Song: Strict Time
Album: Trust
Artist: Elvis Costello
Selcted by: Nick Dedina
Date: May 31, 2007
Maybe its Elvis Costello's playful
lyrics or maybe it's just the fact that he wears glasses, but people forget
that many of his songs just sound good and feel right. What's this song about?
Don't know and don't care – it's all about the great rhythm guitar opening, the
circular piano lines, the snap of the drums and the slo-mo backing vocals.
Song: Don't Let Her Be Your Baby
Album: Stax/Volt - The Complete Singles Vol. 4
Artist: Del-Rays
Selected
By: Tim Quirk
Date: May 30, 2007
One of many glorious
misfires to be found on the nine-volume
collection of Stax/Volt singles, this garage-tastic mid-'60s cover of an
old Contours tune sounds a
bit like one of those rock and roll bands that would sometimes show up on The
Flintstones – and we mean that as the highest of compliments. The single
bombed, the Del-Rays only ever
recorded one other 45, and Stax quickly gave up on the rock market, but you
won't find a purer, punkier distillation of what it feels like to be a teenager
in a band this side of the Sonics.
"Surf's up!", Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry declares at the beginning of "In The Sun" - and so it is. Here at the start of a glorious Memorial Day weekend, what better way to kick it off than with one of Blondie's girl group tributes to fun in the sun? Not only that, but "In The Sun" is also the kick-off track on my new playlist - Parallel Lines Less Traveled: A Deeper Blondie Playlist. It's my collection of the lesser-known Blondie tracks that are ripe for re-discovery, such as the dark "Youth Nabbed As Sniper" from Plastic Letters and the infectious "Danceway" from the under-appreciated The Hunter. Don't worry, there's plenty of songs appropriate for a three-day weekend, like the disco-dipping, rollerskate rocking "The Hardest Part" or, uh, the frenetic "I'm On E." So lay out your beach blanket or start the barbeque or whatever you have planned, then crank the Blondie.
Song: Usti, Usti Baba
Album: Electric Gypsyland
Artist: Senor Coconut/Kocani Orkestar
Selected by: Rachel Devitt
Date: May 25, 2007
What do you get when you
cross the world's premiere German-DJ-turned-Chilean-expat-famous-for-turning-Kraftwerk's-machine-rock-into-Latin-lounge-tunes with the world's
premiere gypsy brass orkestar? A modal, mournful meringue machine? A robotic
tuba that can cha-cha-cha? A little rock(-and-rumba) around the former Eastern
Block? Well, friend, you get all that and more on this magnificent monster mash
from DJ Shantel's first of two Electric Gypsyland comps.
Put down the cell phone, unplug the Tivo and stop selling arms to hamsters!
Paul McCartney's entire catelogue is now live in Rhapsody!!!!
Here's the deal....Wait, first let's give you some more exclamation's points: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Alright -- go that out of my system. Paul McCartney has debuted on Rhapsody this week. Can you find his music anywhere else on th internet that won't land you in the big house? I can't. I think Rhapsody's the place to be this week.
Was Band on the Run as big a part of your childhood as it was mine?
Isn't "Jet" one of the best classic rock songs of the 1970s?
Wasn't "Live & Let Die" a better Bond theme than a Bond movie?
Isn't "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" the strangest No. 1 single ever?
Couldn't Paul be an confounding fellow? He was so into trying to look like he wasn't bothered by the legacy of the Beatles that he'd frontload an album with songs like "Bip Bop" and then would bury shoulda/woulda been big songs like "Tomorrow" and "When the Night."
Want a Paul song to go along with a Dazed & Confused style road trip? Try "Hi Hi Hi."
Feel the sudden need to have Paul expose his love of Kraftwerk and Yellow Magic Orchestra? Try "Secret Friend."
Want to hear Paul record an entire album by himself in a rundown shack? Play his groovy solo debut.
Want to hear Paul play an old Beatles tune? Play "I've Just Seen a Face."
