M.J. Cole Review / Duke Ellington Preview (Album 31)

I don't know where the term 'house music' came from. It must have something to do with the 80s and the music was made 'in-house' so to speak. Like they had their own DJ up there mixing beats up in Studio 54 or something. Anyways, it's an interesting sound. If you don't mind the same thing...for almost an hour. Each song on it's own is good. But it's all the songs together that kind of wear on you a little bit. Each song it probably over 4 minutes each too...which doesn't really help anything. Anyways, some of the beats are good. Some are ok, some are meh.

Favorite Songs:
     Slum King
     Sincere
     Hold On To Me

Album: Ellington At Newport

Artist: Duke Ellington

Release Year: 1956

"After a spell in the doldrums when swing bands went out of fashion, Duke Ellington's performance at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 7, 1956, heralded a dramatic resurgence in his popularity...The resulting album is a patched together-fusion of live recordings, studio retakes, and canned applause. It became the biggest selling record of Duke's career." - Will Fulford-Jones

(You may notice right away that there are 2 very different versions of this album: the original 1956 version, and the updated 1999 version. The only real difference is that the new version is cleaner and has filler tracks of him talking and whatnot. Anyways, I will be listening to the new updated version.)

Disc 1

01 - The Star Spangled Banner

02 - Black and Tan Fantasy

03 - Tea for Two

04 - Take the 'A' Train

05 - Part I - Festival Junction

06 - Part II - Blues to Be There

07 - Part III - Newport Up

08 - Sophisticated Lady

09 - Day In, Day Out

10 - Diminuendo In Blue and Crescendo In Blue

Disc 2

01 - I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)

02 - Jeep's Blues

03 - Tulip or Turnip

04 - Skin Deep

05 - Mood Indigo

06 - Part I - Festival Junction

07 - Part II - Blues To Be There

08 - Part III - Newport Up

09 - I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)

10 - Jeep's Blues

Stream: Radio3.net

iTunes: Duke Ellington

Spotify: Ellingnton At Newport (This is the old version, they don't have the new version.)

Your tracks won't be the same, I took out all the in-between parts when I listed the tracks. Still though, it's the same essentially.

~mfm

The Black Crowes Review / M. J. Cole Preview (Album 30)

So, this whole album was great. Really, it's amazing that this could ever ever be a debut album. It sounds like a perfect crossover between Led Zeppelin and Creedance Clearwater Revival. People don't make music like they used to, and this is a warp to the music that used to move people. I really enjoyed it. Really did. The musicallity of it all combined with the guys almost soft AC/DC-style voice really lends to an album that will hopefully continue to inspire and be played. I had never heard of these guys before, except perhaps for the song Jealous Again.

Favorite Songs:
     Twice As Hard
     Jealous Again
     Hard To Handle
     She Talks To Angels

Album: Sincere

Artist: M. J. Cole

Release Year: 2000

"Mainly it is Cole's musicality that shines on the album, which came out after his debut single "Sincere" became the first UK garage tune to hit the UK charts. Cole's insistence on composing on live instruments may explain the three years it took before the album was finished. The tone is set on the introduction - a cascading piano gives way to a punishing bassline." - David Crawford

01 - Introduction

02 - Tired Games 

03 - Attitude

04 - Bandelero Desperado

05 - MJ FM Interlude

06 - Crazy Love

07 - Sanctuary

08 - I See

09 - Sincere

10 - Strung Out

11 - Rough Out Here

12 - Slum King

13 - Radio Interlude

14 - Hold On To Me

15 - Free My Mind
16 - Crazy Love (Radio Edit)
17 - Sincere (Mig's Petalpusher Vocal)

Streaming: Radio3.net

iTunes: M. J. Cole 

Spotify: Sincere

Sounds interesting. Like pre- pre- drum and bass or something. interesting.

~mfm

Dead Kennedys Review / The Black Crowes Preview (Album 29)

I heard somewhere that the Dead Kennedys set up punk, or were the kings of punk, or blazed the trail for punk. Or something like that. Somewhere. Anyways, for good or bad, it's the truth. I don't really like this album, I'll be honest. I don't like the songs, I don't really like the sound of the Dead Kennedys, and I guess that's mostly it. But that's kind of a big deal. The super short songs and strange song matter don't appeal to me. I see how they may have, being something entirely different than had basically ever been heard before. I really only like Holiday in Cambodia because it was an actual song in my ears, not the quick little spaz on the drums like the rest of the songs. That and Guitar Hero.

