Mandolin Orange - Blindfaller

May 25, 2017

Mandolin Orange - Blindfaller 

This is the second album I've done from Mandolin Orange, but not my favorite. Such Jubilee will always be my favorite. This is by far my second favorite album by them no doubt. This album symbolizes many things for me. Its a start of many things for me. Mandolin Orange will be close to my hometown so you know I will be going to that concert. The love of my life has came to love them as well so it makes it all that much more enjoyable. I will then be attending the concert of one of my favorite bands I will also be attending it with the love of my life that also loves the band, because they have great songs. We also have associated songs between one another which makes the experience much more enjoyable. The concert will probably end up being more cerebral and emotional than any other concert I have ever been to. Other than that this band is one of the most fantastic bands I have ever heard. A little back story on how I found this band. A long long time ago before I paid for the Spotify service I had the free version. The free version consisted of having to listen to ads about every three or four songs. One of the ads was about a band named "Mandolin Orange" and how they had a concert coming up and an album about to be released and it would be on Spotify. I checked them out as soon as I had heard that ad. I fell in love with the band. The contrast between Drew and Emily is amazing. I normally don't like female singers, but I love Emily's voice. They don't have a single bad song. Every album they have I have listened to from start to finish and I have loved every song off each album. The two musicians/lovers work so well you can tell they were meant to do this. I suppose I should stop giving you my sob story and the bands background and just get on with the review right? Right! This album is a ten song album that starts with a real jam. "Hey Stranger" is a great song to start with that showcases the musical talents of both Emily and Drew, but really showcases Emily's voice. She starts this song with such powerful lyrics. I love Mandolin Orange and the fact they can flip flop with main singing roles. Emily takes this song and makes it her own without a doubt. "Wildfire" is the next song. A song that is a good mix between the two of them. It starts with Drew, but Em joins in at the most perfect times to give that contrast of sound. Somehow even a song that doesn't seem lyrically like a love song always ends up sounding like a love song to me. I guess that's one of the great things about making music with the love of your life. If the love isn't in the words you can feel it in the music, you can feel it in the flow of the song. "Echo" is a song that I have no clue what is going on, but I love it! I love it! The sound of the song and the flow of the lyrics. It is all fantastic. Again it sounds like a love song even though I don't believe it is. I just flows so endlessly that you can't help, but think that Drew is singing about another person. The next song is about the halfway mark to the album and another showcase for Em's voice. "Cold Lovers Waltz." This is a love song I believe. A song about a love that you want, but can't be obtained  yet. An abandoning love. That's another reason why I love this band so much. They tend to make music that pulls at you and yet you want to stick around to hear the rest of it. "Hard Travelin" is such a fun song to listen to. It starts out so fast paced and upbeat it just makes you want to tap your foot. The contrast between Emily and Drew when they sing the chorus is fantastic and the fact that Emily gets more into it and loud with every time they sing the chorus. It's just an all around catchy and upbeat song. Which is totally the complete opposite of the next song I'm going to talk about. "Take This Heart Of Gold" this song is a powerhouse of a song. A bundle of emotions thrown into one composition. The soft yet powerful electric guitar makes a huge imprint on the song. The tone, pace, and flow of the song gives you such a feeling of emptiness yet warmness at the same time. The lyrics are some of the most powerful I have heard/seen Mandolin Orange create. The dynamic of the two voices really gives this song a call and echo sound. Like he is getting answered for what he did wrong. If you are going to listen to this album you need to start with that song! That concludes this blog post! I give this album 🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊 out of five! Extravagant! Be sure to follow the blog and follow the blog's Twitter handle. @TysMusicExtrava

Favorite Tracks!

1. Take This Heart Of Gold
2. Hard Travelin'
3. Echo

I do not own any of the pictures or songs associated with this review. All rights belong to Mandolin Orange, and Yep Roc Records.

