Jim Guthrie and Chad VanGaalen

It seems like forever since Jim Guthrie released new material. His last album was 2003's Now, More Than Ever, and since then he's been playing less and less, in fact, I was lucky enough to see one of his last solo shows in August 2005. He's been keeping busy with other projects of course. His old band Royal City broke up in 2004, but not before releasing another album, and much of the past year and a half was spent recording and touring with Islands. All that is well and good, and I fully support it since they're all great projects, but I would love to hear some new songs by him. I'm hoping to hear a new record, possibly in the new year. Not sure who would release it though, since his record label closed down. I'm betting on Outside Music... but who knows!

Tunes: myspace.com/jimguthrie

I bring up Jim Guthrie because of someone else I've been listening to lately, Chad VanGaalen. Why? Well, I feel like they make the same type of music, or at least, their music comes from the same place. Not only do they have similar beginnings(both of their first albums were collections of songs taken from self-released EPs), and share some common traits (Guthrie often uses a Sony Playstation to create his music, VanGaalen makes his own instruments), but I get a similar vibe from both artists. They're both fantastic songwriters, but they definitely challenge the listener with the way they arrange their songs. If you want to hear what I'm talking about, I recommend listening to Guthrie's album Morning Noon Night, and then VanGaalen's Infiniheart.

I like both of them a lot, for all their similarities and all their differences. Have a listen for yourself and tell me what you think. Do you know of any artists you feel may have influenced either Jim or Chad's music? I really don't know...

Tunes: myspace.com/chadvangaalen