Continuing Down The Pandora Path On My Way Here - Part 2

If you're new to the fabulous concept of Pandora Radio, you can read about it in the first part of my exploration here Pandora Path to On My Way Here. I could have spent days just exploring the 3 songs I started my radio stations at Pandora with and enjoying the new artists I was fortunate to find. I've already downloaded the entire Freezer Door album from iTunes and checked out their myspace . I bought some Johnathan Rice and after listening to more songs on his Myspace, I went back to iTunes and bought more.

But I had such a blast I couldn't wait to continue my journey with Part 2 - and chose to work with 3 new songs: Falling, Where I Draw The Line and Ashes.

FALLING

Features include:

electric rock instrumentation
a subtle use of vocal harmony
minor key tonality
electric rhythm guitars
acoustic rhythm guitars
prominent percussion

First up is Parlor by Kent – a Swedish group of the 1990s. Has the same electric rock instrumentation and subtle use of vocal harmony and the minor key tonality. Thumbs up and a chance to learn more about Kent.

Hooked Up by Minibar shows up next. This song is listed as a similar song to Falling by Clay Aiken and it’s no surprise that I liked it a lot and also that I grabbed it from iTunes. Interesting band, originally from UK and relocated to California in 1999 – they have a distinctly American sound – hook-ridden poppy songs and very cool – similarities to Falling are the electric rock instrumentation; subtle use of vocal harmony, acoustic rhythm guitar, minor key tonality, plus electric guitar riffs. Their Minibar Myspace is a great place to hear more music and learn a bit about them.

Another song listed as similar to Falling comes up next -- Lighnin In A Bottle by Adlin & Appleford. Features include:

electric rock instrumentation
country influences
a subtle use of vocal harmony
minor key tonality
a prominent harmonica part
a prominent mandolin part
acoustic rhythm guitars
prominent percussion

I actually like this country influence with terrific harmonic riffs. Thumbs up for sure.

What I find so interesting is the connection to a lot of alt/indie/country sounds I'm getting with Clay's Falling. I'm really hoping that those listeners who are getting Clay's song when they take their journey from the other end are actually giving it a chance and listening. They may discover his music the way I'm discovering new artists to me.

Hero's Welcome by Lodger is next and while I can’t figure out why – I just don’t care for the lead singer's voice. Listened for a minute or so and then thumbs down.

Where I Draw The Line by Clay Aiken is next. With features like:

subtle use of vocal harmony, minor vocal tonality, electric rhythm guitar, prominent percussion, plus acoustic rhythm piano and mild rhythm syncopation.

And thumbs up for me for sure! Interesting connection to Falling and it was a treat to hear it pop up unexpectedly.

Love this song up next by an Austin, TX group called Palaxy Tracks is Camera which has much of the same features but an addition of mellow rock instrumentation and intricate melodic phrasing. And I like it a lot so off to iTunes to buy it.

Death Cab For Cutie happens to be one of my favorite indie groups and Soul Meets Body from their Plan Album is up next – which again has the minor vocal tonality and subtle use of vocal harmony and acoustic rhythm guitars – plus the addition of subtle use of strings. This is already on my iPod so it definitely gets a thumbs up.

Alice Cooper’s Pick Up The Bones is next and his voice grates so just not interested. Blue Jean by The Cloud Room comes up after that and again, it just doesn’t seem to be moving me in the direction I want to go so thumbs down.

Back on track with Ring On by Soft which then leads me to

Last Goodbye – The Gufs another group I've never heard of and am glad to discover.

pop rock qualities
a subtle use of vocal harmony
mild rhythmic syncopation
repetitive melodic phrasing
minor key tonality
groove based composition
electric guitar riffs
acoustic rhythm guitars
prominent percussion

Lots similar to Falling and I definitely like it. From their Holiday From You 1999 album. Bought it on iTunes and I’ll stop back and pick up a few more tracks I’m sure. Milwaukee band – have toured with Rob Thomas. Why don’t I know about them? Seven years since their last album they are recording again. They’re great! Thanks Pandora. And a great place to end this path for now . . . I’ll definitely be back.

WHERE I DRAW THE LINE

a subtle use of vocal harmony
mild rhythmic syncopation
acoustic rhythm piano
minor key tonality
electric rhythm guitars
acoustic rhythm guitars
prominent percussion

First song Pandora plays is Amy Grant's live performance of Eye To Eye with many of the same features as WIDTL - but also the addition of:

basic rock song structures
acoustic rhythm piano
mixed acoustic and electric instrumentation
a prominent flute part
romantic lyrics

and it gets a thumbs up from me.

Once again, I'm hearing an artist I never heard before -- Jesse Malin singing Love Streams. Interesting background on the artist, Jesse Malin, and since they say "His love for Neil Young, Tom Waits, and Steve Earle affected his work" and those are three of my favorites - it's no surprise that I really like this. Once again, it's too easy to buy stuff from iTunes and I'm hitting my account a lot!!!

