Time for another Mike’s Music Mix. This is my sixth one, taking more inspiration from my Last.fm lists.
Kid Sister – Right Hand Hi
I used to buy MP3 albums and singles on Amazon. I’d often buy them without ever hearing them, to expand my horizons, especially when Amazon held sales. Some of those purchases admittedly sucked, while some became favorites. The album Ultraviolet by Kid Sister falls solidly among the latter, and changed my negative attitude towards rap. I didn’t realize the album was rap when I bought it, or I might have passed on it. It’s cool things went the way they did.
I don’t buy MP3s on Amazon anymore. Amazon ruined my music buying experience by requiring me to pay for their Music Unlimited service if I wanted to stream a specific song – even after purchasing it. They continue to make “upgrades” that worsen the customer experience. I used to be an Amazon fanatic. Now I’d just as soon be rid of them. My Kindle Fire tablet stopped working recently, and I won’t be buying a new one. My Android phone can easily do everything I was using the Fire tablet for. I’ll continue looking for other ways to reduce Amazon’s footprint in my life.
But now…. Put your right hand high and dance with Kid Sister!
Scarlet Death – Brooklyn Hz
My kid, Alice Eidson, has been involved in noise production for decades. If not for her, I’d never have listened to the noise genre. It takes getting used to, and some people never will or even try. The listening audience for noise music seems to primarily be the creators of noise music. I’ve entertained the idea of creating noise music, and some of what I do with digital music might be noise to others. Oh, well.
Alice has produced tracks under the names R3V0, Say No More Tongues, and, most recently, Scarlet Death. I made the weird video below for a Scarlet Death track. The video is an experience that some won’t care to have even once. But it’s a part of my life experience, so I’ll share the video here for those brave souls who aren’t afraid of things eccentric and haven’t already seen and heard it.
Megan McCauley – Tap That
I discovered Megan McCauley on a social media site back in 2007, when she released her first album, Better Than Blood. I fell in love with the tracks Tap That and I’ll Pay You To Shoot Him. The latter tears at my heart strings when I imagine what prompted Megan to write it.
After Better Than Blood, Megan released music under the artist name Mugzy, but that didn’t catch on… and there’s another artist releasing under that name now. Most recently, Megan released the song Mothership under a new artist name. The music streaming service I use, Tidal, displays her name as Mayleigh Damage, two words instead of three, but nevertheless showed me her latest release when I searched for it under the name May Leigh Damage, the name Megan lists on her web site.
I once saw an entry on Wikipedia for Megan McCauley. Someone had tagged it, saying they thought it should be deleted, because Megan wasn’t famous enough. They ended up removing it. It saddened me to see it go. Maybe some day it will return.
Merle Haggard – Are the Good Times Really Over (I Wish a Buck Was Still Silver)
Merle Haggard often expressed his views on the state of the world, especially the USA, in his music, and many of his songs apply as much to today’s USA as they did when he released them.
Alanis Morissette – No Return (Extended Version)
My wife and I have gone together to see a few artists live in concert. Alanis Morissette was one of our favorites. I can still picture where we sat in the sparsely-occupied outdoor, covered auditorium where she played. This was before she became a huge success.
When I first heard the song, You Oughta Know, on the radio, I knew the singer was going places. I went into a music store and asked for the Alanis Morissette CD. “We don’t have it in stock,” said the store clerk. I asked her why not. She said the management hadn’t expected the CD to become popular, and didn’t have high expectations for the singer, either. I scoffed at them and told her they needed to rethink things, then went elsewhere to buy the CD.
I love the show Yellowjackets. Christina Ricci stars in it, so there’s no way I can’t love it, ya know. 🙂 The theme song fits the show perfectly. Here’s a version of it as sung by Alanis Morissette.
Al Green – Here I Am (Come and Take Me)
How many songs has Al Green released? I’ve never counted them, but it’s a ton. He’s done both originals and covers. I like his originals best. I love to close my eyes to this track and let it carry me away… here I am, come and take me. Forget about all my cares. Yeah.
Alexx Calise – We Only Come Out At Night
Alexx Calise is another singer I discovered via social media. We’re friends today on Facebook, and I wear that as a badge of honor. She has released songs both as a solo artist and working with others, such as Sensitive Robot or her band, Bat Farm. She may not be widely known, but she has a dedicated following, which includes me. She rocks as hard as anyone, and has been doing so for years. I wish she had more music videos, but she does what she can.
We Only Come Out at Night is my second favorite Alexx Calise track. My top favorite will remain a mystery for now to those who don’t already know. 🙂
Eagles – I Can’t Tell You Why
For as long as I’ve listened to rock music, I’ve been listening to music by the Eagles. Take It Easy and Witchy Woman from 1972 will forever be among my favorite songs. Hotel California came out later, and is probably the most popular of their songs these days. But so many of their other tracks deserve more recognition and airplay than they get. I can’t tell you why radio stations play only certain songs… day after day.
Tegan and Sara – Boyfriend
Tegan and Sara are openly gay twins. I never would have expected a gay female duo to release a song called Boyfriend. But they did, and I’m sure it has a special meaning that other gay women relate to in a way I can’t. That doesn’t stop me from enjoying the song’s infectious beat. I also love and highly recommend Walking With a Ghost, which I almost posted here instead of Boyfriend.
Jefferson Starship – Runaway
There was Jefferson Airplane, then Jefferson Starship, then Starship. The bands didn’t have the exact same lineups, but some members survived each transition. I like the music of all three incarnations of the band. One of my favorite songs of all time is White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane.
I bought the album Earth by Jefferson Starship originally on cassette tape, and I played the heck out of it. I like all of the tracks from Earth and really like about half of them, whereas my top favorite from the album is Runaway, with Count on Me a close second. For a song called Runaway, it has such a soothing beat and tone.
That’s all for this week. Come back next week for more of my madness, whether it be another music mix or something else entirely. 🙂