cubikmusik

all you gotta do is fall in love

 
Hailing from Charlotte, North Carolina, Benji Hughes spends much of his time masterminding his blend of inventive rock and ballads. At times earnest, at others whimsical, Benji is equally adept at keyboards and guitar. He loves beer but he loves women even more. Underneath his thick mane of strawberry blond hair and beard is a versatile singer/songwriter, full of heart. His music collection -- spanning everything from The Crystals, Merle Haggard, and Kinky Friedman to Talking Heads, The Cars, and Slayer -- is as wild as his gracious exterior. (bio)

Download All You've Got To Do Is Fall I

buy: iTunes

drug buddy

you can get three truly worthwhile versions of this song; the lemonheads version, evan dando w/ Juliana Hatfield version or the 1991 demo version. All versions give the song ultimate respect to the simplistic lyrics that delve into many depths of what it takes to be someone's 'drug buddy'. It ain't easy. You involuntarily, undeniably, unequivocally and unconsciously sign up for this. To deal with the ups and downs, insides and outs, the depths of thoughts that are forgotten the next day....or are they?

Download 04_my_drug_buddy.mp3

Buy: Amazon (US), (UK), iTunes

P.S. Don't worry Mum, I wasn't doing drugs when I wrote this. :)

i know

Taking a different direction today with this posting as this song hits my mood dead center this morning. This one will probably draw some attention from the mp3 police so I think I'll only have this song up for a few days.
Fiona Apple is one of those artists that intrigues me on so many different levels. I've seen interviews and documentaries with her and on each occasion there is a massive display of such vulnerability while an additional layer of her many levels seems to be unpeeled only to reveal more. And I love it but can't figure out why. Its like falling in love with an amazingly complex person when all you seek is a simple life yet you are drawn in deeper and deeper all the while knowing that it can't possibly work. Yet, you continue.
That's me and Fiona Apple. Kinda. You know what I mean. I hope.
:)

"And I will pretend
That I dont know of your sins
Until you are ready to confess
But all the time, all the time
Ill know, Ill know
And you can use my skin
To bury secrets in"

Download 10_i_know.mp3

Buy: iTunes, Amazon US- CD, Download, Amazon UK- CD

soul on fire

‘Songs in A&E’ is the latest album from Spiritualized® that is something of a masterpiece; tragically beautiful with harmonic interludes interspersed between beautifully structured songs that tell tales of love, live and death.

‘Death Take Your Fiddle’ is haunting with its rhythm delivered by the sounds of a struggling body breathing through a ventilator going through its strenuous motions. Yet, at the heart of this song is a determination and bare faced challenge to the omni-present death to try and beat this body down.

‘Borrowed Your Gun’ is delivered like a homage to the return of the Prodigal Son. Broken and torn a son realizes that the life out there isn’t where it needs to be at the heart of it all is a need for a reconciliation with a father that has sat on a porch for years, looking out into the distance waiting for this very day.

‘Baby I’m Just a Fool’ is a beautiful pop melody that is repackaged as a love song with hurt and truth that tells the tale of how love really is: beautiful, hard, wondrous, heartbreaking, joyous, bitter but at the end of the day, so unavoidable and in fact highly sought after despite all of the above.

“So easy to hold your hand, so hard to let it show.
So fucking self-assured, I’d rather let you down than let you go.
There ain’t nowhere you have been that I need to go.
There ain’t nothing you can learn that I need to know.”

The peak of this album comes in the form of ‘Soul on Fire’ with its massive orchestral and choral waves and lyrics that reach for your troubled heart and squeeze it tight.
This is a song that when you hear it for the first time you just know that this is something of wonder. Something that speaks to, of, or for you with its words and musical expressions that seem to be everything that lies in your mind and heart, waiting to escape and make their way to the one you woo.

“Baby, set my soul on fire.
I’ve got too many arms to hold on tight.
And I want to take you higher

Baby, never should say never
Got a hurricane inside my veins
And I wanna stay forever”

