Random Sample 8-29-08

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you had a chance to see Obama’s big speech last night.  I did, Julie did, and Maya did.  It was indeed a wonderful speech and as Julie said afterward (and I agree):  “My cynicism is melting away.”  Julie even blogged on it, and I added some snark to the snarkfest at Popdose.  So, clicky clicky over there if you can.  But wait!  Before you go, I have some music to share.

“Violet Stars Happy Hunting,” Janelle Monae (Download) I subscribe to Paste magazine and every month a sampler of music is tucked into the pages.  Sometimes there’s maybe one song on the sampler I like, other months I’m digging quite a few tracks. My experience with this month’s CD has been the latter. There are some wonderful songs on there, and this one leads.  Janelle Monae is an up and coming artist, but what I love about this song is the quirky layering of vocals.  Good music is about surprises, and this tune certainly does that.  Oh, and any CD cover that pays homage to The Sarah Connor Chronicles gets an A+ in my book. 🙂

“Changing Skies,” Stewart Copeland (Download) Copeland’s Post-Police work has really been quite cinematic.  His “other” job (and the one where he’s had a great deal of creative satisfaction) has been that of creating scores for TV and film.  He hasn’t achieved Danny Elfman status, but sometimes his music is quite engaging, and sometimes it starts to sound the same.  However, I’m a sucker for anything an ex-Police member puts out (now that the tour is over, I can used that term).  I haven’t seen this film, but it seems like something Maya would love.  I mean, just look at that CD cover!

“Savage Earth Heart,” The Waterboys (Download)  The first and only time I saw the Waterboys was in 1984 when they opened for U2.  The fans of U2 were understandably eager for them to take the stage, but the Waterboys were playing and lead singer, Mike Scott, made that clear by saying: “I know you’re all a-wantin’ U2 to come out, but WE’RE fu*king playing now, and you’ll just have to get used to that.”   I had to cheer because, really, it must suck to be an opening band — espeically when you’re opening for U2.  I bought this CD at Rasputins a few weeks back, and just love the “big sound” the Waterboys were able to make with this song.