Before I launch into this I wanted to throw a discalaimer out there, my company developed this software so I obviously am biased.

For people wanting to learn how to play piano but don’t want to bother with traveling to a teacher or pay expensive fees, or for people (like me) who would just as soon be playing computer games, you really need to checkout Piano Marvel. This is the first piano learning software to really do what it was intended: improve user’s piano skills as well as engage their interest enough to keep them practicing for hours at a time. With its incredible user interface, ease of setup, and accuracy at detecting and evaluating performance, there really isn’t that much out there that can do as good a job at substituting for an in-person piano teacher. It’s low monthly cost makes it more affordable as well.

For more info checkout the video below.

To sign up for a free 30 day trial and monthly discount click here.

Quite often we find songs worthy of mentioning but find so many that there simply is not the time to write about them. To save time but to also spread the word we’re going to be starting a twitter account for great indie songs we find in the blogosphere. Follow us at http://twitter.com/loveryoursong if you’d like notifications.

2008 saw a surge in the numbers of indie music bloggers and (I’d like to think) helped to increase the general public’s awareness of aesthetic music not necessarily endorsed by major labels (and thus not subject to their formulaic dictates). Perhaps this increased demand for grassroots music can also account for more of this music being played on popular radio and used as soundtracks for popular T.V. shows. An additional benefit of this increased awareness may also be a slight decrease in the number of elitists who cling to obscure music as a status symbol (one would hope). Let’s hope that 2009 brings about even more changes in the primary channels listeners use to find great music.

In that spirit I have compiled a list of LoveYourSong.com’s 20 favorite songs from 2008. Most of these songs were found as a result of the hubbub of the blogosphere. It should be noted that these songs are great, each by its own merits and are difficult to compare. They are, therefore, simply ordered alphabetically by artist.

-Andrew

•  Under the Iron Sky - Adamantium Studios Feat. Kaiti Kink (Soundtrack to the trailer of Iron Sky)
• 10 Seconds – Ane Brun
• Hot Kathy – Apes & Androids
• Willow Tree – Chad VanGaalen
• When Water Comes to Life – Cloud Cult
• The Geeks Were Right – The Faint
• The Original Man – Fredo Viola
• The Crime Window – Grand Archives
• And Then You – Greg Laswell
• Sneaky Creatures – Halou
• Emergency Street – HILOTRONS
• Don’t You Worry – Jim Noir
• Boracay – The Little Ones
• Power – Nick Jaina
• I Saw the Light - State Bird
• We Still Drink The Same Water - Teitur
• That’s Not My Name - The Ting Tings
• The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance - Vampire Weekend
• Self-Destruct - What Made Milwaukee Famous
• Failing At Art - Years Around The Sun

Hilarious and true.

For me a song must have value in and of itself, independent of any other factor. This includes the writer, producer, and performer. I don’t care if a song was was performed by “the greatest talent in the year 2007″ or produced in the top-of-the-line studio in Nashville. Popularity, promotion, airplay, and hype only serve to get the song to my ears. They don’t make it great.

I have found great songs in commercials, in EP’s, at the local open mic show, and even found one of my all-time favorites on quick-and-dirty demo CD a band left in a hotel lobby. Sure, great songs are also found on Billboard’s top 40. But for anyone to limit their musical selection to those pieces businessmen and marketers have forced upon them seems a travesty to me.

Three weeks ago I accidentally deleted my whole site in one single errant mouse click. Ooops! Luckily I still had most of my posts on the database, and so I was able to salvage everything but my guitar lesson pages. But it turned out to be the push I needed to finally give the site a much-needed redesign. So here it is in all it’s glory!

Update: If you’re looking for tablature or lyrics for Brett Dennen songs, click here.
link to Brett Dennen at iTunes

While trying out Pandora.com I came across a song that brought me up from my work when it struck me as something completely original and brilliant. The song was called “Desert Sunsrise” by Brett Dennen and the moment I heard it I knew I was a fan. Not long after that I heard “By and By” from the same artist and from there I went straight to iTunes to buy the album.

“Brett Dennen” by Brett Dennen is an album with eleven unique tracks that would probably be classified as folk but that has its fingers in other genres as well (check out the jazz in “Desert Sunsrise”, the gospel in “All We Have”, reggae in “Day By Day”). Brett Dennen’s guitar-playing sounds very John Mayer in it’s purcussively jazz/folk quality, but his voice is all his own. It’s child-like, innocent quality, with soft “D”s and short vowels, reminds me of both Kalai and (dare I say it) Adam Sandler (especially in “By and By”, “Blessed”, “Don’t Forget”, and “When I Go”). But his vocal maturity comes out in his Jason Mraz style of chromatic note changes when, with deliberate and controlled emphasis, each note in a quick series is clearly produced.

