4 posts tagged “amy winehouse”
- Chris"just spent how much on video games?!?"topher.
Update: From a YouTube posting:
painintheass66: "hi ...there is no name for the song..its just a 30 second piece written specially for the commercial...its not available..but i hear they want us to do a longer version...which i would love to try...
ps im the singer...angela mccluskey....wicked commercial innit xx "
There was a lot of music that was released last Tuesday. The reason? They're preparing for Black Friday.
I should explain to the people outside of the US, "Black Friday" is the biggest shopping day (the day after Thanksgiving). Sometime the sales for that one crucial day would turn profit for a business for the rest of the year. There's some debate on where the term came from, but I think it is from a business standpoint of turning the "red" (losses) into "black" (profit).
Sadly, I have already spent over $250 on music and DVDs in the past week. I keep telling people: You have to spend money to save money.
So here are some of the albums that were released last Tuesday (November 13th):
Wait, didn't they just release an album ? I guess Sam's Town was released in October 2006, but funny, it seems like yesterday... Just so you know, this only has a few new material, most of Sawdust are B-Sides and rarities. The gem of the CD is actually "Shadowplay", a Joy Division cover (the song first appeared on the Control Soundtrack). PS, that cover looks creepy. | My brother's favorite band is releasing a live album. But WAIT! It's not new (do you see a trend here?), the audio CD is actually the audio soundtrack of the DVD of I Heard a Voice, which was released sometime last year. If you're a hardcore AFI fan, sure, you gotta buy it. If you've already own the DVD, here's my advice to you: get a DVD audio ripper and just rip the audio from the DVD to MP3. You've already paid for it once, I don't see why you'd have to pay for it again. |
Also released last Tuesday was the Goo Goo Doll's Greatest Hits. This is their first "greatest hits" CD, having been together for over 21 years. Did everyone catch the Transformers movie ? Did you know they had a hit song on that soundtrack? With the indication of "Volume 1", you know that Volume 2 will compile rarities, B-Sides and random songs. It's set for release in 2008 (probably around the same time next year). | Not to be outdone by The Goo Goo's Greatest Hits, is Led Zeppelin's Greatest Hits CD, Mothership. Although this looks like a pretty good compilation for LZ, unfortunately, they have previously released other similar compilations: Remasters, Led Zeppelin (Box Set, Vol. 1), and The Complete Studio Recordings. |
Jean-Yves Thibaudet's score for the 2005 film, based on the Jane Austen novel, comes bundled with the gift set for the DVD re-release last Tuesday. The soundtrack is all instrumental and the track that really stood out is "The Militia Marches in", which features flutes. Admittadly I have not seen the movie, but apparently hot-girl Keira Knightley was nomiated for an Oscar in her role. I have been in love with her since "Bend it Like Beckham". | This wasn't released last Tuesday, but it was released very recently. I only wanted to mention it because it's a 3-disc set that collects some of the best Dylan tunes. There's already a few greatest hits and collection, so if you're happy with those, there's no need to upgrade to this release. I saw that they have "Maggie's Farm" on this collection, so I'm dedicating this to Maggie. |
Off in the near distance are:
I was relieved to find out that this doesn't contain any G-Sides (which I already owned). This D-Sides compiles all the B-sides and remixes for their last album, Demon Days. It's set to be release on November 20th, just a few days before my birthday. I must confess the deluxe set looks really sweet. |
Again, not a new album, but her debut album. It was released in the UK in October 2003, but never made its way over to the US. Well finally the CD is finally being released on November 20th. Let's hope the singer's drug & alcohol problems are behind her so that she can record new material for a future album. |
11/17/2007 09:12:16
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The album Keep Reaching up by Nicole Willis and The Soul Investigators is the latest to come out of the European Nu Funk movement. Released by Timmion Records of Finland, this particular record is quite funky and reminiscent of 60's
and 70's USA Motown grooves, however with a sleek modernity.
Nicole Willis, soloist and artist, is wife to Jimi Tenor a Finnish jazz electronic musician who also works on the album
On their myspace page, Nicole Willis states "The sound of this group reminds me of dancing to the new James Brown 7" in the record shop on Clarkson Avenue with my sister when we were 6 & 8 years old." Similarly, it reminds me of my parents old records. It conjures up some of those old classic curatorial funk and Motown archetypes, yet its got that lounge feel thats new and sophisticated enough to listen to while drinking a martini.
