10kdays

558

Sun, 18 May 2008 22:06:44 GMT

The Music by Numbers theme rolls on. The next number is of course 4 and it's just a question of which route do I go with? Do I pick a song from an album like Led Zeppelin IV. Maybe a song from Radio 4 or Gang of Four. Or perhaps the Four Seasons? If I hadn't already written about it, I would have chosen the song "Four Leaf Clover" by Winger. Instead I'm going for another song by the same day. Back in the early 90's, the Smashing Pumpkins ruled the roost and many other bands rode their coat tails. One such band was Catherine. They were from Chicago like the Pumpkins and had a similar sound so the comparisons were bound to occur. And they increased when their drummer married the bassist of the Smashing Pumpkins. So instead of shying away from the link, they embraced it. D'arcy, the aforementioned bassist, would make an appearance on Catherine's song "Four Leaf Clover" and even promoted the song during her once 120 Minutes appearance. It was a pretty decent tune but it wasn't enough to get them very far. But I still enjoy the tune.

Song 558- "Four Leaf Clover" by Catherine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svT5wsWXTEY

557

Sun, 18 May 2008 03:12:56 GMT

Music by Numbers continues with #3. Now there are a couple of ways that I can go with this. Perhaps a band like Three Doors Down or Three Dog Night. Or maybe a song like "Three is the Magic Number". Or maybe even a song that peaked at #3 on the charts. Instead I decided to go for is an album known as Three. Though it really doesn't have a title, it's better known as Peter Gabriel III. Peter Gabriel didn't name his first 4 albums which made it a bit of a bitch back in the day for people. But he made up for it by having spectacular songs on each one. Four had "Shock the Monkey". One had Solisbury Hill. Two....well. Okay Two doesn't have a classic on it but it's still a good album. And what did three have?

Song 557- "Games without Frontiers" by Peter Gabriel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz-qeJOo7cs

And let me state this, once and for all. Since my blog ended up in google and on occasion people stumble over it. The line is not "She's so funky, yeah". It definitely sounds that way. It's "Jeux sans frontieres".

556

Sat, 17 May 2008 02:01:56 GMT

Music by Numbers continues with...2. Now the easiest route would be "Song 2" by Blur but I did a post about the song in the Sophie Muller theme. But I found another song to talk about. It just happens that today I was talking about Adam Ant...

2. "Goody Two Shoes" by Adam Ant

Being a straight edge kinda guy, this is a great song for me. I don't drink. I don't smoke. What do I do? Subtle innuendos follow. It must be something inside. Okay enough about me. I have to say that Adam was an odd figure from the time. If you've ever seen the video for this, he plays the heartthrob role but there he is tying his shirt in a knot at his abs like he's Daisy Dukes. You can tell me as much as you want that it's all a part of the fashion of the time and I won't believe ya. But watch this live video for the song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-NBZ_pKNOc . He's an odd one for sure. And he also once threatened a bunch of people at a pub with a fake weapon. Yep, just a little odd.

Song 556- "Goody Two Shoes" by Adam Ant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3g5G0PFuXQ

555-

Fri, 16 May 2008 01:58:01 GMT

New theme and this one is gonna go for more than 5 days. This is Music by Numbers. Some people paint by numbers. Me, I'm gonna blog about numbers in music and I'm going to keep going until either A) I fail to find something musical to go along with the number of the day or B) I just get bored of doing the theme. I'm hoping for the latter. No Failures! So, here we go. Music by Numbers.

1. "One" by Metallica.

A classic song with a classic music video and a great way to start this theme. Who doesn't remember seeing the video and wondering about its odd plot. If you've weren't an MTV watcher in the 80's or 90's, the video is a simple black and white live performance by the band spliced with the movie Johnny Got His Gun. The movie is about a soldier who gets hit on the last day of WWI and ends up without arms, legs or a face. He speaks in morse code and asks to be killed or be placed on display as a living testament to the horrors of war. The combination of the two make for one of the most intense experiences you can find, especially the end. I just found out that the movie is being remade. That ought to be very interesting...

