David Bowie - Changesbowie

Probably the Best Compilation of this Musical Icon

I’m not sure if I share the following sentiment with the rest of my generation, but for some reason, I think I do. My first memories of David Bowie, the English Singer, Songwriter and Actor were when I saw him sing silly Christmas carols and even more sillier duets with the likes of Mick Jagger on MTV. For a long time, I always used to think he existed as a pretentious mainstream pop poseur for the older generation. 

Not until years later at the age of about 17, when I first heard "Changesbowie," a compilation of Bowie’s most notable work that was released in 1990, did I realize that Bowie had several incarnations prior to his 80’s self, some of which were downright brilliant and I felt like a fool not realizing this sooner.

Bowie was a legitimate fusion forerunner and probably the most enigmatic, unpredictable performer of his generation. And "Changesowie" is testimony because it includes pieces of punk, folk, jazz, straight blues, and most frequently, pure rock n roll. Listening to the album now, one can hear the origins of musicians as wide-ranging as the Talking Heads, Nirvana, Pavement, Beck, and even industrial rockers Nine Inch Nails. 

The music is mostly guitar chargedguitar-charged but in a variety of ways. On some tracks, like "Suffragette City," and "Ziggy Stardust," Bowie plays in fantastically pure punk and rock forms, respectively. On other tracks, like "Space Oddity," the Microsoft-adopted "Heroes (one of my favs)," and "Ashes to Ashes," he uses distorted guitar sounds with keyboards to create a new rock standard. Such sounds have become the mainstays of artists like Beck and Trent Reznor. 

In the days since my discovery of "Changesbowie," I have valued it as a musical foundation and pioneering piece of music. In fact, if you pay close attention, almost all pop music in the 90’s can be traced to or related through Bowie. 

Appropriately, the song "Changes" also provided authority-challenging youth one of their most poignant quotes: 

"And these children that you spit on 

As they try to change their worlds 

Are immune to your consultations. 

They’re quite aware what they’re going through.". 

If you never heard this album and in the mood for some Bowie magic, hear it now on Spotify. 

Tori Amos - From the Choirgirl Hotel (1998)

Remembering Tori Amos best selling album again! 

While the multi-talented American singer, songwriter, pianist and composer Tori Amos’ 1996’s Boys for Pele, left most fans and critics scratching their heads, her stellar fourth studio album From the Choirgirl Hotel released in 1998 found her returning to the electronica infused baroque pop rock form that first made her originally famous. Tori crafted an inimitable style on the ground-breaking albums Little Earthquakes and Under the Pink, and From the Choirgirl Hotel has more in common with those discs than with Boys for Pele. 

Tori’s lyrics are still as complex and confusing as ever. On the radio hit "Jackie’s Strength," for example, Tori weaves an indecipherable web that involves her wedding, Camelot, black magic, anorexia, and mooning David Cassidy. I don’t claim to understand the song, and I wouldn't trust anyone who claims that they do. Even though the song’s lyrics are beyond comprehension, Amos gives them such a powerful delivery that it’s clear the song has some meaning (even if Tori is the only one who knows what it is). "Jackie’s Strength" highlights the core of Tori Amos’ appeal – she can sing just about any lyric and make her listeners feel that they can relate. She has such an emotional voice that she makes you feel the meanings more than you can comprehend them. 

From the Choirgirl Hotel features some of Amos’ most accessible songs since Little Earthquakes. The lush, atmospheric Top 40 hit "Spark" kicks off the album, and it contains a few fairly obvious references to Amos’ then miscarriage. It’s anything but your typical radio single, but then Amos is anything but your typical performer. This is the woman who had the nerve to cover Nirvana’s "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and the Stones’ "Angie" on the same single. 

Amos dabbles in numerous styles on From the Choirgirl Hotel, from the haunting sounds of "Black-Dove (January)" to the techno-influenced 2 Grammy nominated "Raspberry Swirl" to the rock-flavored "She’s Your Cocaine." But the album’s focus never strays far from its voice-and-piano center, giving all the songs on the album a sense of unity. From the Choirgirl Hotel is a complex and emotional album that gets better with repeated listenings. This is a great 90s alt rock album you don’t want to miss.

The Top 20 Albums of 2000 - No.20 to No.16

Compiling the best Albums of the year 2000 - Lets starts with the bottom 5

Here's a rather ambitious attempt at listing the year 2000's best Albums! Why 2000 you may ask? I feel it was a momentous year with ground-breaking new music, brand new bands and brand new genres. The Y2K millennium bug doomsday clock made it even more enticing!

Anyway, lets say I have a love/hate relationship with these "best of the year" lists. I love reading other people's lists to see if there are any potentially great albums I might have missed, but I hate making my own "best of" lists. Part of the reason for this list loathing is that I know for certain I will regret making this list the moment it is published. By the time this issue hits the streets, I will have decided that some of these albums don't belong on the list or should have been ranked differently. 

Another reason I enter this endeavor with much trepidation is the fact that ranking Albums can be much like the fabled "apples and oranges" dilemma. How can you really compare a live techno album with some acoustic fingerplay? I wrote this list for one simple reason - to pay tribute to the albums that meant the most to me that year. I have literally spent weeks listening to some of these records, and I'm sure that I'll still be listening to them over the next several weeks (again). I hope that you'll read this list with the same spirit that it was created, and view it as a starting point for creating your own "best of" list. After all, the list you keep yourself is the only one that really matters. 

