Monday, December 12, 2016

5 Songs to Get You Through the Week #99

5 Songs to Get You Through the Week is a feature I run on Young Ears, Fresh Perspective on Sundays/early hours of Monday morning where I pick out 5 tunes that I think are notable and tell you a bit about them. The point is to give you some rocking music to help you deal with your weekday blues. You can either listen to one each day, listen to them all at once, or any other combination that you feel. As long as you can get through the week without the man getting you down, that's all I care about. Without further ado, here are the 5 tracks I've picked out for this week:

1. Turn Blue, by The Black Keys

This is one of those songs that fits a chilled out, low key, some times melancholy night time atmosphere seamlessly. Though in some respects it's quite a morose song, in others it will help you relax quite well if you're just wanting to put on a soundscape that will transport you to a more calm and restful state of being. Will definitely go well with all of the other songs you have in your late night playlist.



 
2. Jailhouse Rock, by Elvis Presley

I don't know if you guys realize this or not, but Elvis Presley &$#%ing ROCKS! The vocal grit in this songs just hits you directly in the face in all the best ways possible. There is absolutely no deep profound meaning to the song whatsoever, but that's not really what Elvis was ever really about. This song will get you up off your feet and MOVING. It pretty much laid down the blueprint for what a rock n' roll song is supposed to be like.




3. Sing Sing Sing, by Benny Goodman

I know what you're thinking. "WTF are you putting jazz in here for? This is a ROCK blog!". Well you know what? Rock would never have evolved the way it did without jazz, especially in terms of long drawn out improvisation sections. The way the orchestra works together and then gives different parts these wild solos is absolutely astonishing. For something this old, it definitely blows the roof off of any joint it is played at.



4. Thank God It's Christmas, by Queen

I suppose I have to acknowledge that Christmas is coming up, don't I? It was inevitable. Oh well. That said, have one of the absolute greatest Christmas songs to ever be written, recorded, and distributed to the masses. You can never go wrong with Queen, especially when it comes to music about Christmas. I get a tad bit emotional every time I listen to this on the day itself. Even if I'm feeling absolutely horrible it helps restore some of that holiday spirit for me.



5.  The Magician's Birthday, by Uriah Heep

Speaking of long songs that go on and improv forever, this is a prime example of what jazz structure helped to accomplish later on. This tune goes on for over 10 and a half minutes, has multiple distinct sections, and in certain places features some killer guitar improv from Mick Box. I know big prog rock odysseys aren't everyone's cup of tea, but some times you need to try something new. Go on. Give it a shot. You might find you like something in it after all.

 

Writer's Moment:

As I recently mentioned, after the 23rd of this month I will be taking the rest of the year off to relax and enjoy the holidays. I will be returning on January 2nd to resume with business as usual. That said, this will be the last week of the year with regular posts. Next week will be my Top 10 Albums of the Year posts that will span the entire week. 

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