7 posts tagged “holiday”
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MLK Day is a fairly recent holiday, it only came into existence in 1983 when Ronald Regan signed it into law. What you probably didn't know was that some states didn't call it Martin Luther King Day. Utah called it Human Rights Day, while Virginia combined a bunch of people into the Lee-Jackson-King Day. It was only recently in 2000 did all the 50 States decided to call it the same thing.
Either way, enjoy your Monday off work!
Also, please also check out Ben Sollee's A Change is Gonna Come and Stevie Wonder's Happy Birthday (Martin Luther King Jr).
MANZE DAYILA & THE NAGO NATION
manzedayila.com ♥ myspace.com
According to Dayila's biography, she was a refugee from Haiti (she was 19 when she rafted into Miami Beach!). The Haiti would explain why some of their songs have a Carribean, with just a dash of Reggae, in them. Half of the album are also traditional Haitian Folk song ("Kwi", "Miseye Rigaud", "Kafe", "Papa Loko", etc). The stand-out track for me is one of the few English songs on Solé called "That Feeling". The song also features an additional singer/rapper called Bennchoumy Elian, who also sung on the other English song "I Want to Be Free". Other stand-out track is the song "Solé", which although I do not understand the lyrics - I feel it is a sad song, as if a mother is weeping for her child. With the absent of music on this song, it made for an even more powerful emotional connection. Since most of the album is not in English it gives it a Worldly touch. If you enjoy World music, especially Afro-Pop or Afro-Hip-Hop, this album is worth checking out. You can purchase Solé via cd baby ($14) or download via itunes ($10) or amazon ($8). |
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THE BRILLIANT MISTAKES
thebrilliantmistakes.com ♥ myspace.com Between the two singers, keyboardist Alan Walker and bassist Erik Philbrook, I would have to say that I like the Walker songs - they sound vaguely like Ben Folds. The Philbrook vocals sounds more alt-country. I'm more drawn to their upbeat songs like "The Circle's Not Broken" and "The Day I Found My Hands". Even though I didn't know the words to their songs, I feel like I could probably make up words to rhyme with their lyrics. Their "change" ("Good Year For A Change") has nothing to do with politics, but you can read what you want in it.... 2009 will be a great year for a change, right? Anyway, the song sounds a little subdue, but it shows off the Folds-vocals as I mentioned earlier. I think the song may be about changing your life, a fresh start, and finding someone new. Possibly not looking back.... but the song seems to reflect on the past. You can find out details on how you can purchase their album on their website. The page also lets you download "The Circle’s Not Broken" - the upbeat song that I liked, so check it out. |
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DESCRIBE AND Y-LOVE
myspace.com/describeylove ♥ ylovemusic.com Much like the "Change" song by Manze Dayila, this "Change" song is the excitement of a new political change in the White House. The song has some auto-tuning vocals, with that distinctive Yiddish sounds of the H sound like in "hhhheh". The lyrics comes in fast and furious and Describe's lower vocals slows down the song when it needs to be. As described by the press material, The Change EP consists of four songs. But instead of releasing the EP in one release date, they are dropping each song per month, starting tomorrow (January 20th). The other scheduled release are February 24th for "Make It", March 31st, and April 28th. All details will be updated over at shemspeed.com/change, which contain links of how you can buy the song(s). |
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MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD
michaelfranti.com ♥ myspace.com
CORY CHISEL
corychisel.com ♥ myspace.com |
01/19/2009 07:18:34 ♥ vu (
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♥weheartmusic.com♥podcast.weheartmusic.com♥news.weheartmusic.com
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That very next day, well that's today. In honor of the day after Christmas, Cover Lover presents: "Last Christmas"!
Wham!'s "Last Christmas" song is possibly one of the best Christmas pop song. Released in 1984, it dominated the charts and is still very popular even today (especially in Japan and Southeast Asia). Re-issues after re-issues, song is one of the best-selling single in UK chart history.
All that success lead the music publisher Dick James Music, to sue George Michael for plagiarism for the song "Can't Smile Without You". If you listen to the song by The Carpenters from their 1976 album, A Kind of Hush, it does bear a heavy resemblance - and eventually the matter was settled out of court.