20. Elastica - "The Menace" 

British punk rockers Elastica followed up their bratty debut with a daring, bold, experimental sophomore effort. Too bad hardly anyone noticed. "The Menace" wasn't a great album, but it was one of the more consistently inventive and interesting discs I heard that year. Reviewed here. 

19. Rage Against the Machine - "Renegades" 

On "Renegades," one of rock's most incendiary alternative metal bands paid tribute to the forefathers of "revolutionary music" (as well as ... um ... Devo) on their first cover album and fourth studio album. Their reworkings of classics like "Street Fighting Man," "Kick Out the Jams," "Maggie's Farm," and "Renegades of Funk" made the band's final studio effort a memorable one and platinum rated success. Unfortunately, RATM lead singer Zach De La Rocha left the band before this album was released (laying the seeds for Chris Cornell's Audioslave)!

18. Richard Ashcroft - "Alone With Everybody" 

Former Verve frontman, the English singer-songwriter Richard Ashcroft's solo debut was a hit-and-miss effort. The moments that hit - most notably "A Song for the Lovers," "New York," and "You On My Mind In My Sleep" - were enough to propel this CD into the Top 20. 

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17. Modest Mouse - "The Moon and Antarctica" 

Many wondered if experimental indie rockers Modest Mouse could possibly work within the confines of a major label. On their Epic Records debut (and their their album), Isaac Brock and company made the album they always wanted to make but could never have previously afforded. "The Moon and Antarctica" is a difficult album to digest, and it reveals its secrets slowly, but the rewards are well worth the time that you'll have to invest in order to appreciate it. 

16. U2 - "All That You Can't Leave Behind"

Bono and the boys returned to their core strengths on their tenth studio album, making us remember why they were once the most popular and most critically acclaimed band on the planet. Lets not forget, this album sold over 12 million copies too!

The Devlins' Greatest Hits - A Websnacker Blog Exclusive Compilation

Melodic Alternative - Indie Rock from the Splendid Dublin Fourpiece

While the Devlins burst into the alt rock scene in 1994 with their spectacular debut album ‘Drift’ (produced by the award winning Malcolm Burn, a protégé of Daniel Lanois); I heard them first only in 1996 on the soundtrack of the Winona Ryder – Lukas Haas coming of age teen flick ‘Boys’. Like Ian Brown, another favorite of mine, the Devlins have constantly remained on my top 5 fav list since then. 

Led by the multi-talented Colin Devlin and seconded by his brother Peter, the Devlins have released 4 albums so far - Drift (1993/94), Waiting (1997), Consent (2002) and Waves (2004) with Colin Devlin’s solo album Democracy Of One (2009) being the most recent. All their albums have been certified gold best sellers and in 2010, Colin Devlin was also nominated for the prestigious Meteor Awards.

Notwithstanding the wrong comparison with their most famous Irish cousins – U2, the Devlins play an inimitable blend of mellow alternative rock, soaked in terrific melodies and intense lyrics that are enhanced by intricate guitar work - instant hook-ups in the first listen itself. No doubt, their most recognized songs have all been soundtrack hits. Their first international hit single “Crossing the River” was featured on the ‘Batman Forever’ soundtrack followed by “Waiting” in the Tom Cruise starrer ‘Magnolia’. A remix version of “Waiting” received phenomenal recognition when it was featured on the pilot of the popular HBO TV series ‘Six Feet Under’. Later, in 2004, they achieved more fame when their hit “World Outside” was featured on the soundtrack of Mike Nichols’ “Closer”.

You can now hear all of their most well-known hits including my personal favorites in this special and exclusive selection, encompassing music from all their albums and soundtrack appearances. While I eagerly await their fifth album, now is the time for you to fall in love with the Devlins. Enjoy the love!

Hear all the 24 tracks in this Grooveshark playlist NOW

1. The Devlins - Almost Made You Smile (4:57)

2. The Devlins - Alone In The Dark (5:14)

3. The Devlins - Big Decision (3:16)

4. The Devlins - Consent (4:48)

5. The Devlins - Crossing the River (4:45)

6. The Devlins - Don't Let It Break Your Heart (3:47)

7. The Devlins - Everytime You Go (4:49)

8. The Devlins - Five Miles To Midnight (4:10)

9. The Devlins - I Don T Want To Be Like This (4:21)

10. The Devlins - I Knew That (4:01)

11. The Devlins - In Seville (3:50)

12. The Devlins - Kill With Me Tonight (4:06)

13. The Devlins - Montreal (4:01)

14. The Devlins - People Still Believing (6:15)

15. The Devlins - Snowbirds (4:46)

16. The Devlins - Someone To Talk To (4:45)

17. The Devlins - Static In The Flow (4:57)

18. The Devlins - Surrender (4:37)

19. The Devlins - There Is A Light (3:52)

20. The Devlins - Turn You 'Round (4:37)

21. The Devlins - Waiting  (4:51)

22. The Devlins - Waiting (Tom Lord-Alge Remix) (4:51)

23. The Devlins - World Outside (4:22)

24. The Devlins - Years Could Go By (3.23)

This is a fan mixtape. If you like The Devlins, buy their original music via the official Devlins website or visit colindevlin.com.

