Songs That Might Otherwise Pass You By

The Rural Alberta Advantage, "In The Summertime"

This song is as sweet as it is short: 2 minutes and 37 seconds--it's over before you've registered it. You're left feeling a little dazed, like you stared way too long at the sun; everything you look at for the next few minutes has a yellow aura around it. Also, you may get that feeling of content from when you've laughed alot and you suddenly feel really happy and balanced. Now, before you start posturing about how happiness is unattainable/overrated/stupid/uncool, I'm not talking about pill-induced happiness. I'm talking about the happiness you get from connecting with someone. I don't get that feeling every day--maybe even just a few times a year-- but I remember the times I've had it, and the circumstances behind it. They all involved people who are very close to me telling funny stories, some of which probably feature me falling down or saying something very inappropriate.

Website
Myspace
Thanks to Hero Hill for pointing me to the link


Unfortunately, chairs are not a Rural Alberta Advantage


Jessie Baylin, "Leave Your Mark" (Click the link to get to the download page) Recorded live at Daytrotter

One of the best things I did several years ago was to turn off my radio. If I hadn't turned off the radio, I might've thought that all female vocals were still that same processed, synthesized, over electronized, reed-thin, manipulated-beyond-human tripe I kept hearing. I turned off my radio and switched on my resourcefulness, and I've found some of the most fantastic music I've ever heard. Jessie Baylin knows how to finely wrap her voice around the words she's singing. She pushes and prods the lyrics, injecting a coyness into the song that isn't manipulative or flashy, but gives evidence to a soul that's confident, knowing and seems way beyond her 24 years. The music is perfectly wrought, also. The guitar finely wraps itself around the vocals, lightly following the singer's lead, only asserting itself when it strengthens the song. Both the vocals and the guitar work together to bring a delicate balance to the song that could easily be dismantled by more aggressive or showboaty performers.

Website
Myspace


There are several stories in Jessie Baylin's eyes

Zachary James Dodds, "My New Friends" (Zshare link--the artist gave me permission to post it, and it's also available on his Myspace page).

I've heard a lot of love songs: tortured love songs, passionate love songs and a few hopeful love songs. This is a hopeful love song, told from the point of view of an outside observer. It's a love song about a family--not just lovers, but lovers who have pledged themselves to each other and to the life that they have brought in to the world ("now there's three, not two"). He wonders about their decision to unite--were they "brave" just "wild in love", or both? Why wasn't the man "afraid to give his name" to her? What makes her stay by his side throughout the night? What makes this trinity hold? His friend is different from him now, but he thinks still the same. Even though his friend is a father now, he still feels like they're the "kids in town"-running around with little thought of responsibility or what tomorrow will bring. He asks a lot of questions that anyone, young or old, who sees love as a mystery, would ask. Even those who think they know love ask these questions. He just asks them with the aid of a xylophone, some really nice guitar strumming, and a really good tune.

Website
Myspace


No, he's not Amish. He's Zachary James Dodds of Arizona (photo by David Blakeman)