Combustible Edison are a lounge act that that saw some popularity during the mid 90s. This particular album is their first full length released in 1994. I had been getting into the lounge and swing music at the time. My friend introduced me to them. It is some good music that follows as closely to the original tiki/lounge acts of the 50s and 60s such as Esquivel and Henri Mancini to name a few. Just like Man Or Astro-Man?, this group stuck very close to the standards of lounge on the firsrt couple albums and on the last they experimented a little, expanding their sound. Some of the music was also used in the soundtrack for the movie Four Rooms. This is one of my favorite movies but is nearly unwatchable because of the graphic scenes depicted in one of the stories.
I can remember going to the local lounge club in the city. There was actually a DJ who had stacks of lounge music that he would spin. The DJ would wear thick glasses and wear a Fez. He fit the scene. I did my best to fit the scene as well, wearing the reproductions of the 50s shirts that were being sold in the stores at the time. I still have them actually. I like to wear them golfing now. Going to this lounge club I remember having my first scotch on the rocks. Actually it was my first drink ever. The club was incredibly dim lit. The only light sources were the tiki god lights where the DJ stood and the lights behind the bar. I don’t think that there was a second level at all. I can’t remember what the DJ called himself but I remember getting emails from the guy telling me when and where he would be DJing since he played records at a few different places around town aside from playing at the Lounge club. The lounge club was only on a couple days during the month at the start of the new craze. It did not last very long and soon it became once a month and then the not at all. I lost interest after a few years of going out once in a while. I still like the music but did not have a need to go out to a club to hear the music. It was really great to hear the original lounge music and there are still some albums that I would love to have but I have been into the rock and punk of the 60s and 70s at the moment. I want to get back into collecting the lounge music but there is just not much out there at the moment. It has become very rare to find.
George Harrison – All Things Must Pass
This is a triple album released in 1970. George had so many songs saved up because The Beatles (Lennon and McCartney) did not let him contribute much. The third disc in this set is actually a jam session that is quite fun to listen to. Some fun gems in the recordings on that disc. The production on the album was done by Phil Specter and his well known wall of sound style. It is not that I don’t like this sound it is more that some songs don’t really need the wall of sound approach. I was lucky enough to find a good copy of this box set of LPs for a very reasonable price from my favorite used book store. The set still has the poster and original record sleeves all in good condition. The only single from the album, My Sweet Lord, charted at number one. I remember this song from my youth even though it was released way before I was born. I guess that good songs are recognized as good songs long after they have been released. The Beatles and their solo careers have created some great music. Apparently there were some legal issues that came about when the single was released. The song is to similar to a released in 1963 by Chiffons song called He’s So Fine. There were fines involved and in the end George ended up owning the song and the record company, Bright Tunes, so that he owned the rights to both songs and thus ended the copyright infringement. Anyway, the album is a great one. Some say the best in his career. If you want just his best of or greatest hits get Let It Roll. If you want to hear more from him after that I think that this is a great start.
Daft Punk – Discovery
This is the second album from the group. It was released in 2001. This album is their most popular releasing six really great electro/punk tracks. There are only two musicians in this French group. Since they started the group they have tried to keep who they are a secret sort of. If you really wanted to know the answers are out there. When they are acting the part they have helmets on that make them look like robots. Each helmet is different/unique from the other. If there is a reason for this I don’t know but it sure looks dang cool. They also did the soundtrack for the new Tron movie and have a short cameo in the movie. They were the two DJs in the bar scene. The whole album is really great. There was a cartoon that was created that used each track on the album. The videos that came out for the singles were actually clips of the movie. It featured a group of musicians that came from space. They played their instruments and saved the universe. I have never actually seen the movie but that is what I get from seeing the videos for the singles that came out for the album. This album was a light for me during that difficult time that I have already Witten about many times. It is really a fun album. I remember dancing as much as I have ever danced listening to this album. All of the songs are very up beet and are in general celebration songs. They are meant to be a good time for everyone. I don’t know how they accomplished this but it works so well. I can envision a party in the streets for everyone to hear and having just a blast with out a care in the world. The music itself is electronic in nature but certainly based on classic rock roots. This album is defiantly on the “everyone must hear at least once” list. The album is a bit long though. It doesn’t help that the last track is ten minuets long. I can’t usually make it through that last song unless I am reading. When I am reading the repetitive sounds become great background noise. I read a little slower than most people do so the electronic beats actually help me to create a soundtrack to what ever book that I am reading. When you watch a movie everything happens so quickly and you may only get a 30 second clip of a given song. But when you read things fold out slower so I need more music to help get into the mood of the book. This is why I like to have the music on when I read. It helps to paint a musical sound scape to accompany the book that I am reading. I like this type of album on when I read books. There was a series of books that I would only listen to when I read. Now that album reminds me of that series of books. It is not this album though. It is a different one that I have already written about, Stereolab – Dots and Loops. I would listen to that album when I read a trilogy from Shadowrun. It was originally a roll playing game but there has been a series of spinoffs. One of which was a series of books. Most of the books were one offs but I really liked the one trilogy called Secrets of Power. That stereolab album seemed to go with the whole series quite well.