Curve - Come Clean (1998)

A tuneful mishmash of electronic rock and dance music from the 90s

The Electronic Alternative rock band Curve’s debut album, 1992’s Doppelganger, is undoubtedly one of the most underrated albums of the ‘90s. This British duo pioneered the field of mixing gothic darkness, shoegazing dream pop and tuneful dance music, a field later popularized by likes of Garbage (and imitated by countless others). In fact, Curve could re-release Doppelganger (or their celebrated singles collection Pubic Fruit) and still sound more advanced than most of today’s bands. 

Curve took an extended vacation after 1993’s Cuckoo, but later the duo of Toni Halliday (vocals) and Dean Garcia (bass, guitar, programming) officially came back together again to produce this album. Halliday kept busy during the band’s break by working with various techno acts, while Garcia worked on a few film scores. The duo’s 1998 album, Come Clean, proved that their side projects had helped Halliday and Garcia sharpen their skills. In fact, it was not commercially successful but also critically praised.

Come Clean opens with the brilliant single "Chinese Burn", a song Halliday claims is "me talking to my alter-ego, the bad person inside me." Even after so many years, it’s as intense as anything I’ve heard it then. On the second track, "Coming Up Roses," Halliday and Garcia show a little bit of their R&B side. Garcia uses his electronic arsenal to make "Coming Up Roses" slink and slither behind Halliday’s sultry vocal performance. 

Tracks like this are Curve’s specialty – they were one of few bands that can sound as abrasive as Atari Teenage Riot one minute, and as smooth and graceful as Sarah McLachlan the next. Curve embraced remixes and electronic angst back when grunge was all the rage. Now Kurt is dead, Soundgarden has broken up (well, almost), and Bush is doing remix CDs and working on a new a album for a very long time. Sadly, Curve is also no more but its no exaggeration that Curve were ahead of their time. If you have never heard of Curve, start with this album.

Sinead O’Connor - Faith and Courage (2000)

Not her Best but still worth a listen.

Let's face it. Most of us were fans of the Irish singer Sinead O'Conner. I’m not ashamed to admit that I was also once a big fan of her and I still believe that her first two albums rank among the 100 best releases of the ‘90s. Songs like "Troy" and "The Last Day of Our Acquaintance" prove that O’Connor has tremendous talent, or at least had it once upon a time. 

After her first two albums, though, Sinead completely lost me and most of her other fans. "Am I Not Your Girl" was a complete snooze-fest, and "Universal Mother" was a lifeless compilation that lacked any semblance of passion or melody except a few stellar tracks. To make matters worse, Sinead’s lackluster music was completely overshadowed by the circus of her public life – she shredded a photo of the Pope, was ordained as a priest, and then "converted" to lesbianism or something on those lines.

Ok, the only thing that should matter with Sinead O’Connor is the music, though, so I was encouraged that her 5th album "Faith and Courage" was hailed as the "return" of Sinead O’Connor. The album opens with the pleasant "The Healing Room," but it really gets started with "No Man’s Woman." On this track, O’Connor reveals the amount of pain caused by the men in her life, and she vows to focus on her work instead of her relationships with men. This spirited track has become an anthem for feminists everywhere, and rightfully so. It’s one of the highlights of this album in both lyrical content and musical presentation. 

Other highlights include "Jealous," "Daddy I’m Fine" and "’Til I Whisper U Something," all of which O’Connor co-wrote with Dave Stewart (of Eurythmics fame). With Stewart, O’Connor finally found a collaborator that could bring out her best again. Unfortunately, the non-Stewart tracks on the album suffer in comparison. Faith and Courage falls well short of O’Connor’s first two albums, but the album is much stronger than anything O’Connor had done since those first two releases. There must be a reason why popular online mag - Slant still considers it one of the best albums of the 2000s.

Natural Born Killers (1994) - Original Soundtrack

A Defining Movie Soundtrack from the 90's 

Film maker Oliver Stone couldn't have picked a better soundtrack producer for his 1994 ultra-violent cult movie "Natural Born Killers" starring Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Rodney Dangerfield, Robert Downey, Jr., Tom Sizemore, and Tommy Lee Jones than Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor. Reznor, the leader of Nine Inch Nails, was hired to sort through the more than 70 songs used in the film to create this a one of a kind soundtrack that would complement the controversial storyline incidentally based on a screenplay by Quentin Tarantino.

The final product is one of the more eclectic soundtrack compilations ever assembled. In addition to the 27 songs which appear on the disc, snippets of dialogue from 27 different characters in the film can be also heard. How many other discs could feature greats like Patsy Cline, Peter Gabriel, Leonard Cohen, and Bob Dylan with the likes of Rage Against the Machine, Marilyn Manson, Jane's Addiction and Dr. Dre? Fans of every type of music will find something they like on this soundtrack. 

