Root Down in the Shadow

About five years ago, I was gifted my first iPod at a not-so surprise birthday party.  Having the iPod, was the catalyst that lead to today's blog.  It was the spark that pushed me to dig into iTunes and the world of podcasts.  Soon after, I discovered KT Tunstall , Lady Sovereign , and solo Mike Doughty via the INTERFACE podcast (which at the time was audio only, but is now full video and mostly performance).  I spent more time on iTunes and all of its search features.  I had hit the jackpot, now besides the obvious pickup of KT Tunstall's Eye To The Telescope album; I searched for more KT, and found KT Tunstall's Acoustic Extravaganza .  The Acoustic Extravaganza contained 10 stripped down versions of KT Tunstall songs.  It is a wonderful package of songs, as it skipped her hits 'Black Horse & The Cherry Tree', 'Other Side of The World, and 'Suddenly I See' including only 'Miniature Disasters'.  Instead it focused mainly on "B si...

I'm going to start this off by admitting that of my large music collection I have only listened to about 70%.  Admittedly, it's hard to purposely listen to the 30% you've never heard, when the portion you have listened to represents 16,000 songs.   I listen to music most of the day, most of the time to keep or change my mood.  However, I am a huge music fanatic, and sometimes it's as if it's my job to expand my musical horizon, and that of many others.   This technology age at times makes it more difficult, in some cases, as I can't just grab a disc and throw it in my player for a listen.  However, I'd be lost with out it.   Seriously, I added a large collection 2 years ago from a friend, I've completely forgotten what I added that day, but with the help of smart playlists, I can slowly get through the collection a little by little. I know very little these days of other music players, iTunes and the iPod have become my players of choice....

"Molly Songs" are very important in my house.  As a self prophesed music snob, I have started from the beginning exposing my young daughter to various music.  We started with songs that would calm her down, while she was colicky.  The instant winner, and savior of ours, was 'Boy With A Coin ' from IRON & WINE, which instantly soothed her with it's lovely rhythm and vocals .  As soon as she could coordinate her tiny little legs, she would have dance party, shaking her booty in front of the entertainment center, watching herself in the glass doors.   Medeski Martin & Wood 's kid album Let's Go Everywhere selection ' Where's the Music ' was a frequent and repeated choice.  As she ages and more becomes more self-importatnt, music has helped give her some identity.  "NooooOOOOOO, I need Molly songs", is frequently yelled in the car on trips, and I would die if forced to listen to commercial kid crap, like Barney.   In...

The iTunes song of the week from August 10th, 2010 has been a favorite of mine since I first downloaded it.  ' FELICIA ' by The Constellations became my first SONG OF THE WEEK , when I heard it last night catching up with most recent episode of Chuck from NBC on hulu.com(episode 16 Season 4).   The song just like Fitz and the Tantrums ' Moneygrabber ' is an instant hit, and destined to be played at spring formals and weddings.  That is, if no one pays attention to the lyrics of 'Felicia'.  But hey, it hasn't stopped Fitz and the Tantrums from having success with a song referencing a "cheap time whore" then the Constellations might do well, with their ode to a sexy maven on her knees. I would normally tell you more about other songs or albums of the band, but truthfully, I'm just not feeling it.  This is a one song download and that's it.  I downloaded what was their other highly rated song from Southern Gothic , ' Perfect Day '...

Tomorrow night, at the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia, I will be meeting up with an old friend and watching a band I have really come to enjoy.  The Low Anthem is the headline act, following a band named Bobby and former The Low Anthem band mate Daniel Lefkowitz as a solo act. I came to first listen to The Low Anthem , based on a recommendation from my near & dear friend.   I had started listening to their major debut What the Crow Bring s while exploring the now defunct lala.com site.  At the time it was nothing more than background music for me.   That's no slam against their music as,at the time, it was mostly lighter breathy tracks, such as 'Yellowed By The Sun' with electric guitar and harmonica being featured.  'The Ballad of Broken Bones' is a quintessential Low Anthem track, with lyrics that stick, melodic pump organ, and one of the coolest uses of technology with cell phones echoing Ben Knox Miller's whistling.   ...

Some of you may know, my all-time favorite band is Pearl Jam.  I'm not from Seattle, so I didn't know them from the beginning, I didn't have cable, so I missed 'Alive', and subsequently 'Even Flow ' the first times around, but by 'Jeremy' I was hooked.  My love for Pearl Jam grew strong, but exploded prior to the release of 'Vitalogy'. I acquired two Pearl Jam bootlegs 'No Fuckin' Messiah' and 'New Songs'.  I had an early and raw view of what was to become their third album a few weeks later, but also some cover songs, live tracks, and "B sides".  Cover songs of 'I Won't Back Down' from Tom Petty, 'I've Got a Feeling' from the Beetles, and 'Dock of the Bay' from Otis Redding were phenomenal.   Live acoustic versions of 'Wash' and 'Porch' from the Virgin Megastore in Paris were incredible.  Even better were raw live versions of 'Better Man' and 'Satan...