tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57610052011-11-23T09:46:44.454-05:00Music and such.rissernoreply@blogger.comBlogger2121100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-53261845405818009922010-05-25T00:03:00.000-04:002010-05-25T00:03:00.039-04:00

Grow old with me The best is yet to be "Grow Old with Me" is a tune penned by John Lennon.  He never really made an official recording of it, but it showed up on his posthumous 1984 album, Milk and Honey.  John was never really about the love songs.  Not like Paul.  Or even George.  He was a cynical bastard with shitty parents.  At five, they forced him to choose between them, and he ended up

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-6191680439168718212010-05-25T00:01:00.000-04:002010-05-25T00:01:01.007-04:00

Listen to song #101 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-31058556624809951062010-05-21T00:03:00.009-04:002010-05-21T09:55:19.889-04:00

Okay, aside from having one awesome song name, what does this song have going for it? Well, first of all, it's by Bikini Machine, a French band named for the titular contraption in the camp flick Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine. There's not much on the interwebs about them, alas, but they do have a few albums out. Their sound is electronic-oriented dance rock, similar to Hot Chip, but they

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-71988803087857140772010-05-21T00:01:00.000-04:002010-05-21T09:37:28.321-04:00

Listen to song #100 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-14138829537925015472010-05-20T00:33:00.000-04:002010-05-21T09:38:34.734-04:00

Well, it looks like my file host is still down.  It's been down all day and dropped a little earlier this week. I can only hope it comes up soon.  Meanwhile, the articles will continue and I'll post the songs as soon as I am able.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-75086330189735771112010-05-20T00:03:00.001-04:002010-05-20T09:14:57.817-04:00

The Puppini Sisters are a vocal team (not actually sisters, although one is actually named Puppini) who perform swing music with close vocal harmonies, much like the Andrews Sisters and other similar acts. They perform all sorts of tunes, from old swing standards like "In the Mood" to more modern tunes like "Heart of Glass", "Walk Like an Egyptian" and "Crazy in Love", as well as some originals

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-1875092102827048132010-05-20T00:01:00.000-04:002010-05-21T09:36:33.545-04:00

Listen to song #99 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-8014623595197732122010-05-19T00:03:00.002-04:002010-05-19T09:09:22.963-04:00

A touch of rain and sunshine made the flowers grow Into a lovely smile that's blooming And it's so clear to me that you're a dream come true Stevie Wonder is pretty good. I don't think he's quite the genius everyone works him up to be, as he has a lot of output. He has put a lot of song to tape. And while some of it is fantastic ("Sir Duke" for example), a lot of it is just boring, or worse,

rissernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-64649179857819901272010-05-19T00:01:00.000-04:002010-05-19T09:06:32.465-04:00

Listen to song #98 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-30244327969110622112010-05-18T00:03:00.001-04:002010-05-18T11:03:41.915-04:00

Peter Gabriel left Genesis in 1975, leaving Phil Collins to captain the ship. As time went by, even with Phil embarking on a solo career in 1981 (not to mention Mike + the Mechanics stepping out in '85), he still managed to keep the band together, selling albums and getting them into the charts. They released their self-titled album in '83, right as MTV was really catching on. "Mama" is an

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-33030398114428852122010-05-18T00:01:00.001-04:002010-05-18T11:03:36.312-04:00

Listen to song #97 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-8231267834265602762010-05-17T00:03:00.007-04:002010-05-17T17:40:39.530-04:00

Back before the Red Hot Chili Peppers lost their cojones under the bridge, they were a pretty fierce funk-punk alternative radio standard.  When Mother's Milk came out in 1989, it was still two years before Nirvana would shatter the Billboard charts (thanks to SoundScan) and bring hard rock back into vogue as a potential revenue stream.  At the time I was just discovering the college radio scene

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-69011337513499486462010-05-17T00:01:00.004-04:002010-05-17T17:40:25.035-04:00

Listen to song #96 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-42293387558052016472010-05-15T00:01:00.000-04:002010-05-15T00:01:01.979-04:00

Well, the blog is coming up on a century of posts, with the big 100 looming just around the corner.  In order to celebrate, I thought I'd open up the floor to you all, my faithful readers, and let you choose a few new tracks to post.  I'm always open to specific suggestions, of bands or tracks, but I thought to celebrate the centennial I'd like to ask you all, of the 100 previous posts, were

