Kinda Celtic

So this is probably one of the more interesting mixes so far. Alt. pop rockers, The Script and Celtic masters The Cheiftains... I'll explain later. But first!...

The PLAYLIST

So, this started out as a post on The Script. I'd heard their songs on the radio and thought I should listen to the rest of their stuff. I thought, "that one song is awesome, that means they're all cool, right?" Wrong. Well, semi-cool anyway. Just not as cool as I'd hoped. The first album only yielded one song I cared for and that was the single they played on the Radio. Their second album was sadly like the first, just one song and I'd already heard in the radio. I started listening to their third and most recent album but I noticed over half of the songs were tagged as explicit... Had I liked their other stuff more, I might have listened to see if I could edit them and make them "appropriate" but with only two songs in their favor, I decided to just skip it.

Which left me in a jam because I was not expecting this. I was fully expecting to find awesomeness, not "not-awesomeness"... So, instead of finding an alternate contemporary album I did the only rational thing... I decided the write about an album that's almost 20 years old! Why you ask? Surely there's a higher purpose, some grand, universal connection.... well, I'll tell you. They're both Irish. Yup. That's it. I created a Celtic station on Pandora today (I call it "ookch-aye!" in honor of David Tennant) and I had Scotland & Ireland on the brain. I figured that was enough. Also, the Cheiftans are awesome. My mom loves Celtic music so I grew up listening to these dudes, seen them in concert twice, they're basically the Gaelic version of the Shiz.

So here's one of my favorite albums of theirs, The Long Black Veil. It's actually pretty cool. Almost every song is a collaboration with another famous artist from the UK. My favorite is the first one with Sting. The last one "Rocky road to Dublin" is the Stones as the backing band (in case you didn't catch the "No Satisfaction" hint). And I threw the TWO Script songs on there for good measure but they're the only ones I like.

Also, here's The Who's Roger Daltrey singing "Behind Blue Eyes" with the Cheiftans. Enjoy!

The Kooks

No it's not The Kinks. (Although, I have been known to enjoy Lazing on a Sunny Afternoon with my friend Lola who's a Dedicated Follower of Fashion... what can I say, they Really Got Me!)... It's The Kooks. Kinda sounds like a joke. Something like what do you call a kinky crook? But I digress...

Here's the PLAYLIST

So, I've been trying not to do entire artist posts because they tend to be more intense than a post about a single album... I have to listen to complete discographies (which can be very lengthy at times) and have to pick favorites (which can be excruciatingly hard if you like them all...) But lucky for me, these guys only have 3 albums which went surprisingly quick. So here's my take on the Kooks (for what it's worth).

I can't exactly remember where I heard these guys first. It was either Pandora or on the soundtrack for 17 Again (which is a fabulous movie by the way. Hi-LAR-ious...). At any rate, they're one of those bands where you hear the song in the background and you HAVE to stop everything to listen better. If you're like me, you're frantically pulling your phone out of your pocket to try to get near enough to a speaker to use Soundhound or remember enough lyrics to Google later. Anyway, that first time, I did stop, listened, loved it. So I found out who they were and listened to the rest of their stuff.

Love those Brits!

So, it could just be my affinity for Brit pop (although I don't think so) but I love these guys. Their songs have been described as "catchy as h***" and although I wouldn't say that, I really haven't found a better way to say it (does that make sense?) There's just this ENERGY in their music. Even in the slower ones, there's a sort of subtle intensity... hard to explain. The music is great, they do some fun things with the vocals & harmonies, plus a THICK british accent is always fun...

The general consensus seems to be that their first album, Inside In/ Inside Out is their best but I think I like their 2nd album, Konk just as much. I was kinda disappointed with their third album, Junk of the Heart but in their defense, I've only listened to it once and the others 2 or 3 times. And to be honest, I don't like every song on these records (there are even a few that just fall flat) Regardless, the main thing I love about these guys is although every song might not be a masterpiece, they have a consistently GREAT sound. The guitar is what I like to call "punchy" (sort of pronounced, stacatto-ed, really crisp) with some pretty funky riffs & licks. They've got some REALLY fun bass lines that have a sort of run-don't-walk energy that feels kinda like a chicken with it's head cut off but who's oddly happy about it.... just all over the place which is always welcome & refreshing. Drummer is super talented... don't know what else I can say. Just an all around good sound. On a scale of "Not" to "Awesome," they get a solid "Awesome."

Have a listen, check 'em out. Make sure to comment! Who's your favorite British band (past or present)? Pass it on (this blog is all about sharing)! Enjoy!