Tag Archives: soul

A Host of Space Oddities

Apparently astronauts aboard the International Space Station are given a bit of time to relax and pursue their hobbies.  Canadian ISS Commander Chris Hadfield used some of his to create this rendition of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”, complete with appropriately modified lyrics.   In case you’re not one of the 16 million people who have already seen this – enjoy.  By the way, YouTube is home to other videos by Hadfield with interesting and amusing glimpses into life on the ISS.

The first minute of dancer Franky Manzo’s video for “MJ’s Coursing” might be the only other use of space station footage in a music video. The rest of the video is, shall we say, more earthy.

Bowie originally wrote “Space Oddity” for “Love You Till Tuesday” – a film intended to introduce the once little-known British artist.  Below is a clip with the film version of the song. At about the two minute mark this clip features girls floating in outer space some 40 years before Franky.

We’ll end with the well known version of “Space Oddity”, Bowie’s first commercial hit.  It was originally released in 1969 around the time of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Looks like “tin can” might have been a metaphor for Bowie’s recording studio.

Dan Auerbach: Black Keys Frontman’s Production Efforts Are Unmistakable

Dan Auerbach must be one of the busiest men in the music business.  In addition to doing his part to keep bluesy rock & roll vital with the Black Keys, he’s been a very active record producer.  When you listen to some of the work he’s produced, you can clearly hear that he’s not afraid to infuse it with his own style.

Later this summer Valerie June will release “Pushing Against a Stone” in the U.S., with Auerbach as co-producer and co-writer of a number of songs. June is just getting noticed, playing festivals all over Europe this summer after opening for Jake Bugg earlier in the year (see our recent post Jake Bugg). Listen to “Raindance” from June’s self-released album “Valerie June and the Tennessee Express”, then listen to “You Can’t be Told” from the upcoming album. The latter pretty much screams Black Keys.

Another of Auerbach’s recent production efforts is “Nomad” by African guitar wizard, Omara “Bombino” Moctar. The subject of Ron Wyman’s documentary “Agadez, the Music and the Rebellion”, Bombino is touring the world this year including a month in the U.S.  Listen to “Mehegagh” (What Shall I Do) from “Agadez”, then listen to “Amidinine” from “Nomad” to hear Auerbach’s influence.

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RIP Mack Emmerman, Founder of Criteria Recording Studios

Fascinating obits ran recently, noting the passing on May 17th of Mack Emmerman, founder of Criteria Recording Studios in North Miami, Florida. The story of Criteria is not too different from the story of Sound City in Los Angeles, which was richly chronicled by Dave Grohl in his recent documentary (see our earlier post Dave Grohl’s “Sound City”), though Criteria was arguably even more successful.

Opened in 1959, Criteria’s history of landmark recordings includes The Allman Brothers’ “Eat A Peach” as well as Eric Clapton’s “Layla”, which featured the iconic slide guitar work of none other than Duane Allman.

Savor these tracks from Criteria’s catalog.

Criteria was purchased by New York’s Hit Factory in 1999 and continued to put out big albums including Michael Jackson’s last studio recording “Invincible”.  While the Hit Factory’s original New York location closed in 2005, the Miami facility lives on to this day, apparently a favorite of many rap and hip-hop acts.

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Daft Punk, Pharrell and Nile Rodgers Get Lucky

One of 2013’s most anticipated releases is Daft Punk’s “Random Access Memories” due out May 21st. The last album by the French electronic duo was “Alive 2007” which featured the track “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”. Both the track and the album won Grammy’s.

The first track released from “Random Access Memories” is “Get Lucky” featuring Pharrell Williams and legend Nile Rodgers. Watch the teaser video, then listen to the whole pristine production.

Singer, songwriter, rapper, fashion designer Pharrell Williams provides the vocals on “Get Lucky”. Pharrell (accent on the second syllable) is maybe best known as a producer, helping to assemble tracks for half the names in hip hop. Among his latest production credits was Frank Ocean’s 2012 album “Channel Orange” (see our earlier post Frank Ocean’s and Stevie Wonder’s Best Albums).

Nile Rodgers, who brings the funky guitar work on “Get Lucky”, has the same broad set of talents as Pharrell on a grander scale spanning nearly five decades. His production credits are completely ridiculous (click on the Wikipedia link here Nile Rodgers to read about them), and as a member of Chic he played on one of the best selling singles of all time “Le Freak”.

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Cayucas Gets Us Ready for Summer

Summer is just around the corner, and this year’s beach music will definitely include tunes from Cayucas’ freshman release “Bigfoot” due out this week.

Cayucas began a couple of years ago as a one-man, bedroom studio recording effort by Zach Yudin.  He put his first tunes out under the name “Oregon Bike Trails” but apparently decided that a variation on the name of a California seaside town suited his vibe better.  “High School Lover” was first recorded under the OBT name a couple of years ago.  The video for “Cayucos” sets us straight on the proper spelling of the town but is otherwise baffling.

If you need a couple of other tunes get you in the mood for summer, it’s hard to beat these two classics.  Feel free to send us a comment or email with your favorite summer songs, and we’ll round them up for post when the weather gets hotter.

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