Ladies and gentlemen... if I could have your attention for just a moment. Please ensure that your seatbelt is securely fastened and your seatback and widescreen monitor are in their full upright position. I know you have a choice when listening to music and I thank you for tuning in today. Now... you ready to have your ears fucked good and hard? Excellent. Welcome aboard!
Beat Down by Steve Aoki & Angger Dimas (feat. Iggy Azalea)
I like Bob Marley, but listen up... there is so much great reggae music beyond his catalog. Mention UB40 and I'll shoot you dead. I'm talking roots music, kids. King Tubby, Lee Perry, Cornell Campbell, Mighty Diamonds. I'm talking the legendary Heart of the Congos album - a bonafide masterpiece. Songs like those above, but also "Open Up the Gate", "At the Feast" and "The Wrong Thing." Bob Marley was a huge commercial success, but dig deeper. Buy the entire soundtrack to The Harder They Come. Light up that spliff and check out these other gems.
So many great songs this week. Where to start. Ok, so the ones above are awesome... but what else? For starters, His Clancyness finally released one of my favorite singles from last year, "Summer Majestic." Not sure why it took so long to find its way to iTunes, but whatever. Go download it now! There are some banging songs in "Jerash Hekwerken" by 2562, "Scream" by Filthy Rich, and "Kiss Me" (Sonny Wharton Remix) by Tram Dolls. Want something a bit more mellow? Ok. Try "Bortonkk" by Robag Wruhme, "Equilibrium" by Anenon, and "Hushhh" (Variation 2) by Andrew Thomas. I'm not done. Also check out "Everybody Used To" by Le Dust Sucker, "Corazón Mio" by Lexy & Shades of Grey, "The Attic" by Paul Weller, "It's Not You, It's Here" by Alekesam (old school soul), "Olvidé" by Carla Morrison (pretty), "Bamba" by The Touré-Raichel Collective (beautiful song from Ali Farka Touré's son, Vieux, and Israeli keyboardist Idan Raichel), and "Cerulean" by Simian Mobile Disco. Also... try to track down "Here Comes the Rain Again" (Dirty Plastic Hits Remix) by Macy Gray. It's a cover of the old Eurythmics song. Finally... I can't part without mentioning the lovely "Parlami D'Amore Mariù" by Vittorio De Sica (god I love this). It's really old, but worth listening to. If you want to sit back and just chill, check out "A Walk Along the Ganges" by Darshan Ambient. It isn't new, but it's great to have on repeat.
Phew. Done. There you go. Eargasm served up fresh and hot.
Speaking of inner peace (see boobies), this is what I listen to when I need to relax my mind. No... I'm not a Hare Krishna. I'm not even a Buddhist. I don't know. I've been to India a few times and there's just something about that place. The music, in particular, is so peaceful. I mean... there's a reason why people travel there when they want to recharge their batteries.
It's Friday, so put your stretchy pants on and get ready to be spoon-fed some good music. Most of these were released earlier this week, but remember... this is stuff that's new to me - one way or another. I posted the Katz song on Facebook awhile back, but it was finally released on iTunes this week. Great song. Definite Psychedelic Furs influence on the next one by the Horrors. As for "Gold Forever", well.. what can I say. I'm ashamed to admit that I like it. It's bascially a boy band, I think (never heard of them). It also sounds like a thousand other songs. Whatever. I dig it. The last track, by Twinsy (who names these bands?), is just a lot of fun.
I also liked "Some Nights" by Fun (they'd make a great Queen tribute band), "Olivia, In a Separate Bed" by Robin Pecknold, "Turn on the Sunshine" by Suckers, "Good as New" by Vacationer, "Lola's Lullaby" by Anoushka Shankar (very peaceful; listened to this all week to de-stress), "Smile Like That" by Esperanza Spalding (nice Jazzy track; she has a great voice), "Chevy Thunder" by Spector, "El Patron" by Stereofunk, "Man on Fire" by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, "Rad Racer" (RxGibbs Tubular Mix) by Work Drugs, "Papers" by, well... no clue, "Straight from Bolivia" by Ben Sims (this is the kind of music I listen to at work to tune out my obnoxiously loud co-workers), and (finally) Zebra Katz, again, with a track ("W8WTF") I can't find on iTunes.
I've also been listening to some Canadian folk singer-songwriters. Older stuff, mostly. "I Think of You" by John Gorka, "The Waking Hour" by David Francey, and "Night Drive" by Garnet Rogers. I'm not normally a huge fan of country music, but I bought a few songs this week - "He Stopped Loving Her Today" by George Jones, "Life's Little Ups and Downs" by Charlie Rich, "Fist City" by Loretta Lynn, and "Holding Her and Loving You" by Earl Thomas Conley. I also bought a few tracks from The Descendants soundtrack... "Hapnua Sunset", "Hi'ilawe", and "Kalena Kai." Great movie, by the way. It's like a mini Hawaiian vacation. Highly recommended. Ok... I'm out.
Alternative,