With the craziness of the ice storm and then the holidays I haven't been able to check in much here but each time I do I find lots of emails asking about an end of the year list. And instead of emailing everyone back individually, I thought I'd just post and tell you it's coming. I'm actually finished with it but it's the posting/uploading of it that takes so long. I've also taken on my favorite videos, books and DVD's as well as since I had extra time on my hands earlier in the year and could actually devote it to doing things I enjoyed like reading and watching the boob tube.
So...for all those who have asked, be patient and enjoy the end of 2007.
I hate to say it but Christmas this year pretty much sucks. We're still in the process of thawing out after the catastrophic ice storm that left us in the dark for a week. We're trying to repair the damages to our home, box up what's left of the holiday decorations that weren't destroyed, haul off branches, limbs and even whole trees that are now gone from our landscape and find a way to establish and maintain even an ounce of Christmas spirit. In the last week I've attended funerals for a former classmate and a lifetime family friend...both deaths were storm related and to top it off I seem to spend every other moment fretting about every single thing under the seemingly non existent sun. So, yeah...to reiterate, Christmas really blows this year.
After boxing up all the outdoor decorations that weren't thrashed and trashed, I'd all but given up on the idea of putting up a tree this year but eventually I caved in and did it. (How could I not when I have a seven year old?) And as we set about stringing lights and hanging all our ornaments on the tree while listening to my collection of Christmas tunes something strange happened...we seemed to forget all about the bad things that had happened just a few days prior and how sad we were that we lost friends and how miserable our yard looked and how uncomfortable we'd been while the power was out. It was a damnedest thing! One of those clichédChristmas miracles or something. I may have mentioned before that I'm not huge on Christmas. It's completely over commercialized and I find that most people spend the entire month of December totally stressed out about the gift purchasing and giving process and feeling sick because they eat and drink too much. My friend Dave and I were discussing it the other day and he agrees...it just doesn't seem to mean what it should and for that we should all be ashamed. But having said all that, I have to admit that I do so love me some Christmas music and I think that's truly what has pulled us all out of our funk the past few days and has helped us to stay out of it. We're streaming more cheerful music than the mall at this point and we're breathing rainbows and shitting candy canes because of it. So music really is the perfect cure all.
And since I'm sure I'm not the only one who might be experiencing some PTSD (Post Traumatic Storm Depression) or some other form of the holiday blues, here is my nearly A-Z prescription (some repeats because I can't choose a favorite version) in the form of some of my favorite old and new seasonal ditties. I'm sure there aren't many surprises here and it's by no means meant to be an exhaustive list of songs but what follows are the songs I've found myself going back to again and again for one reason or another and hopefully you will too.
Enjoy them all and have yourself a merry little Christmas!
And speaking of those who won't be home for Christmas, this one's for my precious boys Kyle & Tyler who've not spent a Christmas home with us in 5 years and for every other man and woman serving in our military and allied forces who have sacrificed so many days away from their own families in recent years, one of the most controversial Christmas tunes ever written...penned by the one and only Billy Joel:
Lord knows I've taken a lot of crap from my elitist friends over the years for my unabashed love of Dan Fogelberg (I can blame my mother for it...him and John Denver) and his music. And now that the power has been restored and we're all nice and toasty warm I was all ready with my weather related post about ice, snow, rain and cold (and may put it up at a later date since I went to all the trouble to dig out the tunes) but I woke up this morning to find that Dan Fogelberg is gone and that made me incredibly sad and nostalgic.
I can remember listening to Dan's music on vinyl with my mother and loving every moment of "Longer" thinking that it was the greatest love song of all time. Cancer may have taken him from us far too early but his songs remain some of my favorite of all time and they'll forever help to make up the soundtrack of my life.
I hate that Seth Green died. A lot. I also hate that this is the last round of new episodes (and songs) for an indefinite period of time. There were only three songs last night but they were solid. I've had several emails requesting previous seasons of Grey's tunes so during this hiatus I may look at doing that but as it stands now, this will be the last Grey's post for awhile.