I like their track Feeling Free, a peppy inspiring track that evokes memories of listening to Komeda out of Sweden. The song is a happy one that might make you want to "boogie" and dance your blues away. This light and catchy tune has two versions. The first above is the Hoop's Juju Gumbo mix from their myspace. The second below is the version from their
Another superb track, their lead single This Ain't Love (Don't Know What Is), nominated on BBC Worldwide's "Track Of The Year"
list, adopts a thoroughly vintage Motown sound. If you have always wished for a continuation of the golden oldie songs of the 60's, this is your ultimate tune. It's quite a sad song about love gone wrong. From Wills' lovely alto
to the ethereal ending of the flute, the song is tightly arranged and has a lovely immediacy for the listener.
Nicole Willis and the Soul Investigators together have succeeded in resurrecting that old funk and Motown sound many of us secretly love to groove to, yet despite its exact replications, which are a sign of our times perhaps, they make it totally fresh and very now.
As the trends would have it, a turn back to these old time grooves is what we have been seeing with a lot of the new generation of pop singers, like for instance the UK's Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen. Is it any wonder that Nicole Willis and The Soul Investigators have been enjoying popularity on the UK scene as well? Those who dig the Verve Records remixes of classic jazz songs will also love these new tunes. Nicole Willis and the Soul Investigators is not to be missed by anyone who is lovin' this modern take on jazz.
I was sitting back watching more coverage of Glastonbury when it suddenly occurred to me that I actually have a mental image of the whole layout of Glastonbury superimposed in my mind. I could literally walk you from stage to stage...
I won't...
Day two of the biggest music festival in the UK has seen some of awesome bands on all of the main stages but I'll start by talking about Amy Winehouse (Website, Myspace) who featured on the Jazzworld stage.
Winehouse has been over described by most of the music magazines to the extent that a rather simple down-to-earth pint drinking gal appears to be almost schizophrenic on their pages. She is one of the leading lights of British soul music and has more balls than most of girl power groups. Her set went down a treat with the viewing audience and rightly so!
My favourite moment of the day (I am still pretending I am there) was the sex god of the mods, Paul Weller (Website). His time on stage was made all the better by the presence of Ocean Colour Scene's Damon Minchella (Fired from the group in 2003) and Steve Cradock, two mighty fine guitarists. A Town Called Malice has never sounded sweeter.
The award for best attempt at crowd surfing goes to Lovefoxxx from CSS (Website, Myspace), who successful managed to lose her head band in the process. Like everybody who performs at Glastonbury, the Brazilian group played in awe of the festival itself.
With tickets for Glastonbury costing £145 these days, I almost feel sorry for the hippies who attend for the spiritual side of the festival. But one glance at the faces in the crowd and all criticisms of the growing commercialisation of the festival are thrown to one side. Glastonbury makes people happier. Drunk, drugged up and happier.
Maximo Park (Website, Myspace) impressed me on the Pyramid Stage with a confident performance. Impressed and surprised me. However even more spectacular was the sight of a sea of people singing along to the instrumental stylings of Rodrigo y Gabriela (Website, Myspace).
Bat for Lashes were awesome on the John Peel stage and I am really looking forward to seeing them live now. If you don't own their album, I highly recommend you pop it on your wishlist if nothing else.
All in all, rock was pretty well represented in the lineup this year. One of the advantages of watching from home is the late night special performances in the BBC tent. It was with some delight I witnessed Calvin Harris sing along to an acoustic version of his track, The Girls. Another treat was hearing the Canadian poet and hip hopster K'Naan (Website, Myspace) for the first time. He has secured a place on my wish list.
Back to the big bands, the Kooks (Website, Myspace) were the penultimate act on the Pyramid stage. I've never been caught up in the fuss surrounding the Kooks. In my opinion, there are pretty average but you have to appreciate Jackie's Big Tits. The Killers (Website, Myspace) finished off the night. They were, well, The Killers. You either love them, hate them or stalk them. Interestingly, David Keuning claimed that when recording a song, the band ponders how the track will sound at Glastonbury.
There is no better way to finish my drunken early morning rambling than with the music of the Brummie band, The Twang (Website, Myspace). This group has been nominated by NME as "the Group of 2007". Putting that cursed title to one side, The Twang are pretty damn good. They have an additive from the gutter sound. The Streets gone rock. Poetic and working class. Definitely my one of the highlights of my festival experience. - Ryan.
Amy Winehouse - itunes, Amazon UK, Amazon USA.
CSS - itunes, Amazon UK, Amazon USA.
Maximo Park - itunes, Amazon UK, Amazon USA.
The Kooks - itunes, Amazon UK, Amazon USA.
The Twang - itunes, Amazon UK, Amazon USA.
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