This supergroup including John Paul Jones (of Led Zeppelin), Dave Grohl (of Nirvana & Foo Fighters) and Josh Homme (of Queens of the Stone Age) is worth a listen. They have a new (enough) rock sound to be more than just a rehash of their earlier successes, and certainly more than just another rock band. Check it out!

Song Recommendations

If you like this song, I also suggest:

• The Dead Weather
• Foo Fighters
• Led Zeppelin

I also suggest the music genre:

• Hard Rock

Click here for more info on Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures – "New Fang".

The MP3 may be purchased here…

Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures

When you can start to smell autumn in the air, I also start to hear this over and over…

Yes, it is G's annual Gilmore Girls marathon time! She burns through all seven seasons, turning it on in the background throughout the day. The show itself is peppered with delightful musical, literary and pop culture references, in addition to being very funny, so I tune in when I can.

I have to laugh because the one minute opening part of the song, by Carole King and her daughter Louise Goffin, I know so well, hearing the whole thing now is odd. Hearing the original 1971 version of "Where You Lead" by Carole King and Toni Stern on the album "Tapestry" is even weirder now:

Song Recommendations

If you like this song, I also suggest:

• Aimee Mann
• Ingrid Michaelson
• Rachael Yamagata

I also suggest the music genre:

• Folk Rock

Click here for more info on Carole King & Louise Goffin – Love Makes The World (Deluxe Edition) – "Where You Lead I Will Follow".

The CD may be purchased here…

Carole King - Love Makes The World

I recently watched a documentary on Hip Hop named "Beef". What started out as a competition between entertainers trying to prove who was the best, escalated to the point they were killing each other. Character assassination became actual assassination. Asinine? Perhaps. I has certainly surpassed the point of insanity.

You would think after the premature deaths of 2Pac and Biggie Smalls, hip hop artists would've chilled the fuck out. But instead some, like 50 Cent, instigated "beefs" with artists to gain popularity, and it worked. You would think after being shot nine times (once in the face) he would've chilled, but no. His beefs continued, and his popularity grew.

It was a disturbing sort of documentary that indicates a culture of violence over little more than pride and oneupmanship. A culture now revered by many. Foreign to me and messed up, and yet as 50 Cent put it, it was either do what he could to make it or go back to the streets. The title of his first hit album says it all: "Get Rich or Die Tryin'". Can you blame him? Then again, when does it end?

Song Recommendations

If you like this song, I also suggest:

• DMX
• Eminem
• Jay-Z

I also suggest the music genre:

• Gangsta Rap

Click here for more info on 50 Cent – Get Rich or Die Tryin' – "In da Club".

The MP3 may be purchased here…

50 Cent - Get Rich or Die Tryin'

You’re the lucky one so I’ve been told
Free as the wind blowindown the road
Loved by many, hated by none
I’d say you were lucky cause I know what you’ve done
Not a care in the world not a worry in sight
Everything’s going to be all right
Cause you’re the lucky one

You’re the lucky one always havin' fun
A jack of all trades a master of none
You look at the world with a smiling eye
And laugh at the devil as his train rolls by
Just give you a song and a one-night stand
And you’ll be looking at a happy man
Cause you’re the lucky one

I want to be the lucky one! …though G may object to the "one-night stand" bit. A beautiful song, none the less.

PS: About five years ago now, I was on a huge bluegrass kick about this time of year. So now when the cool crisp air of fall hits, I dig them out! Expect a few more in the next month or so!

Song Recommendations

If you like this song, I also suggest:

• Dixie Chicks
• Old Crow Medicine Show
• Sugarland

I also suggest the music genre:

• Bluegrass

Click here for more info on Alison Krauss & Union Station – New Favorite – "The Lucky One".

