I recommend using the "Shuffle" option for that Spotify playlist cause its in chronological order (mostly) and if you start at the beginning you only get the songs picked from 5 years ago.
This song is a total mystery. I can't find anything out about the artist (who is it or about the song) with some pretty deep internet searching (trying to match lyrics, tweeting at the one dude who I found who referenced it, etc.). There seems to be at least 3 or 4 dudes on this track. I think its from 2005. It is rap music. It's a total pump up anthem. Gets you ready for battle. "fuck you if you don't like me, run up on me and fight me."
I think I'm just gonna go on a run of mid 2000s under-appreciated summer rap jams. This one is from 2006 from T.I.'s protege and artist on his own label Grand Hustle. It's such a smooth production. The slippery sliding down synth thing at :45 in the video is one of my favorite sounds ever in a song. The song sounds like wheezing humid day in the south in the best way.
This song was released on July 5, 2005. (The previous song, Young Dro, was released on July 4 2006). Smitty is from Miami, Florida and the video for this song puts Miami in focus. The video is directed by the greatest video director in the history of rap music, Hype Williams, and this video features one of his signatures which is the letterbox bars featuring a second image split up which I think works great in this video. This song was a mild success for Smitty in the summer of 05 and was supposed to be the first single from an album but that album never came out. Smitty has been a ghostwriter for other rappers for over a decade now. The song is based on a Notorious BIG sample which starts immediately and stutters its way through the whole song with power and repetitive weight. I really like Smitty's voice sounding like he spent a lot of time rapping along with CDs of big voiced west coast rappers like Ice Cube and Daz (of Tha Dogg Pound). I really like how Smitty refers to his chain as a necklace. The song was produced by Swizz Beatz. This song is for cruising around.
We go from a song with a prominent Biggie sample to a song by a dude whose voice (and appearance) are eerily similar to the late great rapper. It's almost weird that Guerilla Black didn't play Biggie in that movie Notorious. This song is from 2004.
This song samples the 1982 reggae/dub classic "Bam Bam" by Sister Nancy and also features Dancehall legend Beenie Man.
In the first verse Black references cigs dipped in pcp which is called sherm and then he mentions that he likes his bagels toasted.
But my favorite reference has to be in the 3rd verse where he refernences biblical characters Meshach and Abednego (no love for their brother Shadrach?).
Guerilla Black has recently been charged with credit card fraud and plead guilty.
Eric Mast of the great Audio Dregs label posted this on Facebook the other day which is how I found out about this music:
"Back in 1992 I discovered FANTASTIC PALACE on a compilation on a short lived label called See Eye and have been listening to and loving it ever since. About ten years later I became friends with music writer and label guy, Mike McGonigal, and discovered he was responsible for the See Eye label. I told him what a fan I was of the music and he tracked down the band for me, which it turns out was the solo recording project of Alexander Ross (all other members it turns out were fictitious), a visual artist who had been living in New York City ever since. I was very excited to learn that an all time favorite band had even more unreleased material, so we decided to give the band its first proper vinyl issue/re-issue, which is what we have done!"
Most of the recordings are from the mid 80s, many instrumental, and they alternate between ecstatic and alien.
A song that was written for the Jackson 5 and it sounds like it but it is a great song nonetheless. THESE MORMON DORKS GETTING SO FUNKY! Caught this one on a random shuffle like 4 months ago and I had no idea what it was and it made my day better and then I found out it was The Osmonds and I freaked out.
They are not playing their instruments in this clip
Here is the intro to their cartoon network television program
oh u know i love me some pet shop boys. i still haven't seen the film that is related to the record "actually" tho there are parts on youtube i found when i was going deep on the pet shop boys a few months ago i love that when i was a kid i really loved loved loved this band, just great songs, great production, cool aesthetics wasn't until much later that i realized the sexual politics at play in their music. seems so inherent and essential, but what makes these guys so successful is that their greatest songs transcend their era, their scene, their play on homosexuality, all of it, reaching some sort of universal pop appeal.
This song is from 2012. I didn’t care for this band before I heard this song (without having too much information) but this song immediately charmed me. It’s a fun sincere tribute to Paris is Burning/vogueing/jacking/drag culture/house of times before and its well executed with a simple array of drum machine hand drums and whistle samples.
Here's a cool unofficial collage video that happened before the official vid but the band approved of
The mid 00’s were a time of unsure experimentation in independent music. We are now in a time where that is very much not true.
Brendan Fowler made concerts without a band or music really. His thoughtful stream of consciousness sing talky over very minimal drum patterns or piano pieces did everything that a traditional band could do and more. BARR was intimate and made you feel and think and he gave great hugs and challenged things you thought were true.
This song was the hit and the most catchy. Others were way weirder and some were like art critiques and some were like therapy sessions and all felt real.
