Staff Picks: Music
For anyone interested in hearing some real quality electric blues, In Session deserves NOT to be missed! The rare studio jam between legendary guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan and his influential mentor (and just as legendary) Albert King is all-around great stuff. The playing is top-notch and the men seem to really work well off of each other’s energy and enthusiasm.
There’s definitely a reason why Albert was Stevie’s blues idol. As any fan of Albert King knows, he commands a song with a presence on guitar truly unmatched. There have been several true “Kings” of electric blues, but perhaps only one that could stand on a stage, bend a single note, and blow the whole crowd away; that is the legacy and awesomeness of Albert.
Music
In Session
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The Paris Sisters were the first girl group that Phil Spector produced (1961-62) prior to his working with more well known groups like The Ronettes. This collection is a real treat for those who love Spector-produced albums and those strings-heavy, pop songs about boyfriends, heartache and falling in love for the first time. The album culls together for the first time, all of the A and B-side singles from this influential group that with the help of the eccentric Spector and his talent for production, kick started the Wall of Sound style that became Spector’s trademark during the early 1960’s.
Music
The Paris Sisters: Complete Phil Spector Sessions
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Last month one of my closest friends and I met up in Chicago. She drove down from Minneapolis, bringing with her a mix cd I’d made during our first year of college. We’ve been friends since third grade and hadn’t spent much time apart before heading off for college, so going to schools approximately 1000 miles apart was an adjustment. The mix is a collection of our favorite songs from junior high and high school. After listening to the mix while driving around Chicago, I wish I’d included some of our favorite songs from elementary school, which probably would’ve been mostly Boyz II Men and show tunes. We were pretty big fans of Bette Midler.
Here is a selection of songs from that mix:
“April Fools” – Rufus Wainwright
“Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl” – Broken Social Scene
“Stay Where You Are” – Sleater-Kinney
“2:45AM” – Elliott Smith
“Electioneering” – Radiohead
“Midnight A Go-Go” – Beat Happening
“Never is a Promise” – Fiona Apple
“Teen Age Riot” – Sonic Youth
“Legal Man” – Belle and Sebastian
“Finale” – Bikini Kill
Music
Elliott Smith Either Or
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