Twostepcublog

Ok, first off, do NOT go by the horrible air-brushed-to-the-point-of-drag-queen-ishness cover. Beneath that lies one of the greatest female artists in country today, Wynonna Judd , with an album that was so unfairly overlooked in the male-dominated country atmosphere of 2003. With only Oprah to save sales of the record, anyone only listening to radio would miss the appearance of What The World Needs Now Is Love , with only one mid-hit single, the title song. But this album is one of the best, if not the best, country record of that year. The first sign of that is that the title song , good as it is, even pales besides a boatload of songs that are mixed throughout the album. The song fits into Wynonna's all-inclusive spirituality based on love, not fear of god. That is followed by " Heaven Help Me ", a classic ballad yearning for her love not to leave. " It All Comes Down To Love " fits the theme of the title song, with a Bonnie Raitt-like groove behind it. Mom

Happy Thanksgiving to all in the US. Here's my tunes for the week, and as always you can click on the highlighted name of the artist to bring up their webpage (you can rightclick to bring it up in a new window). This week the Scissor Sisters stay on top for a second week, with the Fray (above) staying a second week in the top five while having another song linger on the chart. Saying goodbye are songs by the Pet Shop Boys, KT Tunstall, and Rodney Atkins, while big moves are made by George Strait, Christina Aguilera, and Pink. Gobble Gobble! This Week Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. I Don't Feel Like Dancin' - Scissor Sisters (1) 2. Call Me When You're Sober - Evanescence (2) 3. Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol (3) 4. Before He Cheats - Carrie Underwood (4) 5. How To Save A Life - The Fray (5) 6. Far Away - Nickelback (8) 7. When You Were Young - The Killers (7) 8.

from the inimitable Get Your War On ' s David Rees.

Well to make things short, this was the best country album released in 2005. Yeah, I know it's kinda late but I felt it best to start with that.In fact, If your a newbie to country music, and want to listen to something to start, you can't go wrong here. Brad Paisley has carved a career of being simply the best male country singer/guitarist around now (sorry, Vince), and Time Well Wasted has continued his string of near-perfect albums of down-home goodness. He does usually have a pattern with his albums, but puts a winner in each of them. Time Well Wasted starts out with the #1 song " The World ", which is a cute little love ditty he's so good with, with lines like "to the waiter at the restaurant, you're just another tip....but to me you are the world...", and with charm celebrates the joy of the plain and simple without resorting on dumping on the urbane (the way a lot of other country artists fall back on). Next is his requisite drinking song,

Ruth Brown, a pioneer in early rock and soul, died at 78 .... A great influence on many artists, she'll be missed...

Hey folks, it's that time again, for my tunes of the week. As per the drill you can click on the highlighted name of the artist to bring up their webpage (you can rightclick to bring up a new window). This week the Scissor Sisters claim the top spot, with big moves by Madonna, Rob Thomas, and Cerrone. Leaving the chart are songs by Tim McGraw (for the second time), Brooks & Dunn, and Rihanna. And the Dixie Chicks' reenter for a third run. Woohoo! This Week Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. I Don't Feel Like Dancin' - Scissor Sisters (2) 2. Call Me When You're Sober - Evansescence (1) 3. Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol (4) 4. Before He Cheats - Carrie Underwood (9) 5. How To Save A Life - The Fray (6) 6. Every Mile A Memory - Dierks Bentley (3) 7. When You Were Young - The Killers (5) 8. Far Away - Nickelback (8) 9. Goodbye My Lover - James Blunt (10) 10. Su

It's that time again, for the odds and sods I've picked on along the way....you can click on the highlighted name of the artist to bring up their webpage (rightclick to bring up in a new window). Cheers! The Bird And The Bee - "F*cking Boyfriend [Ralphi Rosario Mixshow]" Boy was I surprised about this one. I was so expecting a wailing enormous black diva wailing a song with a title like this, one geared for the disco boys. Rather, this is a rework of a track by a group very much like Everything But The Girl or Esthero. Very cool even without the cursing (I'll have to go back to buy the original) and get my groove on. Grade: A- Cerrone - "Supernature 2006 [Joachim Garraud Mix]" A classic proto-electro track by French disco producer Cerrone, with added thump and claps. You can't mess this song up too much, though be careful, I downloaded the "Danny Tenaglia mix" on ITunes to find out it was the Erasure version of the song instead. Wanker

I admit, I never "got" Miles Davis at all until recently. In fact, I still don't think I fully "get" his music now. However, his influence on modern music in indisputable. And with a boatload of albums of all styles of jazz music, it's easy to get lost in trying to dive into listening to anything from his career. But Davis' true legacy starts with two albums, albums as different as anything in jazz, the cool-mood Kind Of Blue from 1959 and Bitches Brew , his groundbreaking foray into jazz-rock in 1969. Now, Bitches Brew is not an easy record. The shortest "song" on here is four and a half minutes long (" John McLaughlin ") and Miles doesn't even play on that. In fact, you really can't call these "songs" per say, but musical fugues, like classical music filtered through the electric guitar based rock that inspired groups like Santana and King Crimson. The first two numbers originally held an album side apiece. &quo

