The Beat Is on the Street, Ellinwood Street

I would like to thank all of those who have read, followed, commented and posted on the This Beat Goes On. We have decided to discontinue this blog and instead include our music content (to go along with the articles on books and movies) on our Positively Ellinwood Street blog. Please continue to follow us there.

Back On Track

One of my personal favorite albums, Swiss Hard Rock Outfit, Shakra, have released their 8th original album entitled Back On Track. This album is a mix of hard rock and some hints of heavy metal. Its more so classified as melodic hard rock. It has elements of rock and roll but at the same time, melodic solos and choruses satisfy the listener. Not only are there pumping hard rock songs, the album also delivers soft, rock and roll melodies. This album debuts new singer ,John Prakesh. He is the third singer the band has had so far. I can see Prakesh being influenced by Motley Crue frontman, Vince Neil. His voice has similarities to that of Neil. The rest of the members have been with the band since their debut in 1997. This album remains true to the roots of rock and roll keeping the songs structurally sound and simple. 


Upon starting the album, B True B You injects your ears with raunchy guitars and rhythmic drumming encompassing the listener with catchy choruses that will most likely be stuck in your head. Power, riffs, amazing solos, I say put that amp on level 10! 


Not only are these guys able to show their hard side, they can show us that they have a sensitive side. When I See You, is a slower track that include acoustic bits. Romaticism is really shown here. Yesterday's Gone is also a soft song but has a bit of heavy chords in it. This song really shows off the melody and power of the singer. There is a reason he was recruited as the new singer. Lonesomeness can easily be the ballad of the album. The solo has a lot of feeling to it and is not fast at all.


The ending of the album brings us back on track to where we started in the beginning. Time to crank that amp to 10 again. Stronger Than Ever brings back the crazy side of Shakra. This song is real fast paced. The final track on the album, Stronger Than Ever, is a perfect way to end the album. This song has again, heavy chords and verses, but also gives us somewhat of an anthem theme here. The solo is the longest of the album and fills the listener with speed and arpeggios. A lot of pinch harmonics are seen in this song.


My personal favorite tracks off the album are, B True B You, When I see You, Yesterday's Gone, and Stronger Than Ever. These guys have sounding similarites to rock and rolls legends Van Halen, Def Leppard, and AC/DC. All their songs are radio friendly. Shakra have toured along with the likes of Guns N' Roses and have opened for Iron Maiden. Here is their links to their websites:


Myspace: www.myspace.com/shakrarock
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ShakraBand
Official Website: www.shakra.ch/


On their website you can purchase any of their albums. The band is currently taking a break and will soon be writing new material for their next album scheduled for a release in late 2012. Their fanbase is slowly growing and are already reaching high success in Europe alone. As I always say Keep Rocking Everyone!

 

Passion is No Ordinary Word . . . But It Can Be Found in the Country Section

Passion is No Ordinary Word was written by Graham Parker in the 1970s, but it's a song I still love and think of when I see the real thing--passion, that is. It's a song that, to me anyway, indicts a world in which the word passion is tossed about with increasing frequency while the real thing becomes increasingly rare. We're all pretending, Parker suggests.

But genuine passion cannot be faked, particularly in music. Nor can originality. In the words of Willa Cather, passion is "inimitable in cheap materials."

Which brings me to The Avett Brothers, a band whose passion and originality I first witnessed on the Grammy Awards in February. Now, the Grammy Awards have not always been an occasion for transcendent performances, but that night I felt fortunate to have tuned in. Seated at the keyboard was the band's lead singer, Seth Avett, whose long beard and sober features are more commonly found on Civil War tintypes than the Grammy stage. But there he was, playing a haunting song in 6/8 time called Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise:

There's a darkness upon me that's flooded in light
In the fine print they tell me what's wrong and what's right
And it comes in black and it comes in white
And I'm frightened by those that don't see it.

Backed by a guitarist, bassist, drummer and cellist, Seth Avett sang a song about a "kid with a head full out doubt," a song that includes the line: "Decide what to be and go be it." (Easier said than done, but I still love that line.) Was he singing of his younger self? He sings it like he means it--as if he has intimate knowledge of what it means to question who you are and what you may or not be capable of. I like to think the song was written to encourage some young Seth Avett out there--an aspiring artist with more talent than confidence--to be the person he is meant to be.

