My mix had ended and my legs just weren’t ready to stop walking. They were really tensing up and cramping and I needed another couple minutes to walk it off. Thankfully I always pack some spares so I simply pulled out this wonderful acapella spiritual that I first heard on the O’Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack and walked off those extra couple minutes in peace. This song is the perfect way to cool down after a long and tiresome run.
Category Archives: Bluegrass
Song of the Day 01/14/13: Alison Kraus – Down In the River to Pray
My family was listening to the O Brother, Where art Thou? soundtrack today. I forgot how amazing all the music is in that movie. It felt only natural to share one of my favorites off of the album. A great example of the voice as an instrument. There are no other instruments in the song and yet it wants for nothing.
Song of the Day 11/15/12: Nickel Creek – When In Rome
I’m going to be honest, If you dont listen to this and immediately fall in love with it and know why it is so amazing, then you probably will never like it. Straight forward perfection. Most notably in the production. Every voice and instrument hits exactly the right sounds to complete the sexiest bluegrass song I know. I really dont think they could duplicate this song exactly as it sounds here. If you like this song, you can totally check out my review of the album it comes from on my Top 100 Albums of All Time.
Song of the Day 11/07/11: Nickel Creek – Can’t Complain
I was trying to find a song that fit the feeling of my soul right now. Maybe I just wanted to hear what I wanted to.
100. Nickel Creek – Why Should The Fire Die?
Nickel Creek lands my hundredth spot and had to fight a lot of other bands to get there, but I think it stands at the end of the day on its unique charm. There is a lot of bluegrass out there, but I feel like Nickel Creek brought a modern cutting edge feel to the genre 7 years or so before Mumford and Sons rocked the world with its own version of new age folk. Described as progressive bluegrass, and sometimes dubbed simply newgrass. For me, the biggest interest is in the production of Why Should the Fire Die? It has this deep earthy sound to it. There is a lot of depth and space behind the music. Like a deep hollowness. You can hear it behind the obvious stuff, like the drums and bass, but even the guitar has this deep rich earthy feel to it. I also love the bands harmonies, which I think provide that extra chill to really get you in the moment. I got into Nickel Creek after I watched Firefly and was in the mood for some cowboy folk music. Luckily Nickel Creek was there to fill that void.
How does it make me feel?
Pensive. Like I’m sitting outside on the back porch of a farmhouse staring out over the land and contemplating the deep mysteries of life.
What to listen for track by track:
♦ The transition from classic bluegrass to that deep sound I was talking about that kicks in about 16 seconds into the When in Rome and continues to create one of the most powerful openings to a top 100 list imaginable.
♦ The “I hope you meet someone your height” line on Somebody More Like You that turns a slightly sweet breakup track into a sadistically sarcastic message of pain
♦ The awesome opening strings of Jealous of the Moon followed by the haunting opening lyrics about 20 seconds in set the mood for this song.
♦ The slow build at around a minute that pulls Scotch and Chocolate forward in to a real DIDDY! Lol
♦ The quiet before the storm of the final chorus on Cant Complain at about 4:20.
♦ The Interlude at about a minute into Eveline, which again beautifully showcases that deep haunting earthy sound I was talking about
♦ The two and a half minute mark on Best of Luck when the guy/girl harmony brings the song together.
♦ All two minutes of the glorious instrumental The First and Last Waltz.
♦ Which leads right into Helena. One of my favorite tracks on the album that really cements itself with awesome breakdown at about three and a half minutes.
doctorizmusicremedies 