Owner: Any Major Dude With Half A Heart URL:http://halfhearteddude.blogspot.com Join Date: Mon, 06 Aug 2007 05:42:27 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Songs that will be cool, songs that once were cool, and sticking it to the Taste Gestapo. Rock, pop, folk-rock, alt.country, nostalgia etc Site statistics:Click here
Beating James Blunt 2007-10-04 15:40:00 The poll results are (well, they have been for a few days): more than half of Any Major Readers want to beat James
Blunt severely. You were given a choice of four answers, and voted to the question "What shall we do with James Blunt?" as follows:Celebrate is talent.........................7%Let others listen to him..............12%Beat him severely.......................53%James who?.................................20%I reckon the administration of a severe beating is a little harsh on Mr Hillier-Blount. I actually do like some of his songs, so I'd be in the 12% who'd advocate tolerance. I have to: my wife is a big Blunt fan.I can quite understand why people might hate Blunt's music, even why they think his existence is toxic to pop music (but surely pop has always survived such artists). I can't understand though why Blunt attracts such irrational reactions from people who are usually quite tolerant. It reminds me a little of the Disco Sucks movement, when whatever merit there wa
Intros quiz: Vol 1 2007-10-04 14:46:00 Here's something a little different: an mp3 file of 20 intro snippets to songs throughout pop history, some dirt easy, some a bit difficult. Answers will go up in the comments to this post on Sunday. If you forget where you found this file, the blog URL is in the ID3 tag.Let me know of you like that kind of thing. If enough people enjoy it, I will do more. And feel free to use it in pub quizzes or among your friends, or whatever. Literally seconds of fun to be had!Intros
Quiz 1.mp3
Quiz answers are up 2007-10-17 07:01:00 I have posted the answers
to the TV themes quiz in the comments of the relevant post.I'll be deleting his post soon; I put it up for those with RSS feeds and the random visitor who may need to be alerted.
Intros quiz: TV themes 2007-10-14 08:50:00 You asked for it, so here's the second intros quiz on the theme of, er, TV themes
. 40 of them, ranging from classic series to cartoon shows. Though almost all are US shows, all were internationally syndicated. Numbers 6, 11 and 21 are British shows.Answers in comments by Wednesday. If you really can't wait, e-mail me at: halfhearteddude at gmail.comTV Themes Intro Quiz.mp3 Read more:Intros
Lame hip hop for lame whiteys 2007-10-14 09:22:00 Take a look at 'The Top 10 Rap Songs White People Love'. Not because it hits the nail on the head (it doesn't), not because it's amusing (it mostly isn't), not because we can learn anything from it (we can't). I'm flagging it because the idea is at once interesting and ridiculous. Is the dude saying that white people are lame for supposedly liking these tracks, or is he saying that the tracks are lame for white people supposedly liking these songs? Either way, is he advocating some kind of a Taste Apartheid?Of course, it seems evident that cap-in-yo-ass-bustin' charlies such as 50 Cent, The Game or Fabolous, and even Snoop Dogg, are now marketed primarily at an audience in the 'burbs, not that in the 'hood. It would be fair to say that "Whitey" digs Fiddy probably more than Whitey's African-American counterparts do. But by establishing a racial link between music and perceived audience, one risks engaging in the same silly stereotype which assumes that black people cannot p
The Songbirds: Vol 5 2007-10-21 05:29:00 After a hiatus, here's a new instalment of The Songbirds. Given the name of this series, it seems odd that I've never thought of uploading the song that gave inspired title. So here, in its original incarnation and as covered by a previous Songbird nominee: Fleetwood Mac - Songbird.mp3 Rosie Thomas - Songbird.mp3Kate EarlI really hope Kate Earl's fine 2005 debut Fate Is the Hunter will not be the final offering by this engaging Alaskan LA-based songbird. Critics tend to compare Earl with Fiona Apple, without the neurosis. Not being a great fan of Apple, I am inclined to differ. Though vocally they are not dissimilar, Earl plays with different genres, from guitar-folk to piano-driven ballads to what one might call folk-torchsong and folk-blues. Joni Mitchell and Carole King are obvious influences. "Cry Sometimes" is a slowed-down AOR number of the kind those who like the interminably dull Norah Jones ought to hear just to realise just how deficient Jones' music is. The critics point