Download 05_soul_on_fire.mp3

Buy Album: iTunes (US), Newbury Comics (US), Amazon (UK)

happy birthday willie

Today is Willie Nelson's 75th birthday. In Texas he is an icon (see Texas Monthly magazine's current issue and hear KUT's hour long inteview, with Nelson biographer, Joe Nick Patoski, along with rare footage here) and he lives just outside Austin on his ranch. Thankfully I got to see him play a few years ago in his hometown and it was a privilege.  Throughout his years Willie has had his ups and down with IRS problems, houses destroyed by fire and whatnot but he continues to have an amazing attitude to life and all that surrounds him. He was a founder of Farm Aid (along with Neil Young and John Mellencamp) back in the 80s as he saw that so many family owned farms were going under and started BioWillie to "to help eliminate America's dependence on foreign oil, put the American family farmer back to work and clean up the environment." Way back when he realized that he was a terrible drunk  and so Willie became a proponent of weed since then he has appeared on radio shows, benefits to support its benefits and the need for legality which I am sure didn't help his case when his tour bus was famously pulled over and busted with a significant stash of 1 1/2 lbs of weed and mushrooms (at the time he was 73 and the other passengers were 75, 59, 54, and 50-what a trip!).

Apart from all of the great stuff above of course is that Wilie Nelson continues to endure as a master songwriter who has written timeless classics such as 'Crazy' (made famous by Patsy Cline) and was a part of the  country supergroup, The Highwaymen,  along with Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson and  Waylon Jennings. The only dubious thing really, in my mind, that he has done has got to be his reggae crossover album, Countryman, which leaves a lot to be desire but we can forgive him for that one faux pas after so many great choices that he has made to this day.Each year he also throws the July 4th celebration with nothing but a good show  so if you're planning on being in Selma, TX check out this years event details here).

So Willie, happy birthday sir. Keep on doing what you are doing as it must be right with so many people taking a dance, a smoke or raising a glass in your honour on this day.

Cheers
Download 09_blue_eyes_crying_in_the_rain.mp3

lucious life

Congrats to my great friends Des and Louisa who had a beautiful baby girl this week. Wishing you all many years of joy and I look forward to seeing you all soon. Put me down for babysitting duties. :)

Its a luscious life so celebrate your dreams...

Download 08_luscious_life.mp3

Buy: Amazon (US, CD), (UK, CD), iTunes (US)

Happy Birthday Dad

Today is my Dad's 70th birthday and unfortunately I have to miss it (and the family dinner to celebrate it on Saturday). The hardest part of being away from home is missing these special days/moments that you have to celebrate from afar with a phone call and a read of the family blog later in the day.

My Dad has always been an inspiration to me and has taught me many things that help me in life. I have been very lucky to have him, and a wonderful mother beside him, raising me and guiding me. I wasn't an easy child to bring up I can assure you so the fact the Dad has made it to 70 is a testament! :)

So Dad, both of our musical hero's here, Johnny Cash, singing  Cat Steven's song, Father & Son, with the endearing Fiona Apple.

Happy Birthday.

Download 10_father_and_son_with_fiona_apple.mp3

sparkle like wine

"Time is like a dream
And now, for a time, you are mine
Let's hold fast to the dream
That tastes and sparkles like wine
Who knows (who knows)
If it's real
Or just something we're both dreaming of
What seems like an interlude now
Could be the beginning of love
Loving you
Is a world that's strange
So much more than my heart can hold
Loving you
Makes the whole world change
Loving you, I could not grow old
No, nobody knows
When love will end
So till then, sweet friend ...
Time is like a dream
And now, for a time, you are mine
Let's hold fast to the dream
That tastes and sparkles like wine
Who knows (who knows)
If it's real
Or just something we're both dreaming of ?
What seems like an interlude now
Could be the beginning of love
What seems like an interlude now
Could be the beginning of love
What seems like an interlude now
Could be the beginning of love"

Download interlude_extended_version.mp3

Buy CD (US/ UK) Vinyl (UK)

No One's Gonna Love Me

Despite the title of this post I'm not feeling sorry for myself!

A little while back I was asked the question "what made something a great or classic song?"
To me part of what makes something a great or classic song is that it probably defines a moment in time in some way.
Perhaps that moment is on a large scale that impacts many people around the world or maybe it defines a moment in time for you and you alone. It also depends on the context of when the song is heard and with whom.
Today there was such a moment.
You know when there is so much to say but its hard to do so?
You know it is gonna hurt and you just can't find the words to share.

Suddenly a song you've never heard before comes on and you both hear whats being said and realize that it is, there and then, defining a moment that is momentous and will forever be etched in your mind. And each time you hear that song you'll remember that time and think about how your life changed.
You both look up and nothing needs to be said in that time.
Nothing except perhaps "I'm sorry".

