iCF Random (11.25.08)

No new recommendation, at the moment, because I’m kinda busy…. and just plain lazy lol.  I was looking around online and found this, and thought it was interesting.  This is Glen Campbell singing a cover/remake of rock band, Green Day‘s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”.  Kinda cool.  I always thought it could work as a country song and I love the fiddle/violin solo in the Green Day version.  Great great song. This is from AOL’s Sessions:

- http://music.aol.com/video/good-riddance-time-of-your-life-sessions/glen-campbell/2198846

I tried to embed the video into the post, but it doesn’t work.  Just click the link then.

That’s all I really wanna say for today, maybe…

iCF Music Site Rolodex (11.19.08)

I am loving the new amount of traffic that’s been coming through here lately (I had about an average of 35-40 different people per day reading the site this week, which is pretty impressive for this blog).  July had the most visitors for the month, but it died down as my blogging lagged, and that makes sense since people lose interest when there’s nothing new lol.  We’ll see how the end of this month does compares to then!  I actually had lots of visitors for the CMA Awards entry (probably because of all those artist tags ha).  I gotta thank Ken Barnes from the “LISTEN UP” USA Today Blog, for linking to this site for this week’s playlist for his Crystal Shawanda recommendation (there are others on the list as well)  Anyway, for this entry, I wanted to recommend the links from my “Other cool music sites” heading on the right, and explain why I chose them to be there.  This is one of my tributes to them and their great work (you can see my “blogroll” tribute here).

(I chose this picture because it was cool and kinda signified the link between my site and these other sites.  They are part of the puzzle that makes the online music world greater.  We may not always “fit in” with others, but we make it work, somehow.  A “necessary connection”, if you will.  Alright, enough with all the corniness.  It’s mostly because I think it’s cool to look at!)

So, let’s get to it.

iCF Music Site Rolodex:

> .::Strait-LAW Forums::. :

- O.K. I admit; this is a shameless plug for one of my own other sites lol, but why not?  It needs more traffic especially with all the info that’s been posted on it.  It’s a message board dedicated to two of my favorite artists, George Strait and Lee Ann Womack.  I spent lots of time on it over the years (the forums officially started July 2004!) and it has changed much since then.  It used to be only a Womack board, but became Strait too, in May 2005.  It’s had its in and outs, but I called it everything but quits ;).  Anyway, not to give a history lesson, but you can read more about the history here and check it out!  Tag-line is: “It’s where you’ll get the good news and the bad news (and anything in between)” - a reference to their first duet.

> All Music Guide :

- One of my absolute favorite sites I go to.  I constantly visit them to read their reviews and listen to audio clips for music.  I used their clips for this site because they’ve got tons of music to sample.  I really like the way all the information is organized and I’ve learned a lot, musically, from there.  They’ve got a music blog too, but their entries about country music seem to be lacking…

> Angry Country :

- This is an online magazine with plenty of country album/concert reviews, interviews, news, and such – “Honest Country Music News” is their tag-line.  I enjoy this site, though I do remember when it was different in the past and a bit more critical (which is more to my liking lol) on artists and a bit more traditional-sided.  Guess they’re not as “angry” as they used to be.  Still a worthy place to visit, for sure.

> Country Interviews Online :

- Just like it says, this is the site to go to for interviews and Q&A’s and also, CD/concert/video reviews and lots more!  There are a good amount of pages I still need to get through!  So much.  The site is structured around frames, so it’d be kinda hard for a visitor to link to a specific page if they didn’t know the whole “right click, copy properties” method, but it’s a nice set-up, overall.

> Country On-Demand :

- This site always impresses me with its colorful, diverse images and consistency with the latest country news.  I believe the site is run by Derrick and Dustin, both gentlemen who I’ve run across and talked to online many times and they’re good guys and have a huge commitment to the site and are also huge fans of country music (how’s that for a run-on sentence, but it’s true).  I’m so glad the site seems to be going strong and I’m a big supporter of it all.  They be goin’ places! Definitely check it out.

