by Ubikkidus

Another week up here in the Boston area—sun is going down earlier, and football is here.  Still bringing the tunes here as the playlist below shows what we played on Twitter over the last week.  Lot more r&b/dance/hip hop, we will shake it up a little next week.

Unintentionally had “Let Love Rule” by Lenny Kravitz and “Cause I’m a Man” by Tame Impala together.  It’s pretty eerie listening to the two back to back.

Take a look at our quick write up on rock bands doing disco tunes.  Obviously, there have been more attempts at this but these are the ones we like.

It can be found here: http://wp.me/p7oYBz-47

Enjoy! And have a good weekend.

 

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by Ubikkidus

It felt like a home was needed, or compartmentalized- – – for disco songs by rock bands.  Why did classic rock bands do disco songs? No one is going to confuse “Sympathy for the Devil” with “Miss You”–it’s totally different styes.  Here are my takeaways:

  • It was likely a hedge–there were people who did believe that disco was going to eviscerate rock music.  Consider a couple of disco songs an insurance policy against a band’s rock portfolio.  You know in case, disco armageddon came along.
  • A band wanted to prove that it could evolve it’s style with the times. Lets get out of Sgt Pepper  / Woodstock land for a few minutes.
  • Some of these guys (looking you at Mick Jagger) lived the disco lifestyle, the one I’ve always dreamed about. Wearing a white suit at Studio 54 with lots of cocaine.
  • They just wanted to dance a little.

With all of that said, here are a few of our favorites:

Rolling Stones – Dance Pt. 1

 

Rolling Stones – Miss You

Rod Stewart – Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?

Grateful Dead – Shakedown Street

I Was Made for Loving You – Kiss

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7isxoTIeYM

Goodnight Tonight – Wings

Trampled Under Foot – Led Zeppelin (ok, it’s not disco but it’s close)

 

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by Ubikkidus

The greatest playlist ever created in the first week of September 2016.

 

Heading into the labor day weekend, below is the 2 hour playlist that played out over Twitter this week.  We received some good feedback on the flow and direction and will look to keep churning this out on a weekly basis.

Hope you enjoy the playlist, some for all, all for us. Have a good weekend, stay off the roads.

 

 

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by Ubikkidus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZFCokoQzMM

Every week, Spotify creates a playlist for it’s listeners based on it’s listening habits. In other words, it’s trying to figure out our musical algorithm.  For a while it had been serving me up a lot of retro sounding songs, so when Babe Ruth’s “The Mexican” came up, I figured it was another newish song paying tribute to the good ol’ days.

There were some hints in here that the song was older though, the 70’s style progressive guitar work and the sound of a keyboard that didn’t sound retro, just old. But it had a lot of funky elements to it, like the bass line, the beat and even the vocals that sounded like something you would hear today.

After hearing it 2-3 times, I finally looked it up.  The song is almost 45 years old and I’m wondering how it got by my radar all this time.

Not only that, but the song has been covered and sampled many times in dance and hip hop music, including Wu-Tang Clan, N.E.R.D, and even the metal band Helloween (I think I had to list this one because that is a great retro name for a metal band).

Wikipedia even says that a portion of “Planet Rock” by Afrika Bambaataa uses it, but it doesn’t seem material after listening to it for the umpteenth time.  Here is a writeup on the song and those who have used it.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mexican_%28song%29

The Mexican is getting at least weekly play on one of our playlists and it is a nice changeup you can throw in with a batch of music.

 

 

 

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by Ubikkidus

We are kickin it into the weekend, and not just the J.Cole Remix of the Tribe’s tune (the last song on the playlist, which is a good remix, but stay away from the Pharrell remix of Bonita Applebaum).

We’re bringing back the Player / Nicolette Larson era, plus the Philly/SoCal connection of The War on Drugs, and the line that goes from REO Speedwagon to Drake.

A lot of retro stuff here, time to freshen it up for next week.

Enjoy the weekend.

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by Ubikkidus

Upon first hearing “Under The Pressure”, the 2014 song by the Philadelphia-based band The War on Drugs, a picture comes to mind.

But the immediate first thought was that this was the best Jackson Browne song I never heard. And that’s meant as a compliment.

It has that feeling of Southern California emptiness and dysfunction you read about (or Hollywood portrays).   The reality is that emptiness and dysfunction occur everywhere, but hey, it’s better presented in a convertible, going down the 101, with a beautiful sunset over the Pacific.

This song is a perfect complement to the FM rock of Fleetwood Mac, Jackson Browne, and The Eagles.  And these guys are from Philly!!!

Rock on.

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by Ubikkidus

I really don’t have much to say on this one. I’ll just say these songs are ubiquitous.  You can hear them anywhere—YouTube, the car, Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, the supermarket, the dentist’s office, ahem, the elevator.   OK that’s enough. .

There is a time and place for this music and everyone’s is different.   That’s what makes music amazing, and that is why these nuggets will always be on one of my playlists.

 

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by Ubikkidus

This won’t take long. These songs are about 35 years a part, and it’s possible (depending on your demographic and taste) you might like either, both or neither.

Rarely do we get into lyrics here, but both of these songs go into  undefined intimate relationships.  There is something going on here–we don’t know if it’s love, but there is DEFINITELY something up.   Some might call it sketchy, friends with benefits, adulterous, we just don’t know.  It’s the murk that many of us don’t experience but all of us are 1 degree of separation away from someone in that mode.

In both “Hotline Bling” by Drake and “Take It On The Run” by REO Speedwagon, the message is:

There’s something going on between us (undefined), something has changed, and now you’re doing something with someone or some other people, I don’t know exactly what’s going on, I’m not officially condemning it, but at one point my passive aggressiveness will plummet this whole relationship if it keeps up.

Someone else can do the psychology around it, I just found it interesting the whole half-committed shot across the bow that both of these songs provide.

 

 

 

 

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by Ubikkidus

It’s hot and sticky here in Boston, so we cranked this playlist real quick and find some cold water to jump into.   Great mix of stuff here, including the internationally known, on the surface and lurking in the murky.

Hope you enjoyed our pieces this week on Fantastic Negrito and Tacocat who are headlining our playlist. Always a joy to come into contact with new sounds that get us going. Also had to throw in some Unknown Mortal Orchestra (the friggin UMO was on Conan recently!!) and “Coffin Nails” from MF Doom (again, a 10 second instrumental played 17 times).

Have a great weekend (unless you’re Tacocat).

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by Ubikkidus

I’ve got a lot of respect for the blues, but don’t carry much in the arsenal.    The main reason is I’m a song guy, and a lot of the blues are based on one riff that keeps plowing throughout the song.   I do like it, and especially like it in a live setting but it doesn’t necessarily make it one of my playlists.

Which brings me to Fantastic Negrito.    I can listen to his material all day.  If you haven’t heard “Lost in a Crowd” or “An Honest Man”, click on the link above and below.

This to me, is blues, but they are well crafted songs as well, not just a jam. There are 3 things done great by the Fantastic One (can I call you that?):   1) Excellent soulful vocals with intensity–nothing casual here, 2)Nice riffs, and 3) my favorite- well written lyrics and the composition of a song.

This all sounds obvious like the ABC’s of making a great song, but it’s great to hear it in a blues setting.    Needless to say the Fantastic Negrito is in my playlists now.

 

 

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