OK, how about just listening to my 25 song playlist of the best Macca songs of the 1970s.
Welcome to Rhapsody, Mr. McCartney!
Song: Puntos
Cardinales
Album: Cuatro
Caminos
Artist: Cafe
Tacuba
Selected
By: Sarah Bardeen
Date: May 24, 2007
Meet Mexico's premier rock band. These guys rule, but that's not the only reason this song is directly relevant to your life. Not only does "Puntos Cardinales" detail the components of a faith that has nothing to do with god, it's also one of the best examples of a rock band embracing dance music without losing its soul.
Song: West Coast
Artist: Coconut Records
Album: Nighttiming
Selected by: Garrett Kamps
Date: May 19, 2007
Yeah, sure, Coconut Records is the new band fronted by Jason Schwartzman, that perenially be-stubbled, perenially dork-playing actor fellow. And this album is middling at best. BUT! Check out this song! A de facto sequel to Phantom Planet's "California," "West Coast" is a splendid guilty pleasure pop tune. And when the group sing-a-along hits toward the end? Even splediderer. Er.
I've been getting so many ultra-groovy videos lately that I've decided to share some of the best ones.
First off, one of my favorite bands broke up recently. The Beautiful South never made it in the States, but they were huge in Britain and Europe. The video to the single from their final album spotlights their typically scathing celebration of everyday English horribleness. They shall be missed.
The Kinks' "Waterloo Sunset" is one of my all-time favorite numbers. I found this completely beautiful acoustic version of Ray Davies performing his song on TV during the early '70s.
Paul Weller recently got in the news for declining the offer of a knighthood from the Queen (Weller joins Bowie in saying no to the old lady). Last year, he earned the British equivalent of the Grammy's Life Time Achievement award. Here, Weller brings down the house playing his old Jam tune "A Town Called Malice."
Rhapsody's old indie rock guru, Michele K-Tel, went to Ireland and actually scored a bunch of neato videos while there.
In Dublin, she discovered this young Irish singer-songwriter. Here, Fionn Regan sings a little bittersweet tune while beaming all over the place (the library/bookstore with the wee old lady in it is Fionn's best spot to me).
The other band she discovered while in Ireland is an English group called Good Shoes. I question the lead singer's choice of too-tight mint green cardie, but this is a fantastic song. I can't wait for Good Shoes to get an American release so we can feature them on Rhapsody.
MKT was so skilled at ferriting out these videos that she went over to youtube to find them for a living.
That's where she found this one by Lavender Diamond. This has pretty much everything you want in a video -- namely a singer in a prom dress rollerskating, dancing girls, and a hard-boiled egg (hip-hop pool parties seem to dominate videos now, but back in the day -- it seemed like ALL videos had eggs in them).
Right now, just as I was typing this up, MKT found another great video. The music on this one kind of makes me want to stab myself with a pencil but the featured performer (a baby hedgehog named Uni) has got what it takes to become a star.
Song: You Can Really Do it (If You Try)
Artist: Rick Springfield
Album: Mission Magic
Selected by: Eric Shea
Date: May 18, 2007
Before he played a heartthrob doctor on General Hospital and prior to his ogling Jessie's Girl, Rick Springfield rocked small children. From 1973 to 1975 Filmation Associates (the animators who also brought us The Brady Kids) produced Mission Magic, a kids' cartoon with Springfield providing Velcro-catchy, bubble-glam, power pop songs at the end of each episode (each song relating to the moral of the story). This particular ditty encourages determination and confidence via implementation of double guitar leads, doo-wop vocals, hand claps, Bay City Rollers inspired build-ups and the most contagious "do-do-do-do-do's" to grace '70s teeny bopper music since the Archies.
