winter playlist

Time Loves A Hero

Is there anybody who knows Little Feat, founded in the late 60s from Lowell George?

The album "Time loves a Heroe" was released in 1979 and might be called the most successful record of Little Feat.

Special Rider Blues

In Martin Scorsese’s film, “Feel Like Going Home,” Corey Harris visits Niafunke, the Sahara Desert hometown of Malian master musician Ali Farka Touré, known around the world as the king of African blues. The encounter between Harris, a young, American blues revivalist, and Touré, a musician with a vast sense of cultural history, is as close as any of the films in Scorsese’s series, The Blues, comes to grappling with the African roots of blues music. But for Harris, that was just the beginning. From the record "from Mississippi to Mali" here is one of the most amazing blues songs, called "Special Rider Blues".

Mellow Jam # 1

Stephen Stills sometimes only seems to be a member of "Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young". In 1970 he released a record together with Jimi Hendrix: relaxed blues songs that seems to berecorded very occasionally, because the single tunes don´t follow any regular song-structure. Here you´re listening to Mellow Jam.

Cakewalk Into Town

Taj Mahal is a prominent musician since the 60s. He performed blues, gospel, cajun, bluegrass, carribean and a mixture of them. From his album, "best of" here is the song "cakewalk into town".

Just Lookin´

From America to England. The "Charlatans", a pop-band that never have been that successful as some of the other brit-pop-bands in the 90s. Nevertheless they relased quite a lot of albums, here you can listen to their "meling pot" single "just looking".

Black Hole Sun

"Frampton comes alive" is one of the most successful albums in the history of Pop and Rock -even if it is a quite boring thing to listen. I never knew whether Peter Frampton is just a smart good looking beach boy (that would have been a teenie-heroe in the 70s,if there had been such a lot of media like today) or really a musician. So I was quite suprised when I listened to his 2006 record "Fingerprints". He published some instrumentals that are quite good - first of all the Soundgarden song "Black Hole Sun".

Bad Company

Bad Company plays "bad company", one of my everlasting rock-songs, that I love since decades. They seems to be on stage again since several years - but maybe only in England?!

Headache

Who published the ad that they are looking for a bass-guitarrist, who likes to listen to "Hüsker Dü" and "Peter, Paul and Mary" as well? (What a strange connection!). It has been Frank Black. Black seems to be in the studios every day,because he sometimes publishes two albums per year. One song of him is really an "Ohrwurm", it´s called "headache" and is taken from his second album "Teenager of the year".

One Bourbon One Scotch and One Beer

Master of Slam-guitar "George Thorogood" with his Delaware Destroyers are pure rock and blues. From his first album I´d like to upload this killer-application from 1977.

Rebel Rebel

Wikipedia usuallay knows much more than me: "Rebel Rebel" is a song by David Bowie, released in 1974 as a single and on the album Diamond Dogs. Originally written for a mooted Ziggy Stardust musical in late 1973, it was Bowie's last single in the glam rock style that had been his trademark. It was also his first hit since 1969 not to feature lead guitarist Mick Ronson; Bowie himself played guitar on this and almost all other tracks from Diamond Dogs, producing what NME critics Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray called "a rocking dirty noise that owed as much to Keith Richard as it did to the departed Ronno".

Take The Power Back

There are missing some angry, political songs as it seems. "Take the Power Back" from RATM "Rage Against the Machine" will fit into this, I hope.

>Bring that shit in! uggh!Yeah, the movements in motion with mass militant
poetryNow check this out...uggh!In the right light, study becomes insightBut the
system that dissed usTeaches us to read and write<

rocking christmas

Christmas is just around the corner - time for some real rock songs.

There is a band that rocks since several years: Monster Magnet. (I am not sure, but maybe they took the name from Frank Zappa who wrote a song called "the return of the son of monster magnet" on his "freak out" album). Listen to this piece of rock.

