Kyrie!

Hey folks!


I know that I haven't posted for a while. I have no excuse except the usual ones. Oh well. Suck it up.


Anyway, though, today I'm taking a break from my norm, and posting an explicitly religious song. It's an unusual one, however, and I think that even those of you who aren't Christian can really appreciate it. One reason I'm posting it today is because I'm actually in Austin, Texas (my first time in Texas!) and here with my friend at the True Vineyard office. True Vineyard does great work for women who have been left widowed in Rwanda. You should definitely check them out and help support their mission. Buy some of the REALLY cool things that these women (and others throughout Africa) make to support themselves here.
So, in honor of them and all the work they do in Africa:


GOOD SONG: Kyrie sung by Les Troubadours du Roi Baudouin, arr. by Father Guido Haazen

Happy face!

The Missa Luba was a version of the Catholic Latin Mass (so all the words of the songs are in Latin, or some Greek-- like the words of this song "Kyrie, Eleison") that was put together by a Belgian priest named Father Guido Haazen after he traveled to Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) in the 1950's. The words may all be Latin, but the style is 100% Congolese. It's a great testament to how cultures can blend beautifully and successfully. The version that I linked to, I believe, is the original boys choir that Fr. Haazen assembled, that toured all over the place. The version that I grew up with is actually a slightly later recording, done by the Muungano National Choir from Nairobi, Kenya, which is also really beautiful.

I think that even if you're not Catholic or religious at all, you can really hear the beauty in this song. Their young voices are so pure and gorgeous, and the call and response is cool. 

If you liked this song, definitely check out the Sanctus, too. Stunning. Love the percussion.

Enjoy!

Over and out,

Anna

Run for Cover(s)!

H'okay, so I am declaring this November to be GOOD (COVER) SONG Month! Hip hip hooray! Huzzah! And there was much rejoicing. This month's posts will be dedicated to artists who have done great covers of songs by other artists. There are many. It will be a difficult task to narrow it down to just a few, but I will proceed, undaunted in my quest.
Here goes nothin':

You can tell he's a metalhead because he has long hair parted in the middle.
And because she looks pissed. 

GOOD (COVER) SONG #1: Orion by Rodrigo Y Gabriela (the original is by Metallica).

I have never been the biggest Metallica fan, so maybe this good cover song post is a bit unfair, since I'm bound to think that many covers of this song will be better than the original. But whatever. The cover is legitimately really amazing. And am I surprised? No. Rodrigo Y Gabriela are insanely good musicians.

Originally from Mexico, they began their music careers playing in a metal band. Hence their awesome musical chops. Much as I dislike a lot of metal, technically, metal musicians are often the best of the best (as my former metalhead brother likes to remind me). They grew frustrated with the scene, moved to Europe, started busking in Ireland, and the rest is history. Their most recent album, 11:11, dropped in fall of 2009. Their surprisingly cool blend of flamenco guitar with metal riffs is quite unique and a lot of fun to listen to. I guess it makes sense- both the metal world and the flamenco guitar world revolve around guitar and percussion, and give rise to a lot of virtuosos. Listen to that percussion-- all done on the guitar itself! So cool. They way they use their hands reminds me a lot of these guys.
If you have to get up at 3:30 am and give a loved one a ride to the airport in the dark, and you're still tired, they're a good band to listen to. Trust me on that one.

If you liked this song, you might also like:

Metallica (obviously)
Slayer
Led Zeppelin
Gypsy Kings
Paco de Lucia

Over and out,
Anna

The Viking of 6th Avenue

New York has been home to many weirdos, freaks, characters, and oddballs (including me). One of the greatest?
MOONDOG!!
A.K.A. "The Viking of 6th Avenue"

I'm seriously considering dressing up as Moondog for Halloween.
Unfortunately, most people would just assume I was a Viking.
Dang.

Seriously, folks, this man was a MUSICAL GENIUS. And also, probably, totally bonkers. Which is one of my favorite combinations ever.
Background? Moondog (born Louis T. Hardin, in Kansas) was a blind jazz musician who moved to New York City in the 1940's and lived (by choice!) as a street musician, mostly on 6th Avenue, dressed as Odin, the Viking god. 
H'amazing.
Anyways, he had a genius for mixing traditional elements of jazz, like saxophone and flute, with native American percussion and ambient city street noises, like honking horns. His music is instantly identifiable by its unusual rhythms, characteristic lack of any instruments other than woodwind and brass (with a few exceptions), and funny names. Some of his songs also have male choruses and such. Those are good ones, too. If you're curious, watch the Jens Lekman video I posted at the bottom of this post.
As I have mentioned before, I am not a huge jazz fan, but this guy's music is just incredible. And different. Because of his talent and his strategic busking location, he managed to catch the attention of many famous musicians of his time, like Benny Goodman, Charlie Parker, Leonard Bernstein, Toscanini, and Philip Glass.
You HAVE to give him a listen.


GOOD SONG #1: Bird's Lament by Moondog
This song was written in honor of Charlie Parker. Such great saxamaphone.
GOOD SONG #2: Get a Move On by Mr. Scruff (with heavy sampling of Bird's Lament by Moondog)
What an awesome remix! And look at that video-- hilarious! Most of his videos have that goofy animation, actually. Another wonderful human being.

GOOD SONG #4: All is Loneliness by Moondog, sung by Janis Joplin.

Oh yeah, and he invented the Trimba.

(How did I find out about Moondog, you might ask? I was at a Jens Lekman concert in 2007 in NYC and he covered Moondog's song "Paris." You can watch him sing it at that VERY SAME concert here on this GOOD SONG VIDEO. Gotta love youtube!)