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Anyway, here are some more covers:
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CRAZY FROG
www.jamba.de If you've never heard of Crazy Frog, it sounds to me that they just remix music by other people and through the brilliant marketing of an animated frog. Thankfully the craze never made it over to the States, and if it does, I'll bet you that Americans will complain about the Frog's penis. If you were wondering about the woman singing on Crazy Frog's housey "Last Christmas", it is by singer Nicole Bolley. |
ASHLEY TISDALE
ashleytisdale.com ♥ ashleymusic.com In 2006, Tisdale decided to release her studio recording of "Last Christmas" for Warner Brothers Music. The song was eventually released only as a one-track radio promo, and only available as a digital download. However, if physical CD is your thing, you'll find the song as a B-Side on her He Said She Said EP. If you get a chance to listen to the sort-of-whiney version of "Last Christmas", it doesn't really add much to the song. It's definitely more modern and pop. |
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I'M SO LOOK YOU
myspace.com ♥ imsolookyou.blogspot.com Anyway, she recently remixed "Last Christmas", adding a little jingle bells, "Joy to the World", violas, synth, and techno beats to the original song. The vocals are modified enough that you might not recognize that it's George Michaels. She'll be DJing in the Nagoya area, check it out:
12/31/08 club buddha & R-base cafe "年越しパーティー☆" 01/10/09 GOLDEN CHILD CAFE 01/14/09 SARU 01/24/09 club EDITS "藤澤志保 Release Tour" 01/29/09 domina "HEIDI" 02/01/09 club EDITS "TRASH" 03/13/09 club buddha "LOVE LIFE MUSIC!!!" |
HILARY DUFF
hilaryduff.com ♥ myspace.com The title is a fictional street, as originally referenced in the 1947 song "Here Comes Santa Claus" and probably inspired the poppy "Santa Claus Lane" song on the album. No surprise, but I don't think Duff wrote any of the songs on the album, they were either written for her or established songs. Some of the covers I did recognize is Paul McCarthy's "" and Wham's "Last Christmas". Incidentally, the "chicawah" sound effects on "Last Christmas" made Duff's version very cheesy. The quirky effects are also applied to other songs on her album. Someone should've stopped the mixer/producer from over doing it. |
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BILLIE
billie-piper.net (unofficial) Unlike her teen pop contemporaries, she's not of the Disney music school. However, they're all pretty much interchangeable, aren't they? She dabbled in music, but have only managed to released two albums (strangely securing a "Greatest Hits" album based on the two previous studio albums) and seems to have taken more into acting. Currently, she's better known for playing Rose Tyler next to the Doctor in the television series Doctor Who (2005 to 2006), where she's won numerous awards for "Best Actress" to GQ's "Woman of the Year". |
DAM VINH HUNG
damvinhhung.ws ♥ myspace.com Anyway, the cover song is sung entirely in Vietnamese and contain the opening dialogue. I'm probably mis-translating it, but he said something to the extent of:
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Links:
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One of my favorite Joni Mitchell songs, covered by one of my favorite bands. Enjoy your holidays! I'm going back to the kitchen =E
--Ceji
Today is Martin Luther King Jr's day. I was originally going to include his speech (or at least an excerpt of it as it is over 16 minutes long), instead, I'm just going to direct you to www.americanrhetoric.com where you can download the "I Have a Dream" speech in its entirety. Unfortunately the sound quality is pretty low and I think it's in mono.
I don't know if you remember, but this famous speech was the subject of many years of legal battle between the Estate of Martin Luther King Jr and CBS. The Estate argues that the work is copyrighted and CBS should pay them a license fee per usage and CBS argues that it's public performance and should be in the public domain.
The case closed as both side settled out of court, but personally I think it should be free to use by any media to remind us about civil rights and racial injustice.
Anyway, to tie today's holiday to music, we're going to talk about "Happy Birthday" by Stevie Wonder. This song was written and released in 1980 and appears on his album Hotter than July under the Motown label.
The song was used to campaign for a national holiday, and six years later, the United States established the observation on the 3rd Monday of January (King's birthday is January 15).
Bonus: Download a Crowd Control remix of "Happy Birthday" on their myspace.com.
01/21/2008 10:42:31
vu
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www.steviewonder.net
"I Don't Intend to Spend Christmas Without You" is possibly my favorite Christmas song, written by Margo Guryan for Claudine Longet. Longet have always loved Christmas, marrying singer Andy Williams on Christmas Day (December 25th, 1961) and naming two of their children Noëlle and Christian.
Their
marriage didn't last long, they separated in 1969 (officially divorced
in 1975). By this time, she was seeing Olympic skier Vladimir "Spider"
Sabich, who was fatally shot in 1976 by Longet.
In the trials, she claimed it was an accident, for which she was acquitted for felony manslaughter.
The irony she had made a recording of Cher's "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)". It was later asked that she removed her song from public circulation.
Margo Guryan wrote "I Don't Intend to Spend Christmas Without You" and as you can hear in her demo recording, it's slightly different (and I think superior to Longet's recording, even though she's lacking that French accent).