Rashad was a leader of the footwork and juke music scenes in Chicago. Ultra fast and jittering tracks that make your mind vibrate in a beautiful way. He passed away earlier this year
The Living Sisters is Becky Stark from Lavender Diamond, and a couple other ladies who are in other bands. This song kinda gives me a Dirty Projectors for Dummies vibe between the guitar line and harmonies (both are much simpler than DPs versions of either but both are well executed). Sounds nice.
The subject matter is distinctly west coast. An appreciation for the banalities of life. The daily bounce around. The Beach Boys had a song called "Busy Doin' Nothing" from my personal favorite Beach Boys album called Friends (which is wildly underrated). "Busy Doin' Nothing" takes you through a banal day in a jazzy way including some pretty detailed directions how to get to Brian Wilson's house. Both of these songs feel so west coast to me in terms of lifestyle and I don't think an east coast artist would make a song with that as a subject matter.
There's a Michel Gondry video for this song that I don't actually like very much. I don't like the fit with the song and think it kinda changes focus in a way I don't think works but here it is for you to make up your own damn mind:
This is a new song by Shamir who is from Las Vegas and it makes me feel very happy. Somewhere between Azealia Banks and De La Soul it’s bouncy bouncy and simple in all the right ways. A great introduction to a new character is music.
The Davis Sisters - I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know
Skeeter Davis and Betty Jack Davis were unrelated but had a huge hit with this song in 1953. The week before the song was released The Davis Sisters were in a bad car wreck that killed Betty Jack Davis and injured Skeeter Davis. Skeeter reformed The Davis sisters with Betty Jack's older sister Georgia but it was never the same. Skeeter later had a successful solo career. This song is aches.
Comments
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figurine_(band)
Loved Figurine
J.R. - FU
This song is a total mystery. I can't find anything out about the artist (who is it or about the song) with some pretty deep internet searching (trying to match lyrics, tweeting at the one dude who I found who referenced it, etc.). There seems to be at least 3 or 4 dudes on this track.
I think its from 2005.
It is rap music.
It's a total pump up anthem.
Gets you ready for battle.
"fuck you if you don't like me, run up on me and fight me."
I uploaded it to YouTube.
Also, that image is cool.
Young Dro - Shoulder Lean
I think I'm just gonna go on a run of mid 2000s under-appreciated summer rap jams. This one is from 2006 from T.I.'s protege and artist on his own label Grand Hustle.
It's such a smooth production. The slippery sliding down synth thing at :45 in the video is one of my favorite sounds ever in a song. The song sounds like wheezing humid day in the south in the best way.
Smitty - Diamonds on My Neck
This song was released on July 5, 2005. (The previous song, Young Dro, was released on July 4 2006).
Smitty is from Miami, Florida and the video for this song puts Miami in focus. The video is directed by the greatest video director in the history of rap music, Hype Williams, and this video features one of his signatures which is the letterbox bars featuring a second image split up which I think works great in this video.
This song was a mild success for Smitty in the summer of 05 and was supposed to be the first single from an album but that album never came out. Smitty has been a ghostwriter for other rappers for over a decade now.
The song is based on a Notorious BIG sample which starts immediately and stutters its way through the whole song with power and repetitive weight. I really like Smitty's voice sounding like he spent a lot of time rapping along with CDs of big voiced west coast rappers like Ice Cube and Daz (of Tha Dogg Pound).
I really like how Smitty refers to his chain as a necklace.
The song was produced by Swizz Beatz.
This song is for cruising around.
Guerilla Black - Compton feat. Beenie Man
We go from a song with a prominent Biggie sample to a song by a dude whose voice (and appearance) are eerily similar to the late great rapper. It's almost weird that Guerilla Black didn't play Biggie in that movie Notorious. This song is from 2004.
This song samples the 1982 reggae/dub classic "Bam Bam" by Sister Nancy and also features Dancehall legend Beenie Man.
In the first verse Black references cigs dipped in pcp which is called sherm and then he mentions that he likes his bagels toasted.
But my favorite reference has to be in the 3rd verse where he refernences biblical characters Meshach and Abednego (no love for their brother Shadrach?).
Guerilla Black has recently been charged with credit card fraud and plead guilty.
Rich Boy - Throw Some D's
2006
One of the best hip hop songs of the last 10 years.
A perfect car weave in the video.
Rich Boy looks mean but nice.
Produced by Polow da Don who went onto produce “Love in this Club” by Ush.
Great remix (with a GREAT verse by Andre 3000)
Here's the remix
The Kinks - Dead End Street
From 1966
Anthem for the working class. Pre-punk.
So good.
Book of Love - I Touch Roses
1986
This band has two members with the last name Ottaviano that are unrelated, how is that possible?
