One of the best-selling soundtracks of the last decade, if you count 2000 as being in the Aughts, is "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" There's renewed interest in religion in Coen Brothers movies since the recent publication of "The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers."
What are your favorite soundtracks of the past decade? And whatcha listening to this evening?
I don't know about you, but with half the world on vacation, it just feels like a Saturday night. If you're in a snuggling mood, you can never ever go wrong with Julie London.
What are you listening to? We love sharing here at the Music Club...
Empire State of Mind, Part II from The Element of Freedom
Jay-Z had a big hit with his version of Empire State of Mind, which featured Alicia Keys.
For her new album, Keys reworked the song for herself. My little girl was singing this all over Manhattan when we were visiting, so I found myself humming it myself. However, my youngest prefers the hip hop mix of the Jay-Z version, with the recitation of the NY landmarks and locations.
What do you think? Which version do you like better?
A hit for Elvis Costello, but this slow acoustic version by the dude who wrote the song? Magic. Merry Christmas.
Outkast's "Hey Ya" is making lots of "best of the oughts" lists as we say goodbye to the decade. Whether you think it's too pop or not, my daughters, 5 and 7, would not know what a polaroid picture was, let alone how to shake it, without this song.
What's on your list?
From his 1995 album "James Brown's Funky Christmas".
Judith Owen and Harry Shearer "jazz up" the classic Spinal Tap holiday ballad, "Christmas with the Devil".
I always got a kick out of Redding's little monologue before this performance of his song "Respect," because he acknowledges that Aretha Franklin had already taken the song and made it her own -- but he was gonna do it anyway. This was from his legendary performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, only four months before he died in a plane crash. The band once again is essentially Booker T. and the MGs, notably Steve Cropper on guitar.
A dubious honor for any songwriter/performer:
Canadian singer Daniel Powter has been voted the decade's one-hit wonder by Billboard magazine.
The singer's track Bad Day stayed at the top of the Billboard chart for five weeks in 2006 and the song also did well across Europe.
The magazine is describing a one-hit wonder as an act whose second single did not make it into the top 25.
The vote included acts from 2000 to 2007 as some who released a song last year could just be taking a break this year.
The track Terror Squad for Lean Back came in second place and Crazy Town with Butterfly came third.
Actually, I'd argue the point at which Alvin and the Chipmunks cover your song is when you know you've jumped the shark (hear that, Beyonce?).
Any other honorable mentions for one hit wonder status?
A lovely song for tough times or anytime.
Our sister site Newstalgia has Duke Ellington Live at the Hollywood Bowl, 1966.
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Before the dot-com bubble, there was the great indie-rock stock bubble of '94, where A+R execs seeing the next Nirvana and Green Day around every corner spent millions of dollars signing the best bands of every underground rock scene in America. The result was a slew of fantastic albums from plainclothes dressed acts not used to a label with a staff of more than four, press coverage, hair and makeup people -- the usual trappings that come when one crosses the line from rock and roll into show business. Most of these records sold under fifty-thousand copies, despite protestations that The Jesus Lizard, Orange 9mm, Jawbreaker, Smoking Popes (the list is endless) were going to be the next gigantic thing. Nearly all these bands were broken up within four years.
There are only a handful albums from the bubble that hold up as well as Jawbox's For Your Own Special Sweetheart, their first for Atlantic Records. The set from this quartet of technical wizards of Washington, DC is the ultimate extension nineties rock ideal -- no fancy outfits, no guitar solos, smart lyrics, heavy without being hard. Despite topping critics lists everywhere, it didn't take. Neither did their equally good self-titled follow-up, and the band split shortly afterward. Thankfully, Sweetheart is being reissued for its 15th anniversary, and Jimmy Fallon hosted the bands first performance in over 12 years last night. Make sure you check out the other songs they did (like B-side "68" and album opener "FF=66") on Hulu as well.
Since Jawbox's breakup, singer/guitarist J. Robbins has balanced being one of the most in-demand producers with helping his son Callum, born in 2006, fight a harrowing battle against Spinal Muscular Atrophy, an incurable nerve disorder. You can read about Cal and help chip in for his treatment here.
CeCe Peniston's "Finally" was inescapable on dance floors and pop/R&B radio in throughout the early nineties, for better or worse. Clearly a great singer, but the near-ubiquity of the song left me perfectly happy to never hear it again -- or so I thought. I heard this remix from Australian electro-house masters Vandalism the other night at a club in Nashville and it absolutely sizzled my face off. Way darker than the original, and with tension that was never even hinted at, Vandalism give remixers a damn good name.
Holy conspicuous consumption, Batman! The Christmas season has EXPLODED in my area. We haven't even finished the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers and some mad Christmas guerrilla has gone and taken upon herself in the middle of the night to put these tacky red ribbon and holly bows on all the mailboxes in my neighborhood. Evidently, I also live up the street from the real life version of Clark Griswold, who is busily stapling lights to every square inch of the outside of his home. I shudder at the thought of his electricity bill at the end of the month. Another neighbor is spraying her windows with a chemical that makes them look frosted--in sunny California, mind you. The neighborhood is awash in wreaths, lights and lighted lawn ornaments (is it me, or do they get bigger every year? A lighted reindeer or two on your lawn is one thing, but a huge Santa on a Harley is something else).
The pressure is too much for my kids, who have asked that we get out our decorations and tree (after much consternation and debate, we opted to get a fake tree three years ago, thinking it was the greener choice--but we all miss the smell of a real tree) today and join the crowd in proclaiming it CHRISTMAS TIME!!!! (emphasis intentional) We have our own little traditions around decorating. Daddy gets to put the star on top--it's an heirloom from his parents' tree. Mommy adds the sparkly lights and strings the traditional Danish flag garland (very nationalistic bunch, those Danes), and the kids fight to put on the ornaments we pick up to commemorate significant moments: the little lab puppy for when we adopted our beloved Sophie dog; the gondola from Venice; the Danish nisse from Copenhagen; the Disney princesses for my Disney-crazed girls; the Statue of Liberty from our recent trip to NY.
And over it all, we listen to Vince Guaraldi's incredible soundtrack to "A Charlie Brown Christmas", a gift from Howie Klein. Absolutely my favorite Christmas album of all time.
Now, we celebrate a fairly secular version of Christmas. But there are many different ways to celebrate. What are your traditions and what is the soundtrack for your holiday celebrations?
Happy Zappadan, everybody! Zappadan is the on-blog festival which begins today, the anniversary of Frank Zappa's death (also known as BummerNacht) and ends on his Birthday (Day Zero) on December 21.
Lots of blogs participate by posting videos, memories, or making fresh art with the knowledge that even though he's dead, "Frank and his amazing creativity still have the power to hurt us." More info at Fried Green Al Qaedas, and you can follow both @Zappadan and the #zappadan hashtag on Twitter.
And if you're not (yet) a Zappa fan, The Onion has some words for you.
OMG! Tommy turned 40-years old in May and we forgot to say it then, so: Happy (belated) Birthday, Tommy!
And at Newstalgia tonight listeners can take their pick... Ravel's Quartet in F, or The Rolling Stones from 1971. Enjoy.
