When Ross and I were combining our CD collections, actually it was more like my collection was swallowed up by Ross's, I was struck by the number of CDs by women singers that we both had. Ross's collection was much more eclectic and extensive than mine however, big surprise. This is one of the CDs of a woman singer that I had never heard before Ross. Koko Taylor is most definitely "queen of the blues." She is one tough cookie. She would kick the butt of all the women singers that I own CDs of, especially Tori Amos. Maybe Liz Phair would make it more of a fight but she would still definitely get beat down. Koko Taylor can sing too. She sounds like she is roaring when she sings and none of her songs are gentle ballads. They are all funky, lots of rollicking guitar, drums, and keyboards. But don't forget she is singing the blues. Her songs have titles like "Beer Bottle Boogie" and "I Can Love You Like a Woman (or I can fight you like a man)" and "I Cried Like a Baby." The last one is on the clip below. Don't those titles give you some idea of the type of songs she is singing? These are not "I am sitting at home feeling sorry for myself" songs. They are sung from the heart and with feeling.
My favorite song on the CD is "Flamin' Mamie." In that song she just rips and roars through it. Here are some of the lyrics, they're kind of hysterical.
They call me Flamin' Mamie
I'm the hottest thing in town
When it comes to loving
I'm a human oven
I can really mow 'um down
Oh to be that hot! I also like "Evil." It's her warning us women to keep an eye on our men because there may be someone loving our man when we aren't watching. Remember that girls!
In the liner notes for this CD it says "Blues fans everywhere know-for a good dose of the best blues on earth: go see Koko Taylor. But if you need some right away: buy this record." I like that quote. How could you give up a CD that is going to give you a good dose of the best blues on earth? I know I can't. I am keeping this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IWL13X7N2c
Monday, April 27, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
The Undisputed Truth by Brother Ali
This will sound very familiar but I'll say it anyway. When I first heard this CD, I hated it. Every other word was a swear word and it seemed to me so loud and angry. After I listened to about 3 songs, I couldn't continue listening. A coworker of mine convinced me to keep listening, that I might find something I liked or at least could tolerate. It took me a couple of weeks before I could pick it up again and I thought I will just listen to it all the way through then make my judgments. I listened to it and found that I really liked the melodies he had underneath (behind? I am not sure of how to describe it) his raps. I still haven't really listed to the words that he is saying but every once in awhile I will catch something that intrigues me.
He has had quite a life. Just a little background, Brother Ali is a rapper from Minneapolis. He is Caucasian, an albino, legally blind, and a Muslim. This CD is about the breakup of his marriage. He had custody of his son but had some really rough times where he and his son were homeless. That is all on the CD but sometimes it was lost on me because of all of the swearing. Maybe I am just a prude. I think it's possible to get a message like that across without the swearing, but, to each his own.
My favorite songs are "Truth is," "Take Me Home," and "Walking Away." "Truth is" was played a lot on the Current a couple of years ago. The song "Take Me Home" is the link down below. I think this song illustrates my point about the melody behind the rap. I love this melody, it's infectious, and I find myself humming it all the time. He has a couple of other songs that have infectious hooks like this. "Walking Away" I like because it is so poignant. It is the song about him leaving his wife. That did not sound like a healthy relationship as he repeats so often in the song "If you hadn't tried to kill me, I'd a stayed for the kid." Yikes. She must have been an angry m***** f*****. See the swearing thing is catching! It's what I was afraid of.
I am pretty sure the song "Truth is" is why Ross bought the CD. He really liked that song. Then he read one of those articles about it being one of the best albums of the year that they write in the paper, every 6 months. That convinced him to buy this, not that he really needed convincing. He was always willing to try different music, even rap. I however feel no need to keep this CD. If anyone wants it, just let me know. I did download it to my iTunes though so it wasn't as horrible as I first felt it was (see my theory is still valid). It's similar to the BlackFrancis CD, this CD grew on me but I don't need to have it in my collection. I'm not very sentimental like that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxUQ07NXB4c&feature=related
He has had quite a life. Just a little background, Brother Ali is a rapper from Minneapolis. He is Caucasian, an albino, legally blind, and a Muslim. This CD is about the breakup of his marriage. He had custody of his son but had some really rough times where he and his son were homeless. That is all on the CD but sometimes it was lost on me because of all of the swearing. Maybe I am just a prude. I think it's possible to get a message like that across without the swearing, but, to each his own.
