A great french-language movie! This movie portrays family interactions very well, and in a very realistic light, so beware, it may remind you of your own family. Its about an Arab family living in France where a recently laid-off senior dock worker decides to buy an abandoned fishing boat and turn it into a seafood cous-cous restaurant, is a bit nerve-wracking though, especially at the end.
And the song is....State of Mind (ft. Juanita Tippins), by Australian MC/hip hop artist Skryptcha. Now, thus far on this vlog I have been tempted to only post one song per artist and move on to a new one for each daily post (with a few exceptions), but from now on I am just going to post any song I find to be worthy of posting. So, that said this song, like the previous Skryptcha post I've made comes off of his 2009 release EP titled Left to Write. Also, note that Skryptcha has a new full length studio album out (just released on July 23rd, 2010) titled The Numbers, so make sure to check that out as well.
And #64 is....Chains of Love,by English synth-pop duoErasure. Erasure consists of songwriter and keyboardist Vince Clarke and vocalist Andy Bell, and formed originally back in 1985. Vince Clarke was one of the founding members of another well-known synth-band from the 80's by the name of Depeche Mode, and he was the writer of their first three singles, including their breakthrough top ten hit Just Can't Get Enough. Clarke left Depeche Mode in 1981 and started up with another successful group called Yazoo (aka Yaz in the USA), after two hit albums with Yazoo Clarke produced a top four hit in the UK called Never Never. He then went on to form Erasure with Andy Bell, which went on to produce 34 Top 40 Hits in the UK between the years of 1985-2007, and they have sold somewhere around 25 million albums in that time. Clarke and Bell have been labeled as "the definitive synthpop superstars," according to their wikipedia page. Chains of Love was the 4th track on their May 1988 release album The Innocents. Chains of Love was Erasure's 6th consecutive Top 20 Hit on the UK Singles Chart, and it became their first mainstream breakthrough on the USA Billboard Hot 100 Charts at #12, and to this day remains their highest charting pop hit in the United States. Check out their wikipedia page for more info, and break those chains!
And the song of the day is...Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves) by British indie-rock band The Wombats.The Wombats consists of Matthew Murphy (vocals, keyboards, and guitar), Dan Haggis (drums, vocals), and Tord Øverland-Knudsen (bass guitar and vocals), who come at us out of Liverpool, England. The band formed back in 2003 when they met at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, and had released their debut album by 2006. Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves) is a new release to come off of their latest album of the same name (which is to be released in late September 2010). Check out this song, and their new album, blah!
Funny movie, pre-US involvement in WWII which makes it interesting to me. I remember Bob Hope vaguely, but he was actually quite funny, which would make sense as to why he was so famous. Its a little discomforting to see how Hollywood portrayed black people back in those days, but I guess that is just how it was then, and we should be grateful that we have moved forward some. Good movie for some laughs.
And the song is... Barbara Streisand, by American DJ-duo Duck Sauce. Duck Sauce is a duo consisting of DJ's Armand Van Helden and A-Trak, and is signed under the Fool's Gold record label. The duo has released an EP in September of 2009 called Greatest Hits, however, Barbara Streisand is their latest track released as a single just recently (not sure exactly when, sometime during 2010), and this track has received substantial airplay on UK radio stations. So, for you DJ's and house people, this is probably my first dance-post, so do enjoy yourself some Duck Sauce.
Interesting as far as space movies go, and it seemed to have an interesting premise. A movie (and actually a TV-Pilot, which I was previously suspicious but unsure of) about a reality tv show of people living on a space station and traveling for 10 years to a distant star while massive flooding is occurring back on Earth. This actually could have a made a good series if it was utilized that way. In my opinion the story was good up until about the last 10 mins in which the directors swiftly wrap up the story in a way that sort of leaves you irritable. I don't know about anyone else, but does every frickin space movie have to have the "person trapped in an airlock and the computer is unresponsive, and there is only a minute or so before the trapped person gets sucked out into space" scene?? Be sure to check it out if you like space movies though.