The disc opens with Cohen's "The Miracle" and ends with Tha Dogg Pound's "What Would U Do?" In between, it's a ride through the vibrant landscape of music past and present. Nine Inch Nails is featured on three of the disc's tracks. Two of them, "Burn" and "A Warm Place," are great tracks. There is also a remix of "Something I Can Never Have" from the band's debut album. The new mix of this song includes sound bites by some of the characters in the film, and the dialogue adds to the dark mood of the song. Reznor also remixes the Jane's Addiction song "Ted, Just Admit It." The remix, titled "Sex is Violent," features an interesting section of Diamanda Galas' "I Put a Spell On You." Similarly, the Peter Gabriel track "Taboo" is an exotic affair featuring support for Pakistani Sufi Legend Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

While some soundtracks are nothing but boxed collections of the songs you hear in the film, this one stands apart because it captures the tone of the film itself and the music of those days. Although this album never sold as many copies as the likes of other 90 hit soundtracks, say "Forrest Gump" or "Bodyguard" soundtracks, it is more adventurous and creative than either of those. Even after 20 years, there is yet to release an album of such vivid contradictions and extreme variety blended in one soundtrack. Perhaps, with the "Natural Born Killers" soundtrack, Trent Reznor wanted to set the standard by which other future soundtracks would be judged. A challenge that is still to be bettered!

Friday Flashback - Hits from the 80s & 90s - Part 1

Forgotten Gems from the 80s and 90s

Its Friday and the first post for 2014. What better way than listening to some great forgotten pop rock tracks from the 80s and 90s featuring Bruce Cockburn, Del Amitri, Big Dish, Geneva and more!

This is also a fulfillment of a long pending promise (to many reader requests) to repost all deleted music blog posts. Its a start of sorts but this is a promise the Websnacker intends to completely fulfill! Now, lets get back to the music..

Bruce Cockburn - If I Had a Rocket Launcher (4:59) 

Big Dish - Miss America (3:56) 

Geneva - If You Have To Go (4:07)

Jimmy Davis & Junction - Kick The Wall (3:38) 

Eddie and the Tide - One in a Million (4:07) 

Eight Seconds - Kiss You (When It's Dangerous) (4:05) 

La Marca - Hold on Blue Eyes (The Wraith Soundtrack) (4:01)

Del Amitri - Buttons On My Clothes (4:05)

Friday Flashback - Hits from the 80s & 90s - Part 1 from Websnacker on 8tracks Radio.

Best Hits of 1977

Nostalgic Radio-Friendly Hit Songs from 1977

1977 was a notable year in Musicdom. It was in February this year that the rock foursome comprising of Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner known as the Eagles released their momentous Grammy winning single "Hotel California", the title song from their hit album of the same name! 

It was also the same year, when Donna Summer sang the super hit track "I Feel Love" considered by Rolling Stone mag as one of 'The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time' , Paul McCartney's band Wings became popular with the Christmas oriented international best seller "Mull of Kintyre" and Boney M, the Euro disco band gave the world "Ma Baker".

1977 also produced more such awesome gems but did not achieve the super popularity they also deserved! I could go and on and write an entire 'Top 100 songs from 1977' for you. Instead, I give you the 'Websnacker fav Top 8 Songs from 1977' including tracks from the Floridian disco group KC and the Sunshine Band, the funk-soul band Commodores,  the pop rock duo of Daryl Hall and John Oates and more!

1. Shake Your Booty - KC and The Sunshine Band 
2. Easy - Commodores 
3. Year of the Cat - Al Stewart 
4. It's So Easy - Linda Ronstadt 
5. Couldn't Get It Right - Climax Blues Band 
6. Rich Girl - Hall & Oates 
7. Shannon - Henry Gross 
8. All by Myself - Eric Carmen

Click HERE to hear these great songs on 8tracks or just click the artwork below!

Best of 1977 from Websnacker on 8tracks Radio.

Best of the 80s - Radio Mix 3

Awesome Billboard Hits from the 80s - Series 3

Awesome tuneful hits from the 80s (the third in the series) including Tears For Fears, Benjamin Orr, Roxy Music, The Bible and more! Hear it, share it!

Change - Tears for Fears
Graceland - The Bible
This Love - Bad Company
Kick the Wall - Jimmy Davis & Junction
The Space Between - Roxy Music
Someone Like You - Michael Stanley
Voices - Russ Ballard
Too Hot to Stop - Benjamin Orr

Click HERE to hear these great songs on 8tracks or just click the artwork below!

Best of the 80s - 3 from Websnacker on 8tracks Radio.

The Morning Birds

Pastoral spectacular-sounding harmonies

Mix one part classic pop; one part emotive rock n’ roll swagger and you'll get THE MORNING BIRDS - a cool Indie Pop Band from Idyllwild, CA featuring the awesome twosome - Jennifer Thorington and Samuel Markus who play sublime pop and experimental (and super luscious) rock'n' roll. 

The Morning Birds are a pleasant hybrid of sonic and spiritual understandings expressed through music, art, and moving images. The Morning Birds cinematic tones make you feel as if you’re floating on a cumulous cloud at daybreak being transported to another time and place. Enuff said, Hearing is Believing!! Hear why they are different & shop one of their 6 great Morning Birds albums now @ www.themorningbirds.bandcamp.com. Alternatively, check out their website  and like their fanpage on Facebook.

Down by Andy Ruck - A Brilliant Ballad

A underrated balladish tune 

With haunting melodies, thoughtful lyrics and a truly hypnotic voice, Andy Ruck creates musical poetry that demands attention and touches your heartstrings. You can sample his mastery on this popular track "DOWN", a gut wrenching tune on domestic abuse that has already crossed over 100000 views on Youtube. Don't be fooled by the rather simple looking video and the slow start, the track really takes off in the second half....its been on my play list the entire last week. 

