{"id":2161,"date":"2010-08-29T16:12:47","date_gmt":"2010-08-29T16:12:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/?p=2161"},"modified":"2010-08-29T16:22:15","modified_gmt":"2010-08-29T16:22:15","slug":"the-stones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/2010-08\/the-stones\/","title":{"rendered":"The Stones"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2174\" title=\"angusjuliastone\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/angusjuliastone.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"448\" height=\"336\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/angusjuliastone.jpg 448w, https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/angusjuliastone-150x112.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 448px) 100vw, 448px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>No, not that rolling, rockin&#8217; version (as much as we are heavily RS in the RS vs. Beatles pop quiz).\u00a0 No, we&#8217;re talking the Australian sibling act, Angus and Julia Stone.\u00a0 These Stones first blipped on our radar a few years back when they caught a buzz in the music press. \u00a0 And then their cautionary song, <em>The Beast,<\/em> was featured in the impressive 2007 charity compilation album, &#8220;Big Change:\u00a0 Songs for FINCA&#8221;\u00a0 (FINCA is an international, non-profit microcredit innovator).\u00a0\u00a0 And then some of you may have heard theses siblings in heavy rotation on &#8220;Greys Anatomy,&#8221; if you&#8217;re so inclined.<\/p>\n<p>We think you&#8217;ll like their well-crafted, casual-but-clever melodies, with frequent string backing (on first listen\u00a0 sometimes sounding too quiet storm-ish for us).\u00a0 Both the Stones sing in the higher register, which makes for easy harmonizing.\u00a0 Julia&#8217;s vocalese glides somewhere between Bjork and Joanna Newsom, while Angus is but a Josh Rouse or Al Stewart lower vocally (for those oldsters that know and like Mr. Stewart and his <em>Year of the Cat, <\/em>give <em>Yellow Brick Road <\/em>a listen<em>).<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Earlier this year, the band released their self-produced record, &#8220;Down the Way,&#8221; which quickly became the Number 1 album in Australia.\u00a0 Once again, they diplomatically alternate on the record&#8217;s tracks like the good siblings they are.\u00a0 Once you get into step with the Julia-Angus-Julia-Angus format, the <em>feng<\/em> and the <em>shui<\/em> of their alternate-takes leaves a broader emotional architecture.\u00a0 Julia has an edge in her vocals and routinely renders the heart.\u00a0 Angus sounds comparatively languid and weary.\u00a0\u00a0 Combined with the chamber-pop melodies and minimalism, and despite the occasional lyric failures, the Stones deliver a pleasing punch of restrained angst.<\/p>\n<p>Roll with these Stones, and check out a few of their songs off &#8220;Down the Way&#8221; and <em>The Beast <\/em>below<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>First up is Julia on the nostalgic <em>Santa Monica Dream, <\/em>which comes in all fingerpicky and soft, and then wrenches with Julia&#8217;s forget-him-not vocals (poor Rob) filled with remorse and impressions of infidelities.\u00a0\u00a0 Seems sometimes we can&#8217;t quit on unrequited love, no matter the cost.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Angus and Julia Stone&#8211;<em>Santa Monica Dream<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n[audio:https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/05-Santa-Monica-Dream.mp3|titles=05 Santa Monica Dream]\n<p>Next up is <em>Big Jet Plane,<\/em> which reminds us of the recent flight patterns of a couple we know.\u00a0 This song features a rare (for this duo) bounding bass line that properly propels and relays a jet-fueled relationship.\u00a0 Hope we never disembark.<em> <\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Angus and Julia Stone&#8211;<em>Big Jet Plane<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n[audio:https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/04-Big-Jet-Plane.mp3|titles=04 Big Jet Plane]\n<p>And last is <em>The Beast <\/em>from the FINCA charity album.\u00a0 Chiding and beguiling, in one fell swoop.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Angus and Julia Stone<em>&#8211;The Beast<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n[audio:https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/09-The-Beast-1.mp3|titles=09 The Beast 1]\n<p><strong>Parental Advisory: <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>OK, we lied.\u00a0 Again.\u00a0 Finally, below is Angus&#8217;s stellar <em>Draw Your Swords. <\/em>With one reservation, we highly recommend the song (particularly for you Jeff Buckley fans)<em>. <\/em>The referenced reservation is the song&#8217;s inclusion of a few jarring F-bombs.\u00a0\u00a0<em> <\/em>We hear the song as an ode to monogamy, and the F-bombs to be taken literally&#8211;an admonition to not &#8220;entertain&#8221; others.\u00a0\u00a0 Starting with somber piano and hushed tones, the song builds to a howl, and then closes with Buckley reverence.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Angus and Julia Stone&#8211;<em>Draw Your Swords<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n[audio:https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/11-Draw-Your-Swords.mp3|titles=11 Draw Your Swords]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>No, not that rolling, rockin&#8217; version (as much as we are heavily RS in the RS vs. Beatles pop quiz).\u00a0 No, we&#8217;re talking the Australian sibling act, Angus and Julia Stone.\u00a0 These Stones first blipped on our radar a few years back when they caught a buzz in the music press. \u00a0 And then their [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2161\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}