Category Archives: Daily Music Picks

Ripple ~ Grateful Dead

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The Grateful Dead were an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, jazz, psychedelia, space rock and gospel—and for live performances of long musical improvisation. “Their music,” writes Lenny Kaye, “touches on ground that most other groups don’t even know exists.”

The Grateful Dead’s fans, some of whom followed the band from concert to concert for years, are known as Deadheads and have been renowned for their dedication to the band’s music. Many fans referred to the band simply as “the Dead”. As of 2003, the remaining band members who had been touring under the name “The Other Ones” changed their official group name to “The Dead”. Deadheads continue to use the nickname to refer to all versions of the band.

Their musical influences varied widely; in concert recordings or on record albums one can hear psychedelic rock (in the late sixties), the blues, rock nuggets, country-western, bluegrass, country-rock, and although they rarely played jazz music, the band certainly borrowed for their music the kind of long improvisatory sequences that jazz artists such as Charles Mingus and John Coltrane perfected in the 1950s and 1960s. These various influences were distilled into a diverse and psychedelic whole that made the Grateful Dead “the pioneering Godfathers of the jam band world.”

Ripple

Ripple is the sixth song on the Grateful Dead album American Beauty. It was released as the B-side to the single “Truckin’”.

Robert Hunter, wrote this song in 1970 in London in the same afternoon he wrote “Brokedown Palace” and “To Lay Me Down” (reputedly also drinking an entire bottle of retsina in the process). The song debuted August 18, 1970 at Fillmore West in San Francisco. Jerry Garcia wrote the music to this song.

Several lines throughout the song echo the 23rd Psalm of the Bible.

http://djallyn.org/media/grateful_dead-ripple.flv

If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine
And my tunes were played on the harp unstrung,
Would you hear my voice come thru the music,
Would you hold it near as it were your own?

It’s a hand-me-down, the thoughts are broken,
Perhaps they’re better left unsung.
I don’t know, don’t really care
Let there be songs to fill the air.

Ripple in still water,
When there is no pebble tossed,
Nor wind to blow.

Reach out your hand if your cup be empty,
If your cup is full may it be again,
Let it be known there is a fountain,
That was not made by the hands of men.

There is a road, no simple highway,
Between the dawn and the dark of night,
And if you go no one may follow,
That path is for your steps alone.

Ripple in still water,
When there is no pebble tossed,
Nor wind to blow.

But if you fall you fall alone,
If you should stand then who’s to guide you?
If I knew the way I would take you home.

La dee da da da, la da da da da, da da da, da da, da da da da da
La da da da, la da da, da da, la da da da, la da, da da.

  • Audio from the 1970 album, American Beauty:

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Time ~ Pink Floyd

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Pink Floyd are an English rock band that initially earned recognition for their psychedelic or space rock music, and, as they evolved, for their progressive rock music. They are known for philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative cover art, and elaborate live shows. One of rock music’s most successful acts, the group have sold over 200 million albums worldwide including 74.5 million albums in the United States alone.

Pink Floyd had moderate mainstream success and were one of the most popular bands in the London underground music scene in the late 1960s as a psychedelic band led by Syd Barrett; however, Barrett’s erratic behaviour eventually forced his colleagues to replace him with guitarist and singer David Gilmour. After Barrett’s departure, singer and bass player Roger Waters gradually became the dominant and driving force in the mid-1970s, until his eventual departure from the group in 1985. The band recorded several albums, achieving worldwide success with The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977), and The Wall (1979). In 1985, Waters declared Pink Floyd “A spent force”, but the remaining members, led by Gilmour, continued recording and touring under the name Pink Floyd. Although they were unsuccessfully sued by Waters for rights to the name, they again enjoyed worldwide success with A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987) and The Division Bell (1994). Eventually they reached a settlement out of court with Waters allowing them use of the name.

Waters performed with the band for the first time in 24 years on July 2, 2005 at the London Live 8 concert.

Richard Wright, keyboardist and pianist for the band and wrote significant parts of the music for classic albums such as Meddle, The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here, as well as for Pink Floyd’s final studio album The Division Bell.  He frequently sang background and occasionally lead vocals onstage and in the studio with Pink Floyd (most notably on the songs “Time“, “Echoes“, and on the Syd Barrett composition “Astronomy Domine”).

Richard Wright passed away on September 15, 2008 at the age of 65 from an undisclosed form of cancer.

