Val Emmich is a talented singer songwriter from New Jersey. I was first introduced to him in 2004 while working in college radio. I played “Privacy Attracts a Crowd” from his major label debut Slow Down Kid. Emmich recorded another album entitled Sunlight Searchparty in 2006 after splitting ways with Epic Records. His latest effort is entitled Little Daggers and it takes its name from a lyric in today’s song. I first heard “Get On With It” playing over the loudspeaker at a store in a mall this past December. It was immediately catchy and I was honestly singing along before the song ended. I remembered the lyrics and used good old Google to figure out that it was Emmich. Once I looked at the album cover for Little Daggers, something seemed familiar about him. I realized that he had guest starred on an episode of one of my favorite shows 30 Rock as Tina Fey’s much too young love interest. He’s also been on a few episodes of Ugly Betty. This is the only song I have heard from Little Daggers, but it is an excellent slice of pop rock with a great hook and clever lyrics.
It’s been six years since Mae released their debut album Destination: Beautiful on Tooth & Nail. I’ve been hooked on them ever since hearing “Summertime” all those years ago. Since that time Mae has released two other records. In my meaningless opinion, their sophomore release The Everglow will go down as one of the top ten albums of this decade. It’s nearly flawless in execution, with each song perfectly placed in sequence and balancing equal parts rock and pop. Mae had a slight misstep in 2007 with their third album and major label debut, Singularity. It was their first album for Capitol Records and the band went for more of a radio ready rock sound. It was by no means a bad album, but it fell short of the greatness that longtime Mae fans knew they were capable of. Shortly after the release of Singularity, the band parted ways with two of its founding members, bassist Mark Padgett and keyboardist Rob Sweitzer. In 2008, Mae split with Capitol and are now forging ahead as three piece with no label and a new direction. At the end of last year the band self released a DVD documenting the five year anniversary of the release of Destination: Beautiful along with a new recording of “Embers and Envelopes.” The band also announced an ambitious plan: to release one new song every month of 2009 and allow fans to pay what they want, with all proceeds going to charity. Since January 1st, the band has raised over $12,000 for Habitat for Humanity to benefit a family from their area of Virginia. The current project is just the beginning. The band plans to fund other endeavors as the year progresses. You can read all about their plans here. In addition to releasing the songs online one at time, Mae plans to release 3 EPs throughout the year. They will be titled (M)orning, (A)fternoon, and (E)vening, each containing four songs. It’s an ambitious and unique way to go about getting music directly to fans, without label interference. As for the music, I must say I’ve been impressed with the two songs Mae has released so far. The first song, “The House That Fire Built” harkens back to elements of the old Mae that were missing on Singularity. Lyrically the song is one of their most hopeful, all about starting over again and being better than before. “Boomerang” was their release for February and while it is guitar heavy, it’s also one of their more pop oriented tracks with great melodies and even a little saxophone in the breakdown, but not in a bad way at all. Both songs can be downloaded at whatismae.com. In the changing landscape of the music industry, Mae are making their own way and proving that a band that has worked hard to build a loyal fan base and continues to release quality music can make it without a label. They are kicking off their spring tour in April, so be sure to catch them if they come near you. You won’t be disappointed.
Audrye Sessions are a great new band from the Bay Area of California but upon first listen they could easily be mistaken for the next British buzz band. Front man Ryan Karazija’s voice sometimes recalls Matthew Bellamy of Muse or even Thom Yorke of Radiohead. Their debut self titled album is a collection of songs written over the first few years of the band’s existence, some which originally appeared on their self released CD Braille. The band’s sound is mostly guitar driven with some keys and pop elements showing through on songs like “Relentless” and “New Year’s Day.” They also know how to bring the rock on songs like “Julianna” and “The Paper Face.” As much new music as I come across, there are actually very few new bands that I listen to more than once and keep coming back to. Audrye Sessions are the most pleasant surprise so far of 2009. The band are gearing up to head out on tour with one of my other favorites, Manchester Orchestra, which should be an amazing show. Today’s song is the album’s lead off track and a pretty great example of what to expect from Audrye Sessions. For the stellar price of $5.99 on Amazon, there is no excuse to not own this album.