My favorite songs are "Truth is," "Take Me Home," and "Walking Away." "Truth is" was played a lot on the Current a couple of years ago. The song "Take Me Home" is the link down below. I think this song illustrates my point about the melody behind the rap. I love this melody, it's infectious, and I find myself humming it all the time. He has a couple of other songs that have infectious hooks like this. "Walking Away" I like because it is so poignant. It is the song about him leaving his wife. That did not sound like a healthy relationship as he repeats so often in the song "If you hadn't tried to kill me, I'd a stayed for the kid." Yikes. She must have been an angry m***** f*****. See the swearing thing is catching! It's what I was afraid of.
I am pretty sure the song "Truth is" is why Ross bought the CD. He really liked that song. Then he read one of those articles about it being one of the best albums of the year that they write in the paper, every 6 months. That convinced him to buy this, not that he really needed convincing. He was always willing to try different music, even rap. I however feel no need to keep this CD. If anyone wants it, just let me know. I did download it to my iTunes though so it wasn't as horrible as I first felt it was (see my theory is still valid). It's similar to the BlackFrancis CD, this CD grew on me but I don't need to have it in my collection. I'm not very sentimental like that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxUQ07NXB4c&feature=related
Monday, April 13, 2009
Let's Get Lost: The Best of Chet Baker Sings by Chet Baker
I remember the first time I heard Chet Baker. Ross was playing it and I asked him, "Who is the woman singing?" He wasn't very happy with me and I think that might have started the musical education of Margarita. Now I listen a lot closer to music before I ask a question like that. Chet Baker was a jazz trumpeter who sang as well. The songs on this CD could best be described as "cool jazz." Chet sings on it, obviously, and also plays the trumpet. It's pretty mellow stuff. If I wasn't a happy person in general, this CD would really bum me out. The songs on it are all old standards, things that most people should have heard at some point in their lives, songs like "My Funny Valentine," "Let's Get Lost," and "The Thrill is Gone."
My favorite songs on the CD are "Time After Time" and "I Get Along without You Very Well." The latter song is the link below. I highly recommend listening to that version as I think it came straight from the CD. Both songs really spoke to me. They kind of say how I am feeling.
Here are my favorite lyrics in "Time After Time:"
Time after time
I tell myself that I’m
So lucky to be loving you
This is my favorite part of "I Get Along...:"
I get along without you very well
Of course, I do
Except perhaps in spring
But I should never think of spring
For that would surely break my heart in two
So now that I have bummed everyone else out too. I liked this CD even though it is sad as hell. It's a great CD to listen to on a rainy, cold day when you just stay in bed under the covers instead of going out. It probably wasn't one of the reasons why Ross bought it but it will be the reason I am keeping it. Ross liked jazz from all eras and he really liked Chet Baker. I think someday it won't be so sad to listen to and I'll remember that it's one of those great jazz recordings everyone should have in their collections.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgbPHTBiAVQ&feature=related
My favorite songs on the CD are "Time After Time" and "I Get Along without You Very Well." The latter song is the link below. I highly recommend listening to that version as I think it came straight from the CD. Both songs really spoke to me. They kind of say how I am feeling.