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-26380018072021300322010-05-14T00:03:00.000-04:002010-05-14T00:03:00.668-04:00

Heh. Bubble Puppy. Bubble Puppy hails from the great state of Texas, home to such rock legends as ZZ Top and The 13th Floor Elevators. In 1969 they committed "Hot Smoke & Sassafras" to vinyl and managed to score a Top 20 pop hit with it. They followed it up with an album that failed to go anywhere and promptly folded. But, aside from the obvious appeal of the name of both band and song, the

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-73531534334735363732010-05-14T00:01:00.000-04:002010-05-14T00:01:01.785-04:00

Listen to song #95 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-76795153481191565472010-05-13T00:03:00.000-04:002010-05-13T10:33:30.651-04:00

Four Tet is Kieran Hebdan, an electronic music artist who crafts ambient-feeling abstracts by melding basic beats with low-key instruments and concrete sounds, prefering to lace his tunes with acoustic guitar and clacking computer keyboards rather than bombastic synths. His works, at least on his early albums, are very relaxed but they refuse to fade into the background. "Twenty Three" is off

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-48745438073980110142010-05-13T00:01:00.000-04:002010-05-13T10:32:38.270-04:00

Listen to song #94 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-1494164253895885762010-05-12T00:03:00.000-04:002010-05-12T00:03:00.840-04:00

Philippe Uminski is a French artist who I don't know much about.  There's nothing in Wikipedia to help me out and precious little on his last.fm page.  But that's okay.  We're really here to talk about his cover of Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". Considering that the awesomeness of the original lies primarily in its jazzed up funk based on Edwin Birdsong's killer riff and use of

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-25240658972002012712010-05-12T00:01:00.002-04:002010-05-12T00:01:02.921-04:00

Listen to song #93 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-89155298965039946422010-05-11T00:03:00.000-04:002010-05-11T19:41:21.097-04:00

Okay, now, if you've been paying attention, you should recognize this tune. That's because Daft Punk sampled it for their awesome "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". Edwin Birdsong was a minor player in the 70's funk field with his song "Rapper Dapper Snapper" that's also been sampled a bit. The song is a loping funk piece built on a descending hook crafted with bubbling late-70's analog

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-27146141332704502252010-05-11T00:01:00.000-04:002010-05-11T20:09:44.606-04:00

Listen to song #92 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-48063462544696957712010-05-10T00:03:00.002-04:002010-05-10T00:03:00.262-04:00

So, if you listened to the radio at all in 2007, you heard Kanye West's smash "Stronger". It was a decent rap over a killer vocoder-driven vocal track shouting "harder, better, faster, stronger". "How cool! What a genius!" you probably thought to yourself, at least if you're as square as I am. Well, he is a genius, but mostly a genius at picking out cool but obscure samples. "Harder, Better,

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-5599197509612398972010-05-10T00:01:00.001-04:002010-05-10T00:01:00.431-04:00

Listen to song #91 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-19709484704414012252010-05-07T00:03:00.000-04:002010-05-07T00:03:00.940-04:00

The problem with John Gregory, aside from his having two first names, is that there are a lot of them out there. There are all sorts of John Gregorys and a bunch of them are musicians. But the John Gregory I'm talking about is the British composer and arranger from the 60's and 70's who also recorded albums under the pseudonym "Chaquito". And man, could this guy arrange the heck out of a tune.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-53168828475391831752010-05-07T00:01:00.001-04:002010-05-07T00:01:01.814-04:00

Listen to song #90 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-1550035905303895052010-05-06T11:03:00.000-04:002010-05-06T11:03:00.057-04:00

Well, that about raps up the mashups. There were a couple of others I was interested in posting, but I think you'll have to wait for those. There was one I wanted to post, but it is 20MB large, so I'm not going to do it. But I'll point you to it, if you're interested. It's an interesting take on a mash by Wax Audio, in that he took as a base a Miles Davis jam from the 70's and layered over it

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-47499182639992267372010-05-06T00:03:00.016-04:002010-05-06T00:03:00.760-04:00

