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started off as a music blog hence the name. but, it is now my any and everything blog.
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Monday, May 31, 2010

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Stop For A Minute

keane

Friday, May 28, 2010

Celebs at the Fela! post-theater reception

Fela


fela1


fela2


Fela! is based on the life Nigerian musician Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. It has been nominated for 11 Tony awards during it's run. I've featured Fela's music here once before,but I'll post a quick reminder.


Fela Anikulapo Kuti - Zombie





The Sage version of Zombie



Trailer for the show





I really want to see this! I hope it comes to London soon.


http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Photo_Coverage_FELA_Producers_Honor_FELA_at_The_Palm_20100521


http://www.felaonbroadway.com


MITNB

Cyndi Lauper has got the Memphis blues

If you have been watching 'Celebrity Apprentice', you would have either fallen in love with Cyndi Lauper and/or forgotten what an amazing singer she is. Her new album Memphis Blues is out on June 22, it is an album of cover and features the likes of B.B King, Allen Toussant and Johnny Lany. The first single from the album 'Just Your Fool' is already available on itunes. 


A free download of one of the songs from the album,'Crossroads' (feat. Johnny Lang) is available over at downtown music.







  

    

    

    

    

    

    

  




MITNB

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Mos Def, Lenny Kravitz - Ain’t My Fault




I usually post my write ups today,but I've been a bit busy and haven't been able to complete what I'm working on. I learnt about this song through ONTD, it is the charity single for Gulf Aid. The situation isn't getting as much attention as it deserves. I think a lot of people feel guilty and responsible because we are all oil consumers. We wouldn't have to feel this way if Oil companies made an effort to be more ethical in the way they treat the people and wildlife in the oil producing regions they get oil from. I read somewhere that one of the BP head honchos said the oil spill was just a drop in a large ocean .. . . very tactful, right? Being from an oil producing country I've always been aware of the heartlessness and ruthlessness of oil companies, but that was a whole new low. And it makes me wonder what they think of the situation in the Niger/Delta. 


This is an amazing song and easily one of (if not the best) charity single I've ever heard.  Check out http://www.gulfaid.org/ for more info and former Lost star Ian Somerhalder is a big campaigner for the cause so check out his tweets as well. 


MITNB

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Screaming Jay Hawkins VS Tom Waits



VS





MITNB

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

African Music Post: Suzie - My Body




This video has been causing some controversy in it's native country Nigeria. It is obviously a take on D'angelo's untitled video, and I think she has some balls to it considering how easily it could backfire on her.


MITNB

Monday, May 24, 2010

Reflection Eternal ft. Estelle - Midnight Hour

Reflection Eternal ft. Estelle - Midnight Hour





What do you think? Does Estelle have another hit on her hands?! 




MITNB

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Its'a shame

Friday, May 21, 2010

Want to lose weight . . have your tooth extracted!

Finally got my wisdom tooth extracted. . . I feel like crap. I'm allergic to penicillin and codine. So I can only take an antibiotic that makes me nauseous and paracetamol which isn't as strong as I would like. I can only eat on one side of my face and don't really have the appetite even though I want to eat. Lest I forget, I also have a swollen cheek.


Was watching the TV series 'Bones' as I was writing this post and this song came on at the end ...



The song has been covered a number of times, Candi Staton does an amazing version which was sampled by One Eskimo and they renamed it "Kandi" , I'm not sure why. I found a couple of other versions online, while I like the duet, Candi's version is still my favourite. 



Patsy Kline
Released in 1963, but unlike Candi's version,Patsy's version is true to the time period.

Ella Washington
Ella Washington didn't have as much success as the other people on this list. Probably due to having a name that can be mixed up with Ella Fitzgerland and Dinah Washington. Ella covered this song in 1969 making her the first person to cover it. 



Candi Staton 

This version was released on 1971, but hasn't aged one bit. 


Nancy Wilson

This version was released in 1975 and it's possibly my least favourite of the lot. The backing beat is too 'busy' and overpowers the vocals and I don't like it when that happens.




Ah well,back to nursing my tooth!