In the middle of the road: Part 2 2007-10-19 04:14:00 More music for long drives and such things.Ace - How Long.mp3I love the way this song begins. A bassline, then a discreet percussive beat, enter the guitar and launch straight into the chorus with its West Coast rock harmonies. Like Rupert Holmes in "Him", the good woman at home has been cheating, and like Holmes, our man isn't "as dumb as [he] seems". He figured it out even without give-away cigarettes on the window sill. Except... "How Long" is actually about their former bassplayer who played with other bands, apparently. Maybe the callous-fingered cheat left his Marlboros on the wrong amplifier.England Dan & John Ford Coley - I'd Really Like To See You Tonight.mp3One of the definitive AOR driving tracks, thanks to its great chorus. It's quite a sad song about a guy trying to hook up with an ex (or object of unrequited love, perhaps) whom he really misses. He just wants to meet her as a friend, and then proceeds to suggest a whole lot of romantic things to do. Sounds a bit pa Read more:middle
In the middle of the road: Part 3 2007-10-26 04:28:00 And more music from the middle
of the road, the yacht club, the West Coast, the adult-orientated radio. More music to play while driving with the warm win in your hair.Blue Öyster Cult - (Don't Fear) The Reaper.mp3Ah, that guitar riff. And the great drums in the outro! I imagine that this song would be one of the few in this series to unanimously pass the Taste Police test (perhaps because the Pixies ripped off the riff?). You can bet that this track will feature in many Halloween collections next week, which will be a spectacular piece of point-missing, akin to those clowns who play James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" at weddings because the title says "You're beautiful" and the bride is, you know, beautiful. "The Reaper" is about love transcending death. And, FFS, it is not about suicide.Asia - In The Heat Of The Moment.mp3A fine example of Cocaine Rock, presaging the advent of Big Hair Rock. "Heat Of The Moment" came out in 1982. It was like punk never happened as a supergroup of
Intros quiz: Vol 2 2007-10-23 15:44:00 Another intros quiz. You know the drill: 20 intros to songs from the '60s to '00s, about 5 seconds each. Answers on Sunday in the comments to this post. And do feel free to leave a comment yourself...As ever, if you really cannot wait to find out what that blasted number 12 is, e-mail me at halfhearteddude at gmail.com, and I'll post you the answers.Intros
Quiz 2.mp3
Albums of the Year: 1950s 2007-10-30 02:05:00 A new series of (more) old music. In an anorak-y moment, I decided to identify my top 10 favourite albums of all time. Variables such as subjective affection and objective quality aside, the challenge with such a venture is to not forget any contenders. So I sorted through my fairly extensive music collection, including stored away vinyl LPs, taking notes for my shortlist. But lots of old favourites have been lost in one way or another: so I trawled lists of album releases for each year on t'Interweb. And thus was born the entirely unoriginal idea of posting my top 10 favourite albums year-by-year on this blog. My monthly 3GB bandwidth limit would not allow me to post full albums, so we'll have to make do with one or two songs per album.Before I get bombarded with complaints about notable omissions: I can rank only those albums I actually know. Many artists are represented in my collection by way of compilations. So I can't list, say, Gram Parsons, because all I have by the man is t
Halloween: Getting ready 2007-10-28 15:02:00 To those who care about such things, collecting Halloween
songs is a bit like collating music for Christmas: you can never have enough. In that spirit, here are some offerings that didn't find their way on the Halloween Mix I posted a month ago.Alan Price Set - I Put A Spell On You.mp3An intense track from 1966 which might have been recorded by Procol Harum. The organ solo totally rocks, echoing the sound Price previously created for the Animals. Alan Price is totally underrated.Donovan - Wild Witch Lady.mp3By 1973, the mellow yellow fellow had turned psychedelic. "Wild Witch Lady" is heavy, man, with our boy going all Robert Plant on our sorry asses. Great witch's cry in the beginning.Box Tops - I Must Be The Devil.mp3The Box Tops are most famous for their '60s British Invasion hit "The Letter". This is nothing like the big hit. This is a seriously stoned blues work-out.The Moontrekkers - Night Of The Vampire.mp3 This instrumental is a Halloween must, not just for the song itself Read more:ready
