One More Cup of Coffee

Jen Kehl at My Skewed View and Kristi at Finding Ninee host Twisted MixTape Tuesday, a blog hop that’s all about music.  The premise is to create a five song mix based on the week’s theme.  (You can click on the button above if you’d like to play along).  Here’s Jen’s instructions for today’s topic:

Great Cover Songs

I know I haven’t joined in for a couple weeks, but my winter blahs are reaching critical mass.  I knew for a fact that I couldn’t miss this week though.  I mean “cover songs” are my thing!

1.  Ain’t No Sunshine – Santana and Rob Thomas.  I just discovered this version of Bill Withers’ hit song a couple weeks ago.  These two make a dynamite duo and I hope they do more collaborations in the future.  I just wish there was a better version online.

2.  One More Cup of Coffee – The White Stripes.  You really can’t throw a rock into a pool of covers and not hit a Bob Dylan song.  Dylan once remarked that this song was written from his experience of a week spent at a Gypsy Festival in France.  I think Jack White does an admirable job in capturing the Dylan-esqueness (yeah I may have just made up that word) of the song.

3.  I Will Always Love You – Chris Cornell.  Honesty time here…I really dislike this song.  Both Dolly’s version and Whitney’s.  But I ran across this version about a month ago on a playlist and was really getting into it before I even realized what the song was.  Are his vocals as pure as the more famous singers?  Of course not…and that’s probably why I actually like this “rawer” version of the song.  As far as I can by YouTube, the only performance he’s done that was recorded was for an Obama fundraiser a couple years ago.

4.  Street Fighting Man – Oasis.  Speaking of “raw” songs, I’m usually not a huge Oasis fan, but love this cover of the Rolling Stones’ song.

5.  The Man Who Sold the World – Nirvana.  I did a TMT post a few months back about covers that were better than the originals and included Nirvana’s cover of Where Did You Sleep Last Night.  I had a discussion a few days later with a friend that asked me why I chose to use that Nirvana song from the MTV Unplugged special instead of this one.  My answer was simple…its because I love both Nirvana’s cover and David Bowie’s original of this song and I really don’t think one version is better than the other.

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Oh Darlin’ What Have I Done

Jen Kehl at My Skewed View and Kristi at Finding Ninee host Twisted MixTape Tuesday, a blog hop that’s all about music.  The premise is to create a five song mix based on the week’s theme.  (You can click on the button above if you’d like to play along).  Here’s Jen’s instructions for today’s topic:

We’re back to your choice, play us what you want, we’ll listen!

So that means you’re at my mercy again for today’s mixtape theme, at least here on my blog anyway.  Its the middle of winter and I’m stuck in a deep mire of the winter blues, as I’m calling it (though a professional psychological diagnosis would probably call it Seasonal Affective Disorder or Seasonal Pattern Depression, as its known now).  I couldn’t even deal with last week’s “love” theme and this week, the best you’re going to get from me is iPod Roulette.  That’s right, putting my main library on shuffle and the first five songs that play is what’s making my mixtape.  Be afraid because even though I may one of the hop’s resident rock chicks, I have some very eclectic tastes.

1.  Jambalaya – C.J. Chenier.  Son of the infamous Zydeco accordionist, Clifton Chenier.  I love cajun and zydeco music, probably since first watching Dennis Quaid in The Big Easy.  “Look out for the gator, baby!”

2.  Rev 22:20 – Puscifer.  As I’ve had Tool in my mixtapes a few times before, of course I love Puscifer, one of MJK’s other projects.

3.  Oh Darlin’ What Have I Done – White Buffalo.  This one made my playlist after hearing it in last season’s Sons of Anarchy.

4.  Ride It – Jay Sean.  I’m playing by the rules I set myself and including this song since it came up, even though it kinda feels like I accidentally left the bedroom door open or something.  Move along…nothing to see here.

5.  Screwdriver – Jackyl.  The fates (or maybe just the odds) were with me, allowing me to end my mixtape with a hard-drivin’ rock song.

Okay, so you all got lucky and this list wasn’t as strange as it could have been.

