"Quattro (World Drifts In)" Calexico Feast Of Wire
"Quay Cur" The Fiery Furnaces Blueberry Boat
"Que Lindo Sueno" King Khan & The Shrines The Supreme Genius of King Khan & The Shrines
"Que Pasa?" Juanes Mi Sangre
"Que Pasara" Cafe Tacuba Cuatro Caminos
"Quedateluna" Devendra Banhart Cripple Crow
"The Queen's Approach" The Decemberists The Hazards of Love
"The Queen's Rebuke/The Crossing" The Decemberists The Hazards of Love
"Queen Bee" Devendra Banhart Cripple Crow
"Queen Elvis" Robyn Hitchcock Eye
I was drinking a bottle of beer while listening to this set. When I picked up the cap, on the inside it said, "almost." I have no idea why, or almost what. (Cabin Fever brown ale from New Holland Brewing.)
Certain songs just end up on my running playlists all the time. [He runs. He drinks craft brews. He seems to have a lot of "world" music in his playlist. I probably could be more cliched as a middle-aged liberal, but I am not really seeing how. Oh yeah! I could blog!] "Quattro" shows up at the start of my runs because the 'hit the ground running' refrain is painfully obvious. Other songs in heavy running rotation - "Mr. E's Beautiful Blues" by Eels ("goddamn right, it's a beautiful day"); "Uranium Rock" by The Cramps ("heading down the road and I ain't coming back"); and "Help, I'm Alive" by Metric ("my heart keeps beating like a hammer"). Because I am totally pathetic, most long runs also include Springsteen's "Thunder Road" and end with Bowie's "Heroes."
We got the Juanes disc as a gift. He is incredibly successful, holds numerous Latin Grammies, and is a deeply committed humanitarian and philanthropist. What I have learned of him, he reads like a Columbian Bono. That said (and perhaps like Bono at this point), I really don't think I like his music all that much. As I said before, I don't sweat the translation much. It is the music that makes a song and to that extent the voice is relevant - the words not so much. When I listen to Juanes, I think "I wouldn't like this song in English. I don't much like it in Spanish either."
Unlike Cafe Tacuba - I can't understand a thing they say, but this song is selling exactly what I buy. The guitars chug along, the drums thud, and the vocals are screamed as much as sung. No need for a libretto to enjoy it.
When I listen to Devendra Banhart, I think of that scene in Animal House when John Belushi breaks that guy's acoustic guitar into little pieces.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
P-Funk to Pai Joao
"P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)" Parliament Mothership Connection
"P.E. Squad/Doo Doo Chasers [Instrumental]" Funkadelic One Nation Under A Groove
"Pablo Picasso" The Modern Lovers Modern Lovers
"Pac-Man Fever" Buckner & Garcia Like Omigod! The '80s Pop Culture Box
"Pachuko Hop" Chuck Higgins Brown-Eyed Soul: The Sound of East L.A.
"Pack Up" Lyrics Born Later That Day . . .
"Packing Blankets" Eels Daisies Of The Galaxy
"Pagan Angel And A Borrowed Car" Iron & Wine The Shepherd's Dog
"Pagan Poetry" Bjork Vespertine
"Pai Joao" Seu Jorge and Almaz Seu Jorge and Almaz
Some songs take you to a particular place and time. "P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)" is in a car with my girlfriend at Summit Mall in the late 1980s - I think I had just gotten Mothership Connection on cassette. I bought Mothership Connection without having heard any Parliament before. George Clinton and P-Funk kept showing up in things I would read, and so I bought it. This song was a watershed for me. I am not claiming some Neo-like "take the red pill" moment. In retrospect though, the world got different - my musical palette became more expansive. Before buying this album, everything came through the Beatles/Elvis/Velvet Underground. After Parliament, I could go backwards to Stax, forward into P.E., it gave license to whole new vistas. It directly introduced me to phenomenal musicians like Bernie Worrell, Maceo Parker, Michael Hampton, and of course Bootsie Collins. (The great Eddie Hazel is not on either of these albums - we'll have to wait for Maggotbrain). "Chocolate-coated, freaky, and habit-forming" indeed.
My first exposure to "Pablo Picasso" was the Repo Man soundtrack. The songs I remember from that movie are a cover of this, and a really slowed down, lounge-y version of "When The Shit Hits The Fan" by the Circle Jerks. I have seen Jonathan Richman a few times in my life, and I saw him play this once - I want to say it was a second (of three) encores at a club in Atlanta in probably 1985-86. I tried to find the name of the club, but it might be gone.
On the other end of the spectrum, even though it apparently peaked at #9 on Billboard's charts, I have absolutely no recollection of ever hearing "Pac-Man Fever" before tonight. I think I am worse for the experience.
In fact, back-to-back here we get the wonderful and the awful of Rhino. Their need to preserve excrement like "Pac-Man Fever" has to be forgiven when they hand out gems like "Pachuko Hop," a squonking sax instrumental that never charted even when it came out almost 50 years ago.
"P.E. Squad/Doo Doo Chasers [Instrumental]" Funkadelic One Nation Under A Groove
"Pablo Picasso" The Modern Lovers Modern Lovers
"Pac-Man Fever" Buckner & Garcia Like Omigod! The '80s Pop Culture Box
"Pachuko Hop" Chuck Higgins Brown-Eyed Soul: The Sound of East L.A.
"Pack Up" Lyrics Born Later That Day . . .
"Packing Blankets" Eels Daisies Of The Galaxy
"Pagan Angel And A Borrowed Car" Iron & Wine The Shepherd's Dog
"Pagan Poetry" Bjork Vespertine
"Pai Joao" Seu Jorge and Almaz Seu Jorge and Almaz
Some songs take you to a particular place and time. "P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)" is in a car with my girlfriend at Summit Mall in the late 1980s - I think I had just gotten Mothership Connection on cassette. I bought Mothership Connection without having heard any Parliament before. George Clinton and P-Funk kept showing up in things I would read, and so I bought it. This song was a watershed for me. I am not claiming some Neo-like "take the red pill" moment. In retrospect though, the world got different - my musical palette became more expansive. Before buying this album, everything came through the Beatles/Elvis/Velvet Underground. After Parliament, I could go backwards to Stax, forward into P.E., it gave license to whole new vistas. It directly introduced me to phenomenal musicians like Bernie Worrell, Maceo Parker, Michael Hampton, and of course Bootsie Collins. (The great Eddie Hazel is not on either of these albums - we'll have to wait for Maggotbrain). "Chocolate-coated, freaky, and habit-forming" indeed.
