Music Friday!

I should be doing about 18 loads of laundry right now, but I figured why let my productivity begin at this point in the day?

Anas Demens Purpurea
Ironically, I'm pretty sure the song by Yael Naim was used on an I-pod commercial, so I definitely heard it a lot. However, I did not have a visceral reaction like miko. I found it simple and pretty. Using Octo's ruler, I'm not sure if I would put it on a mix tape, wait, did I just say mix tape? Well, you know what I mean. But I can see the "Happiness" draw.

Oh me, Oh my - First I want to say that I love the track by Frou Frou on the "Garden State" soundtrack. (Actually, I love that whole album.) This is quite the different sound. I didn't love the whole song - but the first "God, are you there" did give me goosebumps, which I always take to be a good sign. She definitely has a powerful voice, which I dig, but the music itself didn't effect me as much as that one line.

Jordan
I want to point out first to JPX that the line is, "I've been downhearted baby..."

I actually didn't know I knew the Primitive Radio Gods song until I heard it. I had no idea of the name of the song, which isn't really that odd for me. Needless to say I was delightfully surprised to hear the opening notes. "Oh, I love this song!" And I do. You picked two good ones actually. As I commented, "Life in a Northern Town" is an old favorite of mine. I remember this video pretty vividly - especially the line "In winter 1963, It felt like the world would freeze..." there was a shot of a woman in a super fitted 60's suit with sky high heels walking around this giant mound of snow on a sidewalk. At least that's how I remember it. And I know I could find it on Youtube, but I prefer my memory. So nice work, Jordan!

Julie
Ding!Ding!Ding! We have a clear winner ladies and gentlemen!! Two completely new songs that I totally, totally love. (And I'm not just trying to butter you up as the newest member of the family)

Oogum, Boogum is absolutely so fun! "Cute little skirt wid your brother's sloppy shirt?" I am so sold! I only wish we had a radio station that would play this song over and over. Great song.

And Common People? Hi-LARIOUS! And what a great back beat. I caught myself head-banging to this song. And the line Octo mentioned when Joe Jackson comes in for the first time - awesome. I also personally love the line, "Cause, everybody hates a tourist." Because that is absolutely true. Working in an industry that relies on tourists - as a huge generalization - they suck. I think I have an odd crush on William Shatner or something. I had no idea he was doing anything like this and I think it's totally cool.

So Bravo, Julie!

JPX
I dug Intermix. Even though when listening to it in the car with the children I was a little nervous Jake would find the beginning "scary." Those first 30 seconds are a bit "Halloween-esque." I've always dug the techno and I did like the way this incorporated that sound but didn't have that heavy techno beat that can get so tiring after awhile. As you mentioned, the balance of hypnotic sound and tribal chants was nicely put together.

Lover of the 80's tunes as I am, I have to admit that Reach the Beach was one of my least favorites. What did AC say? "too lugubrious 80s for me." That kind of summed up how I felt about it. Octo and I saw The Fixx in concert when they opened for the Moody Blues - I was "eh" on them at the time and that opinion doesn't seem to have changed.

AC
311 has never been one of my favorites. I think I'm going to like them, and then they tend to get a little too "yell-y" for my taste. I actually did like the lyrics to this song, because we can definitely all go a little crazy sometimes. I just sort of feel like they are all over the place musically.

*Sigh* I'm sorry, but the Grateful Dead just aren't my cup of tea either. Again, I enjoyed the lyrics of the song, and the funky little beginning notes had me hoping. But then I kept finding myself zoning out in the middle of the song. It just didn't hold my attention if that makes sense? Not exactly the "belt out" style I prefer.

(But I'm keeping hope that we will bond over the Dandy Warhols!)

Whirlygirl
Waltz reminded me a little bit of the Gypsy Kings instrumental stuff I have heard, although without quite as much flamenco influence. (Little aside, I only had the Gypsy Kings because I worked at a record store in Key West for awhile and it was a freebie.) Anyway - I liked it. I'm always impressed by good instrumental music because I think that can be a harder sell. I'm interested in getting some more of their tunes, especially since there seems to be so much of it as you mentioned.

Moving Sidewalk is a cool song. It definitely adds something to picture you doing your little airport dance when listening to this tune. Seriously, great zippy beat and totally fun!

And FINALLY(!)
I'mnotmarc
I'm going to do Bill Ricchini first. Very pretty tune, but I actually had a bit of a hard time hearing the lyrics. I felt like it was at some wavelength that I couldn't hear or something. I agree that his voice seems quite capable of hitting some cool notes - but I couldn't make much out as far as the actual words.

Preface - I have a great love of piano music, it is an instrument I have always been enthralled with. Here is my story about Brad Mehldau: You all may remember that I was driving up to my sister's a little north of Boston two weeks ago. Once you get off the highway you have to get on this long winding road that can be annoyingly slow. The Brad Mehldau song was on when I hit South Border Road and it was exactly what I needed. It absolutely calmed me down and seemed to cure me of my road rage. (Which is really a very rare occurrence, well occasional... okay it's all the time, but really, people are idiots!!) Anyhoots - I love this. When that nice tska-tsk of the drum came in it reminded me of Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown tunes a bit. Clearly I don't have I'mnotmarc's insight into the musicality of the piece, I just know I am definitely getting some more of this guy's stuff.

This was a really fun experiment and I'm really glad we did it - props to miko for a great idea! And now I have to go fold 100 lbs of laundry...thought I was kidding about that didn't you?