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Wake Up

Jen Kehl at My Skewed View and Kristi at Finding Ninee host Twisted MixTape Tuesday, a blog hop that’s all about music.  The premise is to create a five song mix based on the week’s theme.  (You can click on the button above if you’d like to play along).  Here’s Jen’s instructions for today’s topic:

A mix to Get Motivated. Whether it’s to workout, write or just get out of bed. Mix it up!

The bloggers of Twisted Mixtape Tuesday took a trip through the decades for our topics last summer and for one of my weeks covering the 1990’s, I mixed songs from that decade that I use to motivate me at the gym, called Angry White Girl Gym Music.  The gym is about the only time that I specifically play music to motivate me, instead of hearing a song then becoming motivated.  Subtle difference, but it makes it kind of tough to narrow down this topic.  So I’m sticking with my gym music for this mixtape as well.

What do I look for when adding to my gym playlists?  Its all about the beat baby and if I can find music that matches my pace on the treadmill, I don’t even notice the time passing or how much my legs feel like spaghetti.  Forget the lyrics, they could be singing Mary Had a Little Lamb because when the drums and the guitars echo my pace and the beat of my heart, I go to my happy place, until I hear something unexpected and get shocked awake, then trip, fall flat on my face and get catapulted off the back of the treadmill.  Yeah, that’s happened.

1.  Space Lord – Monster Magnet.  Love this song for my warm-up.

2.  You – Candlebox.  Another great one while warming up.  This band is responsible for one of my favorite songs (Far Behind) and is astonishingly underrated.

3.  Would? – Alice in Chains.

4.  Siva – Smashing Pumpkins.

5.  Wake Up – Rage Against the Machine.  There are two bands that make up the bulk of my gym music, Disturbed and RATM.  Since I included a Disturbed song on the original mixtape, I’ll let Rage have a spot in this one.

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So Peppy I Wanna Puke

Jen Kehl at My Skewed View and Kristi at Finding Ninee host Twisted MixTape Tuesday, a blog hop that’s all about music.  The premise is to create a five song mix based on the week’s theme.  (You can click on the button above if you’d like to play along).  Here’s Jen’s instructions for today’s topic:

One of your friends is feeling down and needs to feel better. Make a mix to make him/her feel better. This can be songs you know your friend will love or songs meant to cheer someone up. You decide.

I’m probably not the person a friend will come to wanting “cheery” music to begin with.  When I’m down, I listen to depressing music .  I’m in that kind of mood now, making this tape even more extra-special difficult.  I usually choose my music to suit my mood, not use music to try to change my mood.

That being said, I’m going to pretend I have a friend that needs upbeat, bouncy music.  I going to call this my “So Peppy I Wanna Puke” mixtape.  Throw the lyrics out the window, just ignore them, this is music that will get your head nodding and your toes tapping.

1.  One Week – Barenaked Ladies.  Um yeah, bouncy.

2.  Two Princes – Spin Doctors.

3.  I Want Candy – Good Charlotte.  Originally, I’d planned to put the original Bow Wow Wow version, but I just had to work in a little rock edge somewhere.

4.  Everybody Talks – Neon Trees.  Something from this decade to help round out the list.

5.  Walking on Sunshine – Katrina and the Waves.  The ultimate in upbeat, happy happy joy joy songs.  I think even I can’t be depressed while this song is playing.

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Turn Me On

Jen Kehl at My Skewed View and Kristi at Finding Ninee host Twisted MixTape Tuesday, a blog hop that’s all about music.  The premise is to create a five song mix based on the week’s theme.  (You can click on the button above if you’d like to play along).  Here’s Jen’s instructions for today’s topic:

Favorite Dance or Club Music. This list was suggested by our own Kir from Kir’s Corner. Her younger brother suddenly passed away last week, but through this tragedy she has a bright spot in her heart. Her brother was a DJ and loved great Dance music. Don’t feel sad, this is to celebrate his life! In her words I know that he would love it, he loved music, he loved people dancing and enjoying themselves.