Andy is currently gearing up to propel his long awaited 14 track debut album “PICTURES” on sale now. Know more about Andy on his website .

 

10 Best Bob Dylan Songs to Die For !!

Undoubtedly the 10 Best Classic Bob Dylan Hits ! 

The former Robert Allen Zimmerman is an icon. A legend. No doubt on that! Not just under-appreciated and over-praised, the man we know as Bob Dylan manages to be both derided and worshiped at the same time. Fans and critics alike, both prone to over-analysis, often render his music impotent with their endless blathering dissection. Let us try not to go there. It is fun though.  

Bob Dylan has recorded around 35 albums. He has written hundreds of songs. Many of them are mediocre or even terrible, but the amount of greatness that has sprung from the mouth, mind, guitar and soul of this one man is astounding. So here is a list of  ten favorite Bob Dylan songs. (Ask again in 6 months, and it's likely that at least half of them will have changed.)

No matter. Here they are. They are lovely, poetic songs. Some are funny. Some are loving. More are hateful (though often still funny) and even murderous. Bob Dylan wrote them all, and thank God for that.

10: "Oh Sister" - I came across the Desire album pretty late in my Dylan appreciation, and after a brief infatuation (and quick burnout) with the directness of songs like the upbeat rocker with a message that is "Hurricane" and the over the top melodrama of "Joey," I still can't get this countrified, incestuous lament out of my head. Dylan at his creepiest.

9: "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" - Mean Dylan! Mean Dylan is still probably my favorite Dylan. This one's classic, because he acts as if he's being civil and fair and cordial and all that, but he's really just pissed off.

8: "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carol" - People give Dylan a lot of shit for his social protest songs, often implying that they were insincere and opportunistic. Maybe so, but they're still damn good songs. This one's more of a 'ripped from the headlines short-story' type affair anyway. This is one of those Dylan songs that I like because, after innumerable listens, I still can't figure it out.

7: "It's All Over Now Baby Blue" - More Mean Dylan. But this is different. It's Too-much-acid Mean Dylan, and you can't beat that. The scene in Don't Look Back where he punks young Donovan by singing this number is one of the most sublime moments of cool in the history of film. Or music. Or sublime moments of cool in general.

6: "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" - Funny Dylan on Drugs. This is some amazing freestyle (or 'stream of consciousness' as the eggheads call it) business. Imagine being right there when he came up with this one off the top of his blunted head. Genius. And the false start still feels authentic no matter how many times you hear it.  

5: "Idiot Wind" - Really Mean Dylan. This one is so mean it morphs into a kind of self-loathing, even without the 'it was me all along' final line. What the hell all that "shot a man in Italy" stuff is about though I just don't know. Ideas?

4: "Tambourine Man" - Yes it's some kind of Yuppie Rock Standard by now, but so what. This is as beautiful and arresting a portrait of drug addled loneliness as could be. That "take me disappearing through the smoke-rings of my mind" verse is pure poetry, and gets me every time.

3: "Positively 4th Street" - I'm really not a hateful person. I swear. And neither is Dylan. It's just that he's really good at writing Mean songs. "I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes, you'd know what a drag it is to see you." Ouch. Yes. Tell 'em Bob, let 'em have it. Aren't you glad Dylan never wrote a song about you?

2: "All Along the Watchtower" - From the under-appreciated John Wesley Harding album. The first four songs on the first side of this record are just amazing. ("Frankie Lee and Judas Priest" really freaks me out though. I think it's about homosexuality. No?) Anyway "Watchtower" may have arguably been done better by Hendrix, but it's as subtle and intriguing a bit of lyricism as exists in rock. It's like the first chapter to a great book that was never written.

1: "Girl From the North Country" - Is this the same melody as "Boots of Spanish Leather" or is it just me? This is my mom's favorite Dylan song. (She's still pissed at me for stealing all her records. Thanks mom.) What can you say? It's a heartbreakingly beautiful ode to love lost. The version with Johnny Cash off of Nashville Skyline is good too, if only because you get to hear Cash say "breast." robert whiteman

Best of the 80s - Radio Mix 2

Awesome Billboard Hits from the 80s - Series 2 

Even more memorable great hits from the 80s (the second in my series on 8tracks internet radio) including Jimmy Barnes, Peter Godwin, Big Noise and my favs like 'Please be the one' by Karla Bonoff to revisit that golden era !

Name And Number - Big Noise 
Love Train - Holly Johnson 
Feel The Heart - Jean Beauvoir 
Please Be The One - Karla Bonoff 
Too Much Aint Enough Love - Jimmy Barnes 
Don't Say That You're Sorry - Edin Adahl 
Baby's In The Mountains - Peter Godwin 
That's Freedom - Tom Kimmel 

Click HERE to hear these songs on 8tracks or just click the artwork below!

 

Best of the 80s - 2 from Websnacker on 8tracks Radio.

Best of the 80s - Radio Mix 1

Awesome Billboard Hits from the 80s

Memorable great billboard hits from the 80s (the first in the series) including Eurythmics, Bronski Beat, Don Henley, Pat Benator and more to revisit that golden era ! My favorites include 'Small town boy' and 'Man with a gun' . This 8tracks radio mix has already received over 300+ plays so hear it now and enjoy your Friday!

