Lately have been listening to recent albums by Lady Antebellum (Golden), Passenger (All the Little Lights) and Train (California 37). I have The B-52s Live with the Wild Crowd in Athens, GA - a 2011 concert DVD which I watch quite often (love: Dancing Now, Funplex, Give me Back my Man, Mesopotamia, Deadbeat Club, Roam, Love Shack, Wig, Rock Lobster). The B-52s put a lot more energy into their performances than Fleetwood Mac by the looks of it. Amazing to see Kate Pierson dancing around the stage with such fervour at age 63 (in 2011). Cindy Wilson is younger and just as energetic, her voice more husky and maybe slightly Stevie-like? Their singing matches Fred Schneider's bellowing quite well - the band's call and response vocals are somewhat of a signature. Keith Strickland grooves out on guitar and although he's no Lindsey Buckingham he has written some great guitar riffs and has mastered the riff Ricky Wilson wrote all those years ago for Rock Lobster (although perhaps this is not particularly difficult to play, as I play keyboard not guitar I really have no idea).
Occasionally I blast Kate Pierson's solo track Always Till Now through the speakers, it's awesome and I cannot wait for her solo album. Loving Sheryl Crow's new songs Easy and Shotgun and you can't beat All I Wanna Do - so fun, upbeat and groovy. If it Makes You Happy and My Favourite Mistake have a more sombre mood - dark and edgy but intriguing and poignant. I'm loving Ashley Monroe's album Like a Rose particularly the tracks Weed Instead of Roses and You Ain't Dolly (And You Ain't Porter). Allen's Stone's self-titled album is strangely compelling - Unaware is a fantastic song. Tonight Dad and I watched Paul McCartney on YouTube (a recent video obviously - he looks old but hasn't lost his touch or vocal charm). Then we watched this awesome tribute:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx34ZJtiwss
Gotta love Paul and The Beatles.