The Friday Five: September 30, 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:
“Sleep With One Eye Open” by Chris Thile & Michael Daves (from Sleep With One Eye Open, 2011)
I kind of hate it when the first time I hear a tune is during the Friday Five. For one, I usually sit and scratch my head about what to write about it. Sure, I could give my visceral reaction, but I hesitate. The other thing is I rarely circle back to the record to listen to the rest of it.
“Seamus” by Pink Floyd (from Meddle, 1971)
Bluesy little ditty from Roger, David, and the boys. My dog started sniffing around the desk, trying to figure out where the dogs she was hearing were.
“Slow and Easy (a.k.a. Lawless Mike)” by The Dave Brubeck Quartet (from Time Further Out, 1961)
Not on the original track list for Time Further Out, this mid-tempo shuffle was included in the 1996 reissue.
“Crucial” by New Edition (from Hits, 2004)
“No my name isn’t Janet… ” oh, wait, wrong song. The Flyte Tyme crew’s signature sound is all over this late ’80s hit.
“Skin Ticket” by Slipknot (from Iowa, 2001)
While I don’t listen to as much metal as I once did, I still dabble here and there. Slipknot is by far the heaviest thing I can stand.
What’s on your shuffle today?
The Friday Five: August 5, 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:
“A Boat Like Gideon Brown” by Great Big Sea (from Sea of No Cares, 2002)
“One Slip” by Pink Floyd (from A Momentary Lapse of Reason, 1987)
“Enemies With Benefits (feat. Tonedeff)” by CunninLynguists (from Oneirology, 2011)
“Spanish Eyes” by Madonna (from Like a Prayer, 1989)
“Shame” by Depeche Mode (from Construction Time Again, 1983)What’s on your shuffle today?
The Friday Five: April 3, 2009
For those who have not joined in the Friday Five here is all you need to know; each Friday I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes and share my five and drop a little knowledge and insight for each track. Sometimes there is a playlist involved, sometimes there isn’t. Sometimes we have 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 more the merrier!
The Five:
“Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun” by Beastie Boys (from Paul’s Boutique)
20 years ago this was ground-breaking and it stills sounds just a fresh. One of the archetypes for the rap-rock and nü-metal of the 90’s, this is just one of the many reasons Paul’s Boutique will always be, for me, the B-Boys magnum opus.
“Alfie” by Lily Allen (from Alright, Still)
Lily embarked on her US tour earlier this week in support of her latest It’s Not Me, It’s You. This is one of my favorite tracks off her debut; it’s sprightly and cheeky with a melody that will stick with you for days.
“Us and Them” by Pink Floyd (from Dark Side of the Moon)
It’s a rainy day here in the northeast and this track fits the grey day perfectly. I don’t visit the Pink Floyd in my collection nearly enough.
“Take a Chance on Me” by ABBA (from Gold: Greatest Hits)
No comment.
“Busted Stuff” by Dave Matthews Band (from Busted Stuff)
I’ve been looking for an excuse to share this…
I’ve not been so geeked out to over 60 seconds of music in ages (go to about 1:05 to hear the tunes). The new record is going to slay. Hearing Roi‘s cadence, so clear, strong and vital blowing into some of the funkiest sounds the band has produced in the last 18 years put my arm hairs on end.
It’s your turn, what’s getting you through this afternoon?
Sunday with Stephane Grappelli
Another weekend comes to a close, and Ickmusic focuses tonight on the jazz violin legend, the late Stephane Grappelli. Born in Paris in 1908, he started off his music career as a silent film pianist. Then he met Django Reinhardt, and everything changed. They formed the “Quintette du Hot Club de France” in 1934. Grappelli dropped out of the band during World War II, but his music career stayed strong until the end of his life in 1997.
He played with a hell of a lot of folks: Oscar Peterson, Jean Luc Ponty, Earl Hines, David Grisman, Yo-Yo Ma, and many others; and would you believe Pink Floyd? I found out tonight that Grappelli actually was in the recording studio for “Wish You Were Here”, and actually plays in the closing seconds of the song. Here’s part of an interview with Roger Waters:
N.S. Didn’t you also use Stephane Grappelli on the album somewhere?
R.W. Yeah. He was downstairs when we were doing ‘Wish You Were Here’. Dave had
made the suggestion that there ought to be a country fiddle at the end of it,
or we might try it out, and Stephane Grappelli was downstairs in number one
studio making an album with Yehudi Menuhin. There was an Australian guy
looking after Grappelli who we’d met on a tour so we thought we’d get
Grappelli to do it. So they wheeled him up after much bartering about his fee
– — him being an old pro he tried to turn us over, and he did to a certain
extent. But it was wonderful to have him come in and play a bit.N.S. He’s not on the album now, though?
R.W. You can just hear him if you listen very, very, very hard right at the
end of ‘Wish You Were Here’, you can just hear a violin come in after all the
wind stuff starts — just! We decided not to give him credit, ‘cos we thought
it might be a bit of an insult. He got his #300, though.So if you throw on some headphones and listen to the last several seconds of “Wish You Were Here”, you’ll hear a very very faint violin.
Now, Stephane is credited with Caravan, but I don’t hear a violin on that track. I’ll need an expert to come in and tell me how he contributed to this tune. Nick over at Jazz and Conversation? The tune absolutely smokes. You’ll see what I mean.