Okay, my final selection was chosen to reflect one other trend in mashups: the rock remix. There is a sort of subgenre of the mashup that consists of creating a dancefloor remix of a rock song. Often these are miserable, but sometimes they are awesome. I had a few to choose from, but ultimately chose Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher" for a couple of reasons. First, the original is kinda funky and

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-28229201811118213062010-05-06T00:01:00.002-04:002010-05-06T00:01:00.343-04:00

Listen to song #89 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-83714983702096236572010-05-05T00:03:00.001-04:002010-05-05T00:03:00.200-04:00

Here's another rock on rock mash.  Once again someone has taken a Beatles original and mashed it against another tune with an edge, showing how hard the Beatles could have rocked had they really, really wanted to ("Helter Skelter" not withstanding). Team9 careens Paul's dour classic "Eleanor Rigby" off Queens of the Stone Age's hard rocker "In My Head", almost totally stripping out the dainty

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-943871846913841712010-05-05T00:01:00.001-04:002010-05-05T00:01:02.176-04:00

Listen to song #88 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-46833401686491665792010-05-04T00:03:00.000-04:002010-05-04T00:03:00.063-04:00

I'm not a big Radiohead fan, so I'm not real familiar with this tune.  I am a big Timbaland fan, although he's kind of played out lately, but I'm not familiar with the instrumental (Justin Timberlake's "My Love") used here either.  In any case, like many good mashups, I think this is a fortuitous juxtaposition by someone with a good ear. The Radiohead tune is typical long-winded keening from

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-88973610386958466302010-05-04T00:01:00.002-04:002010-05-04T00:01:01.766-04:00

Listen to song #87 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-84734272240734328772010-05-03T00:03:00.002-04:002010-05-03T00:03:00.741-04:00

So, I thought I would ride out a week's worth of mashes then bring the standard stuff back. The thing is, I'm still on vacation and there are a couple of mashes I still want to let you know about. So you'll have to stick with it for a little while longer. Here's another example of taking a different route than the "drop a rap over a track" type mash. Martinn Bootleg takes Madonna's retro-pop

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-58803441294834911672010-05-03T00:01:00.002-04:002010-05-03T00:01:00.722-04:00

Listen to song #86 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-639205830458214562010-04-30T00:03:00.000-04:002010-04-30T00:03:00.297-04:00

Let's close the week with what seems like a totally obvious mash: take Jay-Z's classic "99 Problems" and mix it with Nena's classic "99 Red Balloons". Har-de-har, we all get the joke. Except, man, I don't know how he did it, but the tune totally works. Listen to the musical progression underneath the rap. As Shawn spits the verses, the samples underneath build tension, adding a little bit of

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-11784268576303748452010-04-30T00:01:00.002-04:002010-04-30T00:01:01.879-04:00

Listen to song #85 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-61728323381772688372010-04-29T00:03:00.001-04:002010-04-29T00:03:00.236-04:00

As I mentioned yesterday, a really good mashup goes farther than slapping the vocals over the top of an instrumental track. And like most art, or any idea for that matter, for every thousand or so half-assed attempts to slap something together, there arises one piece of brilliance that makes the rest of the crap worthwhile. Phil Retrospector's brutal distortion of Marvin Gaye's classic is one

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-52630081188695277812010-04-29T00:01:00.002-04:002010-04-29T00:01:02.941-04:00

Listen to song #84 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-87522065159043362052010-04-28T00:03:00.000-04:002010-04-28T00:03:00.495-04:00

At its most basic, the mashup is slapping one song's lyrics on another song's music.  But at its most creative, the mashup is a full-on remix, taking elements of both songs and creating something truly new, unique and interesting. The Beatles have been done to death, by radio, by covers and certainly by mashups.  The most famous is probably Danger Mouse's mash of Jay-Z's The Black Album with The

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-18363519232187479342010-04-28T00:01:00.002-04:002010-04-28T00:01:02.741-04:00

Listen to song #83 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-45099646286155685392010-04-27T00:03:00.000-04:002010-04-27T00:03:00.403-04:00

Here's another of my early favorite mashes.  This one is similar to Skee-Lo's "I Wish" in that I had never heard the original before hearing the mash, so to me, the mash is 'the original'.  And frankly, it's much better than the original. Popular-culture-wise, there's all sorts of things going on.  First, there's David Byrne singing vocals on a track by some band called X-Press 2. Then, Go Home

