#196 – La La La

I’m fairly confident you’ll have heard the news that Snoop Dogg is no more: he is now Snoop Lion. Swapping one cool animal moniker for another cooler one (animal, that is), could it be that his music is taking a step in the same direction?

#68 – Some More Holiday Tunes

As promised, I’m back. I had another week off… Sorry about that! As much as I bitch about life and work and all sorts of other crap, I haven’t really got a leg to stand on when I can take two weeks off and the weather decides to shine down on me.

This is just another list of good songs I’ve been listening to over the last seven days or so. Considering just how sunny it’s been there’s a song by the Buena Vista Social Club that’s made the cut and it’s amazing. The whole song is good, but it comes alive around 2:15 or so (and again at 4:15ish). Meanwhile, the Major Lazer remix was one of the very first songs I posted when this blog started and I figure that since we’re almost a year down the line and summer is well and truly teasing us then it’s about time to put it up again. Just one final note on the song by The Kinks. I heard it on the soundtrack to The Darjeeling Limited which is an outstanding film. The whole soundtrack is worth listening to, so the [Buy] link after ‘Strangers’ will take you to the soundtrack’s page and not the Kinks.

Kanye West – Monster Feat. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver [Buy]

Buena Vista Social Club – Pueblo Nuevo [Buy]

The Kinks – Strangers [Buy]

#3 – Ska

Blogs all over the web were lighting up over the latest Diplo creation that came out at the beginning of the month. The Major Lazer/La Roux mixtape was, I think we can conclude, a bit of a limp fish. Only really two or three songs on it were worth the hype, although that may still be a bit generous… I think the idea is good though. As a bit of a fan of Island music, anything that makes a song a little more summery is generally going to get at least a listen from me. So let’s consider Reggae’s big brother. Ska music is something that most people would often consider the territory of 14 year old kids with long hair who like running into each other at gigs, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s been around longer than Reggae and has played a part in both the Island and British music scenes since the early ’60’s. The constant upbeat, trumpets, organs, and generally dancey feel make it one of the most expressive and fun genres to listen to. It is impossible to keep your feet still when it’s on.

Here are a few examples of how Ska has developed, from the first wave of Jazz and Blues influenced songs, through to the second wave that took the British Mod culture by storm, better known as 2 Tone. This progressed to the punk tinged third wave that was popular in the ’90’s in the States and that a lot of people would probably associate with Ska these days. Finally I’m throwing in a gem that I can’t stop listening to. For me summer started when I found this tune in February!

Lord Tanamo – I’m In The Mood For Ska

The Coventry Automatic – Little Bitch

Goldfinger – Walking In The Dark

Major Lazer – Keep It Goin’ Louder (Ska Mix)