Favorite Songs:
     Holiday in Cambodia
     Viva Las Vegas

Album: Shake Your Money Maker

Artist: The Black Crowes

Release Year: 1990

"The record stayed on the U.S. charts for 18 months. It was not groundbreaking stuff, but when the music was as funky and punchy as this, it did not need to be. The recording career of The Black Crowes has since followed a somewhat erratic trail, but then their reputation was already assured with this remarkably assured debut." - Lino Portela Gutierrez

01 - Twice As Hard

02 - Jealous Again

03 - Sister Luck

04 - Could I've Been So Blind

05 - Seeing Things

06 - Hard To Handle

07 - Thick 'N' Thin

08 - She Talks To Angels

09 - Struttin' Blues

10 - Stare It Cold

Streaming: Radio3.net 

iTunes: The Black Crowes

Spotify: Shake Your Money Maker

And here I thought 'shake your money maker' was strictly a hip-hop term. Silly me. I apologize for not being on in a long time. I'm going to school. So that takes up most of my time. Looking forward to this album.

~mfm

Black Sabbath Review / Dead Kennedys Preview (Album 28)

So for being the first 'metal' album of all time, it doesn't surprise that it pales in metalic-ness versus new albums that share the same genre. One thing that stood out to me, was the harmonica in the second song, 'The Wizard.' That was awesome. To me it felt like any 80s or 70s rock album, except the lyrics - which seem to be the defining 'metal' point - were much darker than most other of the time. Certainly there are other dark points to the album. The cover and some of the guitar riffs. I really like the album. I would certainly listen to it again. Especially some of the songs with harmonica and excellent solos.

Favorite Songs:
     The Wizard
     Sleeping Village
   

Album: Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables

Artist: Dead Kennedys

Release Year: 1980

"Dead Kennedys initially took inspiration from the original wave of UK punks such as the Sex Pistols, but became disenchanted with their anarchic posturing, so they created their own take on the movement." - Seth Jacobson

01 - Kill The Poor

02 - Forward To Death

03 - When Ya Get Drafted

04 - Let's Lynch The Landlord

05 - Drug Me

06 - Your Emotions

07 - Chemical Warfare

08 - California Uber Alles

09 - I Kill Children

10 - Stealing People's Mail

11 - Funland At The Beach

12 - Ill In The Head

13 - Holiday In Cambodia

14 - Viva Las Vegas

Streaming: Radio3.net

iTunes: Dead Kennedys

Spotify: Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables

Punk music. When I hear new punk music I can only think about how all the songs sound the same. Listen to Rise Against or New Wave or Strung Out for some new school examples. Anyways, I can tell you already that I know Holiday In Cambodia. Maybe Viva Las Vegas, if it's the song I think it is. Enjoy.

~mfm

Jimmy Smith Review / Black Sabbath Preview (Album 27)

This is probably actually my least favorite part of the blog. Saying what I did or did not like about something. It's very hard to articulate what you are trying to say sometimes. Especially if you are trying to say it in a unique way. Anyways. Jimmy Smith. This is, without a doubt, the smoothest album I have ever listened too. When people say jazz, this is the kind of music that I think of. Downbeat, there are a couple of people keeping the beat and rhythm, while they take turns improvising. Jazz. It's very calming and fun and upbeat at the same time. If it were a movie soundtrack, it would be the part in the movie where we are down in a club in the 40s, just watching the club, and we see in the background Humphrey Bogart walk down the stairs as he enters and orders a drink as he looks around checkin' out the ladies. Then chaos ensues during a fist fight or a shootout and we need a different sound for that. The book sums this album up perfectly: 'Relentlessly groovy.'

Favorite Songs:
     Back At The Chicken Shack
     Honestly I like them all, but Back At The Chicken Shack stands out to me the most.

Album: Black Sabbath

Artist: Black Sabbath

Release Year:1970

"On the list for its enormous influence rather than its scintillating musical qualities, Black Sabbath's debut album is weighty in reputation as it is in sonic depth. With its opening, eponymous song routinely hailed as the unholy-trinity anthem ("Black Sabbath" on Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath) that kickstarted heavy metal, the dark, dark sleeve art and the sludgy production seeping all over the basic, bludgeoning songs, the record still sounds supremely evil today." - Joel McIver

01 - Black Sabbath

02 - The Wizard

03 - Behind The Wall Of Sleep

04 - N.I.B.

05 - Evil Woman

06 - Sleeping Village

07 - Warning

08 - Wicked World

*This is the European release set of songs. 

Streaming: Radio3.net

iTunes: Black Sabbath

Spotify: Black Sabbath

My dad has this album in vinyl. So pops if you read this, give it a spin for me.

~mfm

Fats Review / Jimmy Smith Preview (Album 26)

Fats Domino was not was I was assuming. It was pretty good. It was this combination of Frank Sinatra with more soul and less sad. But that's cool. I can dig it. All of the songs were really short. Which doesn't bother me, in fact it shouldn't even be a problem. I think that we expect songs to be between 3:30 and 4:00. If it's any longer our 'short attention spans' fail us and we lose the song or change the radio station. If it's too long we don't want to listen to because it doesn't say what it has to say soon enough. Or something like that. Anyways, I liked Fats. I thought he would sound less mature than he did. He sounded older than the picture that they show of him in the book:

Just a cheery looking baby-fat-having gentleman. But he sounded way more exciting than that. it was good.

