Among Savages - Start At The Beginning

There are a few things I need you to do for me today. One, download a free copy of Tetrafusion's new EP Horizons, available on their website.  You could always donate a little something-something if you'd like, and my early favourites will be up soon, but you just need to get it. Now.  Two, download the free "Somebody That I Used To Know" video by Gotye from itunes, this week only.  It's the original of Dice Raw's "Game of Thrones Freestyle."  Enough said.

Now, can you do this one more thing for me?  Nashville's Among Savages is a one-man-band of epic proportions, and the fantastical "Start At The Beginning" from the EP of the same name is just as epic.  Let's think orchestral (a word I'm happy to use, because it is always in a good way).  Emotional.  Lush.  Delicate vocals and those wonderful instruments are the stars here.  This is a song for the indie darlings in all of us who are hopelessly addicted to the strings.  Or is that just me?  Or am I just darling?

"Start At The Beginning" isn't for the metalheads who read this (you exist, I know) or the rap fanatics (you definitely read my blog).  It is a song for those willing to take a risk.  I surprised myself by liking this track so much.  Why not surprise yourself on such a glorious day like today, where the snow is already beginning to melt and the sun was shining while it was up?  Be sure to start at the beginning.

Tetrafusion - Shadows

Why am I so excited for tomorrow?  Is it because I only have two classes, or the fact that I'm considering watching Glee's Michael Jackson episode?  No, it's mostly because Tetrafusion is releasing their new album via their website, completely free and completely legal.  Yes, you heard me right!  I haven't looked forward to a release this much since Chevelle's Hats Off The The Bull, which coincidentally was about two months ago.  Anyways, in anticipation, I have chosen to feature another of my favourite tracks from Altered State.  Here is....drum roll please..."Shadows."

This is not the prog metal you might expect from the Louisiana quartet.  What draws me to it so much is the fact that it is different.  And good.  Really good.  You don't need a lead guitar to make metal music.  How about a soft piano, and the intro lyrics rose petals wither on the floor, as I am left to douse the candles and close the door?  You won't hear pangs of Tool here, as you likely did with "The Deserter" (you listened to that, right?).  When the other instruments of the band are introduced, the song still retains its sad atmosphere.  This is fine, melancholy, son.  Here's hoping that tomorrow's Horizons has a few piano-heavy tracks for my liking.  Why don't we all find out together?  After all, it's free, and if it's free, it's for me.

Five Iron Frenzy - It Was A Dark And Stormy Night

If alternative music need something to save it in this day and age, why don't we make it the use of the brass section?  Me and the horns...it's something I can't pass up.  Denver seven-piece Five Iron Frenzy knows what I'm talking about, especially with the definitely-fun track "It Was A Dark And Stormy Night," a track that juts out from my Recently Added playlist as a few things.  Good, first of all.  Then there's catchy, flawless, enjoyable, uplifting...where could we go wrong here?

Beginning with the bray of the horns, and it was a dark and stormy night last night, bitter dark...you might realize this song is darker in content than it sounds, but that's because it's literally about a dark and stormy night and the hope that gets you through it.  Perhaps the uplifting feeling I got did come from the lyrics after all, and not just those wondrous sounds of the trumpet and company.  Oh, what I would give to play the saxophone like Jeff The Girl, or at least Lisa Simpson.  So there you go.  Listen and cheer yourself up a bit in the dead of winter.  What the hell are you waiting for?

Brooke Fraser - Something In The Water

Fun indie time!  In the dead of winter, when everything is blanketed in snow and the sky is nothing else besides a quilt of gray clouds, there are reminders of warmer weather everywhere.  For some reason, Brook Fraser's wonderful "Something In The Water" conjures the feeling of spring and summer...warmer weather in general (birds singing on my shoulder, in harmony it seems).  It doesn't hurt that the song is amazing too.

"Something In The Water" is an acoustic guitar-driven track with a clap-heavy chorus and folky female vocals that will make you drool.  Yes, I haven't been drooling over music in a while...but this chorus will cause a puddle of saliva to form on your keyboard.  Yum.  In three minutes, Brooke Fraser has you believing in love again, even if it's the result of something in the water.  So turn this on, plug your headphones in, and escape to a land where you can recline in a hammock on a balmy evening and summer love runs rampant.

There's something in the water that makes me love you like I do.

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Corelia - The Sound of Glaciers Moving

Out of San Diego comes the unsigned Corelia, a progressive metal band that strangely reminds me of one of the greatest Canadian bands ever...Protest The Hero.  I'll let you be the judge about that one, but I can hear pangs of Rody Walker and company in the four-and-a-half-minute "The Sound Of Glaciers Moving."  This is classic prog metal here, but what sets Corelia from their Canadian counterparts is that they're a little less thrashy, and a touch more atmospheric.  Trust me, I wouldn't compare anyone to Protest The Hero if they weren't just as good.

Now, Ryan Devlin is fairly good at showing off his vocal prowess in "The Sound Of Glaciers Moving," alternating between growls and clean vocals...and I love it.  I'm particularly fond of the powerhouse verse:

I could not have known
I would end up down here
So alone, can't stay here any longer
I know.
Can't you see it in the dark?
I've grown so cold

Amazing.  This is how the prog metal genre should regain its fanbase, from those who deem it "the furthest from metal."  Please, if Amaranthe is metal, then Corelia sure as hell is (not that I have anything against Amaranthe...).  So give them a listen.  If not for the vocals, for the guitars that will shred your face off if you haven't listened to any Early Man in a while.

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Ian McGlynn - Monsters Cry Too

Halloween is a holiday, right?  Well, it might be several months off from October, but why not have a wondrous, pleasant reminder of an always-fun, now thought-provoking day?

The always wonderful Ian McGlynn brings us "Monsters Cry Too," a single from 2010 that I came across during a browse through Noisetrade, another free (and definitely legal) music site.  You thought "Small Town, Big Hearts" was good?  Give this a listen.  A fantastical piano-laden track, "Monsters Cry Too" gives us a glimpse of October 31 from the monsters' point of view (I can't always be under your bed, or first in your fears).  Mr. McGlynn suggests that there is more to them than terror and sharp teeth, and does it beautifully.  I suddenly feel more sympathetic to whatever lurks under my bed right now, or whatever is living in the spare room across the hall.  After all, monsters cry too.

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Gotye feat. Dice Raw - Game of Thrones Freestyle

Sometimes you put on a song...and are at a loss for words.

I will first introduce "Somebody That I Used To Know" by indie fave Gotye, featuring Kimbra (this girl...she sounds like a good Katy Perry).  With a creepy instrumental side, and emotional vocals up to par with emotional lyrics...you have genius here already.  I highly recommend the music video.  One might ask, how could this get even better than it already is?

Now I will reintroduce Dice Raw, Roots contributor, Grammy-winner and the fantastic force behind the previously featured "Time Flies."  Mr. Raw takes "Somebody That I Used To Know" and records his raps over the previously sung verse...and it is freaking fantastic.  There is something about the combination of Dice Raw rapping, Gotye's emotionally charged chorus, and Kimbra's sultry bridge that gets me every time.  I got "Game Of Thrones Freestyle" (Dice Raw's rename) a few days ago, and have so far listened to it about twenty times.  It's bee a long time since I've loved a song this much.  It's just so different from everything that's out there, and I'm always hunting for the most obscure thing there is (blame the music hipster in me).  It's early in the year, but this is so far my favourite song of 2012.

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