• Miscellaneous

    Sunday Mini-Ick-Mix-Ness

    A trip through a variety of tunes today…
    To commemorate Paris Hilton’s first trip to the slammer, we start off with …

    Steve Earle and the V-RoysIn the Jailhouse Now (mp3) – from Songs of Jimmie Rodgers: A Tribute

    One of those songs that is perpetually in my head. “Sunday night and it’s half past nine…”

    Bruce CockburnNorthern Lights (mp3) – from Dancing in the Dragon’s Jaws

    Heard this on the radio a few days ago for the first time in years. Excellent tune, great lyrics… it’s Cracker…

    CrackerEurotrash Girl (mp3) – from Greatest Hits Redux

    Upon hearing this song for the first time, my three year old daughter proclaimed: “This song scares me daddy”. Daddy turned it off. Another Italian film soundtrack that I heard on David Johansen’s Mansion of Fun.

    Franco Ferrara & Goffredo PetrassiPer Cercare Consolazione (mp3) – from Cronaca Familiare (Score)

    A new tune from Sri Lankan hip hop lovin’ seductress M.I.A.

    M.I.A.Hit That (mp3) – unreleased, see her wacked out MySpace page

    An old school joint from Masta Ace…

    Masta AceBorn to Roll (mp3) – from Sittin’ on Chrome

    To finish it off, a beautiful tune by da Cope….

    Citizen CopeSideways (mp3) – from The Clarence Greenwood Recordings

  • Soul,  World

    My Singing Soul

    Soel - Memento

    Soel is Pascal Ohse, a Paris born and bred trumpeter and composer who’s a member of popular European group St. Germain. Memento is his first solo effort, where he pays homage to the American R&B, classic soul and jazz that he digs so immensely. What he have in this tune is a very obvious tribute to the Barry Whites and Isaac Hayeses of the world. Soel, you rascal!

    You can preview all the tracks on his official Warner Bros. site.

    Buy Memento.

  • Hip Hop,  Miscellaneous

    Beasties News and a Cool New Site

    Beastie Boys

    Couple of cool items…

    The Mix Up: The new Beastie Boys album, The Mix Up, should be available to the masses in June, according to a recent interview between Mike D. and NME.com. The album is said to harken back to the sound of Paul’s Boutique (1989) and Check Your Head (1992), which I find to be great news (“B-Boy Bouillabaisse”, anyone?). Could be that I’m just nostalgic for that era in hip-hop, being an increasingly alienated older fart, who knows…

    I love cool song names, and this track listing has ’em…

    Be For My Name
    14th St. Break
    Suco De Tangerina
    The Gala Event
    Electric Worm
    Freaky Hijiki
    Off The Grid
    The Rat Cage
    The Melee
    Dramastically Different
    The Cousin Of Death
    The Kangaroo Rat

    Update: and then Stereogum comes out with this, completely contradicting the article above…

    “This time out the trio are sticking solely to their instruments”

    “Mike D told P4K that it’ll be nothing like The In Sounds From Way Out!, instead drawing on the likes of PiL, the Killing Joke, the Slits, and Gang Of Four for inspiration.”

    critical metrics

    Critical Metrics: A reader buddy of mine sent along a cool article from the Wall Street Journal profiling Critical Metrics, a brand new music aggregator site that ranks songs based on recent reviews in magazines, web sites, and yes, blogs. It’s sort of similar to Elbo and the Hype Machine, but a different look and feel. Quite cool. Go take a look. We’ll see how long it takes for Ickmusic to be added to their “Recommendation Sources” section.

  • Laid Back

    Simple Twist of Fate, Jerry-Style

    Jerry Garcia Band

    Regardless of your general palate for the Grateful Dead, it’s pretty hard to listen to this version of the Bob Dylan-penned “Simple Twist of Fate” and not be moved. Whether it’s Garcia’s pleading and perfect vocal, or his crisp and cascading guitar solos, this performance is simply gorgeous.

    The Jerry Garcia Band was Jerry’s opportunity to let loose and play some of his favorite music outside of the Dead “scene”, from Dylan to Motown to gospel. And in my opinion, it got no better than this…

    Jerry Garcia BandSimple Twist of Fate (mp3)

    Buy: Jerry Garcia Band