Monster Magnet Big God

Chris Cornell is listed 2 times in this playlist, with two of his bands. He clearly is one of the most amazing voices from the last 10 years. Fist there is "Soundgarden". I listened to them about 10 years ago - in the german "Bundesbahn". You know there is a bord-radio that you can switch on - and it´s full of boaring music from boaring radio-stations. But on these day when I had to travel every day there must have been an anarchist being responsible for doing the playlist in the railways - because beside all of the musical shit there was broadcasted "black hole sun" every morning. But here is Audioslave.

Audioslave Exploder

The following band my kids do like very much - and I am very happy that they are not suporters of one of these boy-groups or girl-groups that are thrown into the radioshows or on telly every month and people are that mad that they start to buy their music. So here is "Creed".

Creed Signs

Beside "Creed" they love "Limp Bizkit" and "Linkin Park". I have to admit that I don´t see any clear differences between these bands, so for me they sound quite similar - but it´s christmas and so this doesn´t count at the moment!

Limp Bizkit My Generation

As the last of current rockers from my kid´s cd´s I have to announce "Nickelback". Again, this ain´t no music for eternity - but nice pieces of straight forward rock´n´roll.

Nickelback Just Four

I don´t know why but even the rockers have been more unique in the past - or is it just my age? Never mind here is "Led Zeppelin", one of the big shots from the 70´s that should be stored in every playlist. Jimmy Page is clearly one of the most amazing guitarists of the world I think. A live version of the "immigrant song" can be found here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neH5feLFsG0&mode=related&search=

Led Zeppelin Immigrant Song

Blue Oyster Cult is an American rock band formed in the late 1960s. They are probably best known for their singles "don´t fear the reaper" and "Burnin' for You". In the early 70s the band decided to complement its stage show with a new cutting-edge entertainment technology: Lasers. This relatively new (for entertainment) technology offered the ability to enhance the songs with twirling, twisting shapes made from different colored light, a high-tech version of the old psychedelic oil and pigment projections done in the sixties. I remember very well the photographs from their light-shows in the music-mags of these days. Especially a series of maybe 8 or 10 pictures in the mid 7os in fantastic bright colours made a big impact on me! I stored them for at least 10 years as one of my very favourite pictures.

Blue Oyster Cult Cities on Flame

I don´t know how - but we´re again back in history. And thinking about rock of the 70s simply isn´t possible without talking about Thin Lizzy. Phil Lynott who died 1986 on an overdosis of heroin has been a fantastic singer and songwriter. Their biggest success must have been "whiskey in the jar" I think and I love this song since decades - it would be on the 100 records for the island. Here you can listen to another song which is maybe more characteristical for the band because of the playing of the guitarist Scott Gorham.

Thin Lizzy Emerald

Zeitgeist - History

You know Tangerine Dream? One of the really grand bands from germany - pure electronical music. But in their beginnings they´ve been a Krautrock-band. Here is a funnyfunnyfunny movie from 1969 and I dont know what is most thrilling,

a) the musical chaos on the stage
b) the audience dancing
c) realizing that this has been broadcasted from the official public german televison - what might have been the headline?

1) Breakout in the zoo?
2) Drugs addicts in Germany?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fxVnRNlb8w

November Jazz

"Jazz is not dead - it just smells funny" Frank Zappa stated a long time ago. Frank Zappa is clearly one of my everlasting heroes - and as long as I dont understand too much of his lyrics there is no need to wonder about Zappa (?!). I am sure that I would precisely recognize Zappa playing the guitar in a bunch of hundreds of others - because he´s so UNIQUE in his dynamic and powerful and relaxed way of music - he´s really great. I don´t dare to say much about his music as there are lots of very clever comments on his music - just browse the web for a smart introduction http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Zappa. If you like to listen one of my favourite and very characteristic pieces here it is.

Andy and Sofa #2

At the beginning of the next song you can listen to Cannonball Adderly saying the following words "My pianist Joe Zawinul wrote this song for me". Huhh - I wished I could say something similar once in my life!! The song clearly belongs to the best jazz-tunes I ever listened to. I collected about 20 different versions from this song but there might be much more available, I think. A wonderful piece of music.

Mercy Mercy Mercy

One of the best drummers in the history of music - Billy Cobham - influenced a whole generation of musicians. When I saw him 20 years ago in Hannover I wondered that lots of people in the audience constantly commented his playing - I simply didn´t know that he´s the godfather of drumming. He never got super-famous as a solo-artist, but on each of his albums there are at least 2 or 3 really beautyful songs. Here you can listen to one of them.

