• Friday Five

    The Friday Five: July 22, 2011

    Friday Five

    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:

    “Rewrite” by Paul Simon (from So Beautiful or So What, 2011)

    There aren’t enough hours in the day to listen to Simon’s latest record as much as I’d like. “Rewrite” is just one of the many reasons why.

    “Another Lonely Christmas” by Prince & The Revolution (from 12″ Archive 2.0, 2001)

    Christmas in July? With temperatures across the country reaching well into the triple digits, I’d bet everyone could stand a little holiday cheer to remind them that snow and sub-zero temperatures that’ll be here in just six short months. There’s not much cheer to be found here, though.

    “Legs (dance-enhancing version)” by ZZ Top (from Greatest Hits, 1992)

    I know, I know … what is “Legs” without the video, right?

    That’s better, right?

    “The Scientist” by Johnette Napolitano & Danny Lohner (from Wicker Park, 2004)

    Take the already haunting Coldplay cut, amp it up with the incomparable vocals of Concrete Blonde’s Johnette Napolitano, and you’ve got yourself a perfect cover.

    “[silence]” by Nine Inch Nails (from Broken, 1992)

    They say silence is golden. I swear, this is the next track that shuffled up, though I feel like I might be cheating you guys. Maybe I should elucidate on just how … oh, forget it. I used the word elucidate and I want to kick my own ass right now.

    What’s on your shuffle today?

  • Friday Five

    The Friday Five: April 8, 2011

    Friday Five

    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:

    “Can I Kick It?” by A Tribe Called Quest (from People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, 1990)
    “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” by Ol’ Dirty Bastard (from Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version, 1995)
    “Concentrate” by The Guggenheim Grotto (from The Universe is Laughing, 2010)
    “Like a Prayer” by Madonna (from Like a Prayer, 1989)
    “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” by Paul Simon (from Paul Simon, 1972)

    What’s on your shuffle today?

  • Hip Hop,  Jazz,  Old School

    Peter Piper / Take Me To The Mardi Gras

    Show of hands: who knows the genesis of the bell & percussion groove of Run-DMC’s “Peter Piper”?

    I stumbled on it tonight. I was listening to Afrika Bambaata’s radio show on Sirius Backspin on the way home from work today. He was playing short clips of some of his favorites from back in the day. He played a minute or so of “Nautilus” by Bob James. Nice funky, jazzy little groove. I went on to Blip.fm to track it down. Didn’t find it, but I did see “Take Me To The Mardis Gras”.

    I clicked it, and – lo & behold – the source of “Peter Piper”! The song itself was written by Paul Simon, released a year earlier (1973) on Simon’s ‘There Goes Rhymin’ Simon‘. Bob James added that memorable percussion and his own flair to the song on 1974’s Two.

    Bob James has to be flattered, but I also think he’d be pissed to know that people go their lifetimes not knowing that his creation is the backbone of one of the classics of early hip-hop.

    Bob James / “Take Me to the Mardi Gras” (Blip.fm) from 1974’s Two

  • Video,  World

    Paul Simon + Roots + Antibalas Horns on Fallon

    Jimmy Fallon may be going through some growing pains as a late night talk show host (some of the interviews I’ve seen have their cringe-worthy moments), but with the Roots as the house band, every musical moment has the potential for greatness. Last week, the Beasties dropped in. Last night, it was Paul Simon’s turn, as he joined the Roots crew for “Late in the Evening”, with the Antibalas horns in tow.

    The verses and choruses are fine, but the real magic happens in between, when the percussion and horns take over. Awesome!