Jim James - Regions of light and sound of God

I have written previously about music that triggers emotions or memories (in this post about Trip Hop), but I find myself revisiting this theme again as I ponder why I love Jim James' voice so much.

For those who aren't familiar with Jim James by name he is a songwriter and lead singer for the band My Morning Jacket. The library had recently acquired his solo album Regions of Light and Sound of God, an album which revisits a sound similar to My Morning Jacket's earlier albums. It is calm and methodical, focusing mainly on vocalization rather than intricate instrumentation. In my opinion, this album is more akin to the classic rock contemporaries like Eric Clapton and Van Morrison than to My Morning Jacket's dynamic sound, although Jim James' influence is clear in both.

Who is Harry Nilsson?

Ah, spring in Tucson...

The days are finally getting longer which means I have more time to get things done- like working through my backlogged Netflix queue! Recently I happened to watch a wonderful documentary about a music industry great you may not have heard of: "Who is Harry Nilsson, (and why is everybody talkin' about him?)"

This documentary explores the roller coaster life and career of Harry Nilsson. Nilsson released eighteen albums of varying popularity, but this isn't the story of an overnight success. In fact he kept a job working nights at a bank for years after working in the industry in order to make sure he could get by

For those who may not be familiar with the name Harry Nilsson or just 'Nilsson,' you have probably at least heard his music. Harry Nilsson was prolific. He wrote many well-known songs for his own albums, and was a lyracist for other bands. One of the most catchy and popular songs would be the earworm "Coconut," but Nilsson also wrote the love ballad "Without You," "One" for the band Three Dog Night, "The Lord Must Be In New York City," and many others. 

7th Symphony

Once again, I'm here to bring you the music that you might have missed (in fact, almost certainly missed). It's the music that you would proudly describe as 'indie' or 'hip,' if those terms were still cool (sorry to say, they've been co-opted and so we have moved beyond them. Alas.)


In short, I'm here to bring you music that's just a little bit weird.

With that said, let's talk about a cello metal band from Finland called Apocalyptica and their album 7th Symphony.

It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke: in 1993, four cellists (that's a fancy word for people who play the cello) walk into a concert hall and decide they want to be a Metallica cover band. Nobody in the group plays a guitar. They call themselves Apocalyptica. What's the punchline, you ask?