This guy is new to me, but judging by the amount of views he has on Youtube, he’s been around for a long time. His name is James, and he is of Led Zeppelin cover band “Virtual Zeppelin”. This dude has an amazing voice, and he covers Led Zeppelin songs in a way I’ve never heard before. Most of the stuff is played on an acoustic Guitar but not all of it. He also does other bands like Alice In Chains and The Beatles. The video below is of James covering Hey Hey What Can I Do. If you liked this, you absolutely must listed to his version of The Rain Song. It is truly unbelievable and so accurate!
For older Led Zeppelin related posts click Here.
If you were around during the short lived Grunge era, this video is a must! During a Pearl Jam concert in L.A. on October 6, Chris Cornell suddenly came on stage, and together with the band performed one of Temple Of The Dog’s classics, Hunger Strike:
Regina Spektor’s new album, Far, is slated for release this Tuesday, June 23rd. For a sneak peak of the talented chanteuse’s signature track, “Laughing With,” listen below.
Because it’s never too late to think about “trialing” new vocations and you’ve got nothing but time on your hands when your producers are picking up your $3340/night villa tab (not to mention the $410/day on handlers), Amy Winehouse has taken to a bit of volunteerism - setting her mind on healing the inhabitants of St. Lucia.
WInehouse has been in the news lately for making even more random, off-colored comments (no pun intended) than usual, but then again, envisioning Amy as a candy striper prepping meals, visiting expectant mothers, and handing out medicines seems the most far-fetched role to date.
Whatever the case may be, here’s hoping that Amy keeps her head up amidst the trashy news of her husband’s bastard baby. Focusing on people who have learned to live with a little less might be just what the doctor ordered.
Blues Traveler frontman John Popper said it best a few years back when he likened his struggles with obesity to fueling the angst and consequently the power of his sound. Sad as it sounds, Popper recognized that in shedding lbs through gastric bypass, he had lost his drive. He was too happy to make good music.
The same might be said of the new upbeat Ray LaMontagne album, Gossip in the Grain which was released today. It’s as if overnight, LaMontagne sold out to music execs demanding more poppy overtures to fuel the likes of “Grey’s Anatomy,” Grain’s songs are infused with a lighthearted cheery tempo. There are but a few songs worth listening to and it’s mostly stale. The one notable song (and no, it’s not the featured single on the album) is LaMontagne’s rather dour diddy about his quasi-freakish obsession with drummer Meg White. The song delivers us a piece of the Ray we fell in love with - all yearning and raw melancholy. It’s also probably the only genuine song on the album.
I give Ray a thumbs up on the taking chances bit with trying out a new, upbeat vibe. Hope is good. Now go back to making us sad and help us rediscover emotions we didn’t even know we had. We love that more.
Have you noticed that all the songs in Apple products (iPod, Mac..)commercials sound exactly the same? Is this what one might call Branding? Or is it Over Branding?
And also, my Mac does need to be restarted at times, and while I appreciate it’s quality, it still gets stuck here and there!!!
I can’t believe they turned Mama Mia into a movie. And what a cast: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and more. I got a chance to watch the show a few years ago in Vegas, and though the storyline was as stupid as a musical storyline can be, I enjoyed listening to the to the immortal ABBA songs performed by the cast.
But now they turned Mama Mia into a movie. That’s unbelievable!
Remember your worst nightmare? The one involving you being discarded like yesterday’s trash and easily replaced? The one where you woke and realized that thankfully you weren’t dispensible or at the very least, it was all just a dream, but secretly questioning and doubting your abilities and cringing at your assessment of you self-worth?
Maybe these neurotic tendencies only creep up on me. It’s possible. As I was watching VH1 today, however, and seeing this new 20-year-old chanteuse from North London being hailed as the “new Amy Winehouse,” I had to sneak a listen to her. I also had to ask myself that why in an industry as vast as music, do we need to go around and recycle the same names. Winehouse was able to breathe new life into soul music and put it back on the map. She should be credited as such, in spite of all her drug-laden shenanigans. The girl’s got raw talent. Her predecessors are simply jumping on the over-crowded bandwagon.
And while the singer known as Adele (having your last name dropped from a label eliminates all those ugly pesky ethnic associations) might be more of a promising gamble in the professionalism dept. and she shares some things in common with Amy -notably they graduated from the same performing arts school and share a producer, Mark Ronson, Adele is no Amy, “chasing pavements” and all.