MITNB





Maroon 5 - Hands All Over

'Hands All Over’ Highly Anticipated Third Album Produced By Studio Legend Robert John "Mutt" Lange Set For Release on September 21st, 2010


Maroon 5 to kick off North American Concert Tour on July 30th


Los Angeles, CA, May 10th, 2010- GRAMMY winning recording artist Maroon 5 is back with their highly anticipated third studio album, Hands All Over (A&M/Octone), set for release on September 21st. Produced by rock studio legend Robert John "Mutt" Lange (AC/DC, Def Leppard, The Cars), Hands All Over is a killer hybrid of rock, pop, funk and R&B. In addition, the album’s first single will impact radio on June 28th. Following the release of the single, Maroon 5 has announced plans for a summer concert tour that will encompass nearly 30 dates by the end of the summer. The tour is set to kick off on July 30th and will feature a rotating group of special guests including Owl City, Guster, Kris Allen, VV Brown and Ry Cuming (please see routing below). Tickets for select dates of the tour will go on sale Friday, May 14th.


Maroon 5 began writing the songs that appear on Hands All Over after winding down from a world tour in support of their 2007 studio release It Won’t Be Soon Before Long. Several months later, the band received a phone call from Lange, who had heard that the band were beginning to write a new album, and expressed an interest in producing it.


“We didn’t even talk to anyone else,” Adam Levine, Maroon 5’s frontman says. “Mutt is undeniably one of the most successful producers who’s ever lived.”


Jesse Carmichael, the band’s keyboardist, added, “Mutt really helped us play to the best of our ability. And it drove us to be bigger and better than ever.”


The result is Hands All Over, a monumental record chock full of buoyant, unforgettable melodies. Recorded at Lange’s Switzerland studio, the members of Maroon 5 locked themselves in the mountains to patiently craft their latest effort. Starting with the hard-rocking title track, the album’s 15 tracks take several intoxicating twists and turns including such compositions as “Out of Goodbyes,” a stunning country ballad infused with musical and vocal contributions from Nashville chart-toppers Lady Antebellum. Long-time fans will get a thrill out of “Misery,” with its funky guitars and high-stepping melody, as well as the propulsive “Stutter,” melody rich “Give A Little More” and “Don’t Know Much About That,” which professes a classic soulful vibe. 



Source: http://www.maroon5.com/news_detail/maroon_5_announce_2010_north_american_tour_and_new_album_hands_all_over/

Rupaul - Champion

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I've always been aware of Rupaul as a drag artist, but not as a musician. Like many other people I watched the first season of Rupaul's drag race and I know her song 'Covergirl' was featured, but I thought it was a one off thing. During the second season, her songs were featured heavily and at this time I had become and even bigger fan so, I just had to have the album.


Champion is a positive empowering party album, it reminds me of early Cobra Starship albums (While The City Sleeps, We Rule The Streets). Rupaul is a shrewd business woman who knows her audience and plays up to them. It's not hard to picture 'Jealous of my Boogie' and 'Covergirl (put the bass in your walk)' playing loudly in a gay bar on a friday night.  That is not to say the album don't have cross over appeal. With the exception of 'Tranny Chaser' and 'Lady boy' the tracks never out rightly address Rupaul's sexuality or that of it's primary audience. 


Fans of Rupaul's drag race will be familiar with the songs and some diehard fans will already have their favourites. 


My favourite song is 'Main Event', it is also a great opening track, it really sweeps you away with it.


Main Event



If you are in need of an ego boost then the title track 'Champion' is the one for you. It's my least favourite song in the album, but I'm not sure why.


Champion





On 'Never Go Home Again', a track about people leaving abusive homes and terrible situations, Rupaul unexpectedly expresses some depth behind the party beats.





I had no expectation of Champion when I got it, so I was pleasantly surprised when I listened. 
I think Champion is a great album and one I see myself and my female friends singing along to as we get drunk and dressed to go out.


MITNB

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

African Music Post: Fela

Lady - Fela Kuti


Today, in London it's sunny for a change and it's times like these that I'm reminded of African music. I look back at things I hated, for instance being stuck in traffic and listening to Fela, with a sense of nostalgia . . . funny how that works. 




MITNB

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

COVER vs ORIGINAL PT 1 (Kate Bush vs Placebo)

KATE BUSH
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PLACEBO



I know which one I like, but what do YOU think?!




MITNB





Monday, May 17, 2010

Adam Levine and Slash - Gotten



Adam and Slash on Ellen Degeneres Show.

I don't have this album yet, but after listening to this, I can't wait to get paid so I can buy it!


