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Chaos - Mute Math
I had every intention of picking this release up immediately, but the good folks at Paste put it in my hands before it hit the shelves. A great track, layered even more heavily than the previous MM EP, or than the Earthsuit material a generation ago.
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What Your Soul Sings - Massive Attack
This cut, from the crazy-dark 100th Window album, features a female vocal singing over a wash of synths, loops and Lydian chords. This is haunting and very, very beautiful. And what's really cool: the booklet shows the cover image from different perspectives, giving no attention to the band itself, allowing them to remain in sweet mystery.
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Like A Tattoo - Sade
I was at Borders in St. Louis a few years ago, and heard this song played over the system. I'd never gotten into Sade before that, not realizing the difference between her and most other R&B artists. It's so incredibly mellow...it feels like swimming in a pool at night, with the underwater lights on. I love how the instrumental bridge brings the whole vibe down, and once her voice comes in, the piano and synth support her through her chilling denouement.
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Trane Tripping - Vanessa Daou
In a frenzy, circa 2002, I picked up all of Vanessa Daou's albums. For the most part, I was insanely pleased with her catalog. The two exceptions were Plutonium Glow (which left me feeling somewhat nauseous) and this one, Dear John Coltrane. It was just that the music itself didn't seem to have the same interesting qualities that the other three albums possessed. This track, however, which lies at the end of this long, strange trip, is indeed trippy.
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Blame It On Yourself - Ivy
I love how basic the mix is on most of Ivy's tracks--it's a band! This one caught my ear when John Eto brought it into the labs where we worked several years back. By the end of the album, I was on my way to pick up my own copy, but I love the chords, and the way Dominique's voice sounds over the distorted electric guitar.
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Crush - Jennifer Paige
Again, I was working in the labs when this one came out, and the progression reminded me of something in the 80's...very present in my mind, yet not easily identifiable. It took me back to 1985, when I was obsessed with the Pink Panther cartoons. Maybe a commercial? Who knows? Either way, it's a fun track.
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Jehovah Made This Whole Joint For You - New Radicals
The New Radicals' only album received heavy play in my house at 218 Hazel (no longer in existence, unfortunately) between my junior and senior years at Webster. This was the first time I'd ever truly lived by myself, and the first couple nights found me awake at crazy hours, with this disc providing the soundtrack. The production is so funny, it's almost as if Gregg Alexander didn't give a crap about the songs. What ARE these lyrics?
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Kickin' It - Jeff Lorber
An example of what smooth jazz should be: real musicians playing real(ly cool) chords on real instruments. Press play and relax.
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Bobby James - N.E.R.D.
As guitarist Justin Sharbono continued to spend more time with N.E.R.D./Spymob guitarist Brent Paschke in Minneapolis, the effect of N.E.R.D. came over me one night in Justin's Jeep. This track came on, and my limited knowledge of hip-hop got a nice injection as Pharrell's voice came in over John Ostby's keyboards. Plus, the outro is vintage "Price Is Right"-era lounge cheese, and I call it that in the most affectionate, envious way.
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Everlasting Love - Jamie Cullum
I got Jen the imported versions of the "Bridget Jones's Diary" soundtrack for Christmas, and this track was on one of the discs. It's so chill, and I gained an instant respect for Jamie Cullum's musicality by taking this classic and singing it over these changes. It makes me wish I'd followed the "solo recording artist" track more closely, to see where it might have led.
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Rajasthan - Terramara
These guys are so awesome! I've referenced tracks from this disc before, and in addition to their vast understanding and saturation of Steely Dan's music, this one has all the best qualities of early, Range-era Bruce Hornsby. The changes are amazing, and the little piano fill just kills me. It's so perfect. If you do not have this album, you MUST pick it up.
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Why Should I Worry - Billy Joel
As a kid, I loved Disney's "Oliver And Company". I waited several years for it to come out on VHS...I think it was like 7 or 8 years--something crazy like that. What I really loved, I discovered later, was that Billy Joel himself was the voice of Dodger and sang this great song. This is pre-Storm Front Billy, having tons of fun, riding the 80's, which were so good to him, into the sunset. And it's a New York movie with a New York song--who better to do this track than the Piano Man? Money.
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Crazy Rhythm - Cliff Jackson
I first started buying CDs in 1992, before my freshman year of college. Although I'd been playing piano for almost five years by that point, I felt like I was discovering the instrument all over again. My dad picked this disc up for me at Half Price Books, and this track jumped out and smacked me upside the head. Cliff Jackson is everywhere at the same time on the piano. There is such independence of the hands demonstrated here. I would have loved to have received some coaching on stride-style piano like this. Even now, it still blows me away.
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I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues - Elton John
This is one of the first songs I ever remember hearing on the radio, one that made it onto my "desert island" mix for that very reason. During my freshman year in college, I spotted The Very Best Of Elton John at the long-gone, much-missed Streetside Records in Webster Groves. I asked for it because it had "Rocket Man", "Bennie And The Jets" and this track all in one collection. When I got it on Christmas Eve from my grandparents, I broke away to the newly-finished basement, threw it into the stereo, and laid back on the couch taking in this perfect moment as Elton's piano and voice came at me from five speakers in every direction.
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White Limousine - Duncan Sheik
Anything new by Duncan Sheik is cause to celebrate. An otherwise common pop artist who spread his wings and delivered the brilliant Phantom Moon album followed it up with Daylight and this one. This, the title track, has some great chords and a head-scratching chorus: "Maybe a white/Maybe a white/Maybe a white white white white limousine." Oh well. I'm sure he has a good reason.
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Wise Up - Aimee Mann
Like most of the world's casual Aimee Mann fans, I first heard this track on the movie "Magnolia", used to such great effect during the scene when all the film's key players are singing it. I love that major nine chord which starts the song off, and the intensity it generates as it progresses. It's so dark and simple, and absolutely crushing.
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Bothered - Over The Rhine
Jen gave me Ohio for Valentine's Day as a deep plunge into the mulled folk essence of Over The Rhine. This track caught my ear with the chord changes which play under the entire song. I'd first fallen in love with these changes when my neighbor was playing Janet Jackson's "Better Days", a track which took me almost a year to find. This one just melts by the end.
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Driven To Tears - Sting
I had always wanted to pick up the live Bring On The Night album of Sting's, especially since it featured a few of my favorite Police songs. I hadn't heard any of it until Bruce Balgaard pulled this track up and played it for me. Gone is Stewart Copeland's New Wave intensity and the sparse Police arrangement. Sting assembled the first of his A-list bands to fill out the remaining textures, jazz it up a bit, and slow it down. Ultra classy--just like Sting himself. Thanks for listening. |
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