The MP3 may be purchased here…

Alison Krauss & Union Station - New Favorite

I spend all day worrying about the intricate details of data storage, entry, movement, security, blah blah blah…

In the midst of it I was talking about chickens, farming, and even a rooster named Blackie, who (whether he knows it or not) is fighting for the right to be a rooster. To crow at the sun. To be free. Suburbanites are crazy stupid people sometimes. They build and move out next to farms and then bitch and moan about living next to a farm. If you don't ever want to hear roosters or smell cow pies then DON'T MOVE TO THE COUNTRY!

In honor of this local hubbub, something a little closer to home is striking my fancy tonight…

And I gotta get a move on fit for the sun
I hear my baby callin' my name
And I know that she's the only one
And if I die in Raleigh
At least I will die free

Song Recommendations

If you like this song, I also suggest:

• Tom Adams
• Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
• The Watson Twins

I also suggest the music genre:

• Bluegrass

Click here for more info on Old Crow Medicine Show – O.C.M.S. – "Wagon Wheel".

The MP3 may be purchased here…

Old Crow Medicine Show - O.C.M.S.

This is probably my favorite Janet Jackson song (and it is all G's fault :). It has some quirkly lyrics and musical bits. I like that.

Song Recommendations

If you like this song, I also suggest:

• P.M. Dawn
• Destiny's Child
• Michael Jackson

I also suggest the music genre:

• Dance-Pop

Click here for more info on Janet Jackson – All For You – "Doesn't Really Matter".

The MP3 may be purchased here…

Janet Jackson - All For You

I don't know as though I have intentionally played this song on its own ever before today. I didn't need to. It is pervasive (much like the insulation now in my lungs).

I blame G mostly, who loves the song enough to learn the dance (shown in the diner dancing scene). She hurt her knee in the process, so she had "Telephone Knee" as we called it. Then after spending copious time on the actual phone, her elbow hurt, so she had "Telephone Elbow". Every minor cut or scrape was "Telephone Something". I think she had "Telephone Foot" for a day.

It is all very funny to me because for months G resisted liking Lady Gaga but now loves her. As I said before, "Approve or disapprove, original or not, good or bad there is something entertaining and bizarre, appealing and repulsive about Lady Gaga." Love her or hate her, Lady Gaga is here to stay.

If you want the song, without the story line or the Pussy Wagon (Kill Bill!), here you go:

For those who love her or hate her, and have seen the "Telephone" video, this parody by barelydigital.com is a hoot!

I totally cracked at "Rub-a-dub-dub three nuns in a tub, and they're doing it with a garden gnome". And if you're wondering about the "lotion in the basket" reference, you need to listen to this.

And for those who also want to develop a case of "telephone knee"…

I think I'll pass though.

Song Recommendations

If you like this song, I also suggest:

• Annie
• Kesha
• t.A.T.u.

I also suggest the music genre:

• Electropop

Click here for more info on Lady Gaga – The Fame Monster – "Telephone".

The MP3 may be purchased here…

Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings: The perfect remedy when looking for some new stuff that feels like the old stuff. Brilliantly they limit themselves to sound equipment, recording methods, and even instruments that would've been available in the 1970s. The latest gadgets are totally overrated.

Song Recommendations

If you like this song, I also suggest:

• King Floyd
• Janelle Monáe
• Amy Winehouse

I also suggest the music genre:

• Funk

Click here for more info on Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – 100 Days, 100 Nights – "100 Days, 100 Nights".

The MP3 may be purchased here…

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights

I am a fan of the Whedons. Joss Whedon (oh how I love "Firefly"?) and Jed Whedon (oh how much fun is "(Do You Wanna Date My) Avatar"?) are the composers of "Brand New Day", among others from "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog". It is an unusual sort of geeky, cheesy, musical, with a twist at the end that took some time to digest, but inevitably I have decided was the more bittersweet and took some balls. Well worth the 42 minutes in retrospect. This song in particular caught my ear because it reminds me of They Might Be Giants. Also who knew Neil Patrick Harris could sing? Huh.

The context of the song is hillarious.