My first exposure to "Pablo Picasso" was the Repo Man soundtrack. The songs I remember from that movie are a cover of this, and a really slowed down, lounge-y version of "When The Shit Hits The Fan" by the Circle Jerks. I have seen Jonathan Richman a few times in my life, and I saw him play this once - I want to say it was a second (of three) encores at a club in Atlanta in probably 1985-86. I tried to find the name of the club, but it might be gone.
On the other end of the spectrum, even though it apparently peaked at #9 on Billboard's charts, I have absolutely no recollection of ever hearing "Pac-Man Fever" before tonight. I think I am worse for the experience.
In fact, back-to-back here we get the wonderful and the awful of Rhino. Their need to preserve excrement like "Pac-Man Fever" has to be forgiven when they hand out gems like "Pachuko Hop," a squonking sax instrumental that never charted even when it came out almost 50 years ago.
Monday, February 21, 2011
O'Appalachia to O Seu Olhar
"O'Appalachia" Baroness Red Album
"O'er Hell and Hide" Baroness Blue Record
"O-O-H Child" Nina Simone/Nickodemos Remixed & Reimagined
"O Caminho" Bebel Gilberto Bebel Gilberto
"O Day" Bessie Jones Southern Journey, Vol. 1: Voices From The American South
"O Death" Tangle Eye Alan Lomax's Southern Journey Remixed
"O Estrangiero" Caetano Veloso Brazil Classics: Beleza Tropical Vol. 2
"O Green World" Gorillaz Demon Days
"O My Soul" Big Star Radio City
"O Seu Olhar" Arnaldo Antunes Brazil Classics: Beleza Tropical Vol. 2
With the exception of some cartoon characters from England, this entire set is from south of the Mason-Dixon Line. (admittedly, this is not how one usually thinks of Brazil, but it is certainly true).
I might be too old for Baroness. My girlfriend has absolutely no patience for it. In fact, one evening when I got home from work, she had been going through some of the new music I had gotten, and I was greeted with, "So . . . Baroness . . ." That was really all that needed to be said. I like it at times. I don't find it that far removed from something like The Mars Volta or King Crimson (also guitar bands that wear on my girlfriend). I think it is the growling metal vocals that give me pause.
The Tangle Eye album is the best, most-focused and most successfully realized remix set I have. (Girl Talk might rival, but he is more a mash-up artist). I think a part of it is that the songs they chose were mostly a capella work, so the instrumentation is not replacing something, which often creates a disjunction. The instrumentation here is also done by studio musicians - this is not to decry electronic music. However, in this case, using Alan Lomax's field recordings, the analog works better with the source material. Also, because the music here is relatively obscure, the remix is not stomping on some more well-known work (see "O-O-H Child").
Gorillaz is the best fake band ever. They beat the Monkees because Noodle arrived by FedEx - more Mary Poppins than Mike Nesmith. Yes, Steam gets played by every sports team in America, but they were a one-hit fake wonder. Gorillaz has released three quality full-lengths (not counting The Fall which just came out last Christmas).
The inordinate number of Brazilian tracks in this set has to do with Portuguese. The definite article is "O" so these three songs all start "The." While iTunes strips that in English, it doesn't do so here. (The same thing happened in reverse with "A Habibi Ouajee T'Allel Allaiya" - neither iTunes nor I know Arabic well enough to know whether that initial "A" should have been stripped as an indefinite article or not). I don't usually sweat the translation much - if the music works it works and knowing what is being said is mostly gravy. However, Caetano Veloso name-checks Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder, so I was curious. It is because they, like love, are blind. In the same verse he references "the albino Hermeto" whom I had never of before. Hermeto apparently once belonged to a group called "Brazilian Octopus." More will need to be found out about that.
"O'er Hell and Hide" Baroness Blue Record
"O-O-H Child" Nina Simone/Nickodemos Remixed & Reimagined
"O Caminho" Bebel Gilberto Bebel Gilberto
"O Day" Bessie Jones Southern Journey, Vol. 1: Voices From The American South
"O Death" Tangle Eye Alan Lomax's Southern Journey Remixed
"O Estrangiero" Caetano Veloso Brazil Classics: Beleza Tropical Vol. 2
"O Green World" Gorillaz Demon Days
"O My Soul" Big Star Radio City
"O Seu Olhar" Arnaldo Antunes Brazil Classics: Beleza Tropical Vol. 2
With the exception of some cartoon characters from England, this entire set is from south of the Mason-Dixon Line. (admittedly, this is not how one usually thinks of Brazil, but it is certainly true).
I might be too old for Baroness. My girlfriend has absolutely no patience for it. In fact, one evening when I got home from work, she had been going through some of the new music I had gotten, and I was greeted with, "So . . . Baroness . . ." That was really all that needed to be said. I like it at times. I don't find it that far removed from something like The Mars Volta or King Crimson (also guitar bands that wear on my girlfriend). I think it is the growling metal vocals that give me pause.
The Tangle Eye album is the best, most-focused and most successfully realized remix set I have. (Girl Talk might rival, but he is more a mash-up artist). I think a part of it is that the songs they chose were mostly a capella work, so the instrumentation is not replacing something, which often creates a disjunction. The instrumentation here is also done by studio musicians - this is not to decry electronic music. However, in this case, using Alan Lomax's field recordings, the analog works better with the source material. Also, because the music here is relatively obscure, the remix is not stomping on some more well-known work (see "O-O-H Child").
Gorillaz is the best fake band ever. They beat the Monkees because Noodle arrived by FedEx - more Mary Poppins than Mike Nesmith. Yes, Steam gets played by every sports team in America, but they were a one-hit fake wonder. Gorillaz has released three quality full-lengths (not counting The Fall which just came out last Christmas).
The inordinate number of Brazilian tracks in this set has to do with Portuguese. The definite article is "O" so these three songs all start "The." While iTunes strips that in English, it doesn't do so here. (The same thing happened in reverse with "A Habibi Ouajee T'Allel Allaiya" - neither iTunes nor I know Arabic well enough to know whether that initial "A" should have been stripped as an indefinite article or not). I don't usually sweat the translation much - if the music works it works and knowing what is being said is mostly gravy. However, Caetano Veloso name-checks Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder, so I was curious. It is because they, like love, are blind. In the same verse he references "the albino Hermeto" whom I had never of before. Hermeto apparently once belonged to a group called "Brazilian Octopus." More will need to be found out about that.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
N***as Bleed to Naima's Love Song
"N***as Bleed" Notorious B.I.G. Greatest Hits
"N.W.O." Ministry Whatever: The '90s Pop and Culture Box
"Nada Valgo Sin Tu Amor" Juanes Mi Sangre (live and studio versions)
"Nadine" Mos Def Cadillac Records Original Soundtrack (7.11.11 - link is Chuck Berry)
"Nadir's Big Chance" Peter Hammill The Roots of the Sex Pistols (Mojo Disc)
"Nail Clinic" Pavement Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
"Naima" John Coltrane Giant Steps
"Naima's Love Song" Betty Carter Verve Unmixed 2
"Naima's Love Song" Betty Carter/DJ Spinna Verve Remixed 2
Steve Jobs should be happy with me; this is the second time I have run off to the iTunes store after a cover version clued me to the fact that I didn't own the original of some song. In this case Mos Def (in a disturbingly misguided casting choice) singing Chuck Berry's "Nadine."
