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Play It! (AP) -- MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The daughters of country artist Hank Williams Jr. were recovering Thursday in a Memphis hospital from a rollover traffic accident in northern Mississippi, the performer's publicist said. Hilary Williams, in her early 20s, underwent emergency surgery at the Regional Medical Center in Memphis until 4 a.m. CST Thursday and doctors were bringing her out of anesthesia around 9 a.m., spokesman Kirt Webster said. Holly Williams, 25, was in stable condition at the hospital Thursday, Webster said. She suffered broken wrists, a broken leg and cuts and bruises. [more]
Play It! I wonder if Phil Collins listens to his own music when his heart is broken? Reuters reports that Phil is separating from his wife of 6 years, Orianne. For now, they'll go on living "Separate Lives." It's pretty weird that when you look through Phil's solo catalogue, well over 50% of the songs are about heartbreak and separation. Maybe he needed to do this to inspire some new material? This playlist contains 14 of his top heartache songs.
Play It! The South by Southwest Music and Media Conference & Festival culminates this weekend. I was unable to go this year due to the whole 2 jobs, 2 children, 4 blogs, thing, but rest assured I'm keeping up with what's happening. This playlist includes 34 bands you really need you watch for and listen to. Most who read this blog are familiar with names like Animal Collective, Blackalicious, Goldfrapp , Elf Power, Nada Surf and many others who are performing this year. However, this playlist focuses on many of the bands not yet on the radar screens of most hipsters. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have been.
Play It! The Decline of Western Civilization is a rockumentary film directed by Penelope Spheeris about the Los Angeles punk rock scene in 1979 and 1980. Featuring concert footage of legendary L.A. punk bands, and interviews both with band members and with the punks who made up their audience, the film offers a look into a subculture that was largely ignored by the rock music press of the time. [more]
Play It! My little girl turns 3 in a week. She's very excited and has selected a Thomas Train theme. We'll have the standard cake, ice cream and party favors, as well as jump castles and a smattering of kiddie games. Of course, I'm in charge of the music. This list was built to be something both children and adults can enjoy. It kicks off with Grandaddy's Nature Anthem, which has just overtaken 5 Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed as my daughters favorite song. She makes me play the video over and over and over and over...
Play It! (Pitchfork) -- It's the sense of the personal politic that separates Hard-Fi from the rest of the nu-wave pack. Clearly, the Clash received a few more spins than the Go4. Instead of offering hi-falutin' conceptual treatises, Hard-Fi infuses their message with a grounded sense of place that's not just tied to London. The search for culprits in the wake of the London subway bombings lends a bittersweet taste to the twerpy sarcasm in the album's title track ("We're the stars of CCTV/ Making movies out on the street") [more] -David Raposa, September 2, 2005
Play It! Garrison Starr's brand new album The Sound of You and Me dropped yesterday and to sum it up, she's bummed. It's a very personal album that is born of heartbreak, and although this can be dangerous water to tread, she pulls it off in spades. These acoustic melancholy songs connect you to the artist without ever becoming sappy or overbearing. A fine effort, and another worthy notch on the bedpost of the Alt Country genre.
Play It! This week is not as huge as last week, but we still have plenty of new music to keep us occupied for quite awhile. Rhapsody now has brand new singles or albums from Hard-fi, Donald Fagen, Ambulance Ltd., Garrison Starr, DMC, Willie Nelson, Nicolai Dunger, Dumptruck, Pearl Jam, NOFX, Kelis, E-40 and much more. Get listening!
Play It! I have already posted about Dave Chappelle's Block Party movie and the impressive line-up of artists who performed in the film. Well, the official soundtrack has just been added to Rhapsody. It's a great live hip-hop collection. However, for some unfortunate reason, the much-hyped Fugees reunion is not captured here.
Play It! This playlist features 16 classic punk rock bands covering some not-so-punk songs (if you don't know what defines "classic punk", here's a hint: no Grammys or top 40 hits, pre-1990). Bands include The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, Fear, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, JFA, The Misfits, Agent Orange and more. Bands covered include Jefferson Airplane, The Monkees, War, The Byrds, Jerry Lee Lewis and others.
Play It! NEW YORK (AP) -- Between an ugly feud among Blondie members spilling over onstage and a rancorous letter from the absent Sex Pistols, the latest Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class did not enter quietly on Monday. The animosity even made Ozzy Osbourne, inducted with Black Sabbath, seem sedate. [more]
Play it! The HBO series finally started it's 6th and final season last night, and I'm already officially addicted. In honor of this occasion, here's a look back at the inaugural season's soundtrack. Musically, a lot of music from the 50's and 60's help romanticize the glory days, with Dion and Connie Francis. while smatterings of contemporary songs slip in here and there (like the theme song, "Woke Up This Morning.") [more] (via thus spake drake)
Play It! (Miami Herald) -- Rapper Young Jeezy was arrested after shootout in South Beach over the weekend. In his hit song ''Soul Survivor'' Young Jeezy prays to stay out of jail. But early Saturday morning, his prayers went unanswered in Miami Beach. The 28-year-old rapper, born Jay Jenkins, was busted on weapons charges after a shootout on a busy South Beach strip involving some of his friends. Miami Beach police arrested the Atlanta-based rapper and charged him with two counts of carrying a concealed firearm. No one was injured. [more]
Play It! So the Internet is awash with all these new video sites (Google Video, You Tube, etc) and I have been enjoying digging around for music videos. I wanted to save many, but need them all in one place. I decided that if I'm going to save them for my own enjoyment, I might as well share them with the world too. So I started a new blog called the Music Video Filter. It's a place to find videos that have been put through my fine tuned and patented quality filter. This playlist features songs from the first videos posted on the new site.
Play It! With the death of bassist Allen Woody, the surviving members of Gov't Mule faced that familiar question of how to carry on. Their answer was this sprawling two-disc set, on which a cavalcade of bassists and other visitors flew through the Mule tracks, each fitting into the groove in his own way. See the Objecks post on the message board for the full story, and a listing of the bassists who participated in The Deep End, Vol. 1 and 2.
Play It! Lead by Uraguayan guitarist, Leonardo Amuedo, this tight jazz trio fills oceans of sound with it's worldly fusion. These guys use a very fresh and clean sound and let their responsive improv do the heavy lifting. Amuedo's guitar chops harken back to Mark Whitfield's True Blue album and, as a group, they capture flavors reminiscent of Bela Fleck and the Flecktone's "UFO TOFU" period. Hat Tip: Pantagruel
Play It! As long as oppression, smothering relationships and worldy constraints exist, songwriters will continue to craft powerful music that cries out for freedom. There are literally thousands of songs that speak about freedom, so in order to narrow the list down to a manageable set, I put it through a "soul filter". That is, if a song did not have soul at its center, it was excluded. The result is this excellent 15 song playlist that includes artists like Solomon Burke, The Isley Brothers, The Staples Singers, Curtis Mayfield, The Soul Stirrers, Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone and more.
Play It! Even though Franz Schubert suffered an early death at age 32, he still found time to write about 600 songs. One complete box set of all of his songs takes up 37 CDS! At the zenith of his song production, he was writing as many as eight songs a day. This jaw-dropping phenomenon is almost beyond belief and no one else has ever come close to this amount of quality production in such a short time period. When one translates and reads the lyrics of the songs, they notice a careful sensitivity that Schubert had for their meaning and reflected this directly in his music. Hat Tip: Pantagruel
