Yahoo! Radish

The new Farrelly Brothers film, The Heartbreak Kid, is a remake of a 1972 film written by Neil Simon. 

The new version stars Ben Stiller, and I find myself wishing, hoping, dreaming for a match of the brilliant 1998 film There’s Something About Mary. Although I haven’t had a chance to see the film, my high hopes have been dimmed by the initial reviews, which are not kind, to say the least.

However, this should not stop you from enjoying the soundtrack, which is now available on Rhapsody. Good films are harder to make than good soundtracks, and once again, the Farrelly brothers have put together a fine collection of tunes from across the spectrum of popular music.

The new track by The Flaming Lips titled “Tale of The Horny Frog” is worth the price of admission alone. It’s a catchy, quirky and humorous romp that follows the tragic adventures of a frog who faces all types of horror during a journey for love, only to find truth in the end.

The soundtrack also includes the airy, soft-rock tinged “She Makes Me Fall Down” by Buva. And although it’s undeniably saccharine-sweet, it’s still a lovely song no matter which way you slice it. The track features acoustic guitars, steel pedal, strings, and is completely devoid of testosterone.

The remainder of the album features previously released tracks, many of which are classics. Including “Put The Message In The Box” by World Party, “Painting By Chagall” by the Weepies, ”Gypsy Woman” by Brian Hyland and “Ashes To Ashes” and Suffragette City by David Bowie.

I’m still going to see the movie, but no matter how it turns out for me, I’m keeping the soundtrack.

Tracklisting:

1.  The Flaming Lips: The Tale of the Horny Frog
2.  Buva: She Makes Me Fall Down
3.  World Party: Put the Message In the Box
4.  John Alagia: Honey Come Home
5.  David Bowie: Ashes to Ashes
6.  The Weepies: Painting by Chagall
7.  Brian Hyland: Gypsy Woman
8.  Amy LaVere: Take Em or Leave Em
9.  Buva: The First Cut is The Deepest
10. Julietta Venegas: Canciones de Amor
11. The Flaming Lips: Maybe I’m Not The One
12. Ozomatli: After Party
13. Matthew Sweet/Susanna Hoffs: Different Drum
14. David Bowie: Suffragette City

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Most Americans know Ladysmith Black Mambazo from their work on the Paul Simon album Graceland. This seminal album is also sited for helping spark interest in what would become a World Music inferno. The South African vocal group’s roots can be traced back to 1960 when now 66-year old leader Joseph Shabalala founded the earliest incarnation of the band based on the traditional African music called Isicathamiya.

The fact that Shabalala has been performing this music for 47 years is an accomplishment in itself, but his longevity is only a testament to the sound he’s helped bring into the consciousness of the world, and his commitment to keep it alive after he’s gone through the Mambazo Foundation.  The importance of this music goes well beyond entertainment.

When I went to see the eight-man a cappella group perform at the Belk Theatre in Charlotte, NC, I came with the context sharp in my mind. However, we all know that a 2+ hour performance cannot be carried on historical significance alone. When it comes down to it, we attend concerts to be entertained. And I was pleasantly surprised in how entertaining the show was. Mind you, there were no instruments, or fancy lighting, or props of any kind, but what was there (in addition to the mind-boggling vocal harmony) was a group of men shining with an aura of joy, humor, and goodwill.

Although Mambazo did perform “Homeless” from the Graceland LP, the remainder of the songs were from other albums, and this was fine with me. They sang about love, they sang about friendship, they sang about unity, and they transitioned from the lighthearted to the profound without trouble.

As a group, Ladysmith Black Mambazo are one. Their voices blend into an uplifting chorus of calm, and if you’re the musically educated type, you’ll be at a loss trying to figure out who is singing what part for the whole of the show.

What I was not expecting was the wonderful banter, jokes, and dancing that was integrated into the performance. This physical movement and storytelling was important, as it  was the way each individual became real to the audience. But even if the concert was devoid of these key elements, the music would have been enough to keep you in your seat. Shabalala has a way with melody and the voices meld into a style that is absolutely unique and beautiful. Melodious harmony mixed with clicks, chirps, percussive grunts and hand claps to forge a wonderfully enthralling experience.

