Tunes of Note

About six months ago, I decided if I'm going to work at XM Satellite Radio than I need to be more knowledgeable about music. To reach that goal, I read Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time at the suggestion of a collegue and got subscriptions to Rolling Stone and Blender. I began checking out some music blogs online and iTunes for reviews and new artists.

To keep in tune with everything comes back to baseball, David O'Brien the Braves beat writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is a huge music buff. Through his wise counsel and DOB Blog, he introduced me to some bands. If you've ever listened to my show Baseball Beat than you know Charley Steiner is music guy as well. He keeps me searching for older albums while O'Brien keeps me looking for the music of today's generation. In 2008, I've been getting about an album a week.

I plan to post at least once a month recommending some of my favorite albums. I should offer a few disclaimers. You'll probably never see country, heavy metal, rap, or very much hip hop listed. I prefer to buy albums as opposed to getting singles, but that doesn't mean I never buy singles. As you'll learn, Tilly picks the singles. I think an album gives you a greater opportunity to learn and know a band or artist as opposed to a single. One final thing. I do not plan to give stars or rank albums. I'll only recommend it. If you are interested go to iTunes or your local music store (if you can still find one) and preview the album.

Commute

I generally listen to my iPod from the moment the door to our place shuts behind me until I get to work. The commute is about a half hour in the morning and around 45 minutes in the afternoon. Being the commuter who doesn't have to drive at any point of the commute, I am able to listen to music and read throughout my travels. This makes for a quick morning as you look forward to getting back to the album you were immersed in on your way home. I generally go through an album or two each day, but occasionally I'll get completed enveloped in an album as was the case with my the first album I'd recommend.

See Through the Static by Jack Johnson

After purchasing this album I played it continuously for a week. I'd get to about the tenth song Go On by the time I got to work or home. The album is a soothing blend of lyrics that flow rhythmically through the strum of the strings on his guitar. As Tilly can attest, I am not a lyric guy. I can enjoy the sound and beat of the music, but have no comprehension of the words to the song. I could hear a song a hundred times and I'll never sing the song flawlessly. I will never realize this as I try to "sing-a-long" while we drive. While its endless amusing now, I figure by our 40th wedding anniversary it will be quite the annoyance. I might need to scratch 40th and put fifth instead. I recommend this album to anyone looking for something to cruise to Florida or date night to. Favorite songs: Hope; They Do, The Don't, Go On

Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend

If ever there was a band that had next to nothing to do with its name, its Vampire Weekend. When I first heard the name of the band, I was expecting some sort of goth, metal sound. That couldn't be further from the truth. The band is made up of four Ivy League graduates who met at Columbia University. They describe their music as "upper west side soweto". I tend to think they sound similar to Paul Simon with a very tropical sound. With this second recommendation, maybe I am showing my desire for a vacation but again it sounds like a drive in a convertable in Cape Cod. My favorites songs are Oxford Comma, A-Punk, Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa. If you hear Kwassa, you'll definitely think of Simon. As a side note, Vampire Weekend was in D.C. last week at the Rock & Roll Hotel and I missed it. I didn't notice it until I was searching for concerts Sunday afternoon. The same thing happened when Josh Ritter came to town. I'll just keep my fingers crossed that they come to XM sometime in the near future for a concert.

Tilly Pick

While I am an album guy, Tilly is all about the singles. If I am getting single its generally because Tilly heard something and wants me to track down the song. If you've seen the commercial for the new MacBook Air than you've heard New Soul by Yael Naim. While Apple has become the kings of advertising, they tend to pick the right song from the right artist at the right time thus propelling them to stardom. Just ask Feist as her album The Reminder took off after her song 1, 2, 3, 4 aired during a commercial.

Hope you try out some of these albums and/or singles. If you do, drop us a line in the comments section with your thoughts. For the next Tunes of Note post, I'll cover my favorite albums of 2007. Yes, two months late. Can't let anyone missout on The White Stripes' Icky Thump.

*For the uninitiated, if something is bolded and/or underlined than there is a link that will take you to a website with more information. I figure you know this, but thought I'd post this just in case.