Here are my favorite lyrics in "Time After Time:"
Time after time
I tell myself that I’m
So lucky to be loving you
This is my favorite part of "I Get Along...:"
I get along without you very well
Of course, I do
Except perhaps in spring
But I should never think of spring
For that would surely break my heart in two
So now that I have bummed everyone else out too. I liked this CD even though it is sad as hell. It's a great CD to listen to on a rainy, cold day when you just stay in bed under the covers instead of going out. It probably wasn't one of the reasons why Ross bought it but it will be the reason I am keeping it. Ross liked jazz from all eras and he really liked Chet Baker. I think someday it won't be so sad to listen to and I'll remember that it's one of those great jazz recordings everyone should have in their collections.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgbPHTBiAVQ&feature=related
Monday, April 6, 2009
Bluefinger By Black Francis
My theory seems to be holding for now. When I first read the names of the songs on this CD I wanted to stop right there. The names that really stood out were "Captain Pasty" and "Tight Black Rubber." Great, I thought, just what I wanted to listen to, some guy singing about sex or, in this case, shouting about sex. The first time I listened to this CD I wanted to stop listening. Then as I listened more times I got to the point where the songs were tolerable and perhaps could even be listened to for pleasure. It is really weird that it's getting like this. Maybe I have no discernment in music whatsoever so everything just becomes palatable.
For those who don't know Black Francis, he is from the band The Pixies and is more well known as Frank Black. I have to admit I like the Pixies and I also like other stuff that Frank Black has done so maybe it isn't that much of a stretch that this CD grew on me. It is a CD that is best listened to loud as everything on it sounds better loud. This CD really is a good thrashing one which is what I would recommend it for. When you want to just jump around in a mosh pit, this is the CD to have in there. I liken it to some Gang of Four songs but Gang of Four seemed to have a message where this CD's message seemed to be about sex and drugs from what I could understand. Most of the lyrics made no sense and were scribbled in the liner notes so they were illegible for the most part.
My favorite songs are "Threshold Apprehension" and "You can't break a heart and have it." The link below is to the first song. I love that first song because it is the epitome of the song you need to turn up really loud and then jump around and bump into people while listening to it. He screams through a lot of the song, especially the line "I got threshold apprehension." Don't listen to this if you need a mellow music break. The second song I like because it actually has a beat to it and I like the words from the title that are also in the song. It's true. You can either break a heart or you can have it, you don't get both.
Ross probably bought this because of the Pixies. We went to see their show a couple of years ago when they did a reunion tour and I think that got him thinking about them. He started listening to them a lot and most likely thought he needed to have some Black Francis because he didn't have any. I liked this CD but I don't need to keep it. It holds no special place in my heart. It's a great CD for a house party (the kind where you totally trash the house), I don't think I will be having one anytime soon so if anyone wants it, they are welcome to it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muFE3BgSPWU
For those who don't know Black Francis, he is from the band The Pixies and is more well known as Frank Black. I have to admit I like the Pixies and I also like other stuff that Frank Black has done so maybe it isn't that much of a stretch that this CD grew on me. It is a CD that is best listened to loud as everything on it sounds better loud. This CD really is a good thrashing one which is what I would recommend it for. When you want to just jump around in a mosh pit, this is the CD to have in there. I liken it to some Gang of Four songs but Gang of Four seemed to have a message where this CD's message seemed to be about sex and drugs from what I could understand. Most of the lyrics made no sense and were scribbled in the liner notes so they were illegible for the most part.
My favorite songs are "Threshold Apprehension" and "You can't break a heart and have it." The link below is to the first song. I love that first song because it is the epitome of the song you need to turn up really loud and then jump around and bump into people while listening to it. He screams through a lot of the song, especially the line "I got threshold apprehension." Don't listen to this if you need a mellow music break. The second song I like because it actually has a beat to it and I like the words from the title that are also in the song. It's true. You can either break a heart or you can have it, you don't get both.
Ross probably bought this because of the Pixies. We went to see their show a couple of years ago when they did a reunion tour and I think that got him thinking about them. He started listening to them a lot and most likely thought he needed to have some Black Francis because he didn't have any. I liked this CD but I don't need to keep it. It holds no special place in my heart. It's a great CD for a house party (the kind where you totally trash the house), I don't think I will be having one anytime soon so if anyone wants it, they are welcome to it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muFE3BgSPWU
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