Friday, April 17, 2015

Song of the Week #345


As of tomorrow I will have travelled around the sun 44 times. Good grief, how did the number get so high? Lately I've been feeling my age (which is unusual). I put it down to far too much stress in the last year. Hopefully I can go back to feeling what passes for normal before too long!

Last week I wrote a little bit about Spotify. This week I think I've spent far too much time on it exploring artists that I enjoy whose albums aren't always that easy to find. Some of them will get played this week. I think the only thing that I haven't liked is that the comedy "radio" channel that they have is almost exclusively American comedians that I've a) never heard of and. b) aren't funny. Shouting and swearing a lot gets boring really, really quickly.

It's rare for any record stores around here to have much by American bluesman, Taj Mahal. This is a real shame because it's not your regular twelve bar stuff. I was first exposed to Taj singing LeadBelly's "Bourgeois Blues" on the Folkways tribute album. That's an album any music fan should have in their collection. It might be "old" music but it remains "good" music. Kurt Cobain was a LeadBelly fan.

Taj Mahal - Divin' Duck Blues - https://youtu.be/AZZwELray8k

Lead Belly - The Gallows Pole - https://youtu.be/ye2N_2ce3QE

Nirvana - Where Did You Sleep Last Night - https://youtu.be/gOZKz_sPM6U?t=1m8s

Canberra music fans can either rejoice or stay away...we've got a gig coming up! Join the band at Vivaldi's on the evening of May 30th as we run through a range of songs by Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Neil Young and Jason Isbell. It's a slightly more laid back setlist musically but there will still be plenty to get your feet tapping. This will be the four piece version of the band with George singing and playing keys, Brownie on bass and vocals, Hayden on the drums and singing as well and of course me making up the numbers on guitar and un-mic'd vocals! There are other different shows coming so watch this space and the Facebook page for details in the not too distant future. You won't hear this song but I'm going to play it because I think it's a great version...


The "survivor of cyclones" is heading back to Vanuatu in a couple of weeks. Zoë is off to a different village but she's still going to be on Pentecost. Atavtabanga is about 5hrs walk further North than she was. It's also significantly closer to the airstrip they use to get there. I'm hoping to be able to visit her there at the end of her placement. There's a lot of ducks to line up to make that happen but I'll do my best. I better keep working on my Bislama as I'd like to be able to speak to the people there at least some of the time in their language. Speaking of languages, how backwards do I feel? Most Australians speak English only. In Zoë's village many of the people speak English, Bislama, their local language and French!

I'm wary of many remastered albums as you may be aware. All they do is pump up the bass and kick drum and make everything louder. But sometimes hearing a different mix of a song or the demo versions makes the purchase worthwhile. Here's a couple that you might enjoy. Firstly Led Zep and the alternate Stairway to Heaven mix. You can decide for yourself if you can hear the difference. And after that is one of the demos from Pink Floyd's The Wall...interesting!

Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven (Sunset Sound Mix) - https://youtu.be/dFnDww7_mNM

Pink Floyd - Have A Cigar (alternate version) - https://youtu.be/GMTkgepgvNY

Tony Joe White has been around for a very long time. Legend is that he would play so hard that his amplifiers would give up! If you like swampy blues then he's the king. Even without the awesome guitar he certainly has the right kind of voice!

Tony Joe White - Holed Up - https://youtu.be/r6igQ-nacfU

I'll close off this week with a few of my all time favourite songs. 

DJ ZedBoots was watching a movie the other day and I noticed that one of the characters was wearing a Stryper t-shirt. I've always admired them for their melodic approach to metal and the fact that they sing what they like regardless of what people think.

Stryper - Co'mon Rock - https://youtu.be/yrkrDjtfO2Y

Beach Boys - I Can Hear Music - https://youtu.be/Qqyx4TW4Ptw This is a cover version of a Ronnettes tune for those that didn't know.

Sammy Hagar - There's Only One Way To Rock - https://youtu.be/RcsFpztaJIc

That'll do for now. Rock on Brothers and Sisters! Hello Tingha!

Rob

"Time, time, time, see what's become of me...." not the version you'd expect...click here

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