Charles Aznavour
06.10.04 | 01:32 AM
When I think of France, I see the smoke of cigarettes in a café, the smell of coffee or warm baguettes in the street, and people on old-fashioned bicycles working their way along the cobblestone. In this quaint and only semi-realistic vision, there is always a mysteriously and uniquely French style of music playing in the background. And ladies and gentlemen, Aznavour is the king of it.
Ok, ok. There are others. Gainsbourg comes to mind first and foremost. But something is so tortured and romantic and pleasant and stuck-in-the-40's (like the rest of the country) about Aznavour that means I can listen to his albums for hours on end. The others I have to turn off eventually. He sings lullabies, urban tales, and great romance stories. And unlike most French singers I have come to know, he has a great, soothing voice.
This song, La Boheme, is one of his better known. It's soft and sweet, and on permanent loop in my Top 25. For those who speak French, the words are beautiful... for those who don't, there's my weak (but with good intentions) translation below. Note that sooo much is lost in translation, but it's just to give you an idea what he's talking about.
If you're not interested, just scroll down for the download.
PS He's also a really famous actor. And an artist, obviously.
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I'll tell you about a time
That those under twenty
Could not possibly know.
At that time, Montmartre
Was hanging lilies
Up to our windows
And so humbly decorated
was our home
that we didn't pay for
That's where we met
Myself who cried out hunger
And you who posed naked.
Bohemia, Bohemia
That meant "we were happy"
Bohemia Bohemia
We only ate every other day.
In neighboring cafes
We were some of those
Who were waiting for glory.
And although miserable
With an empty stomach
We never stopped believing.
And when any cafe
For a warm meal
Lent us a canvas
We would recite verses
Gathered around the (cooking) pan
Forgetting winter.
Bohemia, Bohemia
That meant "you are pretty"
Bohemia, Bohemia
And we all had some genius in us
Often times
In front of my easel
I would have a sleepless night
Changing the drawing
The line of a breast
The curve of a hip
And it wouldn't be until morning
That we would finally sit down
In front of a café au lait
Exhausted but happy
We had to love one another
and love life.
Bohemia, Bohemia
It meant "we are twenty"
Bohemia, Bohemia
And we were living the times
On some random days
I stop by
My old address that
I no longer recognize
Not the walls, not the streets
That saw my youth
Up a flight of stairs
I look for the artist's studio
Of which nothing more exists
With its new decoration
Montmartre seems sad
and the lilies are dead.
Bohemia, Bohemia
We were young, we were crazy
Bohemia, Bohemia
It doesn't mean anything at all.
Download it here : Charles Aznavour - La Boheme
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Spearhead
20.04.03 | 02:45 AM
Michael Franti and Spearhead came my way via a crappy copied cassette that had been copied off of another copied tape of Spearhead's first album, "Home". I hung on to that tape for years until the songs became fuzzy and static-y around the edges. Once I got a full-time job in high school, I hurried out to buy "Home," and I managed to pick up their second album, "Chocolate Supa Highway" just in time for me to constantly listen to it on my headphones when discovering my new college campus. The songs on "Chocolate Supa Highway" forever make me think of freedom, confusion, sunshine, and California rain.
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Maybe that's fitting somehow. Franti, Spearhead's frontman, is himself a Bay Area resident, and Spearhead's music is full of powerful contradictions that make it revolutionary. Franti's deep, enticing voice turns rapping into more of a soothing bedtime story, even in some of the more "angry" songs on Spearhead's albums. This is more the type of rap music that you can listen to while watering your plants, taking a brisk yet relaxing stroll, or listening to the rain fall on your rooftop.
Franti has been respected since his early days with Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy, but it is perhaps with Spearhead that he really shines. Spearhead is a different type of rap: new, fresh, and bizarrely positive and uplifting. Their messages can range from views on the death penalty to homelessness to AIDS. Politically aware, and not afraid to show it, Spearhead makes the case for an appealing hip hop movement not based on "guns and alcohol" but instead on education and motivation.
This song is a remix of a track off of their 1994 debut album "Home" entitled "Hole in the Bucket." The original track is pretty kick ass, but as anybody can find it on any file-sharing program of choice, I thought it might be more interesting to provide this remix. I don't know where it comes from, but I have a pretty sizeable collection of "Hole in the Bucket" remixes (as it is probably their most successful song) and this one takes the cream. If you like it, buy the album. And then buy the second one and then the third. You won't be sorry.
Just dig it, and let me know what you think.
Download it here: download no longer available, contact me to find out how to get it.
