The Great HTF Music Challenge (1 Viewer)

[John Dirk]

This was featured in an episode of a show I'm currently watching on Netflix called "Wentworth." It's basically an Australian version of Orange Is The New Black, only better. Beautiful song.

 

[BobO'Link]

Alison Krauss, "Down to the River to Pray" - Excellent! Krauss is very good and this gospel song from her is a nice find!

I was privileged to sing with the Northeast Arkansas Master Chorale (an invitation only group of Choral directors and former voice majors) for a few years (we disbanded after our director left the area and had no one who could take over). I love acapella music of all kinds. A piece we performed is a favorite of the genre, Morten Lauridsen's "O Magnum Mysterium". I have no videos of us I could post so here's the next best thing.

St. Jacob's Youth Choir of Stockholm (a group about the size of ours) performing the same arrangement we used of Morten Lauridsen's "O Magnum Mysterium":

 

[ChristopherG]

This was featured in an episode of a show I'm currently watching on Netflix called "Wentworth." It's basically an Australian version of Orange Is The New Black, only better. Beautiful song.

Makes me think of the Muses scene in "Oh, Brother Where Art Thou?"

 

[ChristopherG]

So today's "genre", if you will, is "bands that are very popular except not so much in the US" for whatever reason...

First up is Sheila Chandra and Monsoon with "Ever So Lonely"



Next up is a a band from Norway called Madraguda with their song "Hold On to You"



From Belgium is the sibling fronted band K's Choice with "I'm Not an Addict"



To "finnish" things up (see what I did there?) is a band from Finland: The Poets of the Fall with "Carnival of Rust" I really recommend watching the accompanying video with this one:

 

[John Dirk]

Alison Krauss, "Down to the River to Pray" - Excellent! Krauss is very good and this gospel song from her is a nice find!

I was privileged to sing with the Northeast Arkansas Master Chorale (an invitation only group of Choral directors and former voice majors) for a few years (we disbanded after our director left the area and had no one who could take over). I love acapella music of all kinds. A piece we performed is a favorite of the genre, Morten Lauridsen's "O Magnum Mysterium". I have no videos of us I could post so here's the next best thing.

St. Jacob's Youth Choir of Stockholm (a group about the size of ours) performing the same arrangement we used of Morten Lauridsen's "O Magnum Mysterium":

When I was in school, choir nerds were the only people of lesser stature than band nerds such as myself.
If you wanted to be popular you had to be in sports. Of course as an adult I now know value those days immensely.

As to this group and piece, I love the harmonizing but the material is a bit too sedate for me.

 

[John Dirk]

Sheila Chandra and Monsoon with "Ever So Lonely"

The US is just inundated with so much content. That's why I think a lot of really good stuff never quite catches on here. This one just seems to repeat the same couple of phrases over and over again, which wears on me after awhile. I do like the vocal quality. Sort of reminds me of Abba.

Madraguda with their song "Hold On to You"
I like the flow of this one. It's kind of vanilla but still enjoyable.

K's Choice with "I'm Not an Addict"
Interesting subject matter. I'm sure the artist had a personal reason for recording this song. I hope it isn't rooted in tragedy.

The Poets of the Fall with "Carnival of Rust"
Different. Nice melodic feel but just a bit too abstract for me to really get into. Still glad I had the opportunity to sample this.

 

[John Dirk]

The truly great Curtis Mayfield doing "(Don't Worry) If There's A Hell Below, We're All Going To Go"

Yea this is some good stuff, reminiscent of a great era in music.

Reminded me of this one which was most recently used in Keenan Ivory Wayans' "I'm Gonna Get You Sucka!"

 

[John Dirk]

Curtis Mayfield, "(Don't Worry) If There's A Hell Below, We're All Going To Go" - I've not heard this one before. It has that "standard" instrumentation and vocal style I know from some of his other work. I like it. I like his high tenor and the funky groove of the bass line.

And... "(Don't Worry)..." ended and the system auto played Maze, "Happy Feelin's" which was very nice with a smooth groove. I don't know if everyone will get that same next track but I'd say let it play and see...

