A new "Roots" movement if you will that is germinating and will soon blossom. We see our heroes get complacent. Change their sound and sell records. Tour big and stay lazy. Not all of them. Some redefine themselves with each album. While I can't label this new bend I'm hearing and experiencing, it's gaining steam. All great moments in this country are aligned with music. Maybe that's by design, a sick marketing ploy via a "Wag the Dog" episode. We never know. While I feel overall this is a bit vague, I will continue to let it grow and blossom. Perhaps it will avoid definition - unrefined and natural.

Best of What I Heard in 2010 - Part 2

Here's the Rest of the List, off the beaten path and avoiding the obvious.

Glossary - "Feral Fire"

Save Your Money for the Weekend

The Mynabirds - "What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood"

Numbers Don't Lie

Futurebirds - "Hampton's Lullaby"

Sessions at American Songwriter

Foals - "Total Life Forever"

Blue Blood
Black Gold

Avi Buffalo - "S/T"

What's it In For?"

Sam Quinn - "The Fake That Sunk A Thousand Ships"

Hello


Worth a Listen
Black Dub "S/T"

Ring the Alarm

Best Albums I Heard in 2010, off the beaten path.

In no Order, bringing light against the grain.

Trampled By Turtles - "Palomino"

Wait So Long

J Roddy Walston and The Business - "S/T"

Pigs & Pearls

Fitz & the Tantrums - "Pickin' Up the Pieces"

MoneyGrabber

Secret Sisters - "S/T"

Tenesse Me

Cotton Jones - "Tall Hours in the Glowstream"

Somehow Keep It Going

The TIns - "S/T" EP

The Green Room

Mountain Man - "Made the Harbor"

Soft Skin

Ty Seagall - "Melted"

Girlfriend

Suckers - "Wild Smile"

Save Your Love For Me

Possibly more later . . .