Time

“Time” is the fourth track from British progressive rock band Pink Floyd’s 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon, and the only song on the album credited to all four members of the band. It is noted for its long introductory passage of clocks chiming and alarms ringing, recorded as a quadrophonic test by Alan Parsons, not specifically for the album.

The song is a memento mori describing the phenomenon in which time seems to pass more quickly as one ages, often leading to despair in old age over missed opportunities of the past.

http://djallyn.org/media/time.flv

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of lying in the sunshine
Staying home to watch the rain
And you are young and life is long
And there is time to kill today
And then one day you find
Ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run
You missed the starting gun

And you run, and you run to catch up with the sun, but it’s sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you’re older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter
Never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught
Or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone
The song is over
Thought I’d something more to say

Home, home again
I like to be here when I can
When I come home cold and tired
It’s good to warm my bones beside the fire
Far away across the field
The tolling of the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spells

  • Audio from the 1973 album, Dark Side of the Moon:

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Kathys Song ~ Simon and Garfunkel

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THE “KATHY” SERIES

The duo of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel are American popular musicians known collectively as Simon & Garfunkel. They met in elementary school in 1953, when they both appeared in the school play Alice in Wonderland (Simon as the White Rabbit, Garfunkel as the Cheshire Cat). They formed the group Tom and Jerry in 1957, and had their first taste of success with the minor hit “Hey Schoolgirl”. As Simon and Garfunkel, the duo rose to fame in 1965 backed by the hit single “The Sounds of Silence”. Their music was featured on the landmark film The Graduate, propelling them further into the public consciousness. They are well known for their close harmonies and sometimes unstable relationship. Their last album, Bridge Over Troubled Water, was marked with several delays caused by artistic disagreements.

Kathy’s Song

Kathleen Mary “Kathy” Chitty worked part-time selling tickets at the Railway Inn Folk Club in Brentwood, Essex, UK in 1964. She became the girlfriend and muse of Paul Simon when he lived in England in 1964 and 1965. She is referred to directly or indirectly in at least three of his songs.

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel’s first album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. was recorded in early 1964 and included the original acoustic version of The Sound of Silence. After the recording, Simon moved to England without Garfunkel. At this time folk music was becoming popular in England and Simon started working around the English folk clubs and coffee houses.

He met Kathy Chitty on 12th April 1964 at the very first English folk club he played at, the Railway Inn Folk Club in Brentwood, Essex. She was 17, he was 22 and they fell in love. Later that year they visited the US together, touring around mainly by bus. Kathy returned to England on her own with Simon returning to her some weeks later. When he was back in London he recorded the album The Paul Simon Songbook that included Kathy’s Song, and had a photo of Simon and Kathy on the cover. Also included in the album was another version of The Sound of Silence.

Although Wednesday Morning 3 A.M. was initially a flop, the version of The Sound of Silence on that album began to receive limited airplay, so the producer, Tom Wilson, without consulting Simon or Garfunkel, overdubbed the recording with electric guitar and base, and drums. This new version entered the US charts in September 1965. By the end of 1965 and for the first few weeks of 1966 it was at No. 1 in the US pop charts.

In September 1965, when Simon learned of the growing success of The Sound of Silence he felt the need to immediately return to the US to continue his career. Kathy was quite shy and wanted no part of the success and fame that awaited Simon. They split up.

References to Kathy in Paul Simon’s Songs

During the separation after Kathy returned home from the American trip, Paul Simon wrote “America“, clearly a love song to Kathy, that lays bare the extent to which he was missing her:

“Kathy, I’m lost,” I said, though I knew she was sleeping
“I’m empty and aching and I don’t know why”

During their separation he also wrote “Kathy’s Song”:

I gaze beyond the rain-drenched streets
To England where my heart lies.
My mind’s distracted and diffused
My thoughts are many miles away
They lie with you when you’re asleep
And kiss you when you start your day.

Simon wrote “Homeward Bound“ sat at the  Ditton Railway Station, one of two stations located in the town of Widnes Ditton in Cheshire, England on Hale Road on the border between Ditton and Halebank. The station, on the London-Liverpool line, was closed to passengers on 27 May 1994. Now only the Widnes Railway Station remains. It is also widely interpreted that this song is also about Kathy:

I wish I was homeward bound
Home, where my thoughts escaping
Home, where my music’s playing
Home, where my love lies waiting
Silently for me.

