Mark’s Top Five of 2013
Time to once again tap into my inner Cusack and reveal my Top Five Albums of 2013.
5. Antiphon by Midlake
After the departure of lead vocalist and founding member Tim Smith, Midlake has been born again with a much more powerful sound reminiscent of Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips. I saw them when they came through town and they were amazing. Here is the title track.
4. State-by Todd Rundgren
The wizard returns to original material with a true gem that works nicely as a companion piece to his 2004 release, Liars. Vintage Todd!
3. The Next Day by David Bowie
Seriously, WTF happened to David Bowie? He vanishes for 10 years and then makes one of the best albums of his career. With the January release, I truly got to enjoy it all year. There isn’t a bad track on the whole LP. Here is one of my favorite tracks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYZyY1lMcLA
2. AM by Arctic Monkeys
The lads from Sheffield can’t seem to make a bad record. NME made it their album of the year and graced it with a rare 10 out of 10. AM is more laid back than their previous records but still packs a wallop lyrically. Alex and his stories…
Here is a live version of the first single, “Do I Wanna Know?”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWRkk4rf7l8
1. San Cisco by San Cisco
The best album of 2013 belongs to Fremantle, Western Australia’s San Cisco. Much of their music was released late last year but they didn’t secure a record deal here until early this year. I have played this disc so much that it is nearly worn out. My 14 year old daughter loves it and can’t get enough of all the catchy pop hooks and down under bliss. Parts of it remind me of the 80s but yet it still sounds very fresh. I’d urge you to check out all their EPs as they have many tracks not on the album.
Here is the track that helped them get a US record deal.
Happy 2013 everyone!
The Return of the Thin White Duke (finally!)
It’s been ten years since David Bowie has released any new music and most of us were beginning to think that he packed it in. He just turned 66 so no one would blame him, right? Yet here is…back with a corker of a new track called “Where are We Now?” It’s sort of a cross between Young Americans mellow Bowie and the Berlin Era. The new album, entitled The Next Day will be out March 11th in the UK and March 12th in the USA.
Here’s the new single:
The Friday Five: March 23, 2012
Friday Five : ‘frī-(,)dā,-dē ‘fīv : On the sixth day of every week, I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes, then share the first five tracks and thought for each track. Sometimes there is a playlist involved, occasionally we’ll have a guest, but most of the time it’s just me. The rest is up to you, our friends and readers! Fire up your media player of choice and share the first five random track of your shuffle in the comments.
The Five:
Sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug … today, I’m buzzing like a bumblebee. Here’s what is powering my flight:
“V-2 Schneider” by David Bowie (from “Heroes”, 1977)
“Recruting Sargeant” by Great Big Sea (from Play, 1997)
“Window” by Mordred (from In This Life, 1991)
“Dirty Diana” by Michael Jackson (from Bad, 1987)
“So What” by Miles Davis Quintet (from The Unissued Japanese Concerts (disc 1: 1964-07-12: Tokyo, Japan), 2011)
What’s on your shuffle today?
Pete’s Music Charts: January
Hi.
It’s 2012, and I’ve yet to put finger to keyboard to whip up a post on this, my site, my IckMusic. No, music hasn’t taken a back seat to anything. It’s still at the forefront, ever accompanying me on this journey I’m on.
I am, however, focusing on thinking differently, and trying to undo some of the mistakes I’ve made up to this point, this fifth decade of my Life on Earth. I came across an Albert Einstein quote a couple weeks ago (at least that’s who it was credited to).
It reads: “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
That hit home, and that’s exactly how I’m approaching the year. A fresh outlook. A realization that some serious tweaks are needed in my life – in all areas, but mostly in the financial realm.
Most significantly, I’m trying to get my ass – and therefore my family’s collective ass – out of debt. I’m fully ingesting the Dave Ramsey Kool-Aid. His Total Money Makeover is a challenge, to say the least, but it also makes a lot of sense, and that’s what I’ve embarked on. So, my very unglamorous but very much needed focus this year is debt reduction. Laser focus, “gazelle intense” focus, as Dave puts it.
But I can’t stay completely quiet here. I have to chime in at least every once in a while, right? To start, I had an idea about leveraging the detailed music charts available on Last.fm. Like a lot of you fellow music geeks out there, I track the music I listen to on Last.fm. It not only captures everything I listen to on iTunes and my iPhone, but also Rdio and Spotify. So that pretty much has it covered top to bottom. I’ve been “scrobbling” on Last.fm since December 2004 – the same month I started this blog, coincidentally.