As I watched the performance, I wasn't thinking about what genre of music I was listening to--that is, rock or folk, etc. All I knew was that it was great and I loved it. Like some of the best music, it seemed to defy categorization. So I was a surprised to learn that The Avett Brothers CDs, including I and Love and You, which contains the song Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise, are shelved in the country section here at the library. I don't consider myself a major country fan--I frequent the rock and classical sections more--but the truth is, there are many songs and CDs that I love in the country section, and we shouldn't let genres or categories limit the music we explore. To paraphrase Leonard Bernstein: There are only two categories of music that matter, good and bad.

You'll find much that is good in our country collection. Here are a few of my favorites:

Johnny Cash's rendition of Trent Reznor's song "Hurt," which can be found on the American IV CD, is another genre-defying song. That CD, like the Avett Brothers CD I and Love and You, is produced by the eclectic and talented Rick Rubin, who has also worked with the Beastie Boys and Run-D.M.C. Clearly a man unencumbered by genres or musical boundaries.

Miranda Lambert didn't write the song The House That Built Me, about a woman who longs to go back to her childhood home to gather strength, but like the Avett Brothers, she sings it likes she means it. She delivers it with such conviction that you'd swear she's telling her own story, that the details in the song are her own, when it was in fact written by Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin.

Finally, check out the Loretta Lynn CD Van Lear Rose, produced by Jack White, with whom she rocks out like a teenager, trading verses on the song Portland Oregon. The hallucinogenic instrumental introduction is like nothing I've ever heard on a country CD. But you'll find it in our country section, along with other great songs, new and old.

Feel free to chime in with your own favorite country songs or CDs, or the artists or groups you feel embody the word passion.

(To watch The Avett Brothers at the Grammy Awards, click here. Their performance begins at 2:40, but don't skip the amazing performance by Mumford & Sons that precedes it. The clip ends with the two groups backing up Bob Dylan on Maggie's Farm. Uncategorizable but definitely click-worthy!)

80's rock still strong

If you think the days of love ballads, glam and hair metal are gone there may be a ray of hope for you. From Sweden, a band by the name of The Poodles have recently released their 4th original album. This full length album gives you a dejavu of the 80's with songs of love and hope. The band formed in the 90's and consists of drummer Christian Lundqvist, Bassist Pontus Egberg, Guitarist Henrik Bergqvist, and vocalist Jakob Samuel. Their new album "Performocracy" delivers everything from soft melodies to headbanging hard riffs and chords. 


Songs such as "I just Want It All", "Cuts Like a Knife", and "Bring Back the Night" are signs that this Swedish foursome have the potential to make it big. Lyrics like "All because of you, Im holding on to the dreams you gave me Father to a son. Whatever I become I will pass it on, inconcievable it seems but I hope you can see your son" and "Every step she takes and all the moves she makes, you are right behind, with a bleeding heart and time again I tell you shes gone for good" give the listener a feeling of confidence and a connectivity. With their video for the love song, "Cuts Like a Knife", the band teaches us how love can hurt. Similar sounding artists include Uriah Heep, Nickelback and Whitesnake. The band currently only tours Europe seeing as they have not reached popularity on U.S. shores quite yet. 


You can leave comments on the band's myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/thepoodles and their facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/thepoodles. They also have an official website which is located at http://www.poodles.se/. The website features worldwide shipping if you choose to purchase an album or fan t-shirt. The band also made it to the top 10 finalists in the Melodifestivalen 2006 which determines which artist will represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song contest. Eurovision features the favorited competitor from each country in Europe to compete and decide the Eurovision winner in all of Europe. The band is striving for more success and are working hard to bring us more music we can enjoy and relate to. Hopefully they will tour the U.S. real real soon.


Please definitely feel free to leave a comment. I am open to hearing all opinions and criticism. Keep rocking everyone!!

June New CD Releases

There are a lot of big name artists with CDs coming out in June. Below are a few you will be able to get from the library.

2011 Vans Warped Tour Compilation

Dirty Work
All Time Low

Hell: The Sequel
Bad Meets Evil (featuring Eminem)

4
Beyonce

Set the World on Fire
The Black Veil Brides

This Loud Morning
David Cook

I'm American
Billy Ray Cyrus

Bon Iver
Bon Iver

Let Them Talk
Hugh Laurie (yes Hugh Laurie from House M. D.)

