Tag Archives: snow patrol

Friday: Greg Laswell @ Rumba Cafe

There’s something about passionate British artists that American songwriters just can’t seem to capture within their songs. When you hear Snow Patrol or Coldplay, you KNOW they are British bands – they just have that overly dramatic sound. Greg Laswell is from … California (!!!) … but somehow he pulls off that soundtrack-style music. It’s touchy, it’s dramatic, it’s custom-made for network TV dramas (on which Laswell’s music gets plenty of exposure).

On his fifth release, Landline, Laswell tried something a little different – he invited female singers to accompany him on fourth of the tracks. His wife, Ingrid Michaelson, appears on the title track, Sia sings on “Dragging You Around”, Sara Bareillas swaps lines with Laswell on “Come Back Down”, and Elizabeth Ziman (Elizabeth and the Catapults) – Laswell’s tour partner on his current tour – is featured on “Back to You”.

Greg Lawell and Elizabeth Ziman share the Rumba stage on Friday night. Tickets are $15.

New Snow Patrol CD – $3.99

Through Nov.3, you can buy a digital copy of Snow Patrol’s new CD, A Hundred Million Suns, on Amazon.com for the amazingly low price of $3.99. It took me a listen or two to get into, but for $4 it can’t be beat (unless you’re finding it ‘other’ places for ‘preview’ purposes). There aren’t a lot of surprises on the new one – if you’ve enjoyed the big hits off The Final Straw and Eyes Open, you’ll get more of the same – but there is one particular track that I find completely appealing. “The Golden Floor” has a repititious acoustic guitar loop and a drum beat that sounds a bit like sampled clapping and it reminds me quite a bit of something that Hood – or a Hood-related project like Bracken or The Declining Winter – might pull off.

Here is “Please Just Take These Photos from My Hands”:

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