So why not take a look each month at my previous month’s listening habits. What artists and tunes are doing it for me from month to month?
You’re totally into this? Awesome. Here we go…
January 2012 Charts (from Last.fm)
Top 5 Artists:
1. Wilco
Well this already makes sense. On January 21st, I had the opportunity to catch the band at Tempe’s Gammage Auditorium – their first Phoenix area show since 2004. Two and a half hours long, in a small, intimate venue, and each member of the band in prime touring form – just two shows into their West Coast swing.
“Via Chicago”, from their great 1999 album Summerteeth has taken a sinister turn. You really have to see & hear it to believe it, but at a few different times during the tune, the entire band goes absolutely, evilly ballistic for about 20 seconds. A cacophony of sound, Glenn Kotche going apeshit on the drum kit, the stage drenched in blood red lights… and all the while, there’s Tweedy, who continues strumming on his guitar and singing “Via Chicago” like nothing’s happening. It’s brilliant, and could drive a sane man mad.
They played tunes from their entire catalog, and focused heavily on their latest album, The Whole Love.
I admit to not spending near enough time with the record since its release. But like all great live bands, their showcasing of new material on tour will pull you right in, and have you rushing home to press Play. And that’s exactly what I did.
I virtually wore out my digital copy of The Whole Love.
2. Prince
Huge surprise, I know. In January, I can attribute my heavy Prince listening to the release of a fantastic new bootleg called The Parade Demos. It includes not only the tunes we’re familiar with from the Parade – Music From The Motion Picture Under The Cherry Moon album, but in their early configuration. “Christopher Tracy’s Parade”, the Parade opener, is “Wendy’s Parade” here.
And the collection includes some unreleased gems from the era: “Others Here With Us”, “Old Friends 4 Sale” (the bluesy, stripped down version, not the overproduced one from The Vault – Old Friends 4 Sale release), and the trippy and fun “All My Dreams”, a psychedelic slice of funk/pop. These are tunes that Prince geeks have been hearing for a while, but never like this. The quality is pristine.
3. Bruce Cockburn
I find comfort in Bruce Cockburn.
With a lot on my mind this year, and a lot of energy devoted to positive changes, it’s nice just to wind down with Mr. Cockburn. This time around, it was a fantastic 2002 compilation called Anything Anytime Anywhere (Singles 1979-2002). Great tunes like “A Dream Like Mine”, “The Coldest Night of the Year”, “Wondering Where the Lions Are”, and “Pacing the Cage”. Also, two new tunes released with this collection: “My Beat” and “Anything Anytime Anywhere”.
4. David Bowie
I admit to being largely ignorant of Bowie’s overall body of work. I’ve been familiar with the radio hits over the years as a casual fan, and that’s about it. But I do recognize this as a fault – a serious gap as a music fan, especially as much as I love the era of 60’s and 70’s rock & roll. So I’ve been trying to correct some of this behavior by listening to albums like Aladdin Sane, Low, Heroes, and Space Oddity.
One tune I’ve loved since it came out is “New Killer Star” from his 2003 album Reality. Once again, I’d heard the single, but never the album. So I’ve dug into Reality as well. A long way to go, but it’s a start.
5. Girls
Probably, no, definitely, my favorite band in the land right now. Front man and songwriter Christopher Owens makes music that connects deeply with me. It’s hard to explain, but every nuance, every chord and vocal structure of his songs just feels right to me. Since their latest album, Father, Son, Holy Ghost came out last year, I’ve been consistently drifting in and out of obsession with their small but powerful catalog.
If I can recommend one thing to you, it would be to pick up their 2 full lengths and their EP, Broken Dreams Club (I guess that’s three things).
Best of all, they’re touring in the next couple months, and stopping at the Crescent Ballroom in Phoenix on March 3rd. Yeah I can’t wait.
Top 5 Songs
1. Wilco – “Capitol City”
This is one of my favorites off their album, The Whole Love. Really dig the fun, poppy, carnival-atmosphere vibe…
2. King Charles – “Mississippi Isabel”
I listened to this because of a new music recommendation from Rdio. Really catchy stuff from this young British artist – part Adam Ant, part Gary Glitter, part Edward Sharpe. Although the novelty has worn off a bit, it’s a catchy tune, and your kids will like it.