It was fun watching the little tricks the band employed, like utilizing distance from the microphone to highlight dynamics, or how they introduced movement to kill repetition in its tracks before it could be noticed, or how Shabalala exuded an aire of master and teacher (which he is), without conceit.

I entered the doors of the Belk theater in Charlotte not understanding how an a cappella group could hold my attention for a complete evening, I left wishing I could see it again.

The UK still has the Rolling Stones, the US still has Bob Dylan, and Africa still has Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and it would be a mistake not to see them if the opportunity presents itself. If you do, you’ll not only enjoy the show, but carry the experience with you for a very long time.

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 (Play in Yahoo Music Jukebox)

I’m not what you would call a big iPod fan. Sure, Apple makes great products with fantastic interfaces, but their proprietary approach and buisness model is far from being ideal.  For me the subscription model rules. I can take anything with me for an insignificant monthly fee, and when I discover a truly worthy album, I buy the CD. This way I can rip non-protected MP3 files at the quality I desire, get the cover art, liner notes, and keep the original CD as a back up.

However, I do not fall into the iPod-hater camp either. Apple has found their market, and it’s a huge one. And their continued dominance in the space demonstrates this fact. Another thing I give Apple credit for is the music they’ve selected to promote iPod and iTunes since their first commercial aired back in October of 2001.

Many of us have been mesmerized by at least one song featured in iPod commercial at some point in time. And I have asked on many occasions, “Who sings that?” when a new iPod ad appears on my television.

This playlist contains the majority of songs that Apple has used to promote their iPod devices and iTunes software. If you’re interested, Wikipedia has the full list including links to the video of each ad. 

Even if you don’t drink the Apple Kool-Aid, this playlist makes a fine listen.

The Playlist:

La La La - The Bird And The Bee

on Yahoo! Music JukeboxFrom the album The Bird And The Bee
Last.fm page / Search for lyricsSongBlogger V1.31

1234 - Feist

on Yahoo! Music JukeboxFrom the album The Reminder
Last.fm page / Search for lyricsSongBlogger V1.31

Dance Tonight - Paul McCartney

on Yahoo! Music JukeboxFrom the album Memory Almost Full
Last.fm page / Search for lyricsSongBlogger V1.31

Mi Swing Es Tropical Nickodemus - Nickodemus

on Yahoo! Music JukeboxFrom the album Endangered Species
Last.fm page / Search for lyricsSongBlogger V1.31

Flathead - The Fratellis

on Yahoo! Music JukeboxFrom the album Costello Music
Last.fm page / Search for lyricsSongBlogger V1.31

Who’s Gonna Sing - Prototypes

on Yahoo! Music JukeboxFrom the album Prototypes
Last.fm page / Search for lyricsSongBlogger V1.31

The Audience Is Listening Theme Song - Cut Chemist

on Yahoo! Music JukeboxFrom the album The Audience’s Listening
Last.fm page / Search for lyricsSongBlogger V1.31

Someday Baby - Bob Dylan

on Yahoo! Music JukeboxFrom the album Modern Times
Last.fm page / Search for lyricsSongBlogger V1.31

Love Train - Wolfmother

on Yahoo! Music JukeboxFrom the album Wolfmother
Last.fm page / Search for lyricsSongBlogger V1.31

Cubicle (Edit) - Rinôçérôse

on Yahoo! Music JukeboxFrom the album Rinôçérôse
Last.fm page / Search for lyricsSongBlogger V1.31

Lose Yourself - Eminem

on Yahoo! Music JukeboxFrom the album Curtain Call (Edited)
Last.fm page / Search for lyricsSongBlogger V1.31

Original Of The Species - U2

on Yahoo! Music JukeboxFrom the album How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
Last.fm page / Search for lyricsSongBlogger V1.31

Feel Good, Inc. - Gorillaz

on Yahoo! Music JukeboxFrom the album Feel Good, Inc.
Last.fm page / Search for lyricsSongBlogger V1.31