MITNB

Friday, May 14, 2010

A little bit about me

In style of "Two emails with . . . " in the Evening Standard.




Watching . . . CSI Las Vegas (trying to get through the entire series)

Reading . . . Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (I wish I had appreciated the Tv show when I was younger)

Meeting . . . One of my closet friends for drinks later today.

Eating . . . Warm Brownie with Clotted Cream (Even though I'm lactose intolerant).

Loving . . . Having the week off and getting stuff done!

Hating . . . Going back to work.

Wishing . . . I could go back to school, take my course and start a new career.


MITNB

Thomas Dolby Enlists Mark Knopfler, Regina Spektor, Imgoen Heap For New Album

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Thomas Dolby is "a good halfway through" his first new album in nearly 20 years, and he plans to have the first music from it out in June -- for his online fan club, at least.

Dolby tells Billboard.com that the "A Map of the Floating City" album -- which features guest appearances by Mark Knopfler, Regina Spektor, Imgoen Heap, Natalie McMaster, Eddi Reader and Camera Club's Bruce Woolley -- is comprised of three suites. "Amerikana" focuses on a fondness for American roots music Dolby developed while living in the United States for 22 years. "Oceanea" was inspired by "returning to my spiritual home" in the eastern coastline of England, while "Urbanoia" is "kind of a dark place, a dark city-state, so there definitely are some slightly more twisted songs on there."

Knopfler and McMaster perform on "17 Hills," which will be part of the "Amerikana" section. Reader and Woolley are part of "Oceanea's" title track, while Spektor portrays an Eastern European waitress in a song called "Evil Twin Brother."

Starting with "Amerikana" on June 12, Dolby will release all three parts to members of his Flat Earth Society at thomasdolby.com. The other two sections will come out as digital EPs during the year, and Dolby hopes to have the full "A Map of the Floating City" album, with additional tracks not released online, out "before the end of the year."

"I don't know how I'm going to release it, whether there will be a label involved or what," says Dolby, who's best known for his '80s hits "She Blinded Me With Science" and "Hyperactive!" "With technology making music so accessible to everyone right now...I still feel the music industry is important, and I'm sort of hoping a new entity will emerge that...really helps the artists get to the right fans. I'm near enough to the end of the album to be going out and talking to people in the business and seeing what's out there, hoping to form a partnership with somebody who can help me get the album out."

Dolby's last set of songs was "Astronauts & Heretics" in 1992. After that he took what he planned to be "a couple years' sabbatical" and devoted himself to working in Silicon Valley, developing technology platforms with companies such as Headspace, Beatnik Inc. and the award-winning Retro Ringtones LLC. But, he says, "eventually it became all about engineering and sales and it wasn't very interesting to me. I decided to get back to music -- frankly, I was missing it. And it was exciting again because of all the changes that were happening with amazing new toys, self-publishing and all of that. I really feel energized."

Although he's embraced those new technologies, however, Dolby says he took a decidedly old school approach while recording "A Map of the Floating City" in a converted, solar-powered 1930s lifeboat in the garden of his home.

"What I think I always did best was write songs that told a story...beyond the usual pop relationship songs," says Dolby, who started playing live again in 2006 and plans to tour in 2011. "I was using electronics, but I was looking for a lush sort of ethereal sound. I've come back to those songs, that storytelling that I do best. I'm focused on that rather than on the frills...so many of the songs on this album I could sit down and play on a piano like a singer-songwriter, and that was never the case, really, in the old days. The motto for this album has been 'only do what only you can do.'"



Source: http://www.billboard.com/#/news/thomas-dolby-enlists-mark-knopfler-regina-1004089295.story


Mark Knopfler, Regina Spektor, Imgoen Heap . . . I can't wait! 

Thursday, May 13, 2010

I Think I Fell For The Song On TV - Cold Case

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Like Scrubs, Cold Case is pretty much set to music. They've had more than a hand full of episodes centred around the music of musicians such as; Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Nirvana, Johnny Cash and Rolling Stones. 


It is great to see a show that understands the relationship between story telling and music. It has led me to discover and appreciate a lot of music I would never have given the time of day. The use of music on Cold Case  works well with the premise of the show, like having the right costume for the time period, the music is that extra component that takes the viewer to the place and time when the murder first happened. 