Song 555- "One" by Metallica
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwW9L_qzqp8

554-

Thu, 15 May 2008 03:50:47 GMT

It's a late night and I'll be honest with you, this has been a very tough theme for me to do. Not all unreal bands are worth talking about. Take for instance, The Heights, the band from the spin-off from the spin-off. I'm not going to talk about the Chipmunks, Archies or Crazy Frog. I've already spoken about Josie and the Pussycats in the list and there are some virtual bands like Mistula and Pikku Orava that I know nothing about. So which band do I talk about in the last post of this theme. How about the fakest band ever....Milli Vanilli. I'll admit it. When I was a sucker like everyone else. I owned the first album and enjoyed it. The scandal diminished its shine but the fact of the matter is that someone made some good music.

Song 554- "Blame it on the Rain" by Milli Vanilli
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXhw813cxEg

553-

Wed, 14 May 2008 01:59:33 GMT

Fictional bands don't just happen when bands want to hide behind cartoon personas, on occasions a band will take on a new alter-ego. Take instance the band Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. David Bowie turned himself to the androgynous Ziggy who raced to superstardom only to be the victim of its excesses. It was all a part of one of music's great concept albums. Sure, David did take the whole bit a bit too far but it was a very creative musical expression. I wish that Green Day would go that next step with their Foxboro Hot Tubs gimmick. (Just don't take the steps after that...)

Song 553- "Ziggy Stardust" by David Bowie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dQWzdUVMbI

552

Tue, 13 May 2008 02:33:51 GMT

My my my. The unreal theme is hard. But I'm still moving on. I couldn't do the unreal theme without a look at the band Dethklok. If you have never seen the show Metalocalypse, allow me to try to describe it. It's the story of a group of illuminati as they watch over the world and it's greatest threat- a heavy metal band whose influence on the world is all encompassing. The thing is about this band, they don't really give a shit. They are too busy living the rock and roll lifestyle, sleeping with Gilfs, running with rock and roll clowns, freeballing and creating the most mind melting metal that the world has ever known.

Song 552- "Murmaider" by Dethklok
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6vZQNc0IAc

551-

Sun, 11 May 2008 22:52:16 GMT

Happy Mother's Day everyone. Since it's Mother's Day, I figure i'll post about something my wonderful wife is listening, seeing as she is the mother of my children (and easily the best mother I ever met, my kids are very lucky to have a mom like her). So time to peruse her Mp3 player. Hmmm. Well, I have been with my wife for almost 15 years now and still a lot of her listening harkens back to that time. There's a lot of grunge in that there mp3 player. It's a fact that I tend to get on her about. But I hope she knows I do it all jokingly because I have a bunch of the same songs on my jukebox. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw she dug up this gem from back then...

Song 551- "Mighty KC" by For Squirrels
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK2WWetxFP8

It's a great song from the grunge eras and made famous by one of the tragic stories of the time. For Squirrels was a band from Florida. They were on the verge of breakout success after playing in the CMJ. Then they got into a car accident that killed their singer and bassist. Then this song broke out as a hit with the most haunting chorus ever. Here was a band with a dead lead singer and here he was singing "And by the grace of god go I into the great unknown".

It's an amazing song and a great show of good taste by my wife. :)

550-

Sat, 10 May 2008 23:38:55 GMT

As you already know, I love music from Japan. And one of the bands I like is a complete mystery. The band is called the Genki Rockets. They are a virtual band. No one really knows who has made up the members of the band, other than the fact that it's the brainchild of Tetsuya Mizuguchi, who heads up Q-Entertainment. When they perform live, they are fronted by a hologram. The hologram is of a girl called Lumi, who was the first baby born in space and is new to the Earth. The band has earned some notice from their first single "Heavenly Star" which has appeared in two very different video games, "Lumines II" and "No More Heroes". They also got a lot of notice by playing at the Live Earth concert...