This topic was announced several weeks ago, so some time has passed, but I want to offer my deepest sympathy to Kir on the loss of her brother.  I’m glad she and Jen have offered us this chance to honor him.

For the last half of the 80’s to the mid 90’s, much of my life was spent in dance clubs, drinking, dancing and sweating to Salt n’ Pepa, Tone Loc, Prince and the like.  That was the music I knew (and loved) at the time.  That was pretty much the last time I could say I enjoyed popular dance music as a whole.

There have been a few dance and hip hop songs I’ve recently heard that have me dancing around the kitchen as I’m cooking and/or cleaning, though as I write this, I’m not positive I’ll even be able to come up with five.  But I’m gonna give it a shot.  I don’t have a lot to say about each of my choices, except that they’re on this list because of the beat.

The language in the songs’ lyrics and the material featured in the videos is NSFW…Not Safe for Work, or small children, or pets, or house plants, or anyone easily offended by language or controversial subject matters. You’ve been warned. Proceed at your own risk.

1.  Blurred Lines – Robin Thicke, ft. T.I. and Pharrell.  Controversy over the lyrics aside, I can’t seem to help love the beat of this song.

2.  Locked Out of Heaven – Bruno Mars.  This is another one with an infectious beat.

3.  Scream – Usher. 

4.  Turn Me On – David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj.  I’m not in any way a fan of Nicki Minaj, except for this one song.

5.  Wobble – V.I.C.  I actually just heard this song a couple weeks ago and its burrowed its way into my brain.

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Feeder

Jen Kehl at My Skewed View and Kristi at Finding Ninee host Twisted MixTape Tuesday, a blog hop that’s all about music.  The premise is to create a five song mix based on the week’s theme.  (You can click on the button above if you’d like to play along).  Here’s Jen’s instructions for today’s topic:

Let’s stick with the New Year’s Theme – The best new song’s you’ve heard this past year. Can be oldies or new songs, either way they are new to you!

I love this topic because I go through phases with music.  For 2-3 weeks stretches, I’ll obsess on certain genres.  The end of 2013 had me listening to angsty tunes at one point, 90’s indie & rock, and blues.  But I shook all that off at the start of the new year and brought in 2014 with a bang of rock, rock and more rock.  Some of it is new-ish, some released in the past few years, but it was all new-to-me.

As usual, when I venture into my cruder tastes in rock, I have to add a disclaimer:

The language in the songs’ lyrics and the material featured in the videos is NSFW…Not Safe for Work, or small children, or pets, or house plants, or anyone easily offended by language or controversial subject matters. You’ve been warned. Proceed at your own risk.

1.  Chalk Outline – Three Days Grace.  I love the intro and music to this song, but this is one that I also immediately noticed the lyrics as well.

2.  Mz. Hyde – Halestorm.  Lzzy definitely kicks major ass and I’ve played the hell out of this CD.

3.  This is Gonna Hurt – Sixx: A.M.  Nikki Sixx’s side project has been hit and miss with me, either I love one of their songs or I hate it.  Love this one.

4.  Blame it on the Boom Boom – Black Stone Cherry.  Honestly, I haven’t listened to much from this band, but I heard this one song and it immediately hit my replay list.

5.  Feeder – Red Dragon Cartel.  This is Jake E. Lee’s (Ozzy Osbourne’s former guitarist) newest band.  The album won’t be released until the end of January, but they’ve already been playing some shows and I can’t wait for the CD release.  There’s a host of guest vocalist, such as Robin Zander from Cheap Trick on this track.

6.  Hail to the King – Avenged Sevenfold.  And this is about as hard as I like my rock these days, but its ohhh, so good.

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Bonus:

Interspersed with all the hard rock, I’ve also been listening to a LOT of a certain band.  Volbeat.  You never know what you’ll get from them, whether a track is rockabilly, bluesy, or speaker-shaking rock.  Their versatility is amazing and I haven’t gotten tired of them yet.  Here’s a few samples:

Sad Man’s Tongue – This is their tribute to Johnny Cash and I about stroke out when they kick it into gear at about the :40 second mark.