But you be the judge and listen and compare below.
We should all follow our dreams. And if Scarlett Johansson’s dream is to sing, than so be it.
So, without further ado, here is Scarlett in “Falling Down.”
It’s not horrible right? Not great either…. I don’t know what to make of it…..
I did a Youtube search for one of my favorite artists today and discovered that Ms. Spektor is doing the theme song for the new Chronicles of Narnia movie. It’s a big coup for the artist, whose music has graced many a Grey’s Anatomy/CSI episode over and over again, but has yet to venture into the lucrative, albeit potential shark infested waters of Hollywood.
Anyways, as we’re huge fans of Regina on this blog and were planning on sneaking a peak of the new Narnia flick this weekend (Note: Not the Sex & The City movie), I say a celebratory drink is in high order. However, given that it’s 5 PM and I have a night of work ahead of me, I think I might have to settle for a run to the local Dunkin Donuts…
Amy Winehouse is going to model in London Fashion Week in September. Designer Julien MacDonald wants to sign her because of her ” great style” and because ” She’s unique.”
Therefore, I ask again:
Amy Winehouse and her producer Mark Ronson won’t be teaming up for any theme songs to any motion pictures anytime soon. The two were slated to make some more beautiful music together - this time for the upcoming James Bond film, “Quantum of Solace.” Unfortunately for the Bond franchise and Amy fans, Ronson doesn’t feel Winehouse is ready to resume recording sessions for the song.
“We tried to work for a little bit,” he told Sky News. “I’m not sure she’s ready to work on music yet.”
Ronson, who produced much of the troubled singer’s Back to Black album, also said it was unlikely work on the Quantum of Solace track would continue “unless by some miracle of science it gets recorded and someone sings a vocal on it”.
He added: “We did work on it but we never finished it so that’s about it.”
So, she finally made it, she shook the tree, and got her $48.6M from Sir Paul. “I’m so, so happy with this,” Heather Mills told the many reporters following the closed hearing. “I’m so glad it’s over, It was an incredible result in the end to secure mine and my daughter’s future and that of all the charities that I obviously plan on helping and making a difference with — because you know it has been my life for 20 years” she said. Oh…..so noble…. What she forgot to mention, was that she was offered this amount from McCartney in the past, but the greedy dancer wannabe refused to settle, and sought almost $250 million.
I just hope that we can now have a break from Heather Mills’ circus, and concentrate on what’s really important… American Idol…..
One of my favorite preoccupations and possibly a career of mine in a former life is discovering really great music acts before they make it big. Given this disclaimer, it’s only fitting that I introduce to you an Israeli singer-songwriter that’s sure to gain some serious kudos and notoreity. His name is Oren Lavie and he’s one of a wave of Israeli singers whose music is getting airtime on big-time commercial broadcasts these days. (Yael Naim’s MacBook Air ads are also pretty catchy). So if you haven’t yet heard Oren’s hit single, Her Morning Elegance, on ads for Chevy Malibu, it’s only a matter of time. And if you’d like to hear a more crisp version of the track, click here.
Oren’s brand of music (think brooding Nick Drake meets orchestral overtures of Damien Rice with a little Beatle mania thrown in) is indicative of the type of music that is most likely going to be featured on a Morning Becomes Eclectic playlist and so not surprisingly, not only has his music been featured on KCRW, but it’s gained critical acclaim from the station, being honored as one of the Top 10 albums of 2007.
While it may be rare for someone who is just 31 to have already lived two professionally unrelated lives, it is even rarer to find someone who happens to be re really good at both and acknowledged as such by the public. Lavie, who grew up in Israel and gained early buzz as a playwright winning awards at the Acco Festival in Israel, moved from Israel to New York (with a stop in London) before realizing that music was more his calling. He started his own label, produced his own music, and even began to write his own music.
Lavie, who counts Jacques Brel, Leonard Cohen, and Tom Waits among his influences has a funny, self-deprecating tone to his demeanor. Perhaps evocative of his Israeli upbringing and attempting to create some sort of linear connection between the many different acts of his young life, Lavie likens the cities he’s lived in to the “green-ness” of the cucumbers. For those of you cucumber purists, don’t be betting on Berlin or London. They will only bring you tristesse, which for Oren Lavie might just suit him after all.
