Jeffrey Foucault - "Wild Waste and Welter"

I am completely and utterly in love with this song. It's the epitome of Blues: the lyrics, the guitar, just the whole feel of it. I love Blues, but it's hard to find really good Blues.

This song does something incredible to my ears, and I'm not sure if there is a right word for it. It makes me want to sing and dance and learn how to play the guitar. And the lyrics are truly haunting; a perfect pair to the incredible beat of this song.

And can we talk about his voice for a moment? Because damn. Foucault sings this song with his soul. He makes it sound a bit lazy, but still with an intensity that makes me take a step back while trying to remember to breathe.

This is a song I can listen to over and over without getting sick of it.

You can listen here: http://new.music.yahoo.com/jeffrey-foucault/tracks/wild-waste-and-welter--31793316

But I highly recommend the acoustic version, if you can find it. Because it's a completely different listening experience.

Ryan Levine - "Don't Walk Away"

I'm not exactly sure how long this link will last, but click it and listen to "Don't Walk Away" by Ryan Levine:

Don't Walk Away

The song is beautiful, and the singer has this kind of haunting loneliness in his voice, in the way he sings it.

I never knew exactly what I'd find
Looking down the road of another life
And I never really meant to leave your side
Looking down the road of another life

There is such an intense longing in the lyrics.

No, don't walk away
Tell me all the steps I need to take
No, don't walk away
I know what a fool I've been, and I'll clean the mess I've made

Desperation, and sadness. But the music is soft and beautiful, like his voice.

I heard this song on Numb3rs, my new love affair, and I'm thrilled I heard it. It has made me cry more than once today.

But I'm OK with that.

Matt York - "Death Came a Knockin''

I can only find a live version of this song, but click the link and you'll be pretty happy you did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrkctt5SLa4

I can't even blog about this properly. This song, and his voice, and the fact that I've had it for a long time and didn't even REALIZE. Listen to that voice!

Just listen to it. And then listen to anything else you can by him, because his voice will blow you away!

Talk about SOUL.

This song is worth the $0.99 on iTunes.

Lynam - "It's All in Your Head"

Lynam. Found these guys completely by accident, flipping through mom and dad's satellite radio channels when I was visiting one weekend. And since then, they never let me down.

The thing I love about this band is they have such a unique sound. It's kind of like reinvented old school rock, and every now and again they mix it up with a hint of bluegrass. Two of my favorite things.

I chose "It's All in Your Head" because I'm in a rocking kind of mood today :-P I love the way this song starts, and true to Lynam fashion, they completely rock that guitar.

There are some songs I listen to and love the lyrics so much that I end up loving the song more. And then there are some songs I listen to and the music trumps the lyrics. The lyrics to this song are somewhat forgettable, not anything thought-inducing, in my own opinion, but the music is just plain awesome that it doesn't even matter.

And speaking of awesome? That guitar. Wait until you're about 2/3 in, and you'll know what I'm talking about. These guys know what they're doing. And if you doubt their guitar playing skills, check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JultSpWdhQc

That kid knows how to play.

I also highly recommend their songs "Save My Soul" and "Just Say Anything".

Check out a live version of "It's All In Your Head" on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5UqJTpHJR0 (caution: explicit language)

Nightwish - "Over the Hills and Far Away"

My little sister doesn't realize I listen to other albums by Nightwish besides their Once album. Just because Once is my favorite, doesn't mean I don't love others.

"Over the Hills and Far Away" is an earlier Nightwish song and it's just plain amazing. One of my favorite things about Nightwish (besides Tarja Turunen) is the fact that their songs, such as this one, tell stories. Their lyrics are really simple stories, but they make such an impact. They take me to a completely different universe, so to say, because their songs/stories have this fantasy, mythical vibe that make you think of heroes and magic and supernatural creatures.

Tarja Turunen, the singer of this song, is no longer a part of Nightwish. She's the lead on most of the albums they have out, but they've since replaced her with Anette Olzon (I think in 2007). Anette is a strong, decent singer, but she doesn't hold a candle to Tarja. Really, not many do. The woman is an incredible vocalist, which you can plainly hear if you listen.

I'm definitely a fan of this symphonic metal stuff, and this song has all the things I like in an epic song: Amazing singing, awesome lyrics, and a powerful chorus. One of the things I love most is a song that's going along and you're interested, you're thinking "Okay, I can get behind this", and all of a sudden you hear the chorus and it blows your socks off.

That's what this song does for me.

My favorite part of this song? 3:24 to 3:38, and you'll know why.

Check out "Over the Hills and Far Away" on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylhrQewk6lI

Blitzen Trapper - "Furr"

I heard Blitzen Trapper's "Furr" watching the TV show "Chuck" one night (watch it, it's awesome). As soon as it started, I knew I was going to be looking for this one.

So how do you describe this band? It's a little different, like mixing Folk music with Rock music. And it's a pretty awesome combination. Not only are the lyrics great, but there's just so much to listen to in this song. And not the overwhelming kind of "so much", we're talking the Goldie Locks "Just right" kind. I mentioned I'm not much of a country fan, but I do love Folk music and I'm a big fan of bluegrass because, if you're good, then you really know how to incorporate the right amount of instruments without sounding like you're trying too hard.

It's a pretty easy going song. They have more upbeat ones, but that's for another day.

Oh, and their harmonizing skills are masterful. They give me chills, it's so awesome.

Check them out on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/blitzentrapper

Coheed & Cambria - "Welcome Home"

I'm not planning to make these insanely long, so check the songs out if you have a few spare minutes. You might be pleasantly surprised.

On to the song of the moment:

I've talked to some people about Coheed & Cambria and it usually goes either way; they love them, or they just don't.

It's usually the same argument when they don't: "I don't like the lead singer's voice."

And who am I to argue with that? There are plenty of songs I'm put off by because the singer just doesn't do anything for me. Most country songs, for example. The singing just makes me go, "Eh."

But I'm going to defend Claudio Sanchez, lead singer of this incredibly awesome band, because as much as I love a deep, raspy voice...This man can sing

"Welcome Home" is one of my favorites. It just rocks. The guitars are amazing, the drums, the background vocals...it's epic. I love epic music. But the thing that does it for me is Sanchez. The first time I heard him, I thought, "Oh now that's different." His voice is higher than I usually like when it comes to good, blood-pumping rock music. But the more I listened, the more in love I fell. His voice is absolutely beautiful, and it's like he can do anything with it. Paired with such poetic lyrics, as pretty much all of their songs have, they're everything I love about a band. Easily one of my favorites at the moment.

Check out the song on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC_xzitahlU (caution: explicit language)

Hurt - "Wars"

So here's the deal: I'm going to pick out some of my favorite songs and tell you why I love them. I do this anyway with a lot of you (you know who you are), so I've decided to post my love here on blogger.

Let's get started, shall we?

Tree recommended this band, Hurt, to me, and I quickly fell in love. Not unusual, as I tend to die over all things music.

Hurt is harder rock. The song, "Wars", is pretty typical these days, lyrics-wise. It's about war (duh, right?). We've all seen these songs popping up more and more, but this one is definitely something. If you can make it past the bleak lyrics (and come on, who doesn't want a good depressing song to brood over every now and again?), just keep your ears on the music itself.

I can't say I'm a music guru or anything, I just know what I like. And these guitars are sweet. Not to mention the beautiful arrangement during the chorus.

And did I mention his voice is raspy and gravelly and makes me swoon? I think some of us know how I feel about raspy voices.

Check out their myspace here: http://www.myspace.com/hurt