1. Dirty Laundry - Don Henley 
2. Miracle of Love - Eurythmics 
3. Small Town Boy - Bronski Beat 
4. Drop The Pilot - Joan Armatrading 
5. Tell Me Why - Nick Heyward 
6. Love Is A Battlefield - Pat Benatar 
7. Man With A Gun - Jerry Harrison
8. Daddy's Girl - Peter Cetera

Click HERE to hear this tracks on 8 tracks or just click the artwork below! 

Best of the 80s - 1 from Websnacker on 8tracks Radio.

My First Mix on 8Tracks ! Hear it ! Share it !

Hear 'Indie Lovely' on 8tracks

With most of the content lockers and download sites going underground, I have been looking around for a reliable website where I could upload and safely share my music collection with my blog and twitter followers without them or me worrying about the RIAA or Copyright vs Piracy crap! 8tracks.com is an online radio site fits the bill in all aspects. Its 100% legal and you can also hear via your iPhone! 

So, here is my first cut on 8tracks (and more is certainly on the way). My first mix "Indie Lovely" features lovely Indie Rock and Indie Pop tracks to enliven the mood including great tracks by Animal Collective, Florence and the Machine, Keane & more ! 

I'm Not Bad - Alucidnation 

Where Is My Mind - Yoav featuring Emily Browning (Sucker Punch Extended Soundtrack) 

People - Animal Collective 

Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) - Florence and the Machine 

Under Pressure - Keane 

Another Wrong To Right - Mercir 

Dejalo - Rilo Kiley 

Way out - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Click here to hear this tracks on 8 tracks or just click the artwork below! Pls remember to like www.facebook.com/websnackerblog to stay connected with my good karma on 8tracks.

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Indie Lovely from Websnacker on 8tracks.

Blondie - Greatest Hits and Other Favorites !

It was 6 AM on a frosty, chilled morning and I was in a lousy tent on a hiking nature school camp. Not much fun really! I was the first one to wake up and I turned on my guide’s Walkman to the sound of Blondie, I lay there in my sleeping bag listening to the sound of their hit single, "Denis" and my first contact with Debbie Harry, her boyfriend guitarist Chris Stein and company.

"Denis" a cover version of Randy and the Rainbows' 1963 hit was a huge hit of those days from their 1978 album – Plastic Letters and put the young US band, (considered an underground act until then) on top of the world rock charts. There was something about "Denis". You cant be sure if it was the detail that De-nis was pronounced De-nee or that part of the song was sung in French. Whatever it was, Blondie were hailed as the forerunners of the new punk revolution and more so, as it was fronted by a female vocalist.

In 1978, Blondie were leaders in the new wave, punk rock movement but they went on to flout that classification too. The late 1970's saw the release of several Blondie albums "Blondie" (1976), Plastic Letters (1978), Parallel Lines (1978), Eat to the Beat (1979) and a string of hit singles. It's hard to pick the most outstanding - "Picture This", "Hangin on the Telephone", “Sunday Girl”, “Atomic” and "Heart of Glass" all come to mind. The last of those were the group's first US No.1 hits, building on the success that they originally found in the UK.

Something extraordinary happened as the '80's dawned, Blondie the punk band transformed themselves into more of a Pop rock, new wave band with strong dance and pop influences. Examples would include the Richard Gere starrer "American Gigolo" soundtrack which featured "Call Me" collaboration with composer Giorgio Moroder that became a worldwide super hit. Their 1980 album 'Autoamerican' a stepping stone to more success produced hits like "The Tide is High" with its strong reggae and ska references and rap-influenced “Rapture”.

Debbie Harry meanwhile released a solo album of her own of 1981, "Koo Koo" featuring the small hit “Backfired” and probably caused the inevitable brief break-up of the band released. In 1982, after a quickpatch up, Blondie released their 6^th Album “The Hunter” in 1982. While a critical failure, it still gave them 2 hit singles “War Child” and “Island of Lost Souls”. 

The 80's and 90's were definitely wilderness years for the entire Blondie team. The renamed Deborah Harry found modest success with her solo projects which though promising much, lacked direction or originality in terms of music while the Blondie, the Band toured across the world.

Their defining moment perhaps was the release of their 1999 album 'No Exit' and “Maria” , the hit Single. ‘Maria’ is a sexy pop rock anthem that is a powerful ambassador for the rest of the album. Not many know that “Maria” also gave the band the unique distinction of being one of only two American acts (the other being Michael Jackson) to ever reach number one spots in the UK singles charts in the 70s, 80s and the 90s.

Subsequently, Blondie released several more albums The Curse of Blondie (2003) that featured the hit “Good Boys” and the more recent Panic of Girls (2011) which featured “Mother” and “What I Heard”.

However, No Exit remains in my view, their best effort and my favorite Blondie album. Besides the superb “Maria”, it features 2 more great tracks “Nothing Is Real but the Girl” and the title track “No Exit” featuring rap superstar Coolio.

Rather than sticking to the winning sound of the late 70's, the band built a strong new identity in No Exit. The persuasive musical influences were still all very there, with strong references to the punk and pop sounds of their past but fused with the current sounds of the 90’s pop and rock scene. What this concoction produced, once out of the blender, is an remarkable album of quality punk pop rock. Combining the novelty of their new found maturity with the wisdom of their vast experience "No Exit" is a glowing testimonial to everything Blondie have always been known for and why they are still considered one of the best selling bands of all time. 

