The World's Greatest Music

"Linger on, your pale blue eyes" (song from the BBC Radio advert/trailer)

noreply@blogger.com (Nuxx) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:41:00 +0000

Joe writes: The BBC make such great trailers advertising themselves, especially when they draw on the songwriting of Lou Reed. The current trailer for BBC Radio features a man moved to tears firstly by The Velvet Underground's Pale Blue Eyes, and then by a football commentary as Blackpool gain promotion to the Premier League.

For the original underground band, The Velvet Underground sure had some great tunes.

Zane Lowe is playing Diamonds and Rust by Joan Baez

noreply@blogger.com (Nuxx) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:26:00 +0000

Joe writes: It's a choice of Lana Del Rey who is being interviewed. It sounds amazing on Radio 1 (as it does everywhere else one might hear it). Bob Dylan is so great he even inspires other artists' finest work.

Also here is Lana Del Rey's second best track National Anthem:

Etta James

noreply@blogger.com (Nuxx) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:59:00 +0000

Joe writes: I listened to all the Etta James tracks that Richard Williams wrote about in The Guardian, but I have to say I don't think any of them are as good what her two biggest hits until Avicii sampled her.

At Last is a top 40 hit in the UK for the first time this week:

I Just Wanna Make Love To You (originally the B side to At Last) was a hit in the nineties of the back off a Diet Coke advert:

Laura J Martin - Doki Doki

noreply@blogger.com (Nuxx) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:08:00 +0000

Joe writes: Just heard Laura J Martin for the first time. This is an instrumental flute track but very infectious and quite unlike anything else I've heard recently.

Different instrument, different vibe but I was reminded of Devil In The Kitchen by nineties Canadian fiddler Ashley MacIsaac:

And this hypnotic track The Diamond Mountain by Sharon Shannon & Friends:

D'Banj - Oliver Twist

noreply@blogger.com (Nuxx) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:19:00 +0000

Joe writes: Dance track from Africa that could be a hit in the UK and elsewhere.

Chiddy Bang and Steve Greenberg's Best of 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Nuxx) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:49:00 +0000

Joe writes: Legendary American record label boss Steve Greenberg has once again published his best of the year list, containing many of my favourite tracks of 2011 plus quite a few I'd never heard before.

It also contains one track I've been meaning to blog, the new Chiddy Bang single Ray Charles which has a chorus that lights up the radio every time it's played.

Billy Joel - Lullaby

noreply@blogger.com (*****************) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 22:52:00 +0000

I could understand someone feeling this is over-sentimental, particularly with the dodgy video, but I think it's a real gem. There's no doubt that he's written a number of truly memorable songs.

Bowie's 65th birthday

noreply@blogger.com (*****************) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:10:00 +0000

Phil writes: As this is currently being celebrated, it seems appropriate to pay tribute to an innovative and very influential artist. Not so long ago, Joe and I were saying what a great album 'Ziggy Stardust' is. I believe it has a higher proportion of great songs than almost any album you can think of. I'll just concentrate on three. The opening track, 'Five Years' is, like so many Bowie songs, quite unlike any other song you can think of and some of the lines and images live on in your brain for many years (believe me!). And then there's 'Rock 'n; Roll Suicide' with its brilliantly pithy portrayal of someone right on the edge who by the end of the song may well have been saved from suicide. I never tire of 'Ziggy Stardust' which might almost be said to be a new kind of rock music.

Miriam Makeba - Khawuleza

noreply@blogger.com (Nuxx) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:16:00 +0000

Joe writes: Thanks to MrBedosey for drawing my attention to this track via a comment on my YouTube channel. Like Nongqongqo (To Those We Love), it's from the album An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba, but this version was is from a 1966 Swedish TV show and is followed by a moving interview and another track.

Fields of Gold - Eva Cassidy

noreply@blogger.com (*****************) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 18:46:00 +0000

Phil writes: I caught a bit of an extended Radio 2 interview with Sting. I was reminded of this version of possibly his best song, surely one of the greatest covers ever.

