Spotlight - Joshua Radin

Even if you've never heard of Joshua Radin, you've probably heard Joshua Radin--barely heard him that is--because he's really quiet and he's really mellow. His is the kind of music you hear playing in the background at Barnes and Noble, or in TV shows when the plot takes a turn to sensitive town, or around your house while you enjoy a quiet dinner. Even still, he's good. And when you're looking for some music to play that is assured to not step on any toes, put on some Radin.

WINTER

Radin is one of those guys that guys like me love to hate: He's multi-talented, has a full head of hair, and emotes an "I'm not sure why everyone is fussing over me" aura. As the story goes, Radin was living in NYC with aspirations of being a painter and a screenwriter (I told you he was multi-talented), and one night he was asked to host an open mic night at a small club in the City. Not wanting to be a non-singing host, Radin took a break from his painting and screenplay writing and, ho-hum, wrote a song to play. The result, Winter, is an enchanting song about a winter love from the past still consuming the present.

FILM IS THE NEW RADIO

Writing Winter opened Radin's eyes to his musical talent so he gave a demo of the song to his good friend from college, actor Zach Braff (of Scrubs and The Last Kiss fame). Braff loved Winter and had it played in an episode of Scrubs. Encouraged by the success of Winter, Radin wrote more music and it ended up on more TV shows like Grey's Anatomy and Brothers and Sisters. He even landed two songs on the film The Last Kiss soundtrack (starring, of course, Zach Braff). As Radin puts it: "Film is the new radio." At least for him it is.

Columbia Records signed Radin a short time later. He subsequently moved to LA to be closer to the music supervisors, good weather, and because he "didn't find as much of a community of songwriters in New York. Everyone sounded like the Strokes. But there’s a great community of artists in Los Angeles."

WE WERE HERE

Radin's first full album, We Were Here, was released in 2006. The songs on the album evoke a feeling of deja vu. They're instantly familiar. That's probably because you have heard them before--in the background behind some sappy dialogue on TV or the big screen. Even if you really haven't heard the songs before, their sounds are similar enough to great folk artists from the past like Simon and Garfunkel, Cat Stevens and Bob Dylan, that they make you feel like you do when you enter a warm, cozy house after being outside in the frigid cold--you know, like "we were here".

If you are wondering why Radin's music is so quiet, and I'll agree that sometimes his vocals are too hard to hear, blame a grouchy old lady in NYC who used to live next to Radin. As he described it: "I would just start finger picking on my guitar and she would call the police," he says. “That’s kind of why I called that record We Were Here, because the cops would show up and they’d kind of look around and then call the neighbor and say, 'Well, we were here. We didn’t find any problem, but we were here.'" And thank goodness he WAS there because he's here now and writes great music.

Spotlight - The SLIP

This spotlight will be different than those previously posted for a few different reasons. First, I won't be doing a huge bio on this band because, to be honest, they do not have a unique story of their "discovery" like the others. Second, unlike the other artists I have spotlighted to whom I have been listening for quite some time, I just recently discovered this band (and no, I did not discover them playing Guitar Hero, even though their song, Even Rats, is featured on the game). Lastly, and most importantly, I don't really know why I like their music so much. It really isn't my "kind" of music--but it rocks.

As Rolling Stone put it: "The Slip are creative and weird: The drummer shakes it down with a hip-hop backbeat, the bassist plays a baritone guitar and the guitarist plays lots of crazy solos without losing the tight pop melody. Most things that are widely accepted suck, but hopefully these guys will be semi-widely accepted -- because it's really beautiful stuff." I couldn't agree more. Give them a listen, maybe you'll understand what I mean.

Pandora

Let's just say, for the sake of argument, that you are an avid visitor of Nascent Chords, that you like the music in the spotlight and that you would like to hear more artists with a similar sound. Or, let's take a more likely scenario: you want to hear more artists that sound more like your favorite artists. Either way, there's a website that will do just that for you. You simply enter the name of the artist and Pandora will automatically play artists for you with a similar sound. You should check it out, it's amazing how many artists are out there that are more talented/original than the crap on the radio today. Good luck!

Spotlight - Matt Costa

What happens when an aspiring pro skateboarder falls off his skateboard and shatters his leg, leading to an 18-month layoff? While most skateboarders would be devastated, when Matt Costa found himself in that situation, he took advantage of the down time to write music, only to find out that he could write better than he could ride.

DISCOVERY

As he was rehabilitating his leg, Costa wrote four songs that he eventually recorded in a home studio using a crude 4-track recorder. The demo started to make its way around the Southern California music scene and eventually ended up in the hands of No Doubt guitarist Tom Dumont. Dumont fell in love with Costa's talent and immediately made plans to produce Costa's first album.

In 2003, Dumont produced Matt’s first album, an EP appropriately named the Matt Costa E.P. In 2005, Costa released a follow-up to the Matt Costa E.P., The Elasmosaurus E.P., as well as a full-length album Songs We Sing. In due course, the quality of Costa’s music caught the ear of Brushfire Records’ Jack Johnson who invited Costa to tour with him in 2005. Johnson eventually signed Costa to Brushfire Records and, in 2006, re-released Songs We Sing.

SONGS WE SING

Songs We Sing offers an eclectic folk mix of chords and melodies that showcases Costa's unconventional sound. At the outset, the record is well-written and well-produced. The simple bass lines and percussions augment what would otherwise be a stripped-down acoustic guitar album, but do not distract the listener from the stars of the show: Costa’s lyrics and guitar.

Each track on the album has a distinct sound. For example, Astair is a pure acoustic folk track, Cold December is an upbeat track with a faster tempo and a full-band sound, Sweet Thursday introduces an electric guitar riff, and These Arms has a beautiful piano intro.

While some listeners may embrace the multiplicity of sounds on the album, others may desire a distinct “Costa sound” to embrace. Neither should be disappointed, however, because Song We Sing offers what any quality album should: real talent, real songwriting, real production, and real dedication to the craft.

MEDIA

Matt Costa - Cold December (Artist Commentary)
Music Videos at Roxwel.com

Sidebar "Music Deals"

I added a sidebar item called "Music Deals." I will frequently add links to great deals on music products that I find. It's not an advertisement -- I add the products personally, and if you are in need for one of the products, check it out.

Metacritic

We were all taught in 6th grade that humans by nature are "hunters and gatherers." Fortunately, at least for me, and to the dismay of some of my hunter friends, advancements in civilization have basically eliminated the need to hunt and gather. That doesn't mean, however, that our natural instincts to hunt and gather will be immediately selected out of our biology. Thus, we all have a little hunter/gatherer in us.

Some go to flea markets or yard sales to fulfill the instinct, some (and this includes my wife) go to the mall and "hunt and gather" clothing and shelter. As for me, I hunt for new music. I love to discover new musical acts that meet my personal definition of good music.

One tool that I use to find new artists is Metacritic. Metacritic compiles the reviews of albums from various critics, distills each review to fit the Metacritic scale, and gives each album a "metascore" on a 1 - 100 scale, with 100 being the best.

Metacritic also has excerpts from each individual review and includes the score attributed to each review. That way if you really trust Rolling Stone's reviews but not Spin's, or vice versa, you can see what each critic had to say individually. Check it out. You never know, it might just fulfill your hunting needs.