Favorite Songs:
     Honey Chile
     La-La
     The Fat Man's Hop

Album: Back At The Chicken Shack

Artist: Jimmy Smith

Release Year:: 1960

"Back At The Chicken Shack is arguably Smith's greatest album, relentlessly grooving, harmonically sophisticated, and earthy as the Delta mud... Smith transformed the organ's lamentable image with his soulful synthesis of bebop, blues, and gospel, creating a powerfully grooving new sound. He spawned a new style of music - soul jazz - and a host of disciples who took up the Hammond B3 [compact organ] and formed combos." - Andrew Gilbert

01 - Back At The Chicken Shack

02 - When I Grow Too Old To Dream

03 - Minor Chant

04 - Messy Bessie

05 - On The Sunny Side Of The Street*

*Apparently, this song was not part of the original album, but released with the album as part of the CD later.

Streaming: Radio3.net

iTunes: Jimmy Smith

Spotify: Back At The Chicken Shack

Only 5 songs long, I expect to have the next one up rather soon.

~mfm

Bebel Gilberto Review / Fats Domino Preview (Album 25)

(Bebel preview here) What an interesting album. It was more jazz-samba then I was expecting, but it was still good. It sounds like the kind of music that you would hear in a movie during a rainy love-making scene. In Mexico, obviously. She has a very pretty calm voice, and it goes very well with the slight drums and guitar and such. I like it, but its something that I would only listen to while I was trying to nap or seduce someone... I think that it may be early in a scene in the movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith (musically similar to this, but not the same: Mr. & Mrs. Smith Mondo Bongo Dance ).

Favorite Songs:
     Samba Da Bancao
     So Nice (Summer Samba)
     Close Your Eyes

Album: This Is Fats

Artist: Fats Domino

Release Year: 1956

"While selling some 65 millino records in the decade [50s], Domino was arguably the man most responsible for bridging the gam between R&B and rock, although Little Richard might despute that claim. What is beyond debate is the influence of the singer's 1950s work, which has run and spread through popular music and influenced everyone from Pat Boone to The Beatles. This Is Fats, the singer's third full-length album on Impereal, was released at the height of Domino's career and remains the most powerful portrait of his artistry thanks to such boogie-woogie beasts as "Blue Monday" and "Honey Chile" and such mournful masterpieces as "So Long" and "Poor Poor Me." - Jim Harrington

01 - Blueberry Hill

02 - Honey Chile

03 - What's The Reason (I'm Not Pleasing You)

04 - Blue Monday

05 - So Long

06 - La-La

07 - Troubles Of My Own

08 - You Done Me Wrong

09 - Reelin' And Rockin'

10 - The Fat Man's Hop

11 - Poor, Poor Me

12 - Trust In Me

Streaming: Radio3.net

iTunes: Fats Domino

I couldn't find him on Spotify, but I found this instead: Playlist

Looking at some more 50s grove. I'm excited to hear Fats. He is a name that I have always heard but never listened too.

~mfm

The La's Review / Bebel Gilberto Preview (Album 24)

(La's preview here) The La's (still no word on if it's the 'las' or the 'el-ays') was straight up 90s. I recognized the song "There She Goes" almost right away. Which is neither bad nor good. I guess if you are writing music then that's a good thing, definitely. It was so interesting reading about that band - which I did a tad of - and hearing how the main singer is a total perfectionist and how they never did anything after that. I didn't look up him specifically, but my gut tells me that he probably didn't go too far after that one album. I also watched the music video for "There She Goes" which isn't something that I do often, but the members are in their 20s, 30s at the very latest. Which strikes me as odd that they would get out of the game so fast. Or perhaps they didn't. Anyways. This is an album where that song will definitely get some playback, but that's the problem with a one hit wonder band. They had some other very good songs, and they remind me of Blind Melon, another 90s band who we may yet hear of.

Favorite Songs:
     Timeless Melody
     There She Goes
     Doledrum
     Failure

Album: Tanto Tempo

Artist: Bebel Gilberto

Release Year: 2000

"But it is Babel's voice - a chewy, purring, Marlboro-burnished voice that sings English in a pleasingly goofy Brazilian accent - that makes Tanto Tempo so compelling. Tanto Tempo went on to become the biggest-selling Brazilian album outside of Brazil. And although Suba's [the producer] innovations would be elaborated and superseded and outflanked by assorted sources - by Sao Paulo's drum 'n' bass jocks, by the experimental electronica boffins on Trauma Records, and by the "favela chic" of Rio's "baile funk" oddballs - Tanto Tempo remains a landmark in electronic music." - John Lewis

01 - Samba da Bencao

02 - August Day Song

03 - Tanto Tempo

04 - Sem Contencao

05 - Mais Feliz

06 - Albuem

07 - So Nice (Summer Samba)

08 - Lonely

09 - Bananeira

10 - Samba e Amor

11 - Close Your Eyes

Streaming: Radio3.net

iTunes: Tanto Tempo

Spotify: Bebel Gilberto

Hmm...Brazilian music you say? With Drum 'n' Bass and electronic roots? I'm enticed, to say the least. 