After Paul Simon returned to America in 1965 they were not in contact for over 20 years. In 1986, during his success with Graceland he received a letter from her. In 1991, while on tour in the UK, Kathy and her family attended Simon´s show in Sheffield. In July 2004 Simon confirmed her attendance at the Old Friends Reunion Tour stop in Hyde Park.

Kathy is a very private person, all attempts by the press to cajole information or her whereabouts out of Simon have failed. As far as anybody knows, she is now a grandmother with three grown-up children and living in the Welsh mountains (where she has lived most of her life) working part-time at a technical college. Widnes station has a plaque commemorating the history of Homeward Bound. When this went missing a few years ago, Kathy was invited to unveil the replacement but she declined.

http://djallyn.org/media/simon_garfunkel_kathys_song.flv

I hear the drizzle of the rain
Like a memory it falls
Soft and warm continuing
Tapping on my roof and walls.

And from the shelter of my mind
Through the window of my eyes
I gaze beyond the rain-drenched streets
To England where my heart lies.

My mind’s distracted and diffused
My thoughts are many miles away
They lie with you when you’re asleep
And kiss you when you start your day.

And a song I was writing is left undone
I don’t know why I spend my time
Writing songs I can’t believe
With words that tear and strain to rhyme.

And so you see I have come to doubt
All that I once held as true
I stand alone without beliefs
The only truth I know is you.

And as I watch the drops of rain
Weave their weary paths and die
I know that I am like the rain
There before for the grace of you go I.

 

  • Audio from the 1966 album, Sounds of Silence:

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Graceland – Paul Simon

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paul simonPaul Simon is an American singer-songwriter, known for his success beginning in 1965 as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair’s songs, including “The Sound of Silence”, “The Boxer”, “Mrs. Robinson”, and “Bridge Over Troubled Water”. In 1970, at the height of their popularity, the duo split and Simon began a successful solo career, highlighted by his 1986 experiment with African music on the album Graceland, which was decisive in the introduction of world music into the mainstream. Simon’s work has been generally praised by critics and the public, and has enjoyed notable commercial success for over four decades of production. In 2006, Time magazine called him one of the 100 “people who shape our world.”

Around 1985, while he was driving his car, Simon listened to a cassette of the Boyoyo Boys’ instrumental “Gumboots”. Inspired by the unusual sound, he wrote lyrics to sing over a re-recording of the song, which became the first song of his next musical project, Graceland, an eclectic mixture of musical styles including pop, a cappella, isicathamiya, rock, and mbaqanga. Much of the album was recorded in South Africa and featured many South African musicians and groups, particularly Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Warner Bros. Records had serious doubts about releasing an album of this category, but when it did, in August of 1986, Graceland was praised by critics and the public and became Simon’s most successful album. It reached No. 1 in many countries, including Australia and the UK, and peaked at No. 3 in the U.S. It was the second-best-selling album of 1987 there, and eventually reached a 5x Platinum certification, recognizing five million copies sold only in America. Another seven million copies were sold internationally, becoming his best-selling album. The singles “You Can Call Me Al” (a British Top 5 hit), “Graceland”, “The Boy in the Bubble” and “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” became standards and were highly praised. Simon, at age 45, back in the forefront of introducing popular music, received the Grammy Award for Album of the Year for Graceland, and embarked on the successful “Graceland Tour”.

Graceland

The lyrics deal with the singer’s thoughts during a road trip to Graceland after the failure of his marriage to actress and author Carrie Fisher.

http://djallyn.org/media/paul-simon-graceland.flv

The Mississippi Delta was shining
Like a National guitar,
I am following the river
Down the highway
Through the cradle of the civil war,

I’m going to Graceland
Graceland
In Memphis Tennessee
I’m going to Graceland,

Poorboys and Pilgrims with families
And we are going to Graceland,
My traveling companion is nine years old
He is the child of my first marriage,
But I’ve reason to believe
We both will be received
In Graceland,

She comes back to tell me she’s gone,
As if I didn’t know that
As if I didn’t know my own bed,
As if I’d never noticed,
The way she brushed her hair from her forehead,
And she said losing love
Is like a window in your heart,
Everybody sees you’re blown apart,
Everybody sees the wind blow,

I’m going to Graceland,
Memphis Tennessee
I’m going to Graceland,
Poorboys and Pilgrims with families
And we are going to Graceland,

