music

214 posts

LeftCoastLady’s Favorite Music from 2010

8 comments

(To see the original entry in all its non-modified glory, please visit Dimple and a Smirk (dot) com.)

In looking back on the music of 2010 that entered my ears, I listened to a lot of house/dance/electronic. Moving one’s ass is always a good thing. I also listened to a lot of comedy albums this year. In fact, this will be the first time my “best of” list will include comedy albums. If I had done this last year, Jim Gaffigan’s King Baby would have blown away most of my music selections. I’m almost embarrassed by the number of times I’ve played tracks from the album this year.

But enough of that, let’s get on to my favorites from 2010!

Favorite Albums:

The Lady Killer – Cee Lo Green
Before the album was released, everyone was abuzz about “F**k You” and rightfully so. It’s catchy, makes you smile, and includes a handful of f-bombs. The good news is the rest of the album is just as great and in some places, even better. If there is such a genre as alt-R&B, then Cee Lo is part of it. It may be cliché, but this album deserves all the praise it can get. Cee Lo’s take on Band of Horse’s “No One’s Gonna Love You” is so good, I may start listening to his version more than the original. And I love the original version to pieces.

Brothers – The Black Keys
Will the bluesy boys from Akron, Ohio, ever put out a less than awesome album? Highly doubtful. If your foot doesn’t start tapping beginning on the opening track, “Everlasting Light,” you may need to loosen up a bit. If your hips aren’t swaying on the second song, “Next Girl,” you may not have a pulse. When I first heard “Next Girl,” I knew I would be blasting it a lot. Oh goodness, what a great fucking song. There are a lot of contagious songs on this album — “Howlin’ for You,” “The Only One,” and well, all of them. Also, go see the Black Keys perform live. One of the best live bands around, that’s for sure.

Record Collection – Mark Ronson & The Business Intl.
What happens when a sought-after producer puts out an album that includes collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Boy George, D’angelo, Miike Snow, Q-Tip, among others? Awesome things happen, that’s what. The title of the album is appropriate because it feels like a carefully-crafted mix tape. “Bang Bang Bang” and “You Gave Me Nothing” will get you on the dancefloor while “Someone to Love Me” will make retreat to a seat on the side because you don’t have a dance partner.

Pete Yorn – Pete Yorn
See the review I wrote back in September. I’ll add this: I cannot wait to see PY perform live in support of this album in a few months. It will also be interesting to see whether or not married life affects his future musical output.

Let It Go – Bill Burr
Bill Burr is an angry man and that’s why I like him. I like to think his anger allows me to walk around and not rage at everyone and everything. You’ll laugh out loud at his observations on people because there’s a good chance you’ve encountered some of the same situations. Thanks to Bill Burr, you can hear what it sounds like if you were to act on what you’re really thinking.

I Learned the Hard Way– Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
When I first picked up this album back in April, I knew it would be on my year-end “best of” list. It’s as if by pushing “play” I was transported back in time to the era of Motown girl groups and bands who wore matching suits. Sharon’s voice just pours emotion into the lyrics. You feel her heartache on tracks like “The Game Gets Old” or on, my favorite track, “Window Shopping.” Likewise, the Dap-Kings work in tandem with Sharon’s voice to fully make the songs deliver their punch. On the instrumental track, “The Reason,” you really get to hear the Dap-Kings as they deliver a song that is just…groovy. No really, it has a great groove.

Crazy For You – Best Coast
The opening track “Boyfriend” sucked me in. If the rest of the album wasn’t great, “Boyfriend” would have been at the top of my favorite songs list. The album is full of catchy sugar pop music — check out “Our Deal” and “Honey” — that makes you want to sit on a beach blanket while writing in your diary about your new crush.

Timeless Pulse – Collioure
While listening to a Deep House Cat podcast, I fell in love with a song called “La Vague.” That sent me on a search to learn more about Collioure, a Japanese downtempo/lounge group. With limited vocals on the songs, the listener is left to fully appreciate the music, which is lush, exotic and perfect for a chillout session.

III/IV – Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
I’ve only had this double album — on beautiful, gorgeous, colorful vinyl — for about two weeks, but yes, it’s really that good. What’s essentially a collection of B-sides can put to shame a lot of A-side albums on the market these days. The album has some great little gems on it like “Typecast” and “Gracie.”

