What You’re Not Listening To

Oh music is the soundtrack of our lives, but more and more that soundtrack is being controlled and thrown down our throats.  I’m not some hipster niche dweller, but I do like to mix in some “off the beaten path” in with the mainstream.  This is all stuff that is just off the mainstream that I wish more people would be exposed to.  ALL of this stuff is rockin my rotation and maybe something will resonate with you.

First up is one of my favorites. She is the closest to mainstream and I was lucky enough to see her perform at Nokia Theatre in Downtown LA a couple of months ago.  Now I get to hear her via my Nokia Lumia 920 phone on either my Sony X headphones or my Nokia Purity ear buds.  OK, now you know the gear I use, so let’s see what streaming to my ear.

Janelle Monae – I promised that I would only list two songs max per artist and this is the hardest one for me to do that.  She is such a genre buster that I feel like one needs several songs to really appreciate the breadth of her sound.  So, I’ve decided to break it down to the song that originally introduced me to her. It is a high energy short film, more than just a video.  Then I want to show you her doing simple brilliance.  One shot…close up…no edits.

Many Moons

Cold War

You might know her from a couple of other places.  She’s the newest “Cover Girl” and she sings on Fun’s “We Are Young”.  I didn’t even play what is probably her biggest hit “Tightrope”.  Oh well, I had to limit it to two songs.

OK, moving on to the artist currently getting the MOST play in my rotation.  I don’t even remember how I found Gary Clark Jr.  I’m just glad that I did. I hear blues masters, Jimi Hendrix and soul in his music.  He’s another genre buster to me and just plain talented.  This is another album that should be listened to in it’s entirety.  The first song is a studio recording and the second will be live at a radio station.

Bright Lights – Big City

When My Train Pulls In

OK, this one is close to mainstream, but I LOVE the video.  It should be a PSA for restaurants warning them not to leave one fortune cookie for three men.  This is a collaboration between The Black Keys and RZA.  The song is from the soundtrack of the RZA directed film “The Man With The Iron Fists”

The Baddest Man Alive

That was fun, right? 

OK, do you remember at the top how I have my one-sided love affair with Janelle Monae?  Well, she introduced me to the next artist…sort of.  I made a mix station with Nokia Music based on Janelle Monae and this was the first artist that came up.  I’ll post that song even though it is a few years old and then her new one from an upcoming album.  This is Alice Smith.

Do I (with lyrics)

She never made an official video for that. Too bad.  Looks like the new album doesn’t have any yet either.  Let’s hope she makes videos.  Someone get in touch with her and let her know that I’ll shoot it!

Cabaret

I’ll end this edition with a woman who was a family friend. We met Dorothy Donegan at the Gilmore Keyboard Festival in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  We were her host family and saw her perform in Chicago and Los Angeles as well.  She was probably the most talented pianist that you’re not familiar with.  How lucky we were that this performance was captured at the White House in 1993.  If you listen, you’ll hear some classical in the intro (Rachmaninoff) and some improvisational jazz and she blends various genres.  Can you tell that I like genre busters?

Bill and Hillary seemed to like the performance.  What do you think?