In Which There's Something About This Performance That Touches Me

the iTunes playlist: David Bowie

The odds of David Bowie being alive now were not great. He's like the turtle in the race, coming back in fashion every decade or so, ageless as Mick Jagger's scrotum. Enjoy his favorite songs:

"Stay With Me" - Lorraine Ellison (mp3)  

Ellison only got to record this goosebump-making classic because of a Sinatra cancellation at the recording studio. The vocal build and release on this track is galvanizing. Writer Jerry Ragovoy also wrote ‘Time Is On My Side.’ 

"El Niño: For With God Nothing Shall Be Impossible" - Deutsches Symphonieorchester Berling & Kent Nagano (mp3)

Just over a minute long and propulsive like a storm. I want to crush furniture. The emotional in search of the divine.

by geoff mccormack "Junker's Blues" - Champion Jack Dupree (mp3)

Simple, beautiful New Orleans piano. This 1941 song was the blueprint for Fats Domino’s 1949 hit ‘The Fat Man’ and probably played a part in the making of Professor Longhair’s ‘Tipitina.’    

"Nixon in China – Act I, Scene 1: Soldiers of Heaven Hold the Sky" - Edo de Waart & Orchestra of St. Luke's

Adams’ minimalism disguises the rich romanticism of his melodies. Ever ascending, rising through the clouds. You’re still cool with me, John.    

"Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)"- Scritti Politti (mp3)

Who could dislike this glistening 1984 beauty? The upside of the ’80s.

"Embroidering Pouch"- Peng Liyuan (mp3)

Hugely huge in China. Peng holds the rank of major general in the People’s Liberation Army. I have a thing about Chinese folk music, okay?

"Different Trains: I. America-Before the War" - Steve Reich (mp3)

One of the late 20th century’s most affecting works. I love the use of speech as a source for melody. But it’s so much more than a concept; it’s also impossibly moving.

"Blue Skies" - Josephine Baker (mp3)

I’m not a big Baker fan, but there’s something about this performance that touches me. I think it’s the break in her voice among all this gaiety and optimism.

"Dinner at Eight" - Rufus Wainwright (mp3)

There aren’t that many son/father songs, but is the best of them as far as I know. Rufus is just simply one of the great writers.

"Gathering Storm" - Godspeed You Black Emperor! (mp3)

GYBE is among my, erm, two favorite Montreal bands, Arcade Fire being the other. All Montreal bands have around nine members, I believe.

"Sonny's Lettah (Anti-Sus Poem)" - Linton Kwesi Johnson (mp3)

The great Kwesi Johnson at his saddest. This forceful slice of narrative is part of the continuing evolvement from griot through the Last Poets to Mos Def.

"Get Around to It" - Arthur Russell (mp3)

Quite strange but atmospheric, is what I think. The late Arthur Russell was supplying all the background effects on his electric cello.”    

"Sénégal Fast-food" - Amadou & Mariam (mp3)

Let’s dance. Saw this on Africa Channel or maybe Link last year, and I play it at least once a week. What time is it in Paradise, indeed?

You can find more iTunes playlists here.

"Starman" - Dar Williams (mp3)

"Space Oddity" - Natalie Merchant (mp3)

"Under Pressure" - The Used & My Chemical Romance (mp3)

In Which I'm Not Trying To Sound Cocky Or Full Of Myself But I Have The Sneaking Suspicion That I Will Always Be Great

Ed. Note: Today is the first day of our PLEDGE DRIVE, where we ask you to donate if you like the site. We will try to keep the virtual spanging to a minimum, but any donations are much appreciated and would go a long way towards keeping This Recording on the cyber airwaves.

I'M KENNY POWERS

by MOLLY LAMBERT

THIS IS MY KENNY POWERS MIX!!! I'd write this WHOLE BLOG in all caps but I know most of you would find it off-putting. I find PROPER CAPITALIZATION and punctuating to be VERY OFF-PUTTING and that is why I enjoy the internet and KANYE'S BLOG!!!

I identify strongly with Kenny Powers (except for his racism). Maybe the reason we all love cable TV characters like Tony Soprano and Don Draper and Kenny Powers who have such big egos and make such bad choices is because we are all like that deep down at our anonycores. It's just part of being a human being that sometimes you feel like a huge fucking baby who only wants to do whatever the fuck it is you want to do.

So in the spirit of doing whatever the fuck it is you want to do, I made a three volume Kenny Powers themed mix. Three hours and change of seventies rock. I thought about putting some rap in but the playlist kept getting too long anyway so I have restricted it to seventies rock (sometimes early eighties). I'm sorry it doesn't have the Three 6 Mafia song from the steroids doing sequence. I had to make some very tough decisions.

Seventies rock is my favorite genre, and I made this for me. But I also made it for you, and that is why I painstakingly cut up clips of all the best dialogue from Eastbound & Down to thread between songs and make it perfect. There's a lot of Southern rock and yankee/UK takes on Southern rock. There's some random junk too. I do what I want!

This is not the soundtrack of the series, which the MC5's Wayne Kramer put together and you can see a listing of here. This is a narrative mix by me "inspired by" Kenny Powers. Divided into Strikes, the 1st volume is a retrospective of Kenny's baseball career and life leading up to the present, the 2nd deals with Kenny and April's relationship and is love themed, and the 3rd is about Kenny's return to North Carolina.