I first became aware of Curtis Mayfield after he scored the "Blaxploitation" film Superfly. He had at least 2 hits from that soundtrack:

"Superfly":



"Freddie's Dead":

Love pretty much all of his music. Great songs from a great era!

 

[BobO'Link]

Sheila Chandra and Monsoon, "Ever So Lonely" - Reminds me quite a bit of the Indian modal "Within You Without You" from The Beatles - but more repetitive.

Madraguda, "Hold On to You" - I enjoyed this one. It has a nice flow with a guitar sound I like. It reminds me a bit of Chris Isaac's mellower material.

K's Choice, "I'm Not an Addict" - This one was OK. It has the kind of sound I think would grow on me after a few listens.

The Poets of the Fall, "Carnival of Rust" - Not bad. It does suffer a bit from that somewhat generic late 90s/early 2000s corporate alternative style and production. In spite of that I'd like to hear more from this group. I added the album of that name to my Spotify list for a listen, likewise with the "Ten Years of K's Choice" album.

Curtis Mayfield, "He's a Fly Guy" - Another good one. He sounds just as good as he did way back in the 60s/70s.

 

[BobO'Link]

When I was in school, choir nerds were the only people of lesser stature than band nerds such as myself.
If you wanted to be popular you had to be in sports. Of course as an adult I now know value those days immensely.

As to this group and piece, I love the harmonizing but the material is a bit too sedate for me.

I was both a band nerd *and* a choir nerd - double whammy! Then I grew my hair long in a town where very conservative attitudes prevailed (this was in the late 60s/early 70s - I was the first person in school with hair touching their shoulders - fought to get it past administration and won, getting the dress codes relaxed a bit in the process). The *perfect* trifecta!

 

[jcroy]

I was both a band nerd *and* a choir nerd - double whammy! Then I grew my hair long in a town where very conservative attitudes prevailed (this was in the late 60s/early 70s - I was the first person in school with hair touching their shoulders - fought to get it past administration and won, getting the dress codes relaxed a bit in the process). The *perfect* trifecta!

(Going further on this tangent).

I didn't participate in any non-mandatory school activities like band, choir, sports, etc ... I was "young" enough to have bitten the video game bug, that I was wasting all my free time on playing video games at that age.

The only times I ever had longer hair and/or a more relaxed dress style, was when I was in college. Though this was largely due to laziness on my part, where I was concentrating more on my studies than "hanging out". (Engineering was a lot of tedious "busywork" in those days, largely to see who has the self-discipline and decent study habits). So I didn't bother getting haircuts nor buying new clothes during the semester.

In college nobody cares what crowd you're hanging out with, unlike prior levels of educational institutions.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Been out of the thread for awhile; trying to catch up but I'll make these remarks for now...

Curtis Mayfield is pretty much a sure thing for me. I enjoyed all the tracks posted and would offer up this selection as a favorite. ( Mostly because I really love the percussion (roto-toms) on this track. It adds a lot of atmosphere to the song and sets the tone from the opening bars.) This was one of the first songs (that I recall) to drop the N-Bomb and I remember it playing unedited on FM radio back in the day. (Not my place to debate the merits of that, just an observation.)




K's Choice - "I'm Not An Addict" - I actually own the album Paradise In Me that features this track. I was purchasing a lot of music in the '90s and one of my best work friends turned me on to the album. I haven't thought of this group in a long time, but I still like their sound.

Alison Kraus - "Down to the River to Pray" - It is a beautiful song that I first heard many years ago in the Coen Bros.' film O Brother Where Art Thou? Holds up really well. (As Christoper pointed out, in the sequence with the muses.)

- Walter.

 

[ChristopherG]

I am also all in on Curtis Mayfield. I played the shit out of the last album he put out before he passed "New World Order". A sample:

 

[BobO'Link]

Been out of the thread for awhile; trying to catch up but I'll make these remarks for now...

