I've recently re-discovered Jay-Z's Unplugged album from 2002 (or '03)...The Roots totally bring it home.

My song for the summer has got to be "The Border" Wyclef featuring Shakira. It is fun little joint.

I'm sure most of you have seen the Z4 BMW commercial by now (which btw is a GORGEOUS car). I love the music track on it. Well I found this remix version that some dj on YouTube released. It's VERY good & you can down load it. Btw, I don't how true it is but one of the comments on the link indicates that BMW owns the rights to the song & doesn't plan on releasing it to the public so "get it" while you can. Enjoy.

My two ABSOLUTE fave Fania recordings are the live recordings @ Yankee Stadium in 1973 [released in '75] (altho, from what I've researched, some of the recordings were in PR). At any rate, perhaps you already knew this--but I didn't--the volumes 1 & 2 are now part of the Library of Congress! Those are THEE recordings I remember most--Epaaaaa (as my Colombian friends would say)!

Very Cool. Thanks SCT!

Glad you like it MDG cuz I do too!

Tonite it's gonna be Christmas music, because it's the 3rd annual neighborhood "Christmas In July" party!
We decorate one home, we all wear red and green, and we do a $5 gift exchange along with a complete traditional Christmas dinner...
It's a lot of mindless fun, and mixed strait and gay...
You gotta know the straits LOVE having all of us gays in the 'hood....such good parties!!!

LOL! I couldn't help but think of Kathy Griffin: "Where are my gays? Gotta have my gays!"

I found this site that talks about the ad. TV Ad Music - BMW Z4 Roadster

It sounded to me like Dirty Vegas (of "Days Go By" fame).

Yeah love that song. & actually the bf can't get enough of their cd. Every time we go on a road trip I ask, "What music do you want to take?" Two are ALWAYS part of his answer: 1) Dirty Vegas & 2) Alanis Morrisette, Jagged Lil Pill.

Well, there you go! And, no, I didn't know that, so thanks for sharing.

The FYE store in the nearest mall is selling all CDs, except multi-disc sets and "deluxe" editions, for $9.99 or less. (They have a store in Center City in a former Tower Records location that isn't conducting this sale, which makes me wonder if this is a prelude to a store closing.) Today I picked up the latest from Lily Allen, Depeche Mode and Pet Shop Boys, and 10 days ago I got...Lady Gaga.

Yaaayyyyy! You've been converted.

...IMHO, the DM cd is very good, but not their best. But I'm proud of them to be able to still be relevant.

I wouldn't call it a conversion. It's not the first Depeche Mode CD I've ever bought. Lady Gaga, on the other hand...

Soooo!...are you Gaga-ed yet?



Soooo!...you must like the Master & Servant track.

Oooohhh, I remember the levi-leather bars in LA playing it for days.

A little more partial to "Never Let Me Down Again." Promises me we're as safe as houses/As long as I remember who's wearing the trousers...

And yes, I've been Gaga-ed.

Have you heard the aggro mix? My favorite!

Prolly one of my faves by them is Leave In Silence.

I watched the Goo Goo Dolls-Music In High Places on Palladia last night (really great station for concerts/music). OMG, VERY cool. They're in Alaska. I'm really a BIG fan of the Music In High Places concerts. I'm gonna have to order the dvd. It's definitely worth watching. Here are some excerpts from the concert:

Good Quality

Slide

Here Is Gone

Broadway

Black Balloon

I LOVE the new Bat For Lashes single!:

Daniel

Edit:

Joe, this is for you. I wasn't sure if you've seen this video. But it's great & goes well w/ the song:

Paparazzi

I did see it the other night -- when I was up really late, I watched a few music videos available in the On Demand section, and that was one of them.

This band is pretty cool:

Pollyn.

This song is pretty cool (not deep in words though):

Tic Toc

Joe, did you hear about this?

We live in such a strange world.

