The Fleet Foxes have been awarded album of the year from the best music magazine in the world Mojo Magazine. Are they another Arctic Monkeys or actually good? 
With five part vocal harmonies, this band echoes their folk influences on their sleeves. They’ve done their homework and are actually able to pull off the harmonies without sounding like a boy band. Influences The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Crosby Stills & Nash, Simon & Garfunkel, The Zombies, and more than anything else Steeleye Span. In fact, the first thing that comes to mind on the first track “Red Squirrel/Sun Rises” is “Are these guys the offspring from Steeleye Span?” It also sounds like a mishmash of Crosby Stills & Nash or Simon & Garfunkel.
This album has a lot of references to family members. Robin Pecknold (the songwriter/singer/guitarist) had recently lost his grandfather while recording this album. Surprisingly, these guys are from Seattle even though they sound like they’re from Woodstock or the South. Every family member is mentioned on most of these songs including the grandpa on one or two, mother, sister, and father. Most of all the brother is mentioned as in telling him to be good, staying at his house and missing flights.
I first saw Leon Redbone on a SNL 70’s rerun doing a tune called “Harvest Moon”. After hearing his voice, I knew I had heard it somewhere and that place was a cover of “Frosty The Snowman”. I had to check out some of his work and it was wonderful if you like his sort of style. Albums On the Track and Double Time showcased his unique style and blend of jazz, folk and blues standards.
Jimmy Cliff was one of the most influential artists from Jamaica. He was the pulse of the great soundtrack The Harder They Come. However, he never made it big because his label Island Records chose to focus on Bob Marley instead. Forging ahead, Jimmy released a series of hits even influencing artists like Bob Dylan, Joe Strummer, Sting and UB40. Desmond Dekker even took Cliff’s own “You Can Get It If You Really Want” to the charts in England.