New Music: The Rapture

Not a new group, to be sure.  After all, they wrote and play my favorite dance anthem (dancthem?) ever.  Catch that and their new tune from video game Grand Theft Auto below:

MP3: No Sex for Ben (from the GTA soundtrack)

MP3: WAYUH

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The Lionheart Brothers’ MySpace ponderings…

I thought this was one of the best self-described band summarizations I have seen.

Imagine that The Lionheart Brothers are a plant. The roots delve into the ground, while the petals reach for the sky. The roots are firmly thrust into the carnal nature of punk while the petals yearn for the grandeous and heavenly pop. It was upon this foundation that Audun Storset and Marcus Forsgren decided to explore the great and slight mysteries of music when they met and created their musical vision. Every nook and cranny of the reality of playing music was to be tested- the Norwegian tendency of moderation and narrow-mindedness was to be challenged. Today this still is much of the focus for the Brothers – limits are supposed to be pushed, but in the end it is all about creating magical music.

And I really wanted an excuse to post this outrageously great song:

Buy The Lionheart Brothers/MP3: 50 Souls and A Discobowl

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New Thirtysomethings on The Block

The New Kids on the Block have reunited and performed for the first time in 15 years.  The band broke up in 1984 after selling over 70 million albums worldwide, but have decided to get back together as they anticipate their new album coming out in the fall.

The band fits in perfectly with the theory that myself and some friends share: that the 1980s did not end on December 31, 1989, but rather stretched into the early to mid-1990s.  Looking at the NKOTB’s career, one is hard-pressed to make a counterargument.  So in celebration as we look back to this wonderful part of music’s history, a few mp3s:

MP3: The Right Stuff

MP3: Hangin’ Tough

MP3: Please Don’t Go Girl

MP3: Step by Step (check out those disco strings!)

Music and Wine Playlist

Last night I ate at a restaurant called Silk Road. It is a Chinese restaurant on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, and from the moment you walk in to the moment you leave, wine is literally thrust upon you. Oh, did I mention it’s free with your meal? Needless to say, Silk Road is a must for all visitors (and residents, for that matter) of New York.

And with that, I give you the top 10 songs about wine (top 5 after the jump; click on the word “wine” for mp3s):

10. Mancini and Mercer-Days of Wine and Roses (performed by Dianna Krall and Cassandra Wilson). “The days of wine and roses laugh and run like a child at play.”

9. The Cardigans-I Need Some Fine Wine and You, You Need to Be Nicer. “So I need some fine wine, and you, you need to be nicer, for the good times and the bad times that we’ll have.”

8. Johnny Cash-He Turned Water Into Wine. “He turned the water into wine, in the little Canaan town, the word went all around, he turned the water into wine.

7. Sondre Lerche-Virtue and Wine. “ Virtue and wine cannot help you swim,pain and sorrow must come if you go.”

6. Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross-Gimme That Wine. “Gimme that wine (Unhand that bottle) ’cause I can’t cut loose without my juice. Gotta have hot lucy when I go walkin’ y’know.”