Category: Music

The summer is just flying by. A heads-up: next week, I’ll be in NYC for a writer’s conference, and so there will be no Friday Music.

In the meantime, though:

Oh, that wacky Master…. in the final two episodes of this season of Doctor Who (which starts airing tonight in the US via the Sci-Fi Channel), the nemesis of the Doctor jammed along to two different bits of music…intended, I suppose, to show how craaaaaaazy he was. Instead, it just made me want to track down the songs. Here they are:

From “The Sound of Drums”: Rogue Traders – “Voodoo Child.”

From “Last of the Time Lords”: Scissor Sisters – “I Can’t Decide.”

and I caught a viewing of Idlewild, the movie by Outkast that attempted to meld hip-hop with the story of a 1930s speakeasy. It wasn’t bad, although suffered from a pretty severe jump in mood right before the end, going from fun, near-cartoonish movie-musical vibe to dark and disturbing in the space of pretty much one scene. Regardless, the music was good. I was surprised, though, to discover that my favorite track (a spotlight number which Andre 3000’s character writes for his love interest to perform at the club), isn’t actually on the soundtrack, being an older track from an earlier album. Either way, it’s brilliant — a fusion of smoky dancehall jazz and Outkast’s quirky oddness, which isn’t quite R&B, not quite hip-hop, but something else entirely: Outkast – “Movin’ Cool (The After Party)”

Being the week of the 4th of July, here’s a patriotic song, in all the goofiness that entails: David Lee Roth’s tribute to the Statue of Liberty. It’s the best song that Van Halen never recorded, and was pretty much the last gasp of David Lee Roth’s career. After this, it was receding hairlines, drug busts and public embarrassment: David Lee Roth – “Yankee Rose.”

Belleruche is a trio out of London whose major-label debut hasn’t been released yet, but I stumbled across this mp3 on one of the blogs I read, and was floored by it. The trio is comprised of a female vocalist, a vintage guitarist, and a turntablist DJ who provides everything else. It’s an amazing mix of jazz, soul, electronica and hip-hop sounds. I cannot recommend this highly enough: Belleruche – “Minor Swing.”

I’m a big fan of the sound of a female vocalist over electronic/hip-hop style compositions. For example, this track from the latest album from electronic/dance darlings Kosheen, featuring the amazing vocals of Sian Evans. I would love to hear what this group would do with a Bond theme….they’re practically there already. Kosheen – “Overkill.”

It’s not all new music on my playlists, as most of you know. Here is one of my favorite “classic rock” tracks. I love the second movement: “It’s the new Mother Nature taking over, the new Splendid Lady come to call….”, and the final verse, when the first and second movements of the song are melded together. Great stuff. The Guess Who – “No Sugar Tonight.”

Lastly, a bit of sample-based oddness from Russia — Chopping up classical music, and making a dancefloor hit…it’s like “Hooked on Classics” for the 21st century: Messer Chups – “Tchaikovsky Beat.”

There you go. See you in a few.

Here we go again…..

First up — I actually was listening to this track as inspirational background for my Far West RPG design (see the appropriately tagged entries), and was planning on posting it in a forthcoming design journal entry….but I like it so much, I don’t want to wait. So, here’s a nifty western-tinged folk murder ballad: Sixteen Horsepower – “Outlaw Song.”

Speaking of murder ballads, I was reminded of one of my favorites in a post earlier this week by , who talked about the multitude of versions that exist of the legend of Stagger Lee. My favorite version of the tale is this one: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – “Stagger Lee.”

Shifting the mood to something a little less dire — some bright pop from Mika’s “Life in Cartoon Motion” album. A track that is more “gay disco” than can be expressed by the mathematical formula [(Sylvester + RuPaul)^Liberace x Scissor Sisters] …and maybe even more than that. In a really, really good way. Mika – “Love Today.”

It’s been a while since I posted some Kula Shaker. Here’s the lead-off from their first album, “K”. I love the lyric: “Smell the rose, the sweet sweet rose that grows on castle walls in heaven.” Kula Shaker – “Hey Dude.”

For all you Guitar Hero players out there, I give you a song which you should find familiar — perhaps the most perfect Led Zeppelin pastiche ever recorded. Wolfmother – “Woman.”

Some Japanese hip-hop, from the turntables of DJ Krush, featuring the vocal work of INDEN, from the album “Shinsou – Message at Depth”. Good stuff, as always: DJ Krush – “Toki No Tabiji (Journey of Time), feat. INDEN.”

In 1966, the Rolling Stones put this very Elizabethan-sounding song on their album “Aftermath.” Brian Jones learned how to play dulcimer specifically for this track, and Mick Jagger has said that he has no idea what the song is about — that all of the names were historical, but he put them together unconsciously. I really love this song — one of those jewels that you stumble upon one day, and can’t ever forget. The Rolling Stones – “Lady Jane.”

…and of course, what better way to end this week’s playlist than with a bhangra track from Panjabi MC which utilizes the theme from “Magnum P.I.” as a backing sample? Panjabi MC – “Jatt ho giya sharabee.”

Enjoy!

This weeks Mixtape of Teh Intarwebs:

and I are giving David Milch’s post-Deadwood HBO series, John From Cincinnatti our standard three-episode try-out. The first episode was….strange (you can catch it as a free stream at the HBO website). The one thing that I came away with was a burning desire to track down the music they used in the final scene and over the closing credits. Thanks to the magic of the Intertubes, I managed to find it — this is a great track. Sort of a 21st century take on Psychedelia. Nifty as hell. Kasabian – “Sun Rise Light Flies.”

At the request of my LJ-less brother, here is some Lady Sovereign…this time in a remix produced by Basement Jaxx. Good stuff. Gotta love Grime tracks mocking fashion choices! Lady Sovereign – “Hoodie (Basement Jaxx Remix).”

Here’s a great asian-influence hip-hop track from one of the famed Wu-Tang Clan. The track uses Chinese music as the backing loops, and mixes in some fairly famous interview audio of Bruce Lee: “Be like water, my friend…” Masta Killa – “Masta Killa.”

One of my favorite tracks from Amy Winehouse’s new album. I love the retro-60s-soul sound of it, and I especially love that the opening verse contains the line: “What kind of Fuckery is this?” It’s my new favorite phrase. Amy Winehouse – “Me and Mr. Jones.”

Moving from sounds that sound old, let’s hear some that actually are. First up, from 1970 — the one-hit wonder that features the best horn riff EVER. I mean it. Ides of March – “Vehicle.”

Next, from 1981, my favorite single from New Order. (Although, to be fair, I didn’t hear it until years later. Still my fave, though, so there.) New Order – “Everything’s Gone Green.”

Lastly, from 1985, one of the best ‘alternative’ tracks of the period (although, at the time, before the coming of the Record Industry Marketing Gurus, we called it “college rock”, since it was usually only found on little indie college stations). This one actually broke out a bit — it was used on a couple of soundtracks, and got some radio play on commercial radio eventually. Dramarama – “Anything Anything (I’ll Give You).”

There you go. Enjoy.