Songs I have to sing along to when listening to, part 2: Thundercat – Them Changes

One two three four. One two three four. One two three four…

Quite possibly my favourite song to count in to of all-time!

Again, definitely not Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V’d from Genius (with a couple of fixes)!😉

[Verse 1]
Nobody move, there’s blood on the floor
And I can’t find my heart
Where did it go? Did I leave it in the cold?
So please give it back, ’cause it’s not yours to take
It must’ve fell when I lost my mind
Deep in the cut, drowning in a pain
Somebody help ’cause I can’t find my way
Nobody move, nobody move

[Verse 2]
Somebody tell me how I’m supposed to feel
When I’m sitting here knowing this ain’t real (ain’t real)
Why in the world would I give my heart to you?
Just to watch you throw it in the trash
I’ve been travelling so long, I don’t think I can hold on
Where were you when I needed you the most?
Now I’m sitting here with a black hole in my chest
A heartless broken mess

Ooh-oh, ooh-oh, oh
Ooh-oh-oh, ooh-oh-oh
Ooh-oh, ooh-oh, oh
Ooh-oh-oh, ooh-oh-oh

Perhaps a deep dive of this song is warranted in the future…!

In the meantime, listen to the Song Exploder episode on the song

Songs I have to sing along to when listening to, part 1: Beastie Boys – Make Some Noise

Or, in this case, songs I have to sing rap along to when listening to!

Definitely not Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V’d from Genius! 😉

[Intro]
Yeah, get up
Yeah
Uh

[Verse 1: Ad-Rock, Mike D, MCA]
Yes, here we go again, give you more, nothing lesser
Back on the mic, it’s the anti-depressor
Ad-Rock–no pressure–yes, we need this
The best is yet to come and, yes, believe this
Leggo my Eggo while I flex my ego
Sip on Prosecco, dressed up tuxedo
Sipping coffee, playing Keno in the casino
Want a lucky number, ask Mike Dino
I burn the competition like a flamethrower
My rhymes, they age like wine as I get older
I’m getting bolder, competition is wanin’
I got the ball and I see the lane and

[Chorus]
We got a party on the left, a party on the right
We gotta party for the motherfucking right to fight
Make some noise if you’re with me
You gotta make some noise if you’re with me
Crazy, crazy, crazy

[Verse 2: Ad-Rock, Mike D, MCA]
Armed insurrection, popular election
Get paid every year like tax collection
Hear my perfection, rotary connection
Taking MCs down by lethal rap injection
I’m like an ornithologist when I get pissed
You must have drank a Fizzy-Lifting Drink and you got lifted
And sifted, I’m just riffing
And when I catch MCs, it’s time for wing clipping
I fly like a hawk, or better yet an eagle
A seagull, I sniff suckers out like a beagle
My ego is off and running and gone
Cause I’m about the best and if you fess, well, that’s wrong

[Chorus]
We got a–
We got a party on the left, a party on the right
We gotta party for the motherfucking right to fight
Make some noise if you’re with me
You gotta make some noise if you’re with me
Crazy, crazy, crazy
The break is crazy
Crazy-crazy

[Verse 3: Ad-Rock, Mike D, MCA]
Pass me the scalpel, I’ll make an incision
I’ll cut off the part of your brain that does the bitching
Put it in formaldehyde and put it on the shelf
And you can show it to your friends and say, “That’s my old self”
Can’t do me nothing, can’t tell me nada
Don’t bug me now because I’m doing the lambada (bada!)
The forbidden dance (wha!), here’s my chance
To make romance in my B-boy stance
Parlay romancing into financing
Opened up a restaurant with Ted Danson
The roaches check in, but they never check out
I set the record straight, no doubt

[Chorus]
We got a–
We got a party on the left, a party on the right
We gotta party for the motherfucking right to fight
Make some noise if you’re with me
You gotta make some noise if you’re with me

Also, MCA, gone, but definitely not forgotten!


