Friday Music

Wow…more than a week since my last music post, due to the holiday. You guys must be jonesin’. Let’s not keep you waiting, then.

Everybody knows “Come On Eileen”, the over-played “one hit wonder” by Dexy’s Midnight Runners. Never liked that track as much as I liked the other single from the same album, which barely got any play here in the US. Fans of The Young Ones will recognize this as the song they played in the lad’s bathroom in the episode “Bomb.” Dexy’s Midnight Runners – “Jackie Wilson Said (I’m In Heaven When You Smile)”

After the breakup of The Clash, Mick Jones went on to form Big Audio Dynamite with Don Letts. They were one of my favorite groups of the late 80s. A second incarnation of the group (B.A.D. II) got a minor hit in the US in the 90s with “Rush” (with a sample of the synth hook from The Who’s “Baba O’Reilly”), but I’ve always prefered the original line-up, and especially the first two albums, This is Big Audio Dynamite (1985) and Number 10 Upping Street (1986). They were pioneers of adding electronica and samples into rock….well ahead of the curve on that. Take this song from Upping Street, with samples from Eddie Cochrane, dialog from “The Cotton Club”, and more. Big Audio Dynamite – “C’Mon Every Beatbox.”

I’ve already warned about this track, and played it for . One of the things that I love about Mash-ups is that occasionally you’ll hear a combination that at first, makes you laugh your ass off, because of how incongruous it is….but then it grows on you, and you find that it’s actually a pretty slammin’ bit of work. This is one of those. The Soggy Bottom Boys vs. Gwen Stefani – “A Man of Constant Hollaback.” ….and yes, it’s exactly what you think it is.

Direct from their recent engagement, playing the Yule Ball at Hogwart’s School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, here we have a band comprised of members of Radiohead and Pulp: Weird Sisters – “Do The Hippogriff.”

Brand-spanking new track from The Crystal Method, which has been leaked to the internet. They’re providing the soundtrack to a forthcoming film called “London.” I know nothing about the movie, but this is a great track: The Crystal Method – “Smoked.”

From the horizon-expanding hip-hop department, here’s the overture from my favorite Science Fiction Hip-Hop-Opera Concept Album. Yes, that’s what I typed. Del Tha Funky Homosapien, best known to non-hip-hop fans as the voice of Russell, the drummer from the Gorillaz (did the rap on “Clint Eastwood”, for example), produced a concept album with Dan “The Automator” Nakamura, which told a SF story of a former mecha pilot (Deltron Zero) participating in an interplanetary MC’s competition. This is the opening piece: Deltron 3030 – “3030”. You can read more about the album here.

Normally, I’m not a huge fan of metal, but someone pointed out this track to me, and I have to admit that I was fascinated. The group is Epica, a metal act from Holland that mixes classical orchestration with the standard crunchy power chords, and are fronted by an operatically-trained woman as the lead vocalist. Give this a try, it won me over: Epica – “Facade of Reality.” The link can be slow from time to time…just a warning.

Projekt is a gothic music label, best known for droning, semi-ambient “shoegazer” goth groups like Black Tape for a Blue Girl and Lycia. Recently, they’ve begun branching out into related genres, such as “Dark Cabaret” (think Dresden Dolls and Jill Scott, both of whom appear on a recent Projekt-released compilation), and more industrial-electronic varieties of goth, like this group: Android Lust – “Stained.” This was not what I expected to hear from a Projekt artist…imagine Nine Inch Nails meets Garbage meets Dead Can Dance. I really like it.

Lastly, here’s a cover of a classic Buddy Holly tune, by a group called Rogue Wave. I really like what they’ve done with it:Rogue Wave – “Every Day.” I’ll have to check out their original stuff, and see if it’s as good as this.

There you go, another week. Hope you like ’em.