New Fall CDs #2: Maroon 5- Hands All Over

I need to preface this with a few statements: First, I'll say that I like Maroon 5, but I like them mostly for their work in 2005 with the hit CD "Songs About Jane". They aren't my favorite band, but "Sunday Morning" is one of my favorite songs ever. Keep this in mind while you're reading.

Fast forward to 2010, do I hate on Maroon 5 for changing their sound? Where do they stand in the picture of today's hot artists? I don't know the answers to these questions. I wasn't totally sure what to expect with this CD, and I still can't totally figure it out. It opens, of course, with "Misery". It's a solid track if you get past the 50 "oh yeah" shouts from Adam. Then they dancing shoes stay on with "Give a Little More", another ok groove that would've been unheard of from this band when they came out on the scene. "Stutter" is another track that I'm kind of indifferent about, it's ok, but I'm not going crazy about it. The next few tracks don't really stick out to me, until finally there is a memorable track. I can say that this song, "I Can't Lie" is my favorite M5 track since the "Songs About Jane" days. Maybe I like Adam's cool vocals with the word "feel" in the chorus, or the piano, or the cool breakdown part.

After that, the title track, "Hands All Over", kicks off. It's an ok groove song, but again nothing too crazy for me. Things get closer to the old "normal" for M5 with "How", a good song. Just when you think you know where they are going, another groove kind of song is thrown in before a decent ballad called "Just a Feeling". Another different song follows this, and the album ends with a totally out of place collaboration with Lady Antebellum.

Overall, this CD gives you a little of everything. You get the new Maroon 5, with shades of the Maroon 5 you knew 5 years ago, and a little dash of something else. You might not go crazy over these tracks, but at least there will always be a "Sunday Morning" around the corner.

-PK

Jason Mraz at EMU!

So I've seen Mr. A-Z twice before, but I had to work for this one, and it was totally worth it. I drove home in a storm so terrible that I probably should've pulled off the road. This post would be way too long if I told the whole story. I'll just say that after an unreal day, I ended up seeing one of my absolute favorite artists put on a show.

The show starts and out comes Robert Francis and his band. He was a solid opener, he looked like a guy out of Augustana, and that wasn't a bad thing. Actually, his songs sounded like them too.

An hour later, Mraz comes out with an electric guitar. To his right, an eco-friendly water bottle and a plastic container of fresh fruit. He kicks off with a new solo song called "They Shaped My Life". It was a nice, chill tune about giving thanks to volunteers, workers, the guy who beat him up when he was 17, basically everyone who had an impact on his life. Then the band enters with a cool groove type of song called "Up". Instantly, you see big changes. A lot of new band members, with the exception of the Grooveline Horns. It made for a slightly different concert, but it was still incredible. Jason grooved his way through the majority of his new CD, some new tracks, and the Reggae Remedy. He also did some great latin dancing with a girl from the audience. It's really hard to describe how great it was to see him live from a standing room floor, and this post would go into next week. So just go see him for yourself!

have a good weekend,

PK

New Fall CDs Part 1: Sara Bareilles-Kaleidoscope Heart

Alright, so I was one of them, one of the people who just downloaded Love Song and called it a day. But that was back in the day before I cared about the true value of the full CD. It's been a while since a piano singer-songwriter released a good album for me. I saw this, and decided to give Sara a shot.

Let me tell you, this CD was worth the $9.99 I spent at Target and more. It kicks off with a very different short acapella verse, the title track of the CD. This track sounds almost like Imogen Heap with Hide and Seek, maybe a little different. From there, we are taken through a set of vibrant and cool music. Here's what I love about about Sara Bareilles: she has really great vocals, harmonies, and her songs have personality. I think that vocals are becoming somewhat overlooked in today's industry. For example, Lady Gaga could fill up her fireplace with awards, but how much of her success has to do with her vocal ability?

Anyways, I also really like the emotion and raw feel of some of these songs. To be honest, I'm not sure that King of Anything is my favorite track. I really like that song, but I like this whole CD, even the last song: Bluebird. It's a really cool piano ballad. There a few cool piano ballads. Also, the use of strings is great in some of the tracks. One of the best songs on the CD really caught me by surprise, it's an acoustic track with no piano called Basket Case. She does a great job of weaving through different styles, and I hope you check this CD out! It was a pleasant surprise for me!

-Pat

Parmenter's Cider Mill!

So this is a first on our blog... A post with absolutely nothing to do with music! There's something to love about every season, but when Parmenter's opens it kicks off my favorite season, fall. I grew up about a ten minute walk from Parmenter's and have many fond childhood memories of donuts and cider, and feeding the ducks in the river with the leftover donuts from the day before. Now I make sure I make a couple trips back to Northville to eat my favorite donuts. Sometimes I tell myself that I just like fall because my birthday is in the middle of it, but something about the cool days, changing leaves, and football games takes away the sadness that the end of summer brings. Now that I think about it, I think I've written some of my best songs on cool fall days running through the arb. Well I guess I had to relate this to music... If you're not too far make sure you make it to Parmenter's. Enjoy your fall!

-evb

My New Toy!

I just bought this yesterday! I'm not sure if it will make it into any Soloists songs or shows but I'm always looking to expand my musical styles so we'll see what happens. Its been really hard to put down so hopefully I'll still be able to focus on other important things... like finishing my acoustic album and getting this live EP put together. Speaking of the live EP, I finally got the cable for my camera and realized I never installed the software on my computer, yet another setback. I'm really just trying to build up excitement for it.

In other news, we have a pretty exciting show coming up, more details to come. We've practiced a little so far, getting some new covers ready and working on some new songs. I'm not gonna lie, after spending the summer apart, our first practice session felt a little like one of those bands that get back together after 5 years of not playing. It took us about 20 minutes to find a song we both remembered all of... but fear not! things came together and I'm really excited for this show! Pat has some great new songs I can't stop listening to and I'll probably bust out a couple of my new songs as well.

In other other news, Pat's box drum is awesome and will definitely be at our show so if you're on the edge, come just for that!

-evb