First, let me get this out of the way — I haven’t posted any Christmas music so far this year. This is mostly due to the disturbing trend here in the US of radio stations switching over to an all-Christmas-music format (usually starting in November). Hell, just in the area I live, we can get something like 6 stations (between KC and Topeka) that are nothing but holiday music, 24-7. It’s ridiculous.
That said, I like the stuff that you don’t normally hear. So, here’s one. Most of you probably recognize the hook from this track, at it formed the sample basis of Run-DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis”, which gets played a bunch. The original song is much, much better. Soul horns and thinly-veiled sexual innuendo… that spells “Christmas” to me! Clarence Carter – “Back Door Santa.”
As I mentioned last week, I’ve been absolutely addicted to Amanda Palmer’s solo album, Who Killed Amanda Palmer? So much so, that I’m going to hit you with two of my favorite tracks from it. GO GET THIS ALBUM. F’reals, yo.
Amanda Palmer – “Leeds United.” I can’t quite figure out what the song has to do with the football team, but I *love* it. The horn section especially slays me.
Amanda Palmer – “Guitar Hero.” Another track with killer instrumentation once it kicks in. The guitar on this track is played by East Bay Ray from the Dead Kennedys.
Now to embarrass The Minion. When she was wee, she was a full-on fangirl of the boy-band and girl-band movement of the turn of the century. This was one of her favorites. Now, to embarrass myself: I liked this one quite a bit, too. Not the singing — the girls were, as in most of these cases, disposable studio talent. No, I was in absolute awe of the producers, David Frank and Steve Kipner — who crafted the most BADASS backing track I’d ever heard. The constant fluttering staccatto beat? KILLER. Dream – “He Loves U Not.”
In high school, I was given the most dastardly of brainworms — an *unlabeled* mix tape. There were songs on there that I loved, yet I had no idea who they were, nor what album they came from. This was one of them, which I finally tracked down. The Church – “Unguarded Moment.”
One of the better tracks from the soundtrack to Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. The song itself is OK, but truly serves as a showcase for guitarist Nuno Bettencourt’s classical-influenced solos. Still some of the most amazing guitar work out there — I only wish they had spotlighted it more. Extreme – “Play With Me.”
This is interesting. Some neo-folk/alt-country kinda stuff which strikes me as very Firefly. Alela Diane – “White As Diamonds.”
Enjoy. As always, if the links give you trouble, try copy-and-pasting them, or just right-clicking and download.
