New Langhorne Slim “The Way We Are”

Langhorne Slim and the Law have a new album coming out on June 5th via Ramseur Records (home of The Avett Brothers, Samantha Crain, and Frontier Ruckus).  While you have a couple weeks to wait til you can hear the new record, you can hear the title track and watch the accompanied video below.  They head out on tour in support of the new album this Friday.  After watching this video, I really wish they were coming to Oklahoma.  The closest show to us will be in Lawrence, KS on June 7th.   You can check out the rest of the tour dates here and if you are so inclined you can pre-order the album here.

New John Mayer – Born and Raised

John Mayer released his 5th studio album yesterday.  Born and Raised is straight out of the early 7o’s.  There is no doubt in my mind that Mayer had Neil Young on heavy rotation as he was writing this album.  And if you ask me, that is exactly what he needed to get back on track.  I’ve been a fan of Mayer’s music for a while now.  I think he is a masterful lyricist, always writing straight from the heart, seeking and speaking truth through song.  He seems to be back on track after the misstep that was Battle Studies.  Not that Battle Studies was a terrible record, it just was quite the disappointment after the heartrendingly beautiful Heavier Things and then the oh so groovy and polished Continuum. B and T to me is a great return to form for him, and yet at the same time it is completely new and unlike anything we’ve heard from him so far.

Acoustic Cover of LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It”

I am well aware that the stripped down acoustic cover of the current big pop song has been way overdone.  Believe me, I am tired of them too.  But this kid’s voice is so great that I couldn’t help but pass it along.  And while it may be a tiresome shtick, it’s pretty fascinating when an artistic can remove all the annoying “hoopla” from some of these mainstream songs to reveal the diamond in the rough.  That isn’t exactly what happened hear, considering the juvenile lyrics of the song, but this 18 year old kid’s spectacular voice makes up for it.  He’s from North Carolina and just calls himself Noah.  With almost 47,000 followers on Facebook already, I have a feeling we’ll hear more from this kid in the future. Check out below his version of LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It”.

Thank You New Mexico for The Shins

I decided to give a shout out to my favorite person from New Mexico, my dear friend Nathan Hollis, by promoting the new album from my favorite band from New Mexico.  Back in March, The Shins released what is probably my favorite album of the year so far with their 4th full-length album, Port Of Morrow. The Shins have yet to disappoint.  Mercer delivers yet another musical and lyrical masterpiece.  It’s a solid album, through and through, and some the best pop music I’ve heard all year.  My current favorite song from the album is “September”, which you can stream or download below, thanks to Indie Rock Cafe.

The Shins – September

I’m also a big fan of the first single, which gave a great performance of on Saturday Night Live several weeks ago. Check out the hilarious video that Mercer and the gang put together for this fun song below.