i originally went to his itunes page because i'd been hearing the song "waiting on the world to change" on the radio and it was becoming a guilty pleasure. but then, once i started listening to song samples from the rest of the album, i liked the vibe, and the sound of the album. it's classic, like a cross between marvin gaye and, well, i don't know, some white guy : )

you can tell that this band is not a bunch of hired-guns but a real band who've been playing together on the road for a few years and really know how to listen to each other, how to build a groove, and how to be tasteful and supportive with their parts.

my favorite songs on the album are probably "i don't trust myself (with loving you)" and "slow dancing in a burning room". but honestly, it's become one of those rare albums that i can listen to all the way through and enjoy pretty much all the songs.

but lately i'm also really into brandi carlile. she's supposed to be sort-of country i guess, but to me it's just good songwriting with an acoustic, americana flavor. she claims jeff buckley as an influence, but i don't really hear that. sometimes her melodies remind me a little of starsailor though...

she has two albums, brandi carlile and the story, and they are both great. in this case, i really do love the singles - from the first album, "what can i say" and from the second, the title track, "the story"... you can tell that they had a little more budget for the production on the second album, and that's cool, but i think i actually like the simpler sound of the first one better. anyway, it's all about her amazing voice; it's evocative, human, stong, but vulnerable - gorgeous.

other recent guilty pleasures?

"no one" by, oh yes, alicia keys

and i've revisited a guilty pleasure song from days of yore:

"un-break my heart" - toni braxton

also, i got the new death cab for cutie album, but i haven't really gotten into it yet. sometimes these things take me awhile.

oh, and i've had the pleasure of hanging out in the studio while bella morte put the finishing touches on their new album, which will be out in october and is awesome, rockin, and beautiful.