• 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?

  • Friday Five

    The Friday Five: March 11, 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:

    “Wings and Feathers” by The Guggenheim Grotto (from The Universe Is Laughing, 2010)

    A bit ironic that this week’s Friday Five would begin with my favorite Irish singer/songwriter duo, as I’m headed to NYC to see them later this evening. While not my favorite track from their most recent release, it’s one I could see coming to love, in the live setting.

    “Hot for Teacher” by Van Halen (from The Best of Both Worlds, 2004)

    As Jeff Giles’ (y’all) has pointed out, there simply is no better Friday record than Van Halen’s seminal, 1984. For me, “Hot for Teacher” was every bit the hit single as “Jump” or “Panama.” I mean, come on … that intro? I remember spending hours upon hours trying—in vain—to master the two-hand tapped figure.

    “Babylon” by David Gray (from Draw the Line, 2009)

    This is a live version of Gray’s big hit single. It’s a xerox performance, save for the crowd’s insistence to sing the tune themselves. As much as I love the original, I can’t sit through 6 and a half minutes of it.

    “The Way Young Lovers Do” by Van Morrison (from Astral Weeks, 1968)

    Sorry Mr. Gray … I’d much rather listen to the real deal.

    “Airplanes, Part 2 (feat. Hayley Williams & Eminem)” by B.o.B. (from B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray, 2010)

    I can honestly say that I haven’t cared for much of Eminem’s output of the last few years, save for a verse here and there. His appearance on “Airplanes” is one of those exceptions.

    What’s on your shuffle today?

  • Friday Five

    The Friday Five: March 4, 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:

    “New York State of Mind” by Billy Joel (from Turnstiles, 1976)

    I was going to wax poetic about Billy, but I just read this brilliant review of his upcoming Last Play at Shea and would rather you take the moment to go read Jeff Giles’ thoughts. It’s okay, I’ll wait.

    Okay, you’re back? On with the five!

    “Push” by Matchbox Twenty (from Yourself or Someone Like You, 1996)

    You know what? I still kind of like this tune.

    “Real Vacation” by Caleb Hawley (from Steps, 2009)

    No truer words have been spoken.

    So, for those of you that partake in the American Idol, you might recognize the name Caleb Hawley. He managed to make it all the way to the Las Vegas stage, before being given his walking papers. It’s a damn shame, really. Rather than wallow, get over to iTunes or Amazon and pick up Steps, and his latest We’ve All Got Problems, and celebrate a great singer/songwriter.

    “Cold Truth” by  The Guggenheim Grotto (from …Waltzing Alone, 2006)

    “Hey Maria, I’ve been thinking, been thinking bout moving … far away, cross the sea, maybe, somewhere cold and magnificent.” From Caleb to the duo that introduced me to him! Over the course of the last year I’ve had the pleasure of seeing The Guggenheim Grotto perform five or six times, and this song specifically at least three or four times. Like most tunes by the duo, it is beautifully simple, with soaring vocal harmonies.

    “Down By the Water” by The Decemberists (from The King Is Dead, 2011)

    Until hearing The Damnwells’ No One Listens to the Band Anymore I was pretty certain that I was going to crown The King Is Dead my favorite record of the first quarter of 2011. The funny thing is, I wouldn’t categorize myself as a fan of the band. I listened to Hazards of Love a few times, and while I liked what I heard, nothing stuck. Flash forward to the band’s latest, which managed to grab me by the ears with its none too subtle nod to a certain little band from Athens, GA. If you haven’t given this a listen for fear of shanty songs and prog-rock leanings, fear not! This is one of the best records of 2011.

    What’s on your shuffle today?

  • Friday Five

    The Friday Five: May 21, 2010

    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:

    “Lenny” by Stevie Ray Vaughn (from Texas Flood, 1983)

    The story behind “Lenny,” the guitar and a song, is nothing short of beautiful. I’m not sure that I’ve told it before – and if I have, humor me – but it goes like this: Vaughn finds a ’65 Strat in an Austin pawnshop that, despite being refinished and looking every bit its age, he was smitten with. The problem was the $350 price tag was out of reach for the struggling blues man and his wife. With his birthday coming up, Lenora reached out to local friends and gathered the cash for the guitar and presented him with it at a birthday gig. That night he sat down and wrote the instrumental tribute to his wife Lenny on that same guitar, the rest is history.

    “Got to Be Real” by Cheryl Lynn (from The Disco Years, Vol. 2: On the Beat, 1990)

    I’m a sucker for a great disco tune. Knock it all you like; but there was some solid musicians driving those tunes that still don’t get the respect they deserve. Take Cheryl Lynn’s brilliant “Got to Be Real,” for example; a peek under the covers reveals Toto’s David Paich, Jeff Porcaro, and Ray Parker Jr. performing the Paich/David Foster penned track. Okay, maybe this was a bad example. Either way, I love this tune.

