I still get sad when I realize that Neutral Milk Hotel is no more. For me, NMH was all about founder, writer and lead vocalist Jeff Mangum. It was Mangum's distinctive vocals, as much as the experimental orchestration and instrument choices, that gave NMH their signature sound. There's an abundance of live performance videos available on YouTube, but I chose several of Mangum performing solo. They're of a higher quality, and, as previously stated, for me it's all about his voice.
Hope you enjoyed this Flashback Friday installment. Happy Friday and have a good weekend.
Have you figured out that I like themed posts? Does it make me a little sappy? Sure. But several of you read each and every one, so...well, you get the point. I've been on a huge British Isles kick of late, so I figure it's a great place to start this new themed topic on the ol' Scene 13 blog.
Up first, possibly my "current" favorite band. I have numerous "favorite" categories, so try to keep up. Frightened Rabbit is a four-piece out of, you guessed it, Scotland made up of Scott Hutchison (vocals/guitar), Billy Kennedy (guitar/keyboard), Grant Hutchison (drums/vocals) and Andy Monaghan (guitar/keyboard). Though a musical act since 2003, Hutchison solo, Frightened Rabbit is just now becoming a household name in Scotland and are making inroads into the American indie music scene.
Best known as "one-half" of Scotland's Arab Strap, Malcolm Middleton is making some great music all by his lonesome. Well, with the help of some backing female vocals.
I first saw Idlewild when they played "You Held The World In Your Arms Tonight" on the Jimmy Kimmel show in 2003. I quickly worked to get my hands on as much of their music as I possibly could. Every once in a while I remember that I haven't heard them in a while and I put them back in heavy rotation on my playlist. Hope you enjoy!
Well, I hope you enjoyed our first trip abroad. I have no idea what country will catch my fancy next week, but I hope you'll come back and check it out!