Song: Feel
Album: The House of Love: Best Of
Artist: House of Love
Selected by: Linda Ryan
Date: May 17, 2007
This dark, swirling
masterpiece captures the House of
Love at their brooding best. "Feel"
resists the shimmering charms of its jangly guitars, and instead projects an
air of despair and futility – thanks in part to Guy Chadwick’s deep, hypnotic
vocals and some echo-y, otherworldly backing vocals. Is it about suicide?
Listen and decide for yourself.
Sometimes you eat the bar, sometimes the bar eats you, and sometimes you actually read something useful on Pitchfork. In this case, I gotta give it up to Jess Harvell for tipping me to Dan Deacon. Having totally fallen for the dude, I queried the Goog' to discover that I'm like 79 days late to this Wham City party. Wham City is/was/may again one day be this artists' collective in Baltimore that gave rise to a handful of bands that are completely sweet. The Wham City aesthetic is based around spazzing, so whether it's the solo electronics of Deacon, the dual guitars of Ecstatic Sunshine, or the very excited group Ponytail, what you're in for is some caustic exuberance. It reminds me of the kind of free-spirited gabba gabba going on in downtown NYC in the early '80s. Here are a few selected jammers that we have in the Rhap. Also, Dan Deacon is coming to a US town near year with fellow Wham City act Video Hippos. Miss it at your own peril.
Dan Deacon, "The Crystal Cat."
Ecstatic Sunshin, "Freckle Wars"
Ponytail, "Start a Corporation"
Juliette and I recently went to Los Angeles to kick it with some friends.
But before we left, we saw the Moore Brothers join Bart Davenport on an Incredible String Band song.
My bestest friend Elisa Randazzo hosted us at her cozy and stylish Eagle Rock home. Her new tunes have come a long way from her old ones. Songwriting's in her blood! Elisa's dad wrote this fine gem back in the day.
She has this amazingly beautiful abyssinian cat Dolly, named after a Nicky Hopkins song.
Elisa and Juliette were stoked to go record shopping at Rockaway.
I scored some decent vinyl too.
We drove out to Topanga Canyon and paid a visit to Devendra.
Noah is recording his new album there in a dreamy cabin house not too far from Hidden Treasures.
It was really easy to get caught up in the good vibes and friendly faces there.
We checked into the Beverly Laurel for a night.
They have really cool wooden elevators.
Driving down the Grapevine to get back home, we listened to Sky Blue Sky.
Song: Dark Night Blues
Album:The Best of Blind Willie McTell
Artist: Blind Willie McTell
Selected By: Sam Chennault
Date: May 16, 2007
"I get so drunk, I stagger when I sleep," our blind, somnambulant drunkard declares, and between his voice's high squeak and th
e guitar's tweaked rush, it sounds as if a sense of fear and loathing has crept into his Southern Gothic outlook. Recorded in Atlanta's Victor Studio in 1927, this is the epitome of dirty, gritty blues music.
Song: Geno
Album: Searching for the Young Soul Rebels
Artist: Dexy's Midnight Runners
Date: May 15, 2007
Selected by: Linda Ryan
Back in the
late '70s, the Mod
revival was in full force and Northern Soul was having its day in the sun.
This one from Dexy's
Midnight Runners features a slinky horn section and rousing "Wha-oo,
Geno," chorus-of-sorts -- a true Mod anthem held in high esteem.
Song: Dancing in the Street
Album: Dancing In the Street
Artist: Ramsey Lewis
Selected by: Nick Dedina
Date: May 14, 2007
Having a party,
need a pick me up, or just want to bug the squares who live down in 3-B? Slap
this awesome Ramsey Lewis cover of the Motown staple on the turntable. This is
the kind of undeniably uplifting hand-clapper that kept jazz in the R&B and
pop charts during the soul-mad late 1960s and early '70s. BTW, Ramsey Lewis'
rhythm section would go on to form a little something called Earth, Wind and
Fire.