Naima was John Coltrane's wife's middle name. The Betty Carter song is from a 1992 album of hers, and puts her words over pianist John Hicks' composition, which is named not for Coltrane's wife, but for Hicks' daughter. The remix replaces the acoustic jazz with electronic instrumentation and so the original composition is all but lost. Carter's vocals tend to track the bass-line, so all is not lost, but the remix becomes a bland mid-tempo electronica dance tune that seems to run on too long.
Peter Hammill was a founding member of Van der Graaf Generator. This alone would make him awesome, since this is one of the truly great band names in the history of rock. This song predates and anticipates punk. I have this track because several years ago, Mojo magazine began attaching a different mix disc with each issue (each around some theme). These cds (despite being a hit-and-miss grab bag) have become the highlight of the magazine at this point. While the articles tend to read like a British Rolling Stone with their fixation onclassic old rockers. Every cover seems to be of an aged performer from the 60s and 70s (although on the subscription inserts, the covers are different, and include more recent artists, so I have this fear that the dinosaur covers are strictly for the American issue. If this is true it makes me sad that this is how the U.S. is perceived). The cds and record reviews have brought a number of new artists to my attention, however.
Biggie had a great voice.
"N.W.O." Ministry Whatever: The '90s Pop and Culture Box
"Nada Valgo Sin Tu Amor" Juanes Mi Sangre (live and studio versions)
"Nadine" Mos Def Cadillac Records Original Soundtrack (7.11.11 - link is Chuck Berry)
"Nadir's Big Chance" Peter Hammill The Roots of the Sex Pistols (Mojo Disc)
"Nail Clinic" Pavement Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
"Naima" John Coltrane Giant Steps
"Naima's Love Song" Betty Carter Verve Unmixed 2
"Naima's Love Song" Betty Carter/DJ Spinna Verve Remixed 2
Steve Jobs should be happy with me; this is the second time I have run off to the iTunes store after a cover version clued me to the fact that I didn't own the original of some song. In this case Mos Def (in a disturbingly misguided casting choice) singing Chuck Berry's "Nadine."
Naima was John Coltrane's wife's middle name. The Betty Carter song is from a 1992 album of hers, and puts her words over pianist John Hicks' composition, which is named not for Coltrane's wife, but for Hicks' daughter. The remix replaces the acoustic jazz with electronic instrumentation and so the original composition is all but lost. Carter's vocals tend to track the bass-line, so all is not lost, but the remix becomes a bland mid-tempo electronica dance tune that seems to run on too long.
Peter Hammill was a founding member of Van der Graaf Generator. This alone would make him awesome, since this is one of the truly great band names in the history of rock. This song predates and anticipates punk. I have this track because several years ago, Mojo magazine began attaching a different mix disc with each issue (each around some theme). These cds (despite being a hit-and-miss grab bag) have become the highlight of the magazine at this point. While the articles tend to read like a British Rolling Stone with their fixation on
Biggie had a great voice.
Monday, February 14, 2011
M'Lady to Madan
"M'Lady" Sly and The Family Stone Greatest Hits
"M.I.A." 7 Year Bitch Whatever: The '90s Pop and Culture Box
"Ma Jaiye Oni" King Sunny Ade Juju Music
"Machete" Moby Play
"Machine Gun" Portishead Third
"Mad Man Blues" Cedric Burnside and Lightnin' Malcolm 2 Man Wrecking Crew
"Madelena" Gilberto Gil Brazil Classics: Beleza Tropical, Vol. 2
"Madame George" Van Morrison Astral Weeks
"Madame Van Damme" Lightspeed Champion Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You
"Madan" Salif Keita Moffou
A couple of things. I am going to change the name of the blog. "Electric Sheep" was always something of a space-holder. It is just a nerd dog-whistle, and the "uncanny94" in the URL serves that purpose as well as anything. While I think "Electric Sheep" might work as a metaphor/critique for the recorded music industry, there are a lot of electric sheep on the web right now, including this collaborative art project. So I am currently considering new titles for the blog (the URL won't change). If anyone happens to stumble across this and have a brilliant idea, I would love to hear it.
Additionally, I am now halfway through the alphabet. While I am running a little behind my proposed pace of 4 posts per week (I am running closer to three per week on average, and that is due to sometimes week-long absences), I have largely stuck with it. I am figuring I might let some more people know about this. Right now, I have told exactly three people about this, so if anyone else is regularly returning - I thank you. I am going to clue in some more friends and associates, and we will see if anyone else wants to partake of this particular pretension of mine.
"M.I.A." is a riot grrl song about the death of Mia Zapata of The Gits. It is on the parallel '90s rhino box to Like Omigod! Unlike that '80s set though, there seems to be a merger of "alternative" and "mainstream." While Rhino saw fit to produce two parallel '80s collections (Left of the Dial is the '80s indie set - we will get to it), after Nevermind the distinction between "pop" and "alternative" was blurred and the '90s saw a move back and forth. This is born out by Rhino's retrospective - the collection of songs include insanity like Cibo Matto and this 7 Year Bitch song alongside "Whoomp! (There It Is)" and "I'm Too Sexy." I figure this is both good and bad. On the upside, artists similar to those I knew and loved throughout the '80s finally got the respect and the financial gain that they justly deserved. On the other hand, "alternative" became a much more static form, pigeon-holed by a marketing machine that had previously ignored it. I recognize my own arrogance, and some of this might be whining at the loss of what had been "mine" to the broader, plebeian masses, but mostly it is a sense that something broad and creative has been constrained and controlled. Not to worry - when one outlet for creativity shuts down (in this case the "alternative" network of college stations and indie halls in the '80s), a new one opens (the rise of Internet radio, podcasts, and other electronic, direct-to-user outlets).
Gilberto Gil is one of the more fascinating people I have come across doing this. Starting as a musician in the 1960s, he created Tropicalia as not only a musical style, but a cultural and political tool (my shallow perusal would draw parallels to Fela's Afro-beat, right down to the jail time). He became involved in environmental issues and politically active. In 2003, he became Brazil's Minister of Culture. He has been a proponent of creative commons. After leaving political office, he returned to music. Here is a link to his entire 2008 album via Wired magazine.