Curtis Mayfield is pretty much a sure thing for me. I enjoyed all the tracks posted and would offer up this selection as a favorite. ( Mostly because I really love the percussion (roto-toms) on this track. It adds a lot of atmosphere to the song and sets the tone from the opening bars.) This was one of the first songs (that I recall) to drop the N-Bomb and I remember it playing unedited on FM radio back in the day. (Not my place to debate the merits of that, just an observation.)




K's Choice - "I'm Not An Addict" - I actually own the album Paradise In Me that features this track. I was purchasing a lot of music in the '90s and one of my best work friends turned me on to the album. I haven't thought of this group in a long time, but I still like their sound.

Alison Kraus - "Down to the River to Pray" - It is a beautiful song that I first heard many years ago in the Cohen Bros.' film O Brother Where Art Thou? Holds up really well. (As Christoper pointed out, in the sequence with the muses.)

- Walter.

So... those are called roto-toms, eh? I never knew the name, just how they sounded and that they're pretty much like a small version of a timpani head.

 

[Walter Kittel]

So... those are called roto-toms, eh? I never knew the name, just how they sounded and that they're pretty much like a small version of a timpani head.

I was curious and performed a few Google searches and the rototom wiki lists this instrument as being used on Curtis Mayfield's Pusherman. I assure you I possess no real knowledge on the topic.

Some web pages listed them with a hyphenated name, but the wiki page does not.

Rototom - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

- Walter.

 

[John Dirk]

This was one of the first songs (that I recall) to drop the N-Bomb and I remember it playing unedited on FM radio back in the day. (Not my place to debate the merits of that, just an observation.)

I'll say this and no more. It's all about authenticity and context. For that reason, this song would not have rang true without it. QT took a lot of heat for the use of the word in many of his films but, personally, I wouldn't have had it any other way. A good film (or song) depicts the facts of the time. Words only have the power we give them.

Curtis Mayfield - Here But I'm Gone
Beautiful and different from his earlier work. I'll definitely be picking this one up. Thanks for sharing!

Curtis Mayfield - Pusherman
Classic Curtis! Superfly wasn't a film I could understand or really appreciate when it was released since I was in Elementary school but my older brothers loved it. I never did really warm up to the film but the music was a different story.

 

[sleroi]

Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood - I guess Im just not a fan of 60s popular music. Nothing horrible about this song, but nothing great either.

Dusty Springfield - the look of love is another nice song but not my cup of tea. I didnt know she sang I only want to be with you. I grew up with Southside Johnnys more uptempo version, so thats the one I prefer. And son of a preacher man worked great in Pulp Fiction and is kind of catchy, but again just not something im drawn to.

Im sure its probably not going to be real popular, but heres southside johnnys take. At least its got horns:

 

[sleroi]

Curtis Mayfield -

Dont Worry - wow, great song. Loved the intro, loved the groove and his vocals and the slow build.

Superfly and Freddys dead - these are the only two songs of his I was familiar with. I find Superfly kind of one note and boring but Ive always liked Freddys Dead.

Pusherman - another really good song, with some nice instrumentation.

Here but Im gone - had to listen to it twice to get it. At first it was kind of slow and sounded like he was stuck in the 70s. But as the song went on I was drawn in. It was his voice. Their was an urgency there. The music was background to the poetry. The 2nd listen it all melded for me.

 

[Walter Kittel]

"I Only Want To Be With You" - Neither version posted really works that well for me...

I think that slower melodies favor Dusty Springfield's voice and the up tempo of this song works against her. "The Look of Love" and "Son of a Preacher Man" both tend to accentuate the softness of her voice. It is a more subtle style that I find preferable for this artist.

I'm not adverse (as a general rule) to covers, but the Southside Johnny version doesn't really work either. The vocals are kind of interesting, but the horns are way too shrill. I generally like horns but they are almost painful to listen to on this particular track.

- Walter.

 

[sleroi]

Allison Kraus - down to the river - beautiful song. She has a beautiful voice. I really liked her album with Robert Plant. But I find most of her solo work (or with Union Station) too downbeat. But there are a few gems like this song throughout her catalog.