Click HERE to sample and download all my favorite Blondie Hits in this special selection. Remember to also checkout the official Blondie Website for recent news, music, band profile, tour dates, photographs, discography, biography, merchandise, links and more!

Juliana Hatfield Three - Become What You Are (1993)

Feminist Power Pop Rock from the 90's!

Juliana Hatfield Three’s 1993 album "Become What You Are" falls into the Alternative Nation / 120 Minutes marketing category (tip #1 to media empires: know your target audience) of the 90’s era. The style is "alternative power pop rock," or pop music with more of the belligerence and hard edge of rock, to which Hatfield adds her own take. The result is a lot like PJ Harvey & KD Lang - a woman vocalist/ musician who takes on the trappings of traditionally male-dominated rock music, and subverts them, exposing personal frailties using riffs and poses usually used to blow up imagined strengths.

Songs like the hit "Spin the Bottle" and "My Sister" are like glimpses into the private life of a unsettled young woman for whom every day is simply a struggle to survive on her own terms and to be acknowledged for herself. Respect as an individual is as important to Hatfield it seems. as songs like "Supermodel" and "A Dame With a Rod" attest - the message being that this is not just another pretty face, so you had damn well better not try to treat her like one, and it’d be a pretty good idea if you didn’t treat any woman like one, and an even better idea if every woman was willing to stand up for the respect she deserved. The very title of the album, “Become What You Are” is a call to action: recognize your self-worth, Hatfield says, and don’t let anything stop you from realizing your potential.

At the same time, she doesn’t lie and say that this is easy, but shows the personal demons against which she fights to become what she is. I don’t know what the "official" riot grrl take is on Hatfield -- whether she might be too pop or not -- but it seems to me like her record is right in line with their street-level feminist agenda, and perhaps even more accessible on a musical level. Hatfield’s voice is still a bit rough, but it works -- this isn’t meant to be polished pop, after all, and with the instrumentation around her voice, you hardly notice the minor flaws. This was probably one of the better records of the 1993 summer and strongly recommended.

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THIS IS A NON-COMMERCIAL FAN MIXTAPE. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR, PLEASE BUY THE ARTISTS ORIGINAL MUSIC. You can buy original CDS/DVDs & Mp3s at Emusic, Amazon, Itunes, other online stores or your nearest music retailer. Juliana Hatfield's official website is here!

Rewind! Replay! Repeat!

Dissecting 3 Fav Rock Songs from 1993

Of late, I have been digging into my gargantuan collection of music and movies from the early 80s and 90s. Converting and archiving them onto my new pool of external hard disks and my cherished favorites onto DVDs and CDs (an extra precaution!)

I wish I could compile all my audio/video assortments into some sort of an exclusive WebSnacker anthology – an omnibus of say “Rock hits of 1990”, “The Best of John Carpenter”, “The Best of Pearl Jam”, “Teen Comedies of the 80s” etcetera. Well, but I never have the time..

Anyway, I was listening to this old dusty audio tape (on whose plastic case, I seem to have scribbled “the Rocketeer set - just don’t remember, what it originally meant?) and 3 first-rate rock songs stood out. I stopped, rewound the tape and gave myself an earful. Nostalgic aural bliss!!!

Has anything like this ever happened to you? I mean, songs that make them stand out in the middle of a TV commercial, or grabs your attention on the car radio while you're driving back home, or makes you listen to your MP3 player that much harder until you drain its battery.

So, what makes a good song? I suppose there's no definite answer because music affects everybody differently. It's about emotional depth, and the songs that sum up your life the instant you hear them. So the songs that make up the soundtrack of one person's soul might mean absolutely nothing to somebody else – your treasure, their trash! But the principles involved are the same from person to person, so I'd like to talk a bit about these three rock songs that have been near the core of my “rewind” music experience the last week or so.

1. "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by the Crash Test Dummies (1993)

This No.1 Modern Rock hit single from the Canadian folk rock band has an unrepresentatively simple tune that is well put together and still seems wholly absolute. But when you actually listen to the silly lyrics, it becomes a song about the things that just don't fit. It's not just that the verses don't rhyme but they aren't really connected to each other in any reasonable way.

Each verse presents a particularly sharp, distinct image of an oddball. From the boy who got in the accident, to the girl with birthmarks all over her body, to the boy who goes to church, you get peculiar minute details that make each character stand out in the mind. And I always find myself asking what it is about these details - what do they say about their characters? Why does the boy's hair change from black to white? Why does the girl's rebuttal to change in the changing room seem so touching? The song only lets the listener in on certain niceties of the characters, but they are the kind of hazy details that leave more questions unanswered, even as the images loiter in your subconscious. YouTube Video Link

2. "Mr. Jones" by Counting Crows (1993)

This is a great hit track from the American alternative pop rock band whose songwriter and lead vocalist Adam Duritz obviously had an eye for impressive details.

Though many critics feel it’s a take on Bob Dylan's "Ballad of a Thin Man", I interpret it differently. From the opening line, "I was down at the New Amsterdam / staring at this yellow-haired girl," you feel as if you can see the 'narrator' of the song, hanging around in nightclubs, bars and clubs with his companion Mr. Jones. They "stare at the beautiful women" and wish that they had the nerve to approach them. And all the while, the character who is telling us all this, who seems unable to bond with one woman, wishes that he could surpass himself and become so famous that "when I look at the television, I...see me staring right back at me." When he's an image that everybody knows and loves, he dreams, he'll never be lonely again. In the meantime, he keeps looking at women and wondering if one will ever come along that will be right for him.