They were from Philly and made cool new wave music
Fantastic Planet - Life's Orchestration
Eric Mast of the great Audio Dregs label posted this on Facebook the other day which is how I found out about this music:
"Back in 1992 I discovered FANTASTIC PALACE on a compilation on a short lived label called See Eye and have been listening to and loving it ever since. About ten years later I became friends with music writer and label guy, Mike McGonigal, and discovered he was responsible for the See Eye label. I told him what a fan I was of the music and he tracked down the band for me, which it turns out was the solo recording project of Alexander Ross (all other members it turns out were fictitious), a visual artist who had been living in New York City ever since. I was very excited to learn that an all time favorite band had even more unreleased material, so we decided to give the band its first proper vinyl issue/re-issue, which is what we have done!"
Most of the recordings are from the mid 80s, many instrumental, and they alternate between ecstatic and alien.
http://ssotd.tumblr.com/#61713203856
The 18th Volume of the UrbanHonking Secret Song of the Day has been compiled.
31 more songs.
GOOD ONES.
Here's a download link
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_Ackulb_ro9MEktdENrQTVuYkU/edit?usp=sharing
1970.
A song that was written for the Jackson 5 and it sounds like it but it is a great song nonetheless.
THESE MORMON DORKS GETTING SO FUNKY!
Caught this one on a random shuffle like 4 months ago and I had no idea what it was and it made my day better and then I found out it was The Osmonds and I freaked out.
They are not playing their instruments in this clip
Here is the intro to their cartoon network television program
Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield - What Have I Done To Deserve This
1987
How good are the Pet Shop Boys? Impeccable.
And Dusty Springfield!
i love that when i was a kid i really loved loved loved this band, just great songs, great production, cool aesthetics
wasn't until much later that i realized the sexual politics at play in their music. seems so inherent and essential, but what makes these guys so successful is that their greatest songs transcend their era, their scene, their play on homosexuality, all of it, reaching some sort of universal pop appeal.
they covered the village people and made it a universally beloved football anthem. they expand the boundaries of what is possible.
also: BEST BAND FOR KARAOKE!
Scissor Sisters - Let's Have a Kiki
This song is from 2012. I didn’t care for this band before I heard this song (without having too much information) but this song immediately charmed me. It’s a fun sincere tribute to Paris is Burning/vogueing/jacking/drag culture/house of times before and its well executed with a simple array of drum machine hand drums and whistle samples.
Here's a cool unofficial collage video that happened before the official vid but the band approved of
BARR - The Song Is The Single
The mid 00’s were a time of unsure experimentation in independent music. We are now in a time where that is very much not true.
Brendan Fowler made concerts without a band or music really. His thoughtful stream of consciousness sing talky over very minimal drum patterns or piano pieces did everything that a traditional band could do and more. BARR was intimate and made you feel and think and he gave great hugs and challenged things you thought were true.
This song was the hit and the most catchy. Others were way weirder and some were like art critiques and some were like therapy sessions and all felt real.
So cool.
Thanks for doing that, BARR.
DJ Rashad - CCP
Rashad was a leader of the footwork and juke music scenes in Chicago. Ultra fast and jittering tracks that make your mind vibrate in a beautiful way. He passed away earlier this year
The Living Sisters - How Are You Doing?
The Living Sisters is Becky Stark from Lavender Diamond, and a couple other ladies who are in other bands. This song kinda gives me a Dirty Projectors for Dummies vibe between the guitar line and harmonies (both are much simpler than DPs versions of either but both are well executed). Sounds nice.
The subject matter is distinctly west coast. An appreciation for the banalities of life. The daily bounce around. The Beach Boys had a song called "Busy Doin' Nothing" from my personal favorite Beach Boys album called Friends (which is wildly underrated). "Busy Doin' Nothing" takes you through a banal day in a jazzy way including some pretty detailed directions how to get to Brian Wilson's house. Both of these songs feel so west coast to me in terms of lifestyle and I don't think an east coast artist would make a song with that as a subject matter.
There's a Michel Gondry video for this song that I don't actually like very much. I don't like the fit with the song and think it kinda changes focus in a way I don't think works but here it is for you to make up your own damn mind:
Here is that Beach Boys song for reference:
Friday November 21st 2014
Shamir - On the Regular
This is a new song by Shamir who is from Las Vegas and it makes me feel very happy. Somewhere between Azealia Banks and De La Soul it’s bouncy bouncy and simple in all the right ways. A great introduction to a new character is music.
Amazing video:
The Davis Sisters - I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know
Skeeter Davis and Betty Jack Davis were unrelated but had a huge hit with this song in 1953. The week before the song was released The Davis Sisters were in a bad car wreck that killed Betty Jack Davis and injured Skeeter Davis. Skeeter reformed The Davis sisters with Betty Jack's older sister Georgia but it was never the same. Skeeter later had a successful solo career. This song is aches.