This week I've really found some gems from all sorts of artists and styles, both old and new. It goes from cinematic to political to inspiring to dreamy, a true mix of vibes in this collection and a very strange mix of artists. It ranges from Dolly Parton to The Postal Service to The Shins to DJ Shadow, but it works in some crazy way, there is even a Pretty Lights mix of a classic John Denver song. As always I hope you enjoy the eclectic group of tunes that I have patched together and dig a little deeper with [...]
A long time ago, I was with my cousin at some guy's apartment and this guy pulls out an old Sarah Vaughan record, puts it on the turntable and the song he played just blew me away. You see, Vaughan was singing alto in the first verse and on the second, went way down deep to the baritone range in [...]
So, the 9th Annual Mountain Soul Vocal Competition is just around the corner, and you should care because it involves the ever-illustrious Country Barbie known as Ms. Dolly Parton. She's my favor... Continue reading "10 More Reasons Dolly Parton Is Badass" >
This Friday we'll be throwing a celebratory drinking party at one of my favorite Irish bars for one of our now ex co-workers who just got a new job. We'll be sitting around salivating over the details such as three weeks of vacation and how she has her own office. All I wish for my girl is that she is in a work environment where she smiles every day, because once, a long time ago, I was too. Wayfinder was a very small ad agency in a glorious part of San Francisco, right next to one of the big radio [...]
If Valerie June had been a roots artist in America 80 years ago, and she often sings as if she was, she might have been a principle influence on today’s myriad retro troubadours, hers a stunningly emotive amalgamation of blues, folk, gospel, soul, Appalachian and bluegrass (including irresistible banjo). She exists, however, today, an artist as modern as an iPod Shuffle, a musician for the generation which carries the entire history of recorded music so casually inside its phone. Like a potent distillation bubbling on a Prohibition-era porch, Valerie June makes self-styled “organic moonshine roots music”, music for [...]
Filed under: Exclusive , Movies "DO YOU REALLY WANT TO HURT ME?" FROM "THE WEDDING SINGER" George, the keyboardist in the wedding singer's band, is a Boy George lookalike who only knows -- and really only cares to know -- one song. When he performs this Culture Club tune at a reception, the crowd seems appalled by George's androgynous appearance, but he plows through it anyway. And when he's done, he starts over, still in search of applause. [...]
It’s happened to so many of us who devote all the days (and evenings) of our lives to watching the litany of awards shows that come our way this time of year: you’re rooting for your favorite to take the statue , but when the winner is announced another guy, gal, song, artist or act wins. And you want to scream, cry or take to drinking (we do all three) because you know in your gut that another song should have secured that prize. Happens all the time, right? Well, Hollywood’s big movie awards are less than [...]
Tuesday's touts for live tunes: ► Grammy Museum's spotlight tonight features Ryan Raddon aka pioneer DJ Kaskade . Guests will hear tracks from his latest album "Fire and Ice," and will also get some behind-the-scene takes on a few of the tracks. ► Punk-dance outfit Professor Possessor headlines the Bootleg Bar. Brett (formerly the Dance Party ) and 100% Silk open. ► Daniel Ahearn & the Jones [check out "Make It Right" ] and Auditorium get together at Los Globos. ►The Echo features [...]
Ah, Miley Cyrus . Our love for you grows and grows. Just like your hair would, if you didn't keep chopping it off. And incidentally, it's a surprise to see Cyrus rocking her old hair (that bun will always remind us of summer '12!) in the latest Backyard Sessions video, which sees the chanteuse and a crew of her friends hanging out in her backyard performing lovely, dusky covers of Cyrus' favorite songs. The final performance is the oft-covered "Jolene," as made famous by Dolly [...]