Guryan never toured or actively promoted her debut album Take a Picture (1968), so it failed to make much impact in the music charts. She retired and ended up being a music teacher and songwriter for other artists.
Here's an excerpt of an interview regarding her writings for Claudine Longet:
Excerpts from an August 23, 2001 phone conversation with Margo Guryan
Q: Tell me about writing songs for Claudine Longet.
A: Claudine Longet is the only artist that I ever wrote a tailor-made song for. With all my other songs, people ask me if I wrote them for different artists. I never did. I just wrote what I felt like writing. But Tommy LiPuma called David [Rosner, her husband/publisher] one day, and said "Can Margo write a song for Claudine? A Christmas song. No snow, no mistletoe, no presents under the tree. No mention of any of that stuff." So David asked me, and I wrote "I Don't Intend to Spend Christmas Without You." As I was finishing the demo, there was a guy from UPS or some air-freight company standing in the studio, waiting for it. I was putting on a last vocal, and then they had to go out and make an acetate of it. They flew it to California, and she recorded it. Later, the group Saint Étienne heard it on Claudine's record, and they recorded it a year ago last Christmas for their fan club. It wasn't released commercially, but it was like the Christmas card they sent out to their fan club. And I've got a copy of that.Q: What did you think of Claudine's versions of "Think of Rain" and "I Don't Intend to Spend Christmas Without You"?
A: Well, obviously, I was very pleased that she did both of them. I was less than pleased with the Christmas song, because she didn't get the time right. But that may not have been her fault as much as the producer's. But ehh, I'd have to go through it, send you a lead sheet and show you where.It's not worth it. Just say I loved it.
- From home.earthlink.net/~elbroome
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St Etienne needs no introduction (in fact, Maggie did a wonderful article on them previously), they recorded "I Don't Intend to Spend Christmas Without You" (based on the Longet version) and was made available to their fan club in 1998.
St Etienne must really love Christmas too, every couple of years they put out a Christmas EP for their fans. If you were interested in collecting them here are all their Christmas releases:
[1995] Xmas '95 (3-track CD single)
[1998] Xmas '98 (2-track CD single)
[2003] Xmas 2003 (3-track CD single initially given away free at Xmas '03 gigs then given out free to fanclub members in 2004)
[2006] Merry Xmas 2006 from Saint Etienne (2-track CD single given
away free at the Saint Etienne Xmas Party Turntable Cafe on 21 December
2006)
Bonus: As I previously mentioned Longet being married to Andy Williams, he's quite the Christmas man himself! After giving up his The Andy Williams Show in 1971, he agreed to do Christmas specials in 1976. Throughout the years, he's released over eight Christmas albums, and I'm including a song from the re-issued The Andy Williams Christmas Album (1963).
This recording would've been pretty much around the time that he was married to Longet.
12/25/2007 13:20:15
vu
my♥posts
www.weheartmusic.com
Hey, before I forget, did you know about vox.com/music? I'm including a screen print as we're featured in the Holiday post.
Apparently this whole section is being monitored and edited by musiceditor.vox.com and only existed since December 12th and the first new music page was created on the 13th with Welcome to the New Explore Music Page.
Continuing with the Christmas rampage:
Seasons of Light is a holiday-themed album, organized by producer/songwriter and Emmy-winner Michael Whalen. What's interesting about this easy-listening album is that it's all written or co-written by Whalen, who really impressed me with his understanding of pop, folk, ambient, and, of course, jazz compositions.
Interestingly enough, the album only contain two traditional holiday songs ("Silent Night" and "Amazing Grace"), and the rest are all original music, each with a different singer.
The ones that stood out for me is "Me & My Holiday" featuring Philip Namanworth (as singer and co-songwriter). This is a jazz-inspired song with a very distinctive growling vocals (which seems to me to suggest years of smoking & drinking).
I also liked "The Last Night of the Year" featuring Tom Wopat (is he the guy from the Dukes of Hazard?), a somber song about the loneliness of this character in the song.
This song is a contrast to the other happier/poppier songs like "We're Always Home" (Karen Jacobsen) and "Stuff I Don't Need" (sung by Lucy Woodward and co-written with Phil Galdston).
"Stuff I Don't Need", a Pop song with a bit of Country influence, is especially funny as the song lists things that Woodward doesn't need, including such items as "a leather thong with studs".
If you're interested in more details about Seasons of Light, head over to www.seasonsoflight.com or their myspace.
12/22/2007 04:28:36
vu
my♥posts
www.seasonsoflight.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:
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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. |
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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). |
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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
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