Technologic - Daft Punk

on Yahoo! Music JukeboxFrom the album Human After All
Last.fm page / Search for lyricsSongBlogger V1.31

Jerk It Out - The Caesars

on Yahoo! Music JukeboxFrom the album Paper Tigers
Last.fm page / Search for lyricsSongBlogger V1.31

Ride - The Vines

on Yahoo! Music JukeboxFrom the album Winning Days
Last.fm page / Search for lyricsSongBlogger V1.31

Vertigo - U2

on Yahoo! Music JukeboxFrom the album How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
Last.fm page / Search for lyricsSongBlogger V1.31

Saturday Night - Ozomatli

on Yahoo! Music JukeboxFrom the album Street Signs
Last.fm page / Search for lyricsSongBlogger V1.31

Walkie Talkie Man - Steriogram

on Yahoo! Music JukeboxFrom the album Walkie Talkie Man
Last.fm page / Search for lyricsSongBlogger V1.31

Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jet

on Yahoo! Music JukeboxFrom the album Are You Gonna Be My Girl
Last.fm page / Search for lyricsSongBlogger V1.31

Hey Mama - Black Eyed Peas

on Yahoo! Music JukeboxFrom the album Elephunk
Last.fm page / Search for lyricsSongBlogger V1.31

Take California - Propellerheads

on Yahoo! Music JukeboxFrom the album Decksandrumsandrockandroll
Last.fm page / Search for lyricsSongBlogger V1.31

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Hello friends,

This is just a quick note to let you know that I am now officially blogging for the mighty Yahoo!

The most visited web destination in the world has revamped their music site and have included a collection bloggers that I am honored to be a part of.

The blog is called The Y! Music Playlist Blog.

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I listen to more music than your average teenage outcast, and the reward is finding superior albums that stand the test of time. In this playlist series I hope to highlight 15 new-ish albums that have made it to the elite top-tier of my collection.

Listen to select tracks from each album via Yahoo Music Jukebox here.

Or check out the select tracks, full albums and mini-reviews below.

1. “Don’t Make Me A Target” - Spoon
on Yahoo! Music Jukebox
From the album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
I had high expectations for the new Spoon album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, and not only did the band meet them, but they exceeded them. This record is 10 tracks of perfectly crafted pop bliss and is in the running for the best of 2007.

2. “The Wildfire (If It Was True)” - Mando Diao
on Yahoo! Music Jukebox
From the album Ode To Ochrasy
Although Ode To Ochrasy is arguably not as stunning as the band’s 2004 effort Hurricane Bar, it’s still a fine pop record with some of the biggest hooks Mando Diao has penned to date.

3.”I’m Impressed” - They Might Be Giants
on Yahoo! Music Jukebox
From the album The Else
As good as Flood you say? Well, the jury is still out on that, but The Else is the most consistent and witty record TMBG have produced in quite some time. A winner for fans and newcomers alike.

4. “Don’t Let Him Waste Your Time” - Jarvis Cocker
on Yahoo! Music Jukebox
From the album Jarvis
Pulp front-man Jarvis Cocker delivers the goods with this solo effort simply titled Jarvis. The first single “Don’t Let Him Waste Your Time” is about as tasty as a British indie pop song can be.

5. “Advice For Young Mothers To Be” - The Veils
on Yahoo! Music Jukebox
From the album Nux Vomica
The cathartic Finn Andrews is the son of XTC’s Barry Andrews. His band’s newest record is a shimmering example of just how good new music can be. Don’t miss The Veils, and be certain to pick up a copy of Nux Vomica.

6. “Green Gloves” - The National
on Yahoo! Music Jukebox
From the album Boxer
The National bring it down a notch on their latest release Boxer. The toned-down feeling works better than the band’s slightly more uptempo record Alligator, which was a fine album, but Boxer is a masterpiece.