    “I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5 (from Greatest Hits, 1971)

    “Aw baby, give me one more chance,” an impassioned far beyond his age Michael Jackson pleads. How the hell he was able to muster up the cojones to sing like that is a mystery.

    “Just not Just” by The Guggenheim Grotto (from Happy the Man, 2008)

    I’m not going to mince words here, The Guggenheim Grotto just released their new record The Universe is Laughing and you can should purchase it here.

    “Almost Paradise” – Mike Reno & Ann Wilson (from Footloose, 1981)

    Most of you are aware of my friend and Popdose colleague Jason Hare. If you pay close enough attention you are also aware of his plethora of musical projects, but you may not be aware of his altruistic nature and huge heart. Those two worlds came together last Saturday night, when he played a benefit show to “KICK CANCER’S A**!” to raise money to benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Jason, along with his wife Jessica, is running the 2010 NYC Triathlon and raising money in the process – you can learn more, and help here. At any rate, one of the highlights of the show was the Acoustic ‘80s performance of the love theme from Footloose by Jason, along with guest vocalist Jennifer Gembs. The tune has always been a favorite of mine, and I swear I squealed like a tween girl at a Justin Bieber concert when they started playing it.

    What’s on your shuffle today?

  • Folk,  Indie,  Irish

    New Music From The Guggenheim Grotto, “Wisdom”

    The Guggenheim Grotto
    Having seen the band a handful of times in the last month, I’ve heard the track “Wisdom” as many times in it’s raw form. The tune — which comes from the band’s forthcoming record, Master of the Universe — is partly inspired by the long hours the band has logged crossing the country in support of their brilliant Happy the Man. There is currently no date set for the release of the record, though I’d expect it would be sometime in June. Stay tuned!

    You can purchase “Wisdom” here.

    The band is also doing a residency every Wednesday in June at The Bowery Electric, NYC, and every Thursday at the Tin Angel in Philly.

  • Friday Five

    The Friday Five: April 9, 2010

    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:

    “One More Try” by George Michael (from Faith, 1987)

    Oh, the overwrought teenaged melodrama that accompanies this tune in my memory bank. I could fill pages, upon pages, of the tales of the end of the world, listening to Chicago, Richard Marx, and so much more wuss-rock. It’s a wonder I didn’t get my ass kicked every day. (It was every-other day.)

    “Runaway” by Bon Jovi (from 7800º Fahrenheit, 1985)

    I never really gave a shit about Jon-Bon until Slippery When Wet, but I was fully aware of the band during the pre-slippery era thanks to the VCR tapes my aunt would send with 8 hours of MTV content.

    “Feels Good” by Tony! Toni! Toné! (from The Revival, 1990)

    This song was inescapable during the summer of 1990. In retrospect, I don’t think that I liked it then quite as much as I do now. To be fair, in 1990 I was likely still heavily under the influence of the crew of metal-heads that I associated with. I was forced – peer pressure is a bitch – to keep my guilty pleasures under wraps, stashing my Prince and MJ records in lieu of the latest Megadeth and Metallica.

    “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga (from The Fame Monster, 2009)

    While on some level I agree with M.I.A.’s recent assertion that Gaga is “the industry’s last stab at making itself important,” I can’t help but secretly enjoy the hell out of her over-the-top shtick.

    “The Dragon” by The Guggenheim Grotto (from Happy the Man, 2009)

    I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Ireland’s Guggenheim Grotto twice in the last month. With any luck, I’ll be seeing them again this weekend. If it seems a bit obsessive: I’ll fully admit it is, and with good reason. The duo’s songs are poetic and intimate, and tug at the heartstrings like few others can. If you are in the NYC area, I highly recommend making it to at least one of their upcoming shows. They are setting up residency at The Bowery Electric each Wednesday in June, and there is a good chance that you’ll run into me – and maybe Jason Hare – at any one of these shows.

    What’s on your shuffle today?

    Side Note: What do you guys think of the lala.com embedded tracks?

  • Folk,  Local

    The Guggenheim Grotto, Live!

    The Guggenheim Grotto

    The Irish Troubadour of the New Millennium has been largely defined by the likes of Damien Rice and Glen Hansard. My wife refers to it as “sad bastard” music, a title that I find difficult to argue. It’s not all doom and gloom on The Emerald Isle though, one of its best-kept secrets is the folk-pop duo The Guggenheim Grotto. One of my favorite “new to me” bands of last year, I have been looking forward to the opportunity to see the group bring their quirky tales to the stage. Thankfully, I’ll get that chance on March 18th, when the band stops at The Rockwood Music Hall. I cannot recommend enough that those of you local to the venue join me. Enough of my yapping, check out the video for “Her Beautiful Ideas,” and if you dig that pick up the band’s latest record Happy the Man.