Cuts of the Week 07/11/10

This week I've dug up a great pair of interconnected cover songs for your listening pleasure. The first is an acoustic cover of Prince's "When Doves Cry" by Irish crooner Damien Rice. To date, he hasn't delivered a strong follow up to rival his critically acclaimed debut "O" which contained the huge song, "The Blower's Daughter." That song has been translated into at least 2 other languages and just may have enjoyed bigger success than the original. I make that unofficial assessment based on the fact that when I was in Brazil in 2006, Seu Jorge and Ana Carolina's live cover "É Isso Aí (The Blower's Daughter)" was EVERYWHERE (and Brazil is huge...)

Anyway, take a listen to Rice's cover of Prince (he even includes a mini-Led Zeppelin cover within the song). As an added bonus, check out Seu Jorge and Ana Carolina's cover of Damien Rice's "The Blower's Daughter. It doesn't matter whether you can speak Portuguese or not, the feeling will come across clear as day.

Enjoy.



Damien Rice - "When Doves Cry" link




Seu Jorge & Ana Carolina - "É Isso Aí (The Blower's Daughter)" link

Cut of the Week 06/29/10

For some reason, this Bobby Womack classic, "Across 110th Street" just feels appropriate for summertime. It is the title track from the 1972 crime-drama blaxploitation film of the same name that starred Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Kotto. 110th Street refers to the commonly accepted boundary of where Harlem began.

While times have obviously changed and the mean streets that Womack sings about are located much further north due to gentrification, this song remains a great example of 1970s cool in an R&B/Soul context.

Enjoy.


Bobby Womack - "Across 110th Street" link

Check Out my Article for Trashcan Magazine....

Read my article about my recent experience at a Hot Chip concert. Go to http://trashcanmag.com/2010/06/terminal/

I hope you enjoy.

Episode #22: Where Brooklyn At?

Before Brooklyn became overrun with affluent ex-pats from Manhattan and before the heart of the indie rock scene was firmly located here, Brooklyn was a place that conjured up an image of a rough-and-tumble landscape that was only for the hardest of the hardcore. The toughness of everyday life simultaneously served as a reminder of a shared struggle and a source of local pride for those who could survive the mean streets. To be sure, Brooklyn certainly still has it hardscrabble neighborhoods that are often overlooked and frequently avoided. However, in many people’s minds the most daunting thing associated with Brooklyn today is how “long” it takes to get there from Manhattan.

I put together a short playlist of some obscure (lesser-known) hip hop tracks that illustrates how Brooklyn retains a certain mystique and street credibility that musicians are not soon to relinquish. Whether it’s simply representing where you are from or using the idea of Brooklyn to invoke a certain vibe (i.e. The Black Keys’ Brooklyn Bound), Brooklyn will be a sort of cultural touchstone for musicians for some time to come.

I’m proud to call it home.

Give it a listen and I hope you enjoy.

Track listing:
1) Brooklyn (5:10) – Mos Def
2) That Brooklyn Shit (3:35) – Danger Mouse & Jemini
3) Return of the Crooklyn Dodgers (5:03) – Crooklyn Dodgers
4) Brooklyn Zoo (3:38) – Ol’ Dirty Bastard
5) Brooklyn Bound (3:11) – The Black Keys
6) Brooklyn-Queens (3:39) – 3rd Bass
7) Super Brooklyn (3:38) – Cocoa Brovaz
8) Brooklyn Took It (3:23) – Jeru Da Damaja
9) Brooklyn’s Finest (4:37) – Jay-Z feat Notorious B.I.G.
10) No Sleep Till Brooklyn (4:07) – Beastie Boys

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IMPORTANT...PLEASE READ

Well, I'm not sure many have noticed, but my production here on Music Hound has dropped off recently. It is a combination of being busy and some admitted self-doubt.

So, in an effort to take the pulse of the blogosphere's satisfaction with my site, I'm asking any and all fans to leave a comment here telling me if they do, in fact, want me to continue as well as making any suggestions that can improve the site.

Please comment if you enjoy what I have spent a lot of time putting together for you all. It costs nothing except a few seconds. Please tell me how you feel about Music Hound...

Thanks,
Matt

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Contrary to popular belief, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico's Independence Day. That day is actually celebrated on September 16th. Cinco de Mayo celebrates Mexico's unlikely victory over the larger and better equipped French forces at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. It came to be celebrated in the U.S. in 1967 due to California State University students push to have a holiday that honored Americans of Mexican ancestry and today it has come to signify, more generally, the shared culture and history of the U.S. and Mexico.

Now, to dumb things down a bit, here is a clip from Pee Wee's Big Adventure where he miraculously ingratiates himself with a band of outlaw bikers simply by dancing to The Champs' classic "Tequila" which everyone will hear again and again today. Enjoy.