Archive
* Favorite Vocal Albums of 2011 *
I’ve been buying less music… or, at least a lot less mainstream (major label) music. This is also my fourth year now that I bought more instrumental CDs than vocal CDs. I think as I get older, I am drawn more towards jazz and other instrumental forms of expression. For that reason, the favorite vocal albums list goes first this go ’round. Hopefully my spilling out of music that I like finds interest with someone else. But if not, thanks for stopping by… check out the artists’ webpages, Facebox pages, yadda yadda yadda. A lot of these also made it on to my 2011 Mix CD (free streaming/download).
OK, now on to the best of what’s hit my ears this year…
Honorable Mentions: Iron & Wine – Kiss Each Other Clean, Tres Mts – Three Mountains, Pomplamoose – The Album You Bought At Our Show (Thanks for That), MC Frontalot – Solved and The Roots – Undun.
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Check out the 2011 Mix for some samples, click the Amazon buttons for other samples, and support the music if you like what you hear!
My Other Favorites of 2011 Recaps:
- Fave Concerts & Photos of ‘11 are recapped *HERE*
- Fave EPs/Vinyl/Live/DVDs/more of ‘11 are *HERE*
- Fave Instrumental Albums ‘11 are coming soon
- Old Years:
- 2010: Instrumental, Vocal, EPs/etc, Concerts,
- Best of the 2000s Decade (1-10, 11-20, 21-25)
- 2009: Instrumental, Vocal, EPs/etc, Concerts
- 2008: Instrumental, Vocal, EPS/etc, Concerts
- 2007: Vocal, Instrumental, Concerts
- 2006 & 2005
~Dan – np: Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
REVIEW: Pomplamoose @ Doug Fir (Portland, OR – 10/27/11)
FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM
I first heard Pomplamoose with their cover of the Lady Gaga/Beyonce tune “Telephone” and their video song concept: (1) what you see is what you hear (no lip-syncing for instruments or voice), and (2) if you hear it, at some point you see it (no hidden sounds):
Pomplamoose kept coming out with more and more clever video songs… that video alone is at 7.8 million views as of 10/31/11 (69 million total views on their channel!). The creativity from Nataly and Jack made me fall in love with their music – whether covers or originals. They each have their own YouTube channels (Nataly’s / Jack’s) and there’s also a Nataly side project with Lauren O’Connell called My Terrible Friend. Yes, they’re busy people. Go check them all out, you won’t be disappointed.
On to the show…
The opener was Louis and Genevieve…
They played about a half hour of electronic pop. A nice core sound, but it was difficult to hear the depth in the songs during the show. I think L&G’s music is superb based on some videos they’ve posted on their YouTube channel. I hate being negative, because hell if I could go up there and do what they’re doing… but I think their live show needed work… all said and done, they were a good warm-up act.
Pomplamoose came on and kicked right into their cover tune hit “Telephone”… and as expected, they were full of energy. I honestly don’t know how Jack keeps up the energy, but he was pounding away on keys all night. They had a full band; so Jack didn’t cover drum duties except for one song later in the set. Both Nataly & Jack looked like they were truly having fun… they were playful, smiling, and even giddy when microphone cables got tangled in chairs or when they had cellphone reception issues with the monitors.
As expected, they played a great mix of covers and originals. Since Pomplamoose is ubiquitous with YouTube, for songs below with a YouTube Video Song, click the “YT” link below. This is a rare show where it’s truly difficult to pick some favorite songs from the set. If I had to pick favorites, Telephone, Mr Sandman, River Shiver, and Bust Your Knee Caps would rise to the top, but in all seriousness – it’s hard to separate the creme de la creme. The sold out Doug Fir Lounge crowd got a full set of glorious pop…
Setlist: ~1.5 to 2 hours
- Telephone [Lady Gaga feat. Beyonce] {YT}
- Hey, It’s Pomplamoose
- Expiration Date {YT}
- If You Think You Need Some Lovin’ {YT}
- Hail Mary {YT}
- Twice as Nice [with drum solo] {YT}
- Beat the Horse {YT}
- Makin’ Out [Mark Owen] {YT}
- Nature Boy [Eden Ahbez] {YT}
- Be Still {YT}
- Jam
- Mister Sandman [The Chordettes] {YT}
- Things We Like In Hats
- Things We Like In Hats
- Things We Like In Hats [yes, they played it THREE times in a row]
- Bust Your Knee Caps {YT}
- River Shiver {YT}
- Achin’ Heart {YT}
- Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) [Beyoncé] {YT}
- September [Earth, Wind & Fire] {YT}
- Encore: Goodnight Song
- Sexy Time [goofing around, impromptu song]
- Centrifuge {YT}
The band had a special the album you bought at our show (thanks for that) CD that I picked up. As far as those not lucky enough to catch their brief tour, you can find their video songs on the YouTube links above (I’d recommend subscribing to their channel). You can also get their music via Amazon, iTunes or other e-tailers…
Their tour was very limited (Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Seattle, Portland & San Francisco), but hopefully they’ll head out again soon.
many more photos below
The Appropriate Linkage:
- Pomplamoose’s Site
- Pomplamoose’s Social Media Links (see below)
- Louis and Genevieve’s Site
- Louis and Genevieve‘s Facebook / Twitter / YouTube
- Doug Fir Lounge’s Site / Facebook / Twitter
Next show for me… Jason Webley & Mood Area 52 at WOW Hall (Eugene) tonight/Halloween…
~Dan – np: U2 – The Joshua Tree
POMPLAMOOSE PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2011 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution
(click for larger)
Pomplamoose in Portland (photos by the weekend)
Brilliant show by Pomplamoose last night at the Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, Oregon…
Busy week for me at work; so look for the Pomplamoose (Portland) and the John Scofield Quartet (Eugene) photos and a reviews by the weekend.
Cheers!
~Dan
Ben Folds & Nick Hornby & Pomplamoose
Sure, it came out a month ago, but I was waiting to post about it until I got a chance to listen to Ben Folds & Nick Hornby‘s collaborative album before I posted the video song to the Pomplamoose & Ben Folds (& Nick Hornby) song. Alas, the song isn’t even on the album (unless you buy the deluxe version)… haha. Good thing they didn’t make that an “album only” song on the iTunes version.
Anyway, here’s the great video song for “Things You Think“…
VideoSong, a new medium with 2 rules:
1. What you see is what you hear (no lip-syncing for instruments or voice).
2. If you hear it, at some point you see it (no hidden sounds).
Check out more video songs from Pomplamoose over on their YouTube channel. They’re rad video musicians. I got hooked after their version of Lady Gaga‘s “Telephone”…
Check out Ben Folds & Nick Hornby’s album, Lonely Avenue, over at the Amazons…