The Weekday Ramble is a daily dose of sports, music, culture, and more from Rambling On founder Erik Ritland. For more information check us out on Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, or at our website.
Wednesday January 7, 2015
Kanye West shines in his collaboration with Paul McCartney, Twin Cities Americana mainstay Erik Brandt releases a video, new albums from Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen.
Only one…but a good one
Much is being made of kids on Twitter not knowing who Paul McCartney is. They’re actually saying things like “I don’t know how this Paul McCartney is but Kanye’s gonna make him blow up!”
As sad as that is, I don’t hear many people talking about their actual collaboration, the lovely electric piano-led “Only One.” I’m not a huge Kanye guy but I do know that he is one of the best at what he does. Aside from unnecessary auto tuning this song proves as much. Although outside of his comfort zone he falls in with McCartney naturally.
I’ve heard that there’s more collaborations from them to come. I hope so. It’s always cool to see two forward-thinking musicians making something special.
I feel like William Blake
My friend Erik Brandt came out with possibly his best CD a couple years ago, the fully realized pop/rock of The Long Winter. A highlight was “Poison Tree,” a William Blake poem set to music. Its kooky, poppy experimentation made it one of the most interesting, and accessible, tracks on the album.
Today Erik released a video for the song. Taryl Hansen (of Frame the Message, Inc.) does a fine job on an interesting video that fits the song well. Check it out here.
Catch me if you can…I’m going back
Today we continued counting down Rambling On’s best albums of 2014 list. In at #7 is Tom Petty’s return to form Hypnotic Eye and #6 is Springsteen’s surprisingly strong collection of outtakes and new tracks High Hopes. Check them out and let us know what you think. Feedback is always welcome.
Erik Ritland is a writer and musician from St. Paul, Minnesota. His blog and podcast Rambling On features commentary on music, sports, culture, and more. He is also a contributor for Minnesota culture blog Curious North. Support Erik's music via his Patreon account, reach him via email, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.