Script leading up to the song…

Billy (Dr. Horrible): Well, this was great. Wish I could stay and chit-chat.

Captain Hammer: [places his arm around Billy] Well, it sure was nice to meet you… Doctor. [Billy winces] You've got a little crush don't you, Doc? Well, that's gonna make this hard to hear. See, later I'm gonna take little Penny back to my place. Show her the command center, Hammercycle, maybe even the Hamjet. You think she likes me now? I'm going to give Penny the night of her life, just because you want her. And I get what you want. You see, little Penny's giving it up, she's giving it up hard. 'Cause she's with Captain Hammer. [holds up his fists] And these are not the hammer. [walks away from Billy, but then returns] The hammer is my penis.

Or I guess you could just watch, if you're into that:

PS: One of the extras on the DVD is a bunch of fan made "Evil League of Evil Applications". The best one, by "Mr. Terrible", has a song worthy of a listen or two!

Song Recommendations

If you like this song, I also suggest:

• Jonathan Coulton
• Felicia Day and Jed Whedon
• They Might Be Giants

I also suggest the music genre:

• Geek Rock

Click here for more info on Neil Patrick Harris – Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog – "Brand New Day".

The MP3 may be purchased here…

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

I've only just begun to watch "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" and the song playing at the menu has intoxicated me, while at the same time I let it sit on repeat enough times that G started to go crazy-like. So I am posting it here for all to hear!

Also I think the whole drug abuse and going crazy thing for Amy Winehouse was way overblown. I mean half the successful artists out there have had their addictions and "early morning hours, barefoot and wearing only a bra and jeans" moments. I think such moments speak to their humanity, or so says the guy who married a girl who was wearing pajamas at the time. (Me.)

Song Recommendations

If you like this song, I also suggest:

• Lily Allen
• Janelle Monáe
• Sia

I also suggest the music genre:

• Rhythm and Blues

Click here for more info on Amy Winehouse – Back to Black – "You Know I'm No Good".

The MP3 may be purchased here…

Amy Winehouse - Back to Black

I went and I saw and it was good.

My trip with G to and from Toronto was akin to a religious experience in some ways. It was definitely a journey.

The concert was excellent. The opener, The Sadies was a great start to the show itself. Their flavor of alternative country, blended with an array of other flavors of rock, was solidly entertaining. I was reminded at moments of Johnny Cash and the Rolling Stones. The guitar playing showed that they are truly seasoned musicians, and now as I review their list of albums I see I was right. Although they are hardly small potatoes, I have to wonder if they are just a hit song away from making it big, and whether they have been searching for it or just enjoying the ride?

Next was Janelle Monáe, who I was also excited to see, and her musicians. She did not disappoint! G likened her to Gwen Stefani, though I likened her to a blend of The Shirelles and Micheal Jackson. She owned the stage, and there were brief moments when I thought she could've easily been the headliner, despite the crowd gathered. I am sure Arcade Fire fans are not her typical crowd, still there were cheers. Her ability to do hip hop, on top of soulful ballads, and pop inspired songs, all while wearing an outfit that looked more like a modified tuxedo (kind of like this one) was impressive. I also got that feeling that even after her long set, she could've easily gone on for hours more. Awesome!

And then at last came the climax of our journey, Arcade Fire. They were all I had hoped. I sit here without regrets. They were excellent musicians. They were normal people inspired, driven, and successful. They played much of their new album, including the song that inspired buying the tickets at the last minute, "Rococo". The performance of "Rococo" was as amazing as I had hoped, and I think G felt the same way. If anything it seemed too short, though I don't know what duration would've sufficed. Several of their songs from "Funeral" and "Neon Bible" were also played and after hearing so many I came into a place of musical awe. There is something remarkably honest about Arcade Fire. The show they put on seemed more like a confession of themselves. They weren't dressed to match or provide a slew of theatrics. They played and sang and danced and other than being practiced musicians, there was an in the moment life to the energy of their performance. A fan favorite, and one of my favorites, "Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)" stirred the crowd to newfound life that carried the concert on to the end, including through the time before the encore when the final notes of "Rebellion (Lies)" were ooooo'd until Arcade Fire retook the stage. (I'd like to believe that the oooo-ing brought them back on and that it was not previously decided, but I know better. Still, how cool was that!?) The hour and a half flew by but it was well worth the journey. The closing song of the encore, "Wake Up", still stuck in my head to now, almost 24 hours later.

