• “Love Bites (So Do I)” by Halestorm – This song is freaking addicting. From the first time I heard it on youtube at a live show I fell in love with it. And when the studio version came out I played it nonstop. I was so incredibly happy to hear this on the radio. Then on V-day Halestorm released a music video for it which made me listen to it even more.
• “Caislean Oir” by Clannad – Among all of the “Robin Of Sherwood” songs, this one was not released on the CD but I have a Clannad greatest hits CD which includes this haunting song. I swear, I can’t stop listening to this song. It’s just so haunting and takes me back to England.
• “Burn” by The Design - Having read and finished The Hunger Games trilogy in early February I’ve been looking up various Hunger Games inspired music. This was one of the best ones I found. I highly recommend anyone who has read the books take a listen to it. It’s incredibly catchy and awesome.
• “Africa” by Toto – I had heard this song a while back but only recently rediscovered it while watching VH1 Classic. I fell in love with the song (as I do most 80s songs) and had to buy it. Apparently I didn’t have any Toto on my iTunes before this song which is odd considering I really like “Hold The Line”.
• “Equos Fair” by David Arkenstone – I heard this song through last.fm one night and proceeded to fall in love with it. It’s a fun Celtic tune that makes you want to get up and dance. I love the melody of it and it’s just a simple little jig but is very fun to listen to.
• “Cherish/Cherish” by Glee Cast - When I first heard this mash-up on Glee I couldn’t stop singing it. I love both songs that they use which probably explains why I think this to be an ingenious mash-up in the first place. This was honestly my favorite song from the Valentine’s Day episode just because I got this classic sense of 60s-70s happiness.
• “Here’s To Us” by Halestorm – Ever since I heard that Glee was going to perform this song on their winter finale episode I was incredibly psyched and I absolutely loved the performance of it. And the members of Halestorm were very enthusiastic about it as well. Of course I’m still partial to the original more than the cover version understandably.
• “Keep Me Waiting” by Roxette - I think I must have stumbled across this song by accident because I was working on a video set to the song “Listen To Your Heart” and then for whatever reason I started to play Roxette and heard this song. I don’t really remember hearing it when I initially get into Roxette so it was a nice song to rediscover more or less. I just really like the guitar riff in it.
• “Cherish” by David Cassidy- When my mom watched the Valentine’s Day episode of Glee with me she mentioned that she had a recording of David Cassidy singing “Cherish” originally by The Association. Thus, I discovered the recording and fell in love with it. I find it kind of funny cause my mom was in love with David Cassidy growing up and I often teased her about it and here I am listening to his song now. Karma much? Hey, it’s a good song so I don’t care.
• “Scream” by Glee Cast – In looking for songs to get off of iTunes I couldn’t help but get this one even though it wasn’t my favorite Glee performance from the Michael Jackson episode. But there’s just something about it that I kept coming back to. I think the “Stop pressuring me” bit kept getting in my head and I just buckled down and bought the song. But I love singing along to it.

Among Halestorm and Glee songs I’ve also been rediscovering some 80s songs and gotten into new artists as well. Of course I’m still listening to a lot of Clannad but I’m also listening to a lot of Halestorm these days. Until next month!