Astral Weeks is one of the more perfect albums ever recorded. Any track off it is compelling - it immediately engages the listener and keeps him/her listening until its conclusion. It is not a singles collection, but a song-cycle in the truest sense. The album is so of a piece, it is difficult to take any one track and listen to it without feeling like the rest of it is missing. That said, this 10-minute ballad about a drag-queen is as beautiful as any romantic love song ever written.
"M.I.A." 7 Year Bitch Whatever: The '90s Pop and Culture Box
"Ma Jaiye Oni" King Sunny Ade Juju Music
"Machete" Moby Play
"Machine Gun" Portishead Third
"Mad Man Blues" Cedric Burnside and Lightnin' Malcolm 2 Man Wrecking Crew
"Madelena" Gilberto Gil Brazil Classics: Beleza Tropical, Vol. 2
"Madame George" Van Morrison Astral Weeks
"Madame Van Damme" Lightspeed Champion Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You
"Madan" Salif Keita Moffou
A couple of things. I am going to change the name of the blog. "Electric Sheep" was always something of a space-holder. It is just a nerd dog-whistle, and the "uncanny94" in the URL serves that purpose as well as anything. While I think "Electric Sheep" might work as a metaphor/critique for the recorded music industry, there are a lot of electric sheep on the web right now, including this collaborative art project. So I am currently considering new titles for the blog (the URL won't change). If anyone happens to stumble across this and have a brilliant idea, I would love to hear it.
Additionally, I am now halfway through the alphabet. While I am running a little behind my proposed pace of 4 posts per week (I am running closer to three per week on average, and that is due to sometimes week-long absences), I have largely stuck with it. I am figuring I might let some more people know about this. Right now, I have told exactly three people about this, so if anyone else is regularly returning - I thank you. I am going to clue in some more friends and associates, and we will see if anyone else wants to partake of this particular pretension of mine.
"M.I.A." is a riot grrl song about the death of Mia Zapata of The Gits. It is on the parallel '90s rhino box to Like Omigod! Unlike that '80s set though, there seems to be a merger of "alternative" and "mainstream." While Rhino saw fit to produce two parallel '80s collections (Left of the Dial is the '80s indie set - we will get to it), after Nevermind the distinction between "pop" and "alternative" was blurred and the '90s saw a move back and forth. This is born out by Rhino's retrospective - the collection of songs include insanity like Cibo Matto and this 7 Year Bitch song alongside "Whoomp! (There It Is)" and "I'm Too Sexy." I figure this is both good and bad. On the upside, artists similar to those I knew and loved throughout the '80s finally got the respect and the financial gain that they justly deserved. On the other hand, "alternative" became a much more static form, pigeon-holed by a marketing machine that had previously ignored it. I recognize my own arrogance, and some of this might be whining at the loss of what had been "mine" to the broader, plebeian masses, but mostly it is a sense that something broad and creative has been constrained and controlled. Not to worry - when one outlet for creativity shuts down (in this case the "alternative" network of college stations and indie halls in the '80s), a new one opens (the rise of Internet radio, podcasts, and other electronic, direct-to-user outlets).
Gilberto Gil is one of the more fascinating people I have come across doing this. Starting as a musician in the 1960s, he created Tropicalia as not only a musical style, but a cultural and political tool (my shallow perusal would draw parallels to Fela's Afro-beat, right down to the jail time). He became involved in environmental issues and politically active. In 2003, he became Brazil's Minister of Culture. He has been a proponent of creative commons. After leaving political office, he returned to music. Here is a link to his entire 2008 album via Wired magazine.
Astral Weeks is one of the more perfect albums ever recorded. Any track off it is compelling - it immediately engages the listener and keeps him/her listening until its conclusion. It is not a singles collection, but a song-cycle in the truest sense. The album is so of a piece, it is difficult to take any one track and listen to it without feeling like the rest of it is missing. That said, this 10-minute ballad about a drag-queen is as beautiful as any romantic love song ever written.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
L'Arena to La Bas
"L'Arena" Ennio Morricone Kill Bill Soundtrack Vol. 2
"L'Estat" Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti Before Today
"L'Hotel Particulier [Extrait de BOF Melody Nelson]" Serge Gainsbourg Histoire de Melody Nelson
"L'Oranguta" Pepe & The Bottle Blondes Late Night Betty
"L'Via L'Viaquez" The Mars Volta Frances The Mute
"L-O-V-E (Love)" Al Green Greatest Hits
"L.E.S. Artistes" Santigold Santogold
"La-La (Means I Love You)" The Delfonics Beg, Scream, and Shout: The Big Ol' Box of '60s Soul
"La Bamba" Los Lobos Just Another Band From East L.A.: A Collection
"La Bas" Sternklang Jazz Lounge [Water Music]
Sometimes these sets have a theme that extends beyond the alphabet. Others, as here, the songs are disparate and the shifts between them can be jarring. Of course, the shift between most other songs and The Mars Volta is going to be jarring.
This is more what I think of when I think of as a Morricone song. The slow rise from low drums and strings to these huge horn breaks, and sweeping vocals at the crescendo. The whistle at the start, the individual guitar notes . . . there is an anticipation generated at the start of this song that builds and ultimately is rewarded by the sounds of victory at the end. The song tells a story on its own, that is mirrored in the movie scene it plays behind. Originally from a 1968 film with Jack Palance as the villain (as an aside, Palance's character is named "Curly," which is the same name his character had in the 1991 comedy City Slickers - I assume that was intentional. The other fun tidbit I learned was that Palance's real name was "Volodymyr Palahniuk"), Quentin Tarantino co-opts it for Kill Bill when the Bride is escaping from an early grave.
Despite most of the French is lost on me, Serge Gainsbourg's decadence is almost palpable in the music of this album. I mean that in a good way.
Between the time I first purchased "L.E.S. Artistes" as a single, and the time I got the album, the artist's name had changed. Apparently Santi White was being threatened with suit by an infomercial jeweler named Santo Gold, so she changed the "o" to an "i" and drove on. I found this song through, of all places, Perez Hilton - he had a link to video.
It seems wrong that I had two copies of Los Lobos' version of "La Bamba" but did not own Ritchie Valens'. That has now been corrected. (as a rule I am not going through the same song twice just because it is on two different albums - "La Bamba" is also on Rhino's Like Omigod! box. Different versions by the same artist I will listen through - although when we get to Elvis' complete comeback special we might have to make some exceptions - 6 different versions of "Blue Christmas" might be a bit much). In the vein of "Cabbage Head" and "Gallow's Pole" this is a folk song that was brought into rock & roll by Valens. Los Lobos' version is a cover of Valens', but it was done for the Valens' biopic of the same name.
