Category: Music

Been so busy, I almost forgot to post this. Sorry, but this week is a short one (due to the previously-mentioned busyocity).

First up — a fun one, for my fellow children of the 70s, who sat enraptured while viewing Battle of the Planets on TV. A dance remix of the theme tune, with samples from the show: (Edit: No direct-click on this one — copy and paste the link, and it’ll work fine.) Cuban Boys – “Battle of the Planets (remix)”

Next, here’s a new group that’s being described as the Duran Duran of Norway — and listening to them, you can definitely tell that they’re drawing their inspirations from Simon Le Bon et al. New Violators – “Runaway.”

Another new group that is mining the synthpop past is the London-based Pleasure, whose second album, Pleasure II features this track, which I’ve been enjoying quite a lot: Pleasure – “Out of Love.”

Annika Trost is a German musician whose new album, Trust Me, features songs in German, English and French. I really like her sound — sounds like hip lounge-pop, like something that could be featured in the soundtrack to one of George Clooney’s “Oceans” movies. Trost – “In Diesem Raum.”

Lastly, I know that I posted this before, sometime way back there, but screw it — I love the mix of swelling strings, orchestral beats and spy guitar. Hooverphonic – “This Strange Effect.”

Back to work for me. Enjoy!

What’s the haps, chaps?

To start off with, here’s a song in honor of tomorrow’s observation of Lá Fhéile Pádraig. My uncle and cousin are marching in NYC with their pipe band, which I’m sad that I’ll miss. Anyway — for all you fans of The Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly…..throw that copy-cat shite out the bloody window, and listen to the originators: The Pogues – “Bottle of Smoke.”

A song for berkie, based on the title alone. Made me laugh when I saw it, and then I listened and liked it muchly. So, here you go: The Dollyrots – “Because I’m Awesome.”

Been grooving out to this track recently. One of those rare instances where I like the group, and I like the guy doing the remix. LCD Soundsystem – “North American Scum (Dunproofin’s Not From England Either Mix)”

Jerry Lee Lewis has a new album out, Last Man Standing, where he does duets with other artists, ranging from Tom Jones to Willie Nelson. This is the absolutely brilliant lead-off track, where he duets with Jimmy Page on a rockabilly arrangement of a Led Zeppelin classic — Jerry Lee Lewis (feat. Jimmy Page) – “Rock and Roll.”

On the subject of brilliant guitarists, here’s a 1937 track from Django Reinhardt. (If Darth Sidious had used Django instead of Jango for the basis of his Clone Army, they wouldn’t have been any better shots….but they’d be amazing guitarists!) Django Reinhardt – “Oriental Shuffle.”

Just ’cause — one of my favorite songs by the Cure. I’d almost like it better if it was purely instrumental. The long intro before the lyrics is so good, I’m not sure the vocals are even neccessary. The Cure – “Fascination Street.”

I’m not a fan of cover songs which sound exactly like the original. It was already done, people. Here, however, is an example of a good cover — one that takes the original and does something new with it, which still manages to be very cool (it’s a fine line to walk — very easy to screw up and ruin it). It’s a track by Devotchka, doing a Velvet Underground classic which I almost didn’t recognize at first. Excellent. Devotchka – “Venus In Furs.”

There you go. Enjoy.

Here we go….

The first selection is my favorite piece of South African music. This haunting track, from the period when Nelson Mandela was still imprisoned, was released everywhere but South Africa, and worked its way back into the country as an underground hit. Johnny Clegg and Savuka – “Asimbonanga.” The lyrics of the refrain (plus translation):

“Asimbonanga (We have not seen him)
Asimbonang’ uMandela thina (We have not seen Mandela)
Laph’ekhona (In the place where he is)
Laph’ehleli khona (In the place where he is kept)”

From roughly the same period (mid to late 80s), here is my favorite bit of music from Miami Vice. I expected this song to be a bigger hit, but it never took off the way that “In The Air Tonight” did after being featured on the show. Russ Ballard – “Voices.”

For a time-period trifecta, I’ll go ahead and post this late-80s track, which appears now to have been genetically engineered to incite nostalgia: Crowded House – “Don’t Dream It’s Over.”

This past week, and I finished watching the 1978-1980 British TV show The Sandbaggers on DVD. Absolutely brilliant Spy series. The only thing worse than coming to the end of a show and knowing there is no more….is coming to the end of a show that leaves you with a cliffhanger, unresolved for the past 27 years. ARGH. Anyway, here is the nifty theme from the show, by film composer Roy Budd (Get Carter, among others): Roy Budd – “Sandbaggers Theme.”

Here’s a new pop band coming out of Glasgow with a debut album release this month. They’ve appeared on several “indie bands to watch” lists, and I really like what I’m hearing. Butcher Boy – “Profit In Your Poetry.”

The Jesus And Mary Chain are back! Sorta. Kinda. The Reid brothers, Jim and William; plus fellow TJ&MCer Ben Lurie have started a new group, along with Jim and William’s sister Linda. The band is called Sister Vanilla, and I *LOVE* it. Sister Vanilla – “Jamcolas.”

Lastly, some great hip-hop from my favorite crew, Jurassic 5. This is from their 2002 release, Power in Numbers: Jurassic 5 (feat. Nelly Furtado) – “The Thin Line.”

Enjoy.