Recommendation XXXIX: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

Back to the art of music and outta mainsteam-land, to a place where quality is, and what it’s always been essentially about: the alternative country world.  You know, the CMAs, for the most part, left a bitter taste in my mouth (Taylor Swift and Kellie Pickler‘s bubblegum pop didn’t sweeten the night at all.  Just provided some more artificial “sugar” to the mess.)  Like I said in my CMA entry, I did enjoy parts of the show, but it really got me even more upset with how terrible mainstream country music really has become.  I’m not saying it should be 100% traditional country music, because that would be boring (though, there definitely needs more of that represented to remind artists and fans of what the music is).  I just wish it wasn’t all about the money and crossing-over and appealing to teenagers who don’t know what country is.  The format might be a business but quality and diversity of styles should be the #1 things on their mind, and radio stations aren’t innocent either.  They just contribute immensely to the destruction of the music. (Btw, speaking of destruction, I saw the midnight screening of the new James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, and man, I loved it!  Go see while it’s still in theaters! You should see 2006′s Casino Royale first, because both movies go hand-in-hand and Quantum is its sequel. Here’s the trailer.)

My thirty-ninth recommendation is: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss’s “Through the Morning, Through the Night” from their 2007 Raising Sand album.  I have been wanting to highlight this album and this particular song for months and months since I’ve had this album, but I never could find the right time.  I felt that, because I had recommended Alison before, I should wait until much later to use her again, because I’m all obsessed with rules and stuff, but I’m beginning not to care anymore lol.  It was time, and that time was today.  You need to see and hear country music for what it is and can be, and those award shows don’t really appreciate nor represent what the good part of the music is (the CMAs did give the win to Plant/Krauss for “Collaboration”, so I’ll give them that).  The first single, “Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)”, with its Beatles-like sound, I wouldn’t consider to be country, but it’s very good.  It wasn’t until last year, during Christmas-time that I was able to finally purchase and listen to all of Raising Sand, and man I was blown away.  Led Zeppelin rock legend Robert Plant and bluegrass extraordinaire Alison Krauss are the perfect partners for a project like this.  Anybody who has heard all of the material and has trouble categorizing this as a “country album”, while at the same time, labels artists like Rascal Flatts “country”, just because they call themselves that, is seriously crazy (I won’t name names, but I’ve seen it online, and it makes no sense).  The album as a whole may not be particularly country, but its influence and sound is very evident, throughout.

42nd Annual “Country Music” Association Awards

Just read some interesting live blogs (CU & The9513) covering last night’s award show and while my opinions lined up with their’s at times, I also had disagreements.  I did actually watch the whole show last night, “live” as it came to my Mountain Time home (so, in other words, an hour behind), because I wanted it to be fresh this year for me, and I know going online would mess up any surprises.  I also actually watched the live red-carpet show on CMT.  Since I did not do a live blog, I thought I might share my opinions right here as a day-after analysis.  And I ain’t gonna hold back…

(you like my picture above?  I made it green because, you know, after all is done and said, that’s what the awards were all about.  The green… and I don’t mean the environmentally-friendly kind)

On the red-carpet pre-show.  It was decent, but I was kinda wanting to see other people than the ones they interviewed. Remember, I’m going by my memory here, so I might miss out on some details.  Two things I remember: Jack Ingram‘s wife, Amy’s, oddly short dress: wow… don’t know what she was thinking lol, but no worries (I’m a guy, yes, but I thought it was a strange choice).  And I guess Alan Jackson‘s daughters are all into the pop-country craze, which I found interesting.  So cool to see him and his family, though.

For us, the awards didn’t televise until an hour after the red-carpet show, which I always hate because I wish I could see it live live.  Brad Paisley and Keith Urban started into the show with their duet, “Start a Band”, which I thought was cool that it was the first time they performed it together live, but I wasn’t too impressed, and waited for what was next.  When Brad finally performed his own song, “Waitin’ On a Woman”, it was nice too, but I wasn’t crazy for it.  Keith’s new song is anything but country, though I found myself liking it, for some reason (like I’ve noticed and posted before, I seem to like his really pop singles lol).  Not country at all but not bad.

I thought Paisley and Carrie Underwood, overall, did a fine job as hosts.  Of course, could have been done better, but it is a tough job to do, so I give them props for that.  Carrie did an amazing execution of “Just a Dream”.  I think it was a good idea to have the war widow speak before that because it gave it more meaning.  Definitely one of the best and moving performances of the night.  Also, congrats on her “Female” win.

I was stoked that George Strait won for “Single of the Year” for his excellent song, “I Saw God Today”.  I was pretty sure that “Stay” was going to win.  While we’re on the topic of King George, I gotta say his win for “Album of the Year” was even greater because I really like Troubadour and it was even more special that Lee Ann Womack got to present it to him (with Josh Turner) because they have such admiration for one another and George is one of her biggest heroes and she had won that award for the amazing There’s More Where That Came From years before.  I bet she’ll be accepting the award next year for Call Me Crazy.  Even better that producer, Tony Brown, went up there too! (he produced Strait’s & Womack’s latest projects).  Moving further in the program, honestly, George’s performance of “River of Love” was definitely not something I was looking forward to because I don’t really care for the song (too Kenny Chesney-like) but I think his vocals and the steel guitar save the song from being a total failure (in anybody else’s hands, it would be really bad).