I guess that if I went into much detail about my personal resonances with this song, this blog post would spawn into maudlin self-pity, but the grand thing about this track is that, in my view, you never get sickened with how apologetic the character feels for himself. He always remains fascinating, probably because we can all identify how each of us, at one time or another, has watched TV or movies, or listened to the radio, and thought to ourselves, "God, I wish I was there."

After all, we live in a world where what's "real," what is often measured to be most significant, is what the media makes omnipresent. For example, never mind whether or not we actually have any real emotional union to the famous celebrity of our choice; we constantly see them, so they are forever on our mind, even when we don’t want to think about them. And sometimes, when making a real emotional connection with a different person just doesn't seem to work, it's easy to think about being connected to everything and everybody and imagine that it actually might mean something, even if it would really diminish you to nobody. YouTube Video Link

3. "Disarm" by Smashing Pumpkins (1993)

Perhaps Smashing Pumpkins’ most popular song, "Disarm," from their hit second album ‘Siamese Dream’ has a unique auditory experience, which involuntarily suggests a sense of poignant rush, of some primitive sentiment which Billy Corgan, the lead vocalist is letting loose - from the low strings to the timpani drum to the sly church bells, the track sounds insistent and forceful.

Merge that with the beautiful lyrics, which seem to portray a tormented young soul on the edge of life and you understand where "Disarm" is aiming for, and something in you suddenly just clicks. The chorus line, "the killer in me is the killer in you," seems suggestive of Jim Thompson's novel “The Killer Inside Me”, but even more than that, it suggests the vein of fatalism verging on nihilism that runs throughout most of Thompson's work, and so much of our in style “dog eat dog” culture.

The character "used to be a little boy," and then things went horribly wrong and now "what's a boy supposed to do?" It's a lingering image that runs through, among other places, even old Elvis songs like "In the Ghetto" and "Kentucky Rain,” Catcher in the Rye, Rebel Without A Cause, hardboiled detectives, Pink Floyd's The Wall, even in the Hong Kong action worlds of John Woo and Yun-Fat Chow

Lets be honest, the void calls to each of us, and yet we all are concurrently attracted to and repulsed by it, and when we are unable to admit this to ourselves, we selfishly revel in watching other folks, especially the fictional, dealing with this crisis. And if, in identifying with these texts, we momentarily blow our staid lives out of proportion. Well isn't that what great music is all about - taking the everyday and making it awe-inspiring, even if its just for a few precious minutes! YouTube Video Link

Best Halloween Songs of All Time

15 Superb Halloween Inspired Tracks (or Something like that)!!

With Halloween practically over by now, I know this post is at least a full one week late but that should not stop mortal souls like you from downloading this grand, splendid, impressive (well, I cant think of more superlatives) selection of superb Halloween inspired tracks featuring assorted genres.

Included in this truly ‘one of its kind’ (one more superlative) compilation are cool cover renditions of Halloween classics by Blue Oyster Cult, Alice Cooper, Iron Maiden, Eurythmics, Ray Parker Jr, Screamin' Jay Hawkins and the inimitable Michael Jackson. Watch out for BeatFreakz remix of Rockwell’s super hit “Somebody's Watching Me”, Matt Pond PA’s tuneful “Halloween” and Massive Attack’s eerie “Inertia Creeps”.

Time to relive the Halloween magic!!

15 tracks in playlist, average track length: 4:41

Playlist length: 1 hour 10 minutes 22 seconds

1. Apollo 440 - Don't Fear The Reaper (Blue Oyster Cult Cover) (5:28)

2. Aqua - Halloween (3:51)

3. Crystal Therapy - Welcome to My Nightmare (Alice Cooper Cover) (3:03)

4. Diesel - I Put A Spell On You (Screamin' Jay Hawkins Cover) (4:09)

5. Hoobastank - Ghostbusters (Ray Parker Jr Cover) (3:02)

6. Ian Brown (The Stone Roses) - Thriller (Michael Jackson Cover) (3:28)

7. Marilyn Manson - Sweet Dreams (Eurythmics Cover) (4:53)

8. Massive Attack - Inertia Creeps (5:54)

9. Matt Pond PA - Halloween (5:02)

10. Michael Jackson - Is It Scary (5:35)

11. Rockwell Featuring Michael Jackson + BeatFreakz - Somebody's Watching Me (3:22)

12. Shadowland - Scared of the Dark (6:07)

13. Trans-Sylvanian Orchestra - Tubular Bells (Mike Oldfield Exorcist Theme Mix) (5:15)

14. Washington - Halloween (3:50)

15. Yahel - Fear Of The Dark (Iron Maiden Cover - DNA Remix) (7:23)

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THIS IS A NON-COMMERCIAL FAN MIXTAPE. IF YOU LIKE THESE ARTISTS, PLEASE BUY THEIR ORIGINAL MUSIC. You can buy original CDS/DVDs & Mp3s at Emusic, Amazon, Itunes, other online stores or your nearest music retailer.