More goodies:
First up, for my brother — one of the rarer dance tracks out there. Apotheosis did this slamming bit of goodness, based around the famous first movement of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, under the mistaken impression that it was a public-domain bit of classical composition. It isn’t. Orff’s estate was pissed off, and subsequently, every CD with this track on it was recalled. However, thanks to the glories of Teh Intarwebs: Apotheosis – “O Fortuna.”
For a total gear-shift, here’s the opening music from HBO’s John Adams miniseries — a track which is such a riff on the theme from The Last Mohicans that I’m surprised Daniel Day Lewis doesn’t have whiplash as a result. Excellent work, nonetheless: Robert Lane and Joseph Vitarelli – “John Adams: Opening Titles.”
Another track from the Victorian English Gentlemen’s Club, whom I’ve posted about before (a year or more ago). They’ve captured the melodic bass and chiming guitar sound of mid-80s post-punk UK alternative pretty well: Victorian English Gentlemen’s Club – “My Son Spells Backwards.”
Here’s a song that’s more interesting than it is good — the unused title track from the 1983 alterno-James-Bond film Never Say Never Again. The story goes that this track was completed, but that the composer of the films score demaded that he be able to provide the title track as well (which, as some of you might remember is… less than stellar). This unused track is very much of the same family as the genuine (EON-produced) Bond themes of the early 80s — a love ballad, with some Bondian minor key stuff thrown in. As I said, not necessarily good, but definitely of interest to Bond fans: Phyllis Hyman – “Never Say Never Again.”
Some clever hip-hop from UK DJ Format, with Canadian-based rapper Abdominal providing the vocals. It makes me smile. DJ Format (ft. Abominal) – “The Hit Song.”
I hadn’t intended the last three songs to fit a genre theme, but they very much do — they’re all part of the late-90s exploration of mixing hip-hop with hard rock (and not in the annoying “rapcore” sense, but in actual collaborations between established artists in their own fields):
This track is one of the first, from a soundtracked filled with such collaborations (from the otherwise forgotten film Judgement Night). Faith No More & Boo-Ya Tribe – “Another Body Murdered.”
Here’s my favorite version of a smash hit from Outkast — this version was remixed by Zach De La Rocha while he was still with Rage Against The Machine: Outkast – “Bombs Over Baghdad (Rage Against the Machine remix)”
…and lastly, the lyrically NSFW collab between Wu-Tang Clan and System of a Down, that managed to take one of ODB’s more ridiculous tracks from Enter the Wu-Tang and rework it into an amazing bit of aggression: Wu-Tang and System of a Down – “Shame on a Nigga.”
Now, sufficiently energized, I return to work.