Cult of Personality

If there is one band I loved more than any other, one band I wish never disbanded, the one band I will never forget, it's this one. Why? Because this band was untouchable and unstoppable at it's height. With the singing of Corey Glover, the skins of Will Calhoun, the bottom of Muzz Skillings, topped off with the absolute incendiary guitar playing of Vernon Reid, Living Colour blew roofs off venues, doors off hinges, and other bands right out of the water. And the one song that get's me amped no matter where or when I hear it is their classic "Cult of Personality". Not only does it bring me back to a time in my life when life was truly good and music was music and not something made to make money but this song is also absolutely timeless. It sounds like it was put together yesterday and released today.

This rocker starts off with the voice of Malcolm X, letting you know something is about to smack you upside the head. Then Vernon's crunching guitar hits your ears along with Will's drums and Muzz' bass and the groove is created, the perfect bed for Corey's soulful vocals. He comes in with "Look in my eyes / What do you see? / The cult of personality / I know your anger / I know your dreams / I've been everything you want to be / Ohhh I'm the cult of personality". If you close your eyes you can see Corey grabbing the mic and letting it all hang out, dreads flying in the air as he whips his head around. After the second chorus comes one of the best guitar solos I have ever heard. Vernon lays it down and then shreds it all to hell. If you've never air guitared in your life this song will tempt you to do it and truth be told this song almost made me want to learn how to play the guitar. Corey comes back in and brings the song home and JFK 's voice brings the track to a close.

This is one of my all time favorite songs by one of my all time favorite bands and they will always be. Living Colour eventually got back together and are still making music but they'll never recapture that magic and hunger of the first album "Vivid" and of this song. Enjoy!

Stolen Away on 55th and 3rd

In this day and age everyone and their mother knows of the Dave Matthews Band, even MY mother knows and that's saying something. They aren't some odd local band I happened to have stumbled upon and thought "hey, the world needs to hear these guys". They are literally one of the worlds most popular bands with a signature sound that has garnered them fans far and wide. Now honestly I am not a fan of all of their stuff, I said it! Every group or artist drops an album with a vibe that resonates with you and it becomes your favorite out of their collection. This is the case with DMB's album "Stand Up" and my favorite song off that album is "Stolen Away on 55th and 3rd". I don't think this song was ever released as a single here in the states so it never really got the play I think it deserved.

It's a great song with a great sound and great sentiment. There have been times when I would be walking the streets of this city and wonder if I would ever bump into an old flame and what would I say to her. This song captures that moment perfectly in my opinion. The song starts off with a nice smooth beat, some keys, and the unforttable saxaphone riff by the late great LeRoi Moore. Then Dave comes in singing "Hello again / Seems like forever between now and then / You look the same /I mean you look different but you haven't changed / Funny to think how the time gets away / Funny how you take me right back again". It's that moment when you see that person again after years and all those old feelings come flooding right back. It's done perfectly and just when you don't think this song couldn't get any better or prettier that violin comes in and dances on top of the groove so nimbly it becomes the cherry on the sundae.

I can listen to this song over and over again and never grow tired of it. If you've never heard this song before due to lack of airplay maybe you might grow to love it as much as I do.

Protectors of the Earth

I have heard this song so many times before and I have always liked it. It's a powerful song and best heard on your big boy speakers because this song WILL move you. It moves me and right now that works for me because I need all the inspiration I can get. It's called "Protectors of the Earth" by Thomas J. Bergersen and if it sounds familiar that's not surprising, it's been used in countless trailers and sports related programming because it's epic in sound and scope. It's also a song I can't stop listening to.

It begins almost dirge like with horns and drums. Then the strings come in and the song continues to build, going up in octaves as the drums and the orchestration lead to the choir. The voices take this song to another level and the drama increases and the song swells. But that's only the beginning, the song reaches new heights when the drums push this song to a momentum building rampage. It's not your imagination if you think the song just got louder, it did and I think it adds to the emotional impact of the song. It's arranged magnificently and just when you think it's over the second movement comes in to more fanfare and picks up where the first movement left off but this time around the horns and the voices ride on top the pounding drums to the very end giving the second movement even more stirring than the first.

