Honeymoon Playlist

In less than 2 weeks my fiancé and I will be taking off for a much needed 2 week Honeymoon-vacation. You may remember a few past playlists ala, Sick Day, Christmas, and Road Trip that I had posted a while back. I think I might make this one an open forum, taking suggestions for this mix of relaxation and “floating vibes”. Here’s what I have going so far:

Walcott by Vampire Weekend
San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers In Your Hair) by Scott McKenzie
Swim by Surfer Blood
In The Sun by She & Him
Hot Fun In the Sumertime by Sly & The Family Stone
Kamera by Wilco
Time of the Season by The Zombies
California Dreamin’ by The Mamas & The Papas
Summer Breeze – Seals & Crofts
Take It Easy by The Eagles

I will post the final list a week from today.

Janelle Monáe - Tightrope ft. Big Boi

Compelled to post pre-research because it’s that good. I’ll dig a bit deeper for you soon.

“The funkiest horn section in the boroughs…”

Train Song

I recently picked up “Dark Was The Night”, a 2009 compilation CD/vinyl benefiting the Red Hot Organization, an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS. The album title is derived from the Blind Willie Johnson song "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground," which is covered on this collection by the Kronos Quartet. Album sales have generated a little under a million dollars and John Carlin, the foundations lead and album producer was quoted in saying, “"Dark Was The Night encapsulated the spirit and creativity of a new generation of musicians whose work struck a chord and got people to actually purchase the album and raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight AIDS." The album featured exclusive recordings by a number of independent artists and production by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National.

“Train Song” features Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard and Feist. Gibbard is one of my favorite songwriters and is a great collaborator most recently working with Jay Farrar (Uncle Tupelo). This song has a really cool retro-road trip vibe. Picturesque to the dude sitting on the back of an open freight train with a beat up acoustic and piece of straw in his mouth. The chord progression is perfect beat for Feist. Hope you enjoy this one as much as I do.



Track Listing:

"Disc 1"

1."Knotty Pine" – Dirty Projectors and David Byrne – 2:23
2."'Cello Song" (Nick Drake) – The Books featuring José González – 3:54
3."Train Song" (Vashti Bunyan) – Feist and Ben Gibbard – 3:02
4."Brackett, WI" – Bon Iver – 4:03
5."Deep Blue Sea" – Grizzly Bear – 3:46
6."So Far Around the Bend" – The National – 3:43
7."Tightrope" – Yeasayer – 3:18
8."Feeling Good" (Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse) – My Brightest Diamond – 3:54
9."Dark Was The Night" (Blind Willie Johnson) – Kronos Quartet – 3:51
10."I Was Young When I Left Home" (Bob Dylan) – Antony with Bryce Dessner – 4:55
11."Big Red Machine" – Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner – 4:39
12."Sleepless" – The Decemberists – 7:54
13."Stolen Houses (Die)" – Iron & Wine – 1:07
14."Service Bell" – Grizzly Bear and Feist – 2:23
15."You Are the Blood" (Castanets) – Sufjan Stevens – 10:14

"Disc 2"

1."Well-Alright" – Spoon – 2:46
2."Lenin" – Arcade Fire – 4:06
3."Mimizan" – Beirut – 2:43
4."El Caporal" – My Morning Jacket – 3:33
5."Inspiration Information" (Shuggie Otis) – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – 4:06
6."With a Girl Like You" (Reg Presley) – Dave Sitek – 3:27
7."Blood Pt. 2" (Castanets) – Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens & Serengeti) – 3:36
8."Hey, Snow White" (Destroyer) – The New Pornographers – 4:26
9."Gentle Hour" (Peter Gutteridge) – Yo La Tengo – 5:31
10."Another Saturday" – Stuart Murdoch – 2:56
11."Happiness" – Riceboy Sleeps (Jónsi & Alex) – 8:37
12."Amazing Grace" – Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues – 3:34
13."The Giant of Illinois" (The Handsome Family) – Andrew Bird – 4:45
14."Lua" (Bright Eyes) – Conor Oberst & Gillian Welch – 5:54
15."When the Road Runs Out" – Blonde Redhead & Devastations – 3:28
16."Love vs. Porn" – Kevin Drew – 3:57

