Fleet Foxes

If you're not aware of the Fleet Foxes yet the only explanation is that you've been living on Mars in a cave with your fingers in your ears for the past couple of years. Their thick vocal harmonies and warm melodies muster up images of forests, nymphs, elves and other LOTResque mythical creatures. What better way to capture the magic of this band than to watch two swedish girls sing one of their songs in the woods.

Covers

I've been thoroughly schooled in the diversity of truly great Beatles covers in the last 24 hours. You be the one to judge whether or not these are better than the original. Let me know if there are any good ones out there that I missed.

Credit goes to Micah Dubinsky



Credit goes to Dmitri Cherniak

I need a translator

I thought long and hard before posting this about whether or not there exists any Beatles' covers that surpass the original. This is the only one that came to mind. If you can think of any others please comment and let me know. Joe Cocker is one of my top four white/male singers along with Robert Plant, Jeff Buckley and Freddy Mercury. It sounds like he just ate a carton of cigarettes but it works magnificently. Enjoy.

Joe Cocker (Live Woodstock 1969) from David Lee on Vimeo.

The Wood Brothers

Man these guys kill me. As one of the most talented brotherhoods in music, their vocal harmonies and soulful southern feel take care of you just like mama used to. Oliver's spirited voice and Chris of MMW's multifaceted bass playing make a hell of a duo. Check out the album "Loaded". It's the first album I've heard in a long time with a full track list of brilliant songs. Go in with high expectations...I dare you.

Nothing from Nothing

There's one reason people come to this blog and that's to hear good music. Keeping with that trend, this song will put a smile on your face from to ear to ear. You know why? Cuz it's a great f*&^%$# song.

In Repair

This is by far the coolest window into an artists writing process I've ever seen. I've always wished there was more footage of bands/artists in the studio writing, tracking, fixing and transforming songs. As an artist myself I'm no stranger to the creative process generated in the studio. It's a laboratory for experimenting with sounds, feels, mixes, effects, tempos, etc... I'm glad (and not surprised) that John Mayer of all people has given the public the opportunity to see into what life is like as a musician with the ability to do whatever you want. If I had John Mayer's status/money I'd be jamming with Steve Jordan and Charlie Hunter everyday.

Paolo

If you haven't heard Paolo Nutini, get on it. He's a 23 year old scot with a monster of a voice. But don't take my word for it, see for yourself...

"Growing up Beside You"

18th Century Soul

My dad introduced my to Irakere, the Afro-Cuban group formed in the 70's, headed up by Cuban brass legends Paquito D'Rivera and Arturo Sandoval and founded by pianist Chucho Valdes. Combine two of the best rhythm-heavy styles of music, Funk and Latin, throw in some blazing horns and you've got yourself a hell of a dish. I strongly suggest checking them out, but I've decided to share with you something a little bit lighter.
Here's a great clip of Paquito playing Mozart's Adagio with the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra. Everything's all ponies and daisies until Paquito brings it with some 12/8 soul straight outta left field. Makes for a beautiful contrast.

Blue Wild Angel

The release of Jimi Hendrix's new album "Valleys of Neptunes" has caused me once again to relapse into that familiar state of psychological and physical dependence on the man who's contribution to the guitar has in my opinion, been unrivaled since his death. I have a habit of exhausting artists pretty quickly on my iPod but there's something comforting, and even...mothering about Hendrix that always makes him a good choice. He was the first guitar player to completely engulf me in a solo and has the rare ability to make the world around you dissolve only to have you snap out of your daze once the song is over thinking "what just happened?".
Here's one of my personal favourite Hendrix clips. Jimi playing "Machine Gun" at the Isle of Wight in 1970, one of the last big shows before his death.

A Musical Tragedy

After a few enlightening conversations and the recent induction of two good friends to the world of blogging (http://peterwjmiller.com/, http://jacobsfox.com/), I've been re-inspired to hop back on the blog train and continue to share with the world what I believe to be music worth listening to. So welcome back to your one-stop full serve window into music that moves you.

If there was a consensus on what people thought was the biggest tragedy in the history hip-hop music, I'd put the disappearance of Lauryn Hill up near the top. Everyone familiar with Lauryn's only studio album "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" is well acquainted with its ability to encompass all that is good in Hip-Hop music. She's got the voice of an angel, the flow, the lyrics and the beats for a great organic sounding hip-hop album. Here's a taste of her unplugged set at MTV.
COME BACK LAURYN!!!!!!!!!!!

India & Pakistan in the West

The music of India and Pakistan have had a profound influence on western music since the Beatles travelled to Rishikesh, India in 1968 to study transcendental meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. This event spawned a wave of Indian influence on artists like Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, John Mclaughlin and more recently Pearl Jam and Jeff Buckley. Names like Ravi Shankar and Zakir Hussein have become familiar to us because of their numerous collaborations with western artists. The Indian practice of playing a melody over a single "drone" or stagnant note can be found in songs like Jimi's "Third Stone from the Sun", even Creed's "Higher". Unfortunately, this concludes my knowledge of Indian music so I'll let these videos demonstrate my point.