I absolutely love this track and right now it gives me what I need when I feel I can't get moving and I get that "what's the point" feeling. It gives me that swift kick in the pants, it gives me that much needed push. I hope it gives you something too.

Leaving Hope

The first time I heard this song I thought it was brilliantly dark (which fits my mood perfectly right now). It evoked emotions of loneliness, despair, and hope within me all at the same time. The first time I heard this song I wondered who the composer was and if it was put together by some amazingly talented kid in his basement. The first time I heard this song was at a wedding and it was the first song the newly married couple chose to dance to as husband and wife. They were anarchists and before you wonder what in the world I was doing at an anarchists wedding let me just tell you, they were great kids with loving families. The song is "Leaving Hope" by Nine Inch Nails and when I heard who it was by it all made sense.

Trent Reznor, the mad genius behind NIN is a classically trained musician and one dark and disturbed man. When you put those two things in a bowl you come up with music like "Leaving Hope". It is without question a beautiful piece of music but it is also extremely dark and cold. There is no warmth to this song and maybe that's why I fell in love with it. if there's any warmth at all it's provided by the bassline in the beginning. The song starts off with a lonely piano and then the bass line comes rumbling in completely dominating the low end (yes you might want to break out the big boy speakers to fully appreciate it). It's a slow melodious tune, beautiful in nature and lonely in spirit.

It won't appeal to everyone, hell it may not appeal to anyone (outside of the previously mentioned married couple and fellow NIN fans) but there may be a day when you just aren't in a good mood. There may be a day when this dark cloud refuses to leave from over your head, when things just arent't going your way. Thanks to Trent you have the soundtrack for just that kind of mood, just that kind of day.

The Suns Gone Dim and the Sky's Turned Black

When I first heard this song I didn't quite know what to make of it but I knew it was undeniably beautiful and haunting. It was the accompanying music to an impressive movie trailer and whoever saw fit to marry the visuals to this song had a moment of pure genius. The song is called "The Suns Gone Dim and the Sky's Turned Black" by Johann Johannsson.

A native of Iceland, Johann is an accomplished composer, producer, musician, and co-founder of Kitchen Motors. An arts organization and think tank record label that specializes in initiating collaborations, performing and putting on exhibits that are based on the ideals of experimentation. All done in the effort to search out new art forms and if there was one piece of music that encompasses that attitude, that could be the soundtrack to that mindset, that ideal, it's this song right here.

I asked some of my European friends if they've ever heard of Johann and they've all praised him and his music. I've asked my home grown friends and you might as well put him on a milk carton because no one had ever heard of him. So I thought maybe it was time to enlighten some people. I'm including the movie trailer as well at the very bottom so you can see how the piece was used. All I ask is that you give it a chance. Close your eyes and let the music wash over you, immerse yourself in it and you'll be surprised how you feel once the song is finished. You will want to hear it again, trust me!




And here is the movie trailer using the same piece of music....

Answer

A good friend went to a concert tonight and called me and held the phone up to let me hear who was preforming. It was Sarah McLachlin and when I think of her one song immediatly comes to mind. I remember the moment I heard the song I fell harder for it than any other song from just one listening and I new I had to post it. This song to me is the ultimate love song. It's a song of pure vulnerability, of pure openness, and of absolute unconditional love. The song is called "Answer" and it's a simple song, just her at the piano but the true beauty of this song lies in its simplicity. You get to hear the heartfelt lyrics without having to struggle to hear them and it's the lyrics that make this song truly special.

The song comes in with a sweet but poignant melody and you instantly get the impression that this isn't going to be your usual ballad. Sarah starts off with "I will be the answer/At the end of the line/I will be there for you/Why take the time?" and it just gets better from there. She sings lyrics of someone so deeply in love and willing to go all the way for that someone special that it can border on dying for that someone. When she sings the chorus "Cause I can only tell you what I know/That I need you in my lfe/And when the stars have all gone out/You'll still be burning so bright" it's what anyone longs to hear from someone else. That someone out there loves you enough to be the answer to any problem you may encounter and that they think there's nothing better than to be that for you.

