Thursday, December 1, 2011: Counting Crows- A Long December

How great were the Counting Crows.

I mean, August And Everything After is probably one of the most perfect records ever, and certainly one of the defining records of the early 90's.

Their follow up, Recovering The Satellites, was always going to be in the shadow of that debut, but that doesn't mean it's a dog of an album. Exactly the opposite, in fact.

So let's kick off December with one of it's strongest tracks, as proof.

Here's to A Long December. Both in song and in time.

Let's make both last.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011: Pixie Lott - What Do You Take Me For (feat. Pusha T)

You think I can only play party pieces on Fridays or Saturdays?

You think we can't dance during the middle of the work week?

What do you take me for?

Tuesday, November 29, 2011: The Righteous Brothers - (You're My) Soul & Inspiration

I went to a wedding reception once where the DJ actually played You've Lost That Loving Feeling.

I mean, honestly. I confronted him on it, I asked, "Don't you think this song is really inappropriate for a wedding reception?"

He looked at me like I was from Mars. "I've never really thought about it before", he finally replied, "People just dig it. It's a jam, you know?"

Yeah, I know. But I totally think that if I ever got asked to DJ a wedding, I would definitely include me some Righteous Brothers - but certainly not that song.

Certainly this one, though.

Enjoy.

Monday, November 28, 2011: Between the Buried and Me - Selkies: The Endles Obsession (Instrumental)

Ok, let's get one thing straight: The second someone in this genre of heavy metal starts singing/shouting/screaming...you know, tearing up their vocal chords in general, all bets are off.

I have mentioned this before on this blog, and I'll say it again, for all my struggle to accept new and different types of music, I just can't get into a lot of the new metal: Metalcore, screamo, post-hardcore, whatever the hell the kids are calling it this week.

Junk, I say. Rubbish. The lot of it. I find bands like Bring Me The Horizon completely unlistenable.

I was just about to put Between the Buried and Me in that same category. Again, because of the singing/shouting/screaming/etc. That is, I was until I heard several of their instrumental tracks. Like this one.

The twists and turns on this track are absolutely amazing. From the quality riffs dominating the beginning of the track, check out that absolutely magical shift of tone and texture at about 3:58, and then that clean guitar that literally jumps out at 4:46 like a long forgotten 70's FM radio jam.

This, friends, is an absolute diamond of a track, one that takes the listener on a real journey, and a track that I could listen to all day every day, simply because there is just good stuff every minute.

And no screaming.

Enjoy.

Saturday, November 27, 2011

No blogging on a Sunday.

See you Monday!

Saturday, November 26, 2011: The War on Drugs - Your Love Is Calling My Name

From their 2011 release Slave Ambient, here is about the coolest sound you're likely to hear anytime soon.

Think European soundscapes channeled through Tom Petty, or the Cure and Echo and the Bunnymen as reimagined by Bob Seger and John Fogerty.

Think driving down the autobahn with this cranked up as loud as it can go.

Think that this is cool personified.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend.

Friday, November 25, 2011: Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar

Here's the theme song to Black Friday

Raise up your hands if you need a dollar