Cool New (Other People's) Music

It's not all about politics and work and finishing my own album and worrying about Hurricane Sandy. Sometimes it's about discovering some cool new music. In recent weeks I've been listening a lot to the Ben Folds Five's latest album, The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind. I've admired Ben Folds' writing for many years, and I've enjoyed many of his more reflective songs, but I haven't loved a lot of his rock stuff. Something about his attitude. But I really like every song on this album. My favorite is the beautiful "Hold That Thought."

A very recent find is Mayer Hawthorne's 2011 How Do You Do. I happened to hear the super-catchy "The Walk" (cartoonishly violent video!) on the radio and ended up buying the album. It sounds a lot like 1970's soul music - or more accurately, blue-eyed soul since he happens to be a white guy. A bit like Hall & Oates perhaps (late 70's favorites of mine). The hooks and the harmonies are just great.

Another thing that's just great is the Rolling Stones new single "Doom and Gloom." Classic Stones rock with classic Jagger swagger and a funny but topical story line. The new album is yet another greatest hits collection (really?), but at least I could buy the single by itself on iTunes.