Sternklang is a Norwegian group that, like Outsized, has very little web presence. I did find their myspace page, which offers up some other songs and a video. I also found their record label's homepage, but it doesn't appear to have been updated in two years.
"L'Estat" Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti Before Today
"L'Hotel Particulier [Extrait de BOF Melody Nelson]" Serge Gainsbourg Histoire de Melody Nelson
"L'Oranguta" Pepe & The Bottle Blondes Late Night Betty
"L'Via L'Viaquez" The Mars Volta Frances The Mute
"L-O-V-E (Love)" Al Green Greatest Hits
"L.E.S. Artistes" Santigold Santogold
"La-La (Means I Love You)" The Delfonics Beg, Scream, and Shout: The Big Ol' Box of '60s Soul
"La Bamba" Los Lobos Just Another Band From East L.A.: A Collection
"La Bas" Sternklang Jazz Lounge [Water Music]
Sometimes these sets have a theme that extends beyond the alphabet. Others, as here, the songs are disparate and the shifts between them can be jarring. Of course, the shift between most other songs and The Mars Volta is going to be jarring.
This is more what I think of when I think of as a Morricone song. The slow rise from low drums and strings to these huge horn breaks, and sweeping vocals at the crescendo. The whistle at the start, the individual guitar notes . . . there is an anticipation generated at the start of this song that builds and ultimately is rewarded by the sounds of victory at the end. The song tells a story on its own, that is mirrored in the movie scene it plays behind. Originally from a 1968 film with Jack Palance as the villain (as an aside, Palance's character is named "Curly," which is the same name his character had in the 1991 comedy City Slickers - I assume that was intentional. The other fun tidbit I learned was that Palance's real name was "Volodymyr Palahniuk"), Quentin Tarantino co-opts it for Kill Bill when the Bride is escaping from an early grave.
Despite most of the French is lost on me, Serge Gainsbourg's decadence is almost palpable in the music of this album. I mean that in a good way.
Between the time I first purchased "L.E.S. Artistes" as a single, and the time I got the album, the artist's name had changed. Apparently Santi White was being threatened with suit by an infomercial jeweler named Santo Gold, so she changed the "o" to an "i" and drove on. I found this song through, of all places, Perez Hilton - he had a link to video.
It seems wrong that I had two copies of Los Lobos' version of "La Bamba" but did not own Ritchie Valens'. That has now been corrected. (as a rule I am not going through the same song twice just because it is on two different albums - "La Bamba" is also on Rhino's Like Omigod! box. Different versions by the same artist I will listen through - although when we get to Elvis' complete comeback special we might have to make some exceptions - 6 different versions of "Blue Christmas" might be a bit much). In the vein of "Cabbage Head" and "Gallow's Pole" this is a folk song that was brought into rock & roll by Valens. Los Lobos' version is a cover of Valens', but it was done for the Valens' biopic of the same name.
Sternklang is a Norwegian group that, like Outsized, has very little web presence. I did find their myspace page, which offers up some other songs and a video. I also found their record label's homepage, but it doesn't appear to have been updated in two years.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Kada Manja to Kashmir
"Kada Manja" The Very Best Warm Heart of Africa
"Kalakuta Show" Gift of Gab/Lateef/Mix Master Mike Red Hot + Riot: The Music and Spirit of Fela Kuti
"Kaleid" Boxcutter Glyphic
"Kamera" Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
"Kamikaze" PJ Harvey Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
"Kamphopo" The Very Best Warm Heart of Africa
"Kansas City Man Blues" Clarence Williams' Blue Five Rhapsodies In Black: Music and Words From the Harlem Renaissance [6.10.11 - link is to a later version by a different lineup - Sidney Bichet is the constant]
"Karma" Outsized Buddha-Bar, Vol IV
"Karma Chameleon" Culture Club Like Omigod! The '80s Pop Culture Box
"Kashmir" Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti
The 80s Pop Culture Box is an artifact of a 1980s that was not mine. As near as I can tell, it is put together with a kitschy, self-aware eye of nostalgia for folks looking back fondly on the foolhardiness of leg warmers and tiny paisleys. So at its worst, it is a reminder of the hell that was my high school life. At its best, it is a collection of guilty pleasures. Culture Club is really neither. My feelings about Boy George generally amount to, "Huh. So there was that." I don't resent this song for existing ("Heartbeat" by Don Johnson, which I have promised myself not to skip when it comes around in this list). I also don't have to justify my fondness for it to my peers ("Walking On Sunshine" by Katrina and The Waves - its great, and you are wrong). Like many artists, it was Boy George's world for a moment, and then he was gone. Well, not gone. Just not allowed on reality tv. He does guest on the Antony & The Johnsons song, "You Are My Sister."
When I listen to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, there are only two conclusions that can be reached. First, that the whole decision to drop Wilco because of this album was contrived and simply done to generate publicity (the album was eventually released by Nonesuch, which is distributed by the same Warner Bros. who dropped it from Reprise). Second, that Warner is populated by deaf people. There is really no other reasonable explanation.
This Boxcutter track is more upbeat, and less droning and drug-induced, but it is still not exactly danceable, and prone to the odd conversation-destroying blurt.
I can find almost nothing about Outsized anywhere on the internet. I know that the bigger name is David Visan as the DJ putting the Buddha Bar set together, but you would think something about the actual artist would exist somewhere. One 2008 album on essential media, Blindfolded. No reviews. Essential Media barely has a web presence. It is more of a mystery than a compelling song at this point - who is this band?
"When it comes to making out, whenever possible, put on side one of Led Zeppelin IV." It probably makes me of a particular age, but that line from Fast Times At Ridgemont High, and the ensuing debate - was this a goof, or meant as a blunder by the character - whenever I hear "Kashmir." Sad but true.
