Tangerine Dream - Thru Metamorphic Rocks

Not everyone likes electronic or instrumental music, but I certainly do. The first big ethereal electronic music group that I listened to a lot was Tangerine Dream. Their Force Majeure album is one of my favorite of all the albums I have. Each time I give it a listen it still sounds fresh and energetic. I especially like Thru Metamorphic Rocks, it really draws you in and takes you on a trip - and for an eighteen minute song, that's not an easy feat.

New from Robert Plant and Allison Krauss

Have you seen this new album from Robert Plant and Allison Krauss called Raising Sand? I haven't heard the album yet, but listening to the tracks on Amazon makes me intrigued. The songs sound slow and downbeat, and the comments make them sound 'eerie', but it's worth buying at least one MP3 track from Amazon to give a proper listen.

The Nylons - Up the Ladder to the Roof

Many years ago my roommate in college sang in a vocal group at school and had some albums by The Nylons. I had never heard of them before, but after listening to this particular album, I couldn't get enough. This music bring back great memories of campus in the fall, walking through crisp yellow fallen leaves on the sidewalk, going to parties and meeting new friends.

The Mother Hips - Time-Sick Son of a Grizzly Bear

One of the few gems on eMusic that I found was Time-Sick Son of a Grizzly Bear by The Mother Hips. This is a rocking great time - sounds like a hybrid mix between Lenny Kravitz and Montana grunge. Love it.

Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited - Vampire Walk

Last month we found a coupon for 25 free songs at eMusic. It sat around for a while until I finally went and tried it out. You can download DRM-free MP3 songs and they have a fairly large collection of indie and alternative rock music. However, they are also infected with poor remakes of classic rock songs - you know, those late night TV ads for "80's Gold" CD collections, that style - so be careful.

I found a treasure in all their songs - a band called Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited, pure American cool. Total surf lounge. Their song Vampire Walk (listen) is the most awesome song on all of eMusic site.

BassHunter - Boten Anna

A month ago we had a lot of relatives from The Netherlands visit for a while and during their stay I traded songs with the husband of my wife's cousin. Among the excellent songs there were several I had never heard - mainly because they popular in Europe but not here. One caught my eye (so to speak) called Boten Anna by BassHunter. Very hip techno dance beat. At first I had thought it was Dutch, but after listening to the lyrics I couldn't figure it out - maybe something about Anna and a Boat. Later I looked it up and it's Swedish and it's about a bot in an IRC channel not a boat in a channel of water. But it seems there have been spoof songs - by the Dutch of course - that talked about boats. I think it would be great to do a mix of Boten Anna with Dreamboat Annie by Heart (from Seattle). That would make the circle complete.

I know a bot,
her name is Anna, Anna is her name
And she can ban you, ban you so hard
She cleans up our channel
I want to tell you that I know a Bot

PS -
Check out this Sinterklaas Boot spoof video - most awesome! Those clever Dutch...

King Missile - Jesus Was Way Cool

I think I first heard this many years ago when I was living in Ballard, sometime back in the early 90's. There was a lot of great 'alternative' music but this one stuck in my head - Jesus Was Way Cool.

I just have to put the lyrics in here.

Jesus was way cool
Everybody liked Jesus
Everybody wanted to hang out with him
Anything he wanted to do, he did
He turned water into wine
And if he wanted to
He could have turned wheat into marijuana
Or sugar into cocaine
Or vitamin pills into amphetamines

He walked on the water
And swam on the land
He would tell these stories
And people would listen
He was really cool

If you were blind or lame
You just went to Jesus
And he would put his hands on you
And you would be healed
That's so cool

He could've played guitar better than Hendrix
He could've told the future
He could've baked the most delicious cake in the world
He could've scored more goals than Wayne Gretzky
He could've danced better than Barishnikov
Jesus could have been funnier than any comedian you can think of
Jesus was way cool

He told people to eat his body and drink his blood
That's so cool
Jesus was so cool
But then some people got jealous of how cool he was
So they killed him
But then he rose from the dead
He rose from the dead, danced around
Then went up to heaven
I mean, that's so cool
Jesus was way cool

No wonder there are so many Christians

Natalie Merchant - As I May Know The Word

One album that I consistently enjoy is Tigerlily from Natalie Merchant. Just about every song on the album is rich and powerful. One in particular that I consider a signature of the album is I May Know The Word (sample). When I worked at Amazon I would listen to my iPod when I was working late and most folks had left - its quiet energy somehow helped me get in the groove and get stuff done.

Thomas Dolby - One of Our Submarines

There is something about Thomas Dolby's music that creates a vivid sense of an other world - it evokes stories of an alternate historical scientific timeline. I think this is intentional, the title of this album The Golden Age of Wireless seems to me to echo that thought as well. This song - One Of Our Submarines - has all the musical hooks that I enjoy from the whole album.

Also check out his work on sonification - turning real-world data and turning that into sound and music. The music of the Sun is amazing.

Anna Nalick - Breathe

A good friend has been visiting us over the weekend with her two kids - it's so fun to have more kids running around the house, especially her 1 1/2 year old toddler. The weather has been fantastically clear and we headed out to the mountain bike trails near our house. Amazingly we only met one other group biking in the forest.
Our friend brought a set of CDs and I fell in love with the song Breathe (2AM) from Wreck of the Day (sample) - I'm sure I've heard it somewhere but can't recall. I don't know how long this will be a favorite, but it will always remind me of bright sunlight streaming through the trees on this peaceful weekend.

Johnny Cash - Ring of Fire

There are so many great songs from Johnny Cash and I picked this one because it's one of his earliest and shows what a powerful singer he was. The other day I went out with the engineers on my team at work to play pool near Pioneer Square and found Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash on the jukebox - and found a live cover by Social Distortion which rocked pretty well, but I prefer the Cash version.

Ring of Fire (sample)

The Beat Farmers - Big Ugly Wheels

The Beat Farmers are a one of a kind band. I like all their songs, they have a good folk twang but the songs that really give a kick are those with Country Dick Montana - a rare character in any era. Some friends and I saw this group at a small venue - some bar or club somewhere - and they played and rocked all night. Country Dick had a long coat on, beer in one hand and belted out songs like "Big Ugly Wheels" like there was no tomorrow. Awesome. Here's a great ode to Country Dick.

The Beat Farmers - Big Ugly Wheels

I met her in El Centro
In the men's room of a bar
We consummated our relationship
In the front seat of my car

Well, Big Ugly Wheels
Rollin' on down the line,
Big Ugly Wheels
Draggin' that gal of mine
Home

Motor life is so sinful
Her home is on the road
Each night she's with another truck stop man
Who's carryin' a heavy load

She want's me to be true to her
She comes home once a month
Her mustache caked with vomit
Teeth marks on her butt!

Well, Big Ugly Wheels
Rollin' on down the line,
Big Ugly Wheels
Draggin' that gal of mine
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