Intros quiz: '80s edition 2007-11-04 04:27:00 As usual, 20 five-second intros to songs for you to guess. This time, all 20 songs are from the 1980s, and as far as I know, they were all hits in the US or UK or both.I'll post the answers into the comments by Wednesday.The past quizzes have been downloaded a fair number of times, which means that the concept is popular. But what about the quizzes themselves? Too easy? Too difficult? Just right? Do people do them on their own or as a group effort? Anything I should do or not do? Let me know. The comments section is free.Intros
Quiz: 1980s.mp3
In the middle of the road: Part 4 2007-11-01 04:46:00 And more songs from the middle
of the road, West Coast, yacht club and so on. Hold on before cutting your AOR Mix CD-R — the final installment of the series (for the time being) will run next week.Average White Band - Atlantic Avenue.mp3It has always tickled me that the Average White Band is known by the acronym AWB, which it shares with the South African white supremacist Nazi movement, the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging — which doubtlessly would not approve of the band's multi-racialism or black music influence. "Atlantic Avenue", from 1979's excellent Feel No Fret, is a great driving song (preferable over a member of the racist AWB), with its fantastic bassline, horn section, percussions and whistles. The vocals are great for singing along, especially the ad libbed "Oh-ooh-woah-oh-woh-woh-wouooh" before the backing singers repeat the sing title in falsetto.Michael McDonald - I Keep Forgetting.mp3Jens Lekman might remember Warren G and the sweet summer of 1993 (though I think it
In the middle of the road: Part 5 2007-11-08 04:48:00 Big middle
of the road update to nearly conclude the series. I still have a handful of suitable tracks in my back pocket, but I think five installments should do for now. I'll post the others when I can think of something nice to say about Jackson Browne.Stevie Nicks - Edge Of Seventeen.mp3Cocaine Rock at its cokest (I take it everybody knows the stories about Nicks' alleged methods of coke ingestion). A song about the death of Stevie's uncle in Phoenix, and that of John Lennon, the nervous riff was an obvious sampling choice for that other deeply affecting song about the vagaries of the inevitable mortality that comes to all living things: Destiny's Child "Bootylicious". The thing I like best about this song is the clashing cymbals throughout.Climax Blues Band - Couldn't Get It Right.mp3Lyrically, this song — about life on the road — is unremarkable. Musically, it has classic written all over it. The vocals in particular are quite special, with two-octave dual voices and the
Make 'em laugh 2007-11-13 10:32:00 I'm good at telling jokes. Which would be great, except there are only two jokes I remember. Both have been my staple for donkey's years. This means that once I've told them, I'm sold out of jokes. So my stand-up routine is rather limited, and to entertain I need to rely on recordings of my favourite stand-up comedians. Some of these, and some other stuff that makes me laugh, follows below. First, however, let me share with you my two staple jokes. You will have to forgive the absence of my physical "comedy" (machines rattling, basically) and fake German accents (as opposed to my natural German accent). The first joke requires us to move back in time, to the early '90s.Hitler in the AmazonThe time is the early '90s. Germany has just been reunified, but things are going poorly. In short, Germany is in terrible political and economic trouble, and the politicians can see no way of solving the problems, until some bright spark ascertains that the only man who can help Germany now is
Intros quiz: '70s edition 2007-11-10 13:30:00 You know the drill: 19 song intros of about five seconds each. This intro quiz comprises hits from the '70s. All of them charted in the top 10 in the US or UK (or, of course, both). Nothing obscure, though a couple could be tricky.Just over half of the songs have featured on this blog at some point...Answers will go into the comments by Tuesday.Intros
quiz - 1970s.mp3And to get into the '70s mood, look at these fashions (in case nobody has e-mailed you the link yet).
