Binge Post...William Fitzsimmons, Mutemath, Andrew Bird

      I've been quite hiatus since last summer. This is not the usual apology about how I was too busy [lazy] and just haven't been dedicating enough time to write a post once in a while. I also won't promise to change that. I never know what the next week holds sometimes.
     Anyway, three solid releases from the last half a year that I've finally been getting around to listen to a lot more.

     First, William Fitzsimmons latest EP titled Charleroi: Pittsburgh, Vol. 2 (April 1, 2016). It's a companion album to his previously released Pittsburgh 7-track album. The focus of the songs are similar, about his being raised as an orphan and the grandmother he never knew, as opposed to the one he did with Pittsburgh. Apparently by the time he found out who she was she had passed away, but was from Charleroi, PA. Gentle, folk arrangments with lovely while sad melodies. Similar to how touching Sufjan Steven's Carrie & Lowell was because of the depth of the emotion songs of this nature bring, this is a quiet night's listen that will help you appreciate even more that warm embrace you have or long for the one you don't have. Six songs that blend seamlessly and melt into your consciousness. His website here.

     Mutemath's fourth full release, Vitals (November 13, 2015), was highly anticipated for me, but I didn't get to listen to it until December, and then only briefly. I took to it again in March (hiatus completed!) and it has grown on me steadily. I cannot admit I liked it as immediately as their previous releases of Armistace (2009) and Odd Soul (2011), but it really just has a fresh new feel as all of their albums have had. I feel like if they're not reinventing themselves in some way then it doesn't hit that spot they are trying to achieve. They've been known to throw work out completely and just restart as a result, a process known to this album as well. Vitals hits more of a dance groove at times. The songwriting and uniqueness of sound of Mutemath represents for me is all still there though and their slow songs are every bit as good as the upbeat songs. Their website here.

    Andrew Bird is a household name in indie folk these days and every releases promises something audibly beautiful. This one's a bit different. It does have it's moments of typical Andrew Bird folk style, but for the most part it is a psychedelic seventies romp into funky alternative rock with Andrew Birdisms thrown in (i.e. violin and whistling). There's almost an Balkan rock feel to it as well, something akin to Bierut or Devotchka. Andrew Bird is also no longer a bachelor, ladies so sorry! His website here.
     I haven't given you a link to these songs over on the right. Go to Spotify! It's free on PC and has every one of these albums available for free streaming. If you are reading this blog and you don't have the capability to do this, then you live in the dinosaur age or you rely so heavily on your smartphone for streaming. Well that is your fault. Just kidding, enjoy!