Note: In my minimal research for this post I came across this site, it has some of the best pictures of the Beatles that I've ever seen. http://www.thebeatlesinindia.com

Video the first: Jeff Buckley emulating Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, considered one of the greatest Pakistani singers of all time. A truly prolific figure.



Video the second: Pearl Jam singing an original song, "Long Road" with Nusrat's nephew Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. Hearing someone who has been trained in the art of Qawalli might help you understand why religion plays such a dominant role in those parts of the world.

Bessie Smith

Allow me now to share with you the motivation behind my love affair with Norah Jones. It wasn't until hearing her play one of my favourite Band songs, "Bessie Smith" that I decided it was time for me and Norah to become more...intimate. After that I dug a little deeper and began to understand what all the hype was about. Is there anything more attractive than a girl who sings, plays keys and covers The Band??? If you're not already a fan, hopefully hearing this will have the same effect on you as it did on me.
I also decided to throw in Ray Lamontagne's cover of 'Bessie Smith' for your listening pleasure. Any Ray fans? That unmistakable voice is a mandatory addition to LoveofMuzik. As a friend of mine put it earlier today, "it's like he's whispering REALLY loudly".

Note: If you're a Norah Jones fan or simply enjoy listening to good music, check out her side project "The Little Willies"...a little southern hospitality for ya.

John Mayer & The Guitar Solo

Say what you will about John Mayer, the man can play the guitar. The purpose of this post isn't to argue John Mayer's integrity as a musician nor his ability to write a song. The point I wish to make is that John Mayer has done more for the guitar than the majority of people give him credit for. Allow me now to support my conclusion with irrefutable premises, the likes of which will give the John Mayer haters a new perspective, the agnostics a push in the right direction and the lovers even more respect. My objective is to make those skeptics see the light.
Upon first hearing "Your Body is a Wonderland" I thought to myself, "He's like a boy band condensed into one single entity". So I chose to pass on the craze and stick to what I knew best, the blues. It wasn't until the John Mayer Trio album "Try" came out that I thought to myself..."!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!". Here's where the part about him doing more for the guitar than he's given credit for comes into play.
John Mayer undeniably holds one of the most powerful positions of any current artist. He's managed to generate such a large fan base that no matter what he does, the crowd will love him for it. This makes the fact that he plays the guitar phenomenally well a significant part of his influence. He can hold his own with the most celebrated blues artists still alive i.e. B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton etc...and because of this, he's drawn the attention of the masses back to the good stuff. The stuff that tears ur heart out of your chest, the stuff that motivates you to play, listen and appreciate musicality and passion. The stuff worth investing in.
My point is this, not since Van Halen has a single artist with as big and broad a following made the guitar such an important focus of his music. What a rare occurrence it is to witness an entire stadium full of people explode over a guitar solo. Or an artist as main stream as John Mayer choose to "jam out" a song with his band of veteran musicians.
As a musician myself all I can say is this, thank you good sir for bringing the guitar back to the people, and reminding them of some of the most influential artists, writers and players of all time.

Now enjoy these videos of John having a good ol' time with blues legend Buddy Guy. Videos that exemplify my point famously.

A Change is Gonna Come

This is my last post of the night. I'm just getting used to sharing music with the world and evidently need to pace myself a little bit better. So here's a night cap. Three equally moving renditions of Sam Cooke's classic "A Change is Gonna Come".

Warning: Each video is highly conducive to chills, goosebumps, and feelings of euphoria.

Goodnight.

Throwback of the Day

This track did a number on me when I first heard it in my friend Jessy's car late one night after a jam. Up until that point I'd been falsely labeling myself an MJ fan on the basis of knowing songs like "The Girl is Mine" and "Remember the Time". But no one could have prepared me for what Mike was doing from '78-'82. Most notably "Off the Wall" and "Thriller", both co-produced by Quincy Jones. Long story short, this song served as the catalyst for my current, unyielding MJ phase. It's been playing every morning for the past two weeks. A fact which has generated some curious looks of intrigue while waiting for the bus.
Humour me and see if you can listen to this song with the volume maxed out and NOT move any part of your body. You can't do it can you.

Note: Stop whatever you are doing and immediately purchase both "Off The Wall" (1979) and "Thriller"(1982). Mike was a game changer in the truest sense of the word. You'd be hard pressed to find music that stretches over the world like his does.

High Hopes

Based on the assumption that you are capable of feeling emotion, this video will put a smile on your face. As far as white, male singers go, Paulo Nutini is certainly hovering around the top of the ladder for me. Up there with him would be Robert Plant, Freddy Mercury, Jeff Buckley and Joe Cocker...but that's just like...one guy's opinion maannn.

Take it all in...

Me Sooo Hooooaanny

A friend of mine posted this video on my facebook wall yesterday. So far I've watched it 2,374 times and it hasn't gotten old. This is better than any yellow fever threesome you'll find on Porn Hub. Full credit for this post goes out to Mr. Micah Dubinsky, a true appreciator of the inexplicable effects of music.

Two things to check out:

1. The unbelievable musical climax at 5:12 that transitions from the double-time swing to a gritty half-time shuffle a la "Pretty" Purdie.

2. The drum solo

Note: If you're going to watch this video...wear a condom.