I read about Santogold last month on RS online and immediately got into this song in particular. I'm not certain how I feel about the music overall but you can check her out for yourself on Myspace.
Over the years I've had a few tracks from Natalie Walker in my music collection but never an entire album. After listening to this song again and again this morning I'm wondering why that is. She sounds exactly like she looks in this picture...pure and innocent. She reminds me a LOT of Sarah McLachlan and while I really don't like to make comparisons because I truly believe every artist brings something different to the table, in this case it's warranted. Take a listen to the song "Crush" on her Myspace and argue the similarity statement. I dare ya.
There aren't many award shows that I get excited about as I tend to feel that the greatest music being made today is so often overlooked in favor of over produced pop tunes that anyone with the right equipment and marketing can create. However, the Grammy's are pretty much the gold standard in American music so I'm generally faithful to them each year. I don't always agree with the nominations but I like to play "If I Were Voting" anyway with the choices offered so since the nominees were announced today, that's what we're gonna do.
Some of the categories were difficult this year which is unusual since I typically have a clear favorite but overall, I think this is Kanye's year to really shine and something tells me that the dearly departed Dr. West will be looking down with great pride on Grammy night. I also think The Boss is back in a big, big way thanks to his phenomenal work on Magic. Keep in mind that this list isn't indicative of who I think will win as that would look entirely different. This list reflects who I would vote for and who I hope heads home with a golden gramophone on Grammy night. Tune to CBS on February 10th to catch all the presentations, acceptance speeches and performances...it's always a pretty great show.
So without further adieu, this year's nominees (that I've actually listened to and would be inclined to choose from) are:
Record Of The Year • Irreplaceable Beyoncé • The Pretender Foo Fighters • Umbrella Rihanna Featuring Jay-Z • What Goes Around…Comes Around Justin Timberlake • Rehab Amy Winehouse
Album Of The Year
• Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace Foo Fighters • These Days Vince Gill • River: The Joni Letters Herbie Hancock • Graduation Kanye West • Back To Black Amy Winehouse
Song Of The Year • Before He Cheats Josh Kear & Chris Tompkins, songwriters (Carrie Underwood) • Hey There Delilah Tom Higgenson, songwriter (Plain White T's) • Like A Star Corinne Bailey Rae, songwriter (Corinne Bailey Rae) • Rehab Amy Winehouse, songwriter (Amy Winehouse) • Umbrella Shawn Carter, Kuk Harrell, Terius "Dream" Nash & Christopher Stewart, songwriters (Rihanna Featuring Jay-Z)
• Beautiful Flower India.Arie & Joyce Simpson, songwriters (India.Arie) • Hate That I Love You M.S. Eriksen, T.E. Hermansen & Shaffer Smith, songwriters (Rihanna Featuring Ne-Yo) • No One Dirty Harry, Kerry Brothers & Alicia Keys, songwriters (Alicia Keys) • Teachme Ivan Barias, Adam W. Blackstone, Randall C. Bowland, Carvin Haggins, Johnnie Smith II & Corey Latif Williams, songwriters (Musiq Soulchild) • When I See U Louis Biancaniello, Waynne Nugent, Erika Nuri, Kevin Risto, Janet Sewel & Sam Watters, songwriters (Fantasia)
• Before He Cheats Josh Kear & Chris Tompkins, songwriters (Carrie Underwood) • Give It Away Bill Anderson, Buddy Cannon & Jamey Johnson, songwriters (George Strait) • I Need You Tony Lane & David Lee, songwriters (Tim McGraw & Faith Hill) • If You're Reading This Tim McGraw, Brad Warren & Brett Warren, songwriters (Tim McGraw) • Long Trip Alone Brett Beavers, Dierks Bentley & Steve Bogard, songwriters (Dierks Bentley)
• Guaranteed (From Into The Wild) Eddie Vedder, songwriter (Eddie Vedder)
• Love You I Do (From Dreamgirls) Siedah Garrett & Henry Krieger, songwriters (Jennifer Hudson)
• The Song Of The Heart (From Happy Feet) Prince Rogers Nelson, songwriter (Prince)
• You Know My Name (From Casino Royale) David Arnold & Chris Cornell, songwriters (Chris Cornell)
Best Short Form Music Video
• God's Gonna Cut You Down Johnny Cash
• 1234 Feist
• Gone Daddy Gone Gnarls Barkley
• D.A.N.C.E. Justice
• Typical Mute Math
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Today marks the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day. The first international health day of its kind is a united global effort to bring attention to the worldwide challenges and consequences of the AIDS epidemic in the hopes that by shining the light on the disease we can collectively prevent the spread of HIV and improve the lives of those individuals who are already living with the virus.
