Sunday, April 17, 2011

No blogging on a Sunday.

See you Monday!

Saturday, April 16, 2011: Elton John - Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters

When I was a kid, I wanted to play the piano so bad. It was all I could think about, or talk about. I have no idea why.

But musicians like Billy Joel and Elton John were always high on my list of musical favourites.

I wanted a piano, and my parents enrolled me in accordion lessons.

No joke. How's that for being born under a bad sign.

But, you know, I threw myself into it, I practiced a lot, and even entered some accordion competitions (can you even imagine!), and took first place.

Eventually, though, for me to continue my squeeze box studies, my parents would have needed to get me a far better instrument, which was well out of their price range.

So, I had to quit that too.

What a drag.

Anyway, I hope my weary stroll down (bad) memory lane doesn't turn you off from todays selection.

Elton himself has said that this is probably his favourite song. I think he's got good taste.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend.

Friday, April 15, 2011: Them Crooked Vultures - Scumbag Blues

April 15. If you are reading this in the good ol' US of A, that means it's TAX DAY.

If you haven't filed your tax return yet, you need to have it postmarked by end of business today.

And, if you have paid your dues to the government, here a song for you to sing to Them Crooked Vultures.

Oh, wait, did I just call them Scumbags?

UPDDATE: Looks like Tax Day has been pushed back to April 18th this year.

So, not only is the IRS taking my money, they are making CSOTD look bad!  Double Scumbags!

Thursday, April 14, 2011: Portishead - Strangers

Believe it or not, gentle reader, I really try to not let my own personal tastes influence the song choice here on CSOTD.

No really.

Trust me, I've blogged some songs that would have never made it to my own personal walkman.

Strangers by Portishead, however, is not one of those songs.

In fact, I would hazard to guess that if I kept a record of my song playbacks, this would definitely be in the top 5.

And it still sounds as fresh, and cool, as when it was released, coming close to 20 years ago.

Can you believe it?

Don't dwell on that, though, but just crank this up to 11 and bask in the glory that is Portishead

Wednesday, April 13, 2011: Mumford & Sons - Hold On To What You Believe

Mumford & Sons are a shockingly great band out of West London.

This band specializes in pure joy, gentle reader, no studio trickery or wizardry, just talent.

They specialize is old school that just doesn't mean going back to the ten or twenty years, they are old school that dates back generations. Probably centuries.

Seriously, one of the few bands out today where I just run out of superlatives.

Please do enjoy, and support this band as are bound for glory, and goodness knows the world needs less gimmicks and more heart.

And these boys have heart by the truckload.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011: Backstreet Boys - Everybody (Backstreet's Back)

Yesterday, I encouraged everyone to turn off their minds because it was Monday, and sometimes thinking about a mess of stuff early in the week gets you down.

Well, here's another song to turn your mind off to. But, still, you know, in a good way.

I dare you, I TRIPLE DOG DARE YOU to stay still in your seat to this song, or keep from singing along really really loud.

So throw your hands up in the air, and wave them around like you just don't care

If you wanna party let me hear you yell, cuz the Backstreet Boys will forever be goin' on again

Monday, April 11, 2011: MC Solaar - A La Claire Fontaine

Sometimes, it's better if we don't try to understand things.

I mean, why do birds suddenly appear every time you are near? I would like an explanation, actually. Or who, indeed, did write the book of love? And do they get royalties?

And it's these types of questions that, when you get started thinking about, just gets a person tied up in knots.

Mondays can be a drag at the best of times, so I want to encourage you to just turn off your worries, shut down your thinking caps for a couple of moments, and get into the flow.

So, I figured I would start us off this week with Claude M'Barali, AKA MC Solaar, a master of the flow. He was also born in Dakar, Senegal, raised outside Paris, and studied languages at the Jussieu university campus, and was a post-graduate in philosophy.

Trust me, let MC Solaar do all your mental heavy lifting this morning.

Happy Monday.

Enjoy