Total Eclipse

Here is a brilliant movie, Billy Cobham and his band, Stratus: http://youtube.com/watch?v=8ae3l12PM2c

Most of the jazz-guitarists in the world have one common model - Pat Metheny. His extraordinary musical spirit in playing and composing is amazing. He invented a very characteristical sound in his playing which you can listen a long time (even when it´s getting a bit boring after a while). I once attended a concert and I thought both parties - musicians and audience - could act a bit more, but maybe you shouldn´t visit a concert in Bielefeld (?!). Here is one characteristic song from him.

Wherever You Go

Music is pain! If you don´t believe just watch Metheny in this movie http://youtube.com/watch?v=BThgt4dARbo

There exist songs that you never forget, right? If there might be 200 unforgettable songs in my mind - 10 of them will have been composed by Quincy Jones. He has been such a grand artist.

Watermelon Man

Some years ago Quincy held an award speech about the connection of soul and science. Not VERY essential I think but worth watching nevertheless http://youtube.com/watch?v=XAyzKVG20gY

summer is gone

Summer ´o6 is part of history. Cold and rain will come. Music has to reflect this (or is it just the other way round: weather reflects chosen playlists?).

To start with one of the few really unique bands that become wellknown in the 90s and that I really like: the Lemonheads. Their mix of rock, folk and (in their early years) punk has often been very nice to listen. I remember BBC-Radio in the 90s broadcasting a Lemonheads-concert on a sunday about 09.00 in the morning - and I remember that this has been beautyful: listen to Evan Dando and his band for 1,5 hours lazy in bed (a German radio station is far from broadcasting that stuff - except very few the German radio is really boaring - if you are older than 12 years!). And the Lemonheads quite often developed their tunes in the oldfashioned 3-and-a-half-minutes-way. I like it. In 1996 the band disappeared and it took 10 years to spend their money for drugs, cars, fashion, women (okay okay I know: this is a stereotype) so that they reunited this year. But because this is a winter-playlist here is the song that fits best.

Fade to black

It is a clear MUST in this playlist to upload one of the most brilliant artists of the last century: Lou Reed. As most of the others I confess that I really love the "early Reed" more than the late one - and what can be earlier than the Velvet Underground, founded in 1965 in New York. Huuh, I think there is nothing to say about VU - they´ve been extraextraordinary! THE musical expression of Andy Warhols "factory" (this should be a story of its own, right?)

And then there is Christa Päffgen or Nico. what a 60s career: model, actress, musician, artist, drug-consumer, love-affairs with some of the hot shots and so on and so on. Her style of singing is quite strange (I don´t know whether it´s fair to call it "singing") and that DARK so that her label in 1974 pushed the album THE END with the following words: "why commit suicide when you can listen to this album?". Yep - strange world. Here is "sunday morning" from VU together with Nico.

Sunday morning

When B. B. King mentioned him to be"the best white guitar-player", whom did he talk about ? Right, it was Peter Green, Mastermind from several bands in the 60´s, amongst them most wellknown maybe Fleetwood Mac. In the 70´s he got mad and experimented heavily with drugs and religion (what a combination, huh?) before he had several comebacks on somehow smaller level.

Totally different in its personality was another great guitarist in these years - only interested in guitar-playing and Guiness-drinking. And he has been very good in both disciplines: Rory Gallagher. In Germany he got famous in 1977 when he performed in the "WDR Rockpalast Night" in the Gruga-Halle in Essen. Here is tune from both of them, Peter Green and Rory Gallagher together playing "leaving town", a song that represents much more Rory Gallagher than Peter Green, I think

Leaving town

Before we get too oldfashioned we should finish this playlist - but before I have to put my favourite song from the Doors here. 3 minutes of simple and straight rock´n´roll. I was never devoted to the Doors THAT much, I never thought Jim Morrison to be the godfather of whatever (even more I was a bit sceptic about this "Personenkult"), but this song in any case is a grand tune

Peace Frog

No - stop - one more thing I´d like to say. A bit strange. When I´ve been in Frankfurt yesterday I met some old friends and we finished the night in a Whiskeybar. To be honest: I don´t like whiskey very much, but the other ones do. So while chatting over the spirits we came to a kind of common experience from the 70´s with Patti Smith. Okay, we all like(d) the music of this punk goddess , but we all were FASCINATED from the "Easter"-cover. I didn´t expect this - I thought I would have been the only one -; but okay. Here you see what we all remember.

hot sunday requires cool music

A hot sunday certainly requires cool music, isn´t it?

