Check it out!AudioGalaxy (and its "Satellite" download program) makes it easy to find songs from other users. I don't see how it can be legal. But it's very cool. Heck, I'd pay for this.
Okay, so, what am I listening to? I downloaded some Bob Marley songs and I'm playing them pretty much non-stop while I'm on the computer. The reggae beat just feels really good. I particularly like "One Love." I'm also listening to songs by The English Beat, "Mirror in the Bathroom," "Sooner or Later," "Tears of a Clown." Oh, yeah.
In the car, I've been listening to a CD I just finished making recently, the first one that was inspired by Marel Trout and her great mixes, Don't Try This At Home (Vols. 1 - 6, with 7 and 8 on the way). These tapes are a collection of world music and world-like music. So they have African artists, Latin artists, and then stuff like Paul Simon, Dave Matthews Band, etc. I love these mixes. So I'm making some to give back. The first one is done, including artwork. It's going out in the mail today.
Tuesday, June 26, 2001
Years ago I was an angry young man And I'd pretend That I was a billboard Standing tall By the side of the road I fell in love With the beautiful highway
This used to be real estate Now it's only fields and trees Where, where is the town? Now, it's nothing but flowers The highways and cars Were sacrificed for agriculture I thought that we'd start over But I guess I was wrong!
Talking Heads, (Nothing But) Flowers
Have I said lately that I think David Byrne is a genius? Well, I do.
Side note: I discovered last night that a bunch of my image links in the music section were broken. Mostly the title images on nearly every page except for this one. Argh! They must have been that way for months! Please allow me to apologize to my regular readers for the oversight. Although I'm not gonna apologize too hard, because any one of you could have written to let me know things were messed up... so we'll call it even. And I think they're all fixed now.
Monday, June 25, 2001
I've been listening to so much African music, it's seeped into my subconscious.
The other night I dreamed I was listening to a new Britney Spears album, and I suddenly recognized this deep vocal bass line. "Hm," I thought, "I didn't know Britney Spears was working with Ladysmith Black Mambazo on her new album."
Thursday, June 21, 2001
Yesterday saw the release of the new Stone Temple Pilots CD, Shangri-La Dee Da. I'm so excited that Scott Weiland is still clean and they've released another album. So of course I ran right out and bought it.
So far I think it's pretty good. I like it better than No. 4, although maybe not as much as the earlier ones (Core and Purple are my favorites). Some of the tracks that stand out: "Too Cool Queenie," "Wonderful," "Bi-Polar Bear," "Dumb Love."
Besides that, I'm listening to some Paul Simon music. Specifically, You're the One, his latest (which I love), and Bridge Over Troubled Water, the final Simon and Garfunkel record (although it may as well have been a Paul Simon record, from what I've read). Bridge is one of those albums I listened to obsessively around the age of 11, as if it contained the secret to the meaning of life. It's an old friend.
Song for the Asking Paul Simon
Here is my song for the asking Ask me and I will play So sweetly, I'll make you smile
This is my tune for the taking Take it, don't turn away I've been waiting all my life
Thinking it over, I've been sad Thinking it over, I'd be more than glad To change my ways for the asking
Ask me and I will play All the love that I hold inside...
Wednesday, June 20, 2001
Listening to:
Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi - This artist from Zimbabwe has some of the catchiest tunes and prettiest songs I've heard in quite awhile. His lyrics dig into the social issues of his homeland -- gender inequality, AIDS, poverty, racism -- but the music makes you want to dance. Suggested album: Tuku Music, espcially the tracks "Todii" and "Wake Up."
Cornershop - A great pop band with an Indian lead singer (Tjinder Singh, swoon!). They play a mix of Punjabi pop and Western pop, with all kinds of samples and distortion thrown in. Suggested album: When I Was Born for the Seventh Time, especially "Brimful of Asha" and "Funky Days are Back Again."
Dave Matthews Band - Okay, so everyone already knows who Dave Matthews is. :-) But did you know he's from South Africa? Anyway, his music makes me very happy, and I've been playing the albums Crash and Everyday a lot lately. Suggested tracks: "Two Step" and "Say Goodbye" (from Crash), "The Space Between" and "If I Had it All" (from Everyday).
Monday, June 18, 2001
Laura has added her list of all-time favorite Bob Dylan songs to her lists page.
She also has some ratings of Beach Boys songs and albums over on her Into the Sun page (see "ratings"), and these lists are very scientific -- calculated by metrics using spreadsheets.
It's good to know that other people take music very seriously too.
Saturday, June 09, 2001
I'm working on some mixes, so I'm listening to a bunch of stuff today. I've been inspired by Marel Trout's amazing mix tapes, of which I now own six. Thank you, Marel!
In the process of finding exactly the right songs for three mixes of my own, I have about 40 CDs out of the shelves down in the living room. I listened to some excellent stuff today, from Sam Cooke to the Drummers of Burundi, but I think my favorite was this:
Thunder Road Bruce Springsteen
The screen door slams Mary's dress waves Like a vision she dances across the porch As the radio plays Roy Orbison singing for the lonely Hey that's me and I want you only Don't turn me home again I just can't face myself alone again Don't run back inside Darling you know just what I'm here for So you're scared and you're thinking That maybe we ain't that young anymore Show a little faith, there's magic in the night You ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright Oh and that's alright with me
You can hide 'neath your covers And study your pain Make crosses from your lovers Throw roses in the rain Waste your summer praying in vain For a saviour to rise from these streets Well now I'm no hero That's understood All the redemption I can offer, girl Is beneath this dirty hood With a chance to make it good somehow Hey what else can we do now?
