Friday...phewww

Happy Friday,


I am pretty sure that around 3 pm this afternoon you're going to be in need of an inspiring track to get you all excited for the weekend. The beauty of music today is that you have this thing called the iTunes library and it gives you thousands of choices to pick from and if it's aint doing it for you - then youtube had pretty much anything you can think of. For me today's song will be from a classic band called Cracker. Cracker formed from the older version of the band called Camper van Beethoven. Do you remember a song called 'Take the Skinheads Bowling'? It was used in Michael Moore's film 'Bowling for Columbine'.


When Cracker's album 'Kerosene Hat' came out, in 1993, bands/artists were always adding bonus secret hidden tracks to their albums. This particular one had 3 and one was this gem 'Euro-trash Girl' . The funny thing about these hidden tracks today in 2009 is that when you go to upload on your iTunes player (that's what I am using) it counts out the other #s before you get all the way to the hidden track at #69. What this means it that you will have many 1 second sound clips from the end of the disc at #15 - #69 where the first hidden track is. I guess it's better than the old days of having to skip ahead that many times manually.



1993 - holy shit. Ps - Cracker came to mind as I see that they are perfroming at Lee's Palace on June 23rd. I will be there!

Have a great weekend!

Gregg

Do I Like Dance Music??? WTF

Dear Diary,

I'm finding myself really enjoying the odd dance track these days. It's not dance music like you would hear in a shitty club in the 'Club District' of say Toronto - but something with a beat and high energy. Here's a quick top 5 list of dance/ish tracks I am in love with right now.

1. Passion Pit - Sleepyhead

2. Calvin Harris - I'm Not Alone

3. Jack Penate - Today's Tonight

4. Guru Josh Project - Infinity 2008

5. Vega - No Reason *shout out to Raffy

Now. Stick in some headphones and watch this promo video made for Vega's 'No Reason' it features footage from the Josh Brolin classic 'Thrashin'. I used ot love this movie along side 'The Search for Animal Chin'...god damn I'm getting old.

Enjoy!

Thanks for reading

Gregg

The People Have Spoken

well...the British people anyway. Here's a list from XFM radio in the UK for the top 100 British songs of all time and it's pretty obvious that Oasis did trump Blur in the end! Fuck you Damon!



Now go and treat yourself with some Oasis this afternoon and celebrate.

Gregg

Scotland The Brave...

Hello,

Paolo Nutini quite possibly the strangest Scottish accent I've ever heard - and my background is Scottish. Whatever you think at first listen - this guy is a gem and is one hell of a songwriter. The new album out next week is chalk full of amazing tracks that become more and more infectious as you listen. The song entitled 10/10 sounds as though he is actually from Jamica and of the Marley Clan. Hear 4 tracks on MTV Drops now .
It's not just Paolo making waves in Scotland these days either - there's many bands and many have come before. I gotta keep this short but here's my daily list and this time it consists of 5 Scottish tunes you need on your iPod...

1. Glasvegas - Flowers and Football Tops
2. Franz Ferdinand - Tell Her Tonight
3. Travis - Selfish Jean
4. Primal Scream - Loaded
5. Snow Patrol - Disaster Button *Not actually Scottish - but live there (this new album is amazing - give it another try if you didn't love the first time)

That's me for now.

If it's not Scottish it's crap!

Gregg

Doves - Take 2

I totally forgot to serve ya this tasty link as well... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoKJHI78nY0 the boys are fookin magic. Check it out with some headphones cranked for best results. (same goes for any music really).

ps - 1 Week tonight they take the stage here in Toronto.

Gregg

Doves

I can't get enough of this new album. It's beautiful, it's epic and so atmospheric and perfect. This band can do no wrong and have done nothing wrong. A faceless band is exactly what the world needs. These fellas (3 piece) are out there creating some of the most amazing tunes and I bet you that 99.9% of the population would walk past them on a street - including in the UK. Please take a minute and give http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhbK8kQW4LI a watch...so delicious (only really tasty tracks can be refered to this way).
Anyway - it's Monday and what better way to celebrate than with some great new music. I listened to lots this weekend and here's a list of treats you should investigate a bit further. I have referenced why I was listening to each in case you were curious...

