Best music eVar.

You may remember there was a day when most of us were either ignorant to or incapable of downloading music. In this time I would buy compilation CDs. I bought a ton of 80s and early 90s compilations and prided myself on finding all those great fun classics from my youth.

Somewhere along the line I decided i didn't want all that old stuff on my computer, and slimmed it down a LOT. And now, after my entry from yesterday I got really nostalgic and thought "where the hell is all my old music?" and so...yeah, here I sit with stacks of compilation CDs and some Greatest Hits CDs I have as well and am just uploading stuff like it's my job.

So for everyone's reference...take a road trip with me (11 hours of 80s and early 90s goodness), it will now be the most fun thing ever, because I have this absurdly awesome 80s and early 90s playlist on my iTunes (and when it's finished, my iPod as well) and we'll groove, ohs yes. I am having an absurb amount of fun just sitting here by myself with it, really. What an awesome time for music. So fun.

Giggling despite myself.
I get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine!

Denison Witmer

I used to TRY to do "Songs of the Month"...I am going to try to do it again whenever I remember or feel like it. This time around I think I will do a whole artist profile as this particular artist has a number of songs available on his website for download, but I am uploading another few to YouSendit.com as well. So without further ado...

Denison Witmer (website)
Denison Witmer was someone I had never heard of until I had one of my favorite concert experiences ever. I went to see The Innocence Mission, one of my favorite bands that also happen to be from my hometown of Lancaster, PA (I didn't even KNOW this when I got into them, so it was a pleasant surprise). They played a concert at a local venue much to my delight and I was able to go alone and stand up front and just have one of the most beautiful experiences I've ever had. But before I get ahead of myself, this guy, Denison Witmer, opened for them, and they acted like he was a good friend of theirs and he was also from the area, now living in Philadelphia. Very cool. At the first show I didn't think much about it as I was too excited about seeing The Innocence Mission for the first time. The second Innocence Mission show I went to at the same venue he opened again. This time he began his set with a song that grabbed me right away, and I was lost, I had to buy the CD after his set, and I did, and boy am I glad.

Since then I have bought another of his CDs and have a number of songs from his other albums via his website or from compilations or whatever. I love almost everything I have heard by him. Some reviewers call him "the new Elliott Smith" and though I can see why someone might say that, as he has an amazing ability to write very simple but very heartfelt alt-folk songs, there is a way more optimistic feel to Denison than to Elliott, even in his voice, it's almost James Taylor-esque (well, except I don't like James Taylor, so maybe not). The lyrical skills are impressive and the feelings I get from the songs are lovely. I think in the future he will get more well-known as his talents are immense. And it makes me so happy to think that this talent is from my area...and in songs like "Dain" hear him mention intersections and think "wow, I know where he's talking about", it's splendid.

As it is, here are a few tracks of his that are available on-line, as well as the song that made me love him "The 80's" and another favorite.

Denison Witmer - "The 80's" (YouSendit link)
Denison Witmer - "Dain" (YouSendit link)
Denison Witmer - "24 Turned 25"
Denison Witmer - "Simple Life"
Denison Witmer - "Los Angeles"(left click)