Coronavirus is continuing its spread across the world, with nearly 30 million confirmed cases in 188 countries and a death toll fast approaching one million, and it looks like it will not stop very soon. So be careful, wear your masks and keep the social distance. Of course, in the meantime stay with music...
As Debasish Mridha once said;
“Music can heal the wounds which medicine cannot touch.”
Here is the list for this weekend;
Sabina Sciubba & Antonio Forcione - "Estate"
The Smiths - "This Charming Man"
Boodaman - "Christical Mass"
Julia Holter - "Feel You"
Mary Halvorson Octet - "Away With You"
Hope you have a great weekend.
nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.
Here I am with the 50th "Which one is your favorite?" post. This week I will take you to the 80s with song from a band that I liked very much. Unfortunately, Mark Hollis, the writer of this song and the lead singer of the band who made it famous passed away last year.
Here is the song for this week;
"Life's What You Make It"
This is a song by the English band Talk Talk. It was released as a single in 1985, the first from the band's album The Colour of Spring. The single was a hit in the UK, peaking at No. 16, and charted in numerous other countries, often reaching the Top 20.
The song was one of the last to be conceived for The Colour of Spring, following concern from the band's management at the lack of an obvious single among accumulated work. Initially unwilling, Mark Hollis and Tim Friese-Greene, the principal source of original material for the band, accepted the task as a challenge.
The track appeared in the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, where it plays on the fictional in-game pop radio station Flash FM.
Here are the 5 versions I picked for you;
Duncan Sheik - "Life's What You Make It"
Weezer - "Life's What You Make It"
Zinoba - "Life's What You Make It"
Placebo - "Life's What You Make It"
Joan as a Police Woman - "Life's What You Make It"
Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).
nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.
It has been more than 90 weeks that I have started the "Five Songs" post and I really hope you are liking it. I am quite excited that very soon I will be co-hosting a jazz program on the radio. Further details to be announced in the coming weeks...
As Sun Ra once said;
“Where human eyes have never seen, where human beings have never been, I build a world of abstract dreams, and I wait for you."
Here is the list for this weekend;
Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes - "Tidal Wave"
Gevende - "Nayu"
Blick Bassy - "Woñi"
Guy Davis - "Loneliest Road That I Know"
Dire Straits - "Your Latest Trick"
Hope you have a great weekend.
nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.
The legendary jazz bassist who has performed alongside with the greatest musicians of the 20th century has died at the age of 85.
Over a career that spanned seven decades, he played on recordings with Albert Ayler, Paul Bley, Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett, among many others.
He was a jazz musician with a deep philosophical stance and he was continously seeking ways for being ahead of his time.
Here is a classic piece from the Keith Jarrett Trio (Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette)...
This week we go back to the late 40s. The song I chose for you is a popular rhythm and blues standard, composed in 1946 by American songwriter Bobby Troup. It is a song that has been covered many times almost in all musical styles.
Here is the song for this week;
"Route 66"
The song uses a twelve-bar blues arrangement and the lyrics follow the path of U.S. Route 66 (US 66), which traversed the western two-thirds of the U.S. from Chicago, Illinois, to Los Angeles, California.
Nat King Cole, with the King Cole Trio, first recorded the song the same year, and it became a hit, appearing on Billboard magazine's R&B and pop charts.
Bobby Troup got the idea for the song on a cross-country drive from Pennsylvania to California. Troup wanted to try his hand as a Hollywood songwriter, so he and his wife, Cynthia, packed up their 1941 Buick and headed west. The trip began on US 40 and continued along US 66 to the California coast. Troup initially considered writing a tune about US 40, but Cynthia suggested the title "Get Your Kicks on Route 66". The song was composed on the ten-day journey and completed by referring to maps when the couple arrived in Los Angeles.
The lyrics read as a mini-travelogue about the major stops along the route, listing several cities and towns through which Route 66 passes: St. Louis; Joplin, Missouri; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Amarillo, Texas; Gallup, New Mexico; Flagstaff, Arizona; Winona, Arizona; Kingman, Arizona; Barstow, California; and San Bernardino, California. Winona is the only town out of sequence: it was a very small settlement east of Flagstaff and might indeed have been forgotten if not for the lyric "Don't forget Winona", written to rhyme with "Flagstaff, Arizona". Many artists who have covered the tune over the years have changed the initial lyrics, usually to "It goes to St. Louis, down through Missouri..." then continuing with Oklahoma City and so on. Of the eight states through which the actual route passes, only Kansas and its cities—US 66 spends just eleven miles (18 km) inside the state's southeast corner—are not mentioned by the song. Chuck Berry famously mispronounces Barstow to rhyme with "cow" instead of correctly pronouncing it to rhyme with "go".
Here are the 7 versions I picked for you;
Chuck Berry - "Route 66"
Dr. Feelgood - "Route 66"
Depeche Mode - "Route 66"
Natalie Cole & Diana Krall - "Route 66"
Rolling Stones - "Route 66"
Glenn Frey - "Route 66"
Manhattan Transfer - "Route 66"
Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).
nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.
