5 posts tagged “sway”
Whenever I meet people and I ask what type of music they're into, I can tell you 90% of them will answer vaguely: "I am into all kind of music... well except for rap and country music." It saddens me to hear that. (Incidentally, whenever someone tells me they're into all genre of music, I think the opposite: they only like one kind of genre).
Trust me, we get "all kind of music" and shopping around for reviewers is tough because, let's face it: we like what we like. No one is going to go out of their way to devote one or two hours listening to music genres they're not familiar with.
So basically, country music is a very popular genre that no one seems to like! I grew up on country music, so I've always had a soft spot for it. What I like about country is that they often teach us a lesson, like a story within the song. And often the story is about RL (real life) and you can relate to their flawed characters.
Below are some albums we've received that's by real singers, singing about life.
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GLEN CAMPBELL
glencampbellshow.com ♥ myspace.com What's surprisingly is his choice in covers are strangely modern contemporary, including U2 ("All I Want Is You"), Foo Fighters ("Times Like These"), Green Day ("Good Riddance") and best of all Travis ("Sing"). Just as his title suggest: meet Glen Campbell for the first time, forget his roots in country pop music. Some of the best cover, at least to me, is his version of "Sing" (you can hear it on myspace) and "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)". While Green Day's version is all-acoustic and somber, Campbell brought a bit of a jingle, jangle and banjo to the song. It's like a going away party, and you wouldn't think this was a Green Day song. As a cover-lover, I wholly recommend these "re-imagined" songs to fans of the bands he covers. Find out more details over at meetglencampbell.com for the cover album (available on CD, Limited Edition Vinyl, and of course digitally). |
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NATASHA JAMES
natashajames.com ♥ myspace.com My favorite song is "Modern Life". It does a great job in painting you the picture of: lonliness, our busyness, divorces, cellphones, internet games, etc. The song is bundled in what sounds like a steel guitar and violins. While the song has a sad tone to it, it's not as sad as the weepy "The Wind". She's also doing a few dates throughout California: 08/08/09 Sonoma County Fair Santa Rosa, California 08/21/09 Iron Door Saloon Groveland, California 08/22/09 Iron Door Saloon Groveland, California Bonus: As I have previously mentioned, we don't get too many DVD submissions, so here is the video for "Tequila Time". |
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RUSTED ROOTS
rustedroot.com ♥ myspace.com I lassoed the band on this article because I thought they look country, I mean look at this pyschedelic cover artwork: a cowboy ropping a japanese geisha over flames and skulls. The album cover is basically an interpretation of the song "Stereo Rodeo", a slower song that tells the story of a man going to Japan to find a girl. One thing is certain, I feel the shock of the insane cover artwork never quite live up in the song, because the song sounds a bit... normal. As far as the rest of their songs, they're full of funk and percussions and background vocals, I get the sense that the band wants the audience to be involved with them. Their songs were designed to get you to dance with the band, perhaps contributing to hand claps or singalong. Like most jam bands, they're meant to be seen live. I felt "Driving One" would best sum up the band: check out that funky percussion beat! It sounds like something out of Africa, yet feels like it belong in this American bluegrass band. Stereo Rodeo is available now, at amazon ($8!) or eMusic. |
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AMY LENNARD
amylennard.com ♥ myspace.com Music's always been part of Lennard's life, playing guitar since nine, then moving on to composing original songs. She moved from New York to live out in California for a while, playing festivals and jamming campfire songs with friends. Ten years later, she moved back to New York, and started working on I Need To Love. Half of the album was, from what I've gathered, written and recorded in 2006 with the help of Ben Wisch. The other half is with engineerer Jon Gordon (who's previously worked with Suzanne Vega). You might think that two different producers working on the album might result in an uneven sounding album, it's actually not. Most of the songs feels like pop radio, with strong modern country music influences. There is one very pop-sounding song, it's a love song called "Forever Tonight". It's my favorite song and the easy-to-follow lyrics will cause you to sing along. You can find I Need to Love from amazon, CD Baby, and, of course, iTunes. |
