Flibbertigibbet » Music

Ralph Myerz and the Jack Herren Band

sue — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 11:08:10 +0000

This will be my new favourite album of the moment – not very promising judging by the cover art is it! I had been trying to track down the artist of the song which turned out to be “Casino” for YEARS. ITV kindly provided the answer after it featured on one of their programmes recently. I’ve listened to samples on Amazon and it all sounds fantastic. I’d never heard of this band but they are in fact huge in their home country of Norway and very popular throughout Europe. Their live shows have gained massive reputation for combining various percussion instruments and using pyrotechnics (thanks Last.fm for that information). The tags at Last.fm describe them as chillout, dance, electronica, downtempo, lounge. Somebody reviewing the album on Amazon actually said “Casino” should feature on the “Oceans Eleven” soundtrack and I’d looked on those! Very very cool – if you are looking for something different I recommend giving them a listen.

Help wanted in identifying a song!

sue — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 16:19:22 +0000

I thought I was going to get my answer today regarding a song I’ve been trying to track down for 4 years no less! Alas I have to wait at least another month. I heard it on holiday in 2003 and part was caught on our video camera when we were filming outside a beach bar. It was such a lovely relaxed beachy sound, I never dreamt it would be impossible to identify. I’ve searched on Google for every part of the lyric I know, consulted lyric sites, listened to music clips of beach type songs on Amazon and exhausted Last.fm’s tags and subject listings. Well it was fun anyway and I discovered other great music along the way I guess. Then to our amazement, 2 weeks ago it featured in the first episode of Piers Morgan’s programme about Sandbanks in Dorset. I jumped off the sofa in surprise!!! It was only a brief part of the beginning instrumental section though and now I have to wait until ITV receive the programme information at the end of February to see if they can track it down

If you can help or offer advice then please leave a comment. It is a chilled out song, very summery/ beachy in feel, some “de de de de” harmonising at the beginning and a sultry female vocal sounding (the nearest I can find anyway) like Violet Indiana or Moloko.

The lyrics I have are:

“6 o’clock on the dot(?), spend your money with the rich and the famous.

Spin the wheel, watch ‘em deal, it’s the miracle of life… in Las Vegas.”

Is it in your collection by any chance? It will be just typical if it turns out to be a group I know and the song has somehow passed me by!!

Justin Currie – What Is Love For?

sue — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:05:35 +0000

Justin has done it again. How can his name not be known throughout the land and why did he have to fight for a record deal?! We saw him perform last night at The Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth and I’ve never witnessed such an excellent set (in my limited experience). He has such an amazing voice with a great vocal range and emotive quality. He’s also a great performer who comes across as both passionate about his music and maybe a little shy and self depreciating too.

He is perhaps best known as the lead singer of Del Amitri but I’m hoping he’s becoming recognised as an artist in his own right. I don’t know anyone who has written such beautiful lyrics which are both everyday and extraordinary. I identify with them when I’m up and when I’m down, unlike any other single artist. “Here and Now” has long been my favourite up song and now “No Surrender” on this album becomes my down song of choice! Nobody does melancholy or bitter like Justin.

I saw Del Amitri on their final tour, as it turned out, and it was well worth the 5 year wait to see him perform live again. Check out the 5 star reviews his new album is getting on Amazon or have a listen to the tracks on his MySpace page. “No Surrender” has such amazing lyrics, to remember all those words and deliver them with such power, wow! His live performance of this track is worthy of special mention as it’s full of passion and meaning about the world we live in today – both utterly scathing and heart-wrenchingly poetic.

The Eagles – Long Road Out Of Eden

sue — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 22:06:28 +0000

I am excited! Just saw The Eagles have a new album out at the end of the month… after a 28 year break!! It’s a bumper double album of 20 new songs and judging by the video to “How Long” (just viewed on Amazon) it’s too long until I’ll be able to get my hands on a copy. That song sounds every bit as good as their older stuff and Don Henley’s voice is as amazing as ever, pure quality.

Skye at the Jazz Café in Camden

sue — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 19:12:05 +0000

Last Thursday evening we went to see Skye Edwards (who previously sang with Morcheeba) at The Jazz Café in Camden Town. I’d been to the venue once before to see Judie Tzuke 10 years ago and, having only previously been to stadium concerts, I loved the intimate feel of the much smaller event.

I discovered Morcheeba quite late on but was immediately impressed by Skye’s vocal talents. I first saw her in conversation last year on “Faith and Music” (ITV1). A brilliant biographical programme discussing vocal artists spiritual beliefs, exploring their back catalog of songs and including a new live performance. She was immediately engaging, her voice so pure and beautiful – I rushed out immediately to buy her new solo album “Mind How You Go”.

The gig itself was fantastic, we stood downstairs to one side and were able to easily watch her on stage without being blocked or jostled (not something I enjoy!). She was really friendly, chatted easily in between songs AND wore a knock out outfit with a fantastic pair of sparkly shoes! She has released a great cover version of “Feel Good Inc” which I took a while to track down but finally found on a various album (“Me Time”) last week… no problem if you can play the WMA files on itunes but because we use Linux… we needed the mp3.

My favourite tracks of the night were “Feel Good Inc”, “Solitary”, “What’s Wrong With Me” and then the set she did towards the end of the night without the band. It was captivating to hear just her playing guitar and singing “Not Broken” and “Say Amen” amongst others. A truly memorable evening and I can’t wait to hear what she does next. I recommend you check her out on My Space.

Tori Amos

sue — Thu, 10 May 2007 21:56:32 +0000

Tori Amos was on Graham Norton’s show tonight, very impressive performance of “Bouncing Off Clouds” at the end. Certainly an unusual woman, just love her style and kookiness. She has created 5 different personas for her latest album “American Girl Posse” and decided which one should perform each song depending on the style of the track. Apparently these women have the characteristics of different Greek Gods, but not the names, which are Tori, Clyde, Pip, Isabel and Santa. Interesting idea but I wonder how she performs them live, a lot of costume changes required!

Music generally

sue — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 21:39:22 +0000

I’ve decided to add a music category because there has been so much fantastic music floating around in my head recently. I seem to have discovered a lot of artists new to me that I absolutely love and our CD collection is growing bigger by the week now.

My musical tastes had got a bit jaded up until the end of last year. I’ve always played a lot of 80′s sounds, fairly pop-y stuff, a few older bands such as The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac plus a select few rock groups, my absolute favourite being Bon Jovi. In January I wrote a brief entry about discovering Pandora and using the Squeezebox to find new music. It really has opened up a wealth of different genres which I’ve realised I enjoy – world music, folk, tango, synthpop and some that are so kooky they defy categorisation. I also listen to Last FM now which again helps you to discover new artists similar to those you already like and a lot more besides if you want to really get into it. There are so many “online communities” that you could spend more time in those than in your own real world one, scary huh!!