FPcast for May 23 2016: X-Men Apocalypse!

In this double-sized episode we review X-Men Apocalypse, the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, plus catch up on a whole heap of news - including the Star Wars: Rogue One character names, watch some trailers, and dump our thoughts on the last two episodes of Game of Thrones! It's two hours long and two hours thick!

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FPcast! The Fruitless Pursuits Podcast for October 27 2014! Miley Cyrus Timez!

This week we report back on our unbelievably crazy experience at the Miley Cyrus Bangerz Tour, plus we review the phenomenal jazz-fuelled Whiplash, Brad Pitt in a tank movie Fury, romantic comedy Love, Rosie, and we finally got around to David Fincher's Gone Girl! Force our many opinions into your ears!

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Best Music of the First Quarter of 2014

When I'm not writing about books and stuff here, I'm writing about music over at Is It Too Loud. There's been a lot of great music to come out so far this year, though, and I wanted to share a little of it here like I normally do every once in a while. Hopefully you find something you like!

Thursday Threesome: Favourite 90s Movie Theme Songs by Bryan Adams

Welcome to the very first Thursday Threesome for 2014! I have the grand honours of kicking off the series for the new year, so to celebrate I've picked the most ridiculously specific topic I could think of.

I'm not sure if anyone remembers, but back in the 90s it was illegal to release a movie without a song by Bryan Adams on the soundtrack. Dramas? Sure. Romances? Yep. Animated movies about horses? OF COURSE! Join me under the cut for a couple of my favourites from his soft-rock cinematic catalogue.

The Unheard 13 of 2013: Day 13: King Khan and the Shrines - "So Wild"

I figured I'd end this little year end project with a real rocker from King Khan and the Shrines. A band I've struggled with getting into a lot in the past, their newest album, Idle No More, ended up really impressing me. It's got an old feel to it while still feeling fresh, and they're quite the showmen to boot. Really enjoyed this song, "So Wild," a lot. Horns always do it for me.

King Khan has a website here.

The Unheard 13 of 2013: Day 12: Aoife O'Donovan - "Fire Engine"

Aoife O'Donovan is the lead singer of one of my favorite bluegrass groups, Crooked Still. Her first solo album, Fossils, came out this year, and while much of it is an understated affair, there are a few numbers in here that really caught my ear. My favorite of the batch was this rollicking piece, "Fire Engine."

Aoife O'Donovan has a website here.

The Unheard 13 of 2013: Day 11: St. Lucia - "Call Me Up"

I wasn't a big fan of Haim's album at all. I got the retro style thing they were doing, but it didn't appeal to me. St. Lucia's album, though, really spoke to me. I wasn't really much of a Peter Gabriel/Paul Simon fan, but this album is right in that wheelhouse, offering a really unique-sounding album unlike anything else I'd heard this year. I nearly put the album in my top 10 this year, but I couldn't justify putting other things below, so here's one of my favorite offerings from the album instead, "Call Me Up."

St. Lucia has a website here.

The Unheard 13 of 2013: Day 10: Caitlin Rose - "Only a Clown"

Caitlin Rose is an alt-country artist I picked up an album from very cheaply a few years ago and really enjoyed it. She put out a new album, The Stand-In, and it was even better than her first. There are a few songs I considered picking from this album, but I decided to go along with the poppiest of them all, "Only a Clown," that sounds a lot like a classic Kathleen Edwards track in many regards.

Interesting tidbit: a song from the new album was apparently performed on Nashville this past season, which is just...weird.

Caitlin Rose's website is here.

The Unheard 13 of 2013: Day 9: T. Hardy Morris - "Disaster Proof"

The band Dead Confederate had a modest hit a few years ago with "The Rat," and I can't say I remember much else that they did past that. The lead singer, however, put out a solo album this year and I decided to give it a whirl. It's got a nice indie rock attitude about it, it was a surprisingly excellent experience. The best song on the album, for sure, is "Disaster Proof," a rocking number that doesn't waste any time getting going.

His website is available here.

The Unheard 13 of 2013: Day 8: Laura Veirs - "That Alice"

I have been a fan of Laura Veirs for some time. She does a lot of interesting indie folk music, and she put out a new album this year that...I didn't love. I don't know what it was that didn't grab me, but it didn't hit me the same way a lot of her music does. It did, however, have one significant standout track, a biographical tale of Alice Coltrane, wife of John Coltrane, entitled "That Alice." The song is a pretty straightforward narrative, and it's a rocking, rollicking adventure as opposed to the atmospheric folky sounds that Veirs typically does.

Laura Veirs's website is here.

The Unheard 13 of 2013: Day 7: Tristen - "No One's Gonna Know"

My friend and co-blogger over at my music blog If It's Too Loud got me absolutely addicted to Tristen a few years ago. She did a sort of indie alt-country thing and it worked so well. She Kickstarted a new album late last year, and the new album is a strong departure from what we're used to. Lots of synthesizers and keyboards, and more poppy melodies to go along with them. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is different, and sometimes different can be good.

Tristen's website can be found here.

The Unheard 13 of 2013: Day 6: Basia Bulat - "Wires"

I still don't know how to pronounce Basia Bulat's name, and I think she bears a really strong resemblance to The Waitress from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but this song is a great highlight from her latest album, Tall Tall Shadow, and the live video above (because no version of the studio cut exists on YouTube) shows the versatility both of the song and of Bulat, who has put out three great indie-folk albums over the last few years.

