What's the surest way to determine nobody reads this blog?...
…Aha! Post an entry that practically begs for reader participation. So in the spirit of masochism, here’s the deal. As tends to happen occasionally, I feel like I’ve been stagnating musically as of late. After jamming the same eight or nine albums over and over for way too long, I switched my I-Pod to ‘shuffle’ mode recently just to get some different tunes in the mix. Although this allowed me to rediscover some old treasures, it’s still stuff I’ve listened to before. I need some new beats in a bad way. So here’s where you, yeah YOU, come in. I’m counting on the reader(s) of this blog to provide me with recommendations for where I should take my downloading/music-store-wanderings. In the spirit of giving-to-get, I’ll include some stuff I’ve been jamming…the problem being, of course, that it’s nothing all that revolutionary. But perhaps one or two recommendations might strike an unexplored (or forgotten) chord. So here’s a sampling of my most frequently visited grooves lately, with props given to those who either introduced me to these jams or inspired me to revisit old classics:
-Kill Bill II Soundtrack(Br. Long)
-The Roots- The Tipping Point (K Huh)
-Johnny Cash- Sixteen Biggest Hits: Volumes I & II (Dr. Maher)
-Thievery Corporation- Any and all
-The Temptations- Greatest Hits (VH1 movies=unemployment)
-Beck- Guero
-Irish Drinking Songs- (Imhoff sots)
-DJ Dan- Funk the System (Lorentzen…long, long ago)
The last time I did this (via email) those who responded hooked me up with amazing input and I’m hoping for a repeat performance. So scroll through your MP-3 player and jot down what you’ve been listening to, dig into those hidden vaults and drop some obscure shiznit, or just let me know what you’re rocking these days, regardless of how painful said revelation might be (seriously, I was listening to old Whitney Houston yesterday…yeah, Amanda)! A brief description/plug always elevates recommendations to the next level, but it's not requisite.
Do it for the children.
23 comments:
Now, this is my kind of entry...though I've given you a few reccomendations through e-mail, I'll participate.
Just yesterday I was relaxing to a bit of Mark Knopfler (a guy from Dire Straits) and chances are if you like Irish-tinged, folky type of music, you'll like some of his albums. I'd reccommend the "Ragpicker's Dream" but just about any of his will do. It's not as funky as Dire Straits but it's still great music.
Here's a few more bands I listen too that might tickle your pickle:
The Weakerthans - "Reconstruction Site"
The Old 97s - "Fight Songs"
Pinback - (Self Titled)
Also, If you're looking to bump a few hip-hop beats, check out:
Cee-Lo - "Cee Lo Green...the Soul Machine."
J-Live - "Always Will Be"
Little Brother - "The Listening"
A Tribe Called Quest - "The Low End Theory"
Pete Rock "The Surviving Elements"
**Be forewarned: This's one is an instrumental hip hop record, no MCs. It's a great CD but It can get kind of repetitive and boring when in some moods.
Black Star (Mos Def and Talib Qweli)
.............is that enough or can you handle some more?
As expected, excellent work Mr. Gaspar. A relatively small cadre of talented hip-hop poets aside, i'd prefer alot of hip-hop to be 'instrumental'.
I enjoy listening to the ducktales theme song on repeat.
Oh my god, that's awesome:
Ducktales, a whoo-hoo!
that's the link i use as well.
Alright. Feeling adventurous? Try:
"Chuntaro Style" ..shoot, can´t remember the band, but there are nto many songs with that name .
"Burn it Blue" from the Frida Sountrack.
"Ricanela" Molotov.
Wise words from anonymous man:
a) The Black Crowes - Shake Your Money Maker - the
acoustic version of "She Talks to Angels" will relax a
fella about as well as a good old fashioned 'rub and
tug' if you're pickin up what i'm layin down
b) The Game - The Documentary - we both know that good
hip hop is tough to beat. well the east/west coast
rap war has really fizzled in the past decade. you
know, a bunch of t-huggers cap two icons in the mid
90's within 1 year and everyone decides to play nice.
enter The Game the year of our lord two thousand and
five. this guy doesn't give a fuck, he'll shoot you
and then pour out a foe-tee fer ya. perhaps some may
say it's radio rap, but this boy gots skillz on the
mic
c) Mos Def - Black on Both Sides - bottom line, you
can chalk up this Mos classic on one of the better hip
hop albums to ever be. GET IT (period)
d)Anthony B - either Universal Struggle or 2 Strong
(take your pick or both) - insane dancehall reggae.
not the common roots, rock reggae that our friend mr.
marley popularized. but, a different, more melodic
sound from the green island.
e) dj 7 - dj 7 - great dj mixing up underground dance
hall beats with a good portion of his own. und mutti
sagt ausgezeichnet!
it's all so tasty. more. more.
alright. Alriiiight. ALRIGHT. Jeez.