This is the best thing I have ever done lately. I keep joking that it is my thesis for the last five years, but I am only sort of joking. Is that sad? I no longer care. Certainly when I learned how to use pro tools at the college radio station I did not know my lyfe path would lead me here, to the land of endless blogging and semi-professional online presence having and a horrible recession. There are worse fates than spending your late nights chopping up Ram Jam. Nothing thrills me more than a nice segue.

DON'T YOU DARE COMPLAIN THAT IT IS TOO LONG. THIS IS MY GIFT TO YOU. BASEBALL GAMES REQUIRE A VERY LONG ATTENTION SPAN THAT IS A RELIC OF A DIFFERENT TIME. BRING THAT MINDSET INTO PLAY HERE WHEN YOU ARE LISTENING. IF YOU SAT THROUGH HAVE ONE ON ME YOU WILL SIT THROUGH THIS AND LEARN TO HAVE THE PATIENCE OF A NON-GINGER WHILE I TEACH YOU ALL ABOUT CHOOGLIN.

Eastbound & Down inspired the hell out of me. I dream about making something as fucked up and great someday as Jody Hill and Ben Best and Danny McBride did. If you don't know who Kenny Powers is or don't give a fuck (p.s. if this is you, GET OFF MY BLOG), it's also just a great SPRING AND SUMMERTIME MIX of AM Gold style seventies rock to listen to as you drive/walk/bike around your town or city in coming months. 

I WILL SEE YALL AT SHABOOMS! DJ SHE-BEAR AKA MOLLY LAMBERT

STRIKE 1: SPRING TRAINING

The Joker - Snail

Shakedown Cruise - Jay Ferguson

Sign Of The Gypsy Queen - April Wine

Homesick - Atlanta Rhythm Section

Freeborn Man - Outlaws

Remember The Good Times - Paice, Ashton, & Lord

404 - Ram Jam

Take A Little Word - Hudson Ford

If You Want To Get To Heaven - Ozark Mountain Daredevils

Found Out The Hard Way - Ace

Couldn't Get It Right - Climax Blues Band

Lonesome Loser - Little River Band

Saddletramp - Charlie Daniels Band

(part one alternate link)

STRIKE 2: REGULAR SEASON

Lonely One - Dave Mason

Southern Girls - Cheap Trick

Don't You Know What Love Is - Touch

Jackie Blue - Ozark Mountain Daredevils

She's A Stranger - Mama's Pride

Quite Like You - Nantucket

I Could Be Good For You - 707

Nicole - Point Blank

Feel Like Makin' Love - Bad Company

Fooled Around And Fell In Love - Elvin Bishop

Amie - Pure Prairie League

Sweet City Woman - The Stampeders

Visions Of You - Bandit

Lady Of My Heart - Loggins & Messina

Magnet & Steel - Walter Egan

Keep On Trying - Poco

Outlaw Women - Hank Williams Jr.

(part two alternate link)

STRIKE 3: WORLD SERIES

Going Down - Freddie King

Cheap Sunglasses - ZZ Top

Commotion - Creedence Clearwater Revival

Funk #48 - James Gang

I Got Kinda Lost (Demo) - Big Star

Flirtin' With Disaster - Molly Hatchet

Keep It Warm - Flo & Eddie

Isn't It Time - The Babys

Ain't Wastin' Time No More - Allman Brothers Band

Last Kiss - Fandango

Shambala - Three Dog Night

East Bound and Down - Jerry Reed

Crying in the Night - Buckingham/Nicks

Hold On - Ian Gomm

Fire On The Mountain - Marshall Tucker Band

April Love - Stillwater

Those Shoes (Chopped & Screwed) - The Eagles

(part three alternate link)

Molly Lambert is the managing editor of This Recording. She does a bunch of fucking dumb shit on the internet besides making you awesome Kenny Powers themed mixes. 

In Which We Isolate Pleasurable Elements Of Modern Popular Songs

Favorite Rap/R&B Background Ad Libs 2010

by MOLLY LAMBERT

Best Of '09: "L'CHAIM" - Fergie of The Black Eyed Peas, "I Gotta Feeling"

click on the screen caps for links to the youtube videos they originate from

10. "Beckay" - Plies, "Becky"

9. "all day" - California Swag District, "Teach Me How To Dougie" 

8. "Waka. Flocka. Flame." - Waka Flocka Flame, "O Let's Do It"

7. "C.J.!" - Birdman, "4 My Town"

6. "heeeeeeee wah wah" - Robin Thicke, "Sex Therapy"

5. "yurrrrrrrzzzzz" - Ludacris, "My Chick Bad"

4. "Bamaaaaaaaaa" - Yelawolf, "Box Chevy Pt. 2"

3. "big ol'" - Usher, "Little Freak"

2. "YOO! NOO!" - Jay-Z, "Empire State Of Mind" (this part's still in my head)

1. "LEMON!" - Gucci Mane, "Lemonade"

Molly Lambert is the managing editor of This Recording. She tumbls here and twitters here.