from the bin: "Through Toledo" by Greg Laswell
On every visit to Amoeba, I manage to make it to the ever so lovely Clearance section, where they offer CDs from $1.99 to $1.00. With that kind of money, I could definitely buy half of a burrito, but instead I choose to buy obscure CDs that nobody wants anymore. Here is my latest choice.
Pondering the night away...
Brief intro: You probably know who Greg Laswell is, but you probably know his girlfriend, Mandy Moore, even better. I found out about Greg through randomly perusing Wikipedia, that website everybody loves to love, and I read that she no longer dates Zach Braff (hybrid name: Mandach) or Andy Roddick (hybrid name: Mooroddick), but this singer-songwriter bloke from SoCal.
Brief bio: Okay, apparently he's not as obscure as I thought, as a couple of songs have made rounds on the CW drama scene, most notably on "Smallville" and "One Tree Hill," and I'm sure to some montage of fifty people crying. My bio is pretty much bland compared to his self-written one, which I recommend you read since it's much, much better, and I'd rather not have to paraphrase the thing.
Upon first listen...: He actually has a really good voice. There are some great melodies, ready to engulf you at each minute. Forgive me for getting into "Paula Abdul mode" but in his voice you sense a quiet confidence, though the album is pretty melancholy in its sound and in theme (apparently, this is about the divorce is recently went through). His voice has a bit of a Sondre Lerche-kind of purr, which I say, is damn good. And while listening to "Through Toledo," I can definitely see why his song would be featured on the shows they've been featured on.
Songs to check out: "Amazed," "Do What I Can," the seemingly metal-ish "I'm Hit," "Your Melody"
Final Thoughts: I now feel buyer's remorse for this album, due to the fact that I bought a great album in the clearance section. It happens like this sometimes, but I figure I can redeem myself when I pick up his first album. I also predict that I may fall in love with this man if he chooses to release a live album, because those always get me with their stripped down goodness.
Worth the $1.99?: Most definitely, but worth a whole lot more.
Preview some of his songs: Project Playlist
Or, if that link doesn't work, check: MySpace (this is all because I can't host mp3's)
Labels: from the bin, music
posted by caroline @ 8:25 PM
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