New Music "Picks of the Week!"

Of all the music I've added over the past several weeks, I think I've been playing the tracks "Get It Daddy" (Sleeper Agent) and "When I'm Alone" (Lissie) the most.  They pass my stringent "repeated listens" test.  On the other hand, I did once recommend Santana's cover of "Photograph."  Well, that got old really quick.  Sorry about that.  Anyway...


"SWIM"-SURFER BLOOD

I found a couple tunes which are definitely not your typical pop songs, but they're good!  The first is from a Scottish band called Surfer Blood.  Okay... they're not from Scotland... or even Britain.  Try West Palm Beach, Florida.  Still don't believe it.  They could be singing "In A Big Country" for God's sake.  Anyway, check out the accent on this rocker they dubbed "Swim."




"CAN'T KEEP JOHNNY DOWN"-THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS

The music from They Might Be Giants is an acquired taste, one I first discovered after hearing "Ana Ng," the band's second most familiar track.  (The first has to be "Boss of Me," the theme song to the TV comedy "Malcolm in the Middle.")  The nasally lead-vocals emanate from the beak of John Flansburgh who may or may not be the subject of the two-minute ditty "Can't Keep Johnny Down."




"JACK IN THE BOX"-PAULINE

Finally, a song so new and so obscure the track isn't yet available on iTunes and the only YouTube link has just a thousand hits.  Be the first on your block to add "Jack in the Box" from Pauline, a Swedish vocalist who seems to borrow a bit from Amy Winehouse, Gwen Stefani, Supremes and even Dinah Washington! (All in front of a Fats Domino-styled riff.)  I took a liking to this jazzy number after the first listen!

New Music "Pick of the Week!"

"THE ADVENTURES OF RAIN DANCE MAGGIE"-RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS

Not a whole lot of happiness for my ears this week.  If fact, I'm recommending a track I first heard last month.  It just took several listens before I really began to like it.

The song is "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie", a funky little jam from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the band's first new single in almost four-years.  (The parent album I'm With You should be out at the very end of this month.)  Chili Peppers' lead vocalist Anthony Kiedis explained, "It's just a collection of memories and people along the way that had maybe left my consciousness until I heard that music, and then they kind of came dancing back into my consciousness, and out the old pen onto the paper."

I think you'll discover that this bass-laden groove has just the right amount of cow bell.