16 Dollars – Straight up rockabilly.  Love it!  (and the video is cool too).

Still Counting – Just love the beats and the guitars on this one.

for more awesome Volbeat, check out  Heaven Nor Hell   and   Lola Montez.

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Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing

Jen Kehl at My Skewed View and Kristi at Finding Ninee host Twisted MixTape Tuesday, a blog hop that’s all about music.  The premise is to create a five song mix based on the week’s theme.  (You can click on the button above if you’d like to play along).  Here’s Jen’s instructions for today’s topic:

As everyone is looking forward to a New Year and talking about resolutions, this week’s them will be Past Mistakes (not necessarily love related;-))

While Jen says our Past Mistakes don’t necessarily have to be love-related, it seems most of mine are.  I try to live without regrets and often say that without my past, I wouldn’t have arrived at this particular present.  But in actuality, on those restless, sleepless nights, my past plays like a silent movie through my brain and the weight of some of the choices I’ve made makes it hard to breathe at times.  Letting go of the past is a lot easier said than done.

1.  He Wasn’t Man Enough – Toni Braxton.  There’s the mistake of being the “other woman”, however unintentionally.  I feel this one needs a bit of explanation.  I was dating a guy (after specifically asking if he was single) and after a few weeks, found out he was engaged.  I immediately kicked him out of my house, into a rainstorm and him without a car no less.  He apparently had to call his fiancee to come pick him up, who then came beating down my door for being a “skank trying to steal her man”.  She finally got the picture after explaining I was lied to and that’s why he was dumped out into the rain as soon as he confessed.

2.  Soulmate – Natasha Bedingfield.  The mistake of missing out on a good man that was right in front of me.

3.  Caroline Says II – Lou Reed.  Then there is the mistake of the man who should have been avoided.

4.  One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer – George Thorogood.   Mistakes of excessive alcohol use causing me to lose my job, my car and my home.

5.  Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing – Chris Isaak.  Then there are some mistakes that will hopefully remain secret, never to see the light of day again, especially on this blog.

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These Are a Few of My Favorite Things…

Jen Kehl at My Skewed View and Kristi at Finding Ninee host Twisted MixTape Tuesday, a blog hop that’s all about music.  The premise is to create a five song mix based on the week’s theme.  (You can click on the button above if you’d like to play along).  Here’s Jen’s instructions for today’s topic:

Share with us your favorite MixTape from the last year.

Happy New Year Everyone!  Jen has asked us to share our favorite mixtape from the past year.  This one was relatively easy because my top two favorites are both from this summer’s trip through the decades, so I only had to choose between the two weeks that covered the 1990’s music.  Originally posted on July 16, 2013:  Aaaand it goes a little somethin’ like this…

Jen Kehl at My Skewed View and Kristi at Finding Ninee host Twisted MixTape Tuesday, a blog hop that’s all about music. The premise is to create a five song mix based on the week’s theme. (You can click on the button above if you’d like to play along).

Here’s Jen’s instructions for today’s topic: If you were going to make a mix for a friend in the Nineties, what would it contain? This is NOT a best of. This is If You Were You, in the 90′s, and You Were Making A Mix Tape For A Friend (on any topic) What Would It Be?

Before I get into the “meat” of this post, let me warn you up front…the language in this post, in the songs’ lyrics, and the material featured in the videos is NSFW…Not Safe for Work, or small children, or pets, or house plants, or anyone easily offended by language or controversial subject matters. You’ve been warned. Proceed at your own risk.

In 1990, I took a job with an international import company and moved overseas to Hong Kong. In addition to completely flipping my life upside down, I was exposed to more of a global musical culture while drinking Carlsberg or San Miguel in (now) classic HK bars and pubs like Scotties in Lan Kwai Fong. The tiny dance floor was usually so packed on weekends you only had room to jump up and down. The DJ was hot, serving up international dance tunes, most I hadn’t heard before.

