cdbaby.com recommendations (with samples)

THE STRAWMEN: Saving Faded Dreams
http://cdbaby.com/cd/strawmen
Jangly guitar pop diary about love, God, and  desperation. . .not necessarily in that order.

1 -    Runaway
2 -    It's A Miracle
3 -    Cut It Loose
4 -    Can't Satisfy
5 -    Old News
6 -    Aggravation
7 -    Saving Faded Dreams
8 -    The Reason Why
9 -    Everything's Turned Blue
10 -    Innocent
11 -    Find A Reason
12 -    I Don't Live There Anymore
13 -    Amputate

This record is a catchy collection of pop tunes with just the right mix of jangle and melancholy to convince you this band plays from the heart. From the opening, "Let's ditch this haunted house and catch a bus downtown"(Runaway) to "Now that my heart is gone, I'm a harmless man" (Amputate), the songs could be a soundtrack for most of our lives.  One reviewer (NotLame.com) says "Saving Faded Dreams" is "Absolutely fantastic jangle-pop par-excellance! Imagine Del Amitri and REM-insprired Byrds jangle and you have The Strawmen. Oceans of gorgeous jangle, an army of melodic hooks and thought-provoking lyrics."  

However. . .we all know there's too much BS and too many exclamation points used to sell stuff nowadays.  So, in a modest attempt to limit our contribution to that general psychic pollution, CDBaby and The Strawmen are providing MP3 samples for all our songs.  Click and see for yourself.  If they don't float your boat, go find something that does. . .life is too short to listen to music you don't like.  But if they do, then buy our CD so we can make a little money and do this again.  Either way, Peace to you and yours.

The Strawmen are:
Bill Harmon: Lead singer, lyricist, guitarist, and songwriter. . .Bill once upon a time had the rare opportunity to pitch some songs to the late Johnny Cash in person. The Man in Black didn't care for those particular tunes, but appreciated Bill's spunk (Bill had chased Cash down in an open field on Cash's property) and told him to "never put that guitar down".  Bill has never been quite sure of the wisdom of that advice.

Mark Harmon: Bassist, guitarist, songwriter, background vocalist, recording engineer, and producer. . .Mark's love for the bass shows in his lyrical approach to the instrument. If you like bass parts that contribute to the atmosphere as well as provide a rock-solid bottom end, then you'll like Mark's playing.  Check out the sample from Track 12 ("I Don't Live There Anymore") to get a flavor.  Mark and Bill are brothers.
 
David Leonhardt: Main guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, and hook-meister extraordinaire. . .David's inspiration for many of his guitar parts comes from Johnny Marr of "The Smiths". You can hear Dave's chimey melodies particularly well on "Can't Satisfy," "Saving Faded Dreams," and "The Reason Why."

"Saving Faded Dreams" also features:
Mike Roe: Producer, guitarist, background vocalist and relentless promoter.  Mike is on the road a lot with "The Lost Dogs" and "The 77s" and is always talking up The Strawmen.  Mike's tasteful electric and acoustic guitar work is all over the record.

Bruce Spencer: Drummer for "The 77s", Bruce volunteered to play drums on this record just because he liked the songs.  He's a musician's musician.

Scott Reams: Percussion and post-production work.

My father purchased this online in MP3 format, and it's definitely worth checking out...

Update on The Strawmen: I've been listening to the album repeatedly now, and it has grown tremendously on me. Definitely a recommendation!

The T wrote: https://cdbaby.com/cd/shaolindeath   GO GET SHAOLIN DEATH SQUAD NOW.....

this might float your boat

I think i still have to sya that one of my favorite aspects of CDBaby is the order confirmation email they send you. Aside from that, Ive gotten some pretty good cds that I simply couldn't find anywhere else, such as:

Gravity - 4 Font

also, a friend of mine recently released an album and started selling it via CDBaby and he said it was a great tool for any degree of indie artist to start selling albums

Check out "Theories of Tension" by Roulette Notations.  Complex. Genius.

Sorry for the double post, but I just noticed this is dedicated to CD's on CD Baby.com.  So here is info about my CD:  Surfing the Solar Winds.   

Edited by jeffn1 - February 16 2009 at 11:03

Try this. We released it last month. Steve Rothery from Marillion plays on the track "Oh Look! A Rainbow!!"

hahaha Greg Lake?  i gotta go tell Leslie the singer.....

http://cdbaby.com/cd/agentmoosehead

Agent Moosehead - Neil, Throw the Switch

My latest discovery, found em completely by accident on youtube. Progressive Avant-Jazz madness. Sometimes gets a little too cacophonic for my tastes but I'm continuing to listen with an open mind. I'd describe it as a mix between Zappa's great big band composition, John Zorn's avant-craziness, and Estradasphere's randomness (not to mention reverence to video game music). Check it out if you're into any of the above.

They definitely deserve to be listed on PA, though I believe they're unsigned so they might not fit the requirements IIRC. Either way if anyone involved in artist submission reads this, give em a try. I think you'll agree with me.