The Crash – Reasons To Sing

I haven’t heard this song in a long time but after hearing the tail end of it in “Urban Outfitters” last night I felt compelled to post it. The band, who decided to part ways in 2009, was a pop-rock band from Turku, Finland, originally influenced by Britpop but later taking its lead from a diverse range of genres including Motown, Disco, New Wave and 80's rock . Following reasonable success in Scandinavia and Central Europe, the band turned its attention to the USA where interest was being shown by several major record companies including Capitol Records, Maverick Records, Warner/Atlantic and Hollywood Records. A short trip to the US followed in March 2005, where the band performed a packed show at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas leading to Billboard Magazine picking The Crash as one of the ten acts to catch that year, along with Bloc Party and M.I.A.. The band never received much airplay here in the states but "Reasons To Sing" from the "Pony Ride" album was featured in the show “Gossip Girl”, leading to some net download popularity.

Band Members:
• Teemu Brunila – vocals, guitar
• Samuli Haataja – bass, vocals
• Erkki Kaila – drums
• Samuli "JJ" Jokinen – keyboards



References:

Official Site

MySpace

Discography:

• Comfort Deluxe – 1999

• Wildlife – 2001

• Melodrama – 2003

• Selected Songs 1999–2005 – 2005

• Pony Ride – 2006

Band Of Horses – Infinite Arms

Yesterday I started spinning the new Band Of Horses record, Infinite Arms. This is the third full length by the North Carolina based southern indie-rockers and the tightest I have heard them sound. Lovers of “big room” guitars and same key harmonies will really dig. Definitely worth a free listen on MySpace.

SXSW Performance, “Compliments”:



Album Artwork:

It’s Your Thing

In early 1969, the Isley Brothers released the influential “funk-anthem”, “It’s Your Thing” as an artistic response to Motown chief Berry Gordy demanding hold on his artists after the Isleys left the label in late-1968. The Isley Brothers felt typecast in the role as a second-tier act while well-established Detroit acts like The Temptations, The Miracles and The Four Tops got more promotion from Motown Records. The brothers' decision to leave Motown came after a successful UK tour, where the brothers had a bigger fanbase than in America. Recorded in only 2 weeks (only a few months past the Motown departure), it only took the brothers two takes despite introducing 17 year old brother Ernie on bass for the first time. The song quickly rose to the top of both the Billboard pop and R&B singles earning top spots on both. Upon the song's release and ascent to success, Motown’s Gordy threatened to sue the group for releasing it in an attempt to bring them back to Motown, but he eventually cancelled his threat, and in February 1970 the brothers became the first former Motown act to win a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.

Band Members / Post Motown:

• Lead vocals by Ronald Isley
• Background vocals by O'Kelly Isley, Jr. and Rudolph Isley
• Written, arranged and composed by Ronald Isley, O'Kelly Isley, Jr. and Rudolph Isley
• Produced by The Isley Brothers
• Bass by Ernie Isley
• Guitar by Charles "Skip" Pitts
• Piano by Everett Collins



Over sixty artists have recorded their own version of the song including a not yet established Jackson Five, who first performed the song at their television debut on the Miss Black America Pageant, later recording it for their ABC album. I was able to dig up this rare performance although the quality is very poor. Check out the young MJ working it.



Also to note, the song’s meaning has long been taken out of context. Many thought it to be a “female anthem” much like “Respect”.

Hacienda

San Antonio based Hacienda combine Tex-Mex, straight up rock 'n' roll and Americana on their 2008 debut, Loud Is the Night and blend in more of their “garage roots” on their upcoming release, Big Red & Barbacoa. Formed by cousins Abraham Villanueva (piano/vocals) and Dante Schwebel (guitar/vocals), together with Abraham's brothers Jaime (drums/vocals) and Rene Villanueva (bass/vocals), this Mexican-American quartet blends a raw yet sophisticated style of pop music with harmonies reminiscent of the Beatles, The Stones, and The Beach Boys.