For more on Oren, click here.
I thought that the whole thing about Eli Stone was that George Michael appears in all of his visions/ hallucinations.
Now I’m curious to know where George is. We he is not so good in hiding. A permanent role for the singer, will improve the show greatly.
Just to think of the long way Sick Boy had to go, from a drug addict to Eli Stone….
Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suite on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourselves. Choose your future. Choose life… But why would I want to do a thing like that?
Warning: This post has the potential of making you moody. Don’t read it if you are having a happy day!!!!
Riders on the storm
Riders on the storm
Into this house we’re born
Into this world we’re thrown
Like a dog without a bone
And actor out on loan
Riders on the storm
There’s a killer on the road
His brain is squirmin’ like a toad
Take a long holiday
Let your children play
If ya give this man a ride
Sweet family will die
Killer on the road, yeah
The recent rain and snow storms in my area reminded me of this wonderful song from the 1971 Doors album, LA Woman. And it also made me think about all those talented people who died at the same very young age of 27:
Jimmy Hendrix died on September 18, 1970 in London. He was 27. Just two weeks later, on October 4, 197 one of Janis Joplin’s road managers found her dead in the Landmark Motor Hotel in LA. She was 27.
Jim Morrison died in Paris. It was July 3 1971, and he was taking a bath. Guess how old he was. It took 24 years before our next 27 year old phenomenon checked out. It was April 8, 1994 when Kurt Cobain was discovered at his Lake Washington home by an electrician, after he shot himself.
(Click here for more Amy Winehouse stuff)
I did not watch the Grammy Awards. I was experiencing some unprofessional treatment by a verity of Airport employees. But even if I didn’t have this pleasure, I doubt if I would have watched the event. i just don’t like this kind of shows.
However, when I found out that Amy Winehouse, one of this blog’s favorite singers picked FIVE(!) Grammys, and also looked kinda OK on the screen, I was happy. Although at first, she could not get a visa to the US, and by the time she got it, it was to late for her to come, she still managed to pull out a show via satellite (So I’ve been told…) When she sang her most famous song, Rehab.
So, this is Amy’s time now. If she’ll know to take it easy on the alcohol and the drugs, and for God’s sake, grab a bite, she can have a great future.
I saw Frank Bell, whom I know nothing about other then what this page has to offer, singing and playing the guitar (and whistling…) on YouTube. And since I liked “The Penguin”, I decided to share. So, here it is: Frank Bell- “The Penguin”
Amy Winehouse, now with a new hair, is working on hersinging skills with her dad to improve her self confidence. A source told Showbiz Spy that:“She often has friends round for drinks and inevitably most of the time she ends up singing. One night Mitch (Amy’s dad) joined in and Amy loved it. They had a great giggle and it really made her feel good about herself so Mitch wants to repeat the experience as often as possible.” It’s also a good practice before her scheduled appearance at the Grammies next month. If to judge by this picture, it looks like the problem is not her singing or her hair cut, she is in a dyer need of a good meal, make it two.
Two of our little blog’s favorite subjects are in the news lately.
Amy Winehouse, who’s always in the spotlight, has been nominated for 6 Grammy awards, including one for Album of the year. Despite the wide varity of her recent issues, Amy is eager to perform in the show. One of the singer’s reps told People Magazine, “Amy is thrilled to be nominated for six Grammys and is very much hoping to attend. She is determined to be ready and well for that performance. It’s a really difficult time and she’s been channeling it into her music.”
Jennifer Love Hewitt, who just recently announced her engagement to actor Ross McCall is now suffering the wrath of all sorts of gossip websites, and all because of some unflattering pictures of her that appeared on the cover of People Magazine, wearing a bikini … If this new obsession with Love Hewitt’s butt suggests that we’ll hear less about Britney’s, it’s great, but I don’t think it’s gonna happen…
Because it’s never too late to think about 
Amy Winehouse, now with a 
Two of our little blog’s favorite subjects are in the news lately.
recently announced her 
engagement to actor Ross McCall is now suffering the wrath of all sorts of gossip websites, and all because of some unflattering pictures of her that appeared on the cover of People Magazine, wearing a bikini … If this new obsession with Love Hewitt’s butt suggests that we’ll hear less about Britney’s, it’s great, but I don’t think it’s gonna happen…
