Skin Tight

I have to tell you something, that's right it's share time so grab a seat. Whenever I get stressed out about something, or I need to calm down and let things ride or slide, I hum this songs bass line. Why, because it's so funky and funny at the same time (especially when you hum it). This song is the classic Skin Tight by the Ohio Players and since I just learned that the lead singer of the band, the incredible Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner has just passed away, I thought it only fitting to add this song to my blog.

Now right off the bat, that bass line is the first thing you hear so you immediately know something funky is about to go down. Add in the drums, the brass, and the wah wah guitar and the song begins to simmer before Sugarfoot utters a word. When he eventually does come in, the man makes you smile with You a bad bad Mrs. / In your skin tight britches / Running folks in ditches / Baby about to bust the stitches, yeah. After that the song is off and running.

I grew up with the Ohio Players, they were always jamming in my house (along with Lou Rawls) so I grew up a big fan of this band. I am saddened by the passing of Sugarfoot, but I am grateful to him and the rest of the band for leaving us with such classics like this funky jam. Thank you Sugarfoot, may you rest in funky peace. Enjoy!

Sweet Freedom

I originally had a different song planned for this post, but I scrapped it. I scrapped it to bring you a serious, velvety smooth blast from the past. I know you remember Michael McDonald right? If not, do you remember the Doobie Brothers, or the comedy film Runnin' Scared with Gregory Hinds and Billy Crystal? The theme song to that hilarious movie was Sweet Freedom and I love this song as much as I love that movie.

Sweet Freedom, along with the movie came out in 1986 but by then Michael had already gone solo, leaving the Doobie Brothers behind. he had already won a Grammy for his duet with James Ingram on their hit Yah Mo B There. So he was the perfect person to write and sing the theme to Runnin' Scared since he was pretty much a household name by that time.

What's there to say about this song except they don't make them like this anymore. They definitely don't make them like Michael either. His voice is unmistakable, even to this day and it's hard not to love it, like it's hard not to love this song. Enjoy!

Walk On By

I KNOW you remember this song, right? You have to, I mean this is a classic. The original Walk On By was recorded by Dionne Warwick, a nice song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David about a chance meeting after a break up. I'm pretty certain though that Burt and Hal never anticipated their little song sounding so funky. That was until Isaac Hayes got a hold of it.

The intro is a hard beat and strings but that suddenly morphs into musical muscle. A beat and a severe bass line carries you into the first verse. Isaac smoothly croons the lyrics with angelic backing vocals and damn if he doesn't do this song justice. In my opinion, he does it better than Dionne. I know a lot of people will scream how that's sacrilegious but I could give less than a damn. Isaac made this song his own, and he made it funky.

Walk On By was recorded in 1969, it was the first song on Isaac's second studio album, the seminal Hot Buttered Soul, a bar raising album for the soul music genre. No one had ever heard the stuff Ike put down on that record before, and everyone has been copying him ever since. Enjoy!

Voodoo Child

This song is one of the reasons I have come to love music so much. Voodoo Child by Jimi Hendrix is an experience all on its own. Written by Hendrix back in 1968 for his band, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and their album Electric Ladyland, this song is pure genius. Lyrically this song is honestly lacking but who turns on and cranks the volume for Jimi's lyrics? Exactly.

You tune into Jimi for his incendiary guitar playing. Thankfully Jimi never failed in delivering that in almost everything he recorded. Take the guitar riff intro, one of the best every recorded. It's bold, in your face, and full of swagger. The drums come in for two measures and then the song simply explodes.  Suddenly, no matter what it is you're doing, Voodoo Child makes you stop because it yanks you in. It's a song that's really hard to ignore because it's so raw, there is no hook, and the lyrics are almost insignificant, but you don't care and that's the genius of this tune.

I know I say this often, but I can listen to this song all day and it would never lose its impact. This is my favorite rock song of all time. Not just because it rocks, but it puts on display for ALL to hear, Jimi tell the world that he was the best to ever do it. Enjoy

Mercy Street

Once upon time, back in the late 80's to the mid 90's, one of the biggest stars on the planet was Peter Gabriel. You know he was, don't try to act like he wasn't. He had already made a name for himself by being the one time front man for a little group known as Genesis, yes THAT Genesis. He also had some hits with songs like Biko, Games Without Frontiers, and Shock The Monkey. But when Peter dropped his fifth studio album, So in 1986, he became a household name.