Basia Bulat's website is here, and if you like this, her old albums are definitely worth your time.

The Unheard 13 of 2013: Day 5: Naomi Pilgrim - "No Gun"

Naomi Pilgrim's "No Gun" has gotten a lot of buzz in recent weeks as an interesting pop song. Personally, I'm not sure about how much mainstream attention it could get, but, then again, Lorde went to #1 internationally with a fairly weird sound coming about, so there's a chance I just don't know anything at all. Regardless, if you've always wondered what the end result of a pop song inspired by someone who listened to a lot of Bjork or Portishead when they were younger and think dance and R&B music today is pretty great, this is worth four minutes of your time. It's absolutely a grower, but it's become a must-listen for me as of late.

Naomi Pilgrim's website is here. Looking forward to what comes next.

The Unheard 13 of 2013: Day 4: Matt Pond - "Human Beings"

Matt Pond, who typically records under the Matt Pond PA moniker, put out a "solo album" this year, The Lives Inside the Lines in Your Hand that caught me by surprise. It's a great, tuneful, poppy record with a lot of great songs on it. While I've traditionally come to expect that from his prior work, this is the first album he's put out that I've felt like I needed to keep in the long term rotation.

My favorite song from the album, by far, is "Human Beings," a song that's much slower than the other fare on the album and yet still has a lot of emotional weight to it. The strained delivery, the instrumentation, everything about it really speaks to me on a really deep level, and it's become a true favorite of the year for me. You can find his website here.

The Unheard 13 of 2013: Day 3: Harper Simon - "'99"

Every so often, you hear a song that hits directly in that sweet spot and simply will not leaveunder any circumstances. That has been my overall relationship with Harper Simon's "'99," a song that I first head sometime in February of this past year and have not gotten out of my playlist since.

The melody alone is pretty great, it feels like it belongs in that sort of indie pop place right from 1999, the tone is just fuzzed out enough to have an indie quality while still maintaining a more mainstream production standard, and if the chorus is not stuck in your head for days after you've listened to this song, I might question your actual soul.

Harper Simon is the son of music legend Paul Simon, and this song is from his album Division Street. You can find his website here.

The Unheard 13 of 2013: Day 2: Sam Shelton - "Dizzy"

I can remember why I looked this album up when it came out, because I got an album of hers when she was recording as Samantha Shelton. I lost track for some time after that, and then her newest album., Reservoir, came out, and I fell in love. She was formerly an actress, but didn't do much of anything I saw. Frankly, I hope she sticks to music.

"Dizzy" is a really fun poppy tune that has a melody that stuck in my head for months and wouldn't let go. It's a really solid song that really speaks to how well the whole album is, and how great she is as a performer. Definitely hoping we get more from her soon, but until then, you can check her website.

Arbor Records Presents 13 Free Christmas Albums

It's that time of the year to bust out the Arbor Records Christmas Collections.

Each year a new album is released for free online, and as of now there are 13 full albums made up of (mostly original) Christmas music. There is enough music here to get you through the entire holiday season. The styles range quite a bit with a good amount of indie bands, and a few edgier songs on each compilation.

And in just 2 weeks, another album will be released to coincide with their yearly live show: The 13th Annual Arbor Christmas Show. A heartwarming holiday play featuring a live performances of a selection of the songs. If you are in the NJ area, it's always a blast. Just get there early if you want a seat.

The Infiniteens -  by Mark Martucci Photography

Photo by Mark Martucci Photography

You can download or stream all of it at http://arborchristmas.bandcamp.com And for a taste, The last 6 albums can be streamed below.

The Unheard 13 of 2013: Day 1: Geri X - "The Perfectionist (In Love With the City)"

I'll share my Top 10 Albums of 2013 later on this year, but I figured that I would take some time to offer up some songs that you probably didn't catch over the course of 2013 to help aid in your quest to find that perfect song from this year. So, for the next 13 weekdays, I'll be offering up 13 of my favorite hidden gems of this calendar year.

The first song is Geri X's "The Perfectionist (In Love With the City)," a song I tripped up on somehow along the way from her album Loyalty Sport. It's a pretty interesting, straightforward singer-songwriter rock track, but what fascinates me most about it is that the song has a number of interesting versions. The version above is an early cut that doesn't get the full impact of some of the remixes available, and then there's this dance remix that I happen to love but is so far off from what I originally heard...

Either way, a solid song you should know and love. Her website is here.

Thursday Threesome: Favourite K-Pop Songs of 2013 (so far)

I do love me a bit of K-Pop. The ultra-cute boy & girl bands, the crazily in-sync dance moves, and the sickly sweet pop beats make me ultra nostalgic for the glory days of Nsync, the Backstreet Boys and Five. Lucky I have a good reason for liking it, otherwise watching a whole bunch of teenagers dance around would just be creepy, amirite?? Heheheheh. Heh. Ehhhh...

There's been some quality pop choonz out of Korea already this year, so join me under the cut for a couple of my favourites. And no, don't worry, there's definitely no Psy.

Best Music of the Third Quarter of 2013.

I continue to be impressed with the music coming out this year. In the last few months in particular, a number of albums have come out that are serious album of the year candidates for me, and they run the gamut from established acts to musicians offering their debut efforts. Some highlights are behind the jump, but those interested in more music stuff can check out If It's Too Loud for weekly new release reviews and other highlights from the musical universes.