Bye Jim, Mixtape

Someone I respect a great deal is leaving work to take a pretty amazing job opportunity in NYC. He's a guy I admire a lot. It's not only his work but also his taste in music / art, sense of humor and his collection of Western button down shirts. I made him a mix CD last week, however, it sounds a lot cooler to call it a "mixtape".

When I started putting this together it was going to be NYC themed but it became pretty tough and I wasnt into some of the songs I was coming up with. I was getting further away from something I liked in order to stay consistent. I decided to try choose songs that talked about change, leaving, and with a couple of random songs I thought he might like and that also flowed well. Mixtapes are fun for a few reasons, you get to find old favorites that might have gotten shoved to the back of the library, you get to choose the theme / flow, and then you get to await their response. Hopefully the response is positive.

Here is my mix to Jim... and since mixtapes are all about sharing...I attached a few MP3's

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Intro- (Text to Speech Note)

1. Roxy Music - 2 H.B.






2. My Morning Jacket - Golden MP3






3. The Kinks - This Time Tomorrow






4. Phoenix- North.m4a






5. Spoon- You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb (Random)






6. Belle & Sebastian- We are the Sleepyheads






7. Tokyo Police Club- Be Good (RAC Mix) (Random)






8. The Sea and Cake- Sound & Vision.mp3






9. Field Music- You're Not Supposed To.mp3






10. El Ten Eleven- My Only Swerving.mp3






11. Modest Mouse- heart Cooks Brain






12. TV on the Radio- Province






13. Kings of Convenicnce- Manhattan Skyline

Rob is a busy guy

Rob Crow has been a busy guy as of late. This year alone, he's released (or been a part of) three full length albums.


I really only knew of this fellow from Pinback, but apparently he's in like 10 other bands. The three albums he's released this year are are below. Theres is a sample from each, to boot.

I haven't had a chance to listen to all three in depth but they're all very similar. His voice is obviously the same, maybe he just gets tired of hanging out with the same band members all of the time.

Rob Crow (solo album)- Living Well: January 2007














Other Men- Wake Up Swimming: March 2007














Pinback Autumn of the Seraphs: September 2007














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Pinback- Bouquet.mp3
Other Men- Other People.mp3
Rob Crow- If Wade Would Call.mp3

The Power of an Instrumental in film

They've been the butt of many jokes, but why? Is it because of Trey Parker and Matt Stone? Is it because deep down we really do enjoy them and are kind of embarassed to admit it? They can be cheesy but they can also be the most memorable parts of a movie.

Here they are-
My favorite instrumentals from movies.
As you'll see, the favorites are from the 80's. I couldnt think of many others for as of right now. Donnie Darko has a great montage but even it takes place in the 80's.

#1
Movie: Rocky IV
Artist: Vince DiCola
Song: Training Montage (this is the actual song title btw)
Year: 1985

He's running through the mountains and training like a caveman, while the evil Soviet, Drago is enjoying his training in a state of the art workout lab run by evil scientists.
Sidenote, Eye of the Tiger doesnt do it for me, sorry. Maybe it should but i get nothing. This Training montage does.

This onbe is more of a montage than an instrumental because time passes and there is major progress.





#2
Movie: Sixteen Candles
Artist: Kajagoogoo
Song: Kajagoogoo (Instrumental)
Year: 1984
Its the opening credits after Sam realizes her entire family has forgotten her B-day. It goes through the normal settings of a High School campus. It takes me back to a day when it was still acceptable to wear sweat pants in public.

Note- I couldnt find the actual video so you'll just have to enjoy the live version.






#3
Move: Ferris Buellers Day Off
Artist: The English Beat
Song: Rotating Heads (March of the Swivelheads)
Year: 1986
He's running home to get in bed before his parents get home. Love the hell of this. I want to reanact this scene so bad but not sure if anyone knows how to do the slow-mo shots nowadays.