Download 03_no_ones_gonna_love_you.mp3

Visit Band of Horses
Buy Cease to Begin

Ship Song

Many years ago, back in Ireland, I had the great pleasure of hanging out with one of the Bad Seeds while working at the Chameleon restaurant in Dublin. It happened that one of the managers, Annie, was buddies with them back in Australia and they came to visit Ireland. It was a great experience as we got to hang out and chat about life, love, music, etc. (while partying like rock stars.) and tonight I came across this tune in my collection and was reminded of it all.
I also remember making a cross country trip (Dublin to Cork) with my mate Brian after a hectic night out. We wanted to get to see Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds play at a charity gig and so we set out (after about 6 hours sleep) and hitchhiked a 4 hour journey in about 8 hours! Eventually we got there and managed to buy tickets outside the show and got in just in time to see them come on stage. Much to our despair they only played about 3 songs. Needless to say it was a great disappointment but in hindsight its not necessarily the music you get to hear but the experience that you go through to hear that song.

This is one of the greatest love songs ever written.

Come sail your ships around me
And burn your bridges down
We make a little history, baby
Every time you come around

Come loose your dogs upon me
And let your hair hang down
You are a little mystery to me
Every time you come around

We talk about it all night long
We define our moral ground
But when I crawl into your arms
Everything comes tumbling down

Come sail your ships around me
And burn your bridges down
We make a little history, baby
Every time you come around

Your face has fallen sad now
For you know the time is nigh
When I must remove your wings
And you, you must try to fly

Come sail your ships around me
And burn your bridges down
We make a little history, baby
Every time you come around

Come loose your dogs upon me
And let your hair hang down
You are a little mystery to me
Every time you come around

Enough said.
Download 01_the_ship_song.mp3

Buy:
Single US/ UK

Bird Song

Much thanks to Sonido Martines for this tune along some info. on it and the artist.

"Sondio Martines is an Argentinean DJ specializing in urban styles and tropical music. In his mixes, Argentinean and Colombian Cumbia meet Vallenato and Chicha, Dub hits upon electronic music, and Hip Hop gets married to Latin American street rhythms. He is a tireless seeker of lost vinyl records and remixer of Cumbia classics, shaking up the dancefloors with a wide selection of tropical music from from all over Latin America, from California to Argentina."

I love it when people keep digging for traditional music to keep it alive and am fascianted with the roots of musical styles along with their development and evolution.

"The Vuela Pajarito is a Vallenato (colombian rythim). It is performed by Alejo Duran, a famous accordeonist and singer. He sings about a flying little bird he saw, but nobody believe he did. Very beautiful song, so simple and special." It really is such a beautiful and simple tune where he took the original of this tune and pitched it down and added a bit of delay.

Download vuela_pajarito_rebajado_x_sonido_martines.mp3

A shout out to Disco Shawn also who turned me onto Sondio Martines.

Buy some music by Alejo Duran

Cheers

Hallelujah

10 years ago today Jeff Buckley died tragically in a Memphis bay.
A terrible loss to the world of music.

Here he covers Leonard Cohen's track, Hallelujah "based on John Cale's recording from the Cohen tribute album, I'm Your Fan.Buckley's rendition of "Hallelujah" has been called "Buckley's best" and "one of the great songs" by Time magazine and is included on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" (Wikipedia)

Download 06_hallelujah.mp3

Amazing.
RIP.

(05/30: I just noticed that I posted U2's Hallelujah instead of Jeff Buckley's! My apologies.)

Under The Influence with...Part Time Heroes

UPDATE:  Part time Heroes have been shortlisted for best track and best live session in this year's Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards. [Vote]

Another installment in the hugely popular 'Under The Influence with....' series.
This time around we have Part Time Heroes off Mums The Word Records.

Who are Part Time Heroes?
Well, no-one really knows. Like myself, these heroes prefer to lurk in the shadows and let the music do the talking. Except these hereos make the tunes. ;-)
Made up of Shop Boy and Sandwich Man, Part Time Heroes deliver beautifully crafted  tracks that capture  you in their soulful wonder with rich layers of smooth grooves.
And with Gilles Peterson supporting your hero cause you can't go too wrong!
"I love their sound. They come across as a jazzier Zero 7, I'm feeling that!"

Without further ado!