(You can even see someone else's recording of the performance. I think this guy was like 3 people away from me because I see my head as he turns the camera towards the crowd!)

For another review, may I suggest Ryan Bolton's on blogto.com, including the set list and some excellent pictures.

The Journey…

Here is the part where I go on and on about why seeing Arcade Fire for 1.5 hours actually took us 16.5 hours. Where did the other 15 hours go?

It wasn't so bad really. I mean I am home now. I am just a whiny baby at this point. In short, G and I left our house at 9:30 AM and got home at 4:00 AM.

Why so long? Well when we left the house we didn't actually have the tickets in hand. Fedex REALLY wanted a signature, and due to our absence this past week I didn't know until Friday when I begged them not to send them back to Canada. The best we could do was leave the family rented lake house early and pick them up half way across town at the Fedex distribution center. After acquiring the tickets about 45 minutes in (10:15 AM) I convinced G I would make it up to her by getting her favorite breakfast at McDonalds (gross, I know, but she has a thing for the McGriddle). After passing by two Burger Kings, we started to get concerned for our fortune, until we found one by 10:40 AM. Little did I know McDonalds is apparently on a different schedule than the rest of the world and serves lunch starting at 10:30 AM. Whatever. Our trip then continued down a road that seemed unnecessarily backed up.

Little did I know then that waiting in lines would be my new hobby for the day.

On to the Buffalo exit and then Niagara Falls, we ran the toll booths at both the Thruway exit and the bridge over Grand Island were ridiculously backed up. Our fortunes, looking grim primed us to spend a lucky dirty dollar I had found in the mud by the train tracks 2 days previous in Auburn, NY. It worked. The border crossing, the expressway, even the parking in Toronto, all went smoothly and quickly. We even caught the ferry to Olympic Island where the concert was to be with little wait. By 3:30 PM I remarked to G about our good fortune to be finding ourselves in line to enter the field where the concert was to be half an hour before "doors open". By 4:30 PM we had settled onto the grass in front of the stage on our towel blanket, and G napped as I had a bite of my tasty fries from The Poutine Machine.

Now I'm sure you're thinking this isn't so bad. I mean at this point we had been only been in a few lines of remarkable size on the expressway, as well as the line for the ferry, the line at McDonalds, and the very long line at Tim Hortons (so I could have something other than McDonalds). There was also the line to get onto the field, and the remarkably long line at The Poutine Machine, and the line at Fedex to get the tickets in the first place, but whatever. We were still there on the grass an hour and a half before show time, in a great spot close to the stage. We could not complain. The dirty dollar's magic had worked. The magic had also run out as we learned after the show.

After the show, and the excellent encore, the crowd was herded first around the entire field, then across a bridge, into a line between two chain-link fences. It took about 30 minutes after the show just to reach this point. It did not take long after that to realize that the ferry we had ridden to Olympic Island was going to be a problem. G and I were now very tired, very hungry, and very dehydrated from hours of travel and concert preceding this line for the ferry. It was not long before I started to wonder how much worse it was for prisoners, or for people sent into concentration camps throughout human history. Here we all were waiting for a line we did not wish to be in, but without choice. Tired and sweaty, with the humid warm air of the night, the smell of hundred of people was pungent, and without access to toilets or water there was an element of cruelty to it. Fortunately for us we knew it would end soon and not turn into the hell experienced by others herded into places not of their choosing. Over an hour and a half later (just before midnight) we were finally among the privileged few to board the ferry to freedom.

