New William Elliott Whitmore!!!!!!

I am beyond excited right now!!! Earlier tonight, one of my top three favorite artists of all time William Elliott Whitmore, announced that his brand new album Radium Death will be released on March 31st.

This is his follow up to his 2011 album Field Songs and if the lead single Healing to Do is any indication, this will be a completely new sound for Whitmore. Which is incredibly exciting. I feel inspired when an artist takes a big risk. I respect the risk they take.

I am bummed though, because there are currently no Chicago dates listed for his tour. But that will hopefully change soon. If you have 3:29 to spare, give Healing to Do a listen to. I particularly love the organ, and the growl.

Looking for a Great Batman Detective Story

No caption needed. moviepilot.com

Over the past few years, I've become a HUGE fan of mysteries. It all started when I finally listened to my father, and read my first Sherlock Holmes story. Because of this, I am always on the outlook for great mysteries to read.

Because of this, I am on the look out for a great Batman mystery to read. After all, Batman is known as being a great detective. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Continuing My Folk Music Kick

Continuing on my folk music kick, I've begun listening to Nick Drake. Drake is an interesting person. He only released three albums: Five Leaves Left, Bryter Layter, and Pink Moon. All of these releases were not successful at the time of their release. According to Wikipedia this was partly due to "Drake's reluctance to perform live, or be interviewed, contributed to his lack of commercial success."

Additionally there is no footage in existence of Drake performing live. I find this fact to be really amazing. It adds an unique element to the Drake legend. You are only present his audio recordings, and they alone can only speak for him. That's really incredible, and I feel enhances his music.

You could almost say that Drake was an "outsider" artist. Much in the vain of a Woodie Guthrie or a Henry Darger. There's a real sense of creating the art for the art's sake. If the public discovers it, ok. If not, well that's ok too.

The Phosphorescent Blues

punchbrothers.com

As I am writing this blog post, I am listening to the new album by The Punch Brothers, "The Phosphorescent Blues". This is their 4th full length album. And I must admit I am surprise I am a such a huge fan of this band. Growing up, I was so adamantly against "country" music, or bluegrass/folk music. I really don't know why.

However I am so very glad that I got over it. The Punch Brothers have very quickly become one of my favorite bands. So much so that, before I see them live for the first time on February 28th, I went out and bought every piece of music they have released.

If you have never heard of The Punch Brothers, I highly recommend you check them out. On their Wikipedia page, they are described as: "bluegrass instrumentation and spontaneity in the strictures of modern classical". I for one could not say it better myself. There are so many layers to this band. If you aren't listening to them carefully, you could easily mistake their music as classical music only being played "folksy".

Not only that, the lead singer plays the mandolin. The mandolin!!! How cool is that. Below is the lead single off of The Phosphorescent Blues. It's entitled: "I Blew It Off".