Cortez the Killer

This is a song that I recently came across that is a fantastic listen. The first version that I heard was the Built to Spill cover, however, when I looked up videos in order to post this on the thread I came across the original Neil Young version. And, wonder that YouTube is I also came across a Grace Potter and Joe Satriani version of the same song. So feast your ears on three versions of this fabulous tune.

Will be back later this week with more tasty treats.













and is if that wasn't enough, here is yet another version of the song! This time by Dave Matthews and Warren Haynes!

Band of the Week, 3/2

Lately, I've been on a big kick of historically black music, and I've discovered a great band called The Ink Spots that I wanted to share with you. Formed in the late '30's in Indianapolis, The Ink Spots played a style of music that would be a precursor the R&B and Doo-Wop. Members of the quartet also played guitar and bass, but the focus is undoubtedly on the vocals. Here's a sampling of their music.






I'm particularly fond of "If I Didn't Care", as it was the first song of theirs that I ever heard. This song, as well as many of their others, contains spoken interludes in the middle of the songs, which sound a bit odd at first, but after a few seconds seem to make sense. I also really enjoyed their version of the Gershwin classic "Nice Work if You Can Get It" as well as "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire." The latter has one of the spoken interludes, much like "If I Didn't Care."

Lastly, here's a rare televised appearance of the group, from what year I'm not sure. Hope you enjoy!

Song of the Week, 3/1

Happy March!

My song of the week is "Father and Daughter" by Paul Simon, from the soundtrack to the film "The Wild Thornberries."



Paul Simon is, for my money, the greatest American songwriter of the second half of the 20th century (I'd say the entire century, but I just can't put him over George and Ira Gershwin. Sorry.) I honestly don't even know where I first heard this song, but it definitely stuck with me. The opening guitar lick is beautiful beyond words, and the entire song is one of the sweetest tracks I've ever heard (sweet in the mushy way, not sweet in the "dude, that was totally sweet" kind of way).

The reason for putting this song on the blog this week is because I recently found out that my best friend just became an uncle! Even though it's a baby boy, the sentiment still remains for the song. Hope you like it!

Album of the Week, 2/24

My album of the week is Bruce Hornsby and the Range's live album "Here Come the Noise Makers" from 2000.

 

 

My first concert going experience happened to be in the summer of 1994, when I went to see Bruce along with Bonnie Raitt in upstate New York. My parents had always been big fans of Bruce (and I think my dad secretly had a bit of a crush on Bonnie Raitt, but that's a whole different story....) so we went with my uncle, and I had the time of my life. Not just because I got to stay up until midnight on a school night, but also because the music was fantastic.

From this album, I love the opening piano intro, which then morphs into "The Great Divide" for the first track on the album. I couldn't get all of the tracks on a playlist here to share, but I managed to wrangle in a couple. "Long Tall Cool One" is a classical laid back track, and one of his biggest hits, "The Way it is" is also featured on this album. Bruce shows off his virtuoso piano skills throughout the record, and definitely keeps the listener on his toes. Hope you all enjoy!

Music Video of the Week, 2/19

So this week I'm doing a double feature for my videos of the week. First off is "Mr. Tout le Monde" by Hocus Pocus. (You can read more about the album "Place 54" from my earlier post here.)



Hocus Pocus / Mr. Tout Le Monde from Arthur King on Vimeo.

Definitely one of my favorite videos of all time, I really like the simplicity of it all. If you don't understand the words it really doesn't matter, as it is visually stunning.

My second video of the week is inspired from watching Andy's post about "DNA". It reminded me of this video by country singer Josh Turner.






This is one of the first singles from Turner's newest album, "Haywire", which was released this past year. Turner has always been one of my favorite country singers, as he is much more laid back and not as sappy as most. Hope you enjoy!

Band of the Week, 2/18

I know it's been a while since I've posted, and for that I apologize. Hopefully Quintus will make up for that.

My band of the week is also one of my all-time favorites, Quintus. Lead by frontman Reuben Chess, Quintus is a rock-blues-pop band from NYC.



Quintus "What Do You Know?" Brooklyn Bowl from Possum Den Productions on Vimeo.




This is a video from one of their shows last April at the Brooklyn Bowl. Their first EP was released in 2006, entitled "The Shape We're In." Recorded by Levon Helm at his studio in Woodstock, the album featured 6 tracks, most notably "Orienta", a fan favorite. My personal favorite on the album, however, is "Night Owl."




Hope you enjoy!

Music Video of the Week - Feb 18, 2011 - Darwin Deez: DNA

My cousin-in-law (is that even a thing?) pointed me to this video by Darwin Deez, and I really like it. It complements the song very well, I think, especially the end. There's a director's cut out there, but I like the official video because it's more subtle, and I think that makes it more bittersweet.

If you like this song, you might also like the band Submarines.