~mfm

The Cramps Review / The La's Preview (Album 23)

(Cramps preview here) So. The Cramps...is exactly what my ears had after listening to this. No, not really. I don't think that your ears can cramp. That's a little harsh too, but seriously. I was not terribly impressed with it. That's the thing, I'm not terribly impressed with many of the albums in this book. Which makes me sad. Only a couple of albums have really stuck out to me or are things I would listen to again. This was kinda weird, it reminded me of noise rock. Just sounds, and mediocre sounds. It's ok. I probably won't ever listen to it again. I did like on of the remakes that they did. But nothing really stuck out. You need the kind of songs that people will want to do remakes of. But then again, this was supposed to be a pretty experimental album. So... experiment a success? They were active up until about 2009 (according to Wikipedia), which I find interesting because I have never heard of them. They also changed members over 20 times. So I'll let that speak for itself. Maybe we will see them again.

Favorite Songs:
     Fever (Cover)
     TV Set
     I Was A Teenage Werewolf

Album: The La's

Artist: The La's

Release Year: 1990

"So with a mass of critical acclaim and strong sales in their favor, why did The La's release only one album and then fade away? Well, by most accounts, lead singer and songwriter Lee Mavers always was a surly perfectionist, and maybe a touch unstable with it. The band took four years to make The La's and burned through at least as many producers before the label finally lost patience and insisted they release the version piloted by Steve Lillywhite. Soon after, when Lee Mavers was asked to describe the album to NME he replied, "I hate it, it's the worst. A pile of shit. There is not one good thing I can find to say about it." Definitely the minority opinion, there, Lee." - Rob Morton

01 - Son Of A Gun

02 - I Can't Sleep

03 - Timeless Melody

04 - Liberty Ship

05 - There She Goes

06 - Doledrum

07 - Feelin'

08 - Way Out

09 - IOU

10 - Freedom Song

11 - Failure

12 - Looking Glass

Streaming: Radio3.net

iTunes: The La's

Spotify: The La's

My god there are a lot of albums in this book.

~mfm

Spirit Review / The Cramps Preview (Album 22)

(Spirit preview here) So I was kinda impressed with Spirit, in a general sense. They weren't overly impressive, but it was kinda cool to hear about this band that did pretty well during the 70's that I had never heard of before. Maybe that's why it was special. It was rocky, with a sort of 70's calmness to it. Maybe there were drugs involved. I wouldn't doubt that at all, but that doesn't change anything. I doubt that this will hear any play on my iPod, but I do really like the cover art, if it was a bit bigger. Throwback to basic photo manipulation.

Favorite Songs:
     Animal Zoo
     Street Worm

Album: Songs The Lord Taught Us

Artist: The Cramps

Release Year: 1980

"Songs The Lord Taught Us celebrates the trashiest elements of twentieth-century Americana. The Cramps' debut chewed up rockabilly riffs, punk rebellion, and B-movie imagery, andspat it out a gloriously primeval gob of rock'n'roll noise... Songs The Lord Taught Us should have been a smash. Critics raved, but problems in the band nixed any chance of success. During a 1980 tour in the United States, guitarist Bryan Gregory drove off with a van full of their equipment - sold to fund his growing drug addiction - and was never seen by the band again." Theunis Bates

01 - T.V. Set

02 - Rock On The Moon

03 - Garbageman

04 - I Was A Teenage Werewolf

05 - Sunglasses After Dark

06 - The Mad Daddy

07 - Mystery Plane

08 - Zombie Dance

09 - What's Behind The Mask?

10 - Strychnine

11 - I'm Cramped

12 - Tear It Up

13 - Fever

Streaming: Radio3.net

iTunes: Songs The Lord Taught Us

Spotify: The Cramps

Sounds very strange. Sounds very 80s. Hopefully it's awesome.

~mfm

The Everly Brothers Review / Spirit Preview (Album 21)

(Everly Brothers preview here) So The Everly Brothers was probably what I was expecting. Sounds like early Beach Boys and  Simon & Garfunkel  and other vocalists like that. After a brief look around the internet, I don't think that their other stuff sounds like this. This album comes from before they turned into a "country-influenced rock and roll" performance. But that's alright. Maybe we will see some more of them in the future. I doubt that any of this will be staying on my iPod. Maybe I'll make my grandpa sit down and listen to it and see if he knows it. That would be cool.

