Brian Dilts Music

A lot of music I listen to is pretty serious - dense textures, serious lyrics. So from time to time I like to kick back and listen to something "easy". Here are a few guilty pleasures for me (by guilty pleasure I certainly don't mean it's lesser music, in fact usually it's pretty good stuff!)

1. Foster The People - Torches

2. Dave Matthews Band - Under The Table And Dreaming

3. Beck - Midnight Vultures

What are some of yours? 

Here's another video from our amazing pianist/songwriters show at the Queen from last Sept.

The song is Five Minutes Away.  

Happy Easter and Passover, 

Brian

My performance of "Invisible Net" in Wilmington DE back on Sept. 9. 

Thanks to David Sadler for videoing the show! 

So, just looking back on the past year, a lot of things I missed given all the craziness in my personal life. My wife and I found out we would be having a baby right when the Middle-East protests started in Tunisia, and my son was born right when the OWS protests started. So much happened in between as well (Wisconsin Protests, Bin Laden, London Protests, Libya). Kind of an amazing trajectory, and I'm looking forward to being able to tell him all that happened in the world, good and bad - I hope to instill in him a good sense of worldliness and awareness of the world he lives in. 

But I digress, a less heavy subject - a lot of great music also came out in 2011. Here's a list of my top 5 personal favs. 

5. The Roots - Undun

This one came out late in the year, but I've always been an armchair fan of the Philly crew. This album made me like them a bit more than I already did. Great sounds, so musical, of course amazing lyrics. 

4. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy

Caught this one late, heard it a few times, and looking forward to hearing it more. One of those albums that you hear something new every time. I love how she puts sound and sound textures together in unexpected ways, but creates these songs you couldn't imagine any other way. 

3. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

I've always loved The Beatles, some Beach Boys, CSNY, and I hear all of those influences in this band. Yet the songs are fresh and original. I'm always about sound, and they've really got their reverb down to a science. Just the harmonies alone on Grown Ocean do it for me. 

2. Radiohead - King Of Limbs

I could write a couple blog posts about this album. Amazing album, in a sense, I think one of their best. Everyone complained about the minimalism and shortness of the album. But there's actually so much going on in each track that the repeated listenings ultimately reward you. Of course we always want more.

I love Bloom, one of my favorite tracks of theirs, and the "Into Your Arms" section of Give Up The Ghost sends shivers down the spine, vocals surrounding your head. Do yourself a favor and listen to this album with a good set of headphones. 

1. Bon Iver - Bon Iver

Generally, any Radiohead album would be at the top of the list. But if I'm really honest, this album to me was my favorite album of the year. It haunted me from summer til now. Great tracks all the way through. Perth, Minnesota WI, and Calgary were personal favorites. And of course Holocene, simply one of the most beautifully written and performed songs I've ever heard. People say they don't understand his lyrics - myself included, but it's OK. The sounds of the words are what's important, not as much the words themselves. 

Honerable Mention:

Adele - 21 was certainly great - but I didn't hear it enough to justify putting it on this list

I also liked Fran Healy's solo album. 

I loved Philip Selway's solo abum - not sure if that came out in 2011 though... 

An old (quick) video sync I did a while back. Music is a sample from an unused song.

I did not share anything about 9/11 yesterday. Really, how can you say only one thing without leaving other things out? But it's cathartic to write it and share it, so I figured I'd better get something down. 

While I've been doing chores etc, I've spent the morning listening to coverage of the day, from a historical perspective. I knew some people who lost friends/family, but I didn't know anyone directly, so in a way maybe I have a somewhat removed perspective if that's possible.

when I think of 9/11, often I think more about the aftermath, perhaps more the things went wrong with our country. But today what I keep thinking of are the rescue workers at the WTC. The firefighters who went up into the buildings and sacrificed their lives, the volunteers who went to Ground Zero on 9/12 and after and risked their health to provide closure for loved ones. Those people are saints. Absolute saints. They did it so selflessly.  

I have a lot of opinions about that day, but nothing leaves me so speechless than the rescue workers and volunteers. It's important to never forget them and what they went through that day and after. And continue to remember that many have died since, and many that lived suffer from the effects to this day. 

Well, this is my first post on my new website's blog. Welcome! 

A fitting way to start is to share some details about a great show I had the pleasure of being a part of last night. I, along with 5 other outstanding pianist singer/songwriters played for the benefit of the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition at the World Cafe Live At The Queen in Wilmington DE. What a great night! Everyone was awesome, as people and as musicians. I had not played a show in a couple years and this reminded me of why I started to be a singer/songwriter 5 years ago or so. 

Here's a nice pic Leslie Carey (one of the performers) took while I played, and I'll post more pics as they come in.