This really takes me back! 30 seconds in and I am 14 again. Ah, the 90’s – simpler times…
Is was always going to come to this at some stage I suppose. Once Friday’s were established as a shrine to guilty pleasures it was just a matter of time before Rhythm Is a Dancer was going to grace the pages of 365 days.
Also, how good is the video? I particularly enjoyed the “special effects”. It reminded me a little of this scene from The Simpsons.
/RjK
*Artist #733
As I mentioned yesterday, I have been listening to The Rhythm of The Saints a lot of late. It is a spectacular album. I stumbled across this video, for the lead single from the album and rather enjoyed it, particularly the purity of the drummers, who I think are members of the Afro-Brazilian band Olodum.
The Rhythm of The Saints:
/RjK
This is one of my favourite hip hip tracks. I can remember recording it onto a cassette from the radio and being utterly beguiled by it’s mellow, hypnotic sounds. Still to this day if I am feeling a little agitated (which is more often than I would like) it is one of the first tracks I think of to put me back on an even keel.
I have been meaning to post it for ages but especially since posting Mos Def a few weeks back. It is taken from his excellent 1999 debut album Black on Both Sides.
Mos Def – Black on Both Sides:
/RjK
This was a track that I discovered during while binging on Hip Hop over the weekend. I hadn’t hear of the band before but I really enjoyed it’s simple hook and languid rhymes.
Shadez of Brooklyn:
/RjK
*Artist #722
I have been in a bit of a Hip Hop mood over the past few days. This was as a result of not posting any trac ks from the genre in a while and a conversation I had earlier in the week about 2013 Kanye West versus the 2004 version. I don’t think he has ever really approached the heights he reached in The College Dropout but my friend begged to differ.
Anyway, these factors instigated a binge over recent days during which I was reminded of this classic track by pioneers A Tribe Called Quest. It is taken from their spectacular 1990 debut album People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm.
A Tribe Called Quest:
/RjK
I stumbled across a remix of this track earlier today and it reminded me of what a great tune it is. A classic feel good summer anthem. I can’t believe it was released in 1998! How can it be that long ago? I had also forgotten the video, it’s a good one.
Stardust were a once off collaboration between three French musicians including one half of Daft Punk (a fact I also learned today).
Stardust:
/RjK
*Artist #708
CjK Guest Post – Summer Cover #5
This tinkly upbeat version of Only Love Can Break Your Heart hits the summer spot. The song is the third track on Neil Young’s album After the Gold Rush. As one of the first albums I bought I maybe listened too long to the maudlin lyrics and his droney version. The song may have been written for Graham Nash after his split from Joni Mitchell though Young seems to be vague on this. No matter, the London based group Saint Etienne sailed along with this version in 1990, but still retaining something of the irony.
Saint Etienne:
/CjK
*Artist #698
Fade Into You, from Californian band Mazzy Star (which I posted earlier in the year), has been one of my most listened to tracks of 2013 so far.
This track is taken from Among My Swan which was released a couple of years later but also sounds great. A nice, mellow way to start to the week.
Mazzy Star:
/RjK
CjK Guest Post – Summer Cover #3
Let’s be clear, Glen Campbell nailed the definitive version of “Wichita Lineman” a song written by American songwriter Jimmy Webb when he recorded it in 1968. It was much played, covered and has entered adult easy listening heaven.British music journalist Stuart Maconie called it “the greatest pop song ever composed”.
It is not clear why REM recorded this version but it was probably homage to Jimmy Webb, who was inspired by lost love to write this classic.
R.E.M.:
/CjK
