Phil Wickham’s cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”

In case you’ve never heard it, this is hands down my favorite cover of this heavily covered song. I don’t even listen to Phil Wickham but I might have to start.

Concert recap: Death Cab for Cutie.

I’ve seen Death Cab before. I thought it was a good show but I was standing behind a few loud, tall high school girls and I didn’t know half of the songs they played.

But this time I came prepared. I checked out the band’s online forums and made note of their sets this year. I compiled all those songs onto a CD and listened to them every time I hopped into my car. I listened to them while checking my e-mail every day. I listened to them as I started reading the Bible in my living room. I familiarized myself with their newest album and their older songs. And thus began my deep appreciation for Death Cab.

So my friend Megan - whose great idea it was to go and bought tickets - and I headed to Grand Prairie to discover the seats she bought were pretty close! I told her I would go under the condition that we don’t stand in the pit because I’m getting too dang old to tippy toe during concerts. Rogue Wave was the only opening act and we missed most of their set. We patiently waited… then experienced the awesomeness that is Death Cab.

It was great to finally listen to all those tunes I had been surrounding myself with all month, live! Ben Gibbard, the leader singer and lyrical genius, sported no plastic frames and appeared to lose some weight but rocked some mutton chops. Although this was not the Gibbard I’ve seen in pictures, it didn’t matter as they played the following:

Bixby Canyon Bridge
The New Year
Why You’d Want To Live Here
Photobooth
Crooked Teeth
Long Division
Grapevine Fires
A Movie Script Ending
Company Calls
Title Track
Soul Meets Body
I Will Follow You Into The Dark
I Will Possess Your Heart
Cath…
We Laugh Indoors
The Sound of Settling
Marching Bands of Manhattan
—-
Title and Registration
No Sunlight
405
Your Heart Is An Empty Room
Transatlanticism

If you thought “I Will Possess Your Heart” was the best track off their new album, wait ’til you hear it live. This is a band that knows how to create music and no doubt did that translate well on stage. So thanks to my friend Megan and her random idea to check out this concert, I am now an honest Death Cab for Cutie fan.

Tuesday Tunes: Coldplay - Viva La Vida

Coldplay puts me to sleep. Not to be a hater but everytime I listen to a Coldplay album, you can rest assure I will take a nap shortly after. However, I do listen to their hits (”Yellow,” “The Scientist”) in tiny doses. I even knew “Fix You” would become an overplayed hit as soon as I listened to the album and rightfully so.

Enter Coldplay’s newest album, Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, that dropped today. (For those of you who don’t know español, that roughly translates into “Live the life” or “Long live life,” thank you Wikipedia!) As a visual person, of course I have to point out that the album cover is radically different than their previous albums - less conservative, using a French artist’s depiction of their July Revolution.

Perhaps Coldplay intended to use their album cover to suggest that their sound has changed a little bit. Although you cannot escape the buttery smoothness of Chris Martin’s voice, Coldplay picks up the pace in their new effort. Throughout the album, there is often a driving beat that keeps me tapping my foot rather than nodding off. Viva La Vida is produced by Brian Eno, who produced quite a few U2 albums, so you get that same shiny, anthemic feel which I imagine will transpose beautifully at their large stadium crowd concerts.

Coldplay pulls a “Green Day American Idiot two songs in one” for three of their tracks. These songs pull in at around seven minutes so I admit those songs are usually skipped on my playlist. However, I have managed to listen to half of the album at least ten times which is considerably a lot since I am far from being an avid Coldplay fan.

The title track and best example of the “driving beat” I mentioned previously is my favorite tune from this album. In case you live in a cave (or a TiVO cave), you might have missed this iTunes commercial that blends ear candy with eye candy.

Top three tracks to check out: Besides “Viva La Vida,” check out their first single “Violet Hill.” For a taste of their two-fer tracks, spend 6 minutes and 51 seconds with “Lovers In Japan / Reign of Love.”

Tuesday Tunes: Weezer (Red Album)

To make sure I update this at least once a week, here is the first installation of Tuesday Tunes! Normally, I’ll try and cover a new release but since no new release today really caught my eye, today’s album is Weezer (Red Album). (Although if you really like hip hop, I gave the new N.E.R.D. album a quick listen and it’s not too shabby!)

If you didn’t fall in love with Weezer’s first self-titled album (the Blue Album) with such classics as “Say It Ain’t So” and “The Sweater Song” then try again. That CD made its home in my giant CD Walkman in junior high and is still one of my all-time favorites. However, no other Weezer album has been able to win me over completely (as I sometimes cringe when I listen to “Beverly Hills”).

But! Enter Weezer’s third self-titled album! I read somewhere that this was going to be a very experimental album but for the most part, it is the Weezer I first came to know and love. The album kicks off with “Troublemaker” which fittingly sets a “I do what I want!” theme. The best song to portray this theme is “Pork and Beans,” their first single. This song is not complete until you have watched the music video. And if you’re a fan of viral youtube videos, there should be some familiar faces making cameo appearances.

Rivers Cuomo actually takes a break during some songs and lets others take the lead vocal position. Those songs were probably my least favorite but still had a little Weezer flavor. All in all, old school Weezer fans should not be disappointed with their sixth full-length release.

Top three songs to check out: “Everybody Get Dangerous,” “Troublemaker,” and “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived.”