At our final drs. appointment on Friday, the ever enthusiastic Dr. W instructed us that we need to bring music for the delivery room. "I'm counting on you both to make it good," she said. M and I had been vaguely thinking about our "birthing mix(es)" but after our visit we felt the weight of the challenge upon us. It isn't like M and I aren't a friend to the mix cd (as the hospital is not yet equipped with I-pod docking stations and I don't think I can bring in my own equipment, we must go old school). In fact, the "extraction tapes" cd made for the first part of this journey was so popular that we gave our copy to the nurse who was raving about it.
Yet, we are having trouble with what do for this cd. Is it rockin' (my vote)? It is relaxing (M is thinking so)? Or, it is simply our favorite music of all time? What to do? M had the idea that maybe it should consist only of music from the shows Mr. B has been to over the past nine months. M and I, despite living in a town that bands pass by, have been making every attempt to rock. So, in the last nine months, Mr. B has been to shows of The Be Good Tanyas, Heartless Bastards, and Arcade Fire with LCD Soundsystem. If we go this route, I would like to throw Lucinda Williams in the mix as we saw her right before Mr. B came on the scene and besides, the show was at the Ryman and was freakin' amazing.
Last night we went down to our local and well-stocked independent record store to try and find inspiration but nothing moved us. We need to get this project accomplished in the next 48 hours and so we are seeking your advice dear friends and readers. Please post/email suggestions today! I will then try and post the final line-up before Thursday afternoon. I'm counting on you, Luther.
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I'm writing this while still recovering from a 36-hour (48 hour?) flu, which started mid-way through the forgettable *Sweeney Todd,* so: logic? We'll see. Since I'm hardly the one to ask for musical suggestions, I'll say that another way to go might be to pick some tunes that are pretty neutral to you. That way, years from now, when you hear that song you'd never previously cared much about, you can smile and think: "That's the song that was playing when you came to town, Mr. B!"
Thinking about you! Lots of love!!
Alls I can say is: when we got in the cab to go to the hospital, the radio was playing the Stones, "Wild Horses." That was kind of great.
Can't wait to see Mr. Baby! xo
First of all, when Gianni says it's a 36 hour flu, he neglected to mention that he slept for *thity-six straight hours*. No lie. It's a sickie household at the Blums right now. But to the music: here are songs that make me smile so broad: Bob Dylan, "Santa Fe." Elvis Costello, "Strict Time." The Clash, "Rudie Can't Fail." Brian Wilson, anything from *Smile*. Jimmy Cliff, "Many Rivers to Cross." Warren G, "The Shack."
Love, H
All right. Caitlin wanted music recommendations, so here goes nothing. Now, as anyone who has ever met me knows, I have no sense of what's appropriate under any social conditions. So grain of salt all of what follows:
You cannot go wrong with "My Humps," insofar as that's sorta what you'll be dealing with.
I've recently been loving The Kinks' *BBC Recordings*. Great for singing along, but not so tired out as The Beatles or The Stones. Plus there's a really square sounding BBC radio host who interviews the band in between songs.
Gorgeous reggae vocal group: The Abyssinians. Their masterpiece, *Satta Massagana*, was recently re-releaased. It's full of bat-shit crazy Rastafarian nonsense, but who cares when the singing is so beautiful? At least they're not Mitt Romney. And who can actually understand Jamaican accents? Really.
Okkervil River's new album is amazing -- sort of an early Springsteen feel. Speaking of which, pick up The Hold Steady's last two CDs. Chuck Prophet's new disc, *Soap and Water*, is another great one in a Springsteen-Dylan tradition.
To get the rump shaking, try Daft Punk's new live CD. And if you can find anything by Lil Wayne, you won't be sorry. In related news, Wu-Tang and Ghostface? Christ-child, shmist-child, this double-decker was the miracle of the season. And Mala Rodriguez got up in my grill with some badass Mexican hiphop.
I've been listening to a lot of Dusty Springfield this year. So should you. Once upon a time, pop vocalists could sing, and they knew that one great note is better than a million lesser, melismatic ones.
For the Smiths/Belle and Sebastian fan, Jens Lekman's new album does a fine job balancing self-mockery with sweet melancholy.
For the alt-country fan, The Avett Brothers and Crooked Still bring the bluegrass hard, while Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter bring the heartbreaking voice and songwriting.
Patrick Wolf showed Rufus Wainwright what an authentically emotionally dysfunctional gay dude can do. *The Magic Position* is the disc Bjork would have made if she were a twink named Patrick Wolf.
The 3 CD *Wattstax* soundtrack is brilliant. But the real find is The Rance Allen Group, who were on the Stax label for a while. Now, I'm not a religious guy -- see my Rastafarian comments above -- but Rance Allen's voice makes me want to testify. Or confess. Or dance around Stonehenge. Or whatever it is religious people do.
Ry Cooder's *My Name is Buddy* proved that socialist utopian country folk is a viable career option. While Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings continued to milk the never-empty funk booby of James Brown for *100 Days, 100 Nights*.
Young Marble Giants re-released *Collosal Youth*, which might be the best album to come out of the whole punk/postpunk/blahblah scene. Plus, it doesn't sound like punk music, so you can actually listen to it, rather than tell people they should respect you because you listen to it.
Finally, ZZ Top. I mean, guitars playing blues chord progressions, bass, and drum machines. It's The Jesus and Mary Chain for rednecks and people who are into cars. I've illegally downloaded everything those bearded freaks put out. Much of it is, well, crap. But there's also pure friggin genius around there.
Seacrest out.
Thanks everyone. I knew I could count on you all. Luther, I have been loving the Okkervil River disc.
xo
C
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