For The Greater Good

Hello Friends,

On this the eve of a global benefit special for Haiti - musicians from around the world prepare to step-up and do their part to help. It's sadly something that happens on what seems to be an ongoing basis these days - but non-the-less a truly commendable thing. They do have a voice and people listen when they speak - so my hat goes off to those that get involved.

There's the obvious names that always come out for the cause including Bono, Justin Timberlake, Madonna, Mary J. Blige, Coldplay and Sheryl Crow and to me they are champions and leaders for doing so. They are always in it for the right reasons and set the bar for others that follow.

Tomorrow's event looks to be a massive one and involves artists from all genres of music. The line-ups go from the newest names like Justin Bieber to Motown greats like Stevie Wonder. It really is about coming together in a world that is becoming increasingly smaller each day. I have goose bumps when I read these press releases.

In Canada the media companies have all come together to create the lead-in for the night entitled 'Canada for Haiti'. Canadian musicians and celebrities alike will be out in full force to raise the awareness in a homegrown show starting at 7 pm et.

Here's the full listings of all celebs and artists involved.

U.S. Press Release

Canadian Press Release

Bono, Edge, Jay Z and Rihanna have apparently recorded a brand new song for the event and will perform this live tomorrow night. I'm sure it will go down as yet another classic anthem for a time that the world needed everyone to come together.

I hope everyone tunes in to do their part tomorrow - it's something special when everyone around the world is doing, watching, listening, talking in person and through social media about the same thing.

As I like lists - here's a quick list of songs that grew from troubled time that was Famine Relief in Africa.

Band Aid - UK artists for Africa

We Are The World - American artists for Africa

Tears Are Not Enough - Canadian artists for Africa

Take care of each other.

Gregg

Pop Music means Popular Music

Hi Friends,

Much like candy - some pop music just doesn't have any substance. The good thing is that it doesn't really matter. Good music really is good music - no matter what the content.

I can honestly say I'm a sucker for great pop tunes. From Duran Duran, Culture Club, Debbie Gibson, Whitney Houston, New Kids on the Block, Madonna, Back Street Boys, N'Sync, Corey Heart, Gwen Stefani, Black Eyed Peas, Justin Timberlake, Sugar Babes, Robbie Williams, Take That, The Spice Girls and even Miley Cyrus' 'Party in the USA'. A catchy hook is a catchy hook:)

Today as I left the offices at MTV I saw a crowd of, for lack of a better term, Cougars on the prowl. I wasn't sure why they were all there as the MTV building sees many stars pass through the doors and always involves fans and audience. Tonight it was for Joey McIntyre of NKOTB fame...and perhaps a few fans of Boston Public the series. Joey is in town for a show at the MOD Club touring a solo album I believe.

I for one had a younger sister that loved them while I grew up - so an quite familiar with the many hits and amount of merchandise that had their faces branded on. I secretly have a soft spot for these guys - and really love the single from a couple of years back 'Summertime'. Donny also did a hell of a job playing Sargeant Lipton on HBO's hit series 'Band of Brothers'.

I digress...

Sometimes I save my pop songs for a long run - or in the car where nobody can hear me singing along (except poor Raffy). I know that everyone has their own 'Guilty Pleasures' - but they shouldn't feel guilty if a song makes them feel good.

Here's a short list of some of my very own 'Guilty Pleasures'.

• Spice Girls - Mama


• Toto - Africa


• Huey Lewis and the News - Heart and Soul


• The Monkees - Daydream Believer


• NKOTB - Summertime


• T.I. - Whatever You Like


• Robbie Williams - Angels


• Back Street Boys - I Want it that Way


• Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do)I do it for you


• Bon Jovi - Living on a Prayer

Awesome - I've not so secretly created tomorrow's running playlist.

Pop music simply means popular music and I'm not afraid to say I like it all.

"All I see are stillettos

I guess I never got the memo" - Miley Cyrus

Thanks for reading.

Gregg

"Something was bound to go right sometime today...

