The Song for December 10th, 2010: "Janglin" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes

Today's song is...Janglin, by American indie-folk group Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes. Well, this is the 3rd song off of the 2009 release  Up From Below album by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes. In case you missed the last posts, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes have been out on the music scene since 2005 and are based out of Los Angeles, California, USA. They have a delightful folkish sound, and this album is highly recommended by yours truly. The band has heaps of members and musicians, but its primarily lead by vocalist Alex Ebert (also the vocalist for another pop group called Ima Robot). Be sure to check this group out, and for more info on the band and to check out a few of their other songs go to their myspace page HERE. 

Your 'Top 20' 80's Christmas Songs List!

Ho Ho Ho 80's fans...so I have been saying since Halloween that I was going to also make an 80's Christmas-songs list for your various Christmas parties. This list (like the Halloween list) is really just the starter for the dough so to speak, so add many more of your own, but keep these in mind too! So, without further ado, here is my top 20 80's Christmas Songs list (and in no particular order):

1.) Last Christmas by Wham! (1984) (claro!)

2.) Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You by Billy Squier (my personal favorite) (1981)

3.) Christmas in Hollis by Run DMC (1987) 

4.) Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight) by The Ramones (1989)

5.) Jingle Bell Rock by Daryl Hall & John Oates (1983)

6.) Christmas Time by Bryan Adams (1985) 

7.) Mistress for Christmas by ACDC (1989)

8.) I Wish Every Day Could Be Like Christmas by Bon Jovi (1987)

9.) Thank God It's Christmas by Queen (1984)

10.) Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses (1981)

11.) Christmas Vacation by Mavis Staples (1989) (from the National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation Soundtrack)

12.) Another Rock n' Roll Christmas by Gary Glitter (1984)

13.) Fairytale of New York by The Pogues (1987)

14.) Merry Christmas Baby by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band (1987)

15.) Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) by U2 (1987) 

16.) Run Rudolph Run by Bryan Adams (1987)

17.) Another Lonely Christmas by Prince & the Revolution (1984)

18.) 2000 Miles by the Pretenders (1987)

19.) Last Night I Saw Santa Claus by New Kids on the Block (1989) 

20.) Santa Baby by Madonna (1987)

-Well that about wraps up my Top 20 80's Christmas songs! If you feel that you need more for your party there is always the The Jackson Five Christmas Album, although it was released in 1970, so doesn't apply to this blog.  Also, there is a longer list I found at another website HERE. Happy Holidays Everybody!! (original post found at http://your80smusicauthority.blogspot.com/)
 

 

Brief Movie Review for "Outsourced" (2007)

Outsourced (2007)

 5/5 Stars *****

Quite a good movie if I might say so myself.  I know that this sounds like the title of a documentary, but I promise you it is not. Basic plot is that the entire job and department of an Seattle based sales-manager gets outsourced to a call-center in India, but he is asked to train the new team in India, which leads him there. The most interesting part of the movie in my opinion is his experience (realistic or not) of being immersed into East-Indian culture as well as the social commentary about "outsourcing" and some of the interesting situations that come up as well. This is one of those movies that left me feeling like I learned a little bit of something about Indian-culture that I didn't know before, and though nothing can beat first-hand experience, its still a fun movie to watch. There just aren't that many movies that I have watched that I would say I feel I got something out of, but this is one of them. I would watch this one again, be sure to check it out.

The Song for December 8th, 2010: "Rated X" by the The White Stripes

Today's song is...Rated X, by American garage/alternative-rock duo The White Stripes. The White Stripes are a well-known rock band out of Detroit, Michigan, USA and consists of members Jack White (songwriter,vocals, guitar, and keyboards) and his ex-wife Meg White (drums and occasional vocals). The White Stripes have been active in the music scene since 1997, and rose to prominence back in 2002 as a part of the garage-rock-revival scene. They are also known for their lo-fi, DIY, approach to recording and song-writing, which in my opinion is quite a refreshing change from the usual. Rated X is a single contribution made by The White Stripes to a compilation album titled Coal Miner's Daughter: A Tribute To Loretta Lynn, and it is actually a re-issue of their previous cover of the very same song, so its not really all that new, but it is at the same time, so there! Coal Miner's Daughter: A Tribute To Loretta Lynn was just released on November 10th, 2010.

Song for December 7th, 2010: "My Rescue" by Canyons

The song for today is....My Rescue, by Australian folk/psych/hard/house duo Canyons. Canyons consists of DJ/Producer duo Leo Holiday and Ryan Sea-mist who originated out of Perth, Australia but who are now based in Sydney, Australia.  My Rescue is a 2010 single release (and it is available on itunes and amazon). I haven't managed to find a whole lot more information about the duo, but you can check out their myspace page HERE, and their 

#37 of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown: "All Night Long (All Night)" by Lionel Richie (1983)

#37 of the Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown is....All Night Long (All Night), by R&B-Soul Giant and American singer-songwriter-record producer Lionel Richie! Now I can admit that I am not that well versed in Lionel Richie's works, but I do know a couple of his songs, and I also knew I had to include this one on the dance hits countdown! Lionel Richie was born June 20th, 1949 in Tuskegee, Alabama USA. Now some of you may already know that Richie joined up as a member/ singer/saxophonist for the classic Motown Records soul-funk group the Commodores in 1968. Over time he would write some hit songs for Kenny Rogers, Diana Ross, and latin jazz composer La Palabra. It wasn't until 1982 that he took his solo career with the release of his self-titled debut album which produced 3 hit singles including the #1 Billboard Hot 100 hit Truly. His second album, titled Can't Slow Down, included All Night Long (All Night), which would reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, R&B, Pop, and Adult Contemporary Charts, whilst the album itself would sell around 20 million copies and win 2 Grammy Awards, including Grammy for Album of the Year in 1985. All Night Long (All Night) is a classic 80's dance hit, which is known for its caribbean/latin flavor, of which a few other 80's icons (such as Gloria Estefan or Exposé) were also doing at that time. And according to wikipedia the song also contains an old Jamaican chant. Richie has made quite a few major performances over the years, including the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Norway, Australian Idol in 2007, and American Idol in 2009. We hope to see more from Lionel Richie in the years to come! That all said, I am in the process of brewing up a top 20 or 25 80's Christmas songs, but I have yet to put that together, so for now, start gearing up and watching your 80's Christmas favorites, I know I will be (Scrooged, Christmas Vacation, Die Hard, just to name a few), and then next up we are already going to be on #36!

