Ain’t No Sunshine

Simply put, it’s one of my favorite song to be covered.  Bill Withers’ song has been done time and again and there is always a new take on it.  Gonna list a few versions for your aural pleasures.

According to Wikipedia: “Ain’t No Sunshine” is a song by Bill Withers from his 1971 album Just As I Am. The song was released as a single in September of 1971 and became a breakthrough hit for Withers, reaching number six on the U.S. R&B chart and number three on the U.S. Pop chart. Withers was still working at a factory that made toilet seats for 747s when he recorded the song. He originally intended to write more lyrics for the part of the song where he repeats the phrase “I know” twenty-six times, but the other musicians told him to leave it. “I was this factory worker puttering around,” Withers said. “So when they said to leave it like that, I left it.”

• Bill Withers – Ain’t No Sunshine (MP3)
• A Fine Frenzy – Ain’t No Sunshine (MP3)
• Lighthouse Family – Ain’t No Sunshine (MP3)
• Tyrone Wells – Ain’t No Sunshine (MP3)
• NoTie – Ain’t No Sunshine (MP3)
• Akon – Ain’t No Sunshine (OGG)
• DMX – Ain’t No Sunshine  (MP3) (DJ Envy talking over track at really inopportune times)
• Scuba – Ain’t No Sunshine (MP3)
• Willie Marble – Ain’t No Sunshine (MP3)

Got a version you’d like to see here?  Email us or comment!

Ladies Night 001

Gonna keep it short and sweet. Here are a few tracks that I’ve recently come across that feature female lead vocals. I think I’ll be revisiting this theme down the road quite a bit so I made a little graphic to help you identify the post easier. This will be a succinct post to let you in on some of the music I’ve been checking out with either a female solo artist or a female lead singer. Please leave me a comment to let me know what you think of the artists or my site in general.

• Chromatics – Night Drive
• Maria Mena – Just Hold Me
• Kyle – When We’re Gone
• Candie Payne – By Tomorrow
  
• Petra Haden – Don’t Stop Believin’ (Journey Cover)
• Etta James – I’d Rather Go Blind

BONUS TRACK

• Chromatics – Running Up That Hill (Kate Bush Cover) Popped up online about 36 hours after my previous Kate Bush post. How about that?

iPhone Commerical Song and a Few More Treats

By now, everyone out there has had a chance to see the commercials for Apple’s iPhone. And like any other well put together ad, it has things or songs that are memorable or standout and make you say “Hey, that’s from that commercial for…” Today I present to you Orba Squara’s “Perfect Timing (This Morning). While you may not be able to think of the song in your head before it starts, you’ll immediately recognize it once it plays. About halfway through, the vocals come in. I was initially torn on whether I liked vocals on this track or not. After two listens, I’m sold on it. Typically, when one hears a song clip or “snippet”, that is all they will like or be open to. I’ve heard plenty of people say things like “Oh, well I only like the part they play in the commercial or movie. I’m not into the rest of it as much.” If you work backwards you will get better results. Here’s how. Think of the song itself as a whole and play it in your head or out loud on your iPod or PC. Once you know the song well enough or have pretty clear expectations, then think of the commercial as only sampling the 30 seconds or so from it. It may or may not be your favorite sample in the end. Personally, lots of music gains emotion this way for me.

Enjoy some other songs from commercials that I have enjoyed over the past couple of years below.

• Teddybears feat. Iggy Pop – Punkrocker (MP3) | (Commercial) | (Music Video)
• Röyksopp – Remind Me (MP3) | (Commercial) | (Music Video)
• The Chemical Brothers feat. Q-Tip – Galvanize (MP3) | (Commercial) | (Music Video)
• Dirty Vegas – Days Go By (MP3) | (Commercial) | (Music Video)
• Telepopmusik – Breathe (MP3) | (Commercial) | (Music Video)

Running Up That Hill

Gonna post two* versions of the song here. First, the original track from Kate Bush’s album Hounds of Love (1985). I was only 8 years old when this song came out. I think I might have been a teenager before I actually started to recognize it when it was played. Time passes and you hear less and less of some songs. A few years go by and then out of nowhere you hear it again and think “Wow, that is such a good song!” Well, to me, this would qualify as of those songs. Thanks to VH1 Classics, I could tune in and catch it every so often and recall my version of “The 80’s”. It’s not as if there was a certain event or person that was marked by this song. I mean, most songs that get lost in the shuffle can help you pinpoint some emotion or pivotal time in your life when it was popular. Maybe if I were a few years older when it came out, this post would be better. Sorry about that. Enjoy Placebo’s version of the song as well. A modern take on the song with a completely different, yet very-true-the-original take.

According to Kate “I was trying to say that, really, a man and a woman, can’t understand each other because we are a man and a woman. And if we could actually swap each others roles, if we could actually be in each others place for a while, I think we’d both be very surprised! [Laughs] And I think it would be lead to a greater understanding. And really the only way I could think it could be done was either… you know, I thought a deal with the devil, you know. And I thought, ‘well, no, why not a deal with God!’ You know, because in a way it’s so much more powerful the whole idea of asking God to make a deal with you. You see, for me it is still called “Deal With God”, that was it’s title. But we were told that if we kept this title that it wouldn’t be played in any of the religious countries, Italy wouldn’t play it, France wouldn’t play it, and Australia wouldn’t play it! Ireland wouldn’t play it, and that generally we might get it blacked purely because it had ‘God’ in the title.”

Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill

Placebo – Running Up That Hill (MP3)

Placebo – Running Up That Hill (Video)

In the age of Facebook, MySpace, and webcams in general, this is a haunting video shot by fans as part of a contest by Placebo. Seems like a lot of lost souls out there.

*For a very good live cover version, check out Tori Amos’ interpretation. Sometimes a voice like hers could hit you with goosebumps in seconds.

Obligatory Greeting

You know the deal. New site, new look, same dude as around the corner. Real quick and I’ll let you go. This will be my MP3 joint. I am gonna post all my MP3 musings, recommendations and what-not. Let’s start with this one first.

A.A. Bondy – There’s a Reason | I found this online at another blog just last week. Never heard of the guy or the track. I was in one of those moods where I could not download enough music that morning. I grabbed all I could to throw on my memory card. The first time I listened to it, I was bagging grass clippings from my yard. Sun was setting and the sky was yellow. With headphones on, the music was somewhat like a soundtrack and I felt like I was in a prologue of a movie or that any second now everything was going to fade to black and the audience was gonna get up and say “Wow, that ending was really…” It’s just the kind of song that could either ruin your day or enhance it.