Well, I listened to 30 sec of each song from Ms. Crack is Whack.... and I did not like a single song from the album. Her voice is so bad, I can't imagine the voice quality live... I just kept thinking- how would this sound being sung by Leona Lewis or Jennifer Hudson....

I wanted her album to be a terrific comeback, but it is really a letdown....

So what is NOT in my CD player right now is Whitney's new album.

I really haven't been following Whitney Houston since the early '90s, just before The Bodyguard soundtrack came out, but my partner and I were talking about this "comeback" the other day. Out of curiosity, I listened to the whole album on her website - which I have to say is better than I expected, but not amazing, just okay - and watched on YouTube her performance on Good Morning America.

Before going on, I have to say that my personal taste re: singers in "popular" music, I prefer interpretation over technique. If a singer has both, then, wonderful, but give me a singer who conveys the truth of a song through his or her voice any day.

I think Whitney can take advantage of her now-limited octave range to focus more on the interpreting aspect of the songs rather than the songs being a showcase (or excuse) for her voice. I think her performance on GMA was embarrasing, not because she can't sing the way she used to, but because she barely sang at all! As a comparison, there's Joni Mitchell and Marianne Faithfull, although, true, not belters like WH, but, like her, two singers whose voices have been affected (as opposed to damaged) by either smoking or drugs. They became much, much better singers after their voices changed. But, they sing the whole songs live and don't have the backing vocalists do half the work for them! (Of course, there's a vast artistic chasm between them and WH, not to mention that their material is, by far, better.)

I think of all the money spent by the Clive Davis machine on this hyped and forced event and then wonder about all the singers who have spent years releasing good-to-great music who take care of their voice and evolve not only technically, but as interpreters, and struggle for their stuff to be heard, while Whitney is being pushed into this tired and clichéd comeback story.

Since I've been driving a rental & it has XM Sirius, I've been "chillin" w/ one of the electronica stations (gawd I'm gonna miss it btw). At any rate, I heard these songs yesterday. I thought they were pretty cool:

Dousk - Anagram

Underworld - Second Hand

Burial & Four Tet - Moth

I have my Smooth Jazz playlist going on my iPod at the moment...
My best friend was over (he's remodling our guest bath) & he likes jazz a lot, so I usually put it on for him when he's over....
Greg Karukas, Peter White, Brian Simpson, Anita Baker, Brian Culbertson, etc...

I just discovered a song that came out last year that I absolutely LOVE. It has got to be about the happiest F'ing song I've heard in a long time (and I'm not real big on cheery stuff - just sayin'). It's called "Drive Out" (Attik remix) by Sunfreakz.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXE2r9IlVrg

I never heard it on Energy 92.7 in San Francisco before the went off the air permanently a week and a half ago, but caught it on Electricfm on iTunes. Anyway, if you like that kind of upbeat, clubby sounding stuff, you'll probably like this one.

The last time I was in SF that was the station I listened to. I think it was fairly new to the air at the time. What did they change formats to?

The station went from an independent dance-oriented format to a corporate-owned, out-of-town programmed Top 40 format. Just what the Bay Area needs, another Top 40 station.

In addition, the entire 35 person staff at the radio station was fired. The new owner is reported to be a homophobic jerk.

I'm guessing money issues were the main culprit here - the station sold for something in the neighborhood of $6.5 million after initially being purchased at over $30 million five years ago when KNGY began broadcasting. That's a heck of a hit to take, but things must have been pretty desperate financially for the owner. They were billed as San Francisco's "last independent music station."

Have heard that morning drive guys Fernando and Greg are exploring options to get back on the air as a team for another station's morning show. No word on where or when, though.

Sorry for the thread hi-jack.

It was on the Emmy's last night, but I have been rockin to LMFAO's Lalala for the past couple weeks. Its just one of those catchy dance songs that gets you goin!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0KBXjo7up0

Depeche Mode - Sounds of the Universe (Fragile Tension, In Sympathy)
Bananarama - Viva (Love Don't Live Here, Rapture)
Live - Live At The Paradisio - Amsterdam (Dance With You)

Brand new Brand New. Enh.