Transference – Spoon
When I received Transference, I wasn’t sure where to set my expectations. Could they really do another Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga? Yes and no. With songs like “Who Makes Your Money” and “Got Nuffin,” I found the album to be a closer relative to soulful grooves found on Gimme Fiction. One of my favorite tracks is the sleepy “Out Goes the Lights.”

Honorable Mentions:

As I Call You Down – Fistful of Mercy
Dhani Harrison, Ben Harper, and Joseph Arthur. That’s three kinds of awesome merged into one group. For a debut album, it’s fairly solid, however, where it falters is in trying to maintain some of the singular qualities of each musician’s individual artistry. When I listen to the album, I can hear each member’s contributions, but I also (selfishly) wanted to hear them push beyond that and deliver something unique to the album.

Interpol – Interpol
I really wanted to like this album more than I currently do. I wanted to love it, especially after the less-than-stellar Our Love to Admire. The couple of songs I heard prior to the album’s release — “Barricade” and “Lights” — gave me hope, but as a whole, the album left me longing for a band that put out Turn on the Bright Lights and Antics. Yes, I’ve become one of those types of fans, which is sad, because I’ve loved Interpol for a long time.

Winner Winner – Jessi Campbell
Because of my frequent comedy album purchases, Jessi Campbell’s album came up as a recommendation. I’d never heard of her before the recommendation. I listened to the album with tempered expectations, but oh my, she’s quite funny! I’m looking forward to hearing more from her in the future.

Favorite Songs (excludes songs from favorite albums):

“Blackbird and the Fox” – Twilight Singers feat. Ani DiFranco
“Rolling in the Deep” – Adele
“Not Giving Up On Love (Armin van Buuren Remix)” – Armin Van Buuren vs. Sophie Ellis Bextor
“O.N.E.” – Yeasayer
“Together Alright (MTV’s 2010 Club Mix)” – Martijn ten Velden & Red Carpet
“Vanity” – Christina Aguilera
“Our Summer” – Dragonette
“Back It Up (Melleefresh vs Jerome Robins Velvet Fog Mix)” – SpekrFreks vs. Billy Newton Davis
“Why Like This” – Teebs

Songs I rediscovered this year and now realize it may be some of the most perfect songs ever recorded (2010 edition):

“Home” – Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros (Yes, I know this song was only released a year ago, but it’s an earworm that finds its way into my head frequently.)

“So Close” – Hall & Oates

“Take Some…Leave Some” – James Brown

What I’m looking forward to music-wise in 2011: New Twilight Singers (Dynamite Steps), new PJ Harvey (Let England Shake), new Adele (21), hopefully more new Ryan Adams, attending live shows all over the place, including Pete Yorn and Twilight Singers, and, of course, discovering more new music that I can rave about to anyone who will listen.

Daily free music from Minnesota Public Radio

3 comments

Inspired by the other NPR post, my local and hearted public conglomerate has a music station that has a free song every day, downloadable in podcast form on the iTunes store.

It’s wonderful.

Song of the day

And you’re welcome to freely utilize our public radio awesomeness unless you say mean things about Minnesotans being snobby about our awesomeness. You can still utilize it, but you have to debase yourselves by saying we’re at least a little bit awesome.

The 10 Most Underrated Musical Instruments

22 comments

Didn’t think we’d stoop so low as to use listicles to whore ourselves out for pageviews?

THINK AGAIN, CRAZY PERSON.

Personally, I love listicles. I love packing information in Top 10 List form. I want my medical history to be a listicle. I want my last will and testament to be delivered in listicle form to my descendants. So if you don’t like listicles and think they’re cheap and tacky… you can go enjoy yourself over at C-SPAN’s website or something.

So anyway, here are my Top 10 Most Underrated Musical Instruments. This is all very scientific, so don’t even try to argue with my findings.

1. The hi-hat

The hi-hat wasn’t even invented until the 1920s, which makes it among the youngest of all percussion instruments. The hi-hat is basically two cymbals mounted on a rod. A spring keeps the two cymbals pressed together until the drummer presses a foot pedal to lift the top cymbal. The hi-hat can make both an “open” hat and a “closed” hat sound.

Here’s Max Roach playing nothing but the hi-hat.



and here’s Buddy Rich….



2. The Hammond B3 Organ
The Hammond Organ was invented in the 30s and marketed to churches as a low-cost alternative to traditional pipe organs. The Hammond uses a system of tonewheels and electromagnetic pickups to make its sound and despite many, many, many attempts to copy its sound electronically, most purists feel there’s just no substitute for the sound of an authentic B3. The instrument is all over rock music, soul, jazz, blues… basically EVERYTHING made between about 1963 and 1980.

