With Amy Winehouse going bat-shit crazy, the record companies seem to be trying to capitalize on this retro sound that is getting attention. Sharon Jones did it, but it the cd did not sell that well. XRT have been playing this new song called “Mercy”, that has this retro sound to it. The singer sounds a lot like Beth Ditto from the Gossip, a great band well worth a listen. Still not sure why they are not being played in the US, but oh well.
Anyways, “Mercy” is not The Gossip, its a singer from England called Duffy. She is getting a lot of attention lately, and rightly so, because she has got a great voice. The songs are ok, but I think the reason that I enjoy “Mercy” so much is because it reminds me of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie. The bass in the background of the song reminds of some part in the movie where either Danny is talking to Splinter or the Foot are sneaking up on April. I just can’t figure it out.
Hopefully I am not crazy and making this up. But if I don’t figure this out by the end of the day I am going to have to steal the Travers Family VHS copy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Check out Beth Ditto and her band, The Gossip, at Hype Machine or their myspace.
Check out Duffy at Hypemachine or at her myspace.
If you only read this for the TMNT content, check out this video of mistakes made in the movie.

Being so close to St Patrick’s day, I wanted to talk about the Saw Doctors. Maybe the best way to describe them is that they are like an irish version of Jimmy Buffet or The Grateful Dead. There songs are simple, catchy, and sometimes funny. Also, they tour around the world almost non-stop with a tremendous following despite no radio play outside of Ireland. The bassist has been replaced a few times and so has the drummer, but the two main members of the group are still with the group. One original member actually quit the group after he won the lottery. And since the group has a crappy myspace, you can check out their songs here. (I don’t usually like posting songs on this website, but I find there’s no other way).

MP3: I Useta Love Her

MP3: That’s What She Said Last Night

MP3: Joyce County Ceili Band

And in the spirit of giving away songs on The Bruce Blog, I am posting a mix of songs. Other blogs do mixes for holidays, so I thought that I would make one. I am not going to post a bunch of traditional Irish songs, just the ones that I, as an second generation Irish-American from the Northwest Side of Chicago, know as Irish. And the "South Side Irish" will definitely not be included.

And like the disclaimer on the other blogs like to say, "if you like the music, please buy it. If you represent an artist or label an would prefer that I remove any mp3, let me know and I will take it down immediately."

1. Dropkick Murphys – Shipping Up To Boston They are getting popular again because of The Departed, but every wanna-be Irish kid had a Dropkick Murphys shirt when I was growing up.

2. House of Pain – Top O’ The Morning to Ya The rap group that young irish wannabes of the generation before me would listen to.

3. Flogging Molly – Devil’s Dance Floor Irish band of my younger brothers irish wannabe generation.

4. Tossers – Tell Me Ma Great song from a great band from Chicago. Best version is with Van Morrison and The Cheiftans, but this is good too.

5. Van Morrison and the Chieftans – Irish Heartbeat Another song from that same album.

6. Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem – Johnny McEldoo With so many songs about rebellion and drinking, this one is about eating.

7. Clancy Brothers – Seven Drunken Nights This is a great one about drinking.

8. Wolfetones – Big Strong Man All time favorite sing-a-long song.

9. Pogues – Dirty Old Town Great Irish punk band fronted by the ugliest man alive.

10. Waterboys – Fisherman’s Blues Didn’t discover this till I started dj-ing the Thatch, but also a good sing-a-long song.

11. Thin Lizzy – Running Back Not an irish song, but was an irish band. It doesn’t fit the theme, deal with it.

Here is a zip file of the whole mix if you want to download it all together.

Zooey Deschanel only keeps on getting cooler.  She was great as the sister in Almost Famous, the romantic interest in Elf and the batshit-crazy ex-girlfriend in Weeds.  I am sure that she is the reason that “Baby It’s Cold Outside” became so popular a couple years ago after she sang it in Elf.  She was supposed to be in a Janis Joplin biopic (even though it has been “indefinitely postponed”).  I used to think it was her in Fox’s Bones, but Kevin corrected me and pointed out that it was her sister, Emily.

   Her newest  venture is in music with indie rocker M. Ward as She & Him.  They are mellow tunes, but you can’t deny that she has a great voice.  Great cover of a Miracles/Smokey Robinson song You Really got a Hold on Me.  Another good one is Sentimental Heart.  But I am not a talker; you can find a good review of their album on Stereogum.

   The album doesn’t come out till March 18, but if Stereogum is reviewing it, you can probably find the whole cd floating around the internet.  Take a listen to some over at Hype Machine.

In 98, my boombox was blasting Van Halen and Led Zeppelin.  I hadn’t heard that much of it before, so classic rock was basically new music to me.  I didn’t get much into new bands till college.  Stereogum has a post about the ten year anniversary of Neutral Milk Hotel’s Airplane Over the Sea.  I was probably too busy deciding if I was more partial to David Lee Roth or Sammy Hagar in Van Halen, so I never listened to Neutral Milk Hotel and I missed out on the nostalgia part.  Apparently, it is a definitive album of the nineties; a lot of people talk about it like they would talk about Weezer’s Blue Album or Radiohead’s OK Computer.  Anyways, check it out on Hype Machine.