I have a few gems that you need to know about. However, don't run out and spend your hard earned cash downloading or buying cd's, 'cause they're on the slow boat from Alaska for you (or, er, they WILL be on the slow boat as soon as it leaves Prudhoe Bay).
1. Willie Porter -hoping to send a few of his albums, if my own little deepthroat comes through for me.
2. Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks Unlimited - Zimbabwe revolution music. Unbelievably good.
3. Natalie McMaster - Irish/fiddle/bluegrass mixture. She rocks.
4. Spearhead - I actually haven't given this group a listen yet, but they played at the Bear Tooth last week and EVERYONE I know went.
They're all a'comin'. Patience is a virtue...
Travis Tritt--It's a great day to be alive--one of my favorite songs b/c it reminds me of being home with my friends from missouri.
i also still listen to a Tribe Called Quest and Jurassic 5 all the time. (thanks to you b/c you introduced me to them in texas.) that one might be a little more applicable to people not from the midwest:)
and on a totally unrelated note....TODAY IS MY 24TH BIRTHDAY!! WOO-HOO!! so feel free to reminisce about chaps and cap guns and red cowboy hats and one very, very, drunk girl. good times;)
lauraj
Hey Phil,
Way to out me on the Whitney- but it's probably a good thing, I never would have felt the need to share my musical tastes in order to defend my honor (or something). I probably should say that I don't know you well enough to handpick artists for you, but I'm going to do it anyway-
Brendan Benson- acoustic-y, nice melodies, little bit folksy. Listen to Metarie.
Broken Social Scene- a little crazy, but in a great way. Especially good ones include Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl, probably plus some more.
The Decembrists- You may have heard them already, but if not, please listen soon. West coast-y sound (feel free to define that as you see fit) and very lyrical.
Last (but so far from least)- please listen to We Are Scientists. They're incredibly awesome and even though their songs have deviated from the days when they were all about science and love, they rock the world of all who listen. You'd better go to www.wearescientists.com too because their website is one of my favorites.
Whitney (pre crack addition) was the greatest thing that ever happened to the modern love ballad. I support all of Amanda's music choices, as long as it's not country.
Black Star and Mos Def are a must, as your readers have already mentioned (maybe I'll finally make you that mix I've been promising for months). Telepopmusik is amazing; nothing makes the morning bus ride more tolerable than the lead singer's sonorous voice. Handsome Boy Modeling School needs to be mentioned, as well as De La Soul (3 Feet and Rising in particular).
Btw, when are you going to find time to listen to all this music in between your hours of blogging and x-boxing?
Phil, How did you end up with a woman who has such EXQUISITE musical taste.
Better yet, Kristy:
What are you doing hanging around with the likes of PHIL? Heh heh!
Seriously Kristy, you've got awesome taste in music...
Can you guys carry on this steamy extra-relationshipal affair elsewhere, please?
oh, and thanks for the phenomenal input everyone. when i say you guys rock, i mean that you guys rock.
relationshipal? nice...
Oh, if yoiu're looking for new and good music to listen to check out heavy.com. That website rocks. They have streaming radio stations of all different types of music from both well-known and relatively obscure bands and artists.
Thanks Joe! You've got great music taste too. And Phil, it's not my fault that you didn't give me his e-mail when I asked and we have to resort to carrying out our not-so-secret affair on your blog :)
i want to vomit, but i can't tell if that's due to this conversation or white wine.
Well hell, If Phil's disgusted by this perhaps we should continue...getting on Phil's nerves happens to be one of my favorite pasttimes.
And Phil, why would you EVER drink white wine? Quite frinkly, I have a rough time telling the difference between that bag-in-a-box stuff and the supposedly "good" wine. Of course I prefer not to drink wine after (was it you or McKinney) bought a box of that stuff and we went around partying and sipping from the bag all night long. Ugh. I'm pretty sure you were there. I remember (one of the few things from my tenure at the bluff) being at a party with you, Maria and McKinney as we each took swigs from that wretched silvery bag with the spout...of course that may have been some sort of hallucinogenic episode that never really happened at all. I loved college!
Perhaps because I'm responsible for Phil's Whitney listening, I feel the need to correct you, thewife. While the lovely Kenny G and Michael Bolton may be great soft rock musicians with huge fan bases in their time, Whitney Houston is a musician whose songs show a surprising amount of staying power and versatility even fifteen or twenty years after their original release- an argument that holds for very few artists. I hope your merely being facetious and don't actually believe your analogy to be true. If so, I beg you to listen to classics like "I Want to Dance with Somebody"- a great pop anthem of the early 1980s. Thanks.
Strong feelings. And how can there not be when Whitney's rep's on the line.
My favorite album right now is Nighwish's Once. Just imagine a European heavy metal band with a female opera-trained singer and a full orchestra and choral behind it. Good stuff.
Zombieslayer-sounds like a cool recommendation. i'll check it out. and since i haven't stressed it enough, thanks to everybody else for attempting (perhaps in futility) to make an uncool person cool.
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