Since I’m going to be taking classes about broadcasting, podcasting, and all of the above, I figured it’d be in my best interest to get familiar with more podcasts that are out there other than the ones I currently listen to. I’ve found I don’t have as much time in a single day as I thought I might. But I did find a handful of popular ones, mostly in the comedy section, called Mike Detective: Unlicensed and Uninsured Private Eye.
I’ll will warn you off the bat that this is not a podcast for children or those easily offended. But if you can look past the language and sexual references, then prepare for some hilarity to ensue.
I love it’s modern take on classic film and radio detective style noir. I would love to see this actually be taken to a TV or film screen some day, but part of it’s genius is due to not being able to physically see the action and completely relying on the very funny narrations or dialog from the characters. And like the classics detective series, they end on cliffhangers so you come back next week for the next episode as we follow our hero tackle some big mysterious crime. Each episode averages about 5 minutes where Mike battles wits with the goon of the week just to find himself in more trouble. I listened to the first one, as if it were a pilot, and immediately pushed the subscribe button and listened to the rest.
Again, this would be rated R if it were a movie, TV-MA if it were on TV but since it’s on iTunes, it gets the red EXPLICIT label. So you were warned. But it’s also very funny, so check it out.
This is for Radio Shack, that lady who just made a return, and everyone else out there who ever bought one of those iPod/MP3 player radio transmitters for their car and it never seems to work properly or get clear reception. I know and feel your pain and I’m here to hopefully help.
I’m calling out Radio Shack and that customer because I overheard them making the return transaction while I was shopping for semi-related audio tech. She complained she couldn’t get a clear station anywhere on the dial. The sales associate agreed and said how Connecticut is filled with radio stations that are used. I wanted to jump in and suggest or recommend a few stations I found success… such as 107.5 FM. Generally, the low end and the high end of the dial is where you want to tune your transmitter to. In fact, a few of these transmitters only have those settings. You’ll get the least interference and the clearest reception with those stations. But I did not speak up and butt in with this insider knowledge. I felt that would be rude. Plus maybe she just needed the money back for something else. Or maybe the one she bought just really sucks.
But I know sometimes these transmitters do just suck. Sometimes it’s not loud enough. Sometimes all you get is static regardless if the station is free. And sometimes the most expensive isn’t the best. My lone tip isn’t guarenteed, but maybe it’ll help somebody in the future when it comes to purchasing or getting your transmitter to work properly. I’m not telling what station I use so no one jams my station. (Not that its a big deal, but I now use 87.9.) But play around with the transmitter and radio stations available. And what works for one transmitter may not work for another. So don’t get too frustrated… unless of course the device you bought really does suck. Sorry.
I lied once again. Not that anyone would know what I was lying about, but I already had a predetermined friPod pick for today, and I’m changing my mind again. I just want the record to show, that if I had money to burn, not only would I raid a grocery store and probably Best Buy, but I’d be a total iTunes junkie.
With that said, let me introduce, for probably the first time, a Sam Cooke song. Amazingly, I don’t really speak of him that often or choose many of his songs to my pick for the week, but this particular song struck me in such a way that I had to share it! And I can be the first to tell you, even though I’m one of his biggest fans, I know I haven’t heard every song he’s ever done. I personally think that’s what makes being a fan of a late legend pretty cool because there are strong possibilities you find a lost treasure like that.
Today’s iPick would sorta be considered two songs, and I’ll explain why. The song is called “Yeah Man.” Simple enough, right? So are the lyrics to the chorus. It’s just that, “yeah man.” Don’t be fooled by the ballads and love songs Mr. Cooke has provided in his career. He definitely loves to party. If you are Cooke fan, you already know because his list of love songs probably matches the list of party songs. And all the live performances I’ve heard sound like a good time indeed. (Incidentally, “Good Times” and “We’re Having a Party” are a few favorites of mine.) And it certainly sounds like a party is going on while “Yeah Man” was recorded. I wouldn’t be surprised. He talks to “the party-goers” like they are there, or he is with them… so you know it’s meant to be performed live, or at least played at dance parties. Unfortunately, I can’t find a recording online, but here is a really good live cover performing the song the way it’s meant to. Almost modernized too. And with the actual dance moves of the 60′s with moves from today. Trust me, I was skeptical when it first started playing, but I’m impressed. I don’t think I could do better as much as I love to sing this song in my car.