• “Take Me Home Tonight” by Eddie Money – As I made a new video set to this song at the end of last year I can’t help but go back to this amazing song and think about my college friends. I turn this song up every time I hear it on the radio and got back into the 80s spirit this year.
• “The Journeyman” by Blackmore’s Night – Another video project song so I hear a lot of it these days. But I really love this song because it’s my personal favorite off of Blackmore’s Night’s latest album. And now I think of Robin Hood when I hear it.
• “Game Of Thrones – Main Title” by Ramin Djawadi - This may be explained by my excitement at seeing the new season of “Game Of Thrones” or just because I really love the opening theme enough to add it to a recent mix.
• “Ancient Forest” by Clannad - Among other selections from Clannad’s CD, Legend, I happened to fall in love with a few songs in particular, this being one of them. I think it’s just so happy-sounding that I can’t help but love it. It reminds me of Spring, the Renaissance Festival, and dancing. And Robin Hood.
• “Robin Hood” by Edguy – When I first heard this song I was blown away. It’s one of the best songs about the famous outlaw not actually connected to any film or TV show and with it being eight minutes and twenty-four seconds long who wouldn’t consider this song EPIC?
• “Darkmere” by Clannad - Another song from Legend, but completely instrumental. I like this song enough to put it on a mix as well but also because it gives off a light, airy quality that just entices you to have fun.
• “Locked Within The Crystal Ball” by Blackmore’s Night - I saw a “Robin Of Sherwood” video to this song and have been listening to it fairly regularly every since. It’s just over eight minutes long but remains a lovely Blackmore’s Night song and really speaks for the mysticism it evokes.
• “Send Me An Angel” by Real Life - Another 80s song that makes me nostalgic. Oddly enough I have two different versions of this song now, this version and the radio edited version. I like this version though cause of the extra sound effects in the chorus which make me think of Robin firing an arrow–DAMMIT! <– Not obsessed, I swear.
• “Unbreakable Chain” by Dream Evil – Okay, I’ll admit it. Another song that was used in a “Robin Of Sherwood” video. Man, there are a lot of those. But seriously, this song is such a power ballad that it makes you wish you had a lighter to wave side to side in a giant crowd.
• “Robin Of Sherwood Medley” by Clannad – I guess there’s no point in hiding it anymore. Okay, story about this song is that I renamed it because it’s a mix of melodies from the show that were never released onto an album. Fortunately someone online mixed them all together to make a 9:35 long song, thus it’s a medley.

So yeah. I guess the theme of this month is Robin Hood. Who would have ever guessed? Let’s see if I’m still listening to Clannad as much next month as I am now.

Seriously.

• “Mad World” by Adam Lambert – I blame a certain Elijah (from “Vampire Diaries”) fanvid for this one. My mom got 3 Adam Lambert CDs with this song included and I just love his version so much. He’s one of my new favorite artists at the moment.
• “Jar of Hearts” by Christina Perri - Before I heard this version I only had the Glee cast version but after watching a particularly well done crossover video between Loki and Daenerys I got this version. Every time I hear it it kind of breaks my heart. But I can’t stop listening to it.
• “The Boatman” by Celtic Legend – This song was sung during one of the scene shifts for the musical I helped out with and it became my favorite song out of all the scene shifts that we did. This was the only version of the song I could find and I can’t stop listening to it because it reminds me of the show.
• “Jolene” by Glee Cast - I’m not a country fan but I really loved this song when it was performed in the show. It’s got that minor key which I love a lot and it was one of the must-have songs for me that wasn’t on the CD.
• “Cold As It Gets” by Patty Griffin - I saw an AMAZING “Game of Thrones” video set to this song which made me buy it immediately. It’s kind of sad but also very pretty.
• “Abigail’s Song (Silence Is All You Know)” by Murray Gold – This song was in last year’s “Doctor Who” Christmas special and since it’s around that time of year again I’ve been playing it a lot. It’s a haunting melody and was the reason I got the entire soundtrack to that one episode.
• “Robin (The Hooded Man)” by Clannad - Over the past few days I’ve rediscovered my love for Clannad when I discovered that they did the music for the 1984 series “Robin of Sherwood” of which I’ve been watching fanvideos. This is the main song played in the series.
• “Constant Craving” by Glee Cast - For some reason this song just sends chills up my spine and I can’t seem to stop listening to it. At least it’s not like “Someone Like You” which just puts me in tears. This one I can handle.
• “No Light, No Light” by Florence + the Machine - Out of all the songs on Ceremonials I seem to be drawn to this one in particular at the moment mostly because it’s a kickass song and I’ve been listening to it for about a month now, nearly nonstop.
• “Lost In Your Eyes” by Heavenly – I just discovered this French metal band two days ago. And this song is my favorite one that I’ve heard. I don’t even have the song on itunes yet but I love it!

I didn’t realize a lot of these are rather sad songs. With all these sad songs I’ve also been listening to a lot of Christmas music so that balances them out I suppose.

I’m just guessing, but the phrase “Don’t get mad, get your band back” comes to mind. Well, if anyone is capable of filling in for the Toddmeister filling in for Ric Ocasek, it’s probably Ric Ocasek. Cut to the 17th of this month. Ric, Elliot, Greg, and restaurateur and last surviving car member, drummer David Robinson, have released the first video from their upcoming new album Move Like This.