It's so beautiful and hard to forget. Oh and never underestimate the power of concert via phone :-)

Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)

At first I wasn't going to blog about this song. Reasons being that it's not really all that old, it's hard to forget, and pretty much everyone's heard it before. However the more I hear this song (with headphones on full blast mind you) I can't help but fall deeper in love with it and that's pretty much the clincher for getting a blog posting in my book. The song is Alicia Keys' "Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)" and I don't think there's a soul out there that wouldn't fall in love with this song once they've heard it.

It starts of really simple with handclaps, percussion, beat, guitar, and Alicia's ever present piano and that leads into her sultry vocals. There isn't much to say about this song because the song pretty much says it all. It's a song of two lovers crossing that line that everyone else would naturally deem too soon which would make them seem crazy but they don't really care. Alicia sings about feeling something she's never felt before and how it's impossible to ignore and because of that she's willing to do the unthinkable. Because of that she's willing to dive in head first and caution be damned. All he has to do is ask her because she's ready and you just have to love that.

Couple that sentiment with a superbly arranged backing track and you have a song that's hard not to enjoy. The music is moody and bottom heavy while Alicia's voice is light and layered expertly. It's really a well put together song that even the bridge (which I think is the only flaw in this song) doesn't mess it up. Hard not to love a song like that.

Somebody Already Broke My Heart

I really haven't been in the mood to blog recently or to even listen to music for that matter, which is really rare for me. Yet I put on the headphones, fired up the old itouch and went to my never fail playlist and the first tune to hit my waiting ears was "Somebody Already Broke My Heart" by the one and only Sade. I immediately remembered the first time I ever heard this song and thought Sade had captured lightning in a bottle. I thought the song was brilliant and of course I couldn't stop listening to it.

The song, off of her 2000 melancholy "lovers rock" CD is absolutely timeless and was in my opinion the best song off that CD. While it got no airplay here in the states and was vastly overlooked, the sentiment is bittersweet and the musicianship is of course top notch. The song starts off with what you've come to expect from a Sade song, great music. Key's, acoustic and electric guitar, and a hard and steady beat leads you into Sade singing "You came along/When I needed a savior/Someone to pull me through somehow/I've been torn apart so many times/I've been hurt so many times before/So I'm counting on you now". If you've ever drawn breath in your lungs you've been exactly where she's singing about and when she sings the chorus, it just brings the song home.

It's a song of fear and desperation and putting your hopes in the next one to not do to you what the last one did. And when Sade sing's "If someone has to lose/I don't want to play" it's clearly a cry for no more game playing and it makes this song like I said earlier...brilliant.

Love and War

I took a look at my blog and I realized that I had done it a disservice. Of all the true and beautiful voices posted on my blog the one voice I didn’t post on just happens to be the future of soul music (in my opinion). That voice belongs to Anthony Hamilton and this song, a duet with the enigmatic Macy Gray in my opinion is smoking. These two voices together are like peanut butter and chocolate and they could have been the modern day version of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. The music these two artists could have created together would have been exceptional. Unfortunately that coupling never happened but thankfully they did do a song together and “Love and War” is the offering of their collaboration.

It starts off really easy going and subtle with the twangy guitar, hi hat, keys, and Anthony unmistakable voice but then the beat kicks in and Anthony lays it down hard and heavy. Singing words of despair and regret for treating his lady wrong, his voice is perfect for that kind of sentiment. The music bounces along, the perfect companion for his voice. When Macy comes in she’s full of vitriol and attitude which is the perfect role for her voice and when she sings “here comes him again / sneaking in my backdoor / bruised heart all from trampling / from years of my past” you know she’s not taking anymore crap. Anthony is all love and Macy is all war and this song is all beautiful.

Just when you think it can’t get any better, it does when they bring in the strings for that added dramatic effect as they two combatants go at it line for line. Anthony pleading his case and Macy not giving an inch makes this one enjoyable song and sadly if you didn’t purchase Anthony’s album “Soulife” you never heard it, until now. I hope you enjoy it.