So was to Peter what Thriller was to Michael. There wasn't one song on So that was lacking, and one of the lesser known songs, and one of my favorites off that album was Mercy Street. Mercy Street is a brilliant, somber song, much like his song Don't Give Up which was also on So. Those songs lived in the shadows of the other massive hits on that album, but if you listen carefully to Mercy Street, Peter's vocal layering genius is clearly obvious, and so beautiful.

I can listen to this song all day and come across something new, something I didn't hear all the times it's played before. I could have picked his more popular songs but it's Mercy Street that for some reason, resonated with me, and made me a Peter Gabriel fan. Enjoy.

Redemption

I stumbled upon this little group on my honeymoon, many moons ago, in Vegas. Yes, I WAS married and no, not everything that happens in Vegas, stays there. Take this song for instance, it's by the group known as Conjure One and it's called Redemption. What I love about this song, outside of the vocal layering, are the drums. They are so powerful when played on the big boy speakers that they give me chills. They also inspire my neighbors to call the cops, but whatever.

Redemption is off their first album, Conjure One which dropped in 2002. As you can hear, the album definitely had a middle eastern feel to it. Funny thing is, Conjure One is from Canada. That's right, our neighbor from the Great White North, Rhys Fulber, produced this gem of a song (and album) that made me a bonafide fan. The vocals provided are sung, in Syrian Arabic by Chemda and her vocals are clearly an added instrument to this driving, bombastic track.

I suggest you give this beauty of a song a long, hard listen to, and if you can, play it on your big boy speakers. It may shake some things, it may give you chills, it may rattle your windows (as well as your neighbors). Believe me though, it is well worth it. Enjoy!

Cross My Mind

This is the second time Jill Scott makes an appearance on my blog. The first time I blogged a song of hers, I did so because that song mirrored where I was in my life at the time. This song, Cross My Mind is actually my favorite song of hers. I like reminescent songs, songs about someone wondering what that one who got away was doing, what they were thinking, if they ever think about you. This song fits that bill perfectly.

Cross My Mind is off her second studio album, Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Vol.2 and it earned Jill her first Grammy. It's a laid back, jazzy piece, nice and easy in it's groove and Jill and that marvelous voice of hers glides right along with it. It opens with her saying "I was just thinking about you" and then the piano comes in, it's all conversational except the chorus.

Jill remembers fondly how an ex lover smelled, walked, kissed, and made love to her. She's tempted to write him a letter, or page him but she knows it's wrong. She knows her feelings are wrong because like she says at the end, "the reality, honestly...is you were never good for me, and I was never good for you..." Enjoy!

Next to Me

Next to Me is a really well written song written and performed by Emelie Sande. May I suggest you keep track of that name, because in a few years, she will be HUGE. She reminds me of a young Etta James in not just her look, but her talent and powerful voice.

Next to Me is off of her debut album entitled Our Version of Events, released in 2012. This song has a hint of gospel to it but it's a song about a woman who knows she has a good man. A man that won't stray, get high, or out running the streets, he instead will be next to her. Great subject matter and the song is dominated by her voice. It's pretty much stripped down to just her voice, piano, and drums. That allows her voice to shine, and it does just that.

She's been around for awhile, writing songs for other artists in her native England so she's not new to the game. Just remember the name because soon she'll be everywhere over here, and giving another Brit songstress a run for her money. Enjoy!

 

Nightcall

If you saw the movie Drive, then you've heard Nightcall. It was the opening song in the movie, in fact, this song was the template for the entire pace and tone of the picture. I love this song by Kavinsky because it's really reminiscent of that synth-pop sound of the 80's. In fact, this song was the B side of the single Pacific Coast Highway which was off the EP entitled 1986, which of course was released in 2007.

Nightcall starts with a phone call and then the groove comes in. It's slow and sexy, and it sounds like what you would be playing as you drove through the hills of southern California. The vocals are provided by Kavinsky and Lovefoxxx from the Brazilian rock band CSS. Her vocals are perfectly suited for this groove, they make this song almost hard to resist, it's hypnotic.

The synths are in full effect here, so if you never liked new wave, 80's music, or synth-pop, then might I suggest you skip this song. If you loved those genres, then jump in, the waters fine. Enjoy!

Weather Storm

Okay, so everyone here has heard of Massive Attack, right? RIGHT? Okay, good. Next question, has everyone heard their really cool, extremely chilled tune entitled Weather Storm? No? Well that's not surprising, it wasn't one of their big hits like so many other tunes they've released, but it stands among my favorites of them, proudly.