Mute Math are one of the more innovative and original rock bands playing these days. The four-piece from New Orleans has been wowing crowds with their unique brand of electronic pop rock since 2003 when they released their debut EP Reset. The band released their self titled full length debut in 2006 on their own label, Teleprompt Records. The band rose to prominence when the video for the second single “Typical” garnered airplay on MTV and Fuse and led to the band making the rounds on the late night talk shows. Their national popularity continued to grow as they brought their energetic live show to thousands at festivals such as Bonaroo and Lollapalooza as well as Warped Tour and their hometown Voodoo Music Festival. Mute Math has been working on their sophomore record for nearly two years now and have finally announced a tentative release of August this year. Today’s song is the title track from the recently released four track Spotlight EP. The song was originally featured on the soundtrack to the movie Twilight back in November. The EP is rounded out with a new b-side as well as an instrumental demo and a remix of “Spotlight.” The song is great and if it’s any indication of what Mute Math are cooking up for LP2, August can’t come soon enough.
Two Tongues is new super group of sorts comprising members of Say Anything and Saves the Day. It all started when Say Anything front man Max Bemis and Saves the Day singer Chris Conley teamed up for a cover of Bob Dylan’s “The Man in Me” for a tribute album. Out of that collaboration a friendship was born and subsequently the two decided to write and record an album together. The band is rounded out by Say Anything drummer Coby Linder and recently departed Saves the Day guitarist Dave Soloway on bass. On their self-titled debut, Two Tongues have crafted an album of exceptionally tight and catchy rock songs that draw from the strengths of both songwriters. Bemis and Conley trade off vocals on most tracks, taking turns at the forefront. The songs themselves are similar to those found on Say Anything’s debut …Is a Real Boy and are somewhat reminiscent of Saves the Day’s seminal 2001 album Stay What You Are. Both songwriters have a knack for being quite dark lyrically, sometimes even bordering on the disturbing. However, the lyrical content of Two Tongues never veers too far in that direction. The songs mainly deal with relationships and in some cases, such as on “Wowee Zowee,” the friendship between the two. One of the most interesting things to keep in mind when listening is that Bemis has stated several times that Saves the Day are his favorite band and a major influence on his own songwriting. I’m guessing it was a huge thrill for him to be able to write a record with Conley. My only complaint about the record is that it is quite concise. The 13 tracks clock in at just over half an hour, with fewer than half breaking the three minute mark. I suppose that’s alright considering that’s the type of songs the duo write, but it kind of makes it feel like it goes by too quickly. Today’s song is the album opener and one of the stronger tracks in my opinion, although there are no duds. Bemis and Conley continue to stay busy with their day jobs. Saves the Day plan to release Daybreak sometime in 2009 while Say Anything are prepping a self titled disc to also hit stores by the end of the year. I look forward to both of those records, but until then I will continue to enjoy Two Tongues and hope that this won’t be the last collaboration we hear from Bemis and Conley.
So it would appear that I am all talk when I say that I'm going to keep this blog going. I had planned on trying to do it every day in February but you see how well that worked out. I had been doing the third week of every month but that's just too spread out. So I've come up with a solution that I think I'll be able to stick to. I'll be posting new songs every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Hopefully I won't be too lazy to come up with 12 songs a month. At this point I pretty much have to do it to prove to myself that I'm not that lazy. So there you have it, new posts starting Tuesday. Stay tuned.
One new song everyday until I get tired of doing it again. Click on the artist's name to get more information about them. Click on the album art for purchase information. Click on the play button to listen for yourself. Enjoy.
Val Emmich is a talented singer songwriter from New Jersey. I was first introduced to him in 2004 while working in college radio. I played “Privacy Attracts a Crowd” from his major label debut Slow Down Kid. Emmich recorded another album entitled Sunlight Searchparty in 2006 after splitting ways with Epic Records. His latest effort is entitled Little Daggers and it takes its name from a lyric in today’s song. I first heard “Get On With It” playing over the loudspeaker at a store in a mall this past December. It was immediately catchy and I was honestly singing along before the song ended. I remembered the lyrics and used good old Google to figure out that it was Emmich. Once I looked at the album cover for Little Daggers, something seemed familiar about him. I realized that he had guest starred on an episode of one of my favorite shows 30 Rock as Tina Fey’s much too young love interest. He’s also been on a few episodes of Ugly Betty. This is the only song I have heard from Little Daggers, but it is an excellent slice of pop rock with a great hook and clever lyrics.