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-37504856779347209642010-04-27T00:01:00.004-04:002010-04-27T00:01:02.810-04:00

Listen to song #82 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-19022793484702484862010-04-26T00:03:00.000-04:002010-04-26T00:03:00.161-04:00

This first mashup is the one that started it all out for me.  It's a version of a rap song by Skee-Lo, which itself is pretty funny in that it's self-deprecating, the complete opposite of every other rap song out there.  This is placed over the top of some creative resampling of Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" and "Cannonball" by The Breeders.  Both songs fit the original rap pretty well, which I

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-82952103156282034722010-04-26T00:01:00.001-04:002010-04-26T00:01:00.355-04:00

Listen to song #81 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-24993415291407004822010-04-25T00:03:00.006-04:002010-04-25T00:03:00.145-04:00

I'm going on vacation, but hopefully, if I set this up right, the flow of tunes will remain uninterrupted.  All the posts are ready and set to go and are scheduled to automatically post themselves at the appropriate times. I'm going to use this next week or so to explore the concept of the "mashup". Most of these are curiosities, but occasionally one shows up that is really special, and I will

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-21767002622408765802010-04-23T00:03:00.002-04:002010-04-23T11:11:20.290-04:00

Don't know much about White Rabbits except I like them.  I think I first heard them when I had satellite radio and used to tune into the 'indie' channel.  They've got a pretty unique sound, a typical upbeat pop band but with the added glory of a honky-tonk piano.  The songs are well-crafted with solid hooks which makes for a strong debut release. "While We Go Dancing" takes a two-step pop rhythm

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-34063539114101111992010-04-23T00:01:00.001-04:002010-04-23T00:01:01.107-04:00

Listen to song #80 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-47435319799886722482010-04-22T00:03:00.001-04:002010-04-22T09:17:49.165-04:00

I don't have much to say about the Eagles. I mean, they're the fucking Eagles for god's sake. What could I say that hasn't been written already? Except that one of the functions of this blog is to introduce you to interesting music you probably haven't heard before, and this song almost certainly falls into this category (unless you're a huge Eagles fan). It is a very strange song. It sounds

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-58459444074849786552010-04-22T00:01:00.005-04:002010-04-22T09:27:21.121-04:00

Listen to song #79 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-69780402420237476612010-04-21T00:03:00.000-04:002010-04-21T08:22:20.796-04:00

I first heard of Back Door while researching a sample from a Beastie Boys record. They had a song called "Stand Together" on their 1992 LP, Check Your Head, that sampled a Back Door track called "Slivadiv". If you know the song you'd instantly recognize the crazed honking sax riff they borrowed. Anyway, we tracked the record down in the hallowed annals of WRUW and gave it a listen. I thought

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-80684705271473002112010-04-21T00:01:00.000-04:002010-04-21T08:22:55.851-04:00

Listen to song #78 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-63061224044820729242010-04-20T00:03:00.000-04:002010-04-20T08:43:48.678-04:00

This is another psychedelic folk number, like Jake Holmes, Tim Buckley or American Gypsy.  John Martyn was a British singer who was a pioneer in the folk-rock and blues-rock traditions developing across the pond in the late 60's.  Apparently he was pretty good friends with Nick Drake, another psychedelic folker who you might see pop up in these pages in the next year. John began working with a

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-86206278610409636602010-04-20T00:01:00.001-04:002010-04-20T09:21:31.388-04:00

Listen to song #77 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-12285565742302988882010-04-19T00:03:00.000-04:002010-04-19T12:42:36.769-04:00

I like Lesley Gore. If you didn't grow up with her in the early 60's you probably only know her from her smash, "It's My Party", which is too bad, because she had a few other gems after that. Perhaps my favorite song by Lesley is "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows" which may be the happiest song on the planet. If you can't smile when that song is on, you have no soul. "Off and Running" is a

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-32101268702866257072010-04-19T00:01:00.000-04:002010-04-19T12:38:15.871-04:00

Listen to song #76 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-17214154771786238532010-04-16T00:03:00.000-04:002010-04-16T11:03:00.349-04:00