“Blue Tip” is an upbeat pop song that continues The Cars new wave stylings. If you liked them before, you’ll like this song too – they still sound quite like themselves. There will be a different track from the album, “Sad Song” released soon as the first single. We’ll have to wait until May 10th to hear what the bulk of the album sounds like.

Unavoidably absent is singer/bassist Benjamin Orr, who died in 2000. Benjamin had the more “normal” voice, and sang “Drive”, one of their best-remembered songs, so his absence will probably be missed even by the more casual fans.

Sounds of the Orient - Dave Mason

I’m sure some of you aren’t aware there is one, since the more famous of the two has been pretty quiet on the recording front for at least two yonks and half a donkey’s age. However, according to the official website, the former Traffic guitarist and high-profile 70s solo artist is still touring . in fact, tonight he’s in Pennsylvania. Playing “We Just Disagree”, “Look at You, Look at Me”, and other numbers well known to his fans, no doubt.

The other Dave Mason is a clarinettist who played with the Royal Signals before spending 35 years as a music teacher. Since retiring he has focused on recording. He has just released a new age album entitled ”Sounds of the Orient”, which sounds much as you would expect during a reiki session, for example.

I’m relating this information in case some of you are confused, like We7 is, and think that the new age album is a new recording from the other Dave Mason. It isn’t, and it couldn’t be more different (well, maybe if it was a cycle of Gregorian chants).

So far there are two “single” releases (i.e. two songs each). All four songs are from an album due to be released March 21st entitled, “What Do You Expect from the Vaccines”.

The first single, released last November, contains “Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra)”, which is the song most likely to get you to go “Hey Ho, Let’s Go”, churning full crunch until it stops dead at 1:25, making it the first new song (I assume) shorter than what I hear are the new preview times at iTunes. Despite, the harsh chords on the intro, “Blow it Up” is moderate-tempo, two-chord, teen-angst splendor. “Were you ever my age? No, I doubt it.” Where have I heard that before? Oh, yeah, I said it 40 years ago, and I’m pretty sure I heard someone say it before me.

The second single, released just a few days ago, continues the sound and style of the first release. The single includes “We’re Happening”. “I don’t want to bore you”, they sing. Not yet anyway. “Post Break-Up Sex”, with it’s line “What do you expect/ from post break-up sex”, may be the one they’ve picked as the big song from the album, given the album title.

All songs have the vocals down in the mix, and the overall reverb turned up to 11. It’s about the feel of the song, and having a few words to sing along to. The style is as old as I am, although it’s all about youth. It sounds OK to me. It remains to be seen whether The Vaccines can compete in the twenty teenies. Hopefully, they can.

The song starts with a “Boots are Made for Walking” kind of groove, ends with a quote from “Summertime Blues”, and has an easy 1960s feel. The lyrics also have a 60s feel – it’s an anti-war protest song teaming with disturbingly graphic descriptions of the aftermath of battle – confrontational action born from confrontational words. It doesn’t preach so much as it illustrates and, hopefully, inspires thought and action.

If only this one would go viral, but at least the PJ Harvey fans will go out of their way to hear it.

In the six seasons since “Lost” began, Damon (the one not wearing trousers) and Carlton (the one with the banjo) have put aside time between intensive writing, producing and editing to produce just slightly fewer podcast episodes per season than there were episodes of the show, each running about 20 – 30 minutes.

Ostensibly, each podcast supported the upcoming episode, which Darlton would “pre-hash” after rehashing the previous one. After dispensing with those topics in a few minutes, the remainder of the time was spent answering viewer’s questions. Or, to be more accurate, not answering them at great length, at least not in a way that would leave you feeling any more informed about the main issues than you were before you played the podcast, although you might have enough of a hint to form a theory that may or may not have any foundation in Lost canon. The closer viewers came to asking a real question (e.g. Who is the man in black? What is the smoke monster? Will Kate end up with Sawyer or Jack?), the more subterfuge was delivered, and the most you could hope for was something along the lines of “That is a good question”, which was an implied wink, maybe.