Gold Cobra
Limp Bizkit

Wild and Free
Ziggy Marley

180/365
Ok Go

All Things Bright and Beautiful
Owl City

When the Sun Goes Down
Selena Gomez & the Scene

Taking Back Sunday
Taking Back Sunday

Alpocalypse
Weird Al Yankovic

Rock CD New Releases April 2011

Here are some titles recently added to our Music CD collection.

High Maintenance by Miranda Cosgrove
Going Out in Style by The Dropkick Murphys
The Taking by Duff Mckagan's Loaded
All You Need Is Now by Duran Duran
Wasting Light by The Foo Fighters
American Tragedy by Hollywood Undead
Live at Shea Stadium by Billy Joel
I Am the Dance Commander by Ke$ha
Blood Pressures by The Kills
Sing it Loud by K. D. Lang
Goodbye Lullaby by Avril Lavigne
All Eternals Deck by The Mountain Goats
Vices & Virtues by Panic at the Disco
King of the Limbs by Radiohead
Collapse into Now by R.E.M.
Endgame by Rise Against
So Beautiful or So What by Paul Simon
Live on I-5 by Soundgarden
Let Your Hair Down by The Steve Miller Band
Angles by The Strokes
Screaming Bloody Murder by Sum 41
Nine Types of Light by TV on the Radio

(and the new Green Day CD)

"There's a place for us...you know the movie song..."

If I think about movies + songs, the index in my mind immediately takes me to Dire Straits' touching rewrite of "Romeo and Juliet," released all the way back in 1980. Given its rather cinematic quality, it's not surprising the song was added onto some movie soundtracks, including Hot Fuzz and Empire Records. If you saw this year's Oscar broadcast, you, too, might be thinking about movie songs.

Buying a movie soundtrack is often hit or miss. What sounded great accompanying all the big screen action can fall flat coming out of your ear buds while you walk on the treadmill. I do have a few soundtrack favorites, including "The Fabulous Baker Boys," "Amadeus" (hard to mess with Mozart), "Say Anything" (equally hard to mess with John Cusack, eh?) and an obscure favorite, "The Butterfly Ball and The Grasshopper's Feast." If you were intrigued by the movie songs at the Academy Awards, why not check them out from the library? Then you can be the judge: will these songs stand the test of time or remain a forgotten backdrop to the actions of vampires, dragons and Alice in Wonderland?

Here's a link to recent movie/TV soundtrack music in our collection.
If the results screen you see looks unfamiliar, I've thrown you a little curve and brought you to our new catalog, BiblioCommons, which we are rolling out over the next few weeks. Browse and explore and see how you like it. If you want to try it more extensively, create an account:

1. Type in your full library card number and your current password;
2. Fill in the required details on the account information screen;
3. Please, please, PLEASE change your password if you are currently using the word patron
4. That's all there is to it. You can log in using your library card number or user name.

Have fun and let us know what you think.

All Hail, Queen of Soul!

Confession: I don't have a television so I did not watch this year's Grammy Awards ceremony. For years, I have made an effort to watch the show, hanging out with friends or family and delivered pizza. It's great to see rock and pop musicians dress up for a night on the town and there have been some inspired live performances at the ceremony. This year, I was just underwhelmed by the list of performers. Gaga, Bieber, Katy Perry - you were not going to get new heights of artistic expression out of that group, except for costumes and staging. Later that night, a friend on Facebook told me I'd missed something special in the vocal tribute to Aretha Franklin so I looked for online footage the next day. Yep - pretty spectacular. It might have been melismatic vocal overkill to have Christina Aguilera, Martina McBride, Jennifer Hudson, Florence Welch and Yolanda Adams (and unless my ears/eyes deceive me, some background vocalists, too) all going to go town at the same time, but the 11 minute performance demonstrated that there is no auto-tuning or lip synching or costume change that can compare with real vocal firepower. At least that's my take on it. :')
Watch it here:



While every one of these talented ladies knocked it out of the park, I felt that gospel great Yolanda Adams came closest to capturing Aretha's soulful but never harsh sound and her sunny smile and confidence.
What did you think?

Of course, there ain't nothin' like the real Queen of Soul, and we have lots of Aretha Franklin recordings you can check out: click to search for Aretha Franklin in our catalog. I also thoroughly enjoyed her 1999 autobiography, Aretha: From These Roots and am the proud owner of an autographed copy! I can't imagine a female vocalist who isn't inspired by the great career of Aretha Franklin. Check out library CDs by some of these artists, as well:
Christina Aguilera
Martina McBride
Jennifer Hudson
Yolanda Adams
Alas, we are short on tunes by Florence Welch, aka Florence + the Machine. Google her name and you should find plenty to hear, including the smash hit "The Dog Days Are Over."