Kellie Pickler.  I really don’t know what people see in her, to be honest.  Her personality is really cute, but dumb blondes don’t really do anything for me, unless I know the person and can’t tease them up front.  I thought her performance was the worse of the night.  I think she tries too hard and the music was way louder than her vocals.  Just a bad performance through and through.  Horrible.

Recommendation XXXVIII: Shania Twain

I’m thinking that I will go back to writing posts much more often (maybe more than once a week lol), because I gotta satisfy my faithful blog audience and myself, so let’s get it done.  Honestly, right now, I’ve got nothing exciting to report about my life at the moment.  Just the same ole same ole working and sleeping, so this paragraph will be kinda short. Hmm… well, I did make a new look for the front page of my Lee Ann Womack fansite: LAW: Lee Ann Womack Online last night, so you might wanna check that out ;-) .  As for the subject of today’s blog, I bet you’re in for a surprise: you’re either pleased or disgusted (or in between, depending on your mood).  We’ll get to that…now

My thirty-eighth recommendation is: Shania’s Twain’s “I Ain’t Goin’ Down” from her 2002 Up! album.  Yes, yes, we have gotten to her (for those who didn’t know me too well before, you’re probably surprised to see her here lol).  I’m a pretty big Shania fan, and have been pretty much since “Any Man of Mine” in the ’90s.  She was certainly one of biggest definers of that decade and her music was a big part of my childhood.  Even though she’s not really “country” country, it doesn’t really matter to me.  Shania Twain‘s music brought about excitement to the genre that didn’t really exist before (though, I’ve come to the conclusion, that while I love her music, I’m not particularly fond of her imitators’ music who would arise in later mainstream country music).  She did commit murder on music row, but I’m willing to forgive her for it :p (in fact, I’ll hand her the hatchet myself, say “swing away!”, look the other way, because I love her that much and will allow her to get away with it lol).  And It’s too bad that her marriage with Mutt Lange didn’t work out because I thought they made a good team together.  I hear rumors that Shania will be the “surprise performer” at this Wednesday’s CMA Awards, so I figured I’d highlight Ms. Twain for this entry (I’m so excited for new music!)  It was tough to select a track for her because most of her songs have been hit radio singles haha, so choosing one from the Up! album was the path to go.

Recommendation XXXVII: Little Big Town

It’s Election Day and I just had to make a new entry. A few hours ago, I turned in my absentee voting ballot and I’m excited (and nervous at the same time) to watch the results on TV tonight. I won’t tell you who I voted for, since this is not a political blog – it’s strictly mostly a music blog – but I will encourage strongly that anyone who can vote, to do so.  This is my first time voting, so this was my first time seeing how confusing the amendments can be (the devil is in the details…. you read the fine print on those closely!), so anyone who votes, don’t go by commercials, read up on both sides and make a well-thought-out decision based on your views.  Visiting California last week, on the trip I mentioned before, I could clearly see how the election has impacted my college and its students. It’s really made them, and I as well, more active and vocal about different issues, the likes of which I’ve never experienced in my life before, so I’m enjoying that.  Voting in most places is done at 7pm, and that’s coming up pretty soon for some areas, so get out there!  Vote!  Anyway, I know it’s been a while since my last recommendation post (over a month!), so here it is…

My thirty-seventh recommendation is: Little Big Town’s “Novocaine” from their 2007 A Place to Land album.  I thought this was a perfect song to choose for today, because it’s positive and uplifting, and a great tie in to this day (I had lots of sad songs on my list that just wouldn’t work out lol).  I’m also very glad to finally get a separate post in on Little Big Town.  I’ve been a fan of their’s since “Boondocks” came out, and like everybody else, I can’t get enough of their beautiful harmonies.  They really cannot make a bad song, or sound bad on anything they sing.  One of things I respect them a lot for is the way they change the lead vocal in their music, and don’t keep it all the same – every group member has their own individual personality and vocal, which separates them from other groups/bands.  I may not own any of their albums yet, but I’ve bought several of their material off of iTunes.  I kinda still wish that LBT was still with independent label, Equity Music Group, because their success with them was a step in the right direction for independent labels, and now they’re with Capitol Nashville (though, the new album cover looks loads better).