This is the record Erasure should have made this year. Electric Blue was issued the same year as Andy Bell 's parent band, Erasure 's Nightbird , yet sounds more true-to-form that the group effort (though that album definitely has its good moments). I'd really have thought Bell would use the advantage of making a solo album to explore different musical settings for his voice, but instead he makes Electric Blue a party album from the get go, with the whirling " Caught In A Spin " and first single " Crazy ", with production from production team Manhattan Clique matching Vince Clarke bleep for bleep. " Love Oneself " puts Bell and Propaganda siren Claudia Brucken in an almost Kylie-esque electro-disc setting, something I could have expected from Andy but not from goth-gods like Propaganda's Brucken. Next comes " I Thought It Was You ", with Scissor Sisters ' Jake Shears paying homage to possibly one of his inspirations, wi

Ah, she shows such promise. In 2004 Gretchen Wilson showed up with "Redneck Woman", smashing down the all-male club that country radio had been for over a year.Her first album, Here For The Party , was a cool mix was honky-tonk rave-ups and tearjerkers that showcased Gretchen's rural yet powerful voice. With sales of over 4 million and 4 top-5 country singles from that album, expectations were high for her second album. Well, if there's a classic case of sophomore jinx, this is it. All Jacked Up seems like a cariacture of the white-trash chic girl Wilson won me over with Here For The Party . Starting with the swing rave-up " All Jacked Up ", which ruins a great groove on a apparent advertisement to driving, fighting, whatever under intoxication (no I don't buy the tag-end "don't drink and drive" throw-in at the end). Even worse is " California Girls ", which Wilson feels the need to trash anything that isn't hillbilly (one

As per request from Karl....the glory that is Eartha, here with Bronski Beat (sans Jimmy Sommerville) doing Cha Cha Heels.

This about says it all. (h/t to DailyKos )

Hey boys and girls....it seems like a new day with the election, I almost forgot to post my tunes for the week. As always you can click on the highlighted name of the artist to bring up their webpage (rightclick to bring it up in a new window). This week Evanescence stays at the top for a second week, and leaving the chart are songs by Steve Holy and Faith Hill. Big moves comes from Carrie Underwood, My Chemical Romance, Madonna, and Hellogoodbye. Cheers! This Week Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Call Me When You're Sober - Evanescence (1) 2. I Don't Feel Like Dancin' - Scissor Sisters (4) 3. Every Mile A Memory - Dierks Bentley (3) 4. Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol (2) 5. When You Were Young - The Killers (5) 6. How To Save A Life - The Fray (6) 7. Waiting For The World To Change - John Mayer (7) 8. Far Away - Nickelback (9) 9. Before He Cheats - Carrie Und

Ok this is the anti- Big & Rich . Lonestar has gone from soft-country superstars to the band that John Rich used to be in. They've racked up 9 #1 country hits in the span of 9 years. That's not bad for a band that originally was a semi-faceless pop-country hybrid a la band like Ricochet and Restless Heart (both in the "where are they now" column). With their sixth studio album, Coming Home , the group retreads the same path paved by earlier successes. So in place of "My Front Porch Looking In" is " You're Like Coming Home ", a Hallmark-approved wuss-fest that does succeed for their musicianship (which is hard to come by in a group these days). You've got your " I'll Die Tryin' " to remind you of "Tell Her" and their other ballads, " Noise " to resemble the cute quirkiness of their "Mr. Mom" work, and " I Just Want To Love You " to simulate "Amazed". All and all not a

Hat-tip to Towleroad for turning me on to this... I'm still crossing my fingers.

(hat tip to Democratic Underground ) This clip says it all..... This Tuesday please vote. You know these hypocrites are.

Hey boys and girls it's that time again, my tunes for the week. As per the drill you can click on the name of the highlighted artists to go to their webpage (rightclick to bring up in another window). As a propos for Halloween, pop-goth group Evanescence take over the top spot, while big moves are made by Shape:UK, Stone Sour, JoJo, and Madonna. Leaving the chart are songs by The Wreckers, Roger Sanchez, AFI, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Natasha Bedingfield. Cheers! This Week Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Call Me When You're Sober - Evanescence (2) 2. Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol (1) 3. Every Mile A Memory - Dierks Bentley (4) 4. I Don't Feel Like Dancin' - Scissor Sisters (8) 5. When You Were Young - The Killers (6) 6. How To Save A Life - The Fray (10) 7. Waiting For The World To Change - John Mayer (9) 8. Put Your Records On - Corinne Bailey Rae (