A good old friend of mine turned me on to this guy Astronautalis. Check it out below.

Well, awhile ago I jumped to a conclusion about iTunes 8.0.

I made a mistake. Mostly because I judged something far too quickly without even exhausting all of its features. Like the “Start Genius” playlist thing. Yea… That’s all I wanted from Genius, and it has had it from the start. So, I’ve been meaning to post this retraction and thought this recent drought would be a good time to do so.

As for my [now informed] opinion on Genius. I like it. It’s kinda cool. That’s about it. Right now I’m listening to a playlist spawned from Black Moth Super Rainbow, and it has a pretty nice variety in there. I’m not sure if that’s good, or just means I listen to a lot of weird-electronica-experimental music. Which I do. But this playlist adds the element of surprise to a night of task-oriented work. I listen to albums [in sequence] so much that if the next song in the album does not follow the one I am listening to, I am left with unfulfilled expectations. So mixing up those expectations willingly is a fine thing. I support it.

::runs away with tail between legs::

This is the one that started it all for me. There are .

First off, Ray LaMontagne. I can never say his name, it usually comes out like that one family from that Shakespeare guy’s play. At first, like with most music I like the most, I wasn’t completely into it. Although the opening song on the album was enough to coerce me into hitting the purchase button. For the first time in a long time, I’m really liking this guy’s lyrics, they’re straightforward and honest, as is his voice. And he’s got the tunes to wrap it all up. Definitely check it out. If anyone has any phonetically spelled pronunciations of his name, please leave them in the comments. I am an uncouth degenerate.

Also, I stumbled upon these guys via YouTube. Pomplamoose is a duo collaboration of what looks to be two musicians who post their music regularly on YouTube. Anyway, unlike with Ray, I was immediately hooked by their sound, and her voice.

You can check out more of their tunes at their You Tube channel. And I think you can buy their songs for a buck a piece at their mySpace page.

As an addendum, I should mention Jack Conte. He’s one half of Pomplamoose [grapefruit in French] and has equally awesome tunes on YouTube. Jack actually has an album on iTunes, so you can get his songs there. It includes two bonus pomplamoose tracks as well. Buy it all. Support awesome artists.

Feeling a little neglected by my local college radio station here in Ames, KURE 88.5, I’ve turned back to my true alma mater KRUI 89.7. And what do you know? They have a regular updated blog that I can subscribe to and get the latest on new music, sweet bands and local shows. Via this awesome new blog, I’ve already found these two sweet videos to share with you all here. Enjoy the new tunes, and visit the KRUI blog here.

The Felice Brothers video

Tilly and the Wall video

TILLY & THE WALL - ALLIGATOR SKIN from Team Love on Vimeo.