Viewers soon found it more rewarding to ask questions of less import. Each question provided the lads with a subject to riff on, which was the real raison d’etre of the podcast. Why doesn’t Sawyer know who Anakin Skywalker is? – Answer: He did not want to ruin his “StarWars” experience by watching the prequels. Questions were answered that no one asked. For example, did you know that the name of the shark with the Dharma tattoo is James Ezra Sharkington? Or how to play the Politburo game, by looking at a photograph of Russian politicians to see how far away they are standing from the premier, and then determining who would be executed next. (Damon: In our house we played Monopoly). Questions that Darlton assumed the program had already answered were also fair game. One viewer’s season five question about where the polar bears came from was answered by pointing out that Sawyer and Kate were imprisoned in bear cages in season three. Who brought the bears? Dharma brought the bears. Enough about the bears already.

As serious as these guys were about creating a unique television experience, they seemed to be just as eager to have some laughs at its expense. No one appreciated more that season’s two and three were bulked out with filler, the unavoidable cost of having a hit show in the states. The writers had a beginning, middle and end. What they didn’t have was a timetable, but they did have an undefined number of seasons to fill at 20+ episodes a season, an issue that was only resolved during contract renegotiations at the end of season 3. Darlton didn’t mind rubbing their own faces in the superfluous Nikki and Paulo, who they were still fielding questions about in season 6, or the fact that nobody gave a rat’s about how Jack got his tattoo, and how that may have been one of the worst Lost episodes of all time.

On the flip side of this protracted storytelling was the real possibility that “Lost” could be cancelled, especially with the ratings dipping in the second and third season. So the lads concocted a back-up plan where the world’s oldest orangutan, Joop, who could conveniently talk, revealed what the show was all about in the last scene if the show was cut short.

Of course, “Lost” wasn’t cancelled. Some people left after the first season or two, but a central legion of fans kept the momentum going. Darlton continually used their podcast to show gratitude to those fans. Even as the momentum picked up with the later seasons, and critical recognition and approval swung back their way, Darlton were more concerned with doing the best job they could for the people they worked for (i.e. the fans) than they were with critical approval or awards, as heard in the following example from early in season six:

Carlton: Damon, what would you have said to me if I had told you in season two that we were going to France to accept an award?

Damon: I would have turned to you and said, ‘OK Carlton, what happens if they don’t push the button?’

At the end of the last podcast, Darlton were asked what their favourite moment was. It was a difficult question – they came up with two answers. The runner up was the episode with both their mothers, each making their case for Sawyer to choose them over Kate. The one they went out on was an extended sound bite of Carlton and Damon laughing uncontrollably at an answer they had just given. Thanks guys. That is exactly how I want to remember you.

Reportedly, “Exile” is mostly Keith’s baby, at least on a soul level. He was in his element surrounded by drugs, derelicts and fellow strung-out musicians such as Graham Parsons, who doesn’t appear on the album but coached Keith in countrified chord fingerings between takes. Bill and Charlie were an integral part of the daily sessions of course, but it sounded like they were a bit homesick, sending home for parcels of baked beans and brown sauce. Mick was there for all the vocal takes, but he was equally interested in hanging out with the “jet set” in Paris, so he wasn’t always around. And by now I imagine Mick Taylor was wishing he’d joined another band – ANY other band. The next album, “Goat’s Head Soup”, was his last.

Whatever the circumstances, “Exile” is surely the Stones most unique album – a dense, swampy mixture of blues, funk soul and rock. And now it’s been remastered, again, with “ten new tracks”. Well, no, actually it’s eight new tracks and two alternate takes.

Apparently there are a vast number of songs that were begun and recorded during that period, but never finished. Don listened to about 300 hours of the stuff before the glimmer twins came along to cite 30 or 40 tracks they specifically wanted him to look out for. Now you tell me. Don had to give the raw multi-track tapes their first mix. In many cases Jagger had to record entire vocal parts, or at least punch in vocals between the existing ones. Surprisingly, the old and the new blend together pretty seamlessly, and the small bit I heard has me interested in hearing the rest.

So here we go again – another album to buy multiple times. At least it will sound better than the CD version I bought in the early 90s, which is yet another victim of poor mastering in the early days of CD releases.