Jack Peñate's music is high-energy upbeat Britpop, simple, cheerful and glorious. His 2007 release, Matinée, is one of my favorite releases of all time, chock full of bouncy summer licks, aching to be sung on a sunny day with the windows rolled down. Think "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves, and you'll have a good idea of the type of feel-good pop I'm talking about. Contrary to

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-18582022247758827722010-04-16T00:01:00.002-04:002010-04-16T11:08:35.365-04:00

Listen to song #75 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-67679555053204717152010-04-15T00:03:00.000-04:002010-04-15T13:18:46.982-04:00

The Last Shadow Puppets is a side project of Arctic Monkeys' front man Alex Turner and Miles Kane of The Rascals. It's a bit of a departure from the pop-punk stylings of the Monkeys, concentrating instead on the bombastic orchestral pop of the late 60's, early 70's, like Shirley Bassey, Scott Walker and early David Bowie. It's a great album, yet another in a long line of fantastic albums from

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-88346415372263409442010-04-15T00:01:00.000-04:002010-04-15T13:19:25.333-04:00

Listen to song #74 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-67462634748974024882010-04-14T00:03:00.002-04:002010-04-14T09:41:02.131-04:00

"And at his funeral all his friends stood around looking sad. But they were really thinking of all the ham and cheese sandwiches in the next room." Laurie Anderson is awesome. Well, at least until the mid 80's. I think she kind of lost her edge and went a little too poppy. You know, that thing where one of your favorite artists comprises their sound enough that it totally sucks for their long

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-52520082755082006752010-04-14T00:01:00.000-04:002010-04-14T09:40:38.260-04:00

Listen to song #73 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-29705910406738912112010-04-13T00:03:00.004-04:002010-05-01T10:58:46.963-04:00

Zap Mama was a five woman a cappella group, formed by a ex-African living in Belgium.  Their sound is heavily influenced by the rhythms of Africa, especially the pygmy tribes, as well as European pop song.  The rhythms they employ are intense, sometimes complex, and the harmonies are gorgeous.  The group sings in English, French and occasionally an African language, though I have no idea which

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-14465971995193496412010-04-13T00:01:00.000-04:002010-04-13T11:09:49.965-04:00

Listen to song #72 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-65857962850752851242010-04-12T00:03:00.001-04:002010-04-12T12:37:24.395-04:00

The Police used to rock. I mean, a really, really long time ago, back when Sting was wearing black and yellow football shirts, back before Andy Summers joined the band, back in 1977*. But they really did rock. Their first single "Fall Out" is a nifty little hard rock effort, though I'd say it owes more to the snarling garage rock aesthetic of the late 60's. The flip side of the single is the

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-56943156129536219052010-04-12T00:01:00.000-04:002010-04-12T12:36:28.525-04:00

Listen to song #71 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-55817340914903006582010-04-09T00:03:00.000-04:002010-04-09T00:03:00.138-04:00

You probably know who Steely Dan is. They're all over the FM dial, from the oldies stations to classic rock.  They've had a string of radio friendly hits like "Black Friday", "Peg", "Deacon Blues", "Hey Nineteen" and the awesome "Kid Charlemagne" One thing I really like about Don and Walter is that they sculpt this production-perfect music, somewhere between 70's schlock and smooth jazz, which

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-77402854297991348112010-04-09T00:01:00.001-04:002010-04-09T00:01:00.568-04:00

Listen to song #70 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-3583643914993298302010-04-08T00:03:00.000-04:002010-04-08T09:51:47.848-04:00

So, we talked about the Melvins a couple of weeks ago and how they drafted the entire band Big Business into their fold. This happened in 2006, I believe, and here we have a track from Big Business from 2007. You can hear the similarities. In fact, if you had told me this was the new Melvins release, I probably would have believed you. They've got the same metal-influenced, bottom-heavy, hard

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-8095614489577419072010-04-08T00:01:00.001-04:002010-04-08T09:51:16.362-04:00

Listen to song #69 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-54707789788039412412010-04-07T00:03:00.001-04:002010-04-07T08:55:24.199-04:00

Okay, here's a secret. With all the crazy, wild and fun music I listen to, one of my top ten favorite albums of all time, coming in just under Paul Simon's Graceland which I think at this point takes top honors, is Tears for Fears' Songs from the Big Chair. You've already heard the two most popular songs from the album, "Shout" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World". "Shout" used to get on my

