I have a friend who has a bizarre habit of saying, "uhhhhhh" whenever he/she hears a song that has a certain sound (I've refrained from specifying their gender so as to protect the identity of the innocent). I'm not sure I can describe in words the type of songs that might evoke this response, so I've begun this week's podcast with "Spliff Mood" by Ooklah the Moc, which almost always brings out an "uhhhhh" from him/her. Listen to about 2 or 3 seconds of it and see if you don't feel the strange desire to make this grunt/groaning noise. The mix gets progressively more mellow and ends with a nice, relaxed reggae song. The playlist is eclectic -- it even includes a rap song (!) -- but hopefully not so much that it doesn't flow.
Also, I'm going to try using a Lala playlist as well as a podcast to provide more listening options, so let me know what you think. Enjoy!
Click here for the podcast.
Showing posts with label Podcast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Podcast. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Singer-songwriter Podcast
This week's podcast features the music of various singer-songwriters, including relatively new material from Bon Iver and Andrew Bird. If a certain song jumps out at you, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email and I'd be happy to suggest other songs that might be of interest.
Also, I tried using a lower bit rate for this podcast, so let me know if you notice a big difference in terms of sound quality.
Podcast available here (track information below)
Sufjan Stevens - A Loverless Bed (without remission) (0:09-4:26)
Kaki King - Doing the Wrong Thing (4:27-9:25)
Andrew Bird - Souverian (9:26-16:24)
Hotel Lights - Let Me Be The One (16:25-20:49)
Bon Iver - Beach Baby (20:50-23:19)
Sun Kil Moon - Ocean Breathes Salty (23:20-27:53)
Fleet Foxes - Mykonos (27:53-32:21)
Neil Young - Philadelphia (32:22-36:29)
Also, I tried using a lower bit rate for this podcast, so let me know if you notice a big difference in terms of sound quality.
Podcast available here (track information below)
Sufjan Stevens - A Loverless Bed (without remission) (0:09-4:26)
Kaki King - Doing the Wrong Thing (4:27-9:25)
Andrew Bird - Souverian (9:26-16:24)
Hotel Lights - Let Me Be The One (16:25-20:49)
Bon Iver - Beach Baby (20:50-23:19)
Sun Kil Moon - Ocean Breathes Salty (23:20-27:53)
Fleet Foxes - Mykonos (27:53-32:21)
Neil Young - Philadelphia (32:22-36:29)
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Reggae
This episode's podcast available here.
What are the first images that come to mind when you think of reggae music? For me, it’s always been tropical islands, jubilation, and marijuana. Sure, these things are all wonderful in manageable doses--well, I guess it depends on whom you ask--but until recently I’d thought of reggae music as being valuable pretty much exclusively as background music for a summer beach party. It seemed to me that the message of an average reggae song could be paraphrased as, “Look how blissful life is! Isn’t it great that we’re all so happy?!” Call me a negative person (you wouldn’t be the first), but I often couldn’t relate to music that I thought was so uncompromisingly joyful.
On a recent trip to Hawaii, however, my thoughts about reggae were entirely changed, and now it’s a genre that I've incorporate prominently into my music listening rotation. The fact that I’m not sure I heard any other type of music the entire time I was in Hawaii, as that’s pretty much all they play on the radio or in any public space, isn’t what did it for me. I was driving along the coast during a tropical rainstorm when the song “Idren” by BW, a local reggae artist, started playing on the car stereo. The dark, dismal mood the squall had provided allowed me to perceive the ‘vibe’ of the song in a wonderfully different way. Suddenly, it all made sense, and I was completely engrossed in the song in the best possible way, yet……I didn’t feel ecstatically happy! I always knew that reggae had evolved in a world of poverty and misery as a sort of cultural coping mechanism, but I now realized that it was not, as I’d thought, about ignoring life’s hardships. Rather, reggae is about accepting that life can be tough, and striving to mellow out and appreciate its simple pleasures–love, beauty, nature and community. And that I can relate to.
During my trip I discovered two active local Hawaiian bands that blew me away in particular: BW and Ooklah the Moc. Given their talent, it still baffles me to think that these bands are essentially unknown on the mainland.
Since I’ve returned, I’ve discovered a handful of other reggae artists from all over the world whose music I simply can’t believe I’d previously lived without. This episode’s podcast features songs from the above-mentioned Hawaiian groups, and a few other of my favorite reggae songs. Oh, and if you happen to be in Hawaii any time soon, do yourself a favor and check out these bands.
-Greg
Download the podcast here (track information below).
1. Marcia Griffiths - Don't Let me Down (0:06-3:13)
2. BW - Idren (3:14-7:21)
3. Ooklah the Moc - You Light (7:22-12:56)
4. Rebel Souljahz - Long Long Time (12:57-16:42)
5. The Jahlights - Right Road to Dubland (16:42-19:39)
What are the first images that come to mind when you think of reggae music? For me, it’s always been tropical islands, jubilation, and marijuana. Sure, these things are all wonderful in manageable doses--well, I guess it depends on whom you ask--but until recently I’d thought of reggae music as being valuable pretty much exclusively as background music for a summer beach party. It seemed to me that the message of an average reggae song could be paraphrased as, “Look how blissful life is! Isn’t it great that we’re all so happy?!” Call me a negative person (you wouldn’t be the first), but I often couldn’t relate to music that I thought was so uncompromisingly joyful.
On a recent trip to Hawaii, however, my thoughts about reggae were entirely changed, and now it’s a genre that I've incorporate prominently into my music listening rotation. The fact that I’m not sure I heard any other type of music the entire time I was in Hawaii, as that’s pretty much all they play on the radio or in any public space, isn’t what did it for me. I was driving along the coast during a tropical rainstorm when the song “Idren” by BW, a local reggae artist, started playing on the car stereo. The dark, dismal mood the squall had provided allowed me to perceive the ‘vibe’ of the song in a wonderfully different way. Suddenly, it all made sense, and I was completely engrossed in the song in the best possible way, yet……I didn’t feel ecstatically happy! I always knew that reggae had evolved in a world of poverty and misery as a sort of cultural coping mechanism, but I now realized that it was not, as I’d thought, about ignoring life’s hardships. Rather, reggae is about accepting that life can be tough, and striving to mellow out and appreciate its simple pleasures–love, beauty, nature and community. And that I can relate to.
During my trip I discovered two active local Hawaiian bands that blew me away in particular: BW and Ooklah the Moc. Given their talent, it still baffles me to think that these bands are essentially unknown on the mainland.
Since I’ve returned, I’ve discovered a handful of other reggae artists from all over the world whose music I simply can’t believe I’d previously lived without. This episode’s podcast features songs from the above-mentioned Hawaiian groups, and a few other of my favorite reggae songs. Oh, and if you happen to be in Hawaii any time soon, do yourself a favor and check out these bands.
-Greg
Download the podcast here (track information below).
1. Marcia Griffiths - Don't Let me Down (0:06-3:13)
2. BW - Idren (3:14-7:21)
3. Ooklah the Moc - You Light (7:22-12:56)
4. Rebel Souljahz - Long Long Time (12:57-16:42)
5. The Jahlights - Right Road to Dubland (16:42-19:39)
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