And the song is.... All For You, by Hawaiian island-music artist Micah G. Now, I have had one hell of a time trying to locate bio info on Micah G, and still can't seem to find much on him. He has a myspace page HERE. He comes out of Honolulu, Hawaii on the island of Oahu, according to his myspace page, and that is about the lot of it. Now, All For You is a single-release, which just came out last month on July 24th, 2010, so it is still fairly new. Now Youtube still doesn't have this song despite the fact that its almost a month old already, so you will have to go to this link to actually here a sample of it. Otherwise you can listen to and buy it on itunes of amazon at the adjacent link. Check it!
And the song of the day is King of the Beach, by American surf-rock band The Wavves. The Wavves consist of members Nathan Williams, Billy Hayes, and Stephen Pope and are based out of sunny San Diego, California. The band formed back in 2008, and have released 3 full studio albums. King of the Beach appears as the first track on their latest album of the same name, which was just released on August 3rd, 2010. So, check out their new album, like I said, its just released!
Now presenting to you, #65 of the Top 100 80's Dance Hits is....Planet of Women, by none other than American blues-rock bandZZ Top. ZZ Top consists of members Comprising of Billy Gibbons (vocals and guitar), Dusty Hill ( bass guitar, back up vocals, and keyboards), and Frank Beard (drums). ZZ Top originally formed in Houston, Texas back in 1969, and they were ranked #44 by VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. They certainly have had a few hit songs over the years, and are well known for their long elvin-looking beards and dark sunglasses. The band has been together for 41 years, but the 4th band-member Lawrence Payton, past-away back in 1997, however the remaining trio is still together. One interesting fact direct to you from wikipedia:
"In 1984, the Gillette Company reportedly offered Gibbons and Hill $1 million each to shave their beards for a television commercial. They allegedly declined, saying "We're too ugly without 'em."
Planet of Women is one of my favorite ZZ Top songs of all time, and comes off of their 9th studio album titled Afterburner, released back in 1985. It is one of those songs that should have been on the Top Gun soundtrack, or for some reason really reminds me of some other songs off that soundtrack and thus would have been fitting. There may or may not be more Top songs on the countdown, stay tuned to find out...
Good flick, William Hurt always does a great job with his characters and all of the characters in this movie are believable as true personalities. The movie is mostly about Hurt's character and his life, while Stewart and Bello and Redmayne (whose character is most annoying but in a realistic way) all support. Check this one out if you get the chance.
And the song is...Let's Get Out of Here by American indie-rock bandLes Savy Fav. Les Savy Fav are a New York City indie rock band led by well-known lead singer Tim Harrington, and also includes members Seth Jabour, Syd Butler, Harrison Haynes, and Andrew Reuland. The original band all met and formed the band whilst attending the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island. The group has released 5 full studio length albums, and Let's Get Out of Here appears as track number 4 on their latest release album titled Root for Ruin, which was just released on August 3rd, 2010. For more info on the band or song check out their myspace page here.
The song is....Why Can’t I Forget Him (feat. Nicole Wray), by American hip-hop collaboration Blakroc. As I just stated, Blakroc is a collaboration of hip-hop artists along with Ohio-based blues-rock band The Black Keys. This collaboration of artists is overseen The project is directed by Damon Dash, co-founder and formerly owner of a share in Roc-A-Fella Records. Thus far there has been one self-titled album released under the collaboration known as Blakroc (back in November of 2009). I highly recommend checking this album out as it has quite a variety of hip-hop artists going toe to toe with the blues-rock talent of Black Keys. Collaborations such as this are definitely an experiment, and I personally find them quite amazing, as you never know what you are going to get when you combine musical geniuses onto one album, and I definitely think we will be seeing more of these kinds of collaborations between bands and vocal artists in the future, and mixing all musical styles, the sky is the limit! This particular song appears as track #5 on the album, and of course it features American hip-hop singer Nicole Wray who comes out of Portsmouth, Virginia. Enjoy the track, and check out the rest of the album.