The iPod Random 5-track Experiment Vol.1 2007-11-18 04:45:00 A little fun diversion. Put the iPod
on Party Shuffle, and take the first five tracks that come up. It seems my iPod was in a kicked back mood, coming up with five songs that are pretty mellow.Colin Hay - Waiting For My Real Life To Begin.mp3I'm a great fan of the former Men At Work singer when he is in wistful mood. This song, from the great 2000 album Going Somewhere, is an anthem to restlessness, a "is this is all there is to life" song which hints at depression. Our man is unhappy, but probably is still good company. And what a great vocal performance! (More Colin Hay here)The Weepies - All I Want (live).mp3A Christmas song that works all year around. The lyrics basically say that getting the "you" in the song would be the perfect Christmas present. The studio version even has jingling bells, absent on this stripped down live version from the superb-quality (and artist approved) bootleg of a gig in Ohio in 2004 (find it here). I love the Weepies, name notwithstanding. I love them Read more:Random
, Experiment
Intros quiz: '60s edition 2007-11-17 09:17:00 And moving back further in time, the '60s intros quiz. As always (except last time), 20 intros of hit songs from the decade, 5-6 seconds length. You guess them, I'll post the answers by Tuesday. If you really can't wait to know what the blasted number 11 is (and that one is a tricky one), e-mail me – I really don't mind. All of these songs were big hits in the US or UK, or both.I promise not to go back to the '50s. Next time, it'll be the '90s.Intros
Quiz - 1960s.mp3
Albums of the Years 1960-65 2007-11-15 10:56:00 Continuing the series of albums of the year, I am condensing the years of the '60s prior to that of my birth. It was not a time for albums yet, at least not in pop. There were classic jazz albums, such as Coltrane's A Love Supreme, an essential album of the decade with which I have never been able to close a friendship. In the '60s the great Sinatra left Capitol and Nelson Riddle to become a crooner for the people following him into middle-age. There was one final great Capitol album, some goofing with the Rat Pack, then straight into bloated easy listening territory. Sinatra became so bland, he made Engelbert Humperdinck seem like the muse for the New York Dolls.But the early '60s also saw the rise of the Beatles as a pop band which could churn out good albums at an alarming rate. Consider that between the ropey debut of Please, Please Me to Rubber Soul, not quite three years passed. Only two years after Rubber Soul came the ludicrously influential Sgt Peppers. Two years later, th Read more:Years
The Locomotion: 60s Soul - Vol. 1 2007-11-21 12:19:00 In the 1980s, the soul music of the '60s – Motown, Atlantic, Stax et al – made a huge comeback in Britain, in large part fuelled by the Northern Soul scene, and giving rise to classics by the likes of Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Percy Sledge, BB King and Marvin Gaye hitting the top 3 (the Levi 501s commercials helping to spread the fashion). In London, '60s and early '70s soul found a clubbing outlet at the Friday nighters at the Kentish Town & Country Club, named The Locomotion, obviously after Little Eva's hit. As a '60s soul devotee, I was a regular at Wendy May’s fantastic gig. The only new track played there was Terence Trent D'Arby's If You Let Me Stay, seeing as the Trout lived in Kentish Town, two stops on the Northern Line from my abode in ugly, ugly Archway. So, here's the first part of the '60s soul series dedicated to The Locomotion.Arthur Conley - Sweet Soul Music.mp3It is right that a series on '60s soul should kick off with the song that paid tribute to
Show some love for Josh Rouse 2007-11-28 09:30:00 There are many mysteries in the world. I will not bore you with a few witty examples of such mysteries as a set up for stating the conundrum which occupies me today: how the fuck is it that Josh Rouse remains some sort of best-kept secret?Since his debut set in 1998, Dressed Up Like Nebraska, Rouse has released seven proper albums, plus a couple of EPs and collaborations. Two or three of these are bona fide classics, the others are "just" very good indeed. Rouse has yet to make a mediocre album. That is a pretty good strike rate.His first couple of releases were solid albums which didn't stray far from the singer-songwriter Americana pop recipe, with hints of indie. Some tracks take some getting into, others are easily accessible. Test drive Late Night Conversation from the debut, or Directions from his sophomore effort, Home.2002's Under Cold Blue Stars ushered in a trilogy of outstanding albums. Here, Rouse began playing with different genres without departing much from the sound