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MIKE KOTULKA
mikekotulka.com ♥ myspace.com/nycmk The title of the album comes from the same titled song, "Hi-Lows". The song is about standing tall, standing for what you believe in, despite the "shit" trying to keep you down. It's a bit inspirational, especially in this economic time. The songs that I did enjoy are the louder ones, "Dumb" and "Gimme Love". "Dumb", with its hand-claps, and "Gimme Love" with its catchy "gimme love gimme love" chorus, will both make excellent live songs. However, as of this writing, there are no tour dates. The nine-track album, feels really short. I decided to track down more music from Kotulka, and the good news is his album The Good, The Bad and the Ugly was available for free via the official website or empty-k.com. Hi-Lows will be available in early July at amazon. |
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SWAY
swaymusic.com ♥ myspace.com As the turned out, both Quartaro and Martin have a lifetime of music in them. Quartaro's written and co-produced over 200 songs to day and was even called the "Female Elton John" by Russ Regan (record executive of UNI records, 20th Century Records, and Motown Records). And Martin's biography lists him as band member on "The Donny James Show". They took the show to South Vietnam from 1968-69, and did a show for radio & television called "Nashville Vietnam". I'm not going to list the other two band members' (Laurens Vernot, Trevor Hands) biography, but let's just say that each member bring a rich history of music with them. Sway's music, with its honky-talk and lyrics tells me "good times are all we need" (from "Cowgirl Scene"). Like "baseball and Chevrolet", these songs are pretty standard country love song ("When Love Finds Its Way", "I'm Over You"). Where love is the power that transcend reality. Sure, "the banks are callin' and bills are late", but we've got love, from "In The Hands Of Love". Gina Quartaro sings on all the songs on the album, minus two songs sung by Martin. Quartaro is currently doing some dates:
07/16/09 OC Fair (Mainstage) Costa Mesa, CA 07/25/09 Art A Fair Laguna Beach, CA |
06/21/2009 13:42:10 ♥ vu (
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♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
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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?
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12/31/2007 21:07:25
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
Sway is the stagename for Derek Safo who is a rapper from London. He started off making backbeat mixes for rappers before trying rhyming himself. And obviously London offered an 8-mile style rap battle, which he was also a part of.
The most important break came when he was asked to be the main support for The Streets last year.
I came across Sway because I was specifically looking for bicycle songs for my bike ride. It's not a cover and it's not a mashup, it's an original rap over samples of Lily Allen's "LDN".
The song here seems to trying to add commentary to Lily Allen's song, such as how he relate to the song because he's from London. He wasn't sure how he felt about Lily at first, but ended up buying her album. He loved the album so much that he even wrote a message to Lily on her myspace (but she never wrote back).
In order to get her to notice him, he decided to write this song for her, with this message in the song:
I don't have a one-track mind
But I've got this track in mind
That could be my single
Are you single?
If you're listening, you could come help me on my LP
I'll do a track for yours if you do a track for mine
Related Entry: Lily Allen - Littlest Things
July 12, 2007 5:43 PM
vu vu@weheartmusic.com
www.swaydasafo.com
I bought Kar Wai Wong's 2046 and it came with a CD soundtrack. Among the Asian artists on there, Dean Martin's "Sway", really stood out. I thought it was a cover song (which it technically is) because I know that Jennifer Connelly lipsynced to this song in Dark City.
As turns out, it was originally a mambo instrumental called "Quien Sera", written by Pablo Beltrán Ruiz in 1953. Norman Gimbel wrote the English lyrics and Dean Martin recorded this in 1954.
Bonus: Can't get enough of "Sway"? Check out this awful remix Shaft - Sway (Mucho Mambo), a standard/faithful cover Michael Buble - Sway, another awful/dancy Pussycat Dolls - Sway. I read that there is a version by Jennifer Lopez, but I'm avoiding that one at all cost.
vu
Postscript
Thank you to whoever is tagging the writers (what happens if I cover the Velvet Underground?). I also wanted to say hi to
Vickie, who I haven't seen in over six years but I must've left a bad
impression on her to look me up recently. Hopefully, I can peer
pressure her to join us.