Here’s Billy Preston shredding on the B3…



3. The lap steel.
The lap steel is a type of guitar that’s played with a metal slide instead of having the strings pressed down onto the neck. According to Wikipedia, it may have been invented in 1885 when some guy started playing his guitar with a railroad spike, then a knife blade. I hope this is true, because that’s just badass. The lap steel is probably most associated with the country/western twang, but it’s also used in a lot of gospel, jazz, blues and rock.

Here’s Robert Randolph covering “Billie Jean”… on the lap steel… seriously.



4. The vibraphone.
I mentioned the vibraphone in my post about Roy Ayers. The vibraphone uses aluminum bars and electrically-powered resonator tubes to get is signature mellow sound. The thing I love the most about the vibes is that the act of actually playing the instrument is so expressive and physical. It’s just huge fun to watch.

Here’s “King of the Vibes” Lionel Hampton…



5. The steelpan.
The steelpan is sort of distantly related to a lot of other Afro-Caribbean percussion instruments but the modern steelpan really came about when it was invented in Trinidad in the late 40s using 55-gallon steel drums. Technically, the steelpan is not a drum but an idiophone, since it doesn’t have a membrane like a drum does. And although the steelpan is sort of lazily associated with tourist-friendly resort calypso, you really need to check out the huge Trinidadan steel bands to hear what it’s capable of.

Here’s a steel band perfroming at Trinidad’s carnival….



6. The harpsichord.
The piano really did make the harpsichord its bitch for the past few hundred years. It’s too bad, because the harpsichord, which plucks rather than strikes the tuned strings, is one of those instruments that instantly makes you feel like European royalty… either that or you’re about to be involved in some kind of creepy Eyes Wide Shut masquerade sex orgy.

Here’s Sonata in D minor by Domenico Scarlatti, played on a modern harpsichord (I have no idea whether this is considered good classical music or not, but my ears like it)…



7. The marimba.
The marimba is very similar to the vibraphone, except it’s not electrically amplified and it uses wood bars instead of aluminum ones. The instrument is probably based on much older African instruments, so it’s one of those truly primal sounds that humans have evolved alongside over centuries. I love that.

Here’s Brian Jones playing the marimba on “Under My Thumb” by the Stones…



8. The Minimoog.
The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer that was first released in 1970 (though the technology it uses is a bit older). The idea behind the Minimoog was to make a synthesizer that was portable, since early synths were basically the size of a fucking Volkswagen. Sun Ra and Keith Emerson were among the first to use Minimoogs on stage.

Here’s “Metropolis” by Kraftwerk…



9. The timbales.
Timbales are cuban drums that are tuned extremely high and placed up high so that the player stands while performing. They can be played ridiculously fast and it’s almost impossible to not want to dance when hearing timbales played. Why the hell don’t you see more non-latin musicians playing them? What a historically underutilized instrument!

Here’s “El Rey Del Timbal” Tito Puente performing with Sheila E (seriously, how fucking cool are these two?)…



10. The Jew’s harp.
The most politically-incorrect instrument name of all time? Maybe. Especially since, the Jew’s harp has absolutely nothing to do with the Jewish people. (It was probably invented in central Asia.) You can call it a “jaw harp” if you prefer. The Jew’s harp is also one of the world’s oldest musical instruments and definitely one of the weirdest-sounding. It’s a reed attached to a metal frame, which is then bit down on with the player’s teeth and plucked with the finger. I think I would injure myself playing this thing.

Here’s Roger Daltrey playing it at the very beginning of “Join Together” by The Who….


Get to know: Roy Ayers

1 comment

You’ve probably listened to Roy Ayers, even if you don’t realize it. After James Brown and maybe a few others, he’s probably among the most-sampled musicians of all time. 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige, A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets and just about every single house producer who ever came long have all used Roy Ayers samples.

You should know who Roy Ayers is.

So who is he? Well Ayers is hugely famous for being one of the greatest-ever players of the vibraphone (which is not the same as a xylophone). According to his biography, he grew up in what is now South Central Los Angeles and got his first pair of vibraphone mallets at the age of five…. as a gift from Lionel Fucking Hampton. Basically, Ayers was born to play music. It was his destiny.

