5 posts tagged “dolly parton”
|
|
I originally was going to compile my favorite seven posts I've made (out of 380+ posts) and it proved too, too much! Anyway, since I previously compiled something similar to this (see W♥M Award Nomination), this post will be an easy breeze.
I present to you: the Top 7: Favorites! Yes, these were voted by you guys. If you don't like any of these songs, it's all your fault.
Coming in at 16 Favorites is Stars. Stars, Stars, Stars! It's always about Stars.
France Gall's "Laisse Tomber Les Filles" song got 13 Favorites. If you don't understand French, check out April March's "Chick Magnet".
Dolly Parton's "Jolene", the one, and only, original classic song is marked with 12 Favorites. To hear eight "Jolene" cover songs, head over to my abandoned Cover Lover.
"Sway" by Dean Martin got 10 Favorites. It's such a great song, I'm sad to see it so low if you ask me.
And seriously, Stars once against shows up unexpected with "Heart" with 10 Favorites. I suspect the reason why this song got marked up recently is because it was mentioned in the Top 7: Concerts.
Jonathan Coulton probably would charted higher if we'd use his "Code Monkey" song (which is a favorite among nerds), but instead "Baby Got Back" is just as awesome with 9 Favorites. You can download "Baby Got Back" from jonathancoulton.com.
Incidentally, since Alanis Morissette did a similar cover of My Humps, Coulton loves it and covered Morissette's You Oughta Know.
Speaking of similar, OrangeAppled said that The Parcels's "Jessica Pancakes" is "to the tune of the Associations' "Windy"...." I've since checked out the said-song and you know what? Wow it's practically stolen! Still 8 Favorites from you guys managed to keep it on the top 7.
After researching Sunshine Pop, I might check out more stuff in this genre because I've already am a big fan of The Beach Boys and The Mammas and the Pappas... so look for this article next year.
So what's up and coming? These are hot: Kerry Politzer's Always with (5), This Morning Call's Clockworks (5), The Chemical Brothers's The Salmon Dance (5) Colin Meloy's Jack the Ripper (5), The Legendary K.O.'s George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People (5), Hans Zimmer's Spider Pig (5), and Asha Bhosle's Mohabbat Hoon Haqiqat Hoon (5).
So this is the 7th and final installment of the Top 7. I have to say that it was really fun to look back at 2007! I'm so excited for Top 8, aren't you?
|
| ||||
|
| ||||
|
|
12/31/2007 21:07:25
vu
my♥posts
www.weheartmusic.com
With only a few days left for the Christmas holiday, I'm compiling some Christmas songs for you. There's so many holiday songs that I might do a part two and three, so watch this space.
First off, I've edited together a few video sessions and we're going to call it a Holiday Buyer's Guide or interesting music boxsets and stuff I thought was cool. They weren't necessary released this year (and in fact, I'm pretty sure you couldn't buy some of these items). Anyway, check out the video. The format will change after this, so it'll be the last of this longer format.
So, let's start with some Christmas songs:
|
Twelve Girls Band - Last Christmas
These girls can sure play, but they obviously cannot count, as Twelve Girls Band actually consists of 13 women (see for yourself, count them on the cover!). Apparently they were formed by Wang "father of Chinese rock music" Xiao-Jing through a contest in 2001 and assembled twelve girls, each representing Chinese mythology of twelve hairpins. Looking at their overwhelming discography, it would seem that they released quite a few live albums (usually with a DVD). Anyway, their Christmas-themed album, Twelve Girls of Christmas (2005), was released as Merry Christmas To You in Japan. All the familar Christmas songs are done with traditional Chinese instruments, such as the Mandolin and the Gao-Hu (Fiddle), but they are wonderfuly interpretted. Check out this version of "Last Christmas". Wham! never sounded better, right? |
Enya - Adeste, Fideles
If you haven't heard of Enya, then I'm afraid you haven't been in any elevators in the past decade. She bursted onto the charts in the late 80s with that "sail away" song (it's actually called "Orinoco Flow" but who can remember that?) She's recently resurfaced again in the popular Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings series, and once again secures herself as the queen of New Age music. This song, "Adeste, Fideles" originally does not appear on Amarantine (2005). After a year, the record company decided to boost its sale by re-releasing the album as Amarantine Special Christmas Edition with a bonus second disc. The second disc is an all Christmas EP, originally released in the states as Sounds of the Season, and in Canada as the Christmas Secrets EP. |
|
They Might be Giants - Santa's Beard
I first heard of this rocking song off their sophomore album, Lincoln (1988), and it's about a jealous husband. The song is about how every year his buddy puts on a red suit and hangs out with his family. Then he would spot his wife wearing his beard and kissing him, etc. Although the song is old, it resurfaced on Then: The Earlier Years (1997) and again in a special Christmas EP called They Might Be Giants in Holidayland (2001). Technically this isn't a very traditional Christmas song, but whenever I think of Christmas songs - this is the one that comes to my mind first and foremost because it's so fun and different. |
The Beach Boys - Little Saint Nick
I can't overlook the fact that this winterly Christmas song is suddenly transformed to a fun Summer Beach party (with Gidget). It's not one of my favorite Christmas tunes, probably because it's basically the same song as their previous hit "Little Deuce Coupe". So this song is from their only Christmas album, The Beach Boys' Christmas Album, released in 1964. It topped out at number 6, although the single "Little Saint Nick" faired a little better at #3 on the charts (although this singles version is different than the album version). |
|
Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers - Christmas Without You
I'll be honest with you: I love Country music. I grew up with pop music and one of the songs that I loved when I was a kid was "Island in the Stream", performed by Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton. This was a single from Kenny Roger's album, Eyes That See in the Dark (1983). These two only released one album together, Once Upon a Christmas (1984), with two singles from this album: "Christmas Without You" and "The Greatest Gift of All". Their last duet was "Love Is Strange" (1990), which I've never heard. |
The Dandy Warhols - The Little Drummer Boy
According to allmusic, this is one of the Dandy Warhols' first EP release (if not the earliest). Strangely the single/EP is not listed on their wikipedia page. The popular Christmas song tells the story of a young boy who was so poor, he couldn't afford a gift for the baby Jesus. So instead, he wrote and played the drums in tribute as the baby smiles... I guess, not really much to add to this, except that the Dandy Warhols song was also included on XFM's Cool Cool Christmas Album (2000). I think this album sold very well when it was released and contains a wonderful version of "Feliz Navidad" by El Vez and "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" by Belle & Sebastian. |
12/19/2007 21:01:09
vu
my♥posts
www.weheartmusic.com
Celebrating our 500th post!!