And my traveling companions
Are ghosts and empty sockets
I’m looking at ghosts and empties,
But I’ve reason to believe
We all will be received
In Graceland,

There is a girl in New York City,
Who calls herself the human trampoline,
And sometimes when I’m falling flying
Or tumbling in turmoil I say
Whoa so this is what she means,
She means we’re bouncing into Graceland,
And I see losing love
Is like a window in your heart,
Everybody sees you’re blown apart,
Everybody feels the wind blow,

In Graceland Graceland,
I’m going to Graceland,
For reasons I cannot explain
There’s some part of me wants to see
Graceland,
And I may be obliged to defend
Every love every ending
Or maybe there’s no obligations now,
Maybe I’ve a reason to believe
We all will be received
In Graceland

Woah in graceland graceland graceland
i’m going to graceland

  • Audio from the 1986 album, Graceland:

album-graceland

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Revenge ~ Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse

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Brian Joseph Burton,  better known by his stage name Danger Mouse, is an American musician, songwriter and producer. He came to prominence in 2004 when he released The Grey Album, which combined vocal performances from Jay-Z’s The Black Album with instrumentals from the Beatles’ White Album.

He formed Gnarls Barkley with Cee Lo Green and produced its albums St. Elsewhere and The Odd Couple. He produced the second Gorillaz album, 2005′s Demon Days, as well as Beck’s 2008 record Modern Guilt and an album with Joker’s Daughter in 2007. He has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the Producer of the Year category five times (2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011), and won the award in 2011. In addition, Burton worked with rapper MF Doom as Danger Doom and released the album The Mouse and the Mask and the EP Occult Hymn.

Brian Burton was born in White Plains, New York. He spent much of his childhood in Spring Valley, New York. Burton also lived in Athens, Georgia for a while, where his trip-hop work was released under the name “Pelican City”. He also remixed work by several local artists, including Neutral Milk Hotel and DJ’d for University of Georgia radio station WUOG-FM. From 1998 to 2003, Burton also created a series of remix CDs and records under the stage name Danger Mouse. He performed in a mouse outfit because he was too shy to show his face, and took his name from the British cartoon series Danger Mouse.

Sparklehorse was an American indie rock band led by the singer and multi-instrumentalist Mark Linkous.

Sparklehorse’s first album, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot (1995) featuring Bob Rupe of the Silos and Cracker, was a modest college radio success. In 1996, while touring Europe with Radiohead shortly after the album’s release, Linkous consumed a combination of anti-depressants, valium, alcohol, and heroin in a London hotel room.Unconscious and with his legs pinned beneath him for almost fourteen hours, the resulting potassium build up caused his heart to stop for several minutes after his body was lifted up. The ensuing surgery almost caused him to lose the use of both legs and left him wheelchair-bound for six months.

Good Morning Spider (1998) was recorded following this incident. Critics have conjectured that Linkous’s brush with death inspired the sombre tone of the album, though Linkous stated that much of the material on GMS had already been written. One song which did result from it is “St. Mary”, which is dedicated to the nurses at the eponymous hospital in Paddington where Linkous recuperated.

2001 saw the release of It’s a Wonderful Life, featuring appearances by Tom Waits, PJ Harvey, Bob Rupe, Vic Chesnutt, Nina Persson and Dave Fridmann. Whereas much of Vivadixie… and Spider were recorded solely by Linkous on his Virginia farm, the new album was a more collaborative work. Linkous expressed his satisfaction with the overall sound of It’s a Wonderful Life, while also claiming that he would have preferred to include more experimental and instrumental material.

On September 25, 2006, Sparklehorse released their fourth album, Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain, collaborating with DJ Danger Mouse, Christian Fennesz, and Steven Drozd. This album featured the radio release “Don’t Take My Sunshine Away” and a remastered version of “Shade And Honey”, which Linkous originally wrote for Alessandro Nivola to sing in the 2003 movie Laurel Canyon, as well as a virtually unchanged re-release of “Morning Hollow,” the bonus track from It’s a Wonderful Life.

In 2008, Sparklehorse recorded a cover of the song “Jack’s Obsession,” from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas for the official compilation album Nightmare Revisited. In 2009, Sparklehorse teamed up with Danger Mouse and David Lynch in the project Dark Night of the Soul.

In 2009, Linkous teamed up with electronic ambient-music artist Christian Fennesz to create In The Fishtank 15, a wafting album EP of dreamy atmospherics and glacially beautiful experimentation. The last four live shows, Linkous did together with Fennesz during a European tour that was held during October 2009.

