Why Hearing Is My Most Important Sense

07. July 2010 · Filed under: BlahBlahBlog, Music · 9 Comments 

As a music lover, hearing is the most important sense to me. I can’t imagine a life without music. I live and breathe music. If I had to choose between any of my five senses to keep forever and forgo all others, hearing would be my immediate response. I could live without sight, for I was lucky to be born with it and I already know what so many things look like. The sense of touch, while pleasurable in so many ways, still doesn’t top a life without hearing. The sense of taste is another sense that I wouldn’t want to lose, but at the end of the day, tasting food isn’t a priority on my list. Perhaps it would be if I was a chef. Losing my sense of smell would have some disadvantages, but I just can’t say that it’s more special than my hearing.

Every day we listen to so many things and we take a lot of them for granted. Imagine never being able to hear the voice of your children. Imagine never hearing someone telling you that they love you. Imagine never hearing the sound of rain, or the other beautiful sounds of nature. Now imagine never being able to listen to music. I shudder at the thought.

I couldn’t even begin to think of all the songs that I’ve heard through my 30 years on this earth. A lot of music has gotten me through a lot of hard times; Songs that made me jump up and dance, heal my broken heart, and songs that inspired me. If it wasn’t for my sense of hearing, I don’t know if I would even be the same person I am today.

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Indie Pop Delectables

18. May 2010 · Filed under: Mixtapes, Music · 1 Comment 

Indie pop is one of my favorite genres. Indie pop can describe a lot of groups, because it isn’t your standard pop music and there is a lot of rock in it, and these days even some electronica, too. I’ve narrowed down some songs that I love and think fit well together in a “delectable” mixtape.

As always, this mix was made via 8tracks.com and if you love making mixes, be sure to check them out. Now hit play and bask in some sexy indie pop tunage.

Track Listing:

Kiss That Grrrl – Kate Nash
Fallen Over – Rose Elinor Dougall
Sex – The Pipettes
Julia, We Don’t Live In The 60′s – The Indelicates
You Told A Lie – Camera Obscura
If You Were Alien – The Brunettes
Mowgli’s Road – Marina & The Diamonds
The Great Unwanted – Lucky Soul
Wish I Stayed – Ellie Goulding feat. Frankmusik
Here Comes The Serious Bit – The Long Blondes

If you like any of the songs listed above, support the artist by purchasing them.

Apple iTunes

Rappin’ To The Rhythm

15. March 2010 · Filed under: Mixtapes, Music · Leave a Comment 

My latest mixtape is a mix of rap and hip-hop. From older artists like NWA and Slick Rick to newer rappers like Swizz Beatz and Black Eyed Peas, this mix is sure to give you an eargasm.

I’ve been wanting to do a good mixtape via 8tracks of rap and hip-hop for a while now. I like a lot of older rappers but I wanted to make sure I covered everything so I’ve included newer artists as well. This is a long mix, and it’s just the way I like it – dirty dirty. If you are easily offended, this won’t be the mix for you, but if you love some groovy goodness, roll a fattie, hit play, and chillax.

Track listing:

New York Shit (Remix) – Busta Rhymes feat. Swizz Beatz & KRS-One
It’s Me Bitches – Swizz Beatz
Ugly – Bubba Sparxxx
Get It Together – Beastie Boys feat. Q-Tip
Q-Tip and Peter Gunz Skit – Q-Tip, Peter Gunz, & Slick Rick
I Run This – Slick Rick
Ain’t No Fun (If The Homies Can’t Have None) – Snoop Dogg feat. Kurupt, Nate Dogg, & Warren G
How Do U Want It – Tupac Shakur feat. Kci & JoJo
Hootie Hoo – Outkast
In da Wind – Trick Daddy feat. Cee-Lo & Big Boi
Church – T-Pain feat. Teddy Verseti
That Shit – A Tribe Called Quest feat. JD of Slum Village
Back In The Day (Jeep Mix) – Ahmad
Damien – DMX
Can’t Stop Won’t Stop (Dirty) – Young Guns
Flava in Ya Ear – Craig Mack
I Got Five On It (Eminem & Luniz Mix) – Eminem
Nuthin’ but a “G” Thang – Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg
Shimmy Shimmy Ya - Ol’ Dirty Bastard
Lick Shots – Missy Elliott
Prime Time – Tha Alkaholiks feat. Xzibit
Ten Crack Commandments – The Notorious B.I.G.
Fuck The Police (DJ Shadow Remix) – NWA
Imma Be - Black Eyed Peas

If you like any of the songs listed above, support the artist by purchasing them.

Apple iTunes

Music And The Movies: Top 50 Epic Songs

12. March 2010 · Filed under: Movies, Music · 9 Comments 

How many times have you heard a song and thought of an epic movie scene? Have you ever fallen in love with a song that was written for a movie even if you hadn’t seen it? Do you find yourself discovering new music watching movies? If you answered yes to any of the above, then you know that music and movies go together like peanut butter and jelly, like peas and carrots, and like Batman and Robin, pun intended.

