5 Songs to Get You Through the Week #136

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. Tightrope, by Vandenberg's Moonkings

You might be familiar with guitarist Adrian Vandenberg from his time in Whitesnake from the late 80's-early 90's or from his solo career prior to that. Now though he is back with his newest band Moonkings and they have just put out a single from their upcoming sophomore album. It's not metal, but definitely a solid Hendrix-like track with some serious balls to it. You can tell they have become more of a solid cohesive unit.

2. Too Many Humans, by Buckethead

Buckethead is nothing if not versatile when it comes to playing the six string or any of the other two dozen instruments he can play proficiently. This is a pretty chill, laid back tune where he works with a keyboardist to create that same vibe that many instrumental jazz fusion records from the 60's and 70's had. It definitely recreates that feeling that many people get when there are just too many people around and it just gets to you.

3. Heroes, by David Bowie

This is by far one of Bowie's best songs. I don't think anyone will disagree there. It's filled with intense emotion, political conflict, and is cleverly put together. I actually didn't find out until recently that the instrument making the melody was a distorted violin. I thought that that was the coolest thing ever. Even back in the late 70's Bowie was way ahead of his time in so many ways. I've never heard anything like it before or since.

4. All Along the Watchtower, by The Jimi Hendrix Experience

It's really not that difficult or uncommon for someone to do a cover of a Bob Dylan song that far outshines the original. Jimi Hendrix did it best with his epic rendition of All Along the Watchtower. This version is still chocked full of emotion but at the same time throws in a bunch of dazzling guitar work that helps to further emphasize and drive home said emotion. Anyone looking to see how a cover should be done should look to this as an example.

5. I'm Just Having Such a Hard Time Loving You Right Now, by Nyte Lyfe Soul Cleansers

This is an up and coming band from the Chicagoland area that is definitely worth your time and attention. They love mixing it up by blending rock, blues, jazz, and any other genre they feel like to make some music with real charm and groove. This tune in particular has a real jazzy swagger to it and is definitely relatable to those of us who have ever been in a relationship where the magic is just completely gone and all you do is argue and fight. Definitely give these guys a listen.