This is their first single off Big Red & Barbacoa, “She’s Got a Hold on Me”.


Hacienda: She's Got a Hold on Me from REVELATOR on Vimeo.


This is a live recording of “Shake Ya”. I must admit I prefer the original version which features some nice, Chicano trumpet playing in the background.




References:

Album Artwork:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
MySpace
 
Official Website

Rising Star

I really can’t stop laughing at this kid. He is singing the song “Whataya Want From Me” by last season’s American Idol runner up and total wiener Adam Lambert. What makes this funny is how he starts belting it out come 2:45 and tries to do the layering of the lead/backing vocals himself. Forget the Shure SM58, it’s all about the “Echo Mic”.

Hard To Handle

You may or may not know that “Hard To Handle” off the Black Crowes 1990 debut, Shake Your Money Maker was originally written and recorded by the late Otis Redding. Often referred to as the “King of Soul”, Redding died tragically in a plane crash at the age of 26 along with 4 members of his backup band, The Bar-Keys. The song was officially released in 1968 following his death on the album, The Immortal Otis Redding, reaching #38 on the Billboard R&B charts and #51 on the pop charts. It has been covered several times, including by The Black Crowes, Stefan Roland, Tom Jones, DJ Andy Smith, Rustix, Band from TV, and The Grateful Dead, as well as by Mae West in the film Myra Breckinridge.



The melody of the Crowe's version is taken from Buddy Guy's song 'A Man of Many Words' from the 1972 album Buddy Guy and Junior Wells Plays The Blues. Two versions of the song exist, the original album version and the hit single remixed with an overdubbed brass section. The Crowes' version reached number one on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart and number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100. See below as the Crowes perform the song with a horn section at the Fillmore, San Francisco in 2005.



“Hard To Handle” became a mainstay in Grateful Dead set lists. This is footage of the Dead performing the song in France in 1971.



Patti Drew’s version is great. It has that true 1969 soul vibe to it.


This…is TERRIBLE. Blackfoot, 1982.

Flat Tire

To my delight I was treated to a nice flat tire yesterday during my lunch break. All things considered, the fix went as smooth as possible. It’s only apropos to throw some auto-themed tunes up here in recognition of this banner afternoon. In searching for videos for “Drive My Car” by The Beatles, I came across this amateur medley of the song acted out by Lego’s. In digging deeper I noticed that he has both the entire Beatle’s # 1’s catalog in Lego video and a lot of free time.



A bit more relative to my situation would be the song (appropriately titled so) “Flat Tire” by left-handed Blues-man Albert King. For those who don’t know, King was one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with B. B. King and Freddie King) and at 6' 4" / 250 lbs was known as "The Velvet Bulldozer". “Flat Tire” appeared on 1974’s I Wanna Get Funky, which covered various Blues tunes with Funk overtones.

Flat Tire by Albert King

More Albert King music on iLike

References:

Album Artwork:

Album Credits:

• Albert King – Electric guitar and vocals
• Donald Kinsey (name on album credits incorrectly spelled as "Donald Kenzie") – Rhythm guitar
• Memphis Symphony Orchestra – Strings
• The Memphis Horns – Horns
• The Bar-Kays, The Movement – Rhythm section
• Hot Buttered Soul, Henry Bush – Background vocals

White Rabbits – “Percussion Gun”

I saw this video for “Percussion Gun” by White Rabbits for the first time today. The band is a six-piece indie group based in Brooklyn, NY, originally from Columbia, Missouri. This song is featured on their last release, It's Frightening (2009).

You may want to down some Dramamine before watching as its shot like a carnival ride. Enjoy it in HD!


White Rabbits "Percussion Gun" Music Video from White Rabbits on Vimeo.

References:

MySpace