Wacky Wild Wednesday

It is Wednesday and I am trying to keep the music coming for you guys. One thing that it is important for me to remember is that I do enjoy writing and I need to do it. It really doesn't even matter what reason I use to give me the push to write. I just need to do it. The reality is that the more that I do it, like anything really, the better I get at it. It takes practice to do anything.

Dancing Queen - ABBA

This is a classic number and I believe one of ABBA's biggest hits. It has been sampled numerous times over the years and even been redone in more modern ways but I really can't recall if I have ever heard a bad version of it. It has one of the classic tunes and has actually aged pretty well. A classic number.

Little Rock - Collin Raye

I honestly have no idea where this came from and why it is in my music library. It isn't a horrible song but I have never heard of this man before. He is having some real emotional problems in Little Rock. I do hope things get better for him.

Alice - Tom Waits

Tom Waits takes some getting used to. But I feel that he is worth the effort. There is a real depth to a lot of his music and sure some of the songs are very somber but some are also very upbeat and happy. This one is not one of the happier ones but it is a good one. It is thinking mans music.

Slip Away - Clarence Carter

Great just great, back to back for sad songs. Thanks a  lot music player. This song is on the Almost Famous soundtrack and is justifiably a great song. I think it is a classic soul tune. They don't make them much like this one anymore at all. They should because this is a good one.

Panic In Detroit - David Bowie

This is a song from one of my favorite Bowie albums 'Aladdin Sane'. The album came out in 1973 and just has some amazing tracks on it. But Bowie is a musical genius so it shouldn't be a surprise that to anyone that is a good song. Bowie had some misses over the years but very few of them and taken as a whole most of his music never fails to satisfy.

The Trooper - Iron Maiden

One of my favorite Maiden tunes. This one was written by their bassist Steve Harris and is a great one. MAIDEN ROCK FOREVER!!!

That is all folks. Have a good day and keep on rocking.

Monday Music Experiment

Well here goes nothing, I mentioned in my Friday post that I was going to try something new. So here we go. I am going to start up my google music library and hit random and then you lucky folks are going to get to read my thoughts on each song and if you tube cooperates then you will also get to hear those songs. Now this process is going to be totally random and while I may enjoy some songs. I may not enjoy others and my hope is to listen with an open mind and to give you guys a new look at both some old and new songs. So here we go...

1: Dancing Queen by Abba- Well that is interesting, I fired things up and hit random and this is the first song that popped up. I really do love this song and it never fails to put a smile on my face. I like dancing and I like music that makes me feel like dancing and this song is one of those. I think this is just a great song. I realize that Abba may not be for everyone but if you are ever wanting to lift your spirits I highly recommend giving them a listen.

2: Money Maker by The Black Keys - There is just something about this band. They put out almost a dense wall of sound. There is a depth to it that I love and I love the grungness (if that is a word) of this song. The guitar in this song also reminds me of Hendrix which I am always a fan of. The more that I let it wash over me, the more that I notice the sixties aspect of it. I am digging this one a lot.

3: The Paul, The Dan: Drapht Feat Trails - I do not know what to say, I am not even sure where this song came from or why do I even own it. The song itself isn't horrible but it is a song that I would have to be in a certain mood to listen too. It is a little aggressive for me, but the lyrics are pretty solid and the vocalists can certainly spit the rhymes but I honestly know nothing about this band. (NSFW) Wear headphones if you are going to listen to this one at work.

4:Metel Militia: Metellica - Ahhhhhhh now this brings back some memories. This was a time when Metellica was just starting out and they were so good. This song just hits so hard and the driving guitar is them at their finest that is for sure. This is metel as it is meant to be and it saddens me to think of them now. So in listening to this one I am a little torn. I have good feelings about it but at the same time, the state of the band today just angers me so much. You let me down boys. You let all of us down.

5: Girl Can't Help It: Journey - Wow, this song coming right on the heels of the last one is kind of a mental shock. It feels like getting my face splashed with lukewarm water. I am not enjoying the experience at all. It isn't that I dislike Journey, I think they are a fine band and I actually enjoy Steve Perry's voice and the guitar and drums in this song. But, it is hard to really get into after coming down from the rush of Metellica. It is a nice song though.

Well there you go folks. I do not know about you. But as far as I am concerned, I can already tell that I am going to enjoy this process and I am looking forward to my next edition of it on Wednesday. Have a good day.

Wednesday

So I kind of had an epiphany today as I was listening to The Decemberists third full album The Crane Wife. As I was listening to it at the coffee shop it struck me just how good this album was and I posted this on my Facebook wall.

"The Crane Wife is one of the best albums in the last 10 years. If you haven't heard it, you need to do so. To not is a personal failing. One which you will regret."

Now, I do not know if you would regret never hearing it. Because if you never heard it how would you know what you are missing. I do not regret missing Schindler's List. I have heard from lots of people how good it is. But, since I haven't seen it I really have no idea one way or the other. So I do not regret anything. I REGRET NOTHING!!!

That is not the point. The point is that The Crane Wife is an amazing album and I just want people to hear it. I think I realized that one of the things that I really enjoy in life is listening to music and writing about music and letting others know about musical discoveries that I have made. Now, I am not claiming that I am the be all and end all of cool and my opinion is all that matters when it comes to music. But there are types and styles of music and artists that I like better then others. So I decided that along with what I do on Music Mondays I am going to do a little bit more about music on Wednesdays as well. I like music too much to not do it.

So that being said, I am not sure if I am going to do any kind of a theme or anything like that. I may highlight an artist or a band or perhaps a year. It may be new or old, it may be obscure or really popular. I do know that it all be stuff that I enjoy and stuff that resides in my collection in one form or the other. There are times where I may highlight an album or perhaps the entire discography of a band. I do not know.

What I do know is that I intend to have a lot of fun doing this and hopefully the few of you who stop in now and then are going to have some fun as well. In fact I think what I am going to do right now at least is just begin to work my way alphabetically through my collection. I will do this Artist by Artist and the ones that have a lot of albums then I will try to highlight a song from each album. The others I am going to play it by ear.

So with out further foolishness the first album in my collection alphabetically is a compilation of songs from ABBA. It is called ABBA - Gold: Greatest Hits. When possible I am going to link these titles to their Amazon page. I do not use iTunes so that is not going to be an option.

I like ABBA. There I said it. I just enjoy the harmonies and I like the pop music. I do not feel like they are trying to be anything more then they are. They were a pop music band and it worked for them. I think if you climb down of whatever particular musical pedestal that you prescribe to and give them a new lesson you just might be presently surprised. I know am now and then when I give old music a new listen. So lets see what I can find on YouTube.



What could I possibly say about "Take A Chance On Me"? Just sit back and let the music flow through you. It is a sweet song at the core. Just someone letting their friend that they will be there for them.



I would argue that in some small way if it wasn't for "Chiquitita" then there would not have been The Madonna song "La Isla Bonita" and if there had not been that. Then there may not have been the Lady Gaga song "Alejandro"



I implore you, ignore the clothes and the goofiness of the video and just listen to the music. "Waterloo" is a finely crafted pop song. The hook is excellent and the chorus carries so well. This is how pop music is supposed to be.

It occurs to me that if I follow this path some of you may learn far more about me based just on my taste in music. That is kind of scary but kind of fun as well. So please tell me your thoughts on my music. If you liked it or didn't that is fine but please tell me why you feel the way you do.

See you next week.