Intros Quiz - '90s edition 2007-11-28 00:28:00 The 1990s edition of the Intros
Quiz. As always, 20 intros to songs, from 1990-99, all 5-7 seconds in length. When I put it together I thought there were a few tough ones, but playing it back it seems quite easy. Let me know what you thought (comments are always most welcome).Answers will go up in the comments section over the weekend. If you'd like to get hem before that, feel free to e-mail me at halfhearteddude at gmail.com.By the way, I'm testdriving Divshare, instead of the customary ZShare. Please let me know if it does or doesn't work for you (click the "Download Original" link).Intros Quiz - '90s.mp3Previous Intro quizzes
The iPod Random 5-track Experiment Vol.3 2007-12-04 12:35:00 It's fun, this iPod
randomising thing. And, as Rol of the excellent Sunset Over Slawit blog pointed out in a comment (I do like comments), my iPod does have good taste. So here's today's lot, though it's a 8-track experiment, iPod having suggested two songs I just recently posted, by Josh Rouse and Miles Davis, and Ingrid Michaelson's "Breathing Again" which I just recently downloaded from the fineDon't burn the day away blog, whose thunder I didn't want to steal.Foo Fighters - Statues.mp3I love Foo Fighter's new album, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. It might well have replaced The Colour And The Shape as my favourite Foo album, even if the new set has no "Everlong" on it. Clearly, my iPod loves Foo Fighters as well, having featured Grohl's lot in the first random experiment. "Statues" is turning out to be one of the best songs on the album, a fine piano driven number which however reminds me of some other song I cannot place. The line "we're just ordinary people" is Read more:Random
, Experiment
Boston Camerata - A Renaissance Christmas 2007-12-02 03:17:00 I do not usually upload full albums, but I will make an exception to mark the first of Advent and this blog's first Christmas
with something very special: A Renaissance
Christmas, recorded in 1986 by the Boston
Camerata.As the title suggests, the Camerata recreate the sound of Christmas from the 15th, 16th and 17th century, spreading the international flavour liberally. I'm no expert in such things, but those who are say it's flawlessly performed.Especially fascinating are the brief readings from the New Testament that intersperse the album, delivered in what is supposed to be the English accent of the 16th century.I tend to put the album on when we have our Christmas dinner. Christmas Eve (when in our family we have our celebrations) I tend to play first CDs that mix the traditional carols with yer red-nosed reindeers. Then some Nat 'King' Cole for the mother-in-law (actually, I like it too). For dinner the Boston Camerata. Then the kids used to be chased out of the lounge to awa
The iPod Random 5-track Experiment Vol.2 2007-12-01 03:11:00 Another five random songs from my iPod
's Shuffle function. Like before, Any Major iPod was in a mellow mood. That is perhaps because a high percentage of the music on it is mellow...Alexi Murdoch - All Of My Days.mp3Murdoch's "Orange Sky", from the astonishing Four Songs EP, received a lot of coverage on several TV shows. Off-hand, I remember it featuring in The O.C. and Prison Break, as well as on that wonderful film Garden State. Alexi Murdoch remains a staple on TV drama series, and yet he is not very well known at all. That is a pity, because his Nick Drake-channeling music has greater depth than inclusion on the soundtrack of Brothers & Sisters, or whatever, might suggest. Indeed, his full debut, last year's Time Without Consequence recalled Drake even in requiring a few listens before it really clicks. "All Of My Days", which kicks off the album, manages to sound at once laid back and intense, gentle and urgent. Good choice, iPod.More Alexi Murdoch here and here.Missy H Read more:Random
, Experiment