Over and out,
Anna

My favorite post ever... Also my dorkiest.

Today is a very important day. It's two people's birthdays. Guess. No, not me and my friend. Guess again.

Yes, that's right! You guessed it!

BILBO AND FRODO BAGGINS!

HAPPY HOBBIT DAY!

Good Lord, I do love hobbits.

OK, so I know I am a huge dweeb. I really don't care. I am in fantastic company, because do you know who else were big LOTR/Hobbit dorks?

LED ZEPPELIN.
That's right. So I am not ashamed.

And in honor of this festive occasion, I am posting one of the best renditions of a Led Zep song ever done:
GOOD (TOLKEIN-FRIENDLY) SONG: Battle of Evermore by the London Philharmonic covering Led Zeppelin

Note: PLEASE do NOT dismiss this song just because it is by Led Zeppelin (for those of you not into classic rock) or because it has some LOTR references in the original lyrics. It is AMAZING!!

This song is from an entire album of Led Zeppelin covers played by the London Philharmonic entitled "Kashmir: Symphonic Led Zeppelin." If you ever thought you might want to go marching into battle against orcs and goblins and ring-wraiths, this should be your soundtrack. I'm really not kidding.
I love this one song from the album because it's beautiful and stirring and magical-sounding and all sorts of cool/nerdy adjectives.
I picked it for today, because the original song (GOOD SONG ALERT!) has lyrics that reference Lord of the Rings.
For example:
"Oh war is the common cry, 
Pick up your swords and fly.
The sky is filled with good and bad that mortals never know.

Oh, well, the night is long 
The beads of time pass slow,
Tired eyes on the sunrise, waiting for the eastern glow.

The pain of war cannot exceed 
The woe of aftermath,
The drums will shake the castle wall, 
the ring wraiths ride in black, 
Ride on."


I hope you enjoyed that magical moment. Enjoy your pipe-smoking, dragon-slaying, second-breakfast-eating, ring-wearing, riddle-sharing, or whatever else you do today in honor of hobbits everywhere.

If you liked this song, you might also check out:
anything by Hans Zimmer
The London Philharmonic playing Pink Floyd (it happened!)

Over and out,
Anna

"No One Ever Does It Like That Anymore"

Despite the fact that Mark Ronson was born in London, I think of him as being a New Yorker. Considering that he went to Collegiate High School in NY, then New York University (my alma mater!) and began his career in my glorious hometown, I don't think that this is a stretch.  He is such an enormously talented DJ/turntabelist/producer, I want him to be a New Yorker. The way he combines different musical traditions/band/sounds in his songs is just plain genius. Granted, his work can be a little hit-or-miss (or mostly miss, if you don't like hip-hop that much), but the stuff of his that DOES work is great.

Ronson, hard at work. 

His new album "Record Collection" just dropped a little while ago, and is a ton of fun. Ronson features of some of the songs, but an insane number of people are involved too, as usual. The record is technically by "Mark Ronson & The International" so I guess "The International" includes all those other folks.
The two best songs on it, that both have amazing videos are:

GOOD SONG #1: Bang Bang Bang (odd mash-up of old commercials, weird Japanese TV-show, and 80's style "futuristic" fun... oh yeah, and Q-Tip!!!)

GOOD SONG #2: The Bike Song (feat. Spank Rock)

One thing that I find interesting about him, though, is that as much as I love a lot of his fun singles (like the ones above), some of my FAVORITE songs of his are his short little instrumental bits that come in between songs on his album, like "Missing Words"  and "Selector" (from this latest album) and "Inversion" and "Diversion" from his previous album "Version."  Inversion is competing with "Can't Hardly Wait" by Justin Townes Earle as my #1 played song.

Anyhoo, hope you enjoy.

If you like these songs, you might also like:

(Note: OK so, since Mark Ronson has no particular style, these rec's run the gamut)

Calvin Harris
A Tribe Called Quest
M.I.A.
Adele
Lily Allen
Duran Duran

BUY HIS MUSIC HERE: MR & the Int.

Over and out,
Anna

Bluegrass and Tea Leaves

Bluegrass music has been around long enough now for musicians to mess around with it. Play with it. Have some fun. Combine it with rock n' roll. Hip-hop. Gospel. Country. Folk. Classical.

But bluegrass combined with traditional Chinese music? I believe Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet are the first ones to brave that attempt.

And WOW! Does it work!

Abigail understands that liking strange toys is a
 prerequisite for appreciating Asian cultures.

A little explanation: Abigail Washburn is a banjo player and singer from Illinois. Straight-up American. Her bluegrass group called Uncle Earl was a big hit on the scene. However, she spent enough time in living in China after college to learn Mandarin and begin recording in it post-Uncle Earl. In 2004 she went on tour in Tibet with the uber-accomplished members of her quartet, which includes Béla Fleck on banjo, Casey Driessen on violin, and Ben Sollee on cello.

The GOOD SONG for today is Kangding Quingge (Old Timey Dance Party), which is such a fun song. The cello is fantastic. And then she starts singing in Chinese, accompanied by a banjo! It starts to get funkier as you go on. I wish I had something to say about the lyrics... but I have absolutely no idea what she's saying. She's got a nice voice though. 


BUY HER MUSIC HERE: Abigail Washburn!

If you like this song, you might also like:

Joanna Newsom

Chatham County Line

Béla Fleck

Uncle Earl

Chinese music???

Over and out,

Anna