Happy Holidays!

Hello to all Holiday Folk! This is a going to be a short post but I though I should at least blog about some holiday music, but there is a lot of music to choose from. Not to worry! I decided it would be appropriate to write about my favorite holiday song. And more specifically the artists performance I like most.

"Let It Snow!" has to be my favorite Christmas song. Not only does the song reference what Alaska is all about, it is romantic, playful and makes me really love Christmas more. Little tid bit for those who don't know, "Let It Snow!" was written in 1945 by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne in California on a very hot day, a day that broke a record temps across the states.

What I love most about Lena Horne's rendition is that she takes the song to another level for me. It is playful and honest how she doesn't just sing the lyrics but makes you believe she is singing directly to you and your partner. The break in the song with the powerhouse horn section gives you a wake up call before drifting off again to her voice wanting to see a little snow, a whole week of snow if you can catch the last bit of her singing in the outro.

A+ for this song. I grew up with this playing along with Tony Bennett's "Winter Wonderland" and a barrage of other oddities on a cassette tape my Papa would play every Christmas. I will forever be requesting Lena's version of "Let It Snow!" for years to come. 

One Thing Leads To Something New

Well I never thought my next music purchase would include a new album from a group I never really cared for. Listing to my local NPR radio station, I heard a magnificent song. By a outdated 80's band. But the song stuck with me all day long and I had to find out who it was. Finding out it was by The Fixx was a major surprise. The Fixx is a British new wave/pop band that had moderate success with 2 major singles in the U.S., those being "One Thing Leads To Another" and "Saved by Zero". Of course I never "really" listened to their music as I found "OTLTA" just too annoying so I conjured up the idea that the rest of their music would sound the same. Stands to reason, right? Wrong! Those comments "Stand to Fall" as they were really ahead of their time if you were to listen closely to what they were singing about. They were subtle in their attempts to grab legions of fans that stood with them since the beginning. And here they are with a brand new endeavour that is most amazing. I feel ashamed that I couldn't get pass "OTLTA". The only songs I enjoyed of theirs were "Stand or Fall" and "Red Skies" which were not as popular in the U.S as they were with the previously mentioned songs.

So without futher ado, this new album "Beautiful Friction" is a breath of fresh air to the sounds coming out of the radio today, all of which sound way over produced and alike. The Fixx reach deeper than they have before and bring a familiarity with them. I want to be blunt with you right now: the lead song "Anyone Else" is a song asking us to take our heads our of our asses and pay attention to all that we are doing for our future generations. The video for the song is just perfect. Being a kid and ignoring all the gay bashing, politicrits and religion fanatics and not being afraid of who you are and standing up to what you believe in. As Cy sings "I can only be myself, I can't be anyone else but me." Please believe in yourself!

They follow that up with a song titled "What God?" giving you a feeling of what you think God wants us to do in life, the things we don't want to do, asking questions over and over again, when you feel like you have lost all faith. Great guitar rockin' song! "Shaman" is a ethereal jam that evokes images of standing on a dune waiting for the power of the sun to infuse me with the knowledge and strength to journey through life unafraid of what might come. I have to say that Cy Curnin made me love his voice more when I heard "Something Ahead Of You", I feel he is somehow channeling Bowie with all the right moves. Curnin in his best form. "Girl With No Ceiling" starts with a bit of an island beat to accompany Cy. Then the tempo turns around: come the chours slowing to a waltz but is upbeat enough to still be swaying along to the song. Great guitar riffs through the song thanks to Jamie West-Oram.

I was not disappointed with this purchase and so glad I opened my eyes, heart and ears to this group. I am ready to take a look into this band that slipped by. I feel that I have to blame the radio stations for playing "OTLTA" too much and not more of "Red Skies" or other songs of theirs that hit you like a ton of bricks when you get the message they are sending. Like Cy sings "Stand or Fall, State your peace tonight", this is what I am stating. Damn you corporations that take over and play this so called crap you call music. I can't stand it. We need more music like The Fixx. We need more NPR stations that are free to play what they want, when they want. Thank you KNBA for giving me a chance to give The Fixx another chance. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have picked up "Beautiful Friction" based on one song and its sole video.

Songs to Listen to:  "What God", "Beautiful Friction",  "Anyone Else" and "Girl With No Ceiling"

Kimbra - Vows

A young woman from New Zealand is thrust into the spotlight due to the helping hand she lent for Gotye. Kimbra is not a poor wayfaring stranger and very much somebody that you are going to know!. :P I know, lame joke. But seriously, this woman can sing and its a breath of fresh air compaired to the stuff I normally hear on the radio. With Vows we are treated to a throwback to some motown, soul infulenced tunes. We get a nice start with "Settle Down" is a little treat that Kimbra shows her vocal style. "Cameo Lover" sounds like a euro soul song that I feel I could dance to on American Bandstand. I absolutely love this song. It's fun, upbeat. Try not bopping your head along. "Old Flame" is an odd track but has that landscape of 80's etherialness to it. Makes it special to have it on the album. All these tunes have an old time sound to them that just works. Esp for her. "Withdrawl" is incredibly sexy and what a head turner. She sings with an elegance that is held by some great soul singers. I think Kimbra is best when singing songs such as "Withdrawl". I like to combine listening to this album along with Little Jackie's "The Stoop", another great throwback to soul and funk music. I think the best tracks are "Settle Down", "Good Intent", "Withdrawl" and "Call Me" but you all go ahead and be the judge! So I challenge people to listen and hold Kimbra's "Vows" to your heart. This is an album that is a great listen with lots of fun upbeat tracks to the slow, ready for love tracks. Her videos are great too. Check out on Youtube videos for "Settle Down" and "Good Intent".

The Cars - The Cars

"enter text here to describe this album" Yeah right! I thought that this would be easy. No. How do you begin to describe an essiental classic rock album? You fumble your way through, that's how. So here goes nothing! I finally bought the Cars debut album "The Cars" and having already heard the majority of the songs, being on the radio and all, I only had 2 songs to really sit and listen to. 'I'm In Touch With Your World' was something i felt that would have jumped right out of some erie slasher flick. The deep vocals and erie vibe from Ric was awesome to hear and I got a sense of where their style would develop on other albums for example the songs 'Panorama' or 'Night Spots'. The second song I had yet to hear is the last song sung by Mr.Orr, 'All Mixed Up'. A perfect song to wrap up the album and on a slower note. A very dramatic touch to the rest of the heavy guitar laden songs previously heard on the album. Nothing wrong with that though! Benjamin was always the one to grab a woman's or man's attention with his emotional delivery. I know this sounds rushed but let's jump back and let me say something eloquent about the songs not mentioned. What can I say? 'Just What I Needed' and 'Let The Good Times Roll' are the main anthems on this album. Well, at least to me. You get a perfect blend of what rock was all about back then. Chilling, Girls, Guitars, Girls, Guitars and did I forget to mention girls? :P They really did a good job of sounding like the premire rock group. I tend to forget and think, "Where is their first album and what did it sound like?" You're listening to it, dummy! All in all, if you like good classic rock, this album is for you. Like I said before. It is hard to describe an album when its written all over the album sleeve, to the lyrics in the songs. So I thank Ric, Benjamin, Elliot, Dave and Greg for being the masters that they are as musicians.