Jeff Buckley – Grace
He is one of the greatest vocalists to have ever lived. Many other artists believe this as well. Many of these artists strive to have the vocal capabilities that this man had. This was his first album. It was released in 1994. It is the only complete album that he had the chance to put together. (He died in the middle of recording the second). The album did not have great sales on initial release but has slowly gained and has now sold two million copies world wide. It has also gotten the “Legacy” treatment that many albums have been receiving as of late called Grace Legacy Edition. There has also been a live release of the albums songs called Grace Around The World. It has live tracks from when he played on MTV and other such live recordings. I get the songs Grace and Last goodbye mixed up because they are so good. I cry every time I hear the both of them. I remember the video for the song Last Goodbye. It was not anything special but it was on heavy rotation on MTV when I had the channel. I always feared that this would be why I would break up with my girlfriend who ended up being my first wife. As it turned out the lyrics to this song seemed to fit exactly the way it happened, it is really sad. The marriage would not be over until the early 00s but it was always a fear that she or I would hit some wall that we could not over come. I had no idea that the wall could not be overcome because of her stubbornness and not simply because it was something that neither of us could get around though. That is what really got me, was because she was unwilling to try. I did everything that I could think of to try to work things out. It was just not enough to get her to think differently. I even started to go back to church again. I think that this may be why she had not gone to a church again until recently, but that is just speculation on my part. The only official single released from the album is Last Goodbye. There was a surge to put the Jeff Buckley cover of the Leonard Cohen song called Hallelujah into the charts to best the cover of the same song from the X Factor artist Alexandra Burke. All of the fans of Jeff and of the song believe that his version of the song is superior to all that have released the song as a cover. The Jeff Buckley version of the song went to number two for that Christmas in the UK to beet her out. It also went to number one in the iTunes download charts when Jason Castro of American Idol fame sang the song too. All of this competition happened in 2008. The version that Jeff did was just him singing with his electric guitar. He has such a delicate hand and smooth delicate voice on the recording that it is no wonder that fans of both him and the song love this version so much. The album is soft and sweet but with a hard edge at times. I would liken it to a wool blanket. It is so warm but a bit itchy at times. It really keeps you on your toes but you can sleep with it on at the same time.
I looked up the lyrics to post and found that people are posting about lost girlfriends and boyfriends still with regard to this song. That is some power, wow.
Lyrics for Last Goodbye (Jeff Buckley):
This is our last goodbye
I hate to feel the love between us die.
But it's over
Just hear this and then I'll go:
You gave me more to live for,
More than you'll ever know.
Well, this is our last embrace,
Must I dream and always see your face?
Why can't we overcome this wall?
Baby, maybe it's just because I didn't know you at all.
Kiss me, please kiss me,
But kiss me out of desire, babe, and not consolation.
Oh, you know it makes me so angry 'cause I know that in time
I'll only make you cry, this is our last goodbye.
Did you say, "No, this can't happen to me"?
And did you rush to the phone to call?
Was there a voice unkind in the back of your mind saying,
"Maybe, you didn't know him at all,
you didn't know him at all,
oh, you didn't know"?
Well, the bells out in the church tower chime,
Burning clues into this heart of mine.
Thinking so hard on her soft eyes, and the memories
Offer signs that it's over, it's over.
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