Filed under: Beats , Clip , Yankee Panky Tagged: album , jolene , miley cyrus , new , polly parton , single
Filed under: News , Exclusive , Music Appreciation , EDM Getty | Topical Press Agency It's tough being the trailblazer in the music world. If you're Mudhoney you have to sit and watch Pearl Jam and Soundgarden sell out arenas on the back of the sound you created. If you're Lady Gaga you have to bite your tongue as Ke$ha and Nicki [...]
To say that Toronto indie chanteuse Dinah Thorpe defies easy categorization is to misunderstand the word "easy". Listening to 12 , Thorpe's provocative and supremely artful new album officially arriving stateside next week, everything -- and we mean everything -- seems to come rather easy, actually, to this chameleon-like songwriter and instrumentalist. It's just that any concept of genre barrier means nothing. Country? Pop? Moody cabaret? Folk? Jazz? It's all up for grabs in this remarkable production. Thorpe has drawn comparisons [...]
Kesha 's upcoming album ' Warrior ' has started to take a leak over the weekend. The fan-edition of the album, when ordered from Kesha's website, also comes with an exclusive EP titled ' Deconstructed ' featuring stripped down versions of two of her previous tracks, two from Warrior and the Dolly Parton cover ' Old Flames (Can't Hold a Candle to You) '. The latter has taken a leak on Friday. Interestingly, 'Old Flames' was co-written by Kesha's mother, Patricia Rose Sebert, which probably explains why Kesha decided to pick this song. Her version [...]
Ke$ha announced today that she will be releasing DECONSTRUCTED , an exclusive acoustic EP that will be available at www.Keshasparty.com as part of the Warrior - Fan Edition & Warrior - Fan Pack on December 4th. DECONSTRUCTED, which was produced by Greg Kurstin, will include acoustic versions of 2 tracks from Ke$ha’s upcoming sophomore album WARRIOR , “Die Young” and “Supernatural” along with “Blow” and “The Harold Song” [...]
It's been an eventful week. Last Sunday I ran a half-marathon. On Monday I got food poisoning. Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty much a blur (a vomit-y Spin Art blur!). Thursday I came back from the dead and was able to leave the house and eat a meal. On Friday I went back to work. [...]
Christmas albums are not known for their subtlety or restraint, but Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta ’s long-awaited reunion, This Christmas (out November 13), lifts festive kitsch to previously unimagined heights. Let’s start with the high-art cover. It finds the Rydell High graduates sipping cocoa from fancy cups, surrounded by a sea of presents and decorations. They appear to be joined at the head – probably due to John’s toupee getting stuck in Olivia’s weave. ( Juuuuuust kidding.) And then there’s the guestlist – This [...]
By definition, receiving the MacArthur Fellowship "genius" grant always comes as a surprise: candidates for the five year, no-strings-attached award are nominated through a secretive and anonymous process, and most tend not to know they have even been nominated until that call comes the day of the announcement. The five-year award, for "exceptional creativity, as demonstrated through a track record of significant achievement, and manifest promise for important future advances" is a bit like a Nobel Prize for general awesomeness, socio-culturally speaking, and those who win come from myriad fields: geriatricians, filmmakers, authors, historians, and social services [...]
"Anyone who would spell their name with '$' in it deserves scorn." -- Alexi Helligar Words of the week so far, courtesy of my big brother. Not that Ke$ha gives a hoot what Alexi or I think. She's an American idol who, in the last few years, has made more money than all my Facebook friends combined (minus Moby, who I'm sure is a lot richer than she is) will probably see in a lifetime. But my God, her music! I've spent most of her time in the spotlight deriding her because of it. [...]
With a subdued, knowing smile, one of country music's future stars introduced herself in 1967 by politely saying Hello, I'm Dolly . By the time Dolly Parton released this 12-song set on Monument Records in February 1967, she had already garnered a fair amount of attention from folks in the world of country music industry. Along with having released a handful of singles for the label, she'd also heard her songs recorded by the likes of Skeeter Davis, Bill Phillips and Hank, Jr. When Dolly put her [...]
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