First song is a brilliant tune from the 60s I think - written by Gordon Lightfoot. Very sad things told there and very true ones, right? "The hero would be me - But heroes often fail". I never experienced this song being THAT BIG before I listened to the current version from Johny Cash. And even more, you can directly ´learn´ that singing is something very deeply connected to the heart. Or is it just his age? No, I don´t think so. Listen and you´ll hear that Cash is rather often NOT on-beat and NOT on-tone. So it is absolutely perfect unperfect. And only things that aren´t perfect are the right ones.

If You Could Read My Mind

Totally different but cool as well is the music from Bill Laswell, multi-producer and -musician from Illinois. His ambient tunes I like most - and his dub-versions from Bob Marley. Very ´stylish´ could be the right comment on it, laid-back and relaxed. Enjoy it.

Simulacra

On hot sundays I do like dub-grooves. I don´t own much of this music - it´s not hot in Germany very often, harharhar. But sometimes it is. And then I miss this sort of music. My solution is Internet Radio. Years ago I listened to a fantastic Radio Show in the BBC - called Blue Room and broadcasted between 5 and 9 am in the morning, I think. And there I listened to a musician I never heard before: Jolly Mukherjee. He produced a record together with a cinema-orchestre from India: amazing mix of worlds. This is really cool sound.

Bhatiyali

"Jolly has now entered the re-mix wave and the international scene. He has collaborated with Amar, Didi, Bjork and many others. Most recently, Jolly has been accompanied by the Madras Cinematic Orchestra. The moods created by this duo are at once meditative and estatic, fitting into the so-called Asian Underground or Asian Massive." (calabashmusic.com)

To come back to singing: there are some remix-versions from songs from the 70s that are quite good. One of them is Landslide, written and sung from Stevie Nicks. Now Billy Corgan from the Smashing Pumkins is far from being a good singer, but he´s very dedicated to his limitations - even when he often perfomes a bit too articial, right? The Nicks-song certainly belongs to the "top 100 of best love songs ever" but I can listen to her voice only once a year. So the Pumpkins version does it.

"If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills - well maybe the landslide will bring it down". Yeah, maybe - maybe not. But that´s nice piece of poetry. And to hear about snow covered hills in this hot summer days is not too bad.

Landslide

Another BIG ONE from the past is Johnny ´Guitar´ Watson who died 10 years ago. He played everything from Blues to Jazz and back and he influenced lots of other musicians all over the world. As far as I know he intended this beautiful - hmh, don´t know how to say it in english - he intended this "singing the guitar-tone", or maybe he didn´t intend it but he at least made it to his "brand" as people would say today. Alltogether his 70s records are really relaxed and thus fitting to this playlist. And: I remember that I really often watched this CRAZY cover from his LP "a real mother for you". The backside cover isn´t less crazy - it´s him having some bunnies round him, all of them beautyful women staring proud and loving at him in his childish pose. great -but gone. But here is his tune.

The Real Deal

There are no ladies here in this playlist yet. So here we go. Listen to the GRAND Joni Mitchell. I love her for some of her records. I am listening to the BLUE album once in 2 years since it has been published. Even though her voice imho appears a bit too ´clean´, she wrote great songs with some great lyrics: man tells woman that she´s "constant as a northern star" and wants to impress her with that. Woman replies: "constantly in the darkness, huh? If you want me, I´ll be in the bar!"

But here is a more recent tune from her big `Mingus´-album. Listen to the bass guitar from Jaco and Jonis unique way of playing the guitar

Dry Cleaner from DesMoines