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CC Love: Innocent Bandits

05. March 2010 · Filed under: Music · 2 Comments 

The band Innocent Bandits is comprised of brother and sister duo Jeremy and Ashley Macachor. I would place them under experimental pop/lo-fi, but on their first studio album Ceremonies & Spells, released under the net label Headphonica, there are elements of electronica, and at times even folk. I found myself listening to the album from beginning to end upon discovering them, and after listening to other tracks out of order, I found that listening to the album from start to finish is best to really get Jeremy and Ashley’s style.

Don’t get me wrong: each track can be listened on it’s own, but I just loved listening to the album in the background. It was interesting, relaxing, and just a comfortable listen. While this is their first album attempt, I would say it has it’s moments of greatness. Some tracks could have been longer and one I found some of the added elements were a little too much, but overall it’s a nice find among a lot of attempts in the same genre.

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10 Essential WordPress Plugins For Musicians

23. February 2010 · Filed under: Design, Music · 4 Comments 

So you've got a band. Now what?

Every band or musician needs a web presence. Nothing says professional like an official site and it will do wonders for getting your music noticed. If you are a band or musician and are thinking of or already using WordPress, these plugins are essential for your site. From SEO purposes to posting upcoming gigs and displaying galleries of images from recent concerts, these plugins will help you get on the right track… pun intended.

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Raver’s Delight

23. February 2010 · Filed under: Mixtapes, Music · Leave a Comment 

I’ve been going through a lot of my old mix CD’s lately and I started reminiscing on the days when I used to be a raver. In the 90′s, I not only frequented raves, but I promoted them as well. I could be found wearing baggy pants and funny tees, with my pacifier and glow sticks in hand, dancing to the some of the best breakbeats, jungle, trance, and house that was around. When you were lost in the music – and possibly on drugs – you were literally in another world.

I decided to make a mixtape via 8tracks with some of the top songs I remember sweating my ass off to in clubs across South Florida and still enjoy today. Coming in at 20 tracks, this is a mix that not only delivers classic rave songs, but takes me back to a place where I have some of the best memories as well as some of the worst. With that being said, it’s a time in my life that I will never forget and these songs are just as memorable.

For all you reformed ravers, this mix will bring you back. If you never were a raver but enjoyed electronic music from the 90′s and early 2000′s, this mixtape will hopefully give you something to jam to.

Track listing:

Time’s Up (The Bomb Remix) – Trip Theory
Busy Child – Crystal Method
Rock The Funky Beat - Natural Born Chillers
Renegade Master (Fatboy Slim Old Skool Edit) – Wildchild
Sugar Is Sweeter – CJ Bolland
The Freaks – Überzone
City Of Groove - DJ Icey
Smack My Bitch Up (DJ Hype Remix) – The Prodigy
You’re Not Alone (Ganga Kru Remix) – Olive
O.B.E. – Rabbit In The Moon
Fever – George Acosta
Beachball (DJ Icey Remix) – Nalin & Kane
Miracle Whip (Breakbeat Mix) – Fragma
I’ll Hide You (Acapella Intro) – Kosheen
Stay In Love (12 Inch Hot House) – MON a Q
Rollin’ With The Chillers – Natural Born Chillers
Bad Ass – Micky Finn & Aphrodite
Pepper Spray – DJ Baby Anne
Feels So Good – Sonique
Fine Night - DJ R Fresh

If you like any of the songs listed above, support the artist by purchasing them.

Apple iTunes

Image courtesy of Astro Marus

Twitter + Music + Monday = #musicmonday

15. February 2010 · Filed under: Music · Leave a Comment 

Music is like coffee to my senses.

Every Monday on Twitter, you will see “#musicmonday” as a trending topic. This meme is a popular one, which makes me happy because you know how I love music! Everyone who participates in “#musicmonday” shares music within a tweet using different services that allow you to share music on Twitter. The tweet is then appended with the #musicmonday hashtag so you can see what everyone is listening to and hopefully find new music that you never existed. Every Monday I share as well as find something new.

Today I sharing my music within this post, and guess what the theme is? Why Monday, of course! All the songs I’m sharing have the word Monday in the title. I’ve included some classics, some covers, and even managed to fit in a mashup.

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CC Love: Micoland & Holly Bretton

12. February 2010 · Filed under: Music · 5 Comments 

Micoland & Holly Bretton

The electronic/trip-hop/dubstep duo Micoland & Holly Bretton are siblings who have released their first album together titled Traverse. Currently signed with Dead Channel, this duo knows how to crank out the tunes and is worthy of being on any electronica playlist. If you like Massive Attack, Portishead, or Lamb, you will love Micoland & Holly.

