Friday, July 6, 2012

Vol. 3 Episode 25


Happy 4th of July to every one in the USA!! It is a little late but what can you expect when a holiday happens in the middle of the week. The house is coming along nicely, if any body cares.

Anyway, on with the show...

This is the fifth album from Moby. It was released in 1989. This was his first major success with an album. The past albums were good but because of the electronic dominance did not become mass public success. There are nine singles released from this album that helped keep the alum in the public eye for over two years. The album is known for combining gospel and folk music samples with modern house electronica/techno.

Honey was the first single released from Play. The track was also was featured in the 2003 film Holes. The song heavily samples "Sometimes", a recording by gospel singer Bessie Jones. The song has a rolling beat that pushes through the piano more than the drums making it a fun unique song to listen to.

The second single is called Run On. The vocal content of the song comes from a 1943 recording of "Run On" by Bill Landford and the Landfordaires, and features a mix of house music and instrumental music. It was this track that caught my interest in the music from this album. I had never heard the vocal samples or anything like them in the past. I really liked it but did not know what style it was or what to even look for to find the original music. I guess that I was satisfied with what was on the record though. The combination of old folk/gospel music and electronica was really cool. There were two different CD singles released for this album each with three different tracks. The lead track was still Run On but the second disc had an extended version.

The third single from the album is called Body Rock. The song features a sample of the song "Love Rap" by Spoonie Gee, featuring the Treacherous Three, and additional vocals from Def Jam recording artist Nikki D. If the previous single did not hook me in to buy the album then this one sure did. Cool distorted guitar, a fast beat and rhythmic vocals.

The fourth single from the album is called Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad? The song slows it down a little bit but also feels very emotional. This is partially for the sample used and partially for the musicality with the use of strings and piano along with The Shining Light Gospel Choir. It is a beautiful song that makes one think about ones own existence.

The fifth single is called Natural Blues. It samples "Trouble So Hard" by American folk singer Vera Hall. The use of all of these simple folk samples and mixing it with a full rich musical sound makes the samples stand up as if they would have been this way had they been given the ability to use the technology of today. I think that Moby may have wanted to make that happen for these original folk and gospel songs.

The sixth single from the album is called Porcelain. The song was first featured in the 1998 film Playing by Heart. It also appeared on the soundtrack to the 2000 film The Beach. This song is near perfect ambiance song. It is absolutely beautiful to my ear. I actually based a mix CD on the track after hearing it a couple times on the radio and then seeing the video on MTV. This was back when MTV played music and burning your own CD was still cool. This song will always have a special place in my heart. It does not bring me to tears but is still emotional none the less.

The seventh single was actually just to bring back Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad? and Honey. Honey was remixed for this reissue and featured Kelis.

The eighth single is called South Side. This is one of the most successful singles that has been released by Moby. Moby has said that the song was inspired by his visits to Chicago and his love for its house music scene. The success was driven from the fact that Gwen Stefani was featured on a version of the song as well as taking part in the video for the song. MTV put this song on in heavy rotation adding to the success of the song. The video is quite funny as it parodies the then current Hip Hop videos. I recently picked up the two track version of this single on my trip to Pawn America. The version that I found was a two track version. The first track was the version featuring Gwen Stefani and the second track is the standard album version.

The last single released from the album is called Find My Baby. It features samples from the song "Joe Lee's Rock" by Boy Blue. The song is featured in the 2nd season of Charmed during the club scene of the episode entitled "Ms. Hellfire" The song is fair and has a good beat. It is not the greatest song on the album but is still single worthy.


This is Sean Lennons’ first solo album. It was released in 1998. There was only one single released from the album. There are some other really good tracks on the album too though. I had been interested in the album since its release. I can’t get everything that I want though and sometimes things will come up later, in this case fourteen years later. I found a promo copy of this album during my rummage at Pawn America. I was so excited, not only did I find a copy of an album that I had wanted for the past fourteen years for a dollar it was also a promo copy! The great thing about the album is that it doesn’t really fit into one genre. The tracks flow from grunge to jazz. It is a great album to listen to if you want to hear a little bit of everything. The only thing that is really constant is the sound of his voice. He sounds on the high side of a male vocal style making the album very easy to listen to.

There was officially one single released from the album called Home. That track is the grunge sounding track from the album. It is not really my favorite from the album but it did get my attention when it was released enough for me to remember that I wanted to have the album fourteen years later when I found it digging through a mass of used CDs.

I think that my favorite track from the album is the first track called Mystery Juice. It really reminds me of an artist that has been putting out music before Sean had but sounds similar in some ways. Cornelius is the artists name and the song that I am thinking of is called Music. The two songs have similar parts I think.

The other song that I think is really cool is called Photosynthesis. It is a non-vocal jazz piece with a very cool bass line. This one reminds me of something that Dave Brubeck may have done. It is a catchy track that veers off every now and then to keep you interested. I think that is unneeded because the bass line is so cool.

This album is not for every one but it sure is cool because of the inability to categorize it properly.

This is the groups’ first album. It was released in 2005. This was the first album that I got form my wife before we had even started dating. I had just started listening to 89.3 The Current and the group was featured prominently on the ratio station because of their Minnesota roots. I had told my wife that I wanted the album from The Postal Service. She went all crazy and not only bought the album but all the singles that went with it. I thought it was a little extreme but was still thankful for the gift. The band was frequently compared to the Pixies and Pavement by critics. There were officially two singles released from the album and a third song was used in advertisements.

The first single released from the album is called Insistor. The song comes of with a surf back ground reminiscent of Dick Dale. The foreground is what has become standard indie music. It has a fast beat that makes you want to get up and do something, dance maybe? It is definitely a song that I don’t listen to the words to. The music is interesting and moving enough that I don’t really care about the words. I guess that the vocals become their own instrument adding to the music itself.

The second song that was released as a single is called Cowbell. The rhythm of this track reminds me of some of the children’s 45 RPM records that I had as a kid. They were fun and rockin’. It is another fast paced song but the funny part is that there is no cowbell in the song. It doesn’t really matter it is just a funny point about the song.

The last song on the record, Jakov's Suite, was used frequently in the University of Oregon's basketball advertisements during the games along with a television commercial for Nissan. This song has a cool guitar riff that works so well. It could have very easily been a single supporting the album.

My favorite track from the album is probably the first track, called Just Drums. It has a very good beat, the guitar work is fantastic and the vocals are a great addition to the song musically. 


This is the first album from the band Ours. It was released in 2001. The album produced one single in the song Sometimes. This is the reason that I bought the album. There was a video put out for the song that got some moderate airplay on MTV. I don’t remember ever seeing the video though. Album is charged with sounds from Jeff Buckley and early Radiohead. This is the reason that I got the album. Jeff had just passed on and I was not ready to let go of that beautiful voice. I searched hard to find a replacement and this was the closest that I had gotten to that replacement. The band has only put out three albums though and the third is nothing like the first two. This album has the falsetto male vocals that I so desperately wanted more of. It filled the hole that Buckley left behind enough so that I could heal. I still miss Jeff Buckley and have only had one or two new tracks come out since his death but this will always sit on the shelf next to him vocally. If you loved Jeff Buckley as much as I do then this album may interest you. The whole album is emotionally charged and very depressing but it is still a favorite of mine.

 That is all I have for now...

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