My favourite finds;


CCR - Have you ever seen the rain?



Jackson Browne - Running on Empty



The Troggs - Love is all around



Cursive - Gentleman Caller



Men without Hats - Safety Dance

This song was referenced on scrubs, but I had no idea what they were talking about till I saw this. 


Soul Hooligan - Soul Searching



The four Vagabonds - Rosie The Riveter



England Dan & John Ford Coley - I'd Really Love To See You Tonight



Solomon Burke - The Judgement



Queen Latifah - Ladies first



Canned heat - Goin up the Country



There are many, many others that I didn't include for whatever reason, so check out: http://www.have-dog.com/coldcase/ for more music.
This youtube user has done an amazing job of compiling some of the music featured on the show: http://www.youtube.com/user/MrsMac5




I finished writing this and it occurred to me that every single show in my "I Think I Fell For The Song On TV" series has been cancelled .




MITNB
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Tuesday, May 04, 2010

New Video - Sade/Babyfather




She has the body and face of someone half her age. I love that she doesn't go over the top with her vocals or costuming, she lets her music speak for itself.


MITNB

African Music Post + World Cup

The 2010 Football World Cup (soccer to you Americans) is taking place in South Africa. This year's official world cup song is a cover of Zangalewa by Cameroonian band Zangalewa. Listening to this song brought back some memories for me. When I was in boarding school, we had to sing this as we jogged during out sports day, the lyrics made no sense to me and I assumed by teacher had made it up. So imagine my shock when I listen to the Shakira version and I hear her singing my jogging song.

From what I gather from my interwebs research, the song pays tribute to the African skirmishers that fought during WW2 and mocks black military officers that too sides with white people to oppress black people. (more here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamina_mina_(Zangalewa))

Original


Cover


There has been some chatter online about whether or not Shakira should have been asked to sing since the World Cup is taking place in South Africa and she isn't vaguely African. Some argue that allowing her to sing is in the spirit of unity that the World Cup preaches. While others (and I fall into this bracket) believe that it should have been left to the African people. Singing this song is a big opportunity and a chance to get some African music on the map, right now the only person everyone is talking about in relation to the world cup song is Shakira. Many people don't take a moment to notice and acknowledge the fact that South African band Freshlyground sing on it as well.

There are a couple of African musicians with cross over appeal to pull of the world Cup song and give it the international appeal that the organisers want. People like - Dave Matthews (yes, that Dave Matthews), Femi Kuti, Tony Allen, Seether,  Freshlyground. Hopefully, another African Country would get to host the world cup in my lifetime and rectify this mess.


MITNB

Monday, May 03, 2010

It's been a long time, now I'm coming back home

^^ all credit to the Beatles for the post title.  :-)


Things are still hectic on my end - my computer is on it's last legs (I've had it for 7 years so i'm due for a new one),I'm still in a bit of pain from my impacted teeth and I'm going to have dental surgery, but I've neglected this blog for too long. And  a lot has been happening in the world of music. 


Kele Okereke of Bloc Party is releasing some solo stuff and I'm not liking it. 





The song "Tenderoni" (WTF?) is going to be released on the 14th of June. And the album is released on the 21st in the UK and 22nd in the U.S




The Boxer tracklist:
01 Walk Tall
02 On the Lam
03 Tenderoni
04 The Other Side
05 Everything You Wanted
06 New Rules
07 Unholy Thoughts
08 Rise
09 All the Things I Could Never Say
10 Yesterday's Gone

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'Ugly Betty' one of the shows I've featured on my blog has come to an end and in true 'Ugly Betty' style there was some good music in the final episode. I found myself dusting off my old Macy Gray albums and I also discovered Renee Olstead.





Some lovely person on youtube created a list of Top 10 songs featured on Ugly Betty season 3. 


Season 3

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Devendra Bsnhart released the video for his new song Foolin'. It's been sooooo long since I've listened to his music.





I didn't realise how much I had missed Devendra's voice till I listened to this. I'm not sure what the video is trying to say, it gets major WTF from me. 
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I've been listening to Gil Scott Heron's new album and Rupaul's old album (Champion). They are both very good. I'm going to try and review them. Speaking of reviews, my review of White Stripes' Under Great White Northern Lights, you can check it out here: http://frequencymagazine.net/reviews/album-review-reviews/under-great-white-northern-lights/