Joe Tangari describes Linkous’s songs as “defiantly surrealist…with all manner of references to smiling babies, organ music, birds, and celestial bodies. In fact, some of the lyrics are so surreal that it’s hard to imagine they’re even metaphors for anything.”Many of these references are literary or from a variety of rock music sources.

Linkous committed suicide in Knoxville, Tennessee, on March 6, 2010, thus ending the band’s 15-year-long run.

Revenge

Revenge is the first track on a collaboration album of Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse, and features Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips.  The album, Dark Night of the Soul was recorded in 2008 and was almost not released due to a legal dispute between Danger Mouse and EMI.  It is the last album that Mark Linkous recorded before his suicide.

http://djallyn.org/media/danger-mouse-and-sparklehorse-revenge.mp4

Pain
I guess it’s a matter of sensation
But somehow you have a way of avoiding it all
In my mind
I have shot you and stabbed you through your heart
I just didn’t understand
The ricochet is the second part

‘Cause you can’t hide what you intend
It glows in the dark
Once you’ve sought
The path of revenge
There’s no way to stop
And the more I try to hurt you
The more it hurts me

Strange
It seems like a character mutation
Though I have all the means of bringing you fuckers down
I can’t make myself
To destroy upon command
Somehow forgiveness lets the evil make the laws

No you can’t hide what you intend
It glows in the dark
Once we’ve become the thing we dread
There’s no way to stop
And the more I try to hurt you
The more it backfires

The more that it backfires
The more that it backfires

  • Audio from the 2010 album, Dark Night of the Soul:

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Scheduled Site Maintenance

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I know, things look a lot different right now.  I am working on some server issues and need to use the stock WordPress theme while I shake out the offending issues.  That means no jukebox.

I apologize for the inconvenience, and hope to have everything back up and running as soon as possible.

How Do You Do ~ Mouth & MacNeal

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Mouth & MacNeal was a pop duo from The Netherlands. They were formed in 1971 when record producer Hans van Hemert brought together the solo talents of Mouth (born Willem Duyn) and Maggie MacNeal (born Sjoukje van’t Spijker) together. ‘Big Mouth’ had previously sung in a number of 1960s bands, including Speedway. In contrast, MacNeal had had an unsuccessful career as a solo artist.

The duo released their first single almost immediately, “Hey You Love”, which reached #5 in the Dutch Top 40 while the next two singles “How Do You Do” and “Hello-A” both reached #1. In 1972, Mouth & MacNeal reached the top of the charts all over Europe, with their fame (especially in Germany) reaching almost hysterical proportions. “How Do You Do” was made popular in the United States by the radio personality Jim Connors. The song eventually reached #8 in the U.S. in July 1972. “How Do You Do” spent 19 weeks in the Billboard Hot 100 and won the R.I.A.A. gold disc on 2 August 1972. Selling over a million copies in the U.S. alone, global sales exceeded two million.

This propelled their 1972 album How Do You Do into the Billboard 200 (US #77). More hit singles followed in 1973, and in 1974 Mouth & MacNeal represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest placing third, behind ABBA and Gigliola Cinquetti with their song “I See a Star”, which went on to be a #1 hit in Ireland.

In December 1974, shortly after their success with “I See a Star”, Mouth and MacNeal suddenly parted ways. Big Mouth and his wife Ingrid Kup continued and formed the act Big Mouth & Little Eve, whereas Maggie MacNeal went back to solo performing.

‘Big Mouth’ Willem Duyn died from a heart attack in his hometown of Roswinkel on December 4, 2004 at the age of 67.

How Do You Do?

http://djallyn.org/media/how_do_you_do.flv

Once I said I wanted you
I don’t remember why
I often wonder if it’s true
That you could make me cry

I only know it’s long ago
You said “I love you” too
But I got one solution left
We’re gonna start anew

How do you do, mm-hmm
I thought, why not, na-na, na-na
Just me and you
And then we can na-na, na-na

Just like before
And you will say na-na, na-na
Please give me more
And you will think na-na, na-na
Hey, that’s what I’m livin’ for

How do you do, ooh-hoo
I thought, why not, na-na, na-na
Just me and you
And then we can na-na, na-na

Just like before
And you will say na-na, na-na
Please give me more
And you will think na-na, na-na
Hey, that’s what I’m livin’ for