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-18086037140669949532010-04-07T00:01:00.000-04:002010-04-07T08:56:16.442-04:00

Listen to song #68 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-38080213277478205292010-04-06T00:01:00.000-04:002010-04-06T00:01:00.534-04:00

Listen to song #67 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-39768890305512757262010-04-05T00:03:00.000-04:002010-04-05T11:57:55.459-04:00

Does It Offend You, Yeah? is a band with some issues. First of all, their name is crazy. It's got five words, two pieces of punctuation, and is a complete sentence on its own. This means it's very difficult, up to the point of embarrassment, to discuss the band with anyone who doesn't already know about them, which is pretty much everyone I've ever met. Second, they can't seem to decide what

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-24335061089329560302010-04-05T00:01:00.000-04:002010-04-05T11:57:28.550-04:00

Listen to song #66 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-46585570285948833662010-04-02T00:03:00.000-04:002010-04-02T00:03:00.522-04:00

Uzeda is a heavy proggish rock band, along the lines of Helmet, Dazzling Killmen or Jesus Lizard.  Some call it 'math rock' which is probably appropriate, as it's concerned with rhythms, particularly non-standard ones.  Some call it 'post rock' which totally doesn't make sense, because that implies that they aren't rock, which implies that they don't rock, which makes no sense at all, because

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-42467925331032832122010-04-02T00:01:00.000-04:002010-04-02T00:01:01.571-04:00

Listen to song #65 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-65342937714887630012010-04-01T00:03:00.003-04:002010-04-01T10:59:59.337-04:00

"You know who's in New York?  Remember that guy... J- John somebody?"  Ahhh, a sentence that is, quite literally thanks to Scott Johnson, music to my ears.  I first ran across this record in the hallowed halls of WRUW-FM Cleveland where I did an electro-acoustic and experimental radio show for seven years or so.  John Somebody, on Nonesuch Records I think, was a staple of that show.  I actually

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-35529498595619580532010-04-01T00:01:00.000-04:002010-04-01T10:56:30.666-04:00

Listen to song #64 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-21366447711440545772010-03-31T00:03:00.004-04:002010-05-01T11:04:57.894-04:00

Fantastic Plastic Machine is the stage name for Tomoyuki Tanaka, a Japanese musician and DJ, who put together a series of critically acclaimed albums in the late 90's and early 2000's. He is one of the progenitors of the Shibuya-kei movement, which is sort of an electronic take on easy listening. I believe Calin is the singer, but I could find nothing about her. The tune kicks off with a scat

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-28088601083314123782010-03-31T00:01:00.001-04:002010-03-31T00:01:02.745-04:00

Listen to song #63 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-77131208382822082472010-03-30T00:03:00.006-04:002010-03-30T00:03:00.636-04:00

This song made a small dent in the pop charts in 2000. I can't remember if I ever even heard it on the radio though, as the version I have clocks in at a hefty seven minutes plus. Maybe I heard it on MTV, cuz I think he had that video where he's naked from the waist up, and his pants are very, very low. He might have even had to shave. If you know what I mean. But, regardless of Michael's

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-61495349320904365402010-03-30T00:01:00.000-04:002010-03-30T00:01:00.384-04:00

Listen to song #62 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-26539670877142483602010-03-29T00:03:00.001-04:002010-03-29T10:06:18.852-04:00

I'm trying to decide if 2008 was a really great year for music, or if I was just paying more attention.  It's hard to say.  Regardless, here's another great band with a great release in 2008. Los Campesinos! is a band from Wales that I think the hip kids would call 'indie'.  They remind of a more pop-oriented Mae Shi.  I know that doesn't mean much to you, as you've probably never heard of the

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-89421663040121940892010-03-29T00:01:00.001-04:002010-03-29T10:11:07.338-04:00

Listen to song #61 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-3372503918848393872010-03-26T00:03:00.001-04:002010-03-26T00:03:00.737-04:00

Sparks is a bizarre band, influenced by both Gilbert and Sullivan style operetta and the glam rock of Gary Glitter and Cheap Trick. The music is varied, expressive and soaring, while remaining firmly grounded in the rock oeuvre, and their wordplay is second-to-none, clever and ironic, with a terrific sense of rhythm. "Here in Heaven" is a bombastic rocker with a sense of humor.  The song