...all these broken pieces fit together - to make a perfect picture of us" - Snow Patrol 'The Lightening Strike'

I cannot get enough of this song from their album 'A Hundred Million Suns'. The song itself is 16:18 in length and when you listen to it you could mistake it for 3 different songs. Band on the Run is another that does this - but Band on the Run is a mere 5:14.

I keep thinking of places that it might be perfect to hear it during. High above the clouds in a plane, a long run in Central Park, grocery shopping or even on headphones while working...it works everywhere and is genius.

I will shut up now so you cn give it a listen and judge for yourself.

Please do me a favour and listen to the full duration and don't cheat yourself out of this amazing track. My personal favourite is the last of the 3 breaks...

1. What if this storm ends? (Part 1)
2. The Sunlight through the Flags (Part 2)
3. Daybreak (Part 3)

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Thanks for reading.

Gregg

Music Videos

Hey Friends and Happy 2010,

Can you remember a time when people had time on their hands? Do you you remember when we would sit on front of a TV to watch a music video from start to finish?

Well I do because that's what I grew up on.. That's not the case today as this generation, unlike any that has come before, has little to no attention span to sit through anything. It's not there fault - there's simple more to see and do now:)

I find myself doing the same these days. I can honestly say that I've seen the new Lady Gaga video for 'Bad Romance' about 35 times - and until the other day had never got to the end where the bed has been burnt to a crisp. Do I have A.D.D. too now?

Music Videos, contrary to popular belief, did not kill the radio star - they enhanced and adapted to the times. There have been some amazing music videos made over the years and some of which should have won Oscars as they were as good, if not better than some feature length films. Thriller will always be the king of all music videos no matter what comes next (IMHO).

It's a great form of expression and I'm sure that each and everyone of you has your very own favourite.

Anyway, I'd like to share a few music videos that I have loved over the years that I think you should see. Here they are (categorized too)

• Most Beautiful - Sigur Ros / Svefn-G-Englar
• My Personal Favourite of all time - The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony
• Emotional - Sia - Breathe Me
• Bad Ass - Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg - Ain't Nothin' But A G Thang
• Best Sound Engineering - Richard Ashcroft - A Song For The Lovers *you can hear the white noise as the track is playing in the background
• Haunting - Depeche Mode - Wrong

There are obviously many many more amazing videos - but this is simply a few of my favs I wanted share with you.

Thanks for checking this out.

Speak Soon

Gregg Stewart

Top Tunes of 2009

Hello Friends,

I've finally taken the time to go through my collection and see what the top tunes of 2009 are IMHO. It took some google searches to ensure that the albums were all this year - but alas I have a great list here to share. I'm sure that I am missing a few - but for now these are the one's that acted as a soundtrack to my year and thus becoming 'My Top Tunes of 2009'.

*From A-Z (as that's how I picked them from my iTunes)

• Airborne Toxic Event - 'Something New'


• Arctic Monkeys - 'Crying LIghtening'


• Bat for Lashes - 'Daniel'


• The Big Pink - 'Velvet'


• Calvin Harris - 'I'm Not Alone'


• Depeche Mode - 'Wrong'


• Doves - 'Kingdom of Rust'


• Drake - 'Forever' + 'Best I Ever Had'


• Elbow - 'One Day Like This'


• Eminem - 'Beautiful'


• Empire of the Sun - 'Walking on a Dream'


• Franz Ferdinand - 'Ulysees'


• Glasvegas - 'Geraldine'


• Gossip - 'Heavy Cross'


• Jack Penate - 'Today's Tonight'


• Julian Casablancas - 'Tourist'


• The Junction - 'Just Level With Me'


• Kasabian - 'Fire'


• M83 - 'Kim & Jessi'


• Miike Snow - 'Animal'


• Mistress Barbara - 'I'm Running'


• Muse - 'Uprising'


• Passion Pit - 'The Reeling'


• Peter Bjorn & John - 'It Don't Move Me'


• Phoenix - 'Lisztomania'


• Roykstopp - 'Happy Up Here'


• Snow Patrol - 'Just Say Yes'


• Stereophonics - 'Innocent'


• U2 - 'Magnificent'


• Vega - 'No Reasons'


• We Were Promised Jetpacks - 'It's Thunder and It's Lightening'


• White Lies - 'Death'


• Yeah Yeah Yeahs - 'Skeletons'

What a great year for new music this was.