So today seems perfect for me to talk about a cause that I've been in love with over the past two years. It seems that every notable musician and actor these days is now the face for one global cause or another so I think it's easy to dismiss them as a passing fad. However, Bono's brainchild, the (RED) campaign, is one of the most exciting and innovative fundraising efforts I've seen to date. He has partnered with celebrities and major brands like Gap, Motorola, Hallmark, American Express, Hallmark, Apple, Converse, Emporio Armani and print and internet media giants Vanity Fair, Myspace, American Online and The Independent to create ways to turn our consumerism into activism which is a win-win for all involved.
There are many red products but my two very favorite (RED) product collections are from Gap & Hallmark. The Gap collection features apparel and accessories for everyone on your Christmas list including some of the cutest outfits for the wee ones you've ever seen and the best part is that half of the profits from ALL (RED) purchases go to the Global Fund. How could it get any better than that?! Well, I'll tell you how...just wrap those lovely gifts in Hallmark's (RED) gift wrap and attach one of their (RED) collection cards to the box. They have cards with sound, boxed holiday cards, boxed everyday cards, e-cards (for the lazy) and photo cards that I think are fantastic for grandparents far away. They also have a few gifts as well.
See...being a part of World AIDS day and making an impact really is just as simple as buying gifts that you'll be buying anyway. So perhaps you'll take a moment out and visit these sites today and in the weeks ahead and put your money to good use.
In honor of World AIDS Day, The Killers have gone (RED) with their new Christmas tune "Don't Shoot Me Santa" by giving 100% of the proceeds to the Global Fund. So while I won't post the song since it's a benefit tune, here is the video to get you in the mood to purchase it.
The Killers - "Don't Shoot Me Santa"
Queen also got in on the game this World AIDS Day by releasing their first studio recording in a decade. "Say It's Not True" was written by Roger Taylor specifically for Nelson Mandela's AIDS awareness campaign, 46664 and is available for free download on a multitude of sites. But so you can spend more time viewing 46664, here it is for your convenience:
And because I can't help but think of Freddie Mercury today, here is the song that Brian May wrote after he passed. Until now this was their last studio recording and it's a lovely tribute I think.
Mp3's are hosted and posted for a limited time only and are purely for the purpose of artist exposure. If you find you enjoy the work of these individuals, for the love of music put gas in their shitty vans or tour buses, late night post gig fast food in their guts and cheap beer in their hands by buying their records! Go to their shows, sport their t-shirts like a Super Fan, brag about them like they're your grandchildren and do your part to keep music alive!
If you are an artist or represent an artist featured on this site and do not wish for music to be made available for sampling purposes, contact me and it will immediately be removed.
With the craziness of the ice storm and then the holidays I haven't been able to check in much here but each time I do I find lots of emails asking about an end of the year list. And instead of emailing everyone back individually, I thought I'd just post and tell you it's coming. I'm actually finished with it but it's the posting/uploading of it that takes so long. I've also taken on my favorite videos, books and DVD's as well as since I had extra time on my hands earlier in the year and could actually devote it to doing things I enjoyed like reading and watching the boob tube. 
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