Listening Assignments 10.15.07

1. Raul Midon - State of Mind - I just saw this video of Raul on Letterman and...holy sh*t. He's got more in common with Stevie Wonder than just blindness. Percussive guitar playing akin to Kaki King. And mouth trumpet. Mouth. Trumpet. [from State of Mind|buy]

2. Via Audio - Harder on Me - Their LP finally dropped on October 2nd and as far as I can tell, no one heard it. Surprising because there was definitely a buzz about them back when I wrote these. Well they still sound great. So let's listen to this song and tell other people about it, deal? [from saysomethingsaysomethingsaysomething|buy]

3. Nada Surf - See These Bones - As per usual with the Surf, this is an enjoyable mid-tempo indie rock song. There's really not much to it than that; they've perfected their own brand. The bassline is really nice, especially with the tastefully-in-the-hip-pocket-drums. I could hear this in a movie, mostly because of the first line. [from Lucky (out 2.15.08)|info]

4. Clem Snide/Eef Barzelay - Lose Big - The squirrely-voiced Eefmonster, an LtL fave, is back. As Clem Snide again, this time without the other members of Clem Snide. Yes, I know it's confusing. Here's an interview with MOKB from just over a year ago about it. His love songs are hard to top. [from Lose Big (out who knows?)|info]