So he started off in jazz and then the 70s came around so he mixed soul music, funk and disco into his sound. The rest is history. Since then he’s played alongside Chaka Khan, Fela Kuti, The Roots, Erykah Badu and probably dozens of electronic dance music producers. He’s ubiquitous and there could be no modern neo-soul music without him. And while he’s still hugely popular around the world and he’s still touring quite a bit, here in his own country I feel like we’ve forgotten about him a little bit. (We have a nasty habit of doing that.)

So here are 10 Roy Ayers songs to enjoy…


“Running Away” (Live)
Roy’s most famous song, this is jazz music that you can let loose to. It’s such fun, fast, alive music. Plus I love the guitar solo at the end, and Roy’s energy on stage is perfect. One of the YouTube commenters said it best: “This is where Jamiroquai got their sound.”


“Searching”


“Everybody Loves the Sunshine”
Underground California soul music with lovely synthesizers and great vocals. A perfect beach song… for people who like to eat a box full of pills before going to the beach.


“Can’t You See Me?”


“Love Will Bring Us Back Together”
A brilliant slab of disco funk with a squiggly little keyboard riff. I love one YouTube commenter’s take on this song: “i know, i know, i’m an old head, but gather round you younguns and let me tell you about a time when THIS kind of music played at house parties…. picture it, 1979 when i was 18, no guns, no gang violence, girls (most of the time) acted like ladies, cars were made of steel, songs spoke of love, (not bangin’ that thang), and people knew how to communicate…now put down that damn x-box, listen to this & learn something….know-it-all-whipp­er-snappa !”


“Change Up The Groove”


“Battle of the Vibes” (Live)
Here’s a 1988 concert where Roy and his percussionist do a little battle on the vibraphone. This is magic. Makes me wish I paid attention when they had us banging on glockenspiels in the fifth grade. Also, if you ever get invited over to Roy’s House for an impromptu jam session (hey, it could happen), remember to bring a towel. Don’t be sweatin’ on the man’s vibes!


“2000 Blacks Got To Be Free”
In 1980 Roy teamed up with Fela Kuti to give us this little slice of amazing funk. The horns are all Fela’s style but the spoken-word vocals are all Roy.


“Aragon”
This one was on the soundtrack to “Coffy,” with Pam Grier. So basically it can’t get much cooler than this.


“Get On Up, Get On Down”

Sharing My Pants: Warm & Cozies, or Music to Survive Winter 2010

1 comment

Warm and cozy penguins. Aw.

Let’s be blunt: Winter in Canada is fucking dark and cold and we have to find ways to sustain ourselves up here. For me, that means making mixes that keep me warm (alongside a glass or two of red).

Track Listing:

1. Cloudy – Simon & Garfunkel

2. Still Sound – toro y moi

3. Can’t Hear My Eyes – Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti

4. Wet Cement – The Morning Benders

5. Eyes – Still Corners

6. Don’t Blame Me – The Everly Brothers

7. Demon Host – Timbre Timber

8. Desire Lines – Deerhunter

9. Lover of Mine – Beach House

10. Quick Canal – Atlas Sound (w/ Laetitia Sadler)

11. Asleep at a Party – Memory Cassette

12. Outer Limits – SLEEP ? OVER

13. Chinatown – Wild Nothing

14. Endless Summer – Still Corners

15. Who Loves the Sun – The Velvet Underground

16. Marathon – Tennis

17. Boyfriend – Best Coast

18. Pleasure Sighs – The Morning Benders

19. Hospice Gates – Lower Dens

20. Helicopter – Deerhunter

21. All I Wanna Do – The Beach Boys

22. Walk in the Park – Beach House

23. I Saw Her in the Anti-War Demonstration – Jens Lekman

http://8tracks.com/sharempants/warm-and-cozies-2010

Bob Marley is dead: Dancehall reggae of the 80s and early 90s

5 comments

Jamaica in the 80s and early 90s was a tough place. OK, I wasn’t there, but the country was certainly facing a lot of challenges. By 1982, the spiritual godfather of reggae, Bob Marley was dead. Peter Tosh would be brutally murdered in 1987. In 1980, after years of left-leaning governments, the Reagan-allied Edward Seaga took over as prime minister and the political violence would continue for much of the next 30 years. Meanwhile Jamaica’s economy was decimated by cocaine-related violence, high inflation and IMF-mandated austerity measures.