Weather Storm was released on the groups 1995 album Protection and I will tell you right now, it's the kind of song you could get high too. That is if you are the kind of person who gets high, of course. No, I am not condoning drug use nor am I condemning it, I'm just....LOOK, Weather Storm is just a really cool song you can kick back to, with a glass of wine, or whatever, and just chill.

Weather Storm is the perfect background music to a dinner party. It's mellow, easy on the ears, but hard to ignore, which makes it a great conversation starter.
"Hey, what's that playing?"
"My ipod?"
"Yeah, what's your ipod playing?"
"Music, why?"
"Okay smart ass, what song is it playing right now?"
"Oh, that's Weather Storm by Massive Attack, cool huh?"
Or something to that effect, depending on who your friends are, and how you interact with them. Anyway, enjoy!

Eminence Front

Hey, do you remember this song by The Who? It's one of their classics entitled Eminence Front. It's one of those songs where the lyrics make absolutely no sense but the music is absolutely amazing. I feel it's time this song makes my blog so here it is. Now you may not recognize the name of the song, but I am confident you've heard this song somewhere. It's just that popular.

Eminence Front was on the 1982 album It's Hard, and while it wasn't the album's biggest chart topper, that title is held by Athena, Eminence Front is by far the album's most popular. It's also the biggest money maker. This song has been used in commercials, TV shows, movies and everything else you can possibly imagine. Why, you ask? Because it's so damn funky, seriously.

Throw this puppy on your big boy speakers and see if I'm incorrect about that. Listen to the first two minutes of the song without Daltrey's warbling and then judge, funky, or not? I say funky indeed (but you know that already, didn't you?). Enjoy!

Tonight, Tonight

Hey, have you ever heard of the group Passion Pit? Have you heard their remake of a song that I personally thought couldn't be made better? Yeah, they did Tonight, Tonight which was originally done by The Smashing Pumpkins and I'll be damned if their version was almost better than the original. There are a lot of things to like about this song, both the original and the remake, but since I am posting the remake, let's talk about that version.

It's softer, slower, and seemingly more heartfelt. I feel that way because unlike in the original, you can make out the lyrics better in the remake. It starts off really simple, guitar, falsetto, and keyboards. It stays that way until the chorus, when it just gets better. The song seemingly opens up only to go back to the voice, guitar, and atmospheric keys, though this time theirs some percussion. My favorite part is during the bridge when the drums come in and makes this remake something so good that it rivals the original. This song was originally featured on an album that is nigh impossible to find sadly.

Fret not dear reader (of the most fantastic music blog on the planet), Passion Pit's version of Tonight, Tonight is available to download as a single. Or you can just enjoy it here whenever you'd like to hear it again. Sit back, relax, turn up the volume, and enjoy!

Overwhelmed

Okay, to be honest, I first heard this song in a beer commercial. I am not about to write how I was up on this song before Sam Adams used it and made it popular, though I could have. I could have made myself out to be cooler than I already am (and we all know just how friggin cool I am, don't we?). The song is Overwhelmed by Tim McMorris and I really like this little ditty.

Overwhelmed is not on an album...yet. Tim though has more than enough singles to put together a few albums, and talk about diverse styles. Don't listen to this song and think Tim McMorris is one of those singer-songwriter dudes that wears cowboy boots and likes tractor pulls (though he may). There is a song by him called The World is Yours where he raps...well!

Still though, Overwhelmed is my favorite song of his, yes I've heard them all so quit asking me. This song is cute and the lyrics are poignant. Tim McMorris is a very talented artist and since it sounds like he may be around for awhile, you might want to jump on this bandwagon now, before it picks up speed, and enjoy!

Arrival of the Birds

Allow me to introduce to you a group, actually an orchestra, I have known about for some time. Well, okay they aren't really an orchestra but they call themselves The Cinematic Orchestra, and this is their amazingly beautiful song entitled Arrival of the Birds. Now before you go looking for it to download on your ipod, I need to inform you that the search for this song will not be an easy one for it is not on itunes.

This piece of music was part of the score to ther Disneynature film called The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos which was released back in 2008. To this day, this piece has haunted me since I first heard it, and that was two years ago. It's been used in perfume commercials so if it sounds somewhat familiar to you, that's why.

This melody, right now fits my mood like a glove. It's melancholy and somewhat restless, the perfect first song for 2013. I think it's absolutely beautiful and more than worthy of a place on my blog. I hope it's enjoyed by you, dear reader as it is by me.