I Can’t Get Behind That!
From what I know about his albums, William Shatner’s musical output could be written off as a novelty. But when I heard this Shatner / Henry Rollins spoken duet, if you will, it captured my attention. Not to mention I found myself emphatically nodding my head and agreeing with what they were saying, it speaks to my increasingly easily annoyed & cynical side. I guess I’m getting old(er).
From Has Been (2004).
More Strays
I just received the Strays Don’t Sleep self titled debut CD / DVD today in the mail, all the way from the UK. After one listen, I have one thing to say: Hey Strays! Release this baby in the U.S.!!
My site has been deluged with visitors searching for their single, “For Blue Skies”, due to it being played on One Tree Hill last week. “For Blue Skies” is available on iTunes, so go check that out.
See my previous Strays post to read more about them, or visit them at their Official Web Site or their My Space page.
Here’s one off the CD:
Strays Don’t Sleep:
April’s Smiling at Me(mp3)I found my copy of the CD off of eBay. But you can find some others here at Froogle.
One Year of IckMusic
Today marks exactly one year since my first post to IckMusic. My enthusiasm in maintaining it has stayed pretty strong throughout the year. Sometimes I do get a bit busy (or lazy), but rarely does 3 or 4 days go by without a post. I still get a kick out of checking my web stats on Statcounter.com, and seeing how my posts reach people all over the world. Australians, Belgians, Japanese, Argentinians, the Brits, the Spanish, the French, and the list goes on and on. Pretty cool how something I do out of my loft in the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona reaches the far corners of the world. It IS a small world after all.
As for the mp3 downloads, I’m partly suspicious that a lot of people out there are eager to get as much free music as they can, but the idealist in me likes to think that I’m expanding people’s musical horizons. I don’t have my finger on the pulse of the latest and greatest obscure music, like a lot of music bloggers do. I just share what I like at the time, whether old or new, artists well known or not so well known.
I love Comments. Music is the most powerful medium out there, in my opinion, and it’s great to receive feedback from readers around the world, and to read how a particular song or artist affects them. Everyone has a story, so I once again encourage readers / listeners to leave Comments. It’s quick, it’s painless, and it reminds me that there are human beings out there in cyberspace.
So thanks for visiting, especially all you “return visitors”, as Statcounter calls you. Drop a comment or an email to me from time to time.
And so here is a song that exemplifies this and other music blogs. I first heard it courtesy of FluxBlog I believe, right when I discovered this sub culture, this hidden jewel of the internet, this MP3 Blog World AKA Audioblogosphere. I promptly bought their CD. That’s how it works, music industry, that’s how it works Clear Channel (blechh). Where in the hell else would I have heard this quirky, manic, infectiously groove-a-licious song?
So as IckMusic celebrates its first anniversary, I thank the other bloggers out there, and I thank Sirius Satellite Radio, both who have turned me on to some great music in the past year, and who will continue to do so.
Need New Body:
Show Me Your Heart(mp3) – buy the CD, ‘UFO’Christmas at IckMusic
Here’s my first batch of extra special Christmas music selections to carry you through this holiday season.
Hands down my favorite Christmas song and my favorite performance of the song:
- The Temptations:
Silent Night(mp3) – buy
A twisted instant Christmas classic from Grandaddy:
- Grandaddy:
Alan Parsons in a Winter Wonderland– buy
A cool radio excerpt of Coldplay:
- Coldplay:
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas(mp3) – buy
- The Temptations:
Time for Twilight 22
Tonight’s post hearkens back to my WLUM Milwaukee Hot Mix listening days in the mid 80’s. Featured tonight is Twilight 22:
The ’80s electro outfit Twilight 22 was led by computer/synth-wiz Gordon Bahary, but also featured contributions from lead singer and co-songwriter Joseph Saulter. Bahary got his start when he was invited to assist the great Stevie Wonder during the recording of his 1976 classic Songs in the Key of Life (Bahary was only 16 years old at the time). Wonder invited Bahary to help out on his next recording, 1979’s Journey Through the Secret of Plants, for which the teenager produced and programmed synthesizers. It was around this time that Bahary met Saulter through a mutual acquaintance (Herbie Hancock), while Bahary was working on Hancock‘s Feets Don’t Fail Me Now. Although Saulter was originally a drummer (playing in an Los Angeles-based outfit called Rhythm Ignition), it was his vocal skills that drew the most attention, leading to the formation of Twilight 22 in the early ’80s. Their lone single, “Electric Kingdom,” was one of the seminal moments for electro, but their 1984 self-titled full-length for Vanguard was their last label before splitting up shortly thereafter. Both Bahary and Saulter went on to play on other artist’s records, as well as production. (from All Music)
Twilight 22: Electric Kingdom
Twilight 22: Siberian Nights
Buy the LP on Craft Recordings.
Funky Music a la Wild Cherry
Once in a while it’s necessary to indulge my not-so-guilty pleasure appetite. This one took the charts by storm in ol’ 1976 – America’s Bicentennial, and the year I turned the big 6. Led by singer, guitarist and songwriter Rob Parissi, Wild Cherry rose out of Steubenville, Ohio in the early 70’s. They headed to Pittsburgh, PA and played around town for a couple of years before Rob broke up the band to manage a Bonanza steakhouse or two. But the music pulled him back in when he felt the industry going back toward the rootsy side of Rock n Roll. Well, it wasn’t long before the rock clubs began to be replaced by discos, and he got more and more requests to “play something funky.” Rob sat down and wrote this song.
