A Few Things Burning-up my iTunes Lately

I say "burning up," but they are pretty mellow. This here first group is Mates of State. I hate to admit this but I'm sort of a grumpy old man when it comes to new artists. I am horribly picky about new artists and I think I'm probably 10 times more of a critic than I am a should be. Besides being a novelist, being a critic would be a dream job. It can be to a fault, as it takes me too long to warm up to new artists. (Part of being OCD.) You wouldn't believe how long it took me to warm up to some ground-breaking artists. I'm still not warmed-up to John Mayer. Probably because when Amber and I went to see him and Ben Folds (took me almost year to warm up to Ben!) it was like a Cougar convention. Middle-aged women drinking margaritas from plastic cups and yelling at Mayer to take his shirt off. Gagalicious. That being said, I heard Mates of State on the Conan O'brien Show the other night and really liked them. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I really like the way a guy and girl sound when they sing together... hmmm. So here is a recent new addition to my Itunes library. I like them and and I can't exactly put my finger on why, besides the obvious, and most-times, that's the most fun kind.

This duo needs no introduction. These are my two favorite living singers. Singing together. Sheesh. I would shave my head and talk fake Klingon for a week to see these guys in concert. I like this live version but you gotta hear the T-bone production from the record. When I first downloaded it, I think I listened to it a thousand times, over and over. But see, that's just me, and that's one of the many beauties of music. Some music hits some of us right at the right time in our lives and speaks just what we want or need to hear. Then we try to recommend it and we're surprised that no one feels quite the same. Anyways, here is my offering to the "listen-to-this!" pile.