“She kissed me once I took her out for lunch and she never kissed me again.”
3. Wilco – “A Shot in the Arm”
I never tire of this tune from Summerteeth. After beholding it live once again, it was time to spin it a few times…
4. Prince & the Revolution – “I Wonder U”
I’ve been listening to the Parade Demos version, which features Prince on vocals (along with Wendy & Lisa). Prince doesn’t sing on the regular album version.
5. Bruce Springsteen & the Seeger Sessions Band – “This Little Light of Mine”
This comes from the amazing Live In Dublin CD/DVD. It’s Bruce and his Sessions Band cranking it up gospel style.
It will lift you right up outta your seat.
It will inspire you.
It will make you believe that you can do anything.
The perfect song for any new year.The Friday Five: June 3, 2011
Friday Five : ‘frī-(,)dā,-dē ‘fīv : On the sixth day of every week, I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes, then share the first five tracks and thought for each track. Sometimes there is a playlist involved, occasionally we’ll have a guest, but most of the time it’s just me. The rest is up to you, our friends and readers! Fire up your media player of choice and share the first five random track of your shuffle in the comments.
The Five:
“Stay” by David Bowie (from Station to Station, 1991)
We’re kicking off the festivities with a aggressively funky cut from the Thin White Duke. I especially dig the go-go congas panned hard left.
“Fireflies” by The Hush Now (from Constellations, 2009)
File these guy under “the best bands you’ve never heard.” Heck, I’m not even sure how I originally tripped over their 2008 self-titled effort, but it was one of the records that I ended up coming back to more than a few times. The second record was a bit uneven in spots, but still solid overall.
“Manipulation” by Chicago (from Chicago XIV, 1980)
In the year 1980 BDF—that’s Before David Foster, for the uninitated—Chicago released the record that got them dropped from Columbia records. Yes, boys and girls, it’s that bad.
“Speak Low” by Billie Holiday (from Verve Jazz Masters 12, 1994)
Oh, how I love Billie.
“Breakout” by Foo Fighters (from Greatest Hits, 2009)
Hail! Hail! Rock n’ Roll!
What’s on your shuffle today?
Ickmusic’s Friday Five: December 19, 2008
Welcome to week three of our “Holiday Edition” of the Friday Five!
As we wind down to the New Year the last four editions of the Friday Five will be shuffled from my vast collection of Holiday music. I encourage everyone to play along and spin up some holiday cheer. With the holiday season being short and the duress of the current economic climate being ever present we could all use a little lift in spirits.
For those who have not joined in the Five, here’s how it works: … I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes and share my five with a bit of insight for each track.
Then it’s your turn! Just share the first five random track of your shuffle in the comments and see what your fellow readers are listening to as well.
Here are this week’s tracks:
1. Bing Crosby – God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen (from Merry Christmas)
Salvation! Satan! Scorn! Way to bring the Christmas cheer Bing!
2. Bing Crosby & David Bowie – Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy (mp3) (from Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy)
More Bing! The “poor relations from the states” and “The Thin White Duke” take on the holiday classic. The track was originally recorded for Crosby’s 1977 television special. Interesting factoid from wikipedia:
According to co-writer Ian Fraser, Bowie balked at singing “Little Drummer Boy”. “I hate this song. Is there something else I could sing?” Fraser recalls Bowie telling him. Fraser, along with songwriter Larry Grossman and the special’s scriptwriter, Buz Kohan, then wrote “Peace on Earth” as a counterpoint to “Little Drummer Boy”. Crosby performed “Little Drummer Boy”, while Bowie sang the new tune “Peace on Earth”.
Bowie? A diva? Who’d have known?
3. Dean Martin – I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm (from Christmas With Dino)
Here’s Dino back again to give the ladies a little something.
4. Bing Crosby – It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas (from Merry Christmas)
Looking out my window at the snow that is currently blanketing the greater tri-state area, I’d say ol’ Bing is about right.
5. The Waitresses – Christmas Wrapping (mp3) (from The Best Christmas Album in the World… Ever!)
This and The Pouges “Fairytale of New York (feat. Kirsty MacColl)” are two of my favorite non-traditional holday tunes. Hell outside of the fact that they mention Christmas in the song they barely qualify but both contain such cool storytelling.
It’s almost Christmas, have you been naughty or nice?