"Kalakuta Show" Gift of Gab/Lateef/Mix Master Mike Red Hot + Riot: The Music and Spirit of Fela Kuti
"Kaleid" Boxcutter Glyphic
"Kamera" Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
"Kamikaze" PJ Harvey Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
"Kamphopo" The Very Best Warm Heart of Africa
"Kansas City Man Blues" Clarence Williams' Blue Five Rhapsodies In Black: Music and Words From the Harlem Renaissance [6.10.11 - link is to a later version by a different lineup - Sidney Bichet is the constant]
"Karma" Outsized Buddha-Bar, Vol IV
"Karma Chameleon" Culture Club Like Omigod! The '80s Pop Culture Box
"Kashmir" Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti
The 80s Pop Culture Box is an artifact of a 1980s that was not mine. As near as I can tell, it is put together with a kitschy, self-aware eye of nostalgia for folks looking back fondly on the foolhardiness of leg warmers and tiny paisleys. So at its worst, it is a reminder of the hell that was my high school life. At its best, it is a collection of guilty pleasures. Culture Club is really neither. My feelings about Boy George generally amount to, "Huh. So there was that." I don't resent this song for existing ("Heartbeat" by Don Johnson, which I have promised myself not to skip when it comes around in this list). I also don't have to justify my fondness for it to my peers ("Walking On Sunshine" by Katrina and The Waves - its great, and you are wrong). Like many artists, it was Boy George's world for a moment, and then he was gone. Well, not gone. Just not allowed on reality tv. He does guest on the Antony & The Johnsons song, "You Are My Sister."
When I listen to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, there are only two conclusions that can be reached. First, that the whole decision to drop Wilco because of this album was contrived and simply done to generate publicity (the album was eventually released by Nonesuch, which is distributed by the same Warner Bros. who dropped it from Reprise). Second, that Warner is populated by deaf people. There is really no other reasonable explanation.
This Boxcutter track is more upbeat, and less droning and drug-induced, but it is still not exactly danceable, and prone to the odd conversation-destroying blurt.
I can find almost nothing about Outsized anywhere on the internet. I know that the bigger name is David Visan as the DJ putting the Buddha Bar set together, but you would think something about the actual artist would exist somewhere. One 2008 album on essential media, Blindfolded. No reviews. Essential Media barely has a web presence. It is more of a mystery than a compelling song at this point - who is this band?
"When it comes to making out, whenever possible, put on side one of Led Zeppelin IV." It probably makes me of a particular age, but that line from Fast Times At Ridgemont High, and the ensuing debate - was this a goof, or meant as a blunder by the character - whenever I hear "Kashmir." Sad but true.
Monday, February 7, 2011
J Dub to Jacksonville
"J Dub" Boxcutter Glyphic
"J.B. Shout" Fred Wesley & The J.B.'s Funky Good Time: The Anthology
"Ja Funmi" King Sunny Ade Juju Music
"Jabuticaba" Bebel Gilberto Bebel Gilberto
"Jackie, Dressed In Cobras" The New Pornographers Twin Cinemas
"Jackpot" The English Beat Can't Stop It
"Jackrabbits" Joanna Newsom Have One On Me
"Jackson" Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash At Folsom Prison [6/8/11 - link is to San Quentin, not Folsom]
"Jackson" Lucinda Williams Car Wheels On A Gravel Road
"Jacksonville" Sufjan Stevens Illinois
The Super Bowl happened yesterday, and that has nothing to do with the songs in this set (except in the sense that none of these artists have ever performed at a Super Bowl - James Brown was in the halftime in 1997, but not the J.B.'s). However, I had a couple of music-related thoughts about that event.
I have invested some space here discussing the value of a cover song, and a cover discussion of sorts broke out over the national anthem. Christina Aguilera is being pilloried for her performance. While the biggest part of this is certainly due to her failing to get all of the words right, a recurring theme among some bloggers and critics is that she didn't "sing it right" regardless of the lyrics. The idea is that this song has only one "proper" reading, and any attempt to make it one's own is sacrilege - that it is somehow a song that cannot be covered. This, of course, is bullshit. The idea that the national anthem has only one true reading is ridiculous. Like a cover of any other song, the artist has to bring his/her own voice the song. Jimi Hendrix's version of this song is a sacrilege? Well - perhaps, and perhaps that was the intent. But Whitney Houston's Super Bowl version is revered, and it bears little resemblance to the way the average person would sing this song (I would also note that Whitney prerecorded her version - less chance of the kind of response Christina is receiving). At Super Bowls alone, about 40 different artists have performed this song. It is inconceivable that performers as diverse as Aaron Neville, Garth Brooks, and the Backstreet Boys would sing any song in exactly the same manner (or that you would expect them to). As with any cover, there are certainly good versions and bad versions, but to say that there is a "right" version is inane.
The list of performers linked above (both of the national anthem singers and of the halftime shows) is a fascinating piece of history. It documents the growth of the Super Bowl from a football championship in the 1960s to the television-driven media event it is today. As the Super Bowl became bigger, the list serves to track fluctuations of popular opinion. The first two games (and Super Bowl IX) featured marching bands. The last instrumental performance of the anthem was 1988 - by Herb Alpert. While the seventies started to see national names performing the anthem, there were still performers like The Colgate Thirteen (1979), and Phyllis Kelly (1978). The former is an a capella group from Colgate University, and the latter is from what is now University of Louisiana - Monroe (she may have been the same Phyllis Kelly who was Miss Louisiana 1978, but that Phyllis Kelly apparently is from Southeastern Louisiana University). Since the mid- to late-1980s, the anthem has become a part of the Super Bowl hype machine, and now serves as a history of the most popular music of a particular time. Because the anthem is a pretty demanding song (not just in its arrangement, but in the expectations laid upon the singer), this list is more conservative than the halftime performers [which I am not sure they have ever gotten right], and rewards those the public views as not merely popular, but a substantial vocal talent. However, the list is not without its questionable decisions (Garth Brooks? Billy Joel twice!!). The sole exception to the list of popular entertainers is 2005, when there was a retrenching after Janet Jackson's halftime boobsplosion, and the combined military choirs sang the anthem.
Anyway. Things actually related to this set, in no particular order:
"J.B. Shout" Fred Wesley & The J.B.'s Funky Good Time: The Anthology
"Ja Funmi" King Sunny Ade Juju Music
"Jabuticaba" Bebel Gilberto Bebel Gilberto
"Jackie, Dressed In Cobras" The New Pornographers Twin Cinemas
"Jackpot" The English Beat Can't Stop It
"Jackrabbits" Joanna Newsom Have One On Me
"Jackson" Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash At Folsom Prison [6/8/11 - link is to San Quentin, not Folsom]
"Jackson" Lucinda Williams Car Wheels On A Gravel Road
"Jacksonville" Sufjan Stevens Illinois
The Super Bowl happened yesterday, and that has nothing to do with the songs in this set (except in the sense that none of these artists have ever performed at a Super Bowl - James Brown was in the halftime in 1997, but not the J.B.'s). However, I had a couple of music-related thoughts about that event.