But despite all that misery, Jamaica, the tiny little island, truly grew into a world superpower when it came to music. Here are some tracks from the first post-Bob generation of Jamaican dancehall performers. This isn’t a canon, just a small selection of songs I like. So turn up your subwoofer…


“Diseases” by Michigan and Smiley – 1982


“Zungguzungguguzungguzeng” by Yellowman – 1983


“Police in Helicopter” by John Holt – 1983


“Under Mi Sensi” by Barrington Levy – 1984


“Herbman Smuggling” by Yellowman and Fathead – 1984


“Here I Come” by Barrington Levy – 1984


“Under Mi Sleng Teng” by Wayne Smith – 1985


“Agony” by Red Dragon – 1988


“Murder Dem” by Ninjaman – 1989


“The Herb” by Tony Rebel – 1990


Nicodemus and Super Cat perform live in New York – 1990


“Dem No Worry We” by Super Cat – 1992


“You Don’t Love Me (No, no, no)” by Dawn Penn – 1992

Check the narrative: Great moments in story rap

8 comments

Not all rap is just endless metaphors and wordplay. The “story rap” packs its narrative into a 3 minute single. Here are some of my favorite story raps. I even tried to pull from different regions and styles. NYC is heavily represented of course. That’s mainly because of Nas, Mos Def and Gang Starr, who all seem to love doing story raps. But don’t forget the Dirty South and West coast. They’re representin’ too.


“Crime Story” by DMX
An armed robbery goes wrong, so the scofflaw is forced to hide from the police. While in hiding, the protagonist reflects on his life and decides his only option is a suicide mission against the precinct house. Note the cameo by a young Ja Rule.


“I Gave You Power” by Nas
Nas is probably one of the rappers most closely associated with story raps. This one is written from the POV of a gun. It’s a risky narrative strategy but I think it works. And unlike an actual gunshot wound, the song’s nice jazzy 90s beat doesn’t hurt.


“It Was a Good Day” by Ice Cube
A day in the life of Ice Cube, rapped over top of a thick Isley Brothers sample. Sometimes everything really is alright. As Mr. Cube would say, sometimes you just need to “put that ass to sleep.”


“Betrayal” by Gang Starr feat. Scarface
Between Gang Starr’s Guru and Scarface, these are two of the greatest rap voices ever. On this track Scarface tells a story about an athletically-gifted kid who tries to live a clean life until “a group of knuckleheads came through jumpin.”


“The Heist” by Big L
Big L teaches us how to set someone up for a robbery/mugging. Maybe if OJ listened to this he wouldn’t be in prison now. Oh well.


“Crosstown Beef” by Medina Green feat. Mos Def
This track was on the classic “Soundbombing 2” album. No one remembers who Medina Green even was, but he and Mos came up with a great one here. This is pretty much exactly how I imagine it feels to be caught up in gang drama.


“Memory Lane” by Nas
From the classic Illmatic album, Nas takes us back to his childhood. He was only like 18 when he wrote this, though, so I suspect he’s really just an excellent storyteller.


“Back in the Day” by Ahmad
I couldn’t name one other song by Ahmad, but this song is pure win. He even makes references to Gazelles and Turkish links. A perfect ode to 80s rap innocence.


“Once Upon A Time” by T.I.
From T.I.’s “Fuck a Mixtape” mixtape, this is a story rap where someone is heard asking T.I. why doesn’t do story raps no more. Awesome, I know. Also, T.I.’s story about an encounter with a strange visitor to your stash house is damn interesting.


“I’ve Committed Murder” by Gang Starr feat. Mos Def and Macy Gray
Do you hate your job? Is your boss a raging asshole? If so, listen to this slice of revenge fantasy. Macy Gray is practically perfect in this song.


“How to Break Up With Your Girlfriend” by Jean Grae
Instead of killing people, how about we just cut them loose? Jean Grae teaches you how to end a bad relationship. I feel like Chuck Finley could have used this one.


“Me and Jesus the Pimp in a 79 Granada Last Night” by The Coup
One of the greatest song titles ever created, this one is an absolutely epic story about the evils of prostitution. Human misery has never sounded quite this good.


“Int’l Players Anthem (I Choose You)” by UGK feat. Outkast
Andre3000 steals the show on this one. His verse is just incredible. Going back through his various hook-ups and girlfriends, he walks us through his new Grown Ass Man shit. Then Pimp C (RIP!), wearing enough fur to destroy PETA singlehandedly, takes us through his random sexual conquests and disregard for traffic safety. This is sure to be a hit at your next wedding reception!