From the One Hit Wonder catalog, I give you… Wild #&@ Cherry!! Sure, you’ve heard it at every wedding you’ve ever been to, but still a great tune almost 30 year later.
Those outside of the U.S., does this song make it into your local wedding play list?
Wild Cherry: Play That Funky Music – buy on Amazon
You Say You Want a Revolution?
Shh. Be very quiet. If you listen closely you can hear the sound of good music coming from across the pond. Its tough to hear, I know, over the American Music Industrys insistence at flooding our ears with the drivel of Jessica Simpson, Clay Aiken, and the latest plastic pop icon. But if you really want to hear something great, check out the UK music scene.
Most people think that Brit Pop is over. Done. Blur vs. Oasis. Who cares? It all ended in 1997 when Oasis released Be Here Now. The truth is that for the last 4 years there have been dozens of bands that have been churning out music in the UK that is nothing short of spectacular. Sure, American record companies let through some bands occasionally like Coldplay or Franz Ferdinand.
For the most part, however, these nitwits feel that you and I and the American listening public wouldn’t like Doves, The Stereophonics, Starsailor, The Coral, or Snow Patrol. Their support of these bands when they come to America is minimal and many of you probably haven’t even heard of them. And yet, they have made some of my favorite music over the last decade. So how do I learn of this music awash in a land of mediocrity?
I read the UK music magazine NME (New Musical Express). They have been around since Elvis and are very plugged in to what is cool and what is not. Their writers actually go to underground gigs, get to know the bands and their fans, and write about the music that is still making the land of the Beatles radiate sonic waves of grooviness. It is from NME (www.nme.com) that I get most of my information about the latest and greatest UK bands.
The biggest band in the UK right now is The Arctic Monkeys. They have two singles out, Fake Tales of San Francisco and I Bet That You Look Good On The Dance Floor and they are stunning. They sound like a cross between early Who and kick ass funk. They have tons of energy, youth and irreverence, everything a good band should have.
I would also check out The Subways (good power pop trio), Babyshambles (ex-Libertine Pete Doherty, produced by Mick Jones of The Clash), and The Kooks (jangly guitar pop). These are just a few of the many great bands that are jamming away in the UK, making great music unbeknownst to most Americans. I urge you to get plugged in to the UK music scene through NME or staying in contact with me (solidbond@mn.rr.com) to hear about what’s new and cool.
And for the record, I am a fan of some American bands like the Strokes, The White Stripes, and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Of course, I read about them first in NME.
Arctic Monkeys:
Fake Tales of San Francisco(mp3)The Kooks:
California(mp3)All you readers in the U.K., what do you think? Any other recommendations?
Sunday Grab Bag 2
Another random sampling of some music I’ve been particularly enjoying of late.
Though a ton of artists have recorded this Boudleaux Bryant classic, I first heard Nazareth’s version as a kid, then the Everly Brothers (who did the original in 1961). It wasn’t until a few years ago that I finally heard Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris do things to it that make me quite content to never hear another’s version again.
Gram Parsons w/ Emmylou Harris: Love Hurts from Grievous Angel (1973)
A Cuban friend at work was kind enough to turn me on to legendary conguero Carlos “Patato” Valdes, thought by many to be the greatest Cuban conga player. This one comes from ‘The Legend of Cuban Percussion’, a 2000 release. With a flute, piano, bass, and Patato on the congas, it is most definitely headphone worthy.
Carlos “Patato” Valdes: Luz
Jack Bruce – Waiting on a Word
I watched part of the Cream reunion at the Royal Albert Hall from this past May. It was a treat to sit and watch this legendary trio wail through some of their tunes. Ginger Baker on drums, Clapton on guitar of course, and Jack Bruce on the bass.
I havent followed Jack Bruces solo stuff or other work through the years, but there is one tune of his that I love. It was released on 1993s ’Somethin Els.’ It goes a little something like this .
Jack Bruce: Waiting on a Word
- Buy The Collectors Edition
- Jack Bruce Official Site
Zapp
It’s been a while since I brought out a blast from my past – the funky years. From 1984 thru, oh, 1986, I immersed myself completely in R&B, funk, soul, and rap of the day. It got so intense that I remember smashing the Scorpions ‘Blackout’ album with a drumstick. Of course I regretted it a couple years later when I re-opened my mind to all music and I wanted to crank “The Zoo” on my turntable. Ah well, live and learn.
So Zapp was one of my favorites of this era. Comprised of Roger Troutman and several of his brothers, they rose from the Dayton, Ohio music scene in the late 70’s. Zapp’s defining sound is Roger’s mastery of the vocoder talk box, a tube he would plug into his synthesizer to alter / synthesize his voice. You also heard Roger years later on Tupac’s “California Love”. Tragically, Roger was shot to death by his brother Larry in a 1999 murder-suicide. But his music lives on.
The first tune, “Computer Love”, was probably Zapp’s biggest commercial hit. From their 1985 album, ‘More Zapp IV U’, it features the Gap Band’s Charlie Wilson and Shirley Murdock on vocals.
“Itchin’ for Your Twitchin” is a direct nod to Prince: from the synth riffs to the guitar solo, to the “Irresistible Itch” chant (referring to Prince’s “Irresistible Bitch”).
Zapp:
Computer Love(mp3)
Zapp:Itchin’ for Your Twitchin’(mp3)- From More Zapp IV U: check it out
- A Zapp Site
