Taking the energy at the front end and letting it slide, featuring artists like: Siouxsie and the Banshees, Method Man, The Pharcyde, All Them Witches, Roots Manuva, Devin The Dude, Charlotte Church, Brigid Mae Power
The work of Frank Zappa spans three decades and contains 60 plus albums. On top of all that, he is completely unique compared to most rock musicians that came out of the 60’s and 70’s. A “Where to Start” playlist seems very necessary for one to dive into the ingenious world of Zappa.
When I was a teenager in the 70’s I distinctly remember buying the album Are You Experienced? by Jimi Hendrix and listening to “Third Stone from the Sun.” The song was one of the major catalysts for me to become an instrumental guitarist. Not only does the song take you on a total tonal psychedelic trip, but the guitar melody is unforgettable with those wonderful octaves and expressive tremolo bar phrases…
Listening to “Burning Down”, from Swedish band SVVAMP’s 2016 self-titled debut album, I picture myself wearing oversized headphones, lying on a shag carpet, chilling after smoking some weed.
Hands down this year the biggest shining star of the DMV is Rico Nasty hailing from Largo, MD. If she isn’t coming through your radio airwaves or starting mosh pits at some of the biggest music festivals around…
I’ve lived a pretty staid life really; growing up in a regular family of two and a half children, with caring parents that kept us largely sheltered from the storm. Sure, we had concerns about the atomic bomb, the wrath of God, and all those pesky space alien abductions…
Not one of the tracks that Classic Rock radio called a Hendrix classic but one of the tracks that I believe shows off what an amazing player he was and you have to remember all Hendrix music was recorded more than 50 years ago and still sounds fresh truly amazing and still his style has never been matched or challenged.
I can’t think of a better track title for the Music to Forget Your Troubles playlist than “I Really Don’t Care.” This track from Bilal is off of his 2015 album, “In Another Life.” I’m also a huge fan of the producer of this album, the prolific Adrian Younge, who also played a majority of the instruments on the album. The sounds are a throwback to 60’s and 70’s funk and soul, with the unique falsetto, classically trained R’n’B vocals of Bilal.
When I first heard this mesmerizing track, I was in a daze…and then I saw the video…my god, I love when music touches me both sonically and visually. The video begins innocuously enough with two freshly dressed dudes having a friendly night in, listening to good music, practicing dance moves, and smoking a joint.