i saw lovers in a window whisper "want me like time, want me like time"

I've been thoroughly convinced that Sam Beam is one of the best songwriters alive today, and the new Iron & Wine single, Walking Far From Home, provides evidence that Beam deserves such accolades. To me, Josh Ritter, Connor Oberst, and Beam are paving our generation's songwriting path...but don't get me wrong, there's a slew of quality writers just trailing them.

The new I&W single was released on Black Friday, as part of Record Store Day's Back to Black Friday and is off their upcoming album, Kiss Each Other Clean, to be released on January 25, 2011.



music saves.

AVSH 2010 Honorable Mention Tracks

The process of making the holiday album begins as soon as the previous years' album is finished. This October, I started to cut the years worth of songs down and finally, Thanksgiving week, decided on the twenty songs listed in the previous post. Here's a list of the last twenty songs that were cut from the album, making up this year's Honorable Mentions. I don't typically get stressed out or think on things too long, but this album, every year, keeps me up longer than it should...I fret over all of it, hoping with all I have that it will be enjoyed by those who receive it. Click on the artist name to visit their website, click on the song name to see/hear the track.


Tallest Man on Earth - Love Is All
Danny Malone - Song for the Year (70 views...wow).

The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio
The Hold Steady - Sweet Part of the City
The Black Keys - She's Long Gone
500 Miles to Memphis - Shots (things get real about the 1:40 mark, be patient).
Vampire Weekend - Run
Arcade Fire - City With No Children
Drew Grow & The Pastors Wives - Friendly Fire
Rogue Wave - Fear Itself (this minifilm teaser is all i could find...terrific track though)
Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs - Old Before Your Time
Mumford & Sons - Roll Away Your Stone
Josh Ritter - Change of Time
Jamie Mefford and Blue Light - This House of Cards (song not available, but you can hear it on their myspace by clicking the band name)
Frank Turner - The Road
The Middle East - Blood (thanks MB)
Ra Ra Riot - Boy
Jay Farrar & Benjamin Gibbard - California Zephyr (thanks TN)
Phosphorescent - Tell Me Baby (thanks DH)
Matt the Electrician - Faithfully (cover)
Drive-by Truckers - This F*****g Job


music saves.

A Very Schneweis Holiday, 2010

The sixth annual edition of A Very Schneweis Holiday is complete. This year was the toughest I can remember in terms of deciding which tracks would make it and what order to go with. This was a year where a handful of my favorite bands made terrific albums with holiday album worthy tracks, but I left them off because they've all had loads of recent commercial success. And don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with that, but I'd like to avoid any song I think is one of the best of the year ending up on the next Now That's What I Call Music album. Mumford & Sons, Vampire Weekend, The Black Keys, Band of Horses, Drive-By Truckers, The National, The Hold Steady, Josh Ritter and Ray LaMontagne all released albums that are in the running for my best albums of the year list, but since even the casual listener will have heard of and heard those bands, I decided to leave them off. That doesn't mean that I believe everyone who sees this list of songs will not have heard of the artist or heard the song...that's far from true. But the initial and chief goal of this project has always been to share music with people, and if it's on commercial radio, then there's a good chance everyone and their goat has heard it already. I'd like to thank all of you who had a hand in my musical experiences this past year...many of you were along for the ride in my relationships with each artist (even if it's one way) that I've chosen this year. And so, below is the twenty song list that made the cut this year. I hope you enjoy, and I hope you share on. Click the band name to go to their website, click the track name to view/hear the song.

1. The Radio Dept. - Heaven's on Fire
2. Moreland & Arbuckle - Bound & Determined (song not available)
3. Trampled By Turtles - Wait So Long
4. A Night In the Box - The Hustle
5. Cold War Kids - Audience
6. Cass Lowe - New Slang/Don't Panic (covers)
7. Rocky Votolato - Red River
8. Delta Spirit - White Table
9. Joe Pug - Speak Plainly, Diana
10. The Gaslight Anthem - The Diamond Church Street Choir
11. Frightened Rabbit - The Loneliness and the Scream
12. Sleigh Bells - Tell 'Em
13. Freelance Whales - Generator (Second Floor)
14. Wakey! Wakey! - Light Outside
15. Matt Pond PA - Specks
16. Langhorne Slim - Boots Boy
17. The Head and the Heart - Down In the Valley
18. Local Natives - Sun Hands
19. Yeasayer - Ambling Alp
20. Crystal Castles with Robert Smith - Not In Love

Music Saves.

are you as excited about me as i am?

Daniels during his first song

Last night Jeff Daniels played the Fargo Theatre. He played to a crowd of around a hundred. He didn't melt our faces with his guitar. He didn't blow us away with his vocals. What he did was much more extraordinary than that. He sat us down, told us stories, sang us songs, made us laugh, made us hurt, made us smile, and allowed us to walk out of that theatre better than we were when we walked in.

I first learned Daniels had turned musician in 2007, when I heard "Start At the End" on some NPR show...and I immediately purchased the album that song was on, called Together Again. Since then Daniels has continued to act and put out music, much of it to benefit causes in his home state of Michigan. He's touring this fall/winter, and if you have a chance to go spend an evening with him, you absolutely should. He's got a great presence about him, he interacts with the audience and it's clear that he wants everyone to feel like they gotten their money's worth. He's not a genre bender, he's not ground breaking, but he's clever, he's funny, he's smart, and each note and word are soaked in honesty, hard work, and humility. Below are four songs, Start At the End, a live version of A Revisionist's Mary Had a Little Lamb, a live version of Are You As Excited (About Me as I am?), and a live version of Mile 416. They are all very different songs, and to me, all very enjoyable.

Start At The End


Are You As Excited (About Me As I Am?)


A Revisionists Mary Had a Little Lamb


Mile 416


listen hard. it saves.