Coming Attractions and New Sounds

It's a new year and we've been busy ordering and cataloging new tunes for your listening pleasure. Here's a quick list of what's new on the shelves or coming soon - click the links and place your holds today.

Showroom of Compassion - Cake
Truth of Touch - Yanni
Low Country Blues - Gregg Allman
Lasers - Lupe Fiasco
Kiss Each Other Clean - Iron & Wine
The King Is Dead - The Decemberists
Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes - Social Distortion
Collapse Into Now - R.E.M.
Science and Faith - Script
The Labyrinth Tour Live from O2 Arena - Leona Lewis
Eternal The Best of Libera - Libera
No Boys Allowed - Keri Hilson
Farmer's Daughter - Crystal Bowersox
My Worlds Acoustic - Justin Bieber
Body Talk - Robyn
Small Craft on a Milk Sea - Eno

And that's just a sampling. If you can't find music you like at DPPL - you don't like music. :)

The ghosts of my life...

2011 has barely registered with most of us and already the music world has lost some interesting characters. Making news headlines everywhere was the death of 70s tunesmith Gerry Rafferty. You may not recognize his name but inevitably you know one of his bigger hit songs - either Stealers' Wheel's infectiously catchy, "Stuck In The Middle With You" (used, I am told, in a scene of stunningly graphic violence in the movie "Reservoir Dogs") or Rafferty's solo masterpiece, "Baker Street." "Stuck In The Middle..." gave us one of the most memorable choruses of any pop song, "Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right - here I am, stuck in the middle with you." "Baker Street" seemed like a lost track from Steely Dan's phenomenal album of the previous year, "Aja," lushly produced with soaring saxophones and a cutting guitar solo, but with a low-key vocal that suggested a man daydreaming of possibilities while walking down the city street of the title. Rafferty wrote the song in the midst of legal disputes over his departure from Stealers' Wheel and that kind of turmoil seemed to dog his career. Worse, he turned to drink to ease the turmoil and his death was the result of liver failure. While we don't have any CDs of Rafferty's here at DPPL, "Baker Street" can be found on four CD collections in our stacks - proof that a great song lives on and on.

A couple of less famous but no less interesting musicians have joined the heavenly choir within the last few weeks. What can I possibly say about Captain Beefheart, aka Don Van Vliet. If you haven't ever heard any Captain Beefheart, it is not for the faint of heart but if you're a brave listener, check it out. Beefheart walked away from the music world in the 1980s and focused on painting from that point forward - visit The Captain Beefheart Radar Station for a glimpse and an earful of what this eccentric, truly bizarre artist created. Beefheart died in mid-December 2010 from complications of multiple sclerosis. The Up Sifter blog has listed links to dozens of tributes written upon his passing. Rolling Stone listed its 10 Beefheart favorites - missing from the list is my favorite, "The Blimp," available on the album "Trout Mask Replica." I'm sorry to report we don't have that album at DPPL, but you can hear some Beefheart selections on the CDs listed here or borrow "Trout Mask Replica" from one of our neighboring libraries. You may love it, you may hate it, but you will definitely have an opinion.

Finally, an even more obscure name, Mick Karn, bass player for the English band Japan. With rare exceptions, the bass player is often the forgotten band member - nobody will forget Paul McCartney, for example, and you may not realize that Queen's bassist, John Deacon, wrote many of their biggest hits. Mick Karn, for fans of Japan, brought one instantly recognizable and indispensable element to the band's sound with the introduction of the fretless bass. That fluid, loose backbone provided the perfect foil to singer David Sylvian's crooning vibrato and the synthesized flutes and drums that made Japan sound, well, vaguely "Asian." The band never clicked in the States but had cult popularity in England, other parts of Europe, and yes, Japan. If you like Roxy Music and Duran Duran or if you want to impress your friends with something unusual at your next dance party, put on some Japan. See what DPPL and neighboring libraries have available - I particularly like the songs "The Art of Parties," "Visions of China," "Still Life In Mobile Homes," "Ghosts," (quoted as today's post title) and "Gentlemen Take Polaroids."