4chixpost

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

First thanks to everyone who sent birthday wishes! it was a good one, and I am still celebrating. Tonight while watching AI I got an unexpected gift. My love for the song Somewhere Over the Rainbow is well known to you that read the blog and my favorite has always been Judy Garland's version live, at the London Palladium, several weeks before she died.

Another popular version is by a Hawaiian artist called Iz - you may remember it from the old ER days in the finale where Dr. Green dies. Played on the ukelele.

Now, I another favorite version. Jason Castro, the dude with the killer blue eyes and dreads, brings down the house while accompanying himself on the ukelele. Are those tears in Randy's eyes, dog? Check it out

Stick with it to the end even if you don't like it for the spectacle of what Paula is wearing!

Great New Artist? Nicole Atkins

Wow! I heard this singer on David Letterman the night before Halloween and yes, am just getting around to posting about her. Her name is Nicole Atkins and the song I heard is The Way it Is. Take a listen to her on Letterman:

http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/live/index/php/936077.phtml?play=1

You can hear a bit of his reaction but in watching, I can tell you, he was clearly blown away as was I. On an ITunes review, it says she sounds like a young Cass Elliot and that's not a bad comparison. Click on the link - you will not be disappointed!

Elliott Yamin

This is nice. Not slick or overly produced. Kind of an old school R&B vibe and it really grows on you. DH and I have been listending to it in the evenings when we are hanging out, having a glass of wine, or reading and relaxing.

By now, the "outsiders"  rise to fame on AI and decision to go the indie route for his CD has been written about in the "trades" and seems to have been a good decision. The cd has been critically acclaimed and is selling well.  His "whiskey tenor" shines through on this cd and he was allowed the creative freedom to put together a very eclectic release.

I have favorites: download Alright and Movin On if you want something good for your Ipod workout playlist. "A Song for You" was recorded by one of his idols, Donny Hathaway. When he sang it on AI  it brought Paula to tears. Simon called it a "vocal master class" and it is my favorite of the ballads. I tend to like those a little less than the fast paced ones. Yamin has writing credits on most of them and DH and I were laughing that someone, somewhere, must have really done that boy wrong! And whoever that model is he is dating, she has him whipped for now.

Hoping to avoid a Kelly Clarkson/Jenifer Hudson flap, in the liner notes Yamin thanks everyone from the stage hands on AI to Randy/Simon/Paula, and you get the impression that he is thanking everyone that ever gave him a word of encouragement in his life. I am not sure I would like the music so much if I weren't charmed by his personality. Hard to tell, because I am. You have to love the homeboy who struggles against the odds and makes good, and genuinely seems to be a great guy.

If you aren't sure you want to buy the CD, head over to Yamin's My Space page at http://www.myspace.com/elliottyamin and you can sample a little. Or, if you go to Itunes, you can do pretty well by downloading the three songs I already mentioned, plus  Find A Way, and Free.

Enjoy!

My Chemical Romance

It won't surprise anyone who reads this blog that I am not exactly a fountain of knowledge on alternative rock. In fact, DH kids me that I don't own any music from this century. Of course that isn't true, as I really like the Black Eyed Peas and KT Tunstall. And...well, you get the point.

So several months ago I heard this song on Saturday Night Live that I was quite taken with - the lyrics go something like this:

"When I was a young boy, my father took me into the city the hear a marching band

He said son when you grow up, will you be the saviour of the broken, the beaten, and the damned?"

It really caught me, but I was too sleepy to write down the name of the band and then couldn't remember it. Then last week it turned up as backgroud music for a commerical for: Friday Night Lights? Yes, there it was, so I went to an SNL recap site that includes the musical acts until I figured out who it was by process of elimination. My Chemical Romance and the album is titled Black Parade.

Here is what the  ITunes review has to say about their cd "Black Parade' : ..."it's the Sgt. Pepper of the TIm Burton/Warped Tour generation (I'm not sure I know what that means but it sounds good) ...easily the best Top 40 rock album you will hear this year...tribute to the Queens and Bowies it borrows from."

So, I downloaded the one song Black Parade but have not commited to the rest of it yet. Anyone else out their heard this band? Go to ITunes and listen to the song.

Elliott Yamin update

A couple of you sent emails asking if I got to see the AI concert when it was in town. I was in New Mexico, and could not have gotten tix since it sold out in about ten minutes , anyway. I did catch up on some reading today and saw this article from Entertainment Weekly.

http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,1222242_3_0_,00.html

Basically, it is talking about how his record deal with NOT be with 19 (the AI machine that has signed the other season five finalists) and mentions the work he is doing with the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. I am looking farad to his CD!

Blender Strikes Again

From the folks who brought you the most awesomely dead rock stars, we have a new compilation of the 25 Biggest Wusses Ever - From Soft Rock Mewlers to Preachy Vegans, the most Awsomely Wimpy Musicians. Yes, Christopher Cross is on there.

I won't ruin it for you, but here is what they say about Number One: this singer "perfected what Elvis Costello once called "the ‘F#*% me, I'm sensitive' school" of music. In the soft, caring, unruffled voice of a marriage counselor, he initiated an era of confessional, listen-to-my-troubles singer-songwriters and turned excessive self-examination into a hallmark of the baby-boom generation."

Here's the link:  http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?ID=1990

KT Tunstall

She's been compared to Carol King, Ricki Lee Jones, and Stevie Nicks. Katharine McPhee sang her upbeat and folksie "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on AI. I caught a performance on Letterman of another song off her cd Eye to the Telescope that had Dave gushing and I had to agree. Most people that know me know that I have Carol King's Tapestry memorized word for word and it is one of my favorite albums, 8-tracks, cassettes, and cd's of all time (the only thing I own in every media it has come out in) so I bought KT's cd off of Amazon. I really like it, and can see the comparison to the other artists, but she has a pretty unique sound. She is of Chinese and Scotts descent, and lives in the UK. Here is a link to her site and you can sample some of her songs legally, at no charge. I highly reommend! http://www.kttunstall.com/tunes.php

Dead Rock Stars Hot List

Several of you emailed me asking if this list was real, the 50 Most Awesome Dead Rock Stars of All Time. Yes it is! Here is the link:

http://music.aol.com/home/blender/dead_rock_stars