Favorite Songs:
     Made To Love
     Baby What Do You Want Me To Do

Album: Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus

Artist: Spirit

Release Year: 1970

"Feelins could not have been worse when Spirit recorded Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus. Luckily, David Briggs [producer], who worked with Neol Young, managed to harness all the animosity into Spirit's masterwork. The album was enriched with meaty horn arrangements ("Morning Will Come"), imaginative vocal harmonies ("Nothin' To Hide") and a structured approach to psychedelic studio trickery such as stereo panning and tapes run backwards...Oh, and "Dr. Sardonicus?" It is the nickname Spirit coined for the mixing desk at the studio." - Jamie Gonzalo

 01 - Prelude - Nothin' To Hide

02 - Nature's Way

03 - Animal Zoo

04 - Love Has Found A Way

05 - Why Can't I Be Free

06 - Mr. Skin

07 - Space Child

08 - When I Touch You

09 - Street Worm

10 - Life Has Just Begun

11 - Morning Will Come

12 - Soldier

Streaming: Radio3.net

iTunes: Spirit

Spotify: Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus

This sounds pretty cool. I've never heard of them before, but here's to hoping.

~mfm

Louis Prima Review / The Everly Brothers Preview (Album 20)

(Louis Prima preview here) Jazz jazz jazz jazz jazz...It's so silly. I like jazz, but I don't think that I will ever be able to rap my head around it. Especially if there doesn't seem to be a cohesive sound or melody or tempo. It's all very confusing. Anyways, that's mostly what I feel about Louis Prima. Skills: yes. My understanding of his creative venture: no. A couple of his songs reminded me of The Jungle Book, and when Baloo seems to go all be-bop.

Favorite Songs:
     Melody: Basin Street Blues - When It's Sleepy Time Down South

Album: A Date With The Everly Brothers

Artist: The Everly Brothers

Release Year: 1960

"It would have been reasonable to expect the cupboard to be bare, and the first tracks recorded, "Lucille" and "Baby What Do You Want Me To Do," suggest that material was in short supply. But the radical reinterpretations showed the Everly harmonies could refresh the most familiar songs." - David Hucheon

01 - Made To Love

02 - That's Just Too Much

03 - Stick With Me Baby

04 - Baby What Do You Want Me To Do

05 - Sigh, Cry, Almost Die

06 - Always It's You

07 - Love Hurts

08 - Lucille

09 - So How Come (No One Loves Me)

10 - Donna, Donna

11 - A Change Of Heart

12 - Cathy's Clown

Streaming: Radio3.net

iTunes: A Date With The Everly Brothers

Spotify: The Everly Brothers

This looks like a 60s version of a boy band. Also it's weird, in the book they usually have strange pictures (at least not what seems to be the most common picture) for an album. Weird Britts.

~mfm

Ryan Adams Review / Louis Prima Preview (Album 19)

(Ryan Adams preview here) So yes, this was a heartbreak album. This album caught me off guard with how good it actually was. I'm not really sure what I was expecting, I guess more broody angst country music. But it wasn't that. It was actually mostly rock with acoustic...goodness. I like it, I'm not in the breakup mood though usually. Listening to people's songs who sing about breakups is usually pretty interpersonal. This album stays true with that belief.

Favorite Songs:
     To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)
     Amy
     Bartering Lines

Album: The Wildest!

Artist: Louis Prima

Release Year: 1956

"A popular nightclub singer / trumpeter in the 1930s and '40s, initially in his native New Orleans and then in New York, Prima found work had dried up by 1954...[Later] success came immediately, this sparkling half-hour, cut live in the studio in April 1956, iced the cake. Jazz hounds often dismiss Prima as just an Italianate Louis Armstong impersonator...But that is to miss the point: this is simply irrepressible music that more than matches its glorious cover show." - Will Filford-Jones

01 - Medley: Just A Gigolo - I Ain't Got Nobody

02 - (Nothing's Too Good) For My Baby

03 - The Lip

04 - Body and Soul

05 - Oh Marie

06 - Medley: Basin Street Blues - When it's Sleepy Time Down South

07 - Jump, Jive, An' Wail

08 - Buona Sera

09 - Night Train

10 - (I'll Be Glad When You're Dead) You Rascal You

Streaming: Radio3.net

iTunes: Louis Prima

Spotify: The Wildest!

Jazz jazz jazz jazz jazz...

~mfm

Deee-Lite Review / Ryan Adams Preview (Album 18)

(Lite preview here) So...That album was exactly as I thought it would be. It was this strange combination between electronic beats and this strange singing / chanting. All jokes aside though, the album actually would be a pretty sweet album if you could take out the singing from the lady; not that I didn't like it, it just would have been better in my opinion. The electronic beats were actually pretty sweet to listen too. I liked the beats, but like I said...the entirety of it was less than to be desired. Actually, I didn't even notice that the band name is pronounced "delight" until a couple of days ago.

Favorite Songs:
     Deee-Lite Theme
     What Is Love
     Groove Is In The Heart

The double-oh's.