This Masquerade - The Carpenters

noreply@blogger.com (*****************) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:34:00 +0000

Phil writes: I've been listening to a lot of Carpenters stuff recently - another favourite of my wife Sue's. Karen Carpenter does have a unique, and wonderful, voice (Rumer sounds a bit like her, as everyone remarks). This Leon Russell song is maybe not the greatest they ever recorded but it does show off her voice superbly and it contains the killer lines: 'We tried to talk it over but the words got in the way'.

On Raglan Road from the In Bruges soundtrack

noreply@blogger.com (Nuxx) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Joe writes: I recent saw the film In Bruges which features the song On Raglan Road over a key scene.

The version used on the film is by Luke Kelly of The Dubliners who first set the Patrick Kavanagh poem to the tune of the traditional song The Dawning Of The Day. I prefer Van Morrison & The Chieftains' take, from the album Irish Heartbeat which my dad has written about before. I love the bit where Van whispers. In fact, the entire vocal performance is incredible.

Here they are performing it on the BBC:

Christmas Records

noreply@blogger.com (World's Greatest Music) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 11:09:00 +0000

Joe writes: Obviously the best Christmas record ever is Fairytale of New York and the best Christmas album ever is the Phil Spector one.

Here are three less obvious choices

3) Christmas Song - Dave Matthews Band. From the Platinum Christmas album which also contains two other really good Christmas originals by Dido and R Kelly. Maybe I'll post those next year.

2) O Tannenbaum - The Vince Guaraldi Trio. An essential purchase at this time of year is the A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack. This is the opening track - a jazz piano trio version of the tune also known as The Red Flag isn't obviously Christmas-y, but the whole album really is.

1) A Kind Of Christmas Card - Morten Harket. Great uplifting track from former A-Ha frontman that should have been a massive hit. Shades of All The Young Dudes.

(update of post originally from 3/12/2007)

Marvin Gaye - Sunny (Mercury Edit II)

noreply@blogger.com (Nuxx) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 01:11:00 +0000

Joe writes: The song is better known in its Boney M version. Marvin is better known for many other songs. But it's a great song and a great vocal performance which survives this re-edit.

Marvin Gaye - Sunny - Mercury Edit II by Mercury (Switzerland)

Lou Monte - Dominick The Italian Christmas Donkey

noreply@blogger.com (Nuxx) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:52:00 +0000

Joe writes: Amarillo by Tony Christie was a modest hit in its day, but a huge UK no. 1 in recent years. Dominick The Italian Christmas Donkey wasn't a hit in its day, but it will be the Christmas no. 2 in the UK this year. Sadly the lesson in both cases is that no-one makes music with these qualities anymore, so these tracks stand out from everything else around them.

Incidentally, Lou Monte did have two novelty hits in America but neither of them were as good as this.

I really like the new Band Of Skulls single Bruises

noreply@blogger.com (Nuxx) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:39:00 +0000

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/zanelowe/2011/12/hottest_record_-_band_of_skull.html (posted by Joe)

Closing Time by Semisonic

noreply@blogger.com (Nuxx) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 14:13:00 +0000

Joe writes: Dan Wilson, formerly of Semisonic, co-wrote the song of 2011, Someone Like You by Adele. Here's Semisonic's finest moment Closing Time. When you watch the video and listen to the song, you will understand why Dan now writes songs for other people rather than being a rock star himself.

Richard and Linda Thompson

noreply@blogger.com (World's Greatest Music) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 22:00:00 +0000

Joe writes: I wrote about my favourite Richard Thompson songs a while back, but that was before I knew Walking On A Wire by Richard and Linda Thompson

buy from Amazon

Here's a live version:

(update of post originally from 07/06/10)

Elizabeth and the Catapult - Thank You for Nothing

noreply@blogger.com (*****************) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:55:00 +0000

Phil writes: A link to this was tweeted by Mike Scott of the Waterboys when he was recently in New York. It's a very good song, and Elizabeth has a great voice, reminiscent of Martha Wainwright.