As I continue to love listening to way too much music (see what I did there?), and try to write on this blog more (among other music related ideas I have), I may have hinted at it, but, if you read this and are keen on writing some guest posts, and who know, becoming a regular contributor, get in touch!

🔥 collabos #3: Dua Lipa, Angèle – Fever

🇬🇧 and 🇫🇷 unite on this track!

Yes, it has been out a while (October 29, of 2020), but, in case you missed it, here it is! And if you know it already, it is another opportunity to hear/watch!

The cover from the single.
Watch the official music video!

And, check out the previous 🔥 collabo posts!

🔥 collabos #2: Miranda Lambert featuring Maren Morris, Elle King, Ashley McBryde, Tenille Townes and Caylee Hammack cover “Fooled Around and Fell in Love”

Ever since Miranda Lambert won third place in Nashville Star (think country music American Idol) way back in 2005, she has been honing her craft ever since, and consistently releasing good music! This is no exception! Miranda’s forthcoming LP (Wildcard, November 1) is her seventh (and we cannot forget three albums with her group Pistol…

Music sites/tools I use — #1 Discogs

I have thought about doing this series for a while, but, finally here it is!

Hopefully as this series gets deeper, you will find a useful new site or tool for music discovery/exploration, etc. Sharing is caring!

I finally decided to start this series, as Discogs turned 20 years old on November 2nd! Onwards!

https://www.discogs.com

Where to start! If you need the basics, track listings, album covers, credits, etc. Discogs does the job. But, if you are a music nerd, or even a casual fan that is wondering about a specific edition of a release (catalogue #, country of origin, etc.), the very first release by x band/artist, a deep look into new releases, explore genres (including regional ones),

They also have a blog, community, marketplace (though, I hear some people have had issues with sellers, so, buyer beware!).

For a music fanatic/nerd/geek/connoisseur, etc. searching for ‘deep cuts,’ or viewing information on releases is ‘very nice!’ For instance, I stumbled upon Feist as an ‘associated act’ of Mastodon on their Wikipedia page. Turns out they did a split 7″ covering each other for Record Store Day in 2012 called, yup, Feistodon!

The official release page is nice, but for additional details, the Discogs listing for it is well, sweet!

And, with Paul McCartney’s McCartney III on the way, another RSD 2012 special release was Macca‘s first single from his solo career, “Another Day” b/w “Oh Woman, Oh Why,” you can check out more info on the Discogs release page!

Okay, that’s all for now! Go explore/listen to some new music!

Share this post if you feel so inclined/found it helpful!

And be sure to listen to Too Much Music (the radio show) episode 6!

Stay safe and reasonable!

Rad album covers, #1: Dolly, Sia – Here I Am (Dumplin’ OST)

Dolly Parton is a living legend. It had to be said even if we all already know.

Sia hiding her face and emphasizing her hair is kind of her thing now, but Dolly using it for the cover of the single she did with Sia from the soundtrack to the movie Dumplin’ (for which she did it all), is rad!

More information in bullet point form:

  • Here I Am” is originally from Dolly’s 8th album (not counting the ones she did with Porter Wagoner).
  • It is the penultimate track (track 4 of side 2)
  • Dumplin’ is a 2018 American coming-of-age comedy film directed by Anne Fletcher and written by Kristin Hahn.” (Thanks Wikipedia — I’m a music guy, not a film guy)
  • Dumplin’ is the soundtrack album by American country music singer-songwriter Dolly Parton for the 2018 film of the same name.” (Hey, Wikipedia sums it up well).
  • The album features guest performances by Sia (of course), Elle King, Mavis Staples, Miranda Lambert, Willa Amai, Rhonda Vincent, Alison Krauss, and more!

Blog post about the album itself in the future? Perhaps…!

Hope y’all like this new feature!

New blog posts will keep a-coming! Including old post series. Feel free to share this if you like it, I would appreciate it! 🍻

Rad album cover ideas? Comment below, or tweet in my direction: @tmmblog.

#Everythingwillbeokay last.fm collage!

The idea originally came as people (myself included) post collages of what they have been listening to over at the last.fm subreddit. Often times posting coloured themes, such as orange, pink, green, or even brown (which is basically orange with less red).

