Nina Remixed

I have been working my way thorugh the various volumes of the Verve Remixed albums.  The first of these albums was released in 2002, with follow ups in 2003, 2005 and this year.  Each of these albums essentially works the same way.  A bunch of old Verve material is provided to various DJ’s, remix masters, and electronic artists to do their best (or worst) with.  Overall these albums are spotty, some tracks work great, others are simply horrid.  However, I noticed two things while listening to these.  The first is a surpringly high proportion of tracks based around Nina Simone, and the second is that the track that works best is one of these Nina tunes (Mike Mangini’s mix of “Gimme Some”), and in fact most of the Simone tracks work.  So, to that end, I have collected those tracks here.  I have also included an extra Nina Simone remix, the version of “Ain’t got no, I got life” from the Very Best of Nina Simone.

Justin Freakin Timberlake

I will readily admit that I pay very little attention to anything Justin.  However, I had always thought his job was to try to be Michael Jackson.  Turns out I was not entirely correct.  I recently stumbled upon this video.  It made me realized that now Justin wants to be Ronald Isley.  He sings the song like him, the groove is similar to an Isley song.  And, just in case that is not enough, the guitar solo features the overdriven effect that is characteristic of Ernie Isley.  Take this as you will.  But, I will take the Isleys and their 50 year record of success.    Here are 4 videos.  The 1st is Justin performing “Till the End of Time”.   The remainder are the Isleys doing themselves.  The first “For the Love of You” is a song that really shows the vibe Justin is grabbin.  The second is the classic “Who’s that Lady” a song which really demonstrates the Isley guitar sound.  Finally, I included the first hit the Isley’s had, the wedding classic, “Shout”.

Justin Timberlake - Until The End Of Time (Live)

“Alt-Country”

I have had a lot of conversations of late about “Alt-Country”. These conversations had many inspirations including the announcement that No Depression the magazine that had covered the music form was folding. These discussion led to multiple occasions on which I tried to explain what it was. In the course of this I found that it is really a hard thing to nail down. I named a lot of bands, which did not help. I tried to develop a “definition” and really did not come up with much.

Wikipedia gives this one, “Alternative country is a term used to describe a number of country music subgenres that tend to differ from mainstream or pop country music. The term is sometimes known as Alt. country and has included country music bands that have incorporated influences ranging from American folk tunes, bluegrass, rock-and-roll, rockabilly, honky-tonk and punk rock.” Meanwhile, altcountry.com (which is not the same as alt-country.org tries hard to avoid giving a definition.

In the end, I decided to site Grahm Parsons (who may be the father of alt-country):

“It’s music…either it’s good or it’s bad…either you like it or you don’t!”

and give this explanation…it is a form of generally radio unfriendly music that has strong country, roots and folk influences and a strong DIY punk attitude. Basically, it ranges from the country rock of Grahm Parsosns, to the Outlaws (Willlie, Waylon etc.). Ultimately, I think the magazine really solidified the movement as being those bands simialr to and inspired by Uncle Tupelo. Regardless, many of the the groups that get put into box produce great music. So, here I have assembled a set of why I consider alt-country. This maybe part of a multi part collection. In this set I did not so much curate by history or reputation. Instead, songs that I felt were representative. This collection includes tunes by Wilco, Jay Farrar, The Sadies, The flying Burrito Brothers, Townes Van Zandt, Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch, Hank Williams III, Buck Ownens, The Derailers, Lyle Lovett, Neco Case, The Jayhawks, and of course Uncle Tupelo.

Click here to download the collection

BYE ! Bo Diddley

Bo Diddley, the “natural born man” who is a pioneer of rock and roll died of heart failure this morning. The man became a star playing one chord and one rhythm on guitars he built himself. He was so cool he could sing about himself in multiple songs. He has been covered by EVERYONE. He is largely responsible for the early Chess records rock and roll. At just 22 he did not mind dying…he lived to 79 years old, and he was very cool while doing it.

Here are some news reports the diversity of which is an indication of the man’s influence:

MTV

NPR

Wall Street Journal

NME

Telegraph UK

Here are some videos:

Walk of Life

It was a serious oversight that I did not include a version of this in my “Walkin” collection.  To make amens for this grievous oversight I give two versions.  Since both versions have killer videos, I have included them in video form.  The first is the Dire Straits original, the second is Waylon (Shooter) Jennings Jr.’s cover version.