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Funkadelic
05.03.03 | 02:17 AM
Funkadelic came into the life at just the right moment. I was a bit lost - I had left my Michigan sanctuary and had entered the wild northern Californian hippie vortex at seventeen for college - and luckily one of my freshman year neighbors had excellent taste in music. Turns out her introductory dose of Funkadelic in my life was just what I needed to start to make some sense of it all. Some.
And since then, I've been a loyal Funkadelic fan.
Most people collapse Parliament and Funkadelic into one, but I just can't seem to bring myself to do it. The groups are both the children of funk-father George Clinton (photo), but I still keep them distinct in my head. I'm just more attached to Funkadelic because of silly sentimentality associated with each song.
For an official declaration of how the two groups differ, here's a quote from this site:
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Funkadelic albums are heavily guitar-oriented, with lots of solos and instrumental pieces. A lot of the singing was done by the band members themselves. Horns are very rarely heard, and keyboard arrangements were mostly used for fills and melody. Parliament, on the other hand, was used as the main outlet for the five singers. Lots of doo-wop and gospel-influenced vocals, resulting in some beautiful, if occasionally bizarre, harmonies. Horns are prominently heard, with the occasional solo (Mothership Connection almost sounds like a jazz album at times). Keyboards and bass are the dominant instruments, with the guitars being left to drive the riffs. By the time the late 70's hit and the bands had four # 1 singles between them, the two groups started to sound more and more alike, especially when all of the splinter groups started up and everyone recorded stuff for them. The music became less rock oriented and more dance oriented, though at a very high standard in general.
I suppose Parliament is the snazzier of the two. As the baseline for almost every early rap song ever, Parliament is known for the big hits like "Flashlight," "Atomic Dogg," and "We Want the Funk."
But Funkadelic seems to be more varied to my ears. They run the gamut from crazy and funky to slow and mellow. Some of their slower songs I can listen to on repeat for hours, if in the right mood. They'll eventually make their way onto this site, but not today.
Instead, we'll do a well-known Funkadelic song, because it was how I first came to know them. "One Nation Under a Groove" is a toe-tapper, a head-bopper, a damn-why-the-hell-do-I-feel-like-puttin-on-my-dancin-boots piece of genius.
Listen to that percussion. Wild. How many instruments do you think there are total? Honestly. Plus, how can you not like a song that's man lyrics are "One nation under a groove, gettin' down just for the funk of it"? How can you not?
Download it here: download no longer available, contact me to find out how to get it.
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MJ (on his own)
02.03.03 | 12:15 AM
So I hesitated with this one - should it go under disco, pop, or just pure friggin' genius?
I could put up the obvious MJ tunes. Lord knows I have listened to all of them repeatedly for two decades without yet getting tired of them. This song, however, I discovered much later than I had come to know "Thriller" and "Billie Jean". Michael was already a freak by the time I first heard "Workin Day and Night" But man, this song... it just gets me groovin! You can hear that Michael is just letting loose in every way, especially when he does his little hoots and sighs. I used to play it at work all the time, and I would always notice the customers cocking their heads up and tapping their feet.
This quality Michael. The one I love, anyway.
Groove to it. I dare you to put it on your headphones and to not walk with an extra little somethin' in your strut. No. I double dare you.
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Aretha
26.02.03 | 01:23 AM
Aretha is so much more than just a soulful woman singing about respect. She's got several songs out there that beat the pants off of "Respect." And "Dr. Feelgood" is one of them.
I played this song in part of my regular rotation. I have been listening to it off and on ever since a friend of mine in college put it on a mixed tape for me (back then they were tapes, of course). Recently, while Aretha's soulful voice was bellowing throughout my box-like apartment, the Boyfriend turned and shouted into the bedroom "Hey. This is good. Who is this?"
And I said, "Aretha."
and he said, "Wow. This should have been the song that made her famous."
I agree. But I think I actually prefer that hasn't been in seven million movies and played over thousands of karoake machines. "Dr Feelgood" is above that.
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Can you argue with these lyrics:
Don't send me no doctor
Fill me up with all a those pills
I got me a man named Doctor Feelgood
Yeah! Yeah!
That man takes care of all my pains and ills
His name is Doctor Feelgood in the morning
To take care of business is really this man's game
And after one visit to Dr. Feelgood,
You understand why I feel good, in this pain. **
Oh! Yeah! Oooh!
Oh, good God a-mighty
The man sure makes me feel real........
Goooooooood!
** I always thought the lyrics said "you'll understand why Feelgood is his name" You have a listen and tell me what you think. Either way, I dig the lyrics.
Download it here: download no longer available, contact me to find out how to get it.
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