Ed Sheeran

[Alatar]

So, the new album is out, and after just a few listens I'm ready to say this guy is the real deal. I'd have no hesitation comparing him to a young Paul Simon both lyrically and musically. Kid is a genius. He's also painfully honest. Listening to the album feels like reading his diary.

Here's a solo version of one of the new tracks, performed live in BBC studios with just a guitar and looping machine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0BJKQsxN-o

[Alatar]

From the same session, a live loop of "I See Fire"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yynzP4BPmq4

[yovargas]

As a huge fan of Nina Simone, it is quite the compliment for me to say that I thought this cover was pretty damn good:

[Alatar]

Nice!

[Passdagas the Brown]

Al,

As you know, I was initially a skeptic regarding Sheeran's talent. But I have to say that the cover yov posted is excellent, as are some of the other songs I've listed to from him. This kid's very good. Not for the first time, you've changed my mind about something!

-PtB

[yovargas]

I still say he has a pretty darn generic voice but I do think he is a legit musician and song writer. Maybe in time he will develop a more interesting (to me) vocal style.

[Passdagas the Brown]

That's exactly my only problem with many of his songs. His voice. There's simply not enough roughness and emotion and experience in it (which I suppose makes sense, given his youth).

But if he works on that, he could compete with some great singer-songwriters.

[JewelSong]

He's obviously quite talented and also still quite young. I'd like to hear him in 10 years...there is definitely something there. I'd like to see him branch out from the "loops" and perform with live musicians.

[Alatar]

The new album is once again outstanding. This guy is the real deal.

[Alatar]

I'd like to see him branch out from the "loops" and perform with live musicians.

[Lalaith]

I completely agree, Al. It's hard to explain to some people, but, as a musician, when you recognize that genuine, staggering talent in someone else, you just can't help but love and deeply appreciate it. It's different than, say, liking a song by the latest pop sensation. (There's nothing wrong with that; it's like junk food. Delicious but not very filling or nutritious. A real musician, someone as mind-blowingly talented as Ed Sheeran, is deeply satisfying to one's soul.)

But also fun:

[Alatar]

This probably looks like a completely fantasy version of Irish pub life, but this is pretty much Galway. And, yeah, that's Saoirse Ronan featuring...

[Lalaith]

So...next trip we're going up to Galway, right? (We could see it, couldn't we?)

[Alatar]

Yeah, no bother. Next trip will be Galway, Donegal and maybe Belfast!

[Lalaith]

Excellent plan!

[Jude]

Hey, don't forget Skellig Michael! I've still got my heart set on that!

Edit: someone early on in that video looks a lot like me. Did we go to that pub?

[Alatar]

Not unless you snuck off to Galway without telling us!

[Lalaith]

At what point in the video, Jude?

I'm trying to figure out what the tattoo says in runes at 1:48. (I see the "Galway Grill," which is funny.)

Here's a screen cap of it, but I can't seem to translate it into anything that makes sense.

Agkiurus? Ugkietek? Arcturus? Straight-up Tolkien runes don't seem to work.

[Jude]

About 14 second in, in the lower right corner - you only see him for a bit, and then the camera changes, and goes back to him.

[Alatar]

I'm trying to figure out what the tattoo says in runes at 1:48. (I see the "Galway Grill," which is funny.)

Here's a screen cap of it, but I can't seem to translate it into anything that makes sense.

Agkiurus? Ugkietek? Arcturus? Straight-up Tolkien runes don't seem to work.

http://littlebitofbass.tumblr.com/post/123986755034


Cool or what?

Ed Sheeran’s Dwarvish tattoo is the title of the song he wrote for The Hobbit. But if you were to read it out loud, you wouldn’t say, “I see fire.” You would say something like, “Alki urus.” (In some translations, “asakhi urus” or “asaqui urus” or “alqui urus.”) But it still means I See Fire. It’s just really f*cking authentic.