Is Your Love in Vain?

noreply@blogger.com (*****************) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 13:18:00 +0000

Phil writes: There's not a lot of Dylan on YouTube, not for want of trying but they usually get pulled. This is a live version of one of my favourite tracks from 'Street Legal' which to me represented a definite return to form when it first appeared.

Being Boring and To Face The Truth

noreply@blogger.com (Nuxx) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 12:59:00 +0000

Joe writes: Someone on Twitter pointed out that Being Boring is a very December-ish song. True, and it's also my favourite Pet Shop Boys song. The chord change going into the words "When you're young" is pure magic. The melody goes on forever. The lyric seems to encapsulate an era and a lifetime. Pain + pop again, and an element of "better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all".

Of course Behaviour is my favourite Pet Shop Boys album, with its themes of heartbreak, infidelity, and death. My other favourite Pet Shop Boys song is also on this album, the underrated To Face The Truth. This should have been a single but I guess wasn't because Being Boring was a relatively failure at the time. Songs containing lots of primary rhymes can be trite and grating but "You know it hurts me when you lie, sometimes it even makes me cry, cos I'm so in love with you" is a perfect lyric and melody.

is Calvin Harris the world's best producer of hit backing tracks?

noreply@blogger.com (Nuxx) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:06:00 +0000

Joe writes: The backing track alone is good enough to make We Found Love a hit, something that could also be said of Dance Wiv Me by Dizzee Rascal, Calvin Harris and Chrome. Rihanna's video is rather better though.

the tracks of the year 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Nuxx) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 11:06:00 +0000

Joe writes: My tracks of the year are:

5. Price Tag - Jessie J (the album came out last year but the single was this year)

4. Jar Of Hearts - Christina Perri

3. Video Games - Lana Del Ray

2. We Found Love - Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris

1. Someone Like You - Adele

My personal favourites are Video Games, Jar Of Hearts, and You Don't Know How Lucky You Are by Keaton Henson (when I first blogged about this, I wasn't involved with it and didn't imagine I could be, but I am now). I also love Foster The People's Pumped Up Kicks but I first blogged about that in May 2010 so it's not a 2011 track to me. Earthquakes by Labrinth feat. Tinie Tempah is the most exciting production of the year.

I had a conversation earlier this year about what a hit is nowadays, because some of the biggest UK artists don't really have anything you'd describe as a hit. Price Tag is a hit song in the old-fashioned sense.

We Found Love is the best Calvin Harris track and it's competing with Umbrella as the biggest and best Rihanna track. It seems Calvin wrote the topline as well as the backing track - he is a proper talent.

Previously I've only blogged a dance remix of Someone Like You so here's the original:

"It's wonderful, chips chips" from the Valentina advert (Via Con Me by Paolo Conte)

noreply@blogger.com (Nuxx) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:12:00 +0000

Joe writes: I first heard this when it was on an advert for investment trusts ("ITs wonderul" - geddit?). It also featured on the soundtrack to French Kiss. Now it's on an advert for Valentina perfume. It can only be a matter of time before it features on an advert for chips. Anyway, it really is a wonderful piece of music, chips chips.

The Vince Guaraldi Trio - O Tannenbaum (AKA The Red Flag) as featured in the Playstation TV advert

noreply@blogger.com (Nuxx) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:39:00 +0000

Joe writes: I once flew to San Francisco on Christmas Day with a friend so he could meet up with a girl for only the second time. On arrival she presented him with A Charlie Brown Christmas Album by The Vince Guaraldi Trio - an American institution that is little known in the UK. Skip forward some years: they are married with a kid and O Tannenbaum from the album is featured on a TV advert for Playstation.

The album features jazz-lite versions of well known Christmas songs. It doesn't sound that promising on paper, but somehow it perfectly captures the spirit of the season with its nostalgia, playfulness, and just a hint of melancholia. It's the second best Christmas album of all-time.