First Quarter Music Highlights! (#17)

Can you even believe that we are already a quarter of the way through the year? Three months have gone by and there has already been a healthy amount of good music that has come out. That always surprises me for some reason. I have this weird fear that good music will run out someday. Like there are only so many instruments, and so many notes, and music has been around for so long that the tank has to be running on E. I know this is ridiculous, and even if my fears do come to fruition down the road we are most certainly not there yet as these past three months have so awesomely proven. Here are some Q1 highlights for you and yours.

Listen to Joey's Playlist!

Gold On The Ceiling - The Black Keys, This duo comprise what might be the most consistent Rock band out there. The Black Keys were put in the impossible position of having to follow up their massively successful album "Brothers" (which was already their 6th by the way). Well follow it up they did, and they knocked it out of the park again. "Gold On The Ceiling" is the 2nd single off of "El Camino" and every second of it is tasty. Listen to that organ growl at you. Careful, it bites!

Hold On - Alabama Shakes, I do not know much about these guys. I don't even know if they're actually from Alabama. I do know that this song awesome though.

Simple Song - The Shins, The Shins are back and with an almost entirely new line up. It is clear now, more than ever, that James Mercer was, is, and always will be The Shins, regardless of who's playing drums or bass. Phew!!!

Cruel - St. Vincent, Holy Annie Lennox vibe! I am late comer to the St. Vincent party, but now that I'm here I like what I'm hearing. Especially that sax!

That Old Black Hole - Dr. Dog, I have had a hard time enjoying Dr. Dog in the past because he sounds almost exactly like Adam Sandler, especially his older stuff. This song forced me to get over it. Great tune!

Sidewalk Safari - Chairlift, Yes, I'm putting this on two of my playlists in a row. Deal with it!

Emmylou - First Aid Kit, I like to imagine that someday when I get to Heaven, there will be a small wooded grove where I can go and sit with my legs crossed and just listen to these sisters sing to me all day long...... Hook it up Jesus!!!

Eyeoneye - Andrew Bird, Mr. Bird is back in all of his Looping Pedal and whistling glory!

Video Games - Lana Del Rey, Poor Lana. Saturday Night Live was not kind to you, and neither was the twitterverse after your performance. It was a tad on the shaky side, but she deserves some slack. She is only 25 , and it was SN-freaking-L! That can't be easy. This has been one of my very favorite songs of the year so far.

Alone - Trampled By Turtles, I think I am one of the few Trampled fans that enjoy their tamer side more than their "face melting fiddle" side. This song is perfectly tempered and easy to listen to.

Beirut - A Candle's Fire, Bust out the Brass!

Bad Girls - M.I.A., Super catchy world pop. I love this chick! Everything she does is different and fun. Please take a moment at some point to watch the music video for this song. It's so cool!

Love interruption - Jack White, I am so pumped for this album. I have literally gobbled up everything that Jack has put out there, and there has been a lot of it. Six White Stripes albums, two Dead Weather albums, and two Raconteur albums, not to mention all the stuff he has produced. I have high hopes for his solo stuff! So far so good...

Well that's pretty much the gist of it... actually I just scratched the surface. There were loads of other yummy tracks, but I thought I would trim'er down for all of our sakes. Here's hoping for a stellar second quarter!