Album: Heartbreaker

Artist: Ryan Adams

Release Year: 2000

"Heartbreak and hard drink have inspired many great albums, but rarely one as tender as this, Ryan Adams' solo debut. Adams recorded Heartbreaker - a brutally honest chronical of the highs and lows of love - in the wake of two scarring breakups ... Heartbreak transforms Adams into the critics' darling - he was called a "visionary rock troubadour" by NME - but failed to win over a mass audience." - Theunis Bates

01 - Argument with David Rawlings Concerning Morrissey

02 - To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)

03 - My Winding Wheel

04 - AMY

05 - Oh My Sweet Carolina

06 - Bartering Lines

07 - Call Me On Your Way Back Home

08 - Damn, Sam (I Love A Woman That Rains)

09 - Come Pick Me Up

10 - To Be The One

11 - Why Do They Leave?

12 - Shakedown On 9th Street

13 - Don't Ask For The Water

14 - In My Time Of Need

15 - Sweet Lil Gal

Streaming: Radio3.net

iTunes: Ryan Adams

Spotify: Heartbreaker

I hope that it's not country music. More heartbreak...

~mfm

AC/DC Review / Deee-Lite Preview (Album 17)

(AC/DC preview here) AC/DC is considered by many a classic rock and roll band. This album came out the same year that the previous lead singer died. They didn't waste very much time getting back into the groove of things, and subsequently created one of the greatest rock and roll albums of all time. The songs are all pretty similar, but that isn't a bad thing. They hit their stride of heavy riffs that many people will air-guitar, catchy lyrics for pretty much every song, and in most a guitar solo that can still compete with the greats, not to mention the not-so-subtle sexual references in almost all the song names. The only complaint that I have for part of the album is the studio fade-out. This isn't just for AC/DC though, it just stuck out to me for this album in particular. It doesn't seem very 'musician' to me to make a song end by simply fading into the background. It's ok guys, just write an ending to the song. Other than that, this album has stood the test of time rather grandly.

Edit: I recently picked up this vinyl for about 8 bucks. It still reeks of that 'classic rock-n-roll' smell

Favorite Songs:
     Shoot To Thrill
     Back In Black
     You Shook Me All Night Long
     Rock & Roll Ain't Noise Pollution

Album: World Clique

Artist: Deee-Lite

Release Year: 1990

"Recent history has not been been kind to this New York City-raised group that took its name from Cole Porter's "It's Delovely." The trio is commonly remembered as a one-hit wonder, but the gold-certified debut World Clique still stands as a convincing argument that Deee-Lite deserves to be more than just a Trivial Pursuit answer." - Jim Harrington

01 - Good Beat

02 - Power Of Love

03 - Try Me On...I'm Very You

04 - Smile On

05 - What Is Love

06 - World Clique

07 - E.S.P.

08 - Groove Is In The Heart

09 - Who Was That

10 - Deep Ending

Streaming: Radio3.net

iTunes: World Clique

Spotify: World Clique

I am not looking forward to this album honestly. It looks ridiculous.

~mfm

Miles Davis Review / AC/DC Preview (Album 16)

(Miles preview here) Miles Davis, a classic and one of the best jazz players ever. It's hard to listen to a whole album of free-form jazz though. As good as jazz is, ever time I listen to it, it's hard not to think of a quote I heard once. "Jazz is about 5 different people getting together and playing 5 different songs all at the same time." And that, is the hard truth. There are some parts of the songs that I really enjoy, and some parts that I don't really enjoy. That's another problem with having 20-minute adventures musically. It's also very...dissident. I don't know. It's just hard to enjoy when you don't know what to listen to.

Favorite Songs:
     ...

Album: Back In Black

Artist: AC/DC

Release Year: 1980

"By the time of original vocalist Bon Scotts; February 1980 death, AC/DC had conquered Europe, but the United States were still to be convinced. The group was fiercely ambitious, and had recruited singer Brian Johnson on the recommendation of producer Robert Lange... AC/DC finally broke the United States with Back In Black, notching up a million sales annually over the next five years. They - and all those buyers who boogied to the album - never looked back." - Seth Jacobson

01 - Hells Bells

02 - Shoot To Thrill

03 - What You Do For Money Honey

04 - Givin The Dog A Bone

05 - Let Me Put My Love Into You

06 - Back In Black

07 - You Shook Me All Night Long

08 - Have A Drink On Me

09 - Shake A Leg

10 - Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution

Streaming: Radio3.net

iTunes: You can't get AC/DC on iTunes, which I respect. The artists see very little of the money when someone buys something on iTunes

Spotify: ...hmmm. Doesn't seem to be AC/DC on Spotify either. Good thing it's one of the best selling rock albums of all time. You should be able to find it in your dad's old record collection.

This is supposed to be one of the best albums of rock history. Let it be so.

~mfm

Louvin Brothers Review / Miles Davis Preview (Album 15)

(Louvin preview here) Country Music. I don't know, I suppose that they tell you to listen to this album because it must be the first country album...But I don't think that is true. There has got to be country music from before this. Either way, I just can't find myself ever ever ever listening to this. It's not that its bad necessarily, it just doesn't do anything for me. Ever. I've tried. I listened to the whole thing. Some of the songs were fun for sure. This is country music at it's finest, the two voices are so...country. There is no other way to say it.