Once I said I wanted you
And I remember why
I often wonder why it’s true
You still can make me cry

And now it’s not so long ago
You said “I love you” too
‘Cause I had one solution left
And that’s to start anew

How do you do, mm-hmm
I thought, why not, na-na, na-na
Just me and you
And then we can na-na, na-na

Just like before
And you will say na-na, na-na
Please give me more
And you will think na-na, na-na
Hey, that’s what I’m livin’ for

How do you do, uh-huh
I thought, why not, na-na, na-na
Just me and you
And then we can na-na, na-na

Just like before
And you will say na-na, na-na
Please give me more
And you will think na-na, na-na
Hey, that’s what I’m livin’ for

How do you do, ooh-hoo
La-la, la-la, la-la-la-la
La-la, la-la
La-la, la-la, la-la-la-la

La-la, la-la, la-la-la-la
La-la, la-la
La-la, la-la, la-la-la-la
La-la, la-la
Hey, that’s what I’m livin’ for

How do you do, aha
La-la, la-la, la-la-la-la
La-la, la-la

  • Audio from the 1972 album, How Do You Do:

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Brass Monkey ~ Beastie Boys

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The Beastie Boys are an American hip hop group from Manhattan/Brooklyn, New York City. The group consisted of MCA (Adam Yauch) (vocals, bass), Mike D (Michael Diamond) (vocals, drums) and Ad-Rock (Adam Horovitz) (vocals, guitar), with Mix Master Mike (Michael Schwartz) (turntablist).

The Beastie Boys began as a hardcore punk band in 1979, first appearing on the compilation cassette New York Thrash before releasing their first EP, Polly Wog Stew, in 1982. After achieving moderate local success with the 1983 release of their experimental hip hop 12″ Cooky Puss, they made the transition to hip hop in 1984 and a string of successful 12″ singles followed by their debut album Licensed to Ill in 1986 which received international critical acclaim and commercial success. By 2010, they had sold 22 million albums in the United States and 40 million albums worldwide.

They are one of the longest lived hip hop acts worldwide and continue to enjoy commercial and critical success in 2011, more than 25 years after the release of their debut album. The group has been selected as part of the 2012 induction class into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, after being eligible since 2007.[2] In 2009, the group released digitally remastered deluxe editions of their albums Paul’s Boutique, Check Your Head, Ill Communication and Hello Nasty. Their eighth studio album, Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, was released on May 3, 2011, and received positive reviews.

On May 4, 2012, founding member Adam Yauch died of cancer of the parotid salivary gland. It is not yet clear if the group will continue or not because of this.

Brass Monkey

“Brass Monkey” is a song by the New York hip hop group Beastie Boys. It was a single released from their first album Licensed to Ill. It is also on the Beastie Boys’ compilation album Solid Gold Hits. It samples “Bring It Here” by Wild Sugar. The song features the Roland TR-808 drum machine.

The song is named after an alcoholic drink of the same name, and is mentioned several times throughout the song.

http://djallyn.org/media/beastie-boys-brass-monkey.mp4

Brass Monkey – that funky Monkey
Brass Monkey – junkie
That funky Monkey

Got this dance that’s more than real
Drink Brass Monkey – here’s how you feel
Put your left leg down – your right leg up
Tilt your head back – let’s finish the cup
M.C.A. with the bottle – D. rocks the can
Adrock gets nice with Charlie Chan
We’re offered Moet – we don’t mind Chivas
Wherever we go with bring the Monkey with us
Adrock drinks three – Mike D. is D.
Double R. foots the bill most definitely
I drink Brass Monkey and I rock well
I got a Castle in Brooklyn – that’s where I dwell

Brass Monkey – that funky Monkey
Brass Monkey – junkie
That funky Monkey

Cause I drink it anytime – and anyplace
When it’s time to get ill – I pour it on my face
Monkey tastes Def when you pour it on ice
Come on y’all it’s time to get nice
Coolin’ by the lockers getting kind of funky
Me and the crew – we’re drinking Brass Monkey
This girl walked by – she gave me the eye
I reached in the locker – grabbed the Spanish Fly
I put it in the Monkey – mixed it in the cup
Went over to the girl, “Yo baby, what’s up?”
I offered her a sip – the girl she gave me lip
It did begin the stuff wore in and now she’s on my tip