Awesome? I think so. I would definitely say he did the song justice. He had the passion, the dance moves, and importantly- the soul. And his dancing buddy certainly helped a lot too. I wasn’t really sure how the Watusi was done even though I’ve heard it in so many songs. The same goes for the Mashed Potato, which is another song I like.
But if the song sounds familiar, you probably heard what was a big hit in the later 60′s by Arthur Conley, Jr, “Sweet Soul Music.” A very soulful updated version of “Yeah Man” that pays homage to soul music and many soul artists at the time. My only disagreement with the song is that Sam Cooke doesn’t get a shout out, but I’m willing to let it go since Otis Redding (Cooke’s protege, if you will) was involved in the rewriting of this song with Conley. I actually heard this song before “Yeah Man” so I’m really used to hearing this version with the louder instruments. I probably like “Yeah Man” an ounce more though. I’ll let you judge for yourself. I found this recording, apparently he’s performing, but I think he’s just lip-synching. It doesn’t matter, it’s still a great song and there are a few live versions of him performing the song.
I have plans of my own with this song. My original plan was to rewrite it so I could include Sam Cooke as well as other great soulful talents like Al Green, Areatha Franklin, Marvin Gaye and Luther VanDross, just to name a few. Then after I heard “Yeah Man”, I considered a gospel version of this song, meant to be performed during a church service to get people moving and out of their seats. I don’t know about you, but my church loves to party, and this would be the perfect song for that. As I told my mother, whom agrees with me, the only bad thing about these songs is that they are too short. Thank God for the repeat button, and I apologize to anyone who’s within earshot that hears the same song for an hour.
My apologies again for not having this post last friDay while it was still relevant. But here it is! This is actually like Part II to a couple weeks ago when iPicked Prince’s LOtUSFLOW3R. And let me put it this way… if that album represented Prince’s day, MPLSoUND represents his night.
And I mean that in a good way. I will also explain how I came to this conclusion. A good number of the songs on this album seem to be about dancing at night, or just going out in general. Especially in the first song. I won’t go into detail, you just have to hear it. And I recommend it, it’s a good one. “(There’ll Never B) Another Like Me.” But I’m saving the songs I really like for last to talk about.
This sound, which apparently is the Minneapolis sound (hence the name of the album, if you didn’t catch it) is a funky R&B style. It gives me flashbacks of, I don’t know, the Purple Rain soundtrack or just some other run-of-the-mill 90′s R&B music… BUT it’s got a certain flair that sets it apart. Mostly that flair is Prince doing his musical genius thing that I respect so much. I can’t help but excuse him for being as strange as people make him out to be. Anyway, the sound definitely differs from LOtUSFLOW3R, and that’s not a bad thing. However, it took me a little while to start listening to it, and then to start liking it.
I can wait no longer. There are some good songs on here but I have a favorite that I know iSaac has played over 50 times by now. Although for the past week we took a break to make room for a new artist… (new to me and iSaac, but more on that next week.)
I have a love/hate relationship with the song “Chocolate Box” which is odd, a little catchy, but I’ll admit I do skip it 50% of the time. The first few songs are “rump shakers” designed to make you dance and have a good time. He slows it down, which again, Prince is very good at doing love songs. These aren’t necessarily sexual either, just romantic. I believe Prince is still doing his clean image, so it’s safe for the kiddies… which I imagine would groan regardless. Then there’s “Valentina” which I hear is dedicated to Salma Hayek’s daughter… yet he seems to talk about Hayek a lot. I don’t blame him. She’s hot. He goes back into a slow song before bringing the uptempo back to talk to the people about music and the music industry.
I loved the song “No More Candy 4 U” because of the title, then the chorus, then the message, then just the song itself. I also like it because my best friend loves candy, and I’m hoping the message gets through… I jest. Another song I love is called “Here.” A great slow jam that too me a little while to figure out, but I couldn’t stop playing it once it got it’s hooks in me. What confused me about this song is he is telling this girl that he doesn’t want her “here” and the reason why is because he loves her so much that he’ll cry. Eventually, by the end of the song, he pleads that he wants her “here” and I dunno, the song is just awesome. The man is a great poet, and I’ve said this before with “4ever.” he even does a little “breakdown” moment where he speaks, like the old school love songs used to. Last and probably the most favorite is a song called “Dance 4 Me.” I’ll admit, this is another weird one that I didn’t like at first, but now I can’t stop listening to it. In fact, I want to write a song like it. I can see where Andre 3000 gets his inspiration from. Anyway, this song deserves it’s own friPod. Simple yet cool lyrics, great beat, I love the instruments… I can see Morris Day and The Time dancing in the background to this song. Unfortunately, I can’t locate this song online, so you’ll have to take my word for it. (Or just buy it.)
