Song #73: Cameron Smith - "The Grey Man"

Cameron Smith is an Australian musician, formerly of the brilliant Epitomes, and also a good friend of mine. Recently, he did a very special bedroom recording for his younger brother, Curtis, and his eighteenth birthday. What a lovely, brotherly thing to do!

The song is The Grey Man. Fans of Copeland will recognise the song from their final album, the incredible You Are My Sunshine from 2008. Cameron plays everything himself here - the guitar, bass and percussion all sounding very impressive for such a low-budget quality. His voice, even though the falsetto is out of his range, also sounds really good - the bridge sees some distorted vocals and even dual harmonies come into play, which works surprisingly well. A perfect cover? No, sir. But if someone got me this for my birthday, I wouldn't be complaining!

FINAL RATING (/10): 8

You can download Cameron's version here.

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David

Song #62: Fuck Buttons - "Sweet Love to Mother Earth"

Interestingly enough, I have had this song on my harddrive for quite some time. I got it from the mixtape of some hipster's blog where he put together a compilation of his favourite songs of 2008. This was my first experience listening to the band's music in full - and truth be told, I'm uncertain I could last an entire record.

It's not that "Sweet Love" is a bad song. Not at all. It is, however, an exhausting listening experience - clocking in at nearly ten minutes, the track takes several of those just building up keyboard noise around a single note. The peak of the song's intensity is near the end, with distorted screams and increased noise. It gets really exciting near its end, but it's a difficult pill to swallow. I might try some of their other stuff, but this has left me pretty uneasy about it.

FINAL RATING (/10): 5.5

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David

Song #46: Emarosa - "The Past Should Stay Dead"

Normally, I can't rely on my younger brother for very much. But this is the second time he has come to my rescue in terms of showing me some music that I've previously never heard. Much unlike Talk Talk, however, this is much more up his alley of new-wave post-hardcore. I definitely can't get into a lot of it (I'm getting too old for this shit), but let me tell you something for nothing: Emarosa blew me away within a matter of seconds.

I think this was, in no small part, thanks to vocalist Jonny Craig, formerly of Dance Gavin Dance. Regardless of your ever-so-worthy opinion on the genre, this dude has one hell of a voice. There is so much passion and grit in his delivery, particularly when it reaches the higher levels of his range - a cross between the Emery boys and Anthony Green. It's rare to come across such a remarkable voice, so it's worth listening to this track on the back of this alone. Instrumentally, Craig is supported strongly by very intricate drumming and wailing chord progressions with a smartly-arranged lick thrown in every now and then to shake things up. It's an intense, unpredictable and genuinely exciting work that is a rarity in its field these days.

FINAL RATING (/10): 9

Absolutely wonderful.

The band have a new album on the way in 2010, and will be playing Soundwave this coming February. Get excited.

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TAINTED SHEEEEEE-David

Song #7: Joe Brown - "Long Gone"

So there I was, watching late night television with my girlfriend, worrying about how I hadn't yet heard a song that I'd never heard before that day. Thankfully, we were tuned into Later... With Jools Holland, who always has an array of brilliant guests on his show. Tonight was no exception, with Mr. Joe Brown taking to the stage (or, at least, the corner of it) with about four other guys to perform a song called Long Gone.

I'm going to be perfectly honest - maybe it was half-past-midnight talking, but this song hit me as a stroke of brilliance. It's bluegrass music in its truest form, played with precise skill and stunning five-part harmonies. The song's a simple my-woman-done-me-wrong number, but it's all done so effectively that you're just in awe of the skill all five of these musicians have.

Interestingly enough, I'd never heard of Joe Brown before this performance, either. Apparently, the guy's an MBE, was the best man at George Harrison's wedding and has worked in music, film and radio. All over a 51-year career! Fuck me, I've got some work to do.

FINAL RATING (/10): 9

This was a real treat to listen to. If you'd like to experience it the way I did, have a look-see on YouTube.

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David