www.mandolinorange.com

www.yeproc.com/

BJ Barham - Rockingham

May 18, 2017

BJ Barham - Rockingham

As I sit here after a very hard day at the job I love I am enjoying a nice cold beer and talking to the love of my life on the phone I realize how great my life really is even though it is tough 80% of the time. As I got home from work I had a butt load of stuff I had to do when I got home. Laundry, more laundry, put away dinner, then the blog. Do not get me wrong I have probably the least amount of responsibilities out of any grown adult. I live a pretty great life, but there still things that need done during the day and I still catch myself complaining about life. I promise this blog won't turn into a lifestyle blog or anything like that. The only reason I bring that up is because BJ sings about all those things in this album. He sings songs that remind me of the love of my life. The love we share and how I would do anything for her and to see her smile. He sings about small towns like the one I live in and what they mean to the people that live there. So much of this album is what I know, what I have lived. BJ is also the singer and songwriter for another band I love called American Aquarium. I seem to love this album more than I do any album that American Aquarium has put out. This is a short album that satisfies your need for folk music, but not have it be overbearing. Although I love this album it also equally confuses me. BJ has many songs that kinda contradict himself. He has the song "Madeline" which sounds like to me he is singing to a daughter, but he posted an Instagram post on May 6th, 2017 of him and his wife at the Kentucky Derby saying that it was on their bucket list. They were wanting to accomplish a lot of their bucket list before starting a family. BJ also has the song "Unfortunate Kind" Which sounds like to me he is singing about loving a woman without fail. Going through life with her then her getting sick and passing away. His wife is still alive. I think.... Unless he had another wife. I kinda envisioned him talking to his grandpa or someone he knew and asking how his life was with the love of their life and them telling them that story and BJ writing a song about it. I may be right I may be wrong. That is one of the fantastic things about this album you can make it mean whatever you want. If you want to not know a single thing about BJ and think that he lost his wife or he is singing to his daughter then you can. If you want to learn about him and what he has in his life and think about what the songs might be about you can do that too and make up your own story of what it is. This album matches a lot of everything that people deal with. It can be the love of your life or the sadness of life itself. I think everyone can find something in this album. A lot of my favorite lines come from this album. On the song "Madeline" BJ has "I learned that we are taught not born with evil." and "Go out and find a boy that doesn't gamble with emotions and looks at you the way your mother looks at me." and "Hearing your own voice is the hardest part of singing. That should never stop you from trying to sing." The other song that has fantastic lines is "Water in the Well" a song that is on this album plus an American Aquarium album. The line that hits the most is. "I hear there's work in Richmond and some in New Orleans, but outside that Clarke County line is a world I've never seen. The paper says that the times are tough and the money's running low, but the bottom doesn't look so bad when the bottom's all you know. Dear heavenly father, I've come before you now. A bottle's in my left hand, a pistol's to my brow. The preacher says salvation will cleanse all my bad deeds, but I could never forgive myself for failing my family." That whole entire verse is so powerful. That is just something you don't get with pop music. Feeling. I think everyone would be able to relate to this album and everyone should check it out! I give this album 🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫 out of five! Extravagant!

Favorite Tracks!

1. Water In The Well
2. Reidsville
3. Madeline

I do not own any of the pictures or songs associated with this review. All rights belong to BJ Barham.

http://www.bjbarham.com/

Gorillaz - Humanz

May 3, 2017

Gorillaz - Humanz

This is going to be a very interesting review. First off we all know I love Gorillaz; they were one of the first blogs I did. I love their music and their creativity. The sound, the animation, the concept I love it all. I have been waiting for this album For-ev-er FOREVER! I woke up around one in the morning the day this came out. Instead of going back to bed I had to listen to it first. I did a quick run through of the album. Listened to the first minute or so to see if I would like it. If I didn't like it I would skip it after that amount of time. I went through almost every song and hated every one of them. My first impression was it was generic. Following the "popular" rap trends nowadays; auto-tuned and unauthentic. I waited way too long to just be disappointed. Tonight I am giving it another shot. I am currently re-listening to the whole album in its entirety. Current time: 10:15 and I am on the sixth song. I will continue this blog once I have finished the whole album...... Okay I'm back! Current time: 11:00 I have listened to the whole album now all the way through and I finally have formulated my opinion(I know no one cares.) I still stick by my first assessment. This album was not as good as I thought it should've been for how long it took them to make. Upon my second listen I did find songs that are good some that are tolerable and some that are downright horrible. The song "Hallelujah Money" is horrible. HORRIBLE! the song "Charger" is decent and can be listened to without wanting to rip your ears off. I may be being a little harsh on my beloved Gorillaz, but I expect nothing but excellence from them. I just didn't feel that with this album. I still think the album is technically sound and well done. I just don't like the direction it went in and how it sounds. I think they need to adopt their retro sound again. I believe this may be my very first "negative" review.... I give this album 🙅🙅 out of five........ Extravagant!(I guess)

Favorite Tracks!

1. Ticker Tape
2. Shes My Collar
3. Charger or Busted And Blue(I couldn't decide on this one)

I do not own any of the pictures or songs associated with this review. All rights belong to Gorillaz and Parlophone Records.

www.gorillaz.com/

www.parlophone.co.uk/