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Love Is A Battlefield

11. February 2010 · Filed under: Mixtapes, Music · 1 Comment 

The title of this post is a song by Pat Benatar, but you won’t find her on this mixtape. Featuring an eclectic mix of female singers, my latest mixtape has a little bit of folk and a little bit of electronica, but it’s all about labia majora.

All the songs on this mixtape are by female singer-songwriters, but that is about all they have in common. Between Laura Marling and The Blow to Mirah and Julie Doiron, this mix is a great showcase of female singers who break the mold and stand out in their own genres. Kick back, relax, and get ready to think about falling in love or out; it all depends on where the song goes.

Track listing:

Swan Pond – Julie Doiron
Love Affair – Regina Spektor
Ghosts - Laura Marling
Fuck Was I – Jenny Owens Young
Gestation Of The Sacred Beetle – Mirah and The Spectratone International
Tore My Heart – Oona
The Garden – Mirah
True Affection – The Blow
Sunday – Sia
My Party Is Better Than Yours – Emmy The Great

If you like any 0f the songs listed above, support the artist by purchasing them.

Apple iTunes

Image courtesy of manganite via Flickr

The Right Track: Tunes To TargetCancer

03. February 2010 · Filed under: Music, Social Media · Leave a Comment 

The Right Track: Tunes to Target CancerToday a new charity is launching to help raise awareness and find cures for rare and underfunded forms of cancer. With the support of the music community, TargetCancer is using donations from music lovers to fund their cause. To achieve this, musicians have and will continue to donate unreleased music for you to download with all proceeds going to TargetCancer. The charity also will be holding concerts and events.

Every month there will be new music from different artists for you to check out and with the help of your purchase of a track, you do a small part to help something that has affected or will affect us at some time in our lives, whether it be a loved one or even yourself. I know first hand how cancer can destroy a family. Cancer goes beyond being a disease in one person; it touches everyone around it in a profound way once it has made it’s presence in a life known, a life that once may have only known innocence will now know sadness, anger, and tragedy.

Because of my personal experience with cancer and dealing with the loss of family and friends who were afflicted, I am supporting TargetCancer and getting the word out today that there is something that everyone can do. Even if you think downloading one song for less than a dollar is insignificant, if we can get the word out, that one song could be added to the thousands or millions of songs downloaded by people who hear about this organization. Remember, 100% of all proceeds go straight to TargetCancer. We CAN make a difference. Will you help?

To help TargetCancer, please check out the following links:

TargetCancer Official: http://www.targetcancer.info

The Right Track: http://www.righttracktunes.org

Twitter: TargetCancer / RightTrackTunes

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/targetcancer

Songs Currently Available from ‘The Right Track: Tunes To Target Cancer’

Weezer – “The Rat Race”
Ween – “DC Won’t Do You No Good”
The Donnas – “Can’t Keep It a Secret”
Cowboy Junkies – “In My Time of Need” (Ryan Adams cover)
Dean and Britta – “International Velvet Theme” (Caledonia Mix)
Buffalo Tom – “Thrown” (Live From Somerville Theater)
Linda Thompson – “Never the Bride”
Mike Viola – “This is Love, This is Life”
Drug Rug – “Coffee In the Morning” (Alternate Version)
The Gravel Pit – “Yellow Light Purple”
Happy Ending – “Through Your Eyes”

You can preview the track and you have the choice of downloading the flac or mp3 file of each song. Each song is less than a dollar but you can donate anything above that if you can, even if it’s just a few more cents.

Please help make a difference today and spread the word.

Cancer kills. Let’s kill cancer with music.

Virtual Jam Session

23. January 2010 · Filed under: Music, Videos · Leave a Comment 

Jam Session 2.0

“8 people with 5 instruments from 4 Continents speaking 3 languages for 1 song.” – Cain Masni

That is the simple way to describe Jam Session 2.0.  More difficult than getting everyone on board and doing it? Actually creating a great song that you want to listen to and not have it be just something cool that a few musicians threw together for fun. I can listen to this song and not know that it didn’t come from an album and was completely created online using the everyday communication tools that we all use.

The brainchild of Brian at Cain Mosni, he had this to say about the virtual jam session:

We put together a virtual “jam session” with musicians from all over the world! Music was inspired by Galt MacDermot’s amazing “Coffee Cold”. Handsome Boy Modeling School (Prince Paul and Dan the Automator) flipped that song with J-Live and Roisin Murphy from Moloko and called it “The Truth”.

Now that you know what went into this, check out the video or you can listen to the song below. I’ve also included the lyrics as well as the links for everyone who participated in this musical collaboration. If you want to download the track for free, click here to visit Dumbfoundead.com and choose which quality or file type you prefer.

Jam Session 2.0 from Cain Mosni on Vimeo.

Listen to Jam Session 2.0

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