"Waiting for the Guns" by Maigret Jnr

Maigret Jnr

The crew at Islands & Rivers in the UK filmed this music video for Maigret Jnr's beautiful, evocative song, Waiting for the Guns.

Waiting for the Guns is available for download and on vinyl from Make Mine Records. The 7" EP vinyl includes three other Maigret Jnr songs.

We've embedded the YouTube video below. Give it a listen.

The Raveonettes: "She Owns the Streets"

From The Raveonettes... "She Owns the Streets."



   

Standing in the Shadows of Motown

They called themselves The Funk Brothers... a band of Detroit jazz and blues men, first recruited by producer Berry Gordy in 1959, to play backup for Motown Records recording sessions. Playing in the shadows behind the greats... Diana Ross and the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson, Gladys Night and The Pips... It's claimed that they played on more number one hits than Elvis, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Beach Boys combined.

As far as the general public is concerned, these great musicians were pretty much unknown and unheard-of until they were celebrated in this documentary of 2003, Standing in the Shadows of Motown. A couple of old friends of ours, both amateur musicians, were inspired by Grammy Award winning composer and producer Alan "Dr. Licks" Slutsky's book of that same title, which focused largely on the story of the great bass player, James Jamerson. So, they formed a production company and teamed up with Slutsky and film producer Paul Justman to produce this documentary.

An all-star cast of musicians and vocalists was recruited to film and record covers of more than a dozen great Motown hits... to name a few: Bootsy Collins doing "Do You Love Me", Ben Harper for "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", Joan Osborne for "Heat Wave" and my favorite on the playlist, "What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted." Chaka Khan won a Grammy in 2003 for her cover here of "What's Goin' On," and the documentary's soundtrack won a Grammy that year for Best Compilation Soundtrack. And playing behind them all are many of the surviving Funk Brothers... coming out from the shadows and into the limelight... In 2004, The Funk Brothers were awarded a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement.

We are proud of this wonderful labor of  love that our old friends had the vision for, and worked hard to make happen. Whether or not you are old enough to have heard them back in the day, check 'em out... the DVD and the soundtrack are still available, as is the Alan Slutsky book that inspired this work of art and love.


         

Creepy Doll

Johnathon Coulton's Creepy Doll... it's like a Twilight Zone episode in song.

My daughter and son-in-law played this for me last week... Thanks, kids, it's cool!

One Guitar, Five Guitarists!

Here's an amazing musical feat.... five people simultaneously playing ONE acoustical guitar, and doing it beautifully!

Sarah Blackwood and the members of Walk Off the Earth cover Gotye's Somebody That I Used to Know.

One of my L.A.-based cousins sent me this, saying, "This is interesting, and then gets more interesting, until it is ultimately very interesting, and thus, cool." Thanks for the tip, Pat!

The Ballad of Mona Lisa

Today just seems like a kind of day for steampunk stuff, so we'll just go with it... Here's something really cool in that genre...

Panic at the Disco and the League of S.T.E.A.M. in teamed up for The Ballad of Mona Lisa. A steampunk ghost story, a tale of betrayal, murder, and vengeance... Tag line: "there's nothing wrong with a taste of what you've paid for..."

Along the way we also learn a little about Victorian era funeral customs... stop all clocks, cover the mirrors, open a window... fascinating.