This is a good little wake up jam. And seeing this is one of the things that got me interested in the Zac Brown Band - to see that they were all good players, and write good songs also. This is one of the few bands my whole family agrees on. Fun fact - I don't know how the connection was made, but Dirk Lemmenes from Stavesacre/Focused is now Zac Brown's personal assistant.
The Shuffle is taking it even further back now. I think I have this as a result of downloading a "classic oldies" playlist. Fun Fact: In elementary school I went through a phase of listening to NOTHING but oldies. I'd call in requests to the radio station and my first concert ever was The Beach Boys with Three Dog Night. Frankly, I'd LOVE to see The Beach Boys again - they rule. I like the nonchalant coolness of these bands that were hot in the 60s, as seen in this video.
Two 80s classics in a row here at Morning Shuffle. I don't think I have this one on my phone but it's easily made the cut to stay in my collection. Has a band ever done a parody of this video?
Wake up to a classic. This is one of my favorite songs from the 80s and one of the few that's still made the cut to be on my phone among all the other excellent music I listen to.
I can't find a video file for this one, so I'll just have to use a Spotify link. I didn't recognize the song when it came up. It was never a hit, but is probably one of the better tracks on Hello Nasty. To me, this record was the apex for Beastie Boys.
Rancid's making several appearances here lately - but I've got their whole catalog so it makes sense. I always thought this was Lars Frederiksen singing but turns out it's the bass player, Matt Freeman. This is basically a song about a relationship and life on the road.
Funny - I was just talking to some friends about Strongarm yesterday. This is the only video I can find for this song. Totally wish this band could have made a few more records simply out of curiosity to see how their sound would have developed. They had a major evolution from the first to second record (this is the title track of the 2nd record) and this record has been in regular rotation with me for a LONG time.
I appreciate that Rancid is a unique entity in the music world. I've heard bands try to imitate them, but they created this gritty punk sound with a reggae feel in a lot of their songs. Tim Armstrong is a great songwriter and on top of his work with Rancid, Operation Ivy, Transplants and solo records has worked with Pink and Gwen Stefani...stuff people may not expect for a punk rock musician.
This is one of my favorite metal bands from back in the day. This song is kind of an interlude, and the end of it is very much like something Metallica would do. This was probably the closest thing to Metallica in the Christian metal scene, although I think they were also trying to be their own band...not just a band that sounds like someone else.
This is one of my favorite songs by The Choir. The melody and chorus always caught me. I have a hard time understanding lyrics so it's usually not until I read through them that I figure out what a song is about. Turns out...this one is beautiful musically and an encouraging song of redemption.
The Shuffle actually brought up the "H. Libdo & The Progressive Choir of Stockholm Remix", which I can't find a video for. It's a Chicago-house remix which actually sounded decent. That said, I don't really want Fatboy Slim to ever pop up in Morning Shuffle again. I'm pretty done with the electronic music/DJ time in my life and think I'll be deleting this now.
I used to really dig Goldfinger. They were a fun band that came out of the pop-punk/ska rage of the late 90s. They're actually doing another tour with Reel Big Fish, another band from that same era. I saw these guys at the old 328 Performance Hall and it was a memorable show.
Travis was one of my favorite European bands for a few years. I thought they were English but turns out they're Scots (thanks Wikipedia). I'm a sucker for a good song with a strong melody and a hook, regardless of the style, and their first few records really reeled me in. When this popped up I didn't recognize the name, but once it started I remembered this one. I'm guessing they're a much bigger band overseas than they are here...never quite caught on like some of their counterparts.
Thrice is now winding down their farewell tour (tear) and they dusted some old ones off for the tour, including this song, T&C. I saw them in Atlanta and they played this along with some other older songs. I got started with Thrice with Artist In The Ambulance and I've only really liked a few songs off their first two records. This is one of them, along with Phoenix Ignition, which they also brought back for their last two tours.
If you don't know Thrice (and you like rock music) check them out immediately. Some may say I'm off hear, but I'd recommend starting with their 4 part EP set, The Alchemy Index. It cleanly bridges the gap between Vheissu (the record before it) and their current sound. Fantastic songwriting and musicianship, and Thrice will be missed by me big time.
This song isn't any indicator of what they ended up becoming...but it's still fun to listen to.
This song seems to be about a domestic abuse story, but I can't tell the point of view it's written from. I saw U2 for the first time about a year ago, and that was the first time they'd played in Nashville since the early 80s. They're a great band and they put on a great show (gosh that's a bland way to put it). I know a lot of people who are head over heels for U2 and I'm just not one of those people, but they're a great band.
In other notes, I watched Radiohead's set from Bonnaroo online last night. It's the first time I've seen them play live. Very good set but I was bummed they didn't cover a SINGLE song from THE BENDS, and only played 2 from OK Computer. C'mon boys - don't be scared of a verse and a hook. Now that you've deconstructed the rock song and stripped it apart, it's time to put it back together. And they've done that a bit lately - The Daily Mail is a fantastic song that hearkens back to their Bends/OK Computer days.
Late entry today. I love this record, and know it's a concept record about growing up and the way our lives and neighborhoods used to be. I wish it was like that for my kids now. I was younger than them and our parents pretty much let us run around freely...and roam pretty far. My son is almost 12 and we're just now letting him venture off with friends a bit.
When this song came up my first thought was "aw man, I thought I deleted Arctic Monkeys!" I'm pretty over them and probably still will delete their records, but this wasn't a bad song. Too much hype for this band though.
**explicit lyrics Ghostface is probably my favorite MC out of Wu Tang. This might as well be a Wu Tang track since it features the rest of them anyway.
I got into Kings of Leon a bit around the time that everyone else did. They had some good songs on their breakthrough record. With this one I can't figure out if I just don't like it or just didn't give it a chance.
I had to do some looking around to see how this even got into my collection. It's part of a "1983 Hits Collection" I downloaded from the Zune Marketplace - so that explains that. Not much to say...once it gets to the hook I realize that I do know this song. We all probably do.
I've liked these guys since I first heard about them in an issue of SPIN a few years back. The first record was a bit more gritty and garage-y but still had solid melodies and hooks. I believe they've lost a member and their sound now is more refined, which frankly took a bit of the bite out of them in my opinion.