By 4 AM we finally had made our way home, but on the way G and I decided we will never ride the ferry to the island again for a concert. Those last 2 hours of the drive were particularly painful as I literally pinched, scratched and even bit myself to stay awake, telling myself to wake up, as the song continued to churn in my fresh memory. I was determined. With the experience of the post concert ferry, next time we'll make the trip to another venue other than the Olympic Island in Toronto, but are glad we went. Would I do it again? For Arcade Fire? Yes. Arcade Fire made it worth it.

Song Recommendations

If you like this song, I also suggest:

• The Black Keys
• The National
• The Shins

I also suggest the music genre:

• Baroque Pop

Click here for more info on Arcade Fire – Funeral – "Wake Up".

The MP3 may be purchased here…

Arcade Fire - Funeral

(Click here to skip the stuff added to the beginning of the song in the video.)

G keeps playing this song and it is good like a good chick flick, or like the Gilmore Girls (as shown in the above video). You tough guys out there might prefer yesterday's song of the day.

Song Recommendations

If you like this song, I also suggest:

• A Fine Frenzy
• Lenka
• Taylor Swift

I also suggest the music genre:

• Pop Rock

Click here for more info on Leona Naess – Leona Naess – "Calling".

The MP3 may be purchased here…

Leona Naess - Leona Naess

Sometimes "The Song of the Day" selection is more like my song of yesterday. I heard this on the radio yesterday for the first time, though it came out a year ago. I loved it immediately and had to contact the station to find out who it was so I could pass it on to you now.

Oh and yes, it is a reference to 9/11's Ground Zero, but Chris Cornell said "To me, the song is about how awful 9/11 was, but stresses that we've got to let go of that to move on peacefully." Hear hear!

Song Recommendations

If you like this song, I also suggest:

• Julian Casablancas
• Lemon Jelly
• The Zombies

I also suggest the music genre:

• Psychedelic Pop

Click here for more info on Chris Cornell – Scream – "Ground Zero".

The MP3 may be purchased here…

Chris Cornell - Scream

I'm certainly lacking in my Rhythm and Blues collection. I know I like some of Erykah Badu's stuff, including this song in particular, but I am open to suggestions if anyone has any to broaden my horizon. There is certainly much I have never heard, but then again I suppose that is true across all genres. I have a day job to keep, you know!

Song Recommendations

If you like this song, I also suggest:

• Blu Cantrell
• Destiny's Child
• Rihanna

I also suggest the music genre:

• Rhythm and Blues

Click here for more info on Erykah Badu – New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) – "Honey".

The MP3 may be purchased here…

Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)

The internet is a weird place. Most artists struggle to build popularity & awareness and the internet has changed all the rules. Songs by nobodies frequently are way better than the latest by established artists. Still those with name recognition, previous successes, and a following can easily sell a piece of crap than those who have only recently produced undiscovered gems or simply a first album. Even an artist fortunate to get on a commercial or TV show soundtrack, may be overshadowed by the many others who do so. There is no empirical scale to determine who is deserving of our attention and treasure for a song. Still the internet allows for some micro promotions, reaching out to fans and media at a click of a button, and without it I probably would've never heard today's song.

The band Civil Twilight started following my twitter feed a few weeks ago and whether they meant it to promote themselves or follow my DJ in slow motion selections, I know not (I would guess the former though). Regardless, I took notice and liked the first song I heard by them immediately, which happened to be "Letters from the Sky".

Listen for yourself. Let me know what you think.

Song Recommendations

If you like this song, I also suggest:

• Muse
• Neon Trees
• The Temper Trap

I also suggest the music genre:

• Indie Rock

Click here for more info on Civil Twilight – Civil Twilight – "Letters from the Sky".

The MP3 may be purchased here…

Civil Twilight - Civil Twilight