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-2170021564263082452010-03-26T00:01:00.001-04:002010-03-26T00:01:01.832-04:00

Listen to song #60 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-76211451688169383542010-03-25T00:03:00.001-04:002010-03-25T12:16:11.315-04:00

Back in 2000, I had been married for a few years, had four kids, was working for a stupid-ass contractor at an insurance company, and I just couldn't get it. The stress was high, my job sucked, my marriage was rocky and I was going through a bit of an early mid-life crisis. Worse, from the outside, it looked like everything was going right. It really wasn't that bad. Nobody died, no floods,

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-51508770204526948352010-03-25T00:01:00.001-04:002010-03-25T12:19:05.857-04:00

Listen to song #59 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-3319956059754146182010-03-24T00:03:00.000-04:002010-03-24T00:03:00.486-04:00

I love the Melvins. They are one of my favorite bands, and, unlike many of my other favorite bands, they've managed to both stay together and release good quality material consistently for over twenty years. While their older stuff is classic, the stuff from their newest phase, starting with 2002's Hostile Ambient Takeover on Ipecac, is just as awesome. Somewhere along the way, (2006, if

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-67894823030852147382010-03-24T00:01:00.001-04:002010-03-24T00:01:01.404-04:00

Listen to song #58 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-72956418828250442512010-03-23T00:03:00.000-04:002010-03-23T00:03:00.408-04:00

Lassigue Bendthaus is one of the many many nom de plume's for Uwe Schmidt (also know as Atom Heart and Señor Coconut), a German musician who dabbles primarily in electronic music. In the mid-90's he developed his own software that performs "vocal simulation based on vocal resynthesis generated from original vocal raw material". So, what I take from that is, the software samples his vocals,

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-59608031157926660172010-03-23T00:01:00.004-04:002010-03-23T00:01:01.742-04:00

Listen to song #57 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-74248320368103765942010-03-22T00:03:00.000-04:002010-03-22T00:03:00.123-04:00

I was first introduced to the Funk Factory via the Beastie Boys' "Car Thief" (from their 1989 opus Paul's Boutique) which was built almost entirely on top of samples from this jazz-funk masterpiece. "Rien Ne Va Plus" is a slow burn of a funk song, scored with delicious analog synths, bass, chicken scratch guitar and rock drums.  The synthesizers bubble and flutter throughout the song, wrapping

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-75142004965460719132010-03-22T00:01:00.000-04:002010-03-22T00:01:01.842-04:00

Listen to song #56 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-78558710632115111392010-03-19T00:03:00.000-04:002010-03-19T00:03:00.279-04:00

Let's end the week on a quieter note. "Night Game" is an ethereal song from Paul Simon, a ghost tale of sorts, about a pitcher who dies in the middle of a ball game. Or maybe it's about war. I think there's an allegory in there somewhere, since the body count goes from two to three, but I can't exactly figure out what it is. So, like any good poetry, apply where needed. It's a beautiful

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-29361564453014267692010-03-19T00:01:00.001-04:002010-03-19T00:01:00.165-04:00

Listen to song #55 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-6913941333563025732010-03-18T00:03:00.000-04:002010-03-18T10:29:09.468-04:00

There's not much to say about Hot Chip that hasn't been written by someone else. They are clearly indie music media darlings, stars of the "genre", along with the likes of MGMT, Animal Collective, Bon Iver or Bright Eyes (none of which I particularly like, oddly enough). That being said, I'll just say they are an eclectic, primarily electronic, rock band. "Out At the Pictures", from their 2008

rissernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-68558515394988673112010-03-18T00:01:00.000-04:002010-03-18T10:30:00.350-04:00

Listen to song #54 by clicking or right-clicking this link.

rissernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761005.post-50688392380557768732010-03-17T00:03:00.006-04:002010-03-17T09:20:59.637-04:00

I really like Rodrigo y Gabriela.  First of all, I really dig acoustic guitar, especially in twos and threes.  I like the fact that they are taking the acoustic guitar and are expanding its capabilities, bringing both their native Mexican and metal influences to their duo. They strum and thump with the energy of a metal band, but groove and sway with latin soul.  I like them because in interviews

rissernoreply@blogger.com0