Category: Music

Another weekly mix-tape for ya:

As I mentioned, I picked up the two Grindhouse soundtracks, and I’ve been enjoying them immensely. Rodriguez’ soundtrack for “Planet Terror” is a score album, featuring his occasionally John Carpenter-ish compositions for the film; and the soundtrack for “Death Proof” is pure Tarantino — a display of obscure music that he’s really into, which he shares with the public (kinda like Friday Music, in a way). Here is a sample from each:

Robert Rodriguez – “Grindhouse (Main Titles)” This is the track that has been used in all the trailers, commercials, etc. Nasty, nasty sound.

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich – “Hold Tight.” Viewers of “Death Proof” will appreciate the significance of this particular track.

Bjork has a new album coming out, and the lead single has leaked. It’s far less experimental than her recent efforts, much more ‘traditional Bjork’, if there can be such a thing. Bjork – “Earth Intruders.”

A song from the album “Catholic Boy”, which caused quite a stir at the Catholic schools that I attended in the early 80s. We, rebellious during lunch — wearing our top buttons unbuttoned and our ties loose, fer godssake, would chant the lines “Teddy sniffing glue, he was 12 years old, Fell from the roof on East Two-nine, Cathy was 11 when she pulled the plug, 26 reds and a bottle of wine” The nuns were NOT pleased. Jim Carroll Band – “People Who Died.”

Frost is a swedish group that I discovered this week. I like their sound — a bit like the Postal Service, but with a female vocalist. Good stuff – Frost – “Modesty.”

…and, lastly, on days like today, sometimes you just need some Goblin King: David Bowie – “As The World Falls Down.”

Enjoy.

Sorry it’s a bit late today, kids — I’m up to my armpits with work — a major release coming later today.

Anyway:

I was a huge fan of Men at Work, and although I liked the quirky new-wave-y tracks written by Ron Strykert (the ones which never got any airplay), it’s really no secret that the heavy lifting in the songwriting department was done by frontman Colin Hay. Well, Hay is still touring, but doing mostly accoustic sets. Here is a great accoustic version of one of my favorites: Colin Hay – “Overkill.”

New song and new artist, brought to my attention by . More Neo-new-wave. I like it quite a bit: Shiny Toy Guns – “You Are The One.”

More with the new — this is an absolute earworm of a track. I’m warning you: once you’ve put it into your brain, it’s damn near impossible to shake loose. A brilliant dance track featuring, of all things, a children’s chorus: Justice – “D.A.N.C.E.”

More from the soundtrack to Velvet Goldmine, just because. Coincidentally, my favorite track by Brian Eno. Brian Eno – “Needle in the Camel’s Eye.”

Late-90s attitude-heavy hip-hop from DMX. Warning for those at work: The language in this track is definately not work-safe, and depending on your personal views on the so-called “N-word”, this might not be your thing. DMX – “Ruff Ryder’s Anthem.”

A while back, Jimmy Fallon did an SNL skit where he played Barry Gibb running a talk show. He and Justin Timberlake sang the theme of the talkshow, which was based on this song. The skit was funny, but it reminded me that I hadn’t heard this song much since the anti-disco backlash of the 1980s, and I really liked it. The Bee Gees – “Nights on Broadway.”

Lastly, another new track, from an electronica act from Santa Ana, California. These guys mix jazz and breakbeat into a swinging whole. Old meets new. Very cool: Free The Robots – “Jazzhole.”

There you go. Hope you like ’em. Now, back to the grind.

More musical goodies for you this week:

First up is my latest composition. I had originally intended this song to have vocals– lyrics, verse, the whole schmear — but I’m kinda stuck on it, and the_themiscyran tells me that she likes it instrumental, as it is. Anyway, give it a listen, and tell me what you think: @nubis – “crosswords.”

As Laura mentioned in her post, we recently watched “Blood Diamond,” which turned out to be better than we expected. I was especially pleased with the soundtrack, so I went out and grabbed a copy. Most of it is typical dramatic score, mixed with African instrumentation and choral arrangments, but there are a few “singles” featured in the film as well, such as this one: Emmanuel Jal (with Abdel Gadir Salim) – “Baai.”

I haven’t posted any Muse recently, but then again, if I haven’t already convinced you to go pick up Black Holes and Revelations, I doubt that anything else I post will. Doesn’t matter — I’m gonna do it anyway, because I love this album. Muse – “Map of the Problematique.”

One of my favorite one-hit-wonders of the 90s. Folks loved the tune, and loved the nonsensical bits of lyric….and I felt special because I knew who Asha Bhonsle was, so the song was like a secret code. :) Cornershop – “Brimful of Asha.”

Speaking of one-hit-wonders, most of you only know Big Country from their biggest hit, “In a Big Country,” and maybe a few of you know the follow-up single, “Fields of Fire.” I really loved them, the rest of the self-titled album was brilliant — the next album, Steeltown, less so. Regardless, here’s one my favorite tracks from the first: Big Country – “Inwards.”

Showtime’s The Tudors starts this weekend, so there’s been a lot of Jonathan Rhys Meyers on television. They’ve shown “Bend it like Beckham”, they’ve shown his Emmy-winning performance as Elvis…and they’ve shown “Velvet Goldmine.” I’ll watch it any time it comes on. Huzzah for glam and glitter! Shudder To Think – “The Ballad of Maxwell Demon.”

Here’s a nice bit of instrumental hip-hop that I stumbled across. Gotta love any track that begins with Rumsfeld getting his ass handed to him while testifying. ThisIsh – “Running Away.”

Lastly, a request from my Livejournal-less brother. This one, along with the work that Cream was doing at around the same time, stands as some of the best stuff to come out of the UK in the late 60s. Traffic – “Dear Mr. Fantasy.”