7. “Dad’s Gonna Kill Me” - Richard Thompson
on Yahoo! Music Jukebox
From the album Sweet Warrior
Sweet Warrior is, without a doubt, Thompson’s best effort in over a decade, and may be the best of his career. The sly anti-war ballad “Dad’s Gonna Kill Me” is but one sparkling gem in this treasure chest of sound.

8. “A Better Man” - Nick Lowe
on Yahoo! Music Jukebox
From the album At My Age
Nick Lowe is reveling in his old(er) age and his new album At My Age shines with a maturity and wisdom that will last eons longer than any group of 20-something punks making music today.

9. “Accident & Emergency” - Patrick Wolf
on Yahoo! Music Jukebox
From the album The Magic Position
Speaking of 20-something punks. Patrick Wolf threw a left hook with The Magic Position, a record that breaks barriers and will make the “best of” lists of more than a few top-line bloggers.

10. “Volcano” - Up The Empire
on Yahoo! Music Jukebox
From the album Light Rides The Super Major
For my proverbial out-of-the-blue selection, I’m going with Up The Empire’s Light Rides The Super Major. This record has the melodic spirit of Bad Religion, but is delivered with Iggy Pop power.

11. “Always On The Telephone” - The Ladybug Transistor
on Yahoo! Music Jukebox
From the album Can’t Wait Another Day
Strong song-craft and consistent styling is the foundation upon which the newest Ladybug Transistor album is built. Excellent production and memorable songs are tied together with just enough psychedelia to keep you in the zone.

12. “Underground For Dummies” - Sage Francis
on Yahoo! Music Jukebox
From the album Human The Death Dance
Vegetarian lyric-smith Sage Francis returns with another album that fully showcases his wit and skill on the mic. Human Death Dance continues Sage’s blending of the line between granola backpacker and street gun-packer.

13. “Bricks Crumble” - Dalek
on Yahoo! Music Jukebox
From the album Abandoned Language
Newark’s own MC Dälek with the help of producer Oktopus pair infectious underground beats and skilled lyricism. In February 2007 they gave us Abandoned Language, and on July 24, 2007 they drop a package of rarities called Deadverse Massive Vol. 1.

14. “Familj” - Dungen
on Yahoo! Music Jukebox
From the album Tio Bitar
Dungen is one of those bands that you either get, or you don’t. If you’re one of the lucky ones who ”get it” Tio Bitar is simply a must-own record. It’s a sweeping and enthralling soundscape that you can’t turn off.

15. “Almost Ready” - Dinosaur Jr.
on Yahoo! Music Jukebox
From the album Beyond
A new Dinosaur Jr. album? There’s no way they still have it after so much time, right? Wrong. Beyond finds the band as if they never missed a step, and not only continued their art, but improved upon it.

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Response, or answer songs are recordings that directly refer to a previously recorded song. Sometimes they take an opposing viewpoint, sometimes they show a different perspective, and sometimes they continue the story as a sequel. This playlist contains the original songs as well as the responses or sequels to the original, whether by the same artist or a different one. The list begins with 6 tracks that surround one of the most famous song-based conversations in Rock history. It all started when Lynyrd Skynyrd responded to the Neil Young compositions “Southern Man” and “Alabama” with one of their most recognizable hits, “Sweet Home Alabama”. The song makes direct references to Young’s music with lines like:

Well I heard mister young sing about her
Well, I heard ole neil put her down
Well, I hope neil young will remember
A southern man don’t need him around anyhow

But this wasn’t the end of the story, other artists also chimed in. In 1980, Warren Zevon urged us to “play that dead band’s song” when referring to “Sweet Home Alabama” on the self-penned “Play It All Night Long”. Current day southern rockers Drive-By Truckers added more backstory to the Neil Young/Lynyrd Skynyrd legend with “Ronnie and Neil” and “The Three Great Alabama Icons” from their seminal 2002 release Southern Rock Opera.
In addition to the above, this playlist contains another 4 hours of “answer songs”. After the first 6 “Sweet Home Alabama” related tracks the playlist contains 34 songs, each one followed by an answer or sequel.

