Little Sea Horse
Non-parents may want to move on to the next post, ’cause this one’s a little ch-ch-cheesy.
I’ll make it short & sweet – my four year old daughter attended her first day of kindergarten today. I’m a proud papa, and I’m sort of blown away that I have a child who is now going to school. Seasoned parents are nodding their heads, while at the same time shaking them in a sort of “you have nooo idea what you have in store for you” way. It just keeps getting more and more interesting, folks, and I’m just underway…
Well, a couple of weeks ago, my girl had a sort of “graduation” ceremony at her YMCA preschool. Her class was referred to as the Sea Horses. As the Sea Horses shuffled through in a controlled-chaos single file to receive their cute little certificates, with their cute little caps on, I had this Bruce Cockburn song going through my head. It comes from a brilliant 1976 album called In the Falling Dark.
I count this and Dancing in the Dragon’s Jaw as two of my all time favorites. They soothe and calm me, and bring me to a good place when things seem a little jagged and confused.
The lyrics merit an appearance here (bolded by me):
Little seahorse
Swimming in a primal sea
Heartbeat like a
Leaf quaking in the breeze
I feel magic as coyote
In the middle of the moon-wild nightIn the forge-fire time
Your mother glowed so bright
You were like a
Voice calling in the night
And I’m watching the curtain
Rising on a whole new set of dreamsThe world is waiting
Like a Lake Superior gale
A locomotive
Racing along the rail.
It’ll sweep you away
But you know that you’re never aloneLittle seahorse
Floating on a primal tide
Quickening like a
Spark in a haystack side
I already love you
And I don’t even know who you areNice eh? It’s enough to make a tough dad get a tad misty eyed. And that’s okay. Congrats kiddo – I have no earthly idea how I ever got along without you.
Bruce Cockburn – Little Sea Horse
Buy In the Falling Dark
Hawaii Mud Bombers: Swedish Surf Rock!
They’re the Hawaii Mud Bombers. They’re from Sweden. And they r-r-rraawwk. I am telling you. Swedish surf rock! They impressed Little Steven so much that he signed them to his Wicked Cool Records label. They released Mondo Primo in the U.S. last summer, but being that I just discovered it, the album quickly moves to the forefront of my Summer of 2008 soundtrack, and my “get off my ass and run” music.
Hawaii Mud Bombers are made up of:
- Hans Jörnlind, Guitars and vocals
- Petter Godske, Vocals and guitars
- Mats Carlborg, Drums
- Mattias Utterström, Bass
Quality tunes. Make Mongo happy.
Hawaii Mud Bombers – MTV
Hear a handful of tracks from the album streaming on their web site in GREAT quality, may I add. Seriously. Go there, let it play, and go about your web surfing. You won’t be sorry. It will urge many of you to, indeed….
BUY Mondo Primo!!
More mp3’s from the band here.
MIT ist aus Deutschland
Did I get that right?
MIT! No, not the Mass. Institute of Technology or our favorite Mormon former Mass. governor (*cough* *wheeze*), but a trio of electro-heads from Cologne, Germany (my ancestral homeland, by the way).
I don’t listen to a whole lot from the realm of dance/trance/electronic/techno (besides Groove Salad when I’m reading), but I do enjoy it when I hear it.
Something about these “Rauch” versions appealed to me when they hit my inbox. I like the vibe. Especially the Luke Abbott remix.
Ich hoffe es gefällt euch (courtesy of Google Translate, I hope I ‘m not saying “I wear a crotchless leopard skin thong.” Not that there’s anything wrong with that.)
MIT – Rauch (mp3)
Rauch (Luke Abbott Remix) [mp3]
Rauch (Coma Remix) [mp3]
MIT’s Official Site | MySpace
→ BUY MIT’s debut album, Coda.
Tjader’s Cuban Fantasy
Here’s some mokin’ hot latin jazz from a virtuoso of the vibes, Cal Tjader. I wasn’t familiar with Tjader until I heard his live Cuban Fantasy album sometime last year, but the man was a vital component of the Bay Area jazz scene in the 50’s and 60’s, starting out in the Dave Brubeck Octet.
Hooking up with George Shearing’s popular quintet in the early 50’s, coupled with the mambo craze of that time, turned Tjader on to the Latin jazz sound, which he would perform straight through to his death in 1982. Carlos Santana counts Tjader as one of his biggest influences.
I’m no jazz aficionado, but this album, like I said, smokes. Here’s a hot one…
Cal Tjader – Guachi Guara
Cal Tjader’s AllMusic profile.
Bob Dylan’s New Bootlegs, “Dreamin’ of You”
Dylan fans, mark October 7th on your music calendar. The latest installment of Dylan’s Bootleg series will be released on that Tuesday. This one (the 8th in the series) is full of unreleased and alternate tracks from some of his greatest albums over the last couple of decades: Time Out of Mind, “Love and Theft”, Modern Times, and Oh Mercy.