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Under the Influence with....Part Time Heroes

Artist: Joni Mitchell
Tune; A Case Of You.
Its just the most beautiful track I've ever heard, musically and lyrically. incredibly honest and moving.
Download 08_a_case_of_you.mp3

Artist: Elbow
Tune: Scattered Black and Whites. I could have picked any number of tracks by this band. I think they're so underated and have been a huge source of inspiration to both toby and I. I think their depth of songwriting and the way they contruct they're music is astounding.
Download 10_scattered_black_and_whites.mp3

Artist; Stevie Wonder
Tune: Summer Soft.
Once again, I could have picked any number of tracks. Stevie is probably one of my most enduring, but moreover earliest musical influences. When I was about 3 or 4, I can remember learning how to use my parents record player and just dancing myself sick to Songs in the Key of Life , so he's got to be in there.
Download 09_summer_soft.mp3

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And now-the sweet, sweet track from Part Time Heroes off their acclaimed Realise EP
I have had this on my main playlist since I got it; with the organ as beautiful as it has ever sounded.

Artist: Part Time Heroes
Tune: Brandon Heights
Download 02_brandon_heights.mp3

Much thanks to Shop Boy (Ross) of Part Time Heroes and Marc Sheinman with What's Good Music. Keep an eye out for an upcoming 'Under The Influence with....The Nextmen'. :-) I can't wait.

Cheers,
Cubik

Two tunes for my Dad

Myself and my Dad are music fanatics and we both love to turn each other onto new music. Anytime I go home (not often enough) we will sit in our living room for ages lisetning to music, signing and my Dad drumming away. Now the tradition is being passed onto my youngest nephew who insists on "CD.CD" when he arrives at my folk's home. Once the music goes on he has the drumsticks out. He is barely 2 years old! :-)

So Dad- you gave me John Prine a good few years back. I think that this guy, Dan Reeder is very similar. This song, "I Drink Beer" is off "Sweetheart". "Sweetheart is about the sound of Dan Reeder’s cracked, dry, confiding voice and the pleasant noises he gets out his homemade guitars, his multi-tracked harmonies with himself and his occasional puff on a harmonica." Heavy and sweet melodies with somewhat whimsical lyrics delivering a subtle message . I've also included a John Prine song (Mexican Home). For anyone who has not heard these guys I encourage you to get more of their music. It certainly is refreshing.

Download 04_i_drink_beer.mp3

Download 07_mexican_home.mp3

Cheers Dad. :-)
Cubik

CubikMusik....digs in the archives(2)

Its funny I decided to do this right now as I had been planning on posting about David Kitt this weekend anyways as I have been listening to his song 'Headphones' at lot lately. Tonight, while digging in the archives, I came across the recommendation below from JC in CubikMusik Issue Nine.
I have added 'Headphones' at the bottom of the post- its kinda like two songs in one. :-)
Enjoy.
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Artist: David Kitt
Title: Square One
As far as I know, despite bringing his spellbinding live show to the festivals of Europe and a couple of club dates in the US this summer, Kittser (as he's know in his native Dublin) has yet to make the big time outside of Ireland. Square One, his third album, has already gone  went platinum in Ireland and with a bit of luck it will receive the attention it deserves further afield. Kitt, along with fellow travellers such as Damien Rice and Gemma Hayes, is part of a new breed of Irish singer-songwriters pushing the
formula way beyond the usual stereotypical Celtic bard. Square One picks up where The Big Romance left off showcasing Kittser's gentle quirky lyrics of life and love. Favourite tracks for me include Sweet Summer Morning with its aching vibe and the simple pop of Me and My Love (Remix posted below).
Recommended by JC in Ireland
Download 01_me_and_my_love_remix.mp3

Download 02_headphones.mp3

Swedish Love

Artists: The Knife with José González
Tune: Heartbeats

Hailing from Sweden and signed to the same label as José González (see below) The Knife deliver some steady beats and basslines that subtly cross the line between techno and electro  while combining with elements of some pretty rocking sounds. For a lot of their sounds I imagine a dark and sweaty club at 3am somewhere with a fog machine and strobes. At the bottom of this post are links to streams of their tunes.

Check out The Knife w/ José González and their sweet tune Heartbeats

Photos from the shoot of the ad here.

Update: Heartbeats MP3 has been removed at the request of Mute Records. Sorry.

Speaking of José González, he will be appearing tonight on the Jay Leno show along with Zero7 (NBC, 11.35pm EST *check your local listing for exact show time). I am hoping to check him out at the upcoming ACL festival in a few weeks and if I am lucky will get some cool pics and maybe even an interview. I will post a review if I go. See his tour dates here.

The Knife media streams for the Silent Shout video  (all are for high speed) PC / MAC.
José González audio streams for Crosses (again, high speed) WMV/ RAM.

Cheers,
Cubik

Woody

Artist: Hayden
Tune: Woody

Thanks to Jodi for getting this to me a while back. Such a sweet and simple song.
Apparently its a song about a cat. Nice one.

Download 14_woody.mp3