Having heard “Desert Sunsrise” and “By and By” before purchasing the album I was expecting more of that caliber. I have to admit to more than a little disappointment, however, when I discovered that these two were the only ones that kept my attention. Brett Dennen’s guitar-work and sublime vocals were not enough to save “Blessed”, “Don’t Forget”, and “Day By Day” which were annoyingly repetitive, “Make the Most” and “All We Have”, which were didactic and left me feeling preached-to, and “When I Go” where his vocal melody just kind of wanders without any real focal point. For me this last point is most alarming and, while it was most apparent in “When I Go”, other songs suffer from it as well. Brett Dennen, at times, seems more interested in delivering lines than he does producing the melodies that he is capable of. As his career progresses I hope he learns that the music itself must sell the audience before anyone pays attention to his lyrical sermons.

If you would like a free flavor of Brett Dennen’s music he has a free download on his site. But know that it is far from his best. For two treasures download “By and By” and “Desert Sunsrise”. “Nothing Lasts Forever”, “Just Like the Moon”, and “Day By Day” are also ok.
But the rest are not good at all and I would not recommend them. –Andrew

Update: If you’re looking for tablature or lyrics for Augustana songs, click here.

Who? Augustana. Apparently it means “small glimpse of hope” though they may have just made that up. Any Latin experts out there want to verify that?

So anyway… Augustana is a new band that signed with Epic Records not long ago. Now I don’t usually do reviews of bands that are signed. In my mind they don’t need the recognition and everyone already hates or loves them without the guidance of my opinion. But when I first heard a clip of these guys on their website I couldn’t keep from buying their tunes. After really listening I decided it fit so well with the sound of bands I typically like to review/listen to (something that bridges a sort of Irish folk-rooted, Beatle sound and the chill side of newer Americana, if that is possible), that I had to let my readers know about it.

Now let me say that although I love their sound there is very little that is revolutionary about this band. I think I love it because it is more of the same of what I typically love. But don’t expect to hear anything new unless you have never listened to Adam Cohen (site), Counting Crows (site), Ben Folds (site), or Melee (site). Their lyrics, chord progressions, guitar licks, and even the lead singer’s voice, (Dan Layus) have all been done. That may be the reason I like it so much. It’s like they took the sound of afore mentioned groups and others and said “we can do that as well or better”.

The EP to get:
“You’ll Disappear”

For those not familiar with LoveYourSong.com let me tell you that when I say I love a songwriter it usually means that I love one or two of their songs. That is the case with Augustana. There are three songs they have put out that deserve to be top 40’s, in my opinion. Right now they are among the top 50 of my own personal Billboard. Luckily these three songs are the only ones on Augustana’s EP album, You’ll Disappear, making it easy for consumers to purchase. I would highly recommend the album though I can’t say the same for their full album, All the Stars and Boulevards. Except for the songs “Boston”, “Bullets”, and “Stars and Boulevards” this album is pretty boring.

I want to start with what I love about “Bullets”. First, whoever was in charge of the digital effects is a master and I can’t think of a better way to add padding to a song that doesn’t need any than what they have done. Second, congratulations to Justin South on one of the most killer drum moments I have heard. Listen closely to the drums and you’ll know what I’m talking about. Last, the chorus is one that I simply can’t get out of my head. It reminds me of “Boys” by Ryan Adams (site) in its intensity and soaring, driving, vocals. It could also be compared with several choruses of The Killers (site) (for those not as familiar with Ryan Adams). It’s catchy but not in a contrived, pop way.

Augustana trying very hard to look retro.

On to “Boston”. The piano line in this jem of a song is very original. It’s not quite Keane (site) but just as simple. It’s not ornate enough to be Ben Folds but just as catchy. I’m not a huge fan of the organ in the background but it’s not bad. The rhythm guitar, slowly strumming it’s overdrive-chords, is just what the songs asks for. The lead guitar even helps the song (unlike some of their others). The chorus is reminiscent of Goo Goo Dolls “Name” but in an improving way. Finally, the lyrics are wonderful. They are simple and conversational but speak to sort of pain that everyone has felt and longs to find relief from. Makes me want to go over to Boston and get out of California… er… Utah.

My third favorite song is “Stars and Boulevards”. The thing I like the most about this song is Dan Layus’s voice. He sings this one in his lower register and demonstrates as much intensity down there as he has in his other, higher songs. However, the lead guitar really bothers me in this song. I feel like it really detracts from the melody and is annoyingly unsure of itself. It’s as if Josiah Rosen just threw it in there for the sake of having it. Sorry Josiah. I like most of the stuff you do but this one just didn’t work too well. But while I’m picking on him I might as well throw this in too. “Feel Fine” and “Wasteland”, although completely different in their registers, intensity, and volume, seem to share lead guitar parts. I wonder how aware Augustana is of this. This is one of the only things about this band that reveals their newness as a group. New lead guitarists often, whether aware of it or not, find themselves throwing extremely similar lead licks in different songs. Well, on the other hand there’s Van Helen. So I guess that’s not always bad.

Augstana sporting their Eddie
Bauer winter-wear.

I won’t review any of their other songs since I wasn’t that impressed with them. But I do want to mention that I’m amazed with “Coffee and Cigarettes”, not because I like it that much. Only because it sounds like they got with the old Paul Simon to write it. It is completely different from their other stuff and I like that. It shows that the band is not stuck in one cookie-cutter sound that they will never have the ability to change (like Nickelback). Good work guys.

–Andrew