Song: Losing My Edge
Album: LCD Soundsystem
Artist: LCD Soundsystem
Selected by: Nicholas Baker
Date: May 11, 2007
This is the song that defines James Murphy's brilliance. Listen as he name-drops his way though an ocean of cool, from "the first Can show in Cologne" to "the Paradise Garage DJ booth with Larry Levan," all the while fearing the new breed coming up fast behind him. It's a superb skewering of music hipsters everywhere. You'll either wince in recognition or laugh and claim it will never happen to you. It will.
Song: Waiting Room
Album: 13 Songs
Artist: Fugazi
Selected by: Tim Quirk
Date: May 10, 2007
The Dischord Records catalog is finally available in Rhapsody, so let's celebrate with a representative track that makes you want to break something: a window, the government, or maybe just someone's nose (not that label co-founder/Fugazi mainstay Ian Mackaye would endorse such a thing).
Song: One
Album: The Breakthrough
Artist: Mary J. Blige
Selected by: Mike McGuirk
Date: May 9, 2007
In light of Dedina's covers
blog, we offer up this devastating version of U2's best song (except of course
for any time Bono says "Edge…play the blues"). Mary J. Blige's
Whitney-level power takes a potentially disastrous meeting and knocks it right
out of the park, inspiring chills galore. My friend cries every time he hears
this, even in strip joints.
Song: (A Style Called) Crying Chic
Album: The Return to Form Black Magick Party
Artist: Pop Levi
Selected By: Stephanie Benson
Date: May 8, 2007
Pop Levi offers up a
hodgepodge of '60s psychedelic pop, '70s glam and '80s funkiness. He takes his
usual flamboyance down a notch on this bluesy groove. Its sassy yet cool vibe
will get you struttin' down the street with a flower in your hair.
Song: Misunderstood
Album: Being There
Artist: Wilco
Selected by: Jon Maples
Date: May 7, 2007
On the eve of our premiere of Wilco's Sky Blue Sky, we offer up the track that showed Jeff Tweedy to be more than an alt country strummer. He namechecks the underground Cleveland pre punkers Rocket From The Tomb and their great, tragic guitarist, Pete Laughner, in this driving, classic song. Come back tomorrow and listen to Wilco's new stunning record.
Song: In Every Dream Home A Heartache
Album: Rendez-Vous
Artist: Jane Birkin and Bryan Ferry
Date: May 4, 2007
Selected by: Jaan Uhelszki
This
bleak, scary nightmarish love song to an inflatable doll is more chilling than
anything Marilyn Manson or Alice Cooper ever dreamed in
their darkest night. When Jane
Birkin chimes in, it's as if the doll has come to life.
Song: Good Vibrations
Album: 7 Day Cycle
Artist: Ebony Eyez
Selected by: Rachel Devitt
Date: May, 3 2007
Ebony Eyez always tells the truth, even when she lies. Don't believe us? Check out her, ahem, self-fulfilling prophecy, in which this St. Louis emcee shows that, even if you have the money and the power, sometimes you still don't get the women. If none of this makes sense now, it will after you take a listen. So come on, what do you want to do? You wanna dance or you wanna sit there and have a heart attack?
Song: Airworks
Artist: J Dilla
Album: Donuts
Selected By: Sarah Bardeen
Date: May 2, 2007
Step up, all you wanna-be emcees! Song of the Day meets Choose Your Own Adventure: we bring the beats, you've got to try your hand at the rhymes. If any instrumental could make your flow sound hot, it's this one by the late, great J Dilla.
Song: So Very Hard To Go
Album: Tower of Power
Artist: Tower of Power
Selected by: Linda Ryan
Date: May 1, 2007
This
Motown-influenced gem is one of the most heartfelt break-up songs ever
recorded. It touches on all the confusing feelings that leaving someone while
still loving them evokes. Lenny
Williams' soulful voice and ToP's sharp horns sent this tearjerker to the
upper reaches of the charts in 1973.
Portions of album content provided by All Music Guide © 2011 All Media Guide, LLC ® 1999-2011 Rhapsody International Inc.
