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Father Brian Finn by Right Away, Great Captain

Why I like this song: It was close to the end of November and I hadn't used all the credits on my emusic.com account.  An album was recommended to me called The Eventually Home by Right Away, Great Captain (a side project by Andy Hull, the lead singer of Manchester Orchestra).  The album quickly became one of my favorites of the month and then the year.  Hull is admittedly a big fan of David Bazan of Pedro the Lion fame.  You can hear some similarities in song structure (certainly not the vocals though) in the following song.

Other reasons why I like this song:

• I've said it before but I really like warm effects on electric guitars.  You'll notice there's no bass guitar in the song but the lower end of the electric fills out really nicely.
• Both of the Right Away, Great Captain albums are concept albums about a sailor.  I don't write music but I imagine concept albums take much intentionality and talent.
• Father Brian Finn is Ed Norton's character in Keeping the Faith.  I didn't really enjoy the movie but I think we can all agree that Ed Norton is one bad mamma jamma.

Comes and Goes (in waves) by Greg Laswell

LYRICS
This one's for the lonely
The ones that seek and find
Only to be let down
Time after time

This one's for the torn down
The experts at the fall
Common friends get up now
You're not alone at all

And this part was for her
This part was for her
This part was for her
Does she remember?

It comes and goes in waves, i....

This one's for the faithless
The ones that are surprised
They are only where they are now
Regardless of their fight

This one's for believing
If only for it's sake
Common friends get up now
Love is to be made

And this part was for her
This part was for her
This part was for her
Does she remember?

It comes and goes in waves,
I am only let to wonder why
It comes and goes in waves
I am only let to wonder why
Why I try

This is for the ones who stand
For the ones who try again
For the ones who need a hand
For the ones who think they can

It comes and goes in waves,
I am only let to wonder why
It comes and goes in waves
I am only let to wonder why
Why I try


Why I like this song: I don't care about George, Izzie, Meredith, McSteamy/McDreamy, or any of their ilk anymore.  It's too soap opera-esque for my taste (some would argue it always has been... rubbish!).  I first heard a Greg Laswell song last year on Grey's Anatomy and really dug it.  I bought both of his albums immediately and dug them.  For me, he's the intersection of Gomez, Mat Kearney, and Chris Martin.  Great stuff.

Other reasons why I like this song:

• The glockenspiel in the middle of the song to the end (it was the instrument I played for many years).
• The banjo picking.
• The first line of the song is a nice opening line.

In the next few days I will be crafting blogs for my favorite tracks of the year.  I listen to A LOT of music during the course of a year.  Music, in some weird way, can serve as a type of therapy for me.  It's likely my preferred communicative technique.  So, with that said, this music is some of the best I've heard and has impacted me in some form and probably touch on some emotion within me. 

There are 19 songs this year.  The length of a CD determines how many songs I can pick.  Some years I can pick 18 songs, others I might be able to pick 21 songs.  This year is 19.  I'd love to hear your opinions of these songs (good or bad) and, even better, read your list of favorite songs of the year. 

So, stay tuned!