Recommendation XXXXIII: Danielle Peck

Today was an interesting day: I slept in ’til 11am (didn’t work today), ate lunch, headed to the park to take a run (I don’t get to run too often because of the cold weather and my freakin’ asthma lol), and when I got back, had to deal with a stalled car – the engine’s battery had gone out. That was my fault because stupid me left the car’s fan running on battery power while I was sitting in there for too long and it cost me. I was stuck there for about an hour, going around asking people for help like a loser and ask if they had jumper cables (I’m sure some did, but they were either scared or just mean haha). Anyway, a trio of strangers assisted me, with no problem at all, and kindness in their hearts. I think God wanted to prove two things to me today: there are still good people in this world, and don’t be an idiot and leave the battery running when it’s not necessary (and to buy jumper cables!).

My forty-third recommendation is: Danielle Peck’s “A Woman Does Too” from her 2006 Danielle Peck album.  I would still consider Danielle to be one of my favorite newer female singers in Nashville.  Her stunningly smoking beauty aside, she’s really talented and rather equipped with a distinctive and lovely voice with fine songwriting skills.  I first heard Danielle Peck‘s debut single, “I Don’t”, and took to it quickly (how could you not like a song that says “The difference is: Jesus loves you… I don’t.” ?).  And sure, after I researched her myspace and saw her gorgeous pictures, I did like her more, however I was even more so impressed with her music and with one website that listed her two influences: Patty Loveless and Trisha Yearwood.  I ended up pre-ordering her debut CD through MusiCountry, which offered an autographed album cover that I couldn’t resist.  After that, with singles, “Findin’ a Good Man”, and the similar, “Bad for You”, I knew I really liked her (I’m not really into “Isn’t That Everything?”, but it is catchy, I will admit).  I also like how the first two singles I mentioned in the last sentence are pretty country, but definitely contemporary/mainstream (the choruses are traditional-country/honky-tonk-like sounding, but the beats and the rest of it are pretty pop and rock-sided, somewhat like Shania Twain‘s “Any Man of Mine” is).

Recommendation XXXXII: Dwight Yoakam & k.d. lang

Recommendations are back!  And back to the music the readers really wanna talk about: country music.  I haven’t done one of these in like a month, so I need to get back into the groove of things again.  I am really excited for what’s to come in ’09: Obama’s becoming president on Tuesday, I’m going to turn the big two-one in March, and life just seems good, despite the economic problems here in the household.  God has been more than good to us, and while I miss college immensely, I will get by, and hopefully can return in the fall.  I will visit my friends again in March, so I’m stoked.  Now, on to the music.

My forty-second recommendation is: Dwight Yoakam & k.d. lang’s “Sin City” from Dwight’s 1989 Just Lookin’ for a Hit album.  I’ve really been into duets and duos lately, and this one is no exception.  I didn’t find out about this collaboration until about summer 2008 and I was blown away by it’s beauty.  I never thought that Dwight Yoakam and k.d. lang would record and sing together and it’s just so special, especially on a traditional country song, a cover/remake of the Gram Parsons song.  Even though this duet is on a mostly “hits” album, I don’t believe it was ever released as a radio single, but man, it was an instant hit in my ears.  I know I’ve recommended k.d. previously, but I have yet to recommend Dwight, so I knew it was time.

Dwight is one of the coolest artists I know and I love his hard-core invocation of Buck Owens, and D.Y. has proven he’s still at the top of his game today.  I’d say my favorite track from him would either be “Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose”, “Guitars, Cadillacs”, or “Fast As You”.  My mom just loves his “Blame the Vain” (I do too).  He’s an impressive actor and I loved to hate his evil character in Panic Room.  The last song I bought from him was “Close Up the Honky Tonks”, but it’s totally clear to me now that I need more Yoakam in my collection!