I'm veering a bit too country with the next song, Witching Hour by Austin Collins. Many people have said they hear a country-crossover possibility for Where I Draw The Line - and obviously so does Pandora as they are definitely giving me songs with country influences. And this song lists Where I Draw The Line as a similar song in their About The Song section. I'm enjoying this even though it's probably more country than I want to go - but I play it through with a thumbs up to see where I'm taken next.

Surprising, next song isn't anywhere near as country but it's definitely good -- Flaming Wreck by Pernice Brothers. There's a little bit of Colin Blunstone of The Zombies in the vocals of lead singer, Joe Pernice, and as a huge Zombies fan - that's a good thing!

And after that - Falling shows up and boy does that sound great. What a terrific radio station this is turning into and of course, ending it with Falling is a great way to move on to Ashes. I'll definitely be back to see what else Where I Draw The Line brings me.

ASHES

Features are:

electric rock instrumentation
country influences
a subtle use of vocal harmony
major key tonality
electric rhythm guitars
acoustic rhythm guitars
prominent percussion
romantic lyrics

I'm curious to see where this takes me - as this has the major key tonality that Falling and Where I Draw The Line do not - and this also has a notation of a "country influence".

First song up is Switchfoot's Dare You To Move – which is a kind of sweeping anthem that’s pretty good from Switchfoot and it has a great bass – so thumbs up.

Carry You by Jimmy Eats World is next and this definitely gets a thumbs up from me, plus a trip to iTunes for the download and a visit to their Myspace. I remember hearing Jimmy Eat World in the late 1990s and early 2000s - a lot of people did. But lost track and hadn't really heard anything recent. Which is a shame because they are really good. This is from their 2007 release Chase The Light. I'm glad Pandora reintroduced me to them.

Next up is another Jesse Malin song, On to Tomorrow Night . I already gave him a thumbs up for anther song that showed up in my previous station - and this one is deserving of another trip to iTunes.

Portastic’s You Blank is a change of pace – It started to grow on me the more I listened but just couldn’t get into Mac McCaughan’s voice that much – so decided for now to give it a thumbs down and see where I go next --- which was to David Mead. I like him and find Make It Right really catchy. It’s a great little pop song – unaffected vocals and good mix of mixed acoustic and electric instrumentation. And, according toDavid's Myspace, he's a Brooklyn boy - so definite thumbs up!

My next song is It’s the Only One You’ve Got by 3 Doors Down . Wow - I really love this song – great guitar riffs and lyrics. I've head their single, It's Not My Time and liked it - but I really love Only One You've Got. It's got a gutsy, rousing feel to it that I think is actually very similar to Ashes. I went and got the whole self-titled album from iTunes.

Jack Ingram’s What Makes You Say brings in a bit of the country influence but I’m not getting into it so I click on thumbs down.

Perfumed Letter by Bill Mallonee is next and again, someone I’ve never heard of, but a song I really like. Lyrically interesting and has a bit of the British invasion feel to it in the slightly psychedic feel to the music. Perfumed Letter is a 2003 release - but I went to his MySpace to hear his more recent stuff. I can't believe he's released 25 albums and I'm only just hearing him.

Golden Smog with Can’t Even Tie Your Own Shoes and another one that gets thumbs up followed by Replay by All Our Good Friends . This is a bit too “precious” for me - doesn’t have the drive I’m looking for so I hit thumbs down and take a real turn back into a more rock feel with Make Ends Meet with Connor O’Brien . This song is terrific - with great percussion and the addition of a wah wah pedal. Big thumbs up and a trip to iTunes.

Jimmy Eat World is back with Chase This Light and some new features like the introduction of "folk influences” and” a good dose of acoustic guitar pickin'”. Great energy and huge chorus and and a thumbs up for sure. Once again, I've added some great stuff to my iPod, and had a blast doing it.

Ashes, Falling and Where I Draw The Line are 3 of my favorites from Clay's On My Way Here. It's obvious to me that many of the musical features in these songs are what I'm looking for when I gravitate to other music. Supporting a site like Pandora Radio makes a lot of sense. Here's hoping that others are discovering Clay Aiken's new music in the same way.

Part 3 will be coming with Weight Of The World, As Long As We're Here and Sacrificial Love. Should be interesting.

I love hearing about the music you're discovering - so please comment and tell me what you've found that I might have missed!

Technorati tags:

Clay Aiken
On My Way Here
Falling
Where I Draw The Line
Pandora Radio
Ashes
Freezer Door
Johnathan Rice
Amy Grant
Kent
Minibar
Adlin & Appleford
Palaxy Tracks
Death Cab For Cutie
The Gufs
Switchfoot
Jimmy Eat World
Jesse Malin
3 Doors Down
Bill Mallonee
Golden Smog
Connor O'Brien

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