Etta James 1938-2012

Etta James died last week, news that literally brought tears to my eyes. The first time I heard Etta James, actually heard her, it shook me to the core. The range of her voice embodied the pain of love and flutter of hope that every girl struggles with. Every time I listen to "Anything To Say You're Mine" when she sings "My heart cries for just one little line... anything to say you're mine", my heart plummets in to my stomach and pulls with it, every emotion tied to the sentiments of love. There a very few artist that manage to weave a place like that into heart and she, somehow, walked right in with one line.
The respect she had for herself and her music (remember the Beyonce 'At Last' ordeal with Obama) shines just as bright as her voice. There's something most incredible about a woman who puts her reputation on the line in order to say what she's really thinking and her actions were just as fearless as her vocals.
I feel it's cliche to say things like, "music isn't what it used to be" - every generation struggles with the evolution of music but, when you hear someone like Etta or Aretha or Nina Simone, you can't help but wonder where all the passion went.
Every generation brings with it, the loss of an icon from another era. And the death of Ms. James brings with it, a voice of genuine pain and triumph to a generation lacking in both. I overheard two teenage girls talking about the newspaper headlines. One asked the other, "who is Etta James" to which the other replied, "she sings that one song, 'at last' I think". There was a moment of mixed emotions on my behalf until I realized, she probably wouldn't mind being remembered as the woman who sang 'At Last'. The emotion she put in to the song exemplified the white-picket innocence of love from her era and still rings true to the honest desires of women now. She was a cornerstone of soul music in a period that it was desperately needed and her passion remained with her until the day she died. Etta James was my gateway drug to better soul music and her death is a great loss to the foundation of what makes music so incredible.

Mark Sultan - The Sultan of Swing

After a brief encounter with Hunx and His Punx, I began ripping apart the garage/lo-fi genre with the flare of new love and found Mark Sultan. When i first "discovered" him, i sat on my bed for about two days taking in song after song. Each time, i couldn't deny the shaking of my foot and the airy feeling in my head. It doesn't take much effort to pin down his influences. Every song is full of the same spunk and candor of a genuine love for rock n' roll. It's just that fantastic.

Driving around with his voice and guitar making fuck with my speakers is an experience that makes the ladies knees wobble (mine included). In fact, the entire lo-fi/garage rock genre could brings tears to Apollo's eyes with it's lack of austerity and underlying tones of pure orgasmic harmonies.
Something about the whole genre is raw and honest and much like Jay Reatard (R.I.P.), Mark Sultan is right on the cusp of, "too good vs. not even met his full potential".
I grew up with Oldies and Classic Rock shoved down my throat so when i hear music that clearly pronounces a dedication to either, i'm hooked. Mark Sultan makes it seem so natural and graceful, it's as if it's as simple as an exhale of breath for the guy.

John Maus

There are many a performers throughout music history that have stunned audiences and deserved recognition from music critics galore... but John Maus; he's a different breed. Not that he's an exception to Iggy, Bowie or even Tomata du Plenty but, he's marked his own little spot in the "Music-Performance" section of the industry.
Not only is he a bumbling smart-man; he also happens to embody two of my favorite things in the world... music and philosophy. A Minnesota boy with a philosophy degree from a European school in Switzerland, how can you not even be the least bit interested in what he has to say?
The first time i saw him was in an Ian Perlman video featured on Vimeo (below).

My heart flopped to the floor i fell in love the second i saw him portray the lyrics coming out of his mouth. He's strange, pretentious, smart and talented. It took me a while to find an ear for him but the second we synced- it was all love from there.
I can't say he's for everyone but, that's to say of any musician. What i can say is this, "If you're looking for something but you can't quite scratch the surface of whatever it is, try him."
He's somewhere between 80's goth synth meets i-wanna-dance-naked-and-do-a-lot-of-drugs-after-binge-drinking. There are plenty of hipster labels to be given to the man but an honest listen will set it all straight in your head. He's just that good.