Top 20 Fav Non-Country Radio Singles of 2008

Since this is iCF Music (a stress on the “Music” part), I always intended to not just make it about country stuff, but my other musical likes (and also, to separate myself from anything labeled “country” that wasn’t country, that I might have liked lol).  It took me a while to decide for these radio tracks.  I tried looking up online to see if they were mostly played 2008 songs, and I believe that they are.  I know 2008 was 13 days ago, but whatever.

I know some songs and some artists on my list are not liked by some (radio overkill? just a bad song? so many varying reasons… lol), but during 2008, they were a big part of my life and made me happy.  I believe they are all mostly fast, uptempo songs because I tended to like those for my running and exercising purposes.  The list has radio singles from pop, alternative rock, mainstream rock, R&B, and dance.  Remember, none of these are country, so I’m sure some of my viewers won’t be interested in them lol, but I wanted to post them regardless.  Click on the song title to hear a clip, and the artist name to read more about them.

Top 20 Favorite Non-Country Music Radio Singles of 2008:

• 20. “Let It Die” – Foo Fighters:
  • This one I grew to like while working at my sandwich shop job, because I turned the radio on the alternative rock station, and I thought it was cool how the song builds up the the climax, starting  with a simple constant guitar pick, and eventually, explodes into a powerful electric-guitar heavy sound and with grittier vocals.  You’re right there with him, the whole time, and wait in anticipation for the tempo to get bigger.

• 19. “Won’t Go Home Without You” – Maroon 5:
  • I’ve always liked the distinctness of front man, Adam Levine’s, high-pitched vocals from other groups, and this song is no different.  I wasn’t too fond about it at first, but when my family picked me up from college in the summer, my sister played the heck outta this one on XM, and I grew to like it a lot.  It reminds me of our trip to San Diego afterward.  I just read online tonight that the guitar undertone in the song is based on The Police’s “Every Breath You Take”.  Cool.

• 18. “It’s Not My Time” – 3 Doors Down:
  • This single is very much their style and sound and proves 3DD is still at the top of their game.  Brad Arnold’s voice cuts clear across this and while it’s definitely not their best single, it’s still better than lots of songs.  Remember Arnold is the one who Tracy Lawrence had a duet with, featured in my recommendation?

• 17. “Don’t Stop” – Innerpartysystem:
  • Said to be inspired partly by Anna Nicole Smith and the whole celebrity culture of greediness and such, with the media attention and everything.  It’s sung from a first-person point of view from one of those kinda people: “I am the closest thing to God.  So worship me and never stop…“.  We, the public, keep feeding these people on with our obsession with their lives, and it is crazy.  What turned me on to the song, originally, was the music: very techno-ish.  Contains the “F” word haha, but makes the point of the song stick across better.

• 16. “Love Is Gone” (Radio Edit Remix) – Chris Willis & David Guetta:
  • Another one that I like mainly because of the music.  The vocals are okay, but the single is very catchy.  Makes you wanna get up and dance (techno-club-style).   A great track for running along with.  Apparently, it was huge in Europe, which is not a surprise.  Only complaint is that this is one of those singles that has a like a million remixes and stuff, so that gets to be too much.

• 15. “Hot N Cold” – Katy Perry:
  • Hahaha, oh man.  I would not even admit to liking this, even to my friends, but it’s very appealing to the ears and you can’t get it out of your head (I’m sure nay-sayers might agree too lol).  I didn’t care for her previous single, but “Hot” is so much better.  I know bi-polar folk like the one described here and believe me, you don’t wanna deal with it.  I think Katy Perry is weird and I refuse to watch her videos or performances, though I really enjoy this one, unfortunately.

• 14. “Don’t Trust Me” – 3OH!3:
  • These two guys hail from Denver, CO, just like me (their name comes from our city’s area code).  I originally didn’t like this song because I thought the line: “Shush girl, shut your lips, do the Helen Keller, and talk with your hips” was so stupid (and it still is, but a catchy lyric).  This blend of hip-hop and rock is not for the conservative type, for sure.  My favorite line would have to be “X’s on the back of your hands, Wash them in the bathroom to drink like the bands“, because it is brilliantly written.  I’m not saying I encourage underage drinking – I just think it’s clever songwriting.