A revamped Dylan web site also launches today, and they’re offering up a full mp3 of one of the unreleased songs: “Dreamin’ of You”. It was produced by the great Daniel Lanois for 1997’s Time Out of Mind (a personal favorite).
Be sure to check out the Dylan Geo section, a super groovy interactive tool that lets you click around the globe to see where and when Dylan has played throughout the years.
Bob Dylan – Dreamin of You
→ Go to BobDylan.com to download the full mp3.
See the track listing for the 3-cd Tell Tale Signs after the jump…
New Wendy & Lisa: Balloon
Prince may have dropped Wendy & Lisa from the band back in the 80’s, but the ladies certainly never hung it up and called it a day. They’ve released a number of well received albums over the years, and contributed to film and television scores (e.g. Heroes).
Late this week, Wendy & Lisa announced a new album, White Flags of Winter Chimneys. Along with the news comes the lead track available for download on their website and their MySpace. The song is called “Balloon”, an atmospheric, gently haunting tune. Check out the stream here, then go over to W&L’s place to download.
Wendy & Lisa – “Balloon”
Wendy & Lisa Links: Official Site | MySpace
Public Enemy at Pitchfork’s Festival
In the annals of classic hip-hop, last week’s Public Enemy show at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago has to go down in the books as Historic.
Chuck D., Flava Flav and the boys performed their classic, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, in its entirety.
Here’s “Rebel Without a Pause”…
I saw P.E. perform “Rebel” 20 years ago at a concert in Milwaukee with LL Cool J and Whodini (and..?) – long before the hipsters grabbed hold of “It Takes a Nation…” Aren’t I awesome?
Mellencamps’ My Sweet Love Video
Here’s the artist formerly known as Johnny Cougar’s new video for “My Sweet Love”.
How does it make you feel? I could do without the large subtitles, and I’m sure John’s wife would like to know who that brunette is with which he’s traipsing about town.But a cool vid to a great tune.
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/1305674 w=400&h=225]
My Sweet Love (official) from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.Missed the Boat!
Hearing a song like this makes me think I should own a lot more Modest Mouse. “Missed the Boat” is just a great song. And that’s James Mercer from the Shins providing the background vocals.
I’d post the Mp3, but this is Sony/BMG, and it’s Modest Mouse’s latest album. The internet police suspended my site a few weeks back, so I give you the YouTube video. Paranoid? A tad.
Sorry co-workers – our evil corporate web site blocker will ensure we don’t enjoy this quality tune from our office chairs.
Vid…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8tOpdH8qC0 336 278]And hear the full track streamin’ on Last.fm.
In Appreciation of Tom Petty’s Hard Promises
Not since my little spiel about side two of Tattoo You have I delved into my all-time favorite albums. Tom Petty has a wealth of amazing albums on his resume, and though Full Moon Fever almost takes top billing, I have to rank 1981’s Hard Promises as my favorite. It’s all about time and place and memories.
When this album came out in May of 1981, I was a 10-year-old kid, and had just discovered the beauty of the record store. Hard Promises and ZZ Top’s El Loco were the first two albums I remember buying on my own (with good ol’ Mom’s money, of course). Over the course of the summer of 1981, this album was played from start to finish in my room I don’t know how many times, and every song seeped into my impressionable musical vault.
“The Waiting” was the album’s biggest hit, reaching #1 on the new Billboard Rock Charts, and #19 on the Hot 100 Singles chart. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The album has the first Stevie Nicks/ Petty duet, “Insider”, the killer slow funky shuffle of “Nightwatchman”, the vivid storytelling of “Something Big”, and the list goes on.
Here’s how the album panned out…
Side one
- “The Waiting” (Tom Petty) – 3:58
- “A Woman in Love (It’s Not Me)” (Petty, Mike Campbell) – 4:22
- “Nightwatchman” (Petty, Campbell) – 3:59
- “Something Big” (Petty) – 4:44
- “Kings Road” (Petty) – 3:27
Side two
- “Letting You Go” (Petty) – 3:24
- “A Thing About You” (Petty) – 3:33
- “Insider” (Petty) – 4:23
- “The Criminal Kind” (Petty) – 4:00
- “You Can Still Change Your Mind” (Petty, Campbell) – 4:15
I remember reading an issue of Rolling Stone over the summer that featured Tom on the cover. It was on an airplane, we were off to vacation somewhere. In the article, Petty was describing his battle with MCA Records to keep the price at $8.98, rather than the $9.98 that MCA preferred (Steely Dan’s Gaucho and the Xanadu soundtrack had been the first two to be bumped up to the higher price). Petty went as far as to threaten MCA with naming the album Eight Ninety Eight, and after some wrangling, MCA relented and Petty got this wish. On the plane, I read the interview, and remember reading some F bombs, and feeling like I was getting away with something as my parents sat next to me. Rock n’ Roll!!
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – A Woman in Love (It’s Not Me)
Buy Hard Promises.
“Insider” video…