(more…)

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Play Before I get into the juicy innards of this playlist I want to apologize for not having a New Release Spotlight this week. Not many new albums were released, so I was not inspired to write a spotlight. However, the playlist is here if you want to check out what’s new. Ok, now that I’ve got that out of the way let me tell you what did inspire me to create this 10-hour plus playlist full of rock, hip-hop and indie tracks. A couple of nights back I was chatting with a mIRC full of yahoos when they pointed me to this album. I had never heard of Girl Talk before, so I cranked up YMU and started listening immediately. Girl Talk is really one-man mash-up artist Gregg Gillis, he puts together musical collages from pieces of existing songs. It’s 100% sample mixing, with no live rapping or singing. The mix of instantly recognizable sounds creates an overwhelming urge to play “name that tune”. Boston, Ludacris, Oasis, James Taylor, Neutral Milk Hotel, Nine Inch Nails, Hall & Oates, The Waitresses, 2 Live Crew, The Pixies, Smokey Robinson, Kansas and many others are mixed together in a mind-numbing, yet danceable explosion of sound. This record could turn out to be just novelty that wears thin quickly, but I can tell you this: If you haven’t heard Night Ripper, you should get to it. It’s a seriously entertaining listen the first time you hear it. The songs also got me thinking about what it would be like if a subscription service like Yahoo Music Unlimited could let you make and save mixes and mash-ups. The possibilities are endless, especially if master tapes were made available to stream and mix together individual instruments from original recording sessions. Imagine… It could expand the artform with serious precision. Continue to see each track on Night Ripper followed by songs sampled and the approximate time where each begins.

(more…)

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Play Ideas for playlists can come at any moment. When something pops into your head, jot it down so that you can build upon it later. As you know, I am in Disney World with my family this week, so the playlists have been very Disney-centric. I am living and breathing Walt Disney World, so most of the ideas I’ve had in the last few days are directly influenced by my time here. This list is comprised of songs by bands that I’ve noticed on the Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster attraction at Disney-MGM Studios. Specifically, bands that appear on concert posters you will see in the ride queue. I wish I had the foresight to bring along paper and a pen as I could have captured them all, but alas I did not. So this playlist is composed of only the bands I can remember. I hear that Disney changes them out regularly, so a complete list may be impossible. The Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster is one of the top rides I have been on so far this week. It’s an indoor coaster, stars Aerosmith and was open to the public in July, 1999. For you coaster heads out there, it’s a tubular coaster designed by WDI, does 0 to 60 in 2.8 second, and includes one 360, one cobra roll and one corkscrew.

(more…)

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Play It! If your music career is in the dumps, as a last resort, you can change your name to something close to a famous musician’s and hope people buy your albums by mistake. This playlist features artists with unusually familiar names like Robert Dillon, Elvis Sinatra, Ron Stewart, El Vez, Hayseed Dixie, John Cougar Concentration Camp, The Jackson Hives, Dread Zeppelin, Mike Jackson and more.

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Play It! Many people believe that blind musicians have an advantage over the sighted because their ears make up for their lack of vision. In fact, a group of Boston researchers has found that blind musicians are more likely to develop perfect pitch than sighted ones. When you combine this with the reduced number of employment opportunities for the blind, you have a recipe for musical success. Cases in point: Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Jeff Healey, Amadou Et Mariam, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Willie Johnson, Reverend Gary Davis, Blind Blake, Jose Feliciano, Doc Watson, Diane Schuur and many more.

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Play It! Beanie Sigel appeared in Death of a Dynasty with Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs. Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs appeared in Monster’s Ball with Mos Def. Mos Def appeared in Lackawanna Blues with Macy Gray. Macy Gray appeared in Domino with Tom Waits. Tom Waits appeared in Queens Logic with Kevin Bacon of the Bacon Brothers.

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Play It! Thanks to David O who posted this fine playlist on the ymuplaylisters Yahoo group, and has given his permission for me to repost it here. Basically, the playlist consists of original versions of songs that have been made famous by other artists. Remember, if you would like to share a playlist, please post it on the message board. I will repost the good ones on the Radish with credit and a link.

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