Brass Monkey – that funky Monkey
Brass Monkey – junkie
That funky Monkey

Step up to the bar – put the girl down
She takes a big gulp and slaps it around
Take a sip – you can do it – you get right to it
We had a case in the place and we went right through it
You got a dry Martini – thinking you’re cool
I’ll take your place at the bar – I smack you off your stool
I’ll down a ’40 dog” in a single gulp
And if you got beef you’ll get beat to a pulp
Monkey and parties and reelin’ and rockin’
Def, def – girls, girls – all y’all jockin’
The song and dance keeping you in a trance
If you don’t buy my record I got my advance
I drink it – I think it – I see it – I be it
I love Brass Monkey but I won’t give D. it
We got the bottle – you got the cup
Come on everybody let’s get ffffff

Brass Monkey – that funky Monkey
Brass Monkey – junkie
That funky Monkey

  • Audio from the 1986 album, License to Ill:

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Take it All ~ Trust Company

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By The Request of Kevin Corn

Trust Company (also typeset as TRUSTcompany and TRUST*CO) is an American alternative metal/post-grunge  band from Prattville, Alabama.

Formed in 1997, Trust Company came together through vocalist Kevin Palmer and drummer Jason Singleton, who briefly played drums in the Ed Kemper Trio. Originally called 41 Down, the band then recruited bassist Josh Moates and guitarist James Fukai. After building a local fan-base and releasing a self-titled album as well as a couple demos, the band went on to sign a major label deal with Geffen Records. The band then changed their name to Trust Company to avoid confusion with the Canadian band Sum 41.

The group released its debut album, The Lonely Position of Neutral, on July 23, 2002. The album was well received with the lead single “Downfall” gaining heavy exposure through MTV2. Subsequently, the song entered the Billboard Hot 100 singles charts. A second single “Running From Me” followed with more moderate success. The Lonely Position was certified gold by the RIAA, and the band went on to tour with artists such as 30 Seconds to Mars and Papa Roach. They also toured with KoRn and Disturbed as part of the Pop Sux Tour in 2002.

Take it All

“Take it All” is the last song on The Lonely Position of Neutral album.  It was also used as a song on an Xbox video game in 2004 called “Breakdown”.

http://djallyn.org/media/trust-company-take-it-all.mp4

Looking up from underneath, as low as we are,
Nothing looks the same to me, am I deceived?
I stand and watch myself from somewhere else,
Something I don’t want to see.

Take it all, so I’m left with nothing at all.
Have it all, ’cause I’m learning how to fall,
Yes I’m learning how to fall.

Standing up from underneath, as low as we are,
Things aren’t what they used to be, was I deceived?
I stand and watch myself like someone else,
Something I don’t want to see.

Take it all, so I’m left with nothing at all.
Have it all, ’cause I’m learning how to fall,
Yes I’m learning how to fall.

Why don’t you fall? Fall.
Take it all, so I’m left with nothing at all.
Have it all, ’cause I’m learning how to fall,
I can’t trust what I see;
I can’t tell if its me, it is changing.
Take it all, ’cause I’m learning how to fall,
Yes I’m learning how to fall.

  • Audio from the 2002 album, The Lonely Position of Neutral:

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Orange Sky ~ Alexi Murdoch

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Dedicated to DJ Allyn as he recuperates…

Alexi Murdoch is a singer-songwriter born in London and raised in Scotland, Greece and France, now living in Berlin.

Murdoch moved to the United States in 1992 to study at Duke University, before moving to Los Angeles, California to be with a girlfriend. He first gained notice when an influential Los Angeles DJ, Nic Harcourt, began playing his music on the radio station KCRW. It led to much interest from the LA’s music industry, which Murdoch largely ignored, turning down advances from record labels and opting to release his music independently.

Murdoch’s first album, Time Without Consequence, was released on June 6, 2006 on his own label, Zero Summer. As with the EP, Murdoch continued to turn down the record deals he was offered from numerous major labels in order to maintain creative control. (The record was distributed nationally through Sony BMG.) Time Without Consequence peaked at #25 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart.

On June 9, 2006, Murdoch began a 34-city tour in conjunction with the Coalition of Independent Music Stores, with most bookings at independent record stores.