Song 550- "Heavenly Star" by Genki Rockets
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL2od1AF_Cs

Live Earth Tokyo concert:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKZDpeYxDEU

549-

Sat, 10 May 2008 01:40:06 GMT

Time to get unreal. This new theme is all about real music from band who aren't. The first band up is one of the most famous bands that don't really exist- The Gorillaz. It's the brainchild of Damon Albarn of Blur and Jamie Hewlett, the creator of Tank Girl. Basically, it's Albarn collaborating with various artists including Del the Funky Homosapien, Dan the Automator, Tina Weymouth and Miho Hitori. They unified all these efforts by making them into one band. Hewlett drew up a group of anthropomorphic monkey rockstars named 2D, Russel, Murdoc and Noodles. There's waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much backstory to these characters and now they've grown to the point where they've appeared on MTV Cribs and are listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's most successful virtual band. Tomorrow, we'll look at one of the newest.

Song 549- "Dirty Harry" by Gorillaz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adcdbfIoeW4

548-

Fri, 09 May 2008 01:54:35 GMT

It's Day 5, the final day of my Supergroup theme and I'm going to end with a very different supergroup than the previous 4. I've covered Rockstar Supernova, Power Station, Down and Mad Season. They all have similar equations. This one has a very different equation:

Parts:
1 mega-successful rapper
1 mega-successful producer/rapper
1 up and coming rapper

What you get is Child Rebel Soldiers which is the mix of Kanye West, Pharrell and Lupe Fiasco. The group hasn't put out an album yet but one of their songs "US Placers" was released in the world of mix tapes. It caught on fire and a viral video was made for the song. It became a YouTube hit and the song landed on Rolling Stones best songs of 2007. Yet still there are many who don't know this exists, which is surprising for such a colossal collaboration especially with the addition of a Thom Yorke sample.

Song 548- "US Placers" by Child Rebel Soldiers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZehNoZH2yac

Tomorrow, we get unreal.

547-

Thu, 08 May 2008 01:55:50 GMT

I posted yesterday and it weirdly didn't show up. But I was able to recover it. Now onto part 4 of my supergroups theme.

Parts:
1 drummer from Eyehategod
1 bassist from Pantera
1 guitarist from Crowbar
1 guitarist from Corrosion of Conformity
and 1 vocalist from Pantera

How can this mix be anything but kick ass? The resulting band is Down. It was the culmination of what happened when a bunch of good friends got together and decided to rock out toegether. My favorite part of the story is that they made a demo and then would give it to friends asking them if they had heard of Down. The band has been getting together since 1999 and are now about to tour their third album as openers for Metallica.

Song 547- "On March The Saints" by Down
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAvFTGVJuAo

Thu, 08 May 2008 01:32:30 GMT

I'm not feeling too good. So I'll keep this one short and sweet.

1 drummer from Chic
1 guitarist from Duran Duran
1 bassist from Duran Duran
1 solo artist

and what do you get....Power Station, headed up by the late great Robert Palmer.

Song 546- "Some Like It Hot" by The Power Station
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq6hY0Y3KGk

545-

Tue, 06 May 2008 02:43:51 GMT

We continue on in our look at supergroups which another equation:

Parts:
1 guitarist from Pearl Jam
1 drummer from Screaming Trees
1 bassist from the Walkabouts
1 vocalist from Alice in Chains

What have you got? Mad Season. Led up by the late great Layne Staley, Mad Season was one of many supergroups that popped up during the grunge era. There was Temple of the Dog (the mix of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden), Class of '99 (Staley + Tom Morello + two members of Porno for Pyros), even Foo Fighters falls into that category (Part Nirvana, Part Sunny Day Real Estate). At the time, Mad Season was very special though. Like many other supergroups, they were more than the sum of the parts. They didn't sound like Alice in Chains as they brought out a more soulful side of his vocals. They didn't sound like Screaming Trees or Pearl Jam. It's a shame that Layne passed when he did because the band had a great sound that defies before explanation (or duplication as the band suffered with Mark Lanegan as replacement vocalist).