I’ve been friPodding the Purple One for almost two weeks now. But it’s necessary since his latest album is actually a double (or triple) album. (Triple because of a new artistling he’s taking care of.) And wouldn’t you know it, my DVD/CD drive has been dead for the past few months, so anytime I had acquired music, I either bought it directly from iTunes or Amazon MP3, or somehow had it transferred to my computer one way or another… which is time consuming and a bit annoying for someone like me.
All of that doesn’t matter now, I have a nice new external drive that does everything that I need it to do. Woot!
So onto what today’s iPick is: I decided to talk about the first album by the name of LOtUSFLOW3R(this is how iSaac reads it, so that’s how I’m spelling it).
I’m not sure where to begin. I started with track 1, which is an intro more or less. This is one of those albums that I believe is built to be listened to beginning to end without stopping. You know, when songs fade into either other or its not exactly easy to distinguish when one song ends and the next begins. This is bittersweet. Especially if I get used to listening to an album beginning to end. But sometimes I only like certain songs, and if they are together, I want to hear them together which means no shuffle or else I am no happy! But that’s my own problem.
Since we are only dealing with this one album, I need to talk about my favorite songs. The first of which almost and maybe still might get it’s own post. It’s the first song that really caught my attention and started getting heavy rotation (both on the CD itself and now when iSaac plays it). This song is called “4Ever” and it’s a great example of the musical genius that is Prince. Why do I say that? It’s just a really beautifully written and composed song! From the instruments involved to the lyrics. I had to go look them up because I wasn’t sure on one line, and then I got stuck when I found out what he was saying: A thousand tomorrows is better than one day… which is found in the latter part of the song… but the song is about the singer wanting forever to love this girl. Yeah, I think it needs its own post so I can post the actual lyrics. Take a listen. (Take note, the lyrics on that link in the video aren’t complete… so just listen, don’t read.)
Some more songs to take note of that I liked are “Crimson and Clover”, “Feel Better, Feel Good, Feel Wonderful”, and “77 Beverly Park” which is just a beautiful instrumental. There’s so much to this album that the more I listen to it, the more I find. It’s got romance, political, inspirational… and a little weirdness. Preferably the last song on the album. I’m not sure what it’s about. Honestly, I don’t know what half of these songs may be reallyabout. And I’m not sure if Prince would be the type of person to give a backstory on a song if there is even a backstory to give. But even if there isn’t one, the song still has a brand of awesomeness that can’t be denied.
Technically, this post I had planned to write last week. And I also planned to be all poetic about it, because if you are familiar with this artist’s name, you will know he is one of the great poets of the day. His name is Taylor Mali (pronounced like “Molly”) and I first heard him on Def Poetry Jam some years ago. Awesome performer of the spoken word genre. And I’ve been a fan ever since.
Unfortunately, as I tend to do, my interests shift from time to time and I moved into the film making world and put poetry to the side. Not that I ever stopped, I just didn’t pursue it as much as I once did, you know? So that means I stopped listening and reading some of my favorite poets like Mali and Billy Collins whom I mentioned earlier this week.
I was planning on writing a tribute poem about Taylor Mali, helping to revive my poetic juices that I’ve felt have been dormant for a bit longer than I would’ve liked. This explains the poems I posted this past week (even the poems I didn’t post). But I had lifted my “stop buying music so I can save money” ban just so I could purchase Mali’s spoken word audiobook on iTunes.
Icarus Airlinesis a collection of some of his recent poems. According to iTunes, it was available for download early this year, but apparently it was released a few years ago. Regardless, the poems are still relevant. And although I first knew him to be a comedic poet, he definitely has a serious side. A side that can move you like an 18-wheeler. What I didn’t know about him, he explain through his work. About his late first wife, and probably some things about his current wife. Poems about family and social events. And even a poem about Pluto. And of course, poetry about teaching. This is the dude responsible for the poem What Teachers Make.
