One for My Girlfriend

I;ve been meaning to get this up all week, but either haven't had time, or just been procrastinating from reading the "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn" Series by Tad Williams. The first book was a birthday gift from her and the series quickly became a minor obsession of mine. For that, and for just being a wonderful girlfriend, I made her this mix: One for My Girlfriend.

It's a lot of stuff I know she likes (in fact, I know she likes the mix since she's already had it for a full week.) It's mostly acoustic, with a jangly, feeling to it. It's intended to be a happy mix, so put it on when you need something happy to listen to.

1. Tears For Fears - Closest Thing To Heaven
2. Pink Floyd - Absolutely Curtains
3. Yann Tiersen - La valse d'Amélie (piano)
4. Yann Tiersen - La valse d'Amélie
5. Rasputina - You Don't Own Me
6. Mates Of State - Like u Crazy
7. The Walkmen - There Goes My Baby
8. The Essex Green - Rabbit
9. The Polyphonic Spree - Section 11 (A Long Day Continues/We Sound Amazed)
10. The Flaming Lips - When You Smile
11. Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories - Snow Day
12. Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins - Melt Your Heart
13. Norah Jones and Adam Levy - Love Me Tender
14. David Gilmour - Smile
15. Matt Costa - Sunshine
16. Syd Barrett - Two Of A Kind
17. Tears For Fears - Head Over Heels

Vinyl sales beginning to Out Pace CD Sales in UK

Back in the groove >> .:thebusinessonline.com:.

“Up to 70% of sales of new releases are vinyl. The fans of popular new rock bands like Arctic Monkeys and The Raconteurs prefer vinyl to CD,” said Campkin. “When the Raconteurs’ latest single was released, 80% of high-street sales were for seven-inch vinyl and only 20% were for CDs.”

I just find this vindicating.

Pearl Jam - Life Wasted - Google Video

Pearl Jam - Life Wasted - Google Video

It'll still be free to watch until the 24th of May. It's a touch creepy in a wormy kind of way, but it's rather cool.

Hell, I remember when this band didn't do videos because the first one they did was too SHOCKING for MTV.

David Gilmour on the BBC2 and at a Theatre Near You

Or really, it was a theatre near me. A good friend of mine, Edwin, checked out the David Gilmour theatre experience at out local Regal a couple evenings ago. We did this since it's the only way to see the man in our part of the country without having flown to one of the few venues he did in the US. I was amazed and quite comfortable, not the point of being numb, but there is something to be said for comfy chairs and air condidtioning and theatre surround sound.

He did a set of new stuff from the recent album, along with a couple tracks with the Division Bell. One of which was even sung by Nick Mason, "Comfortably Numb" and they did a slightly new arrangement for "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" which was what blew me away. (Click on the title and you can download it.)

Since it's not likely that I'll get to see this master musical craftsman in the United States again, I'll have to settle for this and cross it off the list of things to do before I die. Now, I've just got to decide if I really want to see Roger Waters in the flesh or not, of course, as far as I know, there's not date for the master lyricist in Miami, yet.

Was everyone good to their mothers?

This is another mix for another new week. This one is full of some new stuff I've been listening to, stuff I've either stumbled into or had recommened to me or I simply enjoy.

The last track is actually from a REAL CD some friends of mine made, so it's release is a bit special. You can check out some of their other stuff at Myspace.com/himgenius. I plan to speak a bit more on them in a future when I'm a little less frazzled. For now though, I'll let everyone's ears be the judge.

Another interesting tidbit, the Ananda Shankar track comes from his first album. Ananda is the nephew of Ravi Shankar and was a highly talented sitar player in his own right. He was one of the originators of the concept of East meets West Fusion. his work is also quite popular in the Asian Underground pioneered by one of my favourites, Talvin Singh.

The rest is just a smattering of music that I happen to like, and have been listening with some kind of frequency lately. I'll get to some real recommendations later on in the week.

Technicolor Flowers

1. The Muppets - Rainbow Connection
2. Sigur Rós - Hoppípolla
3. Ananda Shankar - Light My Fire
4. Captain Beefheart - Electricity
5. Ruts DC & Mad Professor - Pleasures Of The Dance
6. Office Of Strategic Influence - Kicking
7. Mogollar - Eastern Love
8. TOOL - The Pot
9. Molotov - La Boa A Go Go
10. Les-Crayons - Ta P'tite Flamme
11. Gorillaz Vs. Spacemonkeyz - Mutant Genius (New Genious)
12. Of Montreal - Rapture Rapes The Muses
13. Him Genius - Undercover Terrorist

Great Ladies of Music

This list is far from being truly representative, and well, it came about from something that mostly seems pretty stupid after I gave it quite a bit of thought over the past couple weeks. I just couldn't address it with it just coming back that the arguments the person had just didn't come up as sounding like anything truly interesting. It didn't sit well with me, but oh well.

Here is a mix of a group of women who truly were themselves every time they opened their voices and sang. And I respect and love every one of them for it. This mix goes all over the map and through several eras of modern music and genres.

I'd also like to wish all out mothers out there a Happy Mother's Day, which comes along in a week from this posting and I'd also like to with this site a Happy Birthday, since this posting makes one year since I first posted something relevant. (I treat that one, random October 2004 posting as something akin to a conception, when the idea first came to take root.)

So, without further ado. . . "Great Ladies"
1. Janis Joplin - Mercedes Benz
2. Shirley Bassey - Diamonds Are Forever
3. Dusty Springfield - Just a Little Lovin'
4. Sade - Jezebel
5. Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now
6. Jane Birkin - Elisa
7. Fiona Apple - To Your Love
8. Diana Ross & The Supremes - Reflections
9. Astrud Gilberto - Tu Me Delirio
10. Marianne Faithfull - Come And Stay With Me
11. Jefferson Airplane - Aerie (Gang of Eagles)
12. Janis Joplin - Summertime
13. Os Mutantes - Ave, Lucifer
14. Omara Portuondo - Casa calor
15. Sarah Vaughan - Charade
16. Billie Holiday - Speak Low
17. Ella Fitzgerald & Duke Ellington - Mack the Knife (Live)

One for Mom

It is now the first of May, and we draw closer and closer to Mother's Day (and even closer to the one year anniversary of this site. More on that in future posts). The previous mix I liked enough that I'm considering giving it to my dad to listen to since it's filled with a lot of stuff I know he once listened to when he was probably my age, so this made me start making one with my mother in mind. I'll give it to her when I get around to burning the one for my father, but for now, I'll share this mix with you all since it's a pretty good one.

For now, be nice to your mothers . . . if they deserve it, and keep an eye out for some fun stuff around here during the months of May. I've got a lot planned and hopefully, some time to do it in.

One for Mom

Playlist:

1. Pink Floyd - Signs Of Life
2. Klaatu - Around the Universe in Eighty Days
3. Dire Straits - Your Latest Trick
4. The Cars - moving in stereo
5. Aerosmith - Big Ones - Janie's Got A Gun
6. The Eagles - Peaceful Easy Feelin'
7. Cyndi Lauper - All Through The Night
8. The Moody Blues - The Voice
9. ELO - Rock 'n' Roll Is King
10. Big Star - When My Baby's Beside Me
11. Blue Öyster Cult - This Ain't The Summer Of Love
12. Queen - I'm In Love With My Car
13. Tears For Fears - Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down)
14. Boston - something about you