Friday, February 15, 2013

Song of the Week #234

Apparently the Grammys were recently. I had a look at the winners list and I can guarantee that it was yawn-worthy. That is it almost put me to sleep. Let’s see if I can put together some good tracks to round off the week.

The big excitement for me recently is that we’ve finally made the move to Blu-Ray. Players have come right down in price and that always sits well with me as a Scotsman. It shouldn’t shock anyone out there that the first disc I watched was “Rock of Ages”. Too much fun. Now I’m on the lookout for a deal on the 9 disc Star Wars collection. Next up I’ll see if I can find the film “Baraka”. If you haven’t seen it then rush out now and grab a copy. It’s like nothing you’ll ever see and I can’t describe it.


There were a few comments about my choice of ten top metal albums last week. Not really any controversy, just a couple of suggestions. I agree that it was a tough call to leave out Dio but I’m not sure what I would cut from the list to add him?

Dio – Rainbow In The Dark - http://youtu.be/X9R960h1bpE

If the Grammys did remind me of one cool thing then it was Jimmy Cliff. DJ Al-E almost visited Jamaica a few years ago and I got a Jimmy Cliff cassette as a gift. Funny. He’s awesome.

Jimmy Cliff – Many Rivers To Cross (live) - http://youtu.be/TegLTsuvzXQ

Billy Bragg is one of my heroes. And he has a new album coming out in March. The first single was released this week and I’ve listened a couple of times. I’m not sure what to think. I want to love it. I like the lyrics. But the video is really lame and adds nothing. I’ll listen a few more times without watching. Are we sure that it isn’t another Wilco collaboration??

Billy Bragg – No One Knows Nothing Anymore - http://youtu.be/6xDd-BvClH8

Billy’s song certainly has some solid country and western undertones but on my live bootleg of his from a gig in Sydney in the late 80’s he was talking about his enjoyment of that type of music.

Cycling this week has been pretty good. After a trundle tomorrow I should hit 300km for the week. That includes me providing much early morning amusement to a mini-bus full of Japanese tourists as I changed a flat out on the side of Lake George. I’ve got a couple of more weeks of long distances planned before I swap to the mountain bike in preparation for the MONT 24hr race. I might go over 1000km in February so I’m thinking that endurance shouldn’t be too much of an issue. Motivation to ride at 3am is more difficult!

DJ FatRollins alerted me to the fact that there was a documentary on the telly recently about Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” LP. I finally managed to watch it this week. And it wasn’t too bad. The band weren’t at each other’s throats the whole time – either that or time has dulled their memories! Following up “Dark Side of The Moon” must’ve seemed like a hell of a task and the pressure to succeed was clear in what the band had to say. It’s an album that I really like, much more than Dark Side. There are some stellar versions of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” where you just experience a massive emotional release when the band kicks in. It’s worth the long listen.

Pink Floyd – Shine On You Crazy Diamond - http://youtu.be/0SqFPNTBnv8

I hadn’t realised that Venetta Fields had sung backing on the Floyd album. Now I know about her varied and very successful career. She’s most famous here for singing with John Farnham of course.

John Farnham – That’s Freedom - http://youtu.be/zZIbpexA4g8

On a more serious note I was absolutely disgusted to read about the treatment that ABC newsreader Jeremy Fernandez and his daughter were subjected to whilst they travelled on a bus in Sydney last week. They had to endure a racist tirade from another passenger. And to top it off the bus driver told him he should’ve moved. It’s horrible. You can read more about it here if you want. Be informed. And then don’t stad ny and let this kind of thing happen.

To finish off this week here’s two songs I’ve had in my head. And for no other reason than that the tunes are catchy (in my opinion).

Soul Asylum – Somebody To Shove - http://youtu.be/OrrE5bCA5lg

Debbie Harry and Kermit – The Rainbow Connection - http://youtu.be/lRvhRhWWE44

Smile and have a good weekend folks.

DJ Rob

No comments:

Post a Comment