I have invested some space here discussing the value of a cover song, and a cover discussion of sorts broke out over the national anthem. Christina Aguilera is being pilloried for her performance. While the biggest part of this is certainly due to her failing to get all of the words right, a recurring theme among some bloggers and critics is that she didn't "sing it right" regardless of the lyrics. The idea is that this song has only one "proper" reading, and any attempt to make it one's own is sacrilege - that it is somehow a song that cannot be covered. This, of course, is bullshit. The idea that the national anthem has only one true reading is ridiculous. Like a cover of any other song, the artist has to bring his/her own voice the song. Jimi Hendrix's version of this song is a sacrilege? Well - perhaps, and perhaps that was the intent. But Whitney Houston's Super Bowl version is revered, and it bears little resemblance to the way the average person would sing this song (I would also note that Whitney prerecorded her version - less chance of the kind of response Christina is receiving). At Super Bowls alone, about 40 different artists have performed this song. It is inconceivable that performers as diverse as Aaron Neville, Garth Brooks, and the Backstreet Boys would sing any song in exactly the same manner (or that you would expect them to). As with any cover, there are certainly good versions and bad versions, but to say that there is a "right" version is inane.
The list of performers linked above (both of the national anthem singers and of the halftime shows) is a fascinating piece of history. It documents the growth of the Super Bowl from a football championship in the 1960s to the television-driven media event it is today. As the Super Bowl became bigger, the list serves to track fluctuations of popular opinion. The first two games (and Super Bowl IX) featured marching bands. The last instrumental performance of the anthem was 1988 - by Herb Alpert. While the seventies started to see national names performing the anthem, there were still performers like The Colgate Thirteen (1979), and Phyllis Kelly (1978). The former is an a capella group from Colgate University, and the latter is from what is now University of Louisiana - Monroe (she may have been the same Phyllis Kelly who was Miss Louisiana 1978, but that Phyllis Kelly apparently is from Southeastern Louisiana University). Since the mid- to late-1980s, the anthem has become a part of the Super Bowl hype machine, and now serves as a history of the most popular music of a particular time. Because the anthem is a pretty demanding song (not just in its arrangement, but in the expectations laid upon the singer), this list is more conservative than the halftime performers [which I am not sure they have ever gotten right], and rewards those the public views as not merely popular, but a substantial vocal talent. However, the list is not without its questionable decisions (Garth Brooks? Billy Joel twice!!). The sole exception to the list of popular entertainers is 2005, when there was a retrenching after Janet Jackson's halftime boobsplosion, and the combined military choirs sang the anthem.
Anyway. Things actually related to this set, in no particular order:
- A Jabuticaba is a South American fruit tree that produces grape-like fruit. The trees sometimes are used for Bonsai.
- "Jackson" is one of my favorite Johnny Cash songs, and it is stronger here than the studio version. June Carter is absolutely growling through her verses, and it is one of the highlights of one my cliched "desert island" albums. I also enjoy the banter at the start, particularly when June says, "I'm glad to be back in Folsom!"
- The Lucinda Williams song is not a cover, just shares a name.
- I like the Boxcutter track, but I am wracking my brain to find a context in which it would be appropriate. The most obvious answer is no longer relevant to me. Maybe background for a quiet party - like all back to my place after the bar - but it has some intrusive squonks. I could see driving, but it drones, and late at night that could be dangerous.. It could work if you need to clear a dance floor after last call.
Friday, February 4, 2011
I'd Rather Dance With You to I'll Be Faithful
"I'd Rather Dance With You" Kings Of Convenience Riot on an Empty Street
"I'd Rather Go Blind" Beyonce Cadillac Records Original Soundtrack
"I'd Rather Go Blind" Etta James Gold Collection
"I'd Still Choose You" Al Green I Can't Stop
"I'd Write A Letter" Al Green I Can't Stop
"I'll Always Have Faith In You" Carla Thomas The Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959-1968
"I'll Be Around" Bobby Bare, Jr. Live at KEXP, Vol. 1
"I'll Be Around" Cee-Lo (feat. Timbaland) Cee-Lo Green . . . Is The Soul Machine
"I'll Be Around" The Spinners Atlantic Rhythm & Blues 1947-1974
"I'll Be Faithful" Dusty Springfield Dusty In Memphis
Just by coincidence, this set seems to focus on regional labels and sounds - the Chicago blues of Chess/Checker, the Philly soul of The Spinners, Atlanta's "Dirty South," and the Memphis soul of Stax and Hi (Dusty clearly, and intentionally, fits in here).
I was looking at Hi Records webpage, and it reads like a younger sibling looking for validation. As the home of Al Green and Ann Peebles, the label certainly does not have to apologize to anyone. Nonetheless, the history on its website makes constant reference to Stax/Volt and justifies its place in Memphis Soul by comparison to that label. It name-checks Al Jackson, Jr., Booker T. and The MG's and at one point flatly states that Stax had moved on in the seventies, seeking a broader range of artists, and leaving Hi as "the keeper of the flame for real Memphis soul."
The Al Green songs here are both from his 2003 return to the Hi soul sound for Blue Note. The songs work in the way a good movie sequel works. They recall the sounds of Green's best early work. His voice is still amazing - he and Aaron Neville could do an album reading court opinions, and it would be among the best things ever recorded - and the arrangements hearken to "Can't Get Next To You" and "Tired Of Being Alone." However, like most sequels, ultimately your know that the original work is better.
Carla Thomas' song here is from just before that alleged departure by Stax from Memphis soul for a broader seventies base, and the growth of Stax as a song-making enterprise by this point is evident. The house band, the production, and Carla's voice all exude confidence. Even during the spoken-word interlude in the middle of this ballad (the sort of thing I tend to hate), the keyboard fills are compelling.
It is hard to call what Beyonce offers here as a cover - at least the same criticisms don't apply. Since she was portraying Etta James in a biopic about Chess Records, it seems appropriate that she try to do something that was true to the original, as opposed to making something more completely her own - perhaps homage is a better word than cover. Both Beyonce's and Etta's live version here demonstrate the singer's powerhouse voices, and Beyonce holds her own quite well.
Indeed, there are notably strong vocals throughout this set - Beyonce, Etta, Carla, Dusty, Al Green,and Phillipe Wynne. The Norwegians bring their harmonies, and Cee-lo and Timbaland's growl through their rap. Along with Bobby Bare, Jr.'s contribution there is not really a bad song in this set.
"I'd Rather Go Blind" Beyonce Cadillac Records Original Soundtrack
"I'd Rather Go Blind" Etta James Gold Collection
"I'd Still Choose You" Al Green I Can't Stop
"I'd Write A Letter" Al Green I Can't Stop
"I'll Always Have Faith In You" Carla Thomas The Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959-1968
"I'll Be Around" Bobby Bare, Jr. Live at KEXP, Vol. 1
"I'll Be Around" Cee-Lo (feat. Timbaland) Cee-Lo Green . . . Is The Soul Machine
"I'll Be Around" The Spinners Atlantic Rhythm & Blues 1947-1974
"I'll Be Faithful" Dusty Springfield Dusty In Memphis
Just by coincidence, this set seems to focus on regional labels and sounds - the Chicago blues of Chess/Checker, the Philly soul of The Spinners, Atlanta's "Dirty South," and the Memphis soul of Stax and Hi (Dusty clearly, and intentionally, fits in here).
