7/20/2009

So close to being trashed but we were saved and suggested.

Most of the time if I hear a song I don't like I will delete right off the bat. I always feel kind of bad when I do that because that one song could be the type that grows on you with time. Such as the case with Too Much Time by John Vanderslice. When I first introduced this song to my earholes I listened to it about twice and I decided it wasn't interesting. It was sort of depressing and I really didn't like the singers voice. So it went in the round file with the rest of the duds. A few days went by and one day while I was doing dishes the chorus popped into my head and I somehow remembered the words to most of the song. I instantly decided to give it another chance and I am glad I did. It is quickly becoming a major contender in my sad songs playlist. It's nothing special musically or lyrically. To be honest I don't know why I like it so much, but I do.
John Vanderslice - Too Much Time

Whenever I hear the name Florence And The Machine I think about Flo the redhead spokesperson in the Progressive Insurance commercials. Then when I think of the title "Cosmic Love" I instantly think of the 60's. Which seems to work nice because Florence Mary Leontine Welch has a voice that invokes the women singers like Janis Joplin and Grace Slick. I have been really digging this tune lately. It wasn't one that I thought I would be keeping around very long either but I love the drums and you can't deny that powerful voice. You can tell she has soul and it's poring out of every inch or her. If you like this tune I suggest checking out a few tracks from Bat For Lashes as well, I'm not a huge fan, but I know a lot of reliable music blogs are.
Florence And The Machine - Cosmic Love

To round up this post I have one suggested band and one suggested track.
The suggested band is Matt & Kim. It was suggested to me by a good friend who has excellent taste in music. The track "Daylight" is a groovy little number that has a warm bouncy fun feel. In most other songs there are male female vocals but it's mainly Matt in this one. I chose this one in particular because it's in a Bacardi Mojito commercial. Now you can impress all your friends when the commercial comes on and look like a music dork too! YAY!


Matt & Kim - Daylight

Last but not least is a track by the Melvins that my "BOY" told me about (he told me to holla' at yo boy! So I am!) Actually the friend I am referring to gave me the name for this blog. Anyway he usually doesn't listen to this kind of music so I thought if he likes it I'll give it a try. The song is pretty strange and yet awesome. The first listen I instantly took note of how cool the drums are in the beginning. Then I got the unexpected surprise in the middle of the song, I won't say what it is but it's great. I found some other Melvins songs but unfortunately none of the others sounded remotely listenable to me.
The Melvins - Skin Horse

7/19/2009

Free is the best

The past few day I have come across a bunch of free albums that were released online. Al of these albums should be available for you to download as well. I will post the link where you can download the albums after my two cents and a few tracks. Enjoy!

I am going to start off with my favorite underground rap group of all time Atmosphere. Slug and Ant have put out an album full of party time anthems, brilliantly clever and witty rhymes, and beats that will keep the guys heads noddin' and the girls asses shaking. If you never heard Atmosphere there is no better time than with this album to introduce yourself. If you already know about the Minneapolis "Minisnowta" based hip-hopers than you'll love this. I was sort of disappointed with When Life Hands You Lemons..., it was alright but the beats weren't as great as say Lucy Ford and it seemed to be a lot of emo and little emcee. I like to think that this album would be the punch in the face if you called Atmosphere an emo rap group. Consider me K.O.'d in the best way possible.
Atmosphere - The Things That Hate Us
Atmosphere - You Played Yourself

The next free album might not suit everybody's tastes but it's at least worth listening to a song or two just for coolness and nostalgic purposes. The album is called Da Chip! : The Music Of Daft Punk Revisited On Vintage Game Systems. Yes you read that right, Daft Punk music done in 8bit. Remember NES music, well this is exactly like it. Only better. There are some variations as far as quality go, but it's a fun listen. Especially if you like Daft Punk and know a few of their songs. It would make a great little something to listen to while doing computer related things or if you ever get tired of other video game music. Even if you hate Daft Punk and video games I would still say give a track a listen because it's unique.
Daft Punk (Da Chip!) - One More Time
Daft Punk (Da Chip!) - Veridis Quo (No Longer Available)

The other night I realized that there is one genre that I have been leaving out of this blog which is soul music. I am a huge fan of soul music. In fact the other night I searched for new soul music for about 5 hours. I found some good stuff which will be coming soon, but I came across this James Brown Regrooved album that I thought was decent. Basically it's remixes of The Godfather Of Soul. Some of the songs I think are brilliant but there are a few duds that don't keep it true and therefore loose the flavor that was Mr. Brown. Despite the few not so good tracks, thats what the next button was made for, the whole album is a fun and funky ride. so "Get on it!"
James Brown - Superbad (Regrooved by The Sly Players)
James Brown - It's A Man's Man's Man's World (Regrooved by Parker)

Last but not least is an album that from my best guess is a collaborative effort lead by Sam Barsh who has his own band (Sam Barsh Band). He is a well know modern jazz musician and has toured around the world and worked with quite a few well known artists such as Cassandra Wilson, Boyz II Men, Bobby McFerrin, The Brand New Heavies and many others. To be honest I really don't know that much about him and never heard of him until I started writing this. What I can tell you though is that the album Vosotros Presents: The Years, is a musical journey that touches on different time periods. It's got everything from blues, to soul and 80's to hip hop. It's been slowly growing on me the more I listen to it and Amazon rated it as one of the best albums of 2009 that you should know about but probably don't. Hey, download it and give it a spin, it's not like your paying for it.
Vosotros Presents: The Years - Lose My Number (feat. Jesse Palter) (No Longer Available)
Vosotros Presents: The Years - Heartbreaker (feat. John Robinson & Tiffany Paige) (No Longer Available)