The album became one of the most licensed albums of the decade, receiving placements on dozens of films and television shows. “Orange Sky” appeared in The O.C., House, Prison Break,  Ugly Betty, Dirty Sexy Money, Ladder 49, and in promotions for Oscar nominated foreign film, Paradise Now, Southland and a Honda commercial.[8] “Home” appeared in a season 2 episode of Prison Break. “All My Days” was featured in The O.C., Grey’s Anatomy, Scrubs, Without a Trace, Stargate Universe, and a promo for Southland. It has also featured as the opening song in the movie Real Steel. “Song For You” appeared in Everwood. “12″ appeared in the show “Brothers & Sisters” and “One Tree Hill.” “Blue Mind” was featured in the 2008 adventure film The Sharp End, and several episodes of Dawson’s Creek. “Breathe” was used in Stargate Universe, and the 2008 film Tenderness, where the album Time Without Consequence is also shown on a scene of the film. “Wait” was used in the shows Defying Gravity and Parenthood. “It’s Only Fear” was used in the Brothers and Sisters. Several songs were used in a surfing documentary One California Day. “Crinan Wood” was used in the episode Chuck Versus the Masquerade from the show Chuck.

In the spring of 2009, Murdoch embarked on a rare U.S. headlining tour, during which he has been distributing an early version of a new album entitled Towards the Sun in a limited edition packaged in a hand-printed, cardboard sleeve.

Several of these new songs quickly appeared on the internet. Later, the song “Through the Dark” was used in the final scene and end credits of actor Ben Affleck’s directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone, as well as the television series “The Vampire Diaries”. Several other Towards the Sun songs were used on the soundtrack to Oscar winner Sam Mendes’ 2009 film Away We Go which had a screenplay by the writers Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. There was an album tied to the film release which contained a mix of songs from Time Without Consequence and Towards the Sun alongside single songs by The Stranglers, Bob Dylan, George Harrison and the Velvet Underground. The track “Some Day Soon” was featured in the second episode of Touch, titled “Safety in Numbers”.

Recent bookings by Murdoch include two concerts in Berlin, one small club appearance and a second as part of the City Slang label’s 20th anniversary. In February 2011 he performed in New York City as part of Lincoln Center’s prestigious “American Songbook Series”, after which he went on a sold out tour of major markets throughout North America. (i.e. Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, Chicago, Minneapolis.) 2011 also saw the official release of his third recording, “Towards The Sun”.

Orange Sky

“Orange Sky” is a single from Alexi Murdoch’s EP Four Songs. The song is also included on Murdoch’s first LP album Time Without Consequence.

The song was featured in the movie Garden State, although it was not released on the soundtrack for the film, and Ladder 49. It was also included in episodes of the television shows Dawson’s Creek, The O.C., Prison Break, House, Brothers & Sisters and Ugly Betty. “Orange Sky” has also been featured in commercials for the Honda Element and for Hallmark Cards. It was used again in the trailer for the film Paradise Now in 2005. Director Josh Lowell also used it for several sequences in the climbing video Pilgrimage featuring Chris Sharma. In 2009, NBC used the song in advertisements for the cop drama Southland. The song was also featured in the 2009 movie, Away We Go.

http://djallyn.org/media/alexi-murdoch-orange-sky.mp4

Well I had a dream
I stood beneath an orange sky
Yes I had a dream
I stood beneath an orange sky
With my brother standing by
With my brother standing by
I said Brother, you know you know
It’s a long road we’ve been walking on
Brother you know it is you know it is
Such a long road we’ve been walking on

And I had a dream
I stood beneath an orange sky
With my sister standing by
With my sister standing by
I said Sister, here is what I know now
Here is what I know now
Goes like this..
In your love, my salvation lies
In your love, my salvation lies
In your love, my salvation lies
In your love, in your love, in your love

But sister you know I’m so weary
And you know sister
My hearts been broken
Sometimes, sometimes
My mind is too strong to carry on
Too strong to carry on

When I am alone
When I’ve thrown off the weight of this crazy stone
When I’ve lost all care for the things I own
That’s when I miss you, that’s when I miss you, that’s when I miss you
You who are my home
You who are my home
And here is what I know now
Here is what I know now
Goes like this..
In your love, my salvation lies
In your love, my salvation lies
In your love, my salvation lies
In your love, my salvation lies
In your love, my salvation lies
In your love, my salvation lies
In your love, my salvation lies
In your love, in your love, in your love

Well I had a dream
I stood beneath an orange sky
Yes I had a dream
I stood beneath an orange sky
With my brother and my sister standing by
With my brother and my sister standing by
With my brother and my sister standing by

  • Audio from the 2006 album, Time Without Consequence:

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