The 9513 – Vote to be the Best Music Blog of 2008

Since I’m a fairly big reader of, and huge supporter of The 9513, I must promote the incredible blog to get more votes, for its nomination at the 2008 Weblog Awards.  I’m sure most readers of my blog already know about it, or whatever, but it doesn’t hurt.  Other blogs are getting the word out too, so I guess I’m jumping on the bandwagon…but only because I care haha.  You got until Tuesday, January 13th, 2009 to get your vote in.  Click here to vote, or the picture, for the link. Do it for country music (and yeah, I do realize I kinda morphed the “person” into the tv 9513 image, and it’s bad editing, but whatever.  It’s kinda funny, anyway).

iCF Single Reviews #6 (Week of December 11, 2008)

Wow wow wow.  I’m so neglectful of this blog sometimes lol.  I actually had started writing this post like the day after Christmas, but I never finished it and just kept it as a draft until now (I also erased some comments I made that wouldn’t make sense today lol – I just left the pic of Toby there).  Anyway, I’m here to review some singles I have yet to have voiced my opinion on, so far.  This is based off of the current R & R chart rankings.

10. “Down the Road” – Kenny Chesney & Mac MacAnally:

- Can’t believe I’m saying this, but this song isn’t too bad.  I like the acoustic and simplicity it has and I’m glad Kenny experimented on something kinda different here and introduced us to MacAnally.  Not an incredible song or anything, but gotta give this Jimmy Buffett-wannabe some credit (and credit for ditching the puka necklace – that was getting so old, man).  2.0 out of 5 stars.

12. “Sweet Thing” – Keith Urban:

- I kinda reviewed this in my CMA Awards reaction post, and it was actually favorable.  Urban did a solidly gripping performance of his new single and it stood out.  I would not consider it country at all, but damn, is it catchy.  I think some of the verses’ sound are reminiscent of Rascal Flatts’s (horrific) remake of  “Life Is a Highway”, but Urban is miles better than them (but just as pop, IMO) and the comparison with those songs only lies there.  This single’s chorus, as mentioned in other online reviews, is similar to Urban’s other songs, like “Better Life” and “Somebody Like You”, however it is still pretty fresh.  Surprisingly, I like the “do do do do do“s, and I think a lot of my likeness for the song began with the CMA performance, in which I first heard the song debuted.  Not country at all, but I like it, and bought the Mp3 on Amazon.com (well, I used my Pepsi free points to get it, so I don’t feel so guilty supporting him lol).  4.0 out of 5 stars. Buy here!

13. “God Love Her” – Toby Keith:

- This is actually my first time hearing this (btw, that is a nice pic of Toby above), and I don’t think it’s great or horrible – kind of in the middle.  Definitely a more mainstream-rock/poppier sounding Toby, with a similar feel of “Whiskey Girl”.  It’s catchy, though a little overproduced.  I wouldn’t call myself a Toby fan anymore, by no means (I think that shipped sailed several years ago – he just got annoying).  Nothing special here.  2.0 out of 5 stars.

14. “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” – Brooks & Dunn with Reba McEntire:

- Like I’ve said before: I’m lovin’ that B&D brought back the fiddle to their music! It’s been absent way too long.  This song is classic Brooks & Dunn, like their old stuff in the ’90s and I love it.  Bringing on Reba made it even better (though, I think this new recording sounds too “live” and it was edited in somewhat oddly).  I would comment more, but I’m considering another post on them in the future, so I don’t wanna repeat myself.  Cool music video too! 4.5 out of 5 stars. Buy here!

16. “River of Love” – George Strait:

- Don’t want to say much about this huge disappointment of a single (and a song), especially since Strait is my #1, because it’s just a bad choice of a song to record.  Nice steel guitar but not even the King could get me to like this.  Now, I really see how radio stations will play just about anything from certain people, regardless of the quality, even from some of my favorites.  This is a shipwreck, in my eyes, but of course it will be a top 5.  1.5 out of 5 stars.