But there was also a song, played twice nightly, that stuck in my brain, Special AKA’s Free Nelson Mandela, which was gaining popularity once again due to Mandela’s release earlier in the year and his negotiations to end apartheid. What I didn’t realize I was missing back home in the good ole US of A, was the beginnings of the commercial grunge movement and the cyclical re-emergence of a subset of political/protest music moving away from the apathy of the origins of the genre. Censorship, the first Gulf War, the events surrounding Rodney King and the L.A. riots were all fodder for this generation’s music with a message.

1. We Care A Lot – Faith No More (1987). This “anti-protest” manages to bridge the gap between the isolated Seattle grunge subculture and the evolution to mainstream grunge in the early 90’s. The parody of celebrities jumping on the bandwagon for “causes” in itself became a message and was one of the forerunners of the re-emergence of political and protest rock in the grunge musical style.

2. Man in the Box – Alice in Chains (1991). A very simple lyrical denouncement of censorship through the filter of a very high Layne Staley. “Feed my eyes now you’ve sewn them shut.”

3. Hush – Tool (1991). I love Tool’s big old Fuck You, both musically and visually, to Tipper Gore and her PMRC bobbleheads. Attacking the PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center) became one of the common themes of much of the protest music in the late 80’s and early 90’s. What the PMRC ended up with (the advisory stickers) was very much different from their original agenda of censorship and limiting access to music that didn’t meet their ambiguous and restrictive moral codes.

**side note: the next band on my list also protested against PMRC in a unique way. They spent their whole set time at Lollapalooza standing silently naked on stage with their mouths covered in tape like this:

ratm lollapalooza

4. Killing in the Name – Rage Against the Machine (1992). RATM’s one of most well-known of the political rock giants of this era. Killing in the Name takes on the protest darlings of racism in military, government and police agencies. I can’t wax poetic about this song when its own lyrics say so much more (and so much better) than I could ever manage myself. Just listen.

5. Warfair – Clawfinger (1993). This Swedish rap-metal group is primarily known for its political and anti-racism messages in its music and signifies how the new uprising of political themes in music evolved from grunge to other genres towards the mid-90’s.

“The duty of youth is to challenge corruption.” ~Kurt Cobain

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Where Did You Sleep Last Night

Jen Kehl at My Skewed View and Kristi at Finding Ninee host Twisted MixTape Tuesday, a blog hop that’s all about music.  The premise is to create a five song mix based on the week’s theme.  (You can click on the button above if you’d like to play along).  Here’s Jen’s instructions for today’s topic:

It’s dealer’s choice again! Already? Yup already!

Its official…Christmas has well and truly kicked my ass this year.  Its our year to spend the holidays at my Mom’s house, so in addition to the usual holiday madness, we have to gear up for a roadtrip.  I’ve been a germ magnet and just when I thought I’d gotten over a double shot of strep, I get a good, old-fashioned cold and missed last week’s mixtape.  I wanna thank Jen for the showcase spot and kinda feel bad that it was on a week I missed.

So, once a month, Jen let’s us pick our own themes.  The first time, it was a painstaking task, as having set parameters helps me narrow my focus.  Of course, after the first one was published, I immediately came up with about ten more.  Now I have a stockpile of ideas and have to pick between them.

If you’ve visited my mixtapes before, you know I have a fondness for covers.  There are some cover versions that you just cannot compare like Hound Dog by Big Mama Thornton and the later Elvis cover.  Or they’re such different genres like Hendrix’s All Along the Watchtower vs. the original Bob Dylan.  Then there are some that you can’t help but put side by side and determine which is better.  In the case of the songs I selected today for my mixtape, these are the rare covers that are better than the originals (purely subjective to my ears, of course).

1.  Love Don’t Live Here Anymore – Rose Royce vs. Madonna.  I’ll preface this by stating that I’m not a fan of most Madonna work after 1990, with a few notable exceptions.  One of which is the remixed version of this song from her Something to Remember album in 1995 (not her original cover from Like a Virgin).  Madge wins this match up hands down.