I actually planned on doing a bunch of "500" songs, but I didn't think that would really represent W♥M. So I thought back and remembered that we sort of had a contest about which songs were your favorite.
As it turns out, the clear winner is Stars' "This Charming Man", a favorite here since we've mentioned them several times now.
So let's take a look at why this song is good? First of all it's a Smiths cover song, so instantly there's something to be liked. Then there is Stars' unique take on the song, mixing melody with a dance beat.
When you add it up, it's a very excellent song!
September 18, 2007 12:05 AM
vu
my♥posts
vu@weheartmusic.com
www.weheartmusic.com
Welcome to the first annual W♥M Award for 2007! Here are the nominees as voted by our readers:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
So start voting by marking these songs as a favorite. Winners will be announced in October, and it looks like Stars is destroying the competition :/
If you feel your favorite band is not represented here, please get four of your friends to mark one of our song a favorite and then send me an email, I will definitely reconsider in the next voting reminder in September.
Some honorable mentions (four favorites): Asha Bhosle - Mohabbat Hoon Haqiqat Hoon, The Left Banke - Walk Away Renee, Morrissey - Tomorrow (Single Mix), Metric - Combat Baby, The Here+Now - Xochimilco, Strawberry Fair - Where is Alex Taylor Now?, Freezepop - Here Comes a Special Boy, So Post All 'Em, Charlotte Gainsbourg - Everything I Cannot See, The Marmalade - Twenty Miles, The Farewell Circuit - Oceans Cry, This Is Not The End, The Decemberists - The Soldiering Life, Garbage - 02-I Think I'm Paranoid, Arabesque - Hello Mr. Monkey, Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, Moonbaby - Here We Go, Bangs - Scorpi-oh, Bertrand Betsch - Bang Bang, I Hate Camera, Raymond Wong - Shaolin Soccer Opening Theme, This World Fair - This Morning, UR Hung Up, Chelsea Dagger, The Smiths - I Know It's Over (live), The Smiths - I Know It's Over (live), Young And Dumb, Under the Rotunda, Frodo, Peter Bjorn And John - Teen Love, Midnight Movies - Blue Babies, Gregorian - Losing My Religion, No Pussy Blues, Suburban Kids With Biblical Names - Rent a Wreck, RIAA - It's Whiskey, Sweet Geisha Love, Dirty On Purpose - Mind Blindness, Coco Freeman feat. Franz Ferdinand - The Dark Of The Matinee, Candie Payne - All I Need to Hear, Math and Physics Club - Weekends Away, The Feminine Complex - Are You Lonesome Like Me?, Tiger Trap - Supreme Nothing, Chia Pet - Don't You Want Me Baby, Looper - Impossible Things #2, France Gall - Faut-il que je t'aime, Simon & Garfunkel - Red Rubber Ball, The Lucksmiths - Deep Sea Diving Suit
August 5, 2007 2:08 PM
vu
my♥posts
vu@weheartmusic.com
www.weheartmusic.com
Whenever I start feeling unusually chipper I like to shut everyone out and put on The Feminine Complex’s “Are You Lonesome Like Me?”. The Feminine Complex are a dreamy all-girl psychedelic garage band from the late 60’s hailing from *gasp* Nashville. Whatwhat? I used to think the only thing Tennessee was good for was Dolly Parton.
The band’s lead singer, Mindy Dalton (also the primary lyricist), provides us with the most quixotically delicious lyrics. The soft percussion creates a fuzzy atmosphere that pushes us into sentimental unconsciousness. I’m usually turned off by horn parts... However, I couldn’t imagine “Are You Lonesome Like Me?” without the lazy horn parts that perfectly frame the song’s warmth. The backing vocals and light organ are the icing on the cake for me.
The Feminine Complex are a unique group that provide us with some of the most endearing songs of their era. There isn’t a song on their album “Livin’ Love” that isn’t amazingly bewitching.
Oh yeah, Hi, I’m Celeste and
this is my first song review here.
P.S. The cover that's on the re-issue on Teenbeat is not as cool as the original.
Here's the original:
