Category: Music

Here we go, cats & kittens…. the last Friday Music of November:

First up, another great track from Kate Nash. The more I hear, the more hooked I get. This is her single that’s coming out on December 17th (making it a fairly strong contender for the Christmas No. 1 in the UK, by all accounts, despite the lack of a Christmas theme). Kate Nash – “Pumpkin Soup.”

More of the brilliant work from Mark Ronson’s album Version. He’s joined on this track by brass ensemble The Daptone Horns (the guys providing the brass on Amy Winehouse’s album), doing an *amazing* retro-instrumental cover of a Coldplay track: Mark Ronson (Ft. The Daptone Horns) – “God Put A Smile Upon Your Face.”

The Daptone Horns are from Brooklyn’s Daptone Records. The core of the brass are known as the Dap-Kings, and do brilliant retro-soul on the label, with front woman Sharon Jones — Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings – “100 Days, 100 Nights.”

Kyllie Minogue is going to be guest-starring on the Doctor Who Christmas episode, Voyage of the Damned. Some Who-fan DJs, under the name “Fast Ood Rockers” have done this mash-up of her “2 Hearts”, Goldfrapp’s “Strict Machine” and The Timelords’ “Doctorin’ The TARDIS”– you will LOVE this: Fast Ood Rockers – “Song 4 Kylie — I’m In Love (with a Girl in a Time Machine).”

While we’re on the subject of mashups, I stumbled across this bit of brilliance, which mixes a TON of stuff around the frame of Foreigner’s “Juke Box Hero” and Bob Segar’s “Turn The Page,” including bits of Kid Rock, Rush, The Doors, NIN and Tomoyasu Hotei, among others… all it lacks is a clever name (the DJ really let us down on that). DJ John – “Juke Box Hero Project.”

Proof that Celtic music doesn’t have to be limited to céilí or Pub seisun….a quick reminder that there were Celts in coastal France as well. This track is one of my favorites, a sure cure for the umpteenth hearing of “Whiskey in the Jar” — it’s a folk-rock track from the 1970s, sung entirely in the Breton language: Alan Stivell – “Tri Martolod (Three Sailors)”

Blondie was approached by the producers of the James Bond films to do the theme for For Your Eyes Only, and so they did, showing up at the studio with a song ready to go. “No, no…” said the producers, “We just wanted Debbie to sing the song we’ve got here.” Pointing out that if they wanted Debbie, they should have asked for Debbie and not Blondie, Debbie and the rest of Blondie walked, taking the song with them. The producers got Sheena Easton to sing their song (which was a hit), but I often wonder what could have been, with the original theme…. Blondie – “For Your Eyes Only.”

Lastly, a nice bit of second-wave, two-tone Ska, from my favorite band of the era: The (English) Beat – “Click Click.”

Enjoy.

As usual, given the Thursdayness of the forthcoming Thanksgiving holiday, there will be no Friday Music this week.

Shall I skip a week (as per last year) or give you a special “Wednesday Music” (as per 2005) instead? Comment away.

Hey there.

First off, I did pick up the new Duran Duran this week (Red Carpet Massacre), but, after only a few listens so far, I can’t quite shake the feeling that I’ve already posted the two best songs from the album (“Nite Runner” and “Falling Down.”) The rest of it doesn’t suck, per se (not like, say, most of the Thank You album), but it’s just sort of OK, which is not what I was expecting from a follow-up to Astronaut. Subsequently, nothing new to post here.

On the other hand, the new Seal album, System, is fucking brilliant. The man has yet to release an album that I didn’t love. He’s back to concentrating on the dancefloor stuff of his earlier albums, moving away from the adult-contemporary-soul-balladry (apart from one very squishy and sweet, but perhaps ill-advised, track featuring his wife, called “Wedding Day (duet with Heidi.)” — yes, Heidi Klum singing. Not as bad as you’d suspect, but next to his voice, it’s like….well, something merely adequate next to something amazing.) Here’s the first track on the album: Seal – “If It’s In My Mind, It’s On My Face.”

I’ve been assembling various mixes from my collection, to use as writing soundtracks. One of the collections I’ve titled “Bond Music That Wasn’t” — a collection of music that could easily be soundtrack pieces from James Bond movies, but weren’t. This is a great example — a collaboration between Bond movie composer David Arnold and Icelandic songstress Bjork: Bjork & David Arnold – “Play Dead.”

A while back, I posted “Foundations” by Kate Nash. I’ve been listening to more of her stuff, and it’s really getting to me, even with her delivery of lyrics in an accent that makes me think I’m listening to a Catherine Tate character. Check out this one: Kate Nash – “Merry Happy.”

While we’re on the subject of women from London who sing, I thought I’d share this little bit from Amy Winehouse — those of you only familiar with her recent neo-motown-soul sound will be surprised to hear a classic jazz vocal from her first album Frank, much less on a well-known standard like this: Amy Winehouse – “Moody’s Mood for Love.”

Shifting from jazz to jazz-based hip-hop, here’s an amazing track by this European hip-hop outfit, Outlines. They’re based in Strasbourg and Paris, but work in English, and produce hip-hop that is steeped in jazz and entirely unique. Outlines – “Just A Lil’ Lovin’.”

A track that’s been used by Nintendo for their line of Wii commercials in the US — another brilliant mix of tradtional Japanese instrumentation and composition with modern Breakbeats: Yoshida Brothers – “Kodo (Inside The Sun).”

Lastly a nifty bit of mashup, mixing studio and live versions of two classic songs, “Break On Through” by the Doors, and “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zeppelin — DJ Zebra – “Break Through Love.”

Enjoy.