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The English Beat- March of the Swivelheads.mp3

Copy

I came across this guy last week, Copy. His latest album "Hair Guitar" came out earlier this year so I'm a little late to the game there. He's out of Portland, OR of all places. Not many good musicians from there. He's all electronic which might turn some away but I encourage you to give it a shot. The beats are great, oh and a big fan of the tickling of the electric ivories. As some may say "I heart Keyboards"











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Copy- Closet Face.mp3
Copy- Zipper Problems.mp3

Wilco and Andrew Bird

Last night was one of the best concert experiences I've had in a long time. Andrew Bird opened up for Wilco at the Kc Crossroads outdoor venue. I've heard good things about this place but had never been before. My expectations were blown away. I was picturing a slab of concrete with a wooden stage. I was wrong. Its like a well kept backyard but with interesting sculptures placed throughout the area. Its not too big but still plenty of space for 3,000 people to occupy. The stage is also just as big and easy to view as any other outdoor venue I've seen. Of course, the company didnt hurt either, it was my wife and I, a co-worker and two former co-workers who are excellent people.













The opening artist Andrew Bird was very fitting. It actually felt like Fall last night. Cool, crisp and colorful. His music flowed well with that. I've only heard a few of his songs but I think seeing this gentleman play live is the best way to really get it. He's a one man band playing the violin, guitar, mandolin, glockenspiel, and some of the most beautiful whistling I've ever heard. I've searched for some videos of his live performances and I think this one below is a good example. This guy uses a multi-track system to sample and loop his own performance. He records snippets while playing his violin, then will play a "loop" of that sound while picking up the guitar or glockenspiel to play over the loop. Needless to say, he's a very talented musician and has the vocals reminiscent of Jeff Buckley.




And of course, Wilco. This was my first time to see them live and from talking to other people who have seen them multiple times....I was told last nights show was the best they've seen. Tweedy and the rest of the band were happy, smiling and even said "This is easily the best audience we've had this tour". Another comment, which is on the video below from last night's show is...."You are an infectious crowd, I didnt want to have fun tonight". I think those are pretty good compliments for an audience to receive.

Seagrams, Golden Wine Coolers (Wet and Dry).

Oh the sweet 80's. I always love finding a diamond in the rough. Below are a few commercials for the Seagrams, Golden Wine Cooler campaign of the mid 80's. Featuring none other than Bruce Willis. This doesnt have much to do with music but I have some things coming down the pipe....

The first is my personal favorite but the others are worth a watch.

Not bad eh? I love the deep bravado "my, my, my, my"



This next one is pretty slick too.

Mr. Seagrams. He's my Kinda Guyhiii + a holiday clip




This one is kind of strange.....





One with Sharon Stone




And the finale. He sure is confident...thanks to Seagrams.

Long Time No Post

I'd like to apologize to my 3-5 readers out there.....you know who you are. I haven't been a very responsible blogger lately. I've been busy with work and havent been able to set aside time for a post.

So what I have been listening too? Some good stuff. A band that I still cant get enough of (even since my last post) is The Joggers. I'm trying to ween myself off of them but nothing is working. Their album has been a sta ple while traveling and while squeezing some time in for an occaisonal run. Their drummer is a bad ass, and both guitar players are always doing something unique on each song. Give the song below a listen, it should rock your socks off....if you're wearing socks. Otherwise, it will make you want to twist the night away.












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The Joggers-Since Youre Already Up.mp3








I also heard a few weeks ago the The Helio Sequence just finished their new album and currently has a release date of January 28th '08. It should be a good album to shake off some "holiday lbs" too. Below is the Harmonica Song from 2004's Love and Distance. You gotta love the "Life is a Highway-esque" (Tim Cochran) Harmonica Solo. Hopefully it will bring a smile to your face.












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The Helio Sequence- Harmonica Song.mp3





Also, how much has Apple spent on the Nano spots??? "1234" by Feist seems like its been playing in every commercial block...to the point that it kind of takes the focus off the product. However, I've heard of lot of people ask the question: "whats that song in the new Nano commercial?". I would be willing to guess that there isnt a large spike in Nano sales just yet, but I would be interested to know how many times this song has been downloaded on Itunes? Maybe its to drive traffic to Itunes now, and by the time Christmas comes around, those kids (without Ipods) are nagging about wanting to take their music with them. Look who just solved the Apple model....or completely bombed in trying to do so.



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Feist-1234.mp3


Either way, I do like this song but as whole, I'm just "so so" on Feist. I think she has a beautiful voice but I have to be in a very, very mellow mood to get into it. I like her more when shes with Broken Social Scene. If you havent downloaded it yet give it a listen up above.

As always..buy these albums if you like the songs....they're just samples, baby. (disclaimer).