I highly recommend this guy and this album to anyone with in an interest in poetry, especially performance poetry. Just a disclaimer here, there is some explicit language, so there’s a warning for those with virgin ears. If you’d like to know more about him, check out his website.
Today’s friPodding song is a gospel song. It’s actually rather personal to me since I made my connection to it around the time I was on my rollercoaster days this week.
The song itself was presented to me by my church’s choir director, who also happens to be my mother. She requested this be my next song for me to lead the choir in. At first, I was apprehensive, I’ll admit. It’s a beautiful song and all, but of the songs I sing, there’s some kind of emotional connection I have to it that helps me give it that spiritual feeling to sing it. And, well, I just wasn’t feeling this one.
Not until last night when I managed to make it to choir rehearsal. (I’m in my Spanish classes at the time, which disables me from making it to rehearsals.) But at this point, I was feeling a little on the low side. My mother asked me again if I’d lead the song, I declined, so she took over.
However, while the song played, I started to connect to just about every single line. Then we started to sing it, and I thought by dodging the solo parts, I would be okay. Wrong. Even the chorus started tugging at my heart strings.
That’s right folks, as happy-go-lucky as I like to pretend to be, I was feeling rather emotional. But this song helped pull me through. And I don’t make it secret that I’m a Christian either, so I know God was definitely in the mix for making this song mean something for me.
But I kid you not; this song was torture to get through without having a breakdown. An hour-long torture. I’m not necessarily ashamed to cry in front of my church family, but there’s a pseudo-reputation I like to maintain, you know? And I knew if I led the song that night feeling how I was feeling, the entire choir would’ve been in tears right along with me. For all I know, the very same thing could happen whenever we sing it on Sunday for the first time. The same thing happened when my mom first sang the song All The Way. (This is not the actual song, it’s a piano tutorial but you’ll hear the melody at the beginning. I couldn’t find the real song on YouTube, but it’s by Carlton Pearson if you’re interested.)
So enough babble from me about the song, let’s actually hear it now. It’s called Let Go by DeWayne Woods. I’m not very familiar with his work, but my mom could imagine me singing this song. And after the week I’ve been through, I have a reason to sing it.
The song, as the title suggest, is about letting go of whatever problems or issues you are struggling with and let God take care of it. The singer looks back on his past and realizes, “Hey, God got me out of some tough spots. Why am I concerned now? He’ll do it again.” Well, something like that.
I personally don’t care for the music video, but that’s my opinion. The song itself is the focus today, so enjoy what you hear.
Today’s friPod special will be short and sweet, due to the ridiculously nice weather outside, and my laziness for not writing this entry earlier. Plus I have my usual friDay lunch date I never like to be late for because the blood thirsty dragons eat my food when I’m not there. But, that’s another story.
I picked this song for Sam, my car, whom I thought I’d be trading in this weekend. Heck, the weekend isn’t over yet… but there is more bird fecal matter than I’d like to see and probably in places I’m not even aware of. So perhaps a proper bath is in order as Sam and I continue to ride out together. At least before it gets cold again. Let me just throw in… the economy sucks.
But let’s talk about the song Car Wash! And yes, it is a popular movie from back in the 70′s. I’ve seen it once way back when I was a wee movie watcher. Of course, at that age, I didn’t really know what I was watching. I just laughed when everyone else did. But I was aware of the song way before I knew about the movie.
What’s great about the song is it makes working at a car wash sound like it’s the best job ever. But when you go to a car wash, do you ever see these happy excited people? Do you even hear the song being played? Probably not. But no worries, it’s still a fun song and I’d probably play it if I were washing my own car at home. Certainly I could do that today, but I’d rather spend time being dry. Don’t call me a party pooper, I just have different standards of fun.
And don’t let my feelings on staying dry keep you from wanting to party down while washing your car (or getting you car washed) and you want a little splish splash too. Totally a funky song for the funky times back then. I also know this because it was a track on my Pure Funkalbum. Remember those commercials? I’d YouTube it for you… but like I said, this is supposed to be short.
Since I’m going to be taking classes about broadcasting, podcasting, and all of the above, I figured it’d be in my best interest to get familiar with more podcasts that are out there other than the ones I currently listen to. I’ve found I don’t have as much time in a single day as I thought I might. But I did find a handful of popular ones, mostly in the comedy section, called Mike Detective: Unlicensed and Uninsured Private Eye.