Except roll down the window And let the wind blow Back your hair Well the night's busting open These two lanes will take us anywhere We got one last chance to make it real To trade in these wings on some wheels Climb in back Heaven's waiting on down the tracks Oh-oh come take my hand Riding out tonight to case the promised land Oh-oh Thunder Road, oh Thunder Road Oh Thunder Road Lying out there like a killer in the sun Hey I know it's late we can make it if we run Oh Thunder Road, sit tight take hold Thunder Road
Well I got this guitar And I learned how to make it talk And my car's out back If you're ready to take that long walk From your front porch to my front seat The door's open but the ride it ain't free And I know you're lonely For words that I ain't spoken But tonight we'll be free All the promises'll be broken There were ghosts in the eyes Of all the boys you sent away They haunt this dusty beach road In the skeleton frames of burnt out Chevrolets
They scream your name at night in the street Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet And in the lonely cool before dawn You hear their engines roaring on But when you get to the porch they're gone On the wind, so Mary climb in It's a town full of losers And I'm pulling out of here to win
Friday, June 08, 2001
Well I woke up this morning, stumbled out of my rack I opened up the paper to the page in the back It only took a minute for my finger to find My daily dose of destiny, under my sign My eyes just about popped out of my head It said "The stars are stacked against you girl, get back in bed"
I feel lucky, I feel lucky, yeah No Professor Doom gonna stand in my way Mmmmm, I feel lucky today
Mary Chapin Carpenter, I Feel Lucky
Listening to:Tunes to Rune By: A Neurochemical Reaction in Five Acts. This is a classic Katynka tape. It's a very eclectic mix about attraction -- physical, intellectual, and emotional. It sure takes me back...
Side One Le Nozze de Figaro I Feel Lucky Here I Am Hey Tonight Only the Good Die Young I'm on Fire 99.9ºF Layla Raindrop Concerto And She Was Turandot
Side 2 Brahms Symphony No. 4 Ice Cream Do Right Woman She Makes Me Feel Good Gee Baby Ain't I Good to You? She's Too Good for Me Sanctus (Mass in B minor) If I Could Give You More It's Been a Hard Day's Night Wake Up, Little Susie Black Coffee in Bed
Wednesday, June 06, 2001
Today in the car I'm playing The Perks of Being a Sushi Cat, a mix by Candra Gill. I traded for it on Art of the Mix. It's a great CD, with a very cool combination of new stuff, old stuff, Japanese stuff, and "Perks of Being a Wallflower"-related stuff. Candra is legendary at Art of the Mix; her musical tastes run in every direction and her mixes are very good. I'm fortunate enough to have two of them!
Sheila, Take a Bow The Smiths
Is it wrong to want to live on your own ? No, it's not wrong - but I must know How can someone so young Sing words so sad ?
Sheila take a, Sheila take a bow Boot the grime of this world in the crotch, dear And don't go home tonight Come out and find the one that you love and who loves you The one that you love and who loves you Oh ...
Is it wrong not to always be glad ? No, it's not wrong - but I must add How can someone so young Sing words so sad ?
Sheila take a, Sheila take a bow Boot the grime of this world in the crotch, dear And don't go home tonight Come out and find the one that you love and who loves you The one that you love and who loves you
Take my hand and off we stride You're a girl and I'm a boy Take my hand and off we stride I'm a girl and you're a boy
Sheila take a, Sheila take a bow Throw your homework onto the fire Come out and find the one that you love Come out and find the one you love
Tuesday, June 05, 2001
On the way to work I was listening to Lenny Kravitz's Greatest Hits. It's a great CD, but then, Lenny Kravitz is a great guitar player and singer. He seems to me like a real music lover. He must love all kinds of music to sing in so many different styles.
I've also been listening to Happy Spirits, a mix CD I made earlier this year. It's a CD about Ricky Martin.
Happy Spirits (A Mix for Ricky)
Right Said Fred / I'm Too Sexy U2 / Elevation ABBA / Dancing Queen Aerosmith / Pink The Carpenters / Top of the World Boston / More Than a Feeling Puerto Rican Power / Emergencia de Amor Little Richard / I Feel Pretty Madonna / Human Nature Soul Coughing / Super Bon Bon T. Rex / 20th Century Boy Journey / Faithfully Ricky Martin / Are You in It for Love? Britney Spears / What U See is What U Get Lou Gramm / Midnight Blue EMF / Unbelievable Oro Solido / Chupa tu Paleta Steve Miller Band / Abracadabra Journey / Be Good to Yourself
Yesterday saw the release of the new Stone Temple Pilots CD, Shangri-La Dee Da. I'm so excited that Scott Weiland is still clean and they've released another album. So of course I ran right out and bought it.