Song 545- "River of Deceit" by Mad Season
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClRfnUhVjmI

544-

Sun, 04 May 2008 23:27:04 GMT

New theme time and it's time to look at the phenomena of the Supergroup. It's what happens when an establish artist gets together with some already established artists to create an entity that is often a quite excellent blending. In this strange new age, supergroups can come about in many different ways. More than one has been created through use of the reality tv game show.

Parts:
1 drummer from Motley Crue
1 guitarist from Guns and Roses
1 bassist from Metallica
1 singer who wins a reality TV singing contest...

What do you get? You get Rockstar Supernova, the band named after the show which helped to create it. I posted about the band all the way at the start of the 10kdays blog but I figured this was a good and familiar way to start off the theme. They weren't the most successful supergroup as they were quickly met with problems (Bassist Newstead was badly hurt and couldn't tour) and the band just couldn't get past a niche market mostly made of people who had watched the show; many of whom preferred Dilana, Toby Rand or Storm Large to winner Lucas Rossi. Nevertheless, the band went platinum in Canada (Rossi is Canadian) and had a decent tour. No one seems to know if the band is still together but we have a pretty decent single to remember them by.

Song 544- "Headspin" by Rockstar Supernova
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dnSnssYGLc

543-

Sun, 04 May 2008 03:07:06 GMT

Well, the covers theme is over. It's been a long ass day and I don't know what to talk about. Then again, for the last few minutes, I've been watching the crazy f'n horse death. If you don't know what I'm talking about, today was the Kentucky Derby. And what happens? The horse that came in second, Eight Belles, suddenly broke both her ankles after the race and had to be killed immediately. Crazy. Shame.

Song 543- "Dead Horse" by Guns and Roses
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxGejqxN2WY

542-

Sat, 03 May 2008 02:37:25 GMT

Now for a more unusual cover. Remember when Bobby Brown was on the top of the world. He was just on of New Edition. He was "good-to-go solo" and brimming with hits. That was before he was knee deep in drugs, all up Whitney's butt and watching his son stink up an MTV singing show. Well, so does the band Bedtime for Toys. They decided to dig up one of his songs for a cover. The obvious choice is to go for the big hit "My Prerogative". Britney did that one. But BFT, a multiethnic, multigender dance punk electronica band from Koreantown in Los Angeles, decided that on their new covers album "BFT iz Punk n' B" they would shoot for the first solo hit Bobby had, "Don't Be Cruel". The result is like BFT, a surprising blend of things.

Song 542- "Don't Be Cruel" by Bedtime For Toys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY64Ms11OXE

541-

Fri, 02 May 2008 03:27:22 GMT

Yesterday, I talked about the Beatles and their cover legacy. I would take time to talk about the Stones and their cover legacy but I've been sitting around watching MST3K, letting the time flitter away. But it was worth it. Big McLargehuge. F'n Classic. But so are the Stones. There are ten trillion covers of Paint in Black out there and honestly two of them are good (Why Vanessa Carlton, why?). Sympathy For the Devil is another one but with a greater success rate. That Guns and Roses version is pretty swanky. But I wanna talk about "Wild Horses". It's got the best success rate including a version that surpasses the original.

Song 541- "Wild Horses" by the Sundays
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_CDuyw4nRE

540-

Thu, 01 May 2008 01:57:40 GMT

When it comes to covers, people will always cover the Beatles until the end of time. They are in the eyes of many, the best band of all time. Covers will follow suit. I would list the covers but it's a tremendous list. Here, look at the list from The Covers Project.

http://www.coversproject.com/artist/beatles

And I bet that's only a partial. It's amazing to see for a band that only existed for a decade. There are a lot of very good covers like Fiona Apple's "Across the Universe" and Soundgarden's "Come Together". I have a partial penchant for this one:

Song 540- "Strawberry Fields Forever" by Candyflip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DjWpq8Oyoc