Favorite Songs:
     Let Her Go, God Bless Her

Back to my favorite decade.

Album: Bitches Brew

Artist: Miles Davis

Release Year: 1970

"Recording sessions for Bitches Brew began at 8 a.m. on August 18, 1969, a few hours after Jimi Hendrix had demolished "The Star Spangled Banner" at Woodstock, and it is Hendrix's incendiary voice that haunts this double album...Bitches Brew sold half a million copies within a year and made Miles "relevant" in a way that he had not been in more than a decade. He had reclaimed his crown as the king of jazz, something he retained until his death 20 years later."

01 - Pharoh's Dance

02 - Bitches Brew

03 - Spanish Key

04 - John McLaughlin

05 - Miles Runs The Voodoo Down

06 - Sanctuary

Streaming: Radio3.net

iTunes: Bitches Brew

Spotify: Bitches Brew

A free form improv jazz session from one of the greatest in the game. Should be exciting. Also a bad-ass name for an album.

~mfm

Miriam Makeba Review / The Louvin Brothers Preview (Album 14)

(Mariam preview here) Wow. That was a very interesting listen. I was absolutely blown away by the click song. When she opens the song, she starts with explaining that the song isn't really called "The Click Song", but that is what the "white people called it" because they couldn't pronounce...the name of the song. That is the kind of language that is going to some day be lost to the world, it wasn't meant for being written down, and it is being eradicated because people are being pushed to change their way of life. It makes me glad that we have this music recorded. But enough politics. One song sounded very very familiar to what I know as the opening scene of The Lion King. Disney seems to know what they are doing (Simba, means lion in Swahili I'm pretty sure), and may have used that same exact sound for their movie. If it was stealing or not, I don't know. But it's recognizable enough. Fun album. I like the renditions of House Of The Rising Sun. The song "Naughty Little Flea" actually creeped me out. During this song, which sounded like it was about a lady losing her husband, there is a dude laughing in the background. Huh? Just weird. Anyways, probably not an album I will listen to often, but great for expanding horizons.

Favorite Songs:
     The Click Song
     Mbube
     The Naughty Little Flea
     House Of The Rising Sun

Whoops. Turns out I skipped the 50s this time around. Let's go back a little and do that one...

Album: Tragic Songs Of Life

Artist: The Louvin Brothers

(Footnote: I couldn't find a good image of the album art the book used)

Release Year: 1956

"You don't have to be mad murderous, drunken, driven, lonesome, ornery, or blue to sing country music... but it sure helps. This, their first full album, remains one of country's essential bedrock releases. Charlies baritone and Ira's pure high tenor trade and fuse with lilting style and beauteous grace. It is gospel-fired bluegrass shot straight from the heart." - Ross Fortune

01 - Kentucky

02 - I'll Be All Smiles Tonght

03 - Let Her Go God Bless You

04 - What Is Home Without Love

05 - A Tiny Broken Heart

07 - Alabama

08 - Katie Dear

09 - My Brother's Will

10 - Knoxville Girl

11 - Take The News To Mother

12 - Mary Of The Wild Moor

Streaming: Radio3.net

iTunes: Louvin Brothers

Spotify: Louvin Brothers

Country music...

~mfm

Air Review / Miriam Makeba Preview (Album 13)

(Air preview here) So. This album album is really cool. Sadly, I didn't watch it with the movie, which would greatly improve it I'm sure. I still plan on watching it. Listening to it was interesting, and I definitively could see how it would greatly improve everything with the movie. The songs are all pretty short, considering they are all just for the movie and probably used over and over again. The songs are also really cool, with their strings and their vocals being used as sounds, there are a couple with really really cool crescendos that I can imagine hearing during the apex of the movie. Pretty sweet stuff.

Favorite Songs:
     Playground Love
     Clouds Up
     Ghost Song
     Dead Bodies (Awesome crescendo)

Back around the horn...

Album: Miriam Makeba

Artist: Miriam Makeba

Release Year: 1960

"Traditional Xhosa wedding songs swing into airy African jazz moods, mellifluous Indoneasian lullabies, and infectious Calypso romps - myriad influences and styles working to enormous effect." - Miles Keylock

I don't know what half of those words mean, but I am willing to find out.

01 - The Retreat Song

02 - Sullram

03 - The Click Song

04 - Umhome

05 - Olilili

06 - Lakutshn, Ilanga

07 - Mbube

08 - The Naughty Little Flea

09 - Where Does It Lead

10 - Nomeva

11 - House Of The Rising Sun

12 - Saduva

13 - One More Dance

14 - Iya Guduza

Streaming: Radio3.net

iTunes: iTunes

Spotify: Spotify

Sounds worldly....

~mfm

The Shamen Review / Air Preview (Album 12)

(Shamen preview here) 2011 Grammys were on last night. I totally called who was gonna be Song of the Year.

Anyways.

