As of the 20th of March the list for Record StoreDay 2014 (RSD 2014) has been released. It is 13 pages long this year and seems
to be filled with a lot of stuff that I wouldn’t buy. There are always a few
gems that I do want and will easily spend some money to get them.
The preorder is up at Insound for the new album from The Pains
of Being Pure At Heart called Days of Abandon. There are 500 copies on bone
white vinyl if your into that kind of thing.
There is also a preorder up at Insound for the new album from The Faint
called Doom Abuse. There are both deluxe and standard editions. The standard
edition will cost a few more bucks though.
here we go...
This was the first album released from US3. It was released
in late 1993. The album was focused on a lot during this time because of the
use of live jazz musicians and the use of samples from Blue Note jazz records. It
was unusual during this time to have live musicians playing on a rap record.
This was because it was so much cheaper to just use samples. Because of these
unique sounds that the group was able to create it grabbed not only my
attention as a teenager who played jazz for the school but a large part of the
world.
There were three singles released from this album. The first
is called I Got It Goin On. This song has a fun funky bass groove that the
trumpets follow on the solo bits. I am not usually a fan of organ parts but
when the organ plays with this song it seems to work well. It is a rap song and
the back ground music gets repetitive after the first couple minutes. This
means that they need to keep me interested with the lyrics and it takes a lot
to get that to happen.
The next single is the big hit, Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia). The
most famous sample used from the album was on the hit single Cantaloop (Flip
Fantasia). The sample used was from the song Cantaloupe Island by Herbie
Hancock. There is something special about this sample as it keeps me interested
all the way through the song. They don’t use the exact same part of the sample
over and over and this helps the song in a major way. The sample stabs that are
used remind me of bits that were used from the late 80s adding to my interest
as that was when I was introduced to rap music. All these things combined to
make one major hit in my music background. The vocals don’t really mean much to
me but there are points where I catch a few words as I fade focus back and
fourth from the music to the lyrics. All said, a very great song.
The third single from the album is called Eleven Long Years.
The song has a good beat but loses me completely with the lyrics as it is
partially in a different language and partially sung with a heavy accent
reminding me of Bob Marley or something similar. The music, on the other hand
is genius. The trumpet solo is completely awesome. I could have just had the
music with the trumpet playing over the whole thing as the trumpet sound is
near perfect, so much style.
This is not really a necessary album but Cantaloop (Flip
Fantasia) is something that you should listen to at least once.
This is the sixth album from Gloria Gaynor. It was
originally released in 1978. The copy
that I ended up with is the re-release that has the hit single, I Will Survive,
at the longer version of eight plus minutes. The first release of this album
originally had the song at about four and a half minutes. The longer 12” single
version replaced the shorter version after the song became a big hit.
There were three songs released from this album as singles.
The first single released from the album was the cover song called Substitute.
The song is a typical disco track that heavily uses layered instruments ranging
from strings to conga. The lyrics talk about stepping in for someone’s lover if
they are away for a period. It is a fun song and shows what was in store for
fans of disco from Gloria.
The second single, I Will Survive, is the big hit. Wikipedia
has this to say about the song, “The song's lyrics describe the narrator's
discovery of personal strength following an initially devastating breakup,
delivered with increasing confidence and backed by a stirring instrumental
accompaniment. It is one of the most famous disco songs of all time and remains
Gaynor's biggest hit…The song is also frequently recalled as a symbol of female
strength and as a gay anthem [more reciently].” The song was originally
released as the B-side to Substitute. DJs started flipping over the single and
playing that.
The third single from the album is called Anybody Wanna Party. This song was a hit on the dance charts but didn’t really go anywhere in
any of the other charts. This song is good but doesn’t seem to have that groove
that pulls at my heart.
Over all the album is very good if you’re into disco music.
If you haven’t heard I Will Survive you should. The song is very important in
music culture.
This is the soundtrack for the movie Spaceballs. This album
was released to coincide with the movie. It features songs used in the movie
along with three tracks from the score for the movie. The album was released in
1987. I finely, after saying to myself I want that album so often, bought the
album. It was not the movie that put the desire to get this album in my head.
It was because my sister, who was a dancer for many years in our public school days,
did a lyrical dance to The Spinners song Spaceballs from the album. It is such
a great song and will always remind me of not only traveling to competitions to
support her but hearing the same song over and over as she practiced the dances
over and over in the basement of the house.
I can’t find anything stating what songs were put out as
singles but I think that the song from The Spinners was released as a 7”. I
would consider that to be a single for sure. The song is a great dance track
that I have gotten to know very well. It is perfect 87’ pop/dance. It doesn’t
really stand up to today’s music as the song is heavily laden with synth sounds
of the time but I have lived with it for so long that the song has found a
place in my heart and I couldn’t live with out it.
That's all I have for this week. It may be a double post next week though, a singles post and a regular post...
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