2.  Black Magic Woman – Fleetwood Mac vs. Santana.  This is one that until a couple years ago, I didn’t even know there was a version other than Santana.  This is another one that’s no contest for me, Santana clearly did it better and the video posted is with the song’s composer, Peter Green.

3.  Me and Bobby McGee – Roger Miller vs. Janis Joplin.   Ok, so I learned something new while researching this song’s history.  I knew Kris Kristofferson wrote the song, but I thought he’d done the original recording as well.  Though he did eventually record it, he gave the original spot to Roger Miller first.  Either way, neither compares to Janis.

4.  I Fought the Law – The Crickets vs. Bobby Fuller Four vs. The Clash vs. everyone else.  Sometimes the most well-known version of a song isn’t exactly the first recording, such in this case.  Written by Sonny Curtis, it was originally recorded by The Crickets when he filled the role of lead guitar after the death of Buddy Holly.  The song never got played on the radio though until covered by the Bobby Fuller Four which then became a top ten hit.  Its been covered numerous times, but all are exceeded by the version recorded by The Clash.

5.  Where Did You Sleep Last Night – Lead Belly vs. Nirvana.  Originally a folk song, the lyrics tended to change over the years.  Of the two most well-known versions (the other being about a train by Bill Monroe) the Lead Belly interpretation is what’s usually thought to be the earliest standard.  The verses have been changed and recorded multiple times over the years, but Nirvana did an homage to Lead Belly’s arrangement for their MTV Unplugged show and killed it.  I remember reading somewhere that Cobain refused to do an encore at the taping because he felt they couldn’t surpass the performance they’d just given of this song.

Since we’re taking next week off from the mixtape, I wanna wish everyone a Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays.

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Holy Shit…Its Christmas!

Jen Kehl at My Skewed View and Kristi at Finding Ninee host Twisted MixTape Tuesday, a blog hop that’s all about music.  The premise is to create a five song mix based on the week’s theme.  (You can click on the button above if you’d like to play along).  Here’s Jen’s instructions for today’s topic:

It is officially OK to be listening to Christmas Music now! Bring it on! Maybe we’ll find some new favorite Christmas tunes for our holiday playlists!

I knew this was coming at some point in December even before Jen posted the list of upcoming topics.  By the time Thanksgiving is over, I’m already so sick of Christmas music that I could yak every time one comes on the radio or I walk into a store and hear it blaring from the speakers.  I’m not a complete Grinch, just about the holiday music.

The only thing I can stand and even enjoy in December is the parodies and the mashups.  As a matter of fact, I do look forward to hearing them each year.  But these probably aren’t going to be the things you hear out in the general public.  The videos may look all cute and animated, but the lyrics are a complete snarkfest over everything wintery and Christmasy.  Just the way I like it.  So put on the headphones or wait til the younger kiddies are in bed because these ain’t your Grandma’s Christmas carols.

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WARNING:  Explicit subject matter and lyrics!!!!

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1.  Holy Shit, It’s Christmas! – Red Peters.  This one’s especially for those that are sick of the stupid Chipmunk Christmas song brought to you by those dirty-minded, foul-mouthed hamsters.  Gotta love when they change the words on him!

2.  Leroy the Redneck Reindeer – Joe Diffie.   Okay, so I’m going country with one of my songs, but I love this hillbilly version of Rudolph.

3.  The Night Santa Went Crazy – Weird Al Yankovic.  You can’t talk about Christmas parodies without including a little Weird Al.  By the second week in December, this is about how I feel.

4.  Ho Ho, Fucking Ho – Kevin Wilson.  This time its Santa’s employees that lose their shit.

5.  XM@$ – Corey Taylor.   I just heard this one this season and immediately added it to my list.  This is my perfect Christmas song.

In a more serious musical mind, there are two rocking Christmas song mashups that I like that I’m including as a bonus.

6.  Lonely Siberian Winter – DJ John.  From A Very Bootie Christmas 1 mashup album.

7.  Yuletide Zeppelin – Mojochronic.  From the A Very Bootie Christmas 2 mashup album.  A lot of Zeppelin makes the Christmas Carols much easier to take.

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