The Holiday Buzz of Straight No Chaser

Before you run away from this post about Christmas carols (you knew I'd do one, c'mon!), listen carefully. Nary a trumpet or sleigh bell in hearing range, Straight No Chaser is solidly a cappella and anything from watered down.

Straight No Chaser puts the zest into classic Christmas tunes, with a fresh, rousing take on songs such as "The Twelve Days of Christmas," "Aud Lang Syne" and "Jingle Bell Rock." And these guys aren't a bunch of barbershop bums. Backed by Atlantic Records and followers old and young, SNC brightens up retro and modern music with their angelic, manmade melodies.

SNC's Christmas Cheer is the perfect holiday album for those who still haven't replaced their Miriah Carey Christmas album and are looking for a very new, delightful spin for the season.

Still don't care for carols? Check out the group's outstanding mashup of Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." If it doesn't put a smile on your face...Grinch...all I've gotta say.

http://myspace.com/sncmusic/

Rocking Retail - The Essential Shopping Classics

Was everyone excited for another tax-free weekend?! I definitely was, and while I experienced sensory overload from aisles and aisles of clothes, shoes, and bags, I couldn't get the songs played in Marshall's, TJ Maxx, and other stores out of my head. To honor the recycled retail classics, I have the top six songs to hear in department stores. Download if you please, but if these songs just remind you of failing to find your size in jeans or spending this month's paycheck, I would save these for the next shopping trip.

Rocking Retail - The Essential Shopping Classics

1. Faith Hill - This Kiss

------basically a pop country favorite of consignment stores around the nation. And as many times as I've heard it, I still only know the lines "it's centrivical motion...this kiss/this kiss."

2. No Doubt - Don't Speak

------Gwen Stefani's fashion label L.A.M.B. was just another incentive to play this heartbreaking punk tear jerker throughout stores carrying her merchandise. This retail therapy booster is for the shopper who wants to remember a breakup whilst searching for slingbacks. Say hello to the only motivation to buy, buy, buy because of bye, bye, byes.

3. Santana feat. Steven Tyler - Just Feel Better

------Yet another proponent of retail therapy, this wailing guitar sob story may as well have the lyrics "I'm gonna buy anything to just feel better." Once again, I have trouble understanding the need to play woe-is-me music while wandering through stores. A little word of advice to retailers - negativity repels customers!

4. Sheryl Crowe - All I Wanna Do

-------Now this is a bit better! With its reggae inspired beat and sunshine disposition, "All I Wanna Do" puts a smile on the faces of buyers all over. It's true - all I wanna do is have some fun, and that's what shopping should be all about.

5. The Goo Goo Dolls - Slide

-------Even if you don't have a beau to love, at least you can find some clothes that'll never talk back or leave you! "Slide" is full of spontaneity and uninhibited devotion, a feeling you can relate to a splurge buy or becoming soul mates with the clearance rack. It's widely recognized riff and happy-dappy lyrics will have you dancing while browsing, too.

6. Natasha Beddingfeild - Unwritten

--------Power to the funky and fabulous! Ever since "Unwritten" hit mainstream radio and welcomed LC to "The Hills," every store from L.A. to New York has snatched up this self-esteem booster to wrap their customers in warm, fuzzy confidence. Expressing individuality and a better tomorrow, "Unwritten" is a friendly face in the world of consumerism.

7. Jason Mraz - The Remedy (I Won't Worry)

---------Once again, retailers coerce us into throwing our troubles away and imersing ourselves in the moment (long enough to take a second look at cute handbag, anyways). Perhaps it's Mraz's fun and quirky wordplay and chorus stamped with a gigantic smiley face that makes stores scramble for this song. In any case, "The Remedy" gives us all a healing sensation to keep on shopping until we drop.

Jason Mraz - The Gratitude Cafe Tour

The Music Factory of Charlotte, N.C. played a very rainy host to southern soul rocker G Love and Mr. Wordplay himself, Jason Mraz. Following the next leg on the Gratitude Cafe tour, fans were given a rather wet welcome -a downpour of rain,booming thunder, and lightning pitching through the sky.

Many rainsoaked concertgoers with spirits more than dampened made their way out the venue, while the rest took shelter under thin plastic ponchos, overhangs, and a makeshift coffeehouse representing the real Gratitude Cafe.

When it looked like the concert would be a no go, it was announced to 5,000 fans that G Love and Mraz would play an exclusive acoustic session at The Fillmore, an indoor venue able to cram in 1,500 people.

Needless to say I bolted from the stands, risking broken ankles, bruised limbs, and beatings from lots of frustrated, drunk husbands/boyfriends/douchebags to get in line. After riotous shoving and nearly losing my fedora, I made it inside. Those fortunate enough to make the 1,500 cut were nothing short of elated. Despite the slippery floors, a post-rain stench, and wet clothes, the crowd couldn't have been happier.

G Love (minus the Special Sauce for the session) opened the show with freewheeling, freestyling southern soul. Blasting on his harmonica and tapping his feet like a spider, G Love entertained the crowd with laid back odes to cold beverages and booty calls.

Of all the concerts I've been to, "relaxing" has rarely made an appearance on my list of adjectives to describe them. However, Mraz's set was nothing short of refreshing. He spoke of sunshine in the midst of rain, relishing in his chance to clear his mind and soul throughout the set. Indeed Mraz's more popular tunes, "The Remedy," "You and I Both," and "Curbside Prophet" went off the constructed studio recording in favor of experimental breakdowns and whispered improvisations.

Mraz, Toca, and the gang performed music from his latest album, We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things, within an easy-going atmosphere and nonchalant joy. An energizing "Live High," "Make it Mine" and "Butterfly" sparked head bobbing and swaying, while a positively adorable rendition of "Lucky" magnetically brought couples together. Singing the female vocals was Elise, a manager of The Gratitude Cafe who happened to have the perfect pipes for the duet.

After six hours of standing (four of them waiting for the show to start), the concert was a breath of fresh air. I was able to check out The Music Factory, The Fillmore, and catch Mr. A-Z in action. If the tour is heading your way, grab some tickets and a poncho - just in case.

Song of the Day

**7/25/09

Eric Hutchinson - Ok, It's Alright

---------------Ever wonder what your favorite artists listen to when they themselves aren't onstage? Jason Mraz would like to tell you, playing with words on his Myspace blog while listening to soul-guitar man Eric Hutchinson. Fans of Mr. Mr-AZ will love to hear Hutchinson, who could be Mraz's twin for vocal dubs.

After a few fubars in an attempt to create the perfect album, Hutchinson is proud to release his debut album, Sounds Like This, to the masses. "Ok, It's Alright" opens up a blues guitar with a devil-may-care attitude. Become a Hutchead and grab Sounds Like This, the ten-song crooning wonder from Eric Hutchinson.

http://www.myspace.com/erichutchinson

Song of the Day

**3/1/09

Jason Mraz - At Last/Sleep All Day

-----------Those of us on the east coast will be able to tomorrow: at last we have a snow accumulation that exceeds 1/4 of an inch and we can sleep in because of it. So what a lovely day to kick back and listen to Mraz's mellow magic on Live at Java Joe's. This wonderfully melodic album is fantastic from beginning to end, and "At Last/Sleep All Day" features pretty three part harmony and a swaying rythem bound to produce a smile. Also listen to the Spanish infused "0% Interest" and the traveller's triumph, "The Dream Life of Rand McNally."