2 with ten – the letter b
ok, on to the letter B. b is a tough letter cos there are a ton of b bands i would like to play. i know i said i would try to play songs that also started with that letter but i’ve decided to bag that idea – too difficult and besides, i really want to play the songs that initially hooked me to these bands. some of the songs i post may indeed be the band’s most popular one and in that case i guess u can say i have agreed with the masses….shoot me.
Blonde Redhead. i first heard this band via an ex gf – hmmm i see a pattern developing, maybe that’s the role girls have come to play in my life…bearers of music rather than children. blonde redhead formed in ny in 93 and have since become a 3 piece with no bass player. the italian brothers in this band are also twins. i have an italian twin brother as well. it would have been nice to have been in a band with my italian twin…but probably just a trio like br cos 3 is a visually great # for compositions. my favorite br song is equus but magic mountain is a real close second. equus is such a great name for a song. i have grown to love this band – talk about an original and distinctive sound. the love or hate it aspect to this band is kazu makino’s voice. it’s fucked up, give it a chance.
Boards of Canada. if you arent into electronic music then u might not understand how great this pair of scottish dudes are. i first heard about boc from a guy who moved into the apt across the hall from me when i lived near the troubadour. he gave me all their cds and it quickly became bedtime background music. the song i posted is called roygbiv. u guys know what that is right – short for the colors of the spectrum – red orange yellow green blue indigo violet. like equus was a cool title this is as well. i love the low tone moog melody line – that’s what hooked me about this song. the album this is off, music has the right to children, came out in 98 and it’s a great record. 98 was an amazing year for music come to think of it.
B is for fucking bonus song!
Band of Horses. ok ok i know it’s called 2 with ten but for damn sake i couldnt get out of my b’s without talking about this band- more so because of this song. once again, i first got into band of horses via an ex gf’s laptop. there are lots of things i like about this band, particularly ben bridwell’s voice and phrasings. in a strange way he reminds me of mercury rev at times. i also liked the first photos i saw of them…one was in front of an old blue truck and another with a boxer in it…sort of like we did at one point. anyway, we’ve played a couple festivals with these guys but unfortunately both times our set times overlapped and i missed them. the first lyric of the song that never get tired of listening to is “it’s looking like a limb torn off” – very nice.
b was tough..i’m really gonna go for lessor known bands when i hit c. i regret not mentioning bo diddley for this – please give bo a try.
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Francis Ten
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DAMN YOU FRAN! I was waiting for “B” so I could throw down some boards of canada. I have a feeling our itunes libraries have a lot in common, cuz blonde redhead is on heavy spin as well (esp. the album “23”).
Well, I guess i’ll have to step up to the plate with two more chill out electro bands for ya:
Bent: Old School mid-90s triphop/downtempo.
Links: “Private Road” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebd87zFaPug&feature=player_embedded#at=18
“Magic Love” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10RZsjvX-f0&feature=player_embedded (your gay neighbor might dig this track more than you)
Second artist:
Bonobo – Downtempo IDM
“Recurring” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfugtAWxooU&feature=player_embedded#
check it…
br
Burial. Lonely walks in the nighttime city music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hI4bSCy9iE
OK since I was totally lame with the “A”‘s and didn’t get my selections in until the last minute I am going to get a head start and recommend my “B”s early.
While perusing through my library for B’s I discovered I really don’t have much in the way non-mainstream B-Bands. Since B.O.C. has already been so rightly suggested (great choice Fran) I’ll stick with the following two:
Beth Orton http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xfv1z_beth-orton-she-cries-your-name_music
Can’t beat listening to Beth on the outdoor bose drinking wine around the firepit.
and
Buffalo Daughter:
This is the one worth checking out: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x290y2_buffalo-daughter-cyclic_music
older stuff is hit or miss but this one rates high for me and overall another great Japanese import.
Finally, since I can’t refrain from being a damn rule breaker, I am shamefully plugging a runner up: “The Boxer Rebellion” (http://www.myspace.com/theboxerrebellion) … I deserve the hazing but if it scores with ya’ll it was worth it…)
C ya in the C’s
bon iver’s “for emma, forever ago” should be in your music library. i mean, if u like ben bridwell’s voice and phrasing you’ll appreciate justin vernon. his voice is bone chillingly beautiful and his phrasing is so full of imagery- kinda fun getting lost in his sadness. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssdgFoHLwnk
so which ex got u into baha men 🙂
I love Band of Horses and that song in particular. For my suggestion, I’m going to recommend a band from my state (PA), Black Moth Super Rainbow, in particular this song “Forever Heavy.” (http://www.fanaticpromotion.com/mp3s/blackmothsuperrainbow/bmsr-foreverheavy.mp3)
Wow.. love Boards of Canada!
Ok… I’m going to have to go with…. #1:
Bjork!
There just isn’t possibly enough room to go over what an amazing artist she is (I was instantly in love with her after hearing the song Regina (SugarCubes) while in highschool) but I was very moved by her foray into Cinema. She was asked to write and produce the musical score to a movie called “Dancer in the Dark”, which she eventually was convinced to act in. The resulting score was released and is called “Selmasongs”. When I first saw the movie I was haunted by a beautiful french horn melody which, years later, I realized was strikingly similar to another composer I had so much enjoyed as a child, John Williams. The haunting score is called Overture on Selmasongs.. give it a listen. However, the song I really want to call attention to is New World, which the same theme and melody as Overture establishes… This is probably one of my favorite Bjorks songs outside of her mainstream stuff. This is also the song the movie credits roll to, and I have to admit, I was so moved by the song, I had to rewind the movie 2 or 3 times just to listen to it again. Give it a listen.. it’s quite nice… and very cinematic… and of course, amazing lyrics and vocals…. if you are a french horn fan, you’ll be quite delighted.
#2: Big Audio Dynamite.
I was first introduced to B.A.D. by my best friend in highschool in the late 80’s whilst cruizing the beach, and trying not to get in trouble during late summer nights. Released in 1985 on the album “This is Big Audio Dynamite”, the song E=MC2 has an amazing, timeless, childlike aura about it. It pretty much summed up my entire care free summer of that year. The song was WAY ahead of it’s time in terms of electronic sampling and mixing. Not that it was a pioneer, but that it was mixed so well between the lyrics, music, samples, harmonizing, etc. And of course, the unmistakable vocals of the Clash guitarist and singer, Mick Jones. After doing a little research, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that this song is a tribute to cinematographer and film director Nicolas Roeg (Man Who Fell to Earth). Enjoy!
J
Bon Iver – Blood Bank
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-BZ0D92mtU
It probably isn’t everyone’s first choice of the bands song’s but I love it, and I think the band in general is really worth checking out if you haven’t done so. Really mellow stuff.
Nice choices man! I would have added BRMC too
BT (sophisticated glitch/pop/orchestral)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwErxckY-Xc&feature=related I love the part that kicks in at 7:30
BT has always pushed things technologically, been popular in the clubs, dance, and cool kids crowd early in his career, but I feel he pushed things and matured when he scored the film for the movie Monster, and then stepped to another level and created something very rare and marvelous when he combined glitch, with orchestration and innovation for his album This Binary Universe. I feel this is his crowning achievement, but a bit long winded and requires the listen to have a good attention span and to focus with microscope in order to really appreciate the fine details hidden everywhere.
Hey Fran,
Bibio_”Sugarette”