What song are you spinning?

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I'm guessing that some might recall this tune "Fireflies" by Owl City (AKA Adam Young) from 2009 that he wrote on his computer in his parent's basement and caught attention of fans through his Myspace page which though we sorta have forgotten about Myspace, previous to Facebook it was briefly very popular for budding artists to develop a fan base.

 

Anyhow while this might not be my typical musical choice, I can say that I'm not too cool to be able to appreciate it, and also say so.

 

Sure the fan base are kids more than 30 years younger than me, but I really just love how his simple little tune has been blown up here with shimmering power.

 

As cheese ball as it might sound, I can honestly say that when I first saw it it gave me goose bumps, and put a smile on my face.

 

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[TAC]

Great Heros - Navy veteran Sailor Jerri rewrote the lyrics... | Facebook

 

Just saw this pop up on Facebook. Pretty interesting version.

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This is the L.A. duo The Young Romans, who are also the backing band for Covington, Ky native Jesse Thomas.

Got to see them about a year ago when they were the warmup act, and then her backing band for her headlining performance.

 

This tune "Where You Go" stood out to me while sounding pretty nice live.

 

Turns out it is also the closing song for the 2012 movie "Salmon Fishing In The Yemen" starring Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt.

 

Not a bad connection for Jesse Thomas to have if her backing band landed that type of exposure.

 

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Beirut - Gulag Orkestar (2006)

 

One of my all time favorite albums, and an absolute must on my Autumn playlist accompanied with a couple of cups of good n' hot coffee w/ a splash of cream.

 

19 year old (at the time) Zach Condon of Albuquerque dropped out of school at 17 and ran off to explore Europe with his older brother where he fell in love with street gypsy Balkan music, and upon his arrival home wrote this spectacular record (the first of his 4 releases under the band name Beirut).

 

It take me to places and feelings no other record ever has. It's either happy music that sounds sad, or sad music that sounds happy but nevertheless this melancholy Euro-World record is transforming and heart tugging, and I especially need my dose of it in the Fall of the year more specifically just simply because it feels so right for the season.

 

I was fortunate to catch Beirut on this release at the old Southgate House in Newport, Ky and experienced non-stop goose bumps the whole night through. I was ready to drop everything and run off to be a nomadic gypsy. Sure, that never happened, but whenever I want to fantasize about doing so I need go no further than this record.

 

Though the whole album takes the listener on a seamless wonderful journey, the tune "Postcards from Italy" is pretty much the standout track.

 

This is 19 year old Zach singing, and that's also him playing the trumpet that oh my God sounds so wonderful live. He comes across almost as a poor man crooner with trumpet in tow.

 

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Nitzer Ebb - Join In The Chant (1987)

 

Early British Industrial

 

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Ray Thomas of the Moody Blues has such an incredible voice (sorta reminds me of Roger Whittaker), and while MB fans know his brilliance, how humbly he remained mostly in the background when he certainly could have had a successful solo career all his own. He deserved to be more of a household name than he ever was. So underrated.

 

While I dig so much of the Moody Blues no matter who in the band is singing, if I had to choose, and even while Justin Hayward is wonderful and the no doubt most noticeable front man for the band, I think that I'd have to pick Ray as my favorite. His contribution to the band created a level of poetic imagery while taking an already classy band up a notch more.

 

Thomas is now 75 and retired from the band 15 years ago due to illness, but released a solo project in 2010. About 4 years ago he was diagnosed with in-operable prostate cancer, yet he is staying on top of it through medicinal treatments.

 

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