The sons of Mumford and the songs of Brandi.

Wow guys. There really is just so much good music out there. I have so much admiration for the people that write and sing their own songs. There's something that makes singer-songwriter music so much better than singers that simply perform music written by others. No matter how hard they try, singers that sing songs written by others can never fully express the emotion felt by the one who wrote the song. And that's what makes self-written and produced music so great... it comes directly from the heart of the performer.

Whoa. Major rabbit trail. But I just love music.

I really wanted to talk about two musicians/bands: Mumford and Sons and Brandi Carlile.

Every summer when my family goes to the beach, I beg them to make a special trip to Seaside for me so that I can spend some time at one of my favorite places in the world: Sundog Books and Central Square records. My two favorite things, reading and music, smushed into one cute, beachy, artsy, cabin-like shop at the heart of Seaside. AWESOME. I can literally spend hours in that one little house. And every year, I make it a point to go out on a limb and buy a cd (or tw) that I wouldn't normally buy so that I can look super cool and artsy to the people that work at Central Square (They love me. You should've seen the owner when I purchased the Fiona Apple album at 15. He was shocked that such a peppy, blonde child could have enough angst inside of her that she would be led to purchase a Fiona Apple cd. (I didn't have any angst at all. Whatsoever. I was just attempting to appear enlightened). But this summer, I went to Seaside TWICE so I bought TWO cds! Mumford and Sons' Sigh No More and Brandi Carlile's live album from Benaroya Hall with the Seattle Symphony.

1. Mumforddddddd. Guys, I know I'm a little late on this craze, but just bear with me. The album was released in October of 2009, but to be fair, their music didn't hit the US til February 2010. And, in my defense, at the time of this release, I was a naive little high school sophomore. My maturity was that of a... well, a high school sophomore, and my music taste was still being formed.


Back to Mumford. I just love this album. Marcus Mumford is absolutely fantastic. I watched a few of their lie performances, and you can tell that he has so much passion for the songs that he sings he can hardly contain it. It's similar to the Avett Brothers, but less screamy. There are times when Mumford's voice sounds as if it's about to break into sobs, and there are times when his voice is nothing less than a growl of anger. The lyrics are strangely spiritual ("In these bodies we will live/in these bodies we will die/where you invest your love/you invest your life/Awake my soul/you were made to meet your maker" (Awake My Soul) and "Love it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you/it will set you free/be more like the man you were made to be" ( Sigh No More)) and sensitive ("Tell me now where was my fault in loving you with my whole heart" (White Blank Page)). that I love about this album is the perfect blend of acoustic music and the sound of a full band. There is nothing hollow about this cd, it doesn't sound as if anything is missing. It's not just a simple combination of a guitar and a banjo, but it also includes a little keyboard and trumpet. And the tight, yet occasionally harsh harmonies just add to the blend. The final a capella chorus of "Little Lion Man" is out of this world.

Not to mention I'm a sucker for British men in winter clothes and canoes.

This is probably one of my favorite songs on the album.

Alright, Brandi will just have to wait til tomorrow. I got carried away on Mumford.