Anywho, I actually had to plan it out, and play the albums from top-left to bottom-right thr most), this was over a seven day period.

Here is the week in question if you are interested in how many listens of each album was listened to! https://www.last.fm/user/timeform/library/albums?from=2020-04-20&to=2020-04-27.

I have a new themed collage in the works! Stay tuned…!

#Stayathome (made) music

Well, I suppose I am posting this a little late, with some restrictions being lifted, albeit slowly, depending on where you are, but, I feel it is still relevant, especially as we slowly approach a post-pandemic world. How is that for ‘run-on sentence?’

Moving on.

I think Charli XCX was the first to record entirely new music whilst in lockdown, and make a music video for it (with a little help from her fans). Here is “forever:”

how i’m feeling now is out next Friday, May the 15th.

I’ll post more such posts as time progresses!

Follow @musicvideosrule for a new music video every day, many of which lately have been made during self-isolation!

Stay good!

Discover new music – method #3 — Jeopardy!

Yes, the long running (and probably best) game show!

How, you may ask will one discover new music from Jeopardy!? (The ! is in the name of the show, so that is a regular question, not !? combined, an interrobang. Hey, I just realised, that would make for a good ‘answer’ to a clue!) Well, simply from the clues themselves!

There tends to be a music or music related category fairly often.

Today’s (March 25, 2020) episode had a category for “Instrument Makers.”

In that category, the easiest clue ($400):

In 1850 Heinrich Steinweg came to America from Germany, anglicized his name & began manufacturing these

Piano of course.

And the hardest ($2000):

In the 1930s this man turned his experiences making clocks & motors into inventing an electric organ

The question, Who is Laurens Hammond?.

Those two alone will not directly discover new music, but search them online and find notable performers of said instrument will yield new music to listen to.

For instance, the Hammond Organ: an early player was Jimmy Smith. Listen to a famous piece of his: “Back At The Chicken Shack.”

Whilst you listen, from his TiVo bio:

Jimmy Smith wasn’t the first organ player in jazz, but no one had a greater influence with the instrument than he did; Smith coaxed a rich, grooving tone from the Hammond B-3, and his sound and style made him a top instrumentalist in the 1950s and ’60s, while a number of rock and R&B keyboardists would learn valuable lessons from Smith’s example.

Grooving tone indeed!

His 1972 track, “Root Down (And Get It)” would later be sampled by The Beastie Boys in “Root Down!”

Furthermore, Mr. Hammond also invented the world’s first polyphonic musical synthesizer, the Novachord. Look that instrument up, and an early example of a song performed with it is Vera Lynn’s “We’ll Meet Again!”

/\/\/\/\/\/\

In that same episode was the category “Notable Italians.”

The toughest clue (or what is supposed to be) at $2000:

The musicians had scores, but he didn’t. With poor eyesight, this 20th century maestro conducted from memory

Answer Question: who is Arturo Toscanini. Indeed that was a tough one!

From his biography:

In 1885, at age 19, he graduated from the Parma Conservatory as a cellist, and joined an opera company for a tour of South America. When in Rio de Janeiro, the incompetence of the Brazilian conductor engaged for the tour so incensed the Italian singers and players that he was forced to resign, and the 20-year-old cellist was asked to take the baton for Verdi’s Aida. By the end of the tour he had led 26 performances of 11 operas, all from memory.

Impressive!

Fortunately he lived after TV cameras were invented, so, we can see his actual work:

And, if you are wondering what conducting is all about, watch this good Vox video: What a conductor actually does on stage, and read a little about technique at Wikipedia.

So, watch Jeopardy!, discover new music, and plenty more!

Thanks for reading! Feel free to share this post if you enjoyed it!


Got a cool method for discovering new music? Comment below, or Tweet me: @tmmblog. If I use your method, I will credit you of course!

And, go back and read Discover new music – method #2 — What’s currently playing on Sirius XM!

And, Discover new music – method #1 – Later… with Jools Holland guests.