Speak soon.

Gregg

Epic

Hello Friends,

I don't know if it's that I just finished watching the bonus DVD content on Snow Patrol's 'Up To Now' collection or not - but wow are they ever amazing and creating some magic.

I've always been a fan and followed their career closely since they released 'When It's All Over We Still Have To Clear Up'. I still think that 'One Night is Not Enough' is a heck of a tune today.

The band have come a long way indeed and not just in terms of commercial success - this band is now creating epic music that has raised the bar and sets them apart from others that have come before. The songs are, for the most part, somber and sad in terms of lyrical content - but that's part of the charm. The other part is full on rock n roll and epic atmospheric tunes that could stand-up against the likes of The Who and Pink Floyd.

I'll keep today's post short - but please check out my 5 suggested tracks by this band when you have a second.

• The Lightening Strike


• The Planets Bend Between Us *Radio edit has better harmonies :)


• The Golden Floor


• One Night is Not Enough


• Somewhere a Clock is Ticking


• Bonus: Your Sweet Voice *Reindeer Section track

Enjoy!

Gregg

Harmony is Everything

Hello Friends,

I like the following definition for the word harmony the best...
har⋅mo⋅ny 
the simultaneous combination of tones, esp. when blended into chords pleasing to the ear; chordal structure, as distinguished from melody and rhythm.

The reason I picked this word to speak of is that I've been listening to The Stereophonics for the past 24 hours in a very heavy rotation. The Stereophonics have got to be the single best band in the world at harmony today.

It all started when I got to the office and recieved my latest issue of Q Magazine. This is always a great day as Q truly is gospel for music. This month's magazine features Arctic Monkeys on the cover and a beautiful advertisment for the new Stereophonics album on the back. The cover to this disc is amazing.

The band formed in 1992 and have since released 7 full length albums and 1 greatest hits collection. That greatest hits collection also included a new track - that for my money is one their finest to date entitled 'My Star'.

The band are definetly a rock band in all senses of the term - but it's intelligent rock and the HARMONY in their songs is unbeatable today. In some tracks it's very subtle - but in others it is enought to give you goosebumps.

I was introduced to these guys through The Wedge on Muchmusic back in the early 90s. There was a video for 'Pick a Part that's New' where the band, 3 members at that time, robbed some gold and fill it in the trunk of 3 austin minis and drive around a European town to get away. At that time it blew my mind as the only music videos I was seeing were the likes of C&C Music Factory and EMF. The band have made some really good videos over the years. Check out this Stephen Kings esque video for Mr. Writer!

The band used to perform at least once a year in Toronto and play the Warehouse aka Kool Haus. It was always rammed and the crowd was so diverse each year.

I got to go back and meet the band one time after one of these shows and it was a great experience. Kelly (lead singer) is but a mere 5 feet tall and Richard (bass player) gave me 4 cans of Heineken in the span of 45 minutes chatting. I will always have a spot in my heart for this band.

In terms of harmony - I think it best left for the music to speak for itself. Check out these 5 tracks and pay close attention to their amazing ability to create harmony. These guys truly could have been a backing band to some of the Motown greats of years gone by.

• You're My Star


• Maybe Tomorrow


• Dakota


• Vegas two Times


• Nothing Precious At All

Some of the finest lyrics written to accompany and allow for these great harmonic tunes. Here's a beauty from one of them...

'You're My Star"

You're my star
Yes you are
Its a thrill to see your imagination
Just watching you is an education
What's in your mind is my fascination
It blows my mind and sets my heart a racing

Man I love this band and think that you should check em out when you have a chance. Here's the latest single to get you started - INNOCENT

Thanks for reading.

Gregg