Saturday, August 26, 2006

Music - Weekly Mix #5


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This week's mix has an actual theme. Weekly Mix #5 is entitled "Everything Old Is New Again" and features songs from the last 30-odd years that sound much, much older.

  • The Puppini Sisters – Wuthering Heights

  • Not the same version as last week's. A little longer, a little richer vocal performance. Oh my God, I love this song and this group.
    If you really, really want it, you can get the CD through Amazon, but it's an import, and will set you back $40.49.

  • Christina Aguilera – Candyman

  • Yes, again, and this is the same version as last time. Still in love with it.
    Buy Back To Basics.



  • Michael Buble' – Sway

  • A third one I've posted before. Beginning to notice a theme to my taste? I don't love Buble' like I love Connick, but then my love for Harry goes back a long way. He & I have been through so much together. Anyway, Mike. My friend griff feels that the musicianship on this track whips the musicianship on Dean Martin's version's ass. I agree, wholeheartedly. He feels, however, that Dean's vocals win over Mike's, and while I would give Deano the vocal win on any other song, I cannot award him a win here. There's something about Buble's voice – on his best songs, anyway – that's crisp and bright, and I always prefer those qualities, even over the richness and depth Dean brings. This is all simply a matter of personal preference, however.
    Buy his debut album.

  • Harry Connick, Jr. – Sweet Georgia Brown

  • Speaking of Harry. His Eleven cd, recorded when he was yes, eleven years old, is totally underrated. The songs are all short, and there aren't many of them, and they are without any of his vocals (in this one instance, not a huge loss – it's not like it would have been the voice we know and love), but still. It's happy, upbeat, kick-ass Dixieland swing. You must give it a listen.
    Buy Eleven

  • Jae Millz – I Like That (You Can't Take That Away From Me)

  • Jae Millz combines rap with Ella Fitzgerald's "You Can't Take That Away From Me" and creates something reminiscent of C + C Music Factory's old sound.
    Buy the Take The Lead soundtrack

  • Gabin – Doo Uap Doo Uap

  • Or, French for "doo wop." Another modern song that samples Ella ("It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing"). Makes an interesting companion piece to the above.
    Buy Gabin

  • Emiliana Torrini – Miss Celie's Blues

  • From what I gather (this is the only song I know of Torrini's) she's a Tori Amos-alike. That's ok though, because she betrays that not here. This is Shug's song from The Color Purple; Torrini sings it with style, sass and sweetness.
    … I've looked everywhere and can't find it on CD. Enjoy.

  • Cherry Poppin' Daddies – Zoot Suit Riot

  • Swing's revival ten years ago made me very, very happy. Imagine my annoyance and puzzlement at the bizarre attitude I hear periodically that it's "hokey," "over," or "it's been done." Yeah, so has rock and roll, but no one rolls their eyes over that. Vive La Swing. This particular song from swing's decade-old revival features a shout-out to Brian Setzer & his orchestra, and that's just cool.
    Buy Zoot Suit Riot

  • Big Bad Voodoo Daddys – You & Me & The Bottle Makes 3

  • From the Swingers soundtrack. …I suppose I should probably force myself to watch this someday. I'm just not a Vince Vaughn fan.
    Buy their eponymous cd


  • The Brian Setzer Orchestra – Jump, Jive & Wail

  • This is what everyone calls "the Gap khaki commercial song." You know the one. Brian, a former Stray Cat, does swing music these days. A lot of it. It's damn good. I applaud him for bringing it back, doing what he loves, and never giving up.
    Buy The Dirty Boogie

  • Bette Midler – Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy

  • Bette covered this Andrews Sisters song back in 1973, which never fails to mildly surprise me when I remember. To me, it never sounds old. It just doesn't date. Doesn't sound like '40s swing, doesn't sound like the '70s, doesn't sound like '90s swing. It's timeless.
    Buy Experience the Divine: Bette Midler's Greatest Hits

  • Andre Williams – Jailbait

  • Ok, so I'm cheating. This goes all the way back to '56. You ask me, it sounds a hell of a lot older than that. For lack of any better musical term, it sounds very … noir. It's also hilarious. Be aware, a lot of his more recent stuff is like, filthy. And not in the cute Christina Aguilera way. As a reviewer on Amazon said of another Williams album, "This is music to get drunk and pick up strippers and steal a firetruck and rob a bank to."

    Buy Mr.Rhythm

  • The Mamas & The Papas – Dream A Little Dream Of Me

  • This has always sounded vaguely '30s to me.
    Buy Greatest Hits: The Mamas & The Papas


  • The Honeydrippers – Rockin' At Midnight

  • This project of Robert Plant's dates from 1985 but sounds more like the early '50s. It's not exactly what you'd expect from him.
    Buy The Honeydrippers, Vol. 1 (before you ask, no, there's no Vol. 2. Dammit.)

  • Squirrel Nut Zippers – Hell

  • Oh my God, the horns. The horns.
    The HORNS!!!1!
    Ahem. Anyway, the Squirrel Nut Zippers have a public service announcement to make:

    In the afterlife
    You will be headed for the serious strife
    Now you make the scene all day
    But tomorrow there'll be Hell to pay


    So, um, be good for goodness' sake.

    Buy The Best Of The Squirrel Nut Zippers As Chronicled By Shorty Brown

  • Reel Big Fish – Hungry Like The Wolf

  • Okay, so technically ska. Still. Come on, it's close enough. It's also a hilarious "tribute," I suppose, to Duran Duran's New Wave masterpiece. Not to mention very good driving music.
    Buy Duran Duran Tribute Album

  • Queen Latifah – When You're Good To Mama

  • From the Chicago soundtrack, conclusive proof that Latifah is a totally scorching jazz baby.

    Buy the Chicago soundtrack

  • Michael Buble' – Come Fly With Me

  • Yes, more Buble'! This is a nice, crisp-like-a-green-apple cover of Frank's classic; remember what I said earlier, about Buble's sound on his best work? I would argue that the two songs I've put on this mix are his best work.
    His debut again.

  • Harry Connick, Jr. – It Had To Be You

  • From 1989's When Harry Met Sally soundtrack, a sweeping, romantic big band arrangement of the 1920s standard.
    Buy When Harry Met Sally. I mean it. Best investment you'll make.

    And that's it for this week's mix, a mostly modern look at the good old days.

    2 comments:

    Anonymous said...

    Oooh, great stuff. I swiped Emiliana Torrini and Bette.

    Dane said...

    Yay! I'm glad you found some good stuff.

    Disclaimer:

    Music is posted for a short time, and while I use it in part to (hopefully, though not always) go along with the theme of the photo, I also post it in hopes someone will give it a try and fall in love with it as I have. Perhaps they will then seek out more by the artist and buy more cds. That's how it works with me, anyway. If you like it, pick it up at the store; support the artists you love.

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