LXN

I'll be listening to Madonna's "Celebration" cd. It's a double disc compilation of her greatest hits, according to her and her fans. I still can't figure why "True Blue" has never been on any of her GH albums. I love that song. Anywho, I would love Madonna to release a boxed set of her stuff. Now that would be the ultimate.

^ And no one can tell you're gay? Really?

Revisiting a favorite from a year or so ago.



Battles - Mirrored

LXN

There will surely be a boxed set someday.

"According to her and her fans" -- was there a vote or something? I recall reading the list recently on a blog (at EW.com, I think) and in the comments section there were a number of posts saying "Why wasn't (name of song) included?"

I stopped in FYE at the mall after seeing a movie. They have a 1-disc CD as well as the 2-disc compilation. The 1-disc, obviously, has half as many songs (and only the one new song, "Celebration." The 2-disc has an additional new song.

There's also a DVD with something like 40 of her music videos. Even in that there may be some faves missing.

I so have so find and buy this...

I found both the double CD and double DVD at a decent price at Target, but I'm sure most places would have them on sale the first week. The DVD has 47 videos - basically everything but the concert vids they made for "Dress You Up" and "Causing A Commotion" (which sucks, but whatcha gonna do?).

If nothing else, I think the DVD is definitely worth picking up if you grew up in the 80s, loved pop music (and Madonna, obviously), and watched hours upon hours of emptyV over the years. Great for something to toss in the DVD player and have some friends over for a Madonna-thon, even if it's just background noise. I think the total running time is about 200 minutes.

I bought the CD set just because. I already had most of the songs on other albums anyway, but I collect CDs and vinyl albums, so why not?

I didn't see the DVD at my Target. I will check the local Best Buy on Friday.

Another song by Dousk. Very Cool!:

Florence

...Death Cab For Cuties' track for the film New Moon is a pretty cool pop rock song:

Meet Me On The Equinox

Btw, the leader singer's voice reminds me a lot of Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys...

This song by Ryan Leslie is well produced & quite cool...Booty bumpin hos aside, of course:

You're Not My Girl

I'm watching Joe perform a live concert on Palladia. Very cool! & he's sexy.

New Mission of Burma - The Sound The Speed The Light. Pretty good, but not quite as cool as their last two.

Lex

This weekend I had to work on ripping some CD's to the computer - for my best of the decade Christmas CD and I reconnected with Dynamix - DOn't Want Another Man (Rauhofer remix)

Thanks to Forthemasses for reminding me that Bananarama has a new cd out.

"Viva" is a delight. "Love Don't Live Here" is awesome. Strings! Drama! Fabulous! It's a showcase song.

They cover iiO "Rapture", Three Degrees "The Runner", and Fox "S-S-S-Single Bed". Their bonus tracks are covers of Desireless and Kate Ryan "Voyage Voyage", Bryan Ferry "Tokyo Joe" and the hard to find Itunes only bonus tracks Bryan Adams' "Run To You" and S&G's "The Sound of Silence." I love their version of "The Sound Of Silence" It's perfect for the fall/winter season.

The rest of the cd is true B-ramam. Pop/Dance/Fluff/Awesomeness.

If you like electronica music:

Over the Ice - The Field

Everyday - The Field

Empire State of Mind (Jay-Z Feat Alicia Keys) This is my song right now. Jay Z is performing it before the start of the world series game in NY. Alicia Keys hook is hot!!!!

The One (Mary J. Blige feat Drake) Mary does it again with another hot track!!

So Beautiful (Musiq Soulchild) Just added this to my playlist for when the boyfriend and I candle it up for freaky sneaky activities. Beautiful song.

3 (Britney Spears) Once again I get sucked into a Britney damn Spears song. Love the track and it just makes me want to dance.

Christopher Walken performs Lady Gaga's Poker Face

Actually, I'm listening to Duffy's Smoke Without Fire from the An Education soundtrack.