Brief Movie Review for "Due Date" (2010)

Due Date (2010)
**** 4/5 stars

Thaat's right, I am actually doing a little review for a recent movie...I know...I finally dragged my arse to the cinema and saw something, will have to do it again soon, Tron-3D-style! But back to Due Date... actually quite a funny movie! I would say this one is definitely worth watching once, and has some quality comedy to it (whatever that means). The theme of the cross-country drive involving a comedy duo (such as Planes, Trains and Autmobiles, or Dumb and Dumber) is not a new idea or comedy movie theme, but Downey Jr. and Galifianakis manage to pull it off in a unique way which still makes it a good comedy escape. I recommend this one, and I would watch it again.

Song of the Day for December 6th, 2010: "Galaxy Train" by Dolphins

The song for today is....Galaxy Train, by Australian surf-garage-calypso band Dolphins. I recently posted another song by Dolphins, but they keep releasing new ones by the week, so this is a more recent release (probably within the last 2 weeks) by them. To quote the bio infor from their facebook page they are:

"A new 3 piece from the Gold Coast. Consisting of members from Gold Coast band ELKE, Dolphins is Simple, fun, energetic and haphazard with a 60's twang. A band for the summer."

I have also posted a few of ELKE's songs on this vlog, which I would also highly recommend checking out. This song, and their others thus far are available for listening and free downloading still at their Soundcloud page HERE. 
  Galaxy Train by Dolphinsband

 

Divide & Kreate mashup: Until It Talks (Metallica Vs. Coldplay)

http://www.divideandkreate.com/

Song for December 5th, 2010: "Slow Motion" by Little Red

And the song is...Slow Motion, by Australian rock and roll band Little Red. Little Red comes out of Melbourne, Australia, has been active on the music scene since 2005, and consists of band members Adrian Beltrame (guitar/vocals), Dominic Byrne (guitar/vocals), Quang Dinh (bass guitar/ vocals), Tom Hartney (vocals/percussion) and Taka Honda (drums). Slow Motion comes off of their 2nd studio album release titled Midnight Remember which was just released in stores in September of 2010. This song is the 4th and most recent  single release off the new album. Note that this song and album can now be purchased on itunes or amazon. Enjoy!

Brief Book Review for "Island" (1962) by author Aldous Huxley

Island (1962) by Author Aldous Huxley

"Attention, Here and Now boys!!" I am not much of a book critic or whatever its called, but I do want to add some more content to this blog so here goes another book review. I just recently finished English author/writer Aldous Huxley's Island, which was published in 1962 and actually was the last book he released before he died in November of 1963. I would definitely recommend Island to anybody who is looking for some interesting reading, although it is not a fast-paced entertainment book by any means, however, it may leave you thinking critically about society and its many structures and why they are the way they are and if there could be a better way to do many things. The story is set on a fictional utopian-island-society called Pala, where an English oil-company ambassador (main characater Will Farnaby) becomes shipwrecked, while illegally surveying the coastline. Naturally may oil-companies are vying for a shot at winning the oil/industrial development contracts for Pala, but the society is yet to conform to the industrial-western model. The locals take him in and treat him medically at first, and he gets a good look for a few weeks at the society and starts to actually fall in love with it a bit. Much of the book isn't about plot so much as a peek into what an ideal society might look, as well as how transcendental experiences (drug-induced in many of his books) can open one's mind up to new ideas and better ways of living (or shake up some of the rigid and closed-off structures at least). Now, this may sound somewhat familiar to Huxley's other books/essays, such as the renowned Brave New World, or Doors of Perception, but I would personally say that this is my favorite of his books I've read so far, although I haven't read too many others to be honest, so take my reviews with a grain of salt full-stop. Be sure to check out the wikpedia page on this book HERE if you are interested in learning more about the book. And there it is, more brief book reviews to come!

LOCK3DOWN MASHUP: "Gorilla Idol" Billy Idol vs Gorillaz

Song for December 4th, 2010: "Gilgamesh" by Gypsy and the Cat

Today's song is....Gilgamesh, by by Aussie electro-pop duo Gypsy and the Cat. Gypsy and the Cat formed back in 2008, and the duo consists of Melbourne DJ's Xavier Bacash and Lionel Towers who are currently based out of London, UK (London is where they are currently based, though they both are originally from Melbourne, Australia). I have posted a couple of their previous songs on this vlog, and now they have released their debut album titled Gilgamesh just last month (November of 2010 for those of you reading this after the fact)!! This band has a unique sound, and the more of their stuff I listen to, the more and more I am really enjoying it. It is a bit difficult to find their stuff if you aren't in Oz or the UK, and I must say here that it would be fully-sick if they would release their album in the Itunes USA store! If you like this song I would highly recommend you check out their new album for yourself, especially the singles Jona Vark, and Time to Wander. Jona Vark is still available as a free mp3 download at their Unearthed page HERE, and you can check out their other works at their myspace page HERE. Gilgamesh