I was looking at Hi Records webpage, and it reads like a younger sibling looking for validation. As the home of Al Green and Ann Peebles, the label certainly does not have to apologize to anyone. Nonetheless, the history on its website makes constant reference to Stax/Volt and justifies its place in Memphis Soul by comparison to that label. It name-checks Al Jackson, Jr., Booker T. and The MG's and at one point flatly states that Stax had moved on in the seventies, seeking a broader range of artists, and leaving Hi as "the keeper of the flame for real Memphis soul."
The Al Green songs here are both from his 2003 return to the Hi soul sound for Blue Note. The songs work in the way a good movie sequel works. They recall the sounds of Green's best early work. His voice is still amazing - he and Aaron Neville could do an album reading court opinions, and it would be among the best things ever recorded - and the arrangements hearken to "Can't Get Next To You" and "Tired Of Being Alone." However, like most sequels, ultimately your know that the original work is better.
Carla Thomas' song here is from just before that alleged departure by Stax from Memphis soul for a broader seventies base, and the growth of Stax as a song-making enterprise by this point is evident. The house band, the production, and Carla's voice all exude confidence. Even during the spoken-word interlude in the middle of this ballad (the sort of thing I tend to hate), the keyboard fills are compelling.
It is hard to call what Beyonce offers here as a cover - at least the same criticisms don't apply. Since she was portraying Etta James in a biopic about Chess Records, it seems appropriate that she try to do something that was true to the original, as opposed to making something more completely her own - perhaps homage is a better word than cover. Both Beyonce's and Etta's live version here demonstrate the singer's powerhouse voices, and Beyonce holds her own quite well.
Indeed, there are notably strong vocals throughout this set - Beyonce, Etta, Carla, Dusty, Al Green,and Phillipe Wynne. The Norwegians bring their harmonies, and Cee-lo and Timbaland's growl through their rap. Along with Bobby Bare, Jr.'s contribution there is not really a bad song in this set.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
A Habibi Ouajee T'Allel Allaiya to Half
"A Habibi Ouajee T'Allel Allaiya" Master Musicians of Jajouka Manifestation: Axiom Collection II
"Had To Make You Mine" Cheap Trick The Essential Cheap Trick
"Haditha" Me'Shell Ndegeocello The World Has Made Me The Man Of My Dreams
"Hair" P.J. Harvey Dry
"Hairspray" Rachel Sweet Hairspray Original Soundtrack
"Hairy Trees" Goldfrapp Black Cherry
"Haiti" Arcade Fire Funeral
"Haitian Divorce" Steely Dan Steely Dan's Greatest Hits
"Halah" Mazzy Star She Hangs Brightly
"Half" Soundgarden Superunknown
While I have described this as a reaction and not a review, most of my comments about this set amount to critiques - so it goes.
So I have a two-cd set of the "essential" Cheap Trick. I am not sure that a second disc or the adjective can be completely justified. There are Cheap Trick songs that make me happy to hear almost any time I hear them. The best of them stands up with the best of almost anyone, but that body of work is not nearly as deep as, say, Prince or Talking Heads. Even at that, I don't know if there is something such as an "essential" Cheap Trick song. All right, "I Want You To Want Me," but beyond that . . .
Which makes them at least one song better than Steely Dan. I am not sure how it is I have a collection of the Dan. I am sure this is the girlfriend's. I think I have mellowed to Steely Dan over the years, but I am still not what could be called a fan.
Enough hate. If we are throwing around the word "essential," Funeral is an album that fills a void that didn't exist before Arcade Fire made it. It is immediately engaging and continually listenable. I have played it through numerous times, and haven't grown tired of it. Similarly, when I am listening to the collection on a random mix as background music, a song will catch my ear and draw me out of whatever else I am doing and engage me. Frequently it is a song off Funeral.
Hairspray was not just an entree to the world of Jon Watters, but through this soundtrack, it opened up a set of obscure 60s dance and soul songs. In particular, "I'm Blue" was the first Ike & Tina song I ever heard and "Nothing Takes The Place of You" is a ballad that stands as one of my favorite love songs of all time. This title track summons both Watters' camp and the music that he pays homage to throughout the movie.
Hope Sandoval does not sound like other people, and that has value.
"Had To Make You Mine" Cheap Trick The Essential Cheap Trick
"Haditha" Me'Shell Ndegeocello The World Has Made Me The Man Of My Dreams
"Hair" P.J. Harvey Dry
"Hairspray" Rachel Sweet Hairspray Original Soundtrack
"Hairy Trees" Goldfrapp Black Cherry
"Haiti" Arcade Fire Funeral
"Haitian Divorce" Steely Dan Steely Dan's Greatest Hits
"Halah" Mazzy Star She Hangs Brightly
"Half" Soundgarden Superunknown
While I have described this as a reaction and not a review, most of my comments about this set amount to critiques - so it goes.
So I have a two-cd set of the "essential" Cheap Trick. I am not sure that a second disc or the adjective can be completely justified. There are Cheap Trick songs that make me happy to hear almost any time I hear them. The best of them stands up with the best of almost anyone, but that body of work is not nearly as deep as, say, Prince or Talking Heads. Even at that, I don't know if there is something such as an "essential" Cheap Trick song. All right, "I Want You To Want Me," but beyond that . . .
Which makes them at least one song better than Steely Dan. I am not sure how it is I have a collection of the Dan. I am sure this is the girlfriend's. I think I have mellowed to Steely Dan over the years, but I am still not what could be called a fan.
Enough hate. If we are throwing around the word "essential," Funeral is an album that fills a void that didn't exist before Arcade Fire made it. It is immediately engaging and continually listenable. I have played it through numerous times, and haven't grown tired of it. Similarly, when I am listening to the collection on a random mix as background music, a song will catch my ear and draw me out of whatever else I am doing and engage me. Frequently it is a song off Funeral.
Hairspray was not just an entree to the world of Jon Watters, but through this soundtrack, it opened up a set of obscure 60s dance and soul songs. In particular, "I'm Blue" was the first Ike & Tina song I ever heard and "Nothing Takes The Place of You" is a ballad that stands as one of my favorite love songs of all time. This title track summons both Watters' camp and the music that he pays homage to throughout the movie.
Hope Sandoval does not sound like other people, and that has value.
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