1. It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry - Glasvegas *Skins season 3 twins episode
2. Sleepyhead - Passion Pit *Skins season 3 twins episode
3. Whatever - Oasis *I was asking a friend what album it was on (it's not on any - it was a bridge single between 2 albums)
4. Firewoman - The Cult *It came on at the gym and I went into repeat mode immediately
5. King's Highway - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers *You always need a bit of TB&TheHBS

That's all I got right now.

Thanks for reading.

Gregg

First Song of the Day

Happy Friday,

Canadian radio is much like every other country's radio these days...boring as hell and repetative. To my suprise this morning was tad different in that the first song I heard was The Clash's epic 'Rock the Casbah'. I think it was because the regular morning DJ was off and this guy was trying to turn some heads. Well it worked! A good song to start your day is the best medicine of all no matter what song it is. I tend to go through phases of what I play on the subway toi work each morning and of late I have been going with full albums start to finish. It started this week with Eminem's latest 'Relapse' and I've since gone back to check out 'The Marshal Mathers LP'. The new album came out this week so not suprisingly his name has been all over the media and it's here that got me hooked. Eminem was in studio at the BBC to speak with Zane Lowe about his career thus far and it was amazing! If you are an artists and have the priveldge of being interviewed by Zane - then you are the big winner. He makes things so exciting.
Anyway - I was talking about songs first thing in the AM that make for a great day. Here's the top 5 list of tunes I have woken up to recently that made me smile...

1. The Clash - 'Rock the Casbah'
2. Coldplay - 'Fix You'
3. Oasis - 'Do You Know What I Mean'
4. Tragically Hip - 'Courage'
5. Doves - 'Winter Hill'

Only 2 of these were on the radio. I selected the others for the walk to the subway, but none-the-less, great start to the day.

that's all I got right now.

ps. I'm listening to BBC Radio 1 right now and Jack Penate is on - FAN-FUCKIN-TASTIC artist!

Gregg

In My Opinion...

The British are simply better at music because they eat sleep and breathe it daily. North Americans, for the most part, are content and can take it or leave it and don't actively search for new stuff. I really wish we did more as it would be a better life - because In my opinion - music does indeed make things better.

Have you seen or heard of the UK channel 4 series entitled Skins? It's a great series that follows teenagers around Bristol, England. It shows us what teenagers are actually doing on their spare time rather than the way the OC and 90210 depict it. The beauty of this series is the use of music in scenes and key moments. If I could work my dream job it would be to do just that...select the tracks for television and motion pictures. I digress, the series is brilliant and stars some recognizable faces like the lead from Slum Dog Millionaire as well as the lead boy from About a Boy (he's grown-up now).

Here's a few tracks that were featured in this series...

• Adele - 'Hometown Glory'
• MGMT - 'A Time to Pretend'
• Gossip - 'Standing in the Way of Control'
• Crystal Castles - 'Alice Practice'

Anyway - you really should check this series out when you have a chance as it's pretty damn great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iP8Vjfpf2M

speak soon.

Gregg

Snow Patrol - The Planet's Bend Between Us

Favourite song this week... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OwczjuRsW8

Today in Music (Entry #1)

My name is Gregg and I have been working in the entertainment industry for over 10 years now. It really is a labour of love and I have learned this over the years by brushing shoulders with some of the most passionate people in the world. I now feel comfortable in saying I too am passionate in what I do and can't honestly think of another business that I'd rather be in. If you enjoy what you do for a living you are a rich person and so I truly feel like I am a very wealth man.

This is my first blog and I gotta say I'm excited. The world of music has never been so amazing, in my opinion, and with each passing week I'm craving more and more. I like simple conversations about music that consist of lists. From my experience everyone loves to do lists. Facebook lists about anything and everything keep popping up in my feed and I always find time to squeeze in a top 5 list on something be it Top 5 solo artists, Top 5 Shoe brands, Top 5 actresses I'd like to sleep with - and of course Top 5 Albums of all time.

I'll keep this first post short - but think it's only right that I end it with a Top 5 list from me. So in the vain of Rob Gordon (John Cusack's characther in High Fidelity) here is my list of Top 5 all time slow jams...

1. Coldplay's - 'Green Eyes'
2. Snow Patrol's - 'Run'
3. The Verve's - 'Sonnet'
4. Oasis' - 'She is Love'
5. Travis' - 'Closer'

hope I did alright here - speak soon.

Gregg