I have said this before, it's hard to tell sometimes what makes some of these albums make the cut. I think that it has more to do with timing than anything really. The first album to do something - and it doesn't necessarily have to be super-awesome at it - is usually considered the groundbreaking album. So what we have here is an early 90s club banger. The songs are very house style (house techno), and from what I know the first album from the UK to really bring this kind of sound to the mainstream. I like it.

Favorite Songs:

     666 Edit

     Progen 91

     Possible Worlds

     Move Any Mountain (This song wasn't on the Book's list of songs, but when I downloaded it, it was added on as probably an after effect)

Album: The Virgin Suicides

Artist: Air

Release Year: 2000

"Seldom has sound and vision collided so gracefully as it did on Air's soundtrack for Sofia Coppola's directorial debut. The synergy between the images, which tell the tragic tale of five sisters with nothing to live for, and the French electronica duo's mesmerizing, drama-rish score is so great that it is impossible to imagine either existing without the other." - Jim Harrington

01 - Playground Love

02 - Clouds Up

03 - Bathroom Girl

04 - Cemetary Party

05 - Dark Messages

06 - The World "hurricane"

07 - Dirty Trip

08 - Highschool Lover

09 - Afternoon Sister

10 - Ghost Song

11 - Empty House

12 - Dead Bodies

13 - Suicide Underground

Streaming: The Virgin Suicides

iTunes: The Virgin Suicides

Spotify: The Virgin Suicides

The review made this album sound AMAZING. I may have to watch the movie as well.

~mfm

Dexy's Midnight Runners Review / The Shamen Preview (Album 11)

(Dexy's preview here) What up everybody. Hope things are going well.
Alright enough chit-chat. This is business. 10 Albums done already. Only...990 to go. Dexy's Midnight Runners is a band I had never heard of before. But I think that I can tell you why. My music taste is based a lot on my fathers, as I may have said before. And...This is nothing like anything he has listened to before. Probably, again, because there is a lot of foreign music in this book. And this album falls directly into that category. I like some of the music, groovy and jam-tastic, but the main singers voice didn't do it for me. Too British or something. It wasn't as powerful as I thought it should have been or could have been. I do like the horn section during many of the songs though, they add something that is missing from a lot of music these days: music.

Favorite Songs:
     The Team That Met In The Caffs [Mostly Instrumental]
     Love Part One [Monologue]

The 90s, aka the oddest decade of the 90s.

Album: En-Tact

Artist: The Shamen

Release Year: 1990

"The Shamen combined underground dance culture with pop sensibility, resulting in 100,000 sales of their 1990 album En-Tact. A coded love letter to the joys of extacy, it led to one million album sales in the UK alone. In retrospect, time has been kinder to En-Tact's more innocent, less earnest dance anthems." - Andy Pickering

01 - Human NRG

02 - Pro-Gen (Land Of Oz Mix)

03 - Possible Words

04 - Omega Amigo (Steve Osbourne Mix) 

05 - Evil Is Even

06 - Hyperreal

07 - Lightspan (Will Sinnott / Irresistible Force Mix)

08 - Make It Mine (V2.5 Evil Ed)

09 - Oxygen Restriction

10 - Hear Me O My People

Streaming: Radio3net.ro

iTunes: En-Tact

Spotify: En-Tact

I like electro music. Could be interesting.

~mfmf

Derek and The Dominos Review / Dexy's Midnight Runners Preview (Album 10)

(Derek preview here) So the Derek and the Dominos album is legit. It's interesting to hear and Eric Clapton album before "Clapton is God" really happened. Which was around the late 70s I believe. He still carries his signature sound (awesome guitar, whether it be a riff or a solo or just background melody) and when the time is right he sings. This album is interesting because there are other people involved and showcased; unlike what a regular Clapton album would be like.

Favorite songs:
     Keep On Growing
     Key to the Highway
     Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad
     Layla

Yuck. just kidding. More 80s goodness:

Album: Searching For The Young Soul Rebels

Artist: Dexy's Midnight Runners

Release Year: 1980

"This inaugral LP proved just as strong, opening with the sound of a radio swithcing channels before a cry of "For God's sake burn it down" kicks things off. The track was a reworking of debut single "Dance Stance," Rowland's angry diatribe against anti-Irish jokes. Welcome to the new soul vision indeed." - Jon Harrington

01 - Burn It Down

02 - Tell Me When My Light Turns Green

03 - The Team That Meet In Caffs

04 - I'm Just Looking

05 - Geno

06 - Seven Days Too Long

07 - I Couldn't Help It If I Tried

08 - Thankfully Not Living In New Yorkshire It Doesn't Apply

09 - Keep It

10 - Love Part One

11 - There, There, My Dear

Streaming: Radio3net.ro

iTunes: Searching For The Young Soul Rebels (Has some remasters)

Spotify: Searching For The Young Soul Rebels

Hmm. Interesting to see what this will be. I have never heard of this band before. Let it begin.

~mfm