The iPod Random 5-track Experiment Vol.4 2007-12-13 12:00:00 For the sheer joy of it, five more of the random best:Nicole Atkins - Maybe Tonight.mp3Oh, I kissed the iPod
when it threw up this gem first. I had just finished putting together my Any Major Awards nominations, in which I already awarded Nicole Atkins, for being a viable alternative to the horribly overrated Amy Winehouse. This song sounds like... Petula Clark meets Blondie meets Abba. It's glorious pop. On other tracks, Atkins gets all soulful ("The Way It Is"), or goes into '80s throwback mode, sounding like the B-52s as sung by Sandie Shaw on Broadway ("Love Surreal" or "Brooklyn On Fire"). Absolutely marvellous, and so much better than schtick merchant Winehouse.Crowded House - Fall At Your Feet (live).mp3This is from the Farewell To The World live CD, which was recorded in 1996 and released ten years later. That album was one of those rarities among live sets, where the stage versions almost invariably eclipse the studio originals. And so it is with "Fall At Your Feet", one of Read more:Random
, Experiment
Any Major Awards 2007 - Nominations 2007-12-13 08:41:00 Unlike The Grammies, which in March 2008 will celebrate the (probably most objectionable) music of 2006, this blog wastes no time in honouring the Best of 2007. And, no, I haven't heard the Radiohead album, and, yes, I know I'm From Barcelona and Auggie March where released in their countries last year. The winners will be announced on Sunday, or thereabouts.And the nominees are:ALBUM OF THE YEAR:Nominees to be announced with the category awardsIndie Album of the Year:Swedish:Billie the Vision & the Dancers - Where the Ocean Meets My HandI'm From Barcelona - Let Me Introduce My FriendsLoney, Dear - Loney, NoirThe Mary Onettes - The Mary OnettesOther places:Andrew Bird - Armchair ApocryphaBand Of Horses - Cease To BeginFeist - The ReminderJosh Ritter - The Historical Conquests Of Josh RitterSpoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga GaThe Shins - Wincing The Night AwayRock Album of the Year:Bruce Springsteen - MagicCollective Soul - AfterwordsFoo Fighters - Echoes Silence Patience & GraceFountains Read more:Major
, Awards
Any Major Christmas Mix 2007-12-08 05:10:00 I didn't plan to do it, but here it is anyway: Any MajorChristmas
Mix 2007, selected from a few hundred Xmas song files I have accumulated over the years. Some I obtained from various blogs over the past couple of years. I cannot remember which, but I'm quite sure that a couple came courtesy of The Late Greats. Others are old favourites.1. Smashing Pumpkins - Christmastime2. Crash Test Dummies - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen3. Donny Hathaway - This Christmas4. Lou Rawls - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas5. Darts - White Christmas6. Bruce Springsteen - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town7. The Ramones - Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)8. They Might Be Giants - Santa's Beard9. Sufjan Stevens - Come On! Let's Boogey to the Elf Dance!10. Low - Just Like Christmas11. The Flaming Lips - A Change At Christmas (Say It Isn't So)12. Fall Out Boy - Yule Shoot Your Eye Out13. Ron Sexsmith - Maybe This Christmas14. The Weepies - All That I Want15. Mindy Smith - I'll Be Home For
The Locomotion: 60s Soul - Vol. 2 2007-12-06 09:38:00 Is everybody else feeling Christmas song overload in blogworld this year? If so, then for a bit of respite some more '60s soul.Marv Johnson - You Got What It Takes.mp3A bit of trivia: Marv Johnson was the artist appearing on Motown's first ever single, "Come To Me". Soon after, in 1959, he scored a translatlantic hit with this wonderfully upbeat number which recalls the charts-friendly soul-pop of Jackie Wilson (whose hit "Reet Petite" Motown-founder Berry Gordy co-wrote). What might have been had Johnson's singles bombed (and the way he insults the girl, it might well have). Perhaps Berry Gordy would have chucked in that record label lark and become a druglord. Young Smokey Robinson might have discarded his dream of a career in music, and there'd been no Temptations, Four Tops, Supremes etc. Marvin Gaye would have been doing the Billy Eckstine stuff everybody soon would tire of. And a little blind boy might have remained undiscovered. Thank Marv Johnson for his pivotal role in mus
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