539-

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 03:13:35 GMT

It's kind of hard for me to do this theme. Covers are second nature to me so its unnatural to get really hyped up about them. So I figure I'll talk about some of the musicians that are frequently covered. For instance, Britney Spears. First it was "Hit Me One More Time" that garnered cover after cover and now the song that gets them is "Toxic". It's the song that is widely accepted as Britney's song with the most crossover appeal to the alternative rock crowd. It's the Britney Spears song you can have on your iPod without getting chastised. So when bands started covering it, it wasn't a surprise. Hard Fi did it for the Live Lounge. Yael Naim has covered it unplugged. Boss Hoss did it country style. Nickel Creek added a little Bluegrass. Hurra Torpedo slowed it down into a sludge rock dirge. And Local H probably did the best job by just rocking the song the f out.

Song 539- "Toxic" by Local H
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYAIguDS1cE

538-

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 02:07:58 GMT

Hmmm, this would be the time when I start up a new theme but I have no idea what to do for the new theme. Well, how about covers. Covers are a big part of my day in, day out listening so why not do a theme all about them. I am a firm believer in the idea that songs are not meant to be done by just one artist alone. Why should a song only be done by one band if another band can add a new perspective? Take for instance, the Zutons' song "Valerie". On it's own, it's an okay song. It's a rocker that doesn't light the world on fire. But what if you take that song and give it some soul. Make it feel kinda Motown. Add some horns and a female vocalist. Now that's the ticket and that's exactly what Mark Ronson did. I will say that I like Panic at the Disco's version slightly better but in the end, it's Ronson's version that set the tone for their version too. And both make the original pale in comparison.

Song 538- "Valerie" by Mark Ronson featuring Amy Winehouse
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmOWU8LkFY8

537-

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 01:06:22 GMT

Hey it's fellow Song-a-day blogger Rachael Layne's birthday. Happy B'day Rachael!

Song 537- "House in my Head" by Rachael Layne f/ Glenn Case
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Res4JrDiWKI

536-

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 23:13:50 GMT

Today is the last day of my new to the playlist theme. Every once and a while I go to a record companies website and just start digging around in search of new bands to listen to. Recently, I did that with Century Media because I was in the mood for some blistering metal. No sooner do I go into their media section did I find the band The Agonist. They have the melodic sections which I actually appreciate. But all the grittiness and growling that you expect out of a Century Media band is there. It's like you took Otep (The Agonist has a lead singer) and mixed them with Lacuna Coil. That may not be the best comparison as there's no Evanescence to be found in the Agonist but that's why I include the YouTube links. Listen and come up with your own comparisons. Maybe Crisis...Gosh, I miss Crisis.

Song 536- "Business Suits and Combat Boots" by The Agonist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZo4bOZf3B4

535-

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 01:11:31 GMT

I have to rush through this post because I'm about to go out to the movies. Woo hoo Jet Li and Jackie Chan! So another band that has recently been added to my jukebox is MGMT (aka the Management). I didn't wanna like this band simply because there is just so much hype around them and after Vampire Weekend (yuck), I was very pee-shy to get into another band which is so heavily beloved in Alternative Press and in the blogosphere. But I heard the song "Kids" and had to kowtow. They are quite enjoyable with their keyboard rock style. I would say more but I've gotta go...

Song 535- "Kids" by MGMT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A47s-SVtTaE

534-

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 03:01:39 GMT

Who else has been rocking the jukebox? Hmmm, there are a new bands to my player but I worry that they are just one hit wonders. Many other recent additions have already gotten their day in the sun on 10kdays (like Kayo-Dot and To Kill A Petty Bourgeoisie). One band who is getting a lot of play that I never thought would is Shiny Toy Guns. Why the lack of faith? "Le Disko". That was the band's breakout single and it left me quite flat. The chorus was such uninteresting stuff. There was just nothing there for me in the song. So when I heard the song "Rainy Monday" which features male vocals instead of female and a sound that harkens back to my new wave roots, I didn't believe it was them. But it was. I don't know if the band isn't a one hit wonder with me but they have scored more than a few spins.

Song 534- "Rainy Monday" by Shiny Toy Guns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvsoRDvKgi0