I-5: Josh Woodward (Revisited)

Once again, I'm looping back to another artist I've already recommended way back in March when I started the site. I gave him a less than stellar review and to my utter amazement, he actually replied in the comments with a thank you and counter-statement (check for yourself!) After really taking his comments to heart and letting time heal that particular wound, I am back to retract my previous statement and offer my sincerest apologies to Mr. Woodward. If you find this Josh, then I'm sorry!!! I was overly critical towards your music that has really grown on me. I was too dismissive due to my attitudes at the time in looking for some positive thinking and not finding it in your music. Consider this my real review.

For those that didn't try his music before, the material available from Josh's website is an amazing mix of well-executed acoustic tracks and softer alterna-rock of the same vein. The fact that all of his music (9+ full albums) is absolutely free only sweetens an already overwhelming deal. The music is not afraid to reach into darker subject matter while still maintaining a lighter acoustic sound that keeps some kind of awkward balance between the two. The music is all held under the Creative Commons License meaning that it is free access for anyone for personal and public use as long as they provide appropriate attributions to the source. In simpler terms, you can use the music in films and other projects without fear of copyright as long as you mention the artist's name and website in the credits. My favorite song is still Motionless Land, a track dedicated to the tragedy in Haiti as told through the perspective of a selfish man unwilling to help due to his own struggles. My initial riled reaction only proves the power of this song as an effective message. This is also the first artist that I will ever have to go through my entire music collection of material and re-rate all of the tracks due to a tragic misunderstanding. And like the other artists in my "I-5" there is a level of dependability and the constant promise of new material in the near future.

And for those of you who did try his music already, he has posted another full album "Ashes" just last week for free. In my opinion, this is easily his best material yet with the whole album repeating on my iTunes for the past week. Seriously, download this album now and listen to songs like "Let It In," "Already There," "Infinite Horizon," "Cherubs," "Pompeii," and of course "Motionless Land." Please support this amazing acoustic artist by downloading his music, sharing it with others, and buying the CDs (if you want.) Also check both videos to get a better idea of the talent at work here... Enjoy!





PS. Hey Josh... Apology accepted?

Jonathan Coulton

If that name doesn't ring any bells, then you either don't know what he's responsible for or you're not a nerd. Kidding... Described as "If Bob Dylan and the internet had a baby", he's a great folky rock artist that isn't afraid to get silly but remain partially serious through it all. Some of his best known songs include "Still Alive" (the credit song to the game "Portal"), "Re: Your Brains" (zombie invasion in the office), "Code Monkey" (an overworked but simple man love ballad), and a slow acoustic cover of "Baby Got Back." If that alone doesn't get you interested, then wait for the offer.

Jonathan Coulton's site has free mp3s of 2-6 songs from every album that he has released. These aren't B-sides either, most of them are some of the best songs each respective album. Awesome right! Let's make it better!! iTunes has a podcast (made by him) containing 4 full albums of great songs. They are the "Thing a Week" albums where he literally recorded a new song every week for a whole year. Hopefully the link above will open the iTunes page for you; if not then just search for "Jonathan Coulton" or "Thing A Week" in iTunes and look for the podcast. As I've mentioned before it is an easy conversion from an iTunes podcast to an mp3 but either way you will have plenty of free music from a great artist.

I could get into full detail about all the songs that are worth your particular attention but I'll list a few that you shouldn't pass: Big Bad World One, Chiron Beta Prime, Creepy Doll, Dance Soterios Johnson Dance, Flickr, Furry Old Lobster, Ikea, Mandelbrot Set, Podsafe Christmas Song, The Presidents, Shop Vac, Skullcrusher Mountain, Stroller Town, When You Go, and the four mentioned in the opening paragraph. But ALL of his music is worth it!! Below is Flickr (song made entirely based on randomly selected photos from the site flickr.) Enjoy!!

UPDATE: Don't worry none of the music has gone missing but I would like to mention that I have gained a new appreciation for many Coulton tracks that had once been overlooked. A lot of the music is very intelligent and relationship story-based with songs like So Far So Good, Make You Cry, I'm Your Moon,  You Could Be Her, Summer's Over, Pizza Day, Pull the String, and others above like Shop Vac, When You Go, and Big Bad World One. These songs have made a great creative chill playlist for me that I would highly recommend to anyone!! 

Josh Woodward

Normally anything I post here is something that I give full endorsement to, but sometimes I'll be linking to stuff that I might not fully appreciate. This artist unfortunately falls under that category...

Josh Woodward is a musician who has at least 9 albums of free music on his website released through the Creative Commons License meaning that it is free to use legally in any project as long as proper attribution is made. It's all very good but I run into problems suggesting it to everyone. He has a very needlessly dark feel for what is mostly acoustic music and a cynicism that permeates the lyrics. Instrumentally he is awesome and the melodies to many of the songs are so infectious that I can't forget them but his downtrodden look on the world leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. Great example is a newer single he wrote after Haiti ("Motionless Land") as a tribute to those suffering depicting his feelings of how glad he is that he'll never be in that kind of danger and how he's struggling just as much so he can't support others. Crazy addicting but sickening for me to listen to. He tries to be generous at the end of the video but the song contradicts those sentiments completely.

Even the couple that have a much more light-hearted feel ("Snooter" is a great one) still have a depressing self-righteous view at parts that doesn't sit right with me. Definitely give him a listen as it is very good music but be forewarned that it may not be what you're looking for.