It’s not Rock n’ Roll- but I like it.

July 24, 2013February 8, 2015 ~ Cave_Guy ~ 5 Comments

I am stepping out of Rock music to highlight a few pieces “out of genre” that cut me right to the soul.

Talk about old school

Let’s take it back to someone who received a few more dabs of the stuff that makes man the image of God than the rest of us. Or if you don’t go for that- “The accidental combo of D.N.A that evolved by pure chance from the primordial soup and a dash of comet dust to create a perfect music producing specimen.” This is a one in [however many humans have ever been born] shot. What is that? About one in 4 trillion or something?

And I know time and upbringing and all manner of other things had to work together to make this genius happen. It did happen and he was a rock star for his time!

Mozart taps into the very essence of the joy of being human.

Miles Davies is cool

This sounds like walking deserted streets on a summer night with no fear because you know the town and it knows you- mixed with a complex and overwhelming feeling of loneliness. Refined to an actual entity so we can all join in and be alone together. I actually feel like I am part of one of those dime store detective novels when I hear this.

Country music does hold some amazing talent

This guy makes great music and I am not even sure if most country music fans really like him? He polishes the ridiculous into the sublime. This song works like Procol Harum’s Whiter shade of Pale. It grabs you and takes you on a cosmic journey. A sort of Texas psychedelic trip complete with ponies and Tonto telling the Lone Ranger to “kiss his ass”. This is just one favorite in a huge catalog of great songs.

Tupac is a legend

He was not around for very long and I totally get why they brought him back as a hologram. I love this song because it always makes me dance and lifts my spirits. This is not a great video so I would skip ahead to 1:18 and get to the start of the tune. Pure rock fans can argue all they want about how terrible hip hop music is but I do not agree. No genre of music is inherently bad.

All good music is derived from the same well of inspiration and there are many rivers to drink from and swim in.

Nanook.Ingerlaliinnaleqaagut Music is the universal language!

July 7, 2013July 8, 2013 ~ Cave_Guy ~ 5 Comments

Nanook.Ingerlaliinnaleqaagut

I was looking through all the countries that have visited the cave on my WordPress stat thingy and noticed this big area of Greenland with no hits at all…. So I figured I would take a visit myself and found these guys

This sound is both enchanting and comforting. It is like The Lumineers with some special ethereal Artic-ness added in. But I don’t want to call this band a knock-off of anything else because they are unique. They just seem to fit into this Nuevo folk music revival going on all over the world. I have no idea what they are saying but I know they sing truth because I can feel it. This dude takes regular notes and gently lifts his voice to a higher range flying to the heavens to produce a delightful resolution. This is pure magic. Maybe part of it is the language? I know French and Italian are called romantic but this language of Greenland is made for acoustic guitars and a gentle folk beat.

For more info on this band go to their website http://www.nanook.gl/bio.html

And give this a listen!

AWOLNATION.This kids not alright

May 15, 2013March 7, 2015 ~ Cave_Guy ~ 4 Comments

AWOLNATION.This kids not alright

Finally, something the kids can soak up and enjoy without thinking if they are supposed to like it. Without thinking if it is good or bad…without thinking if it is cool or un-cool…or if all their other peeps and haters are onboard—this is just play it and like it. Yes-this is what rock music is supposed to be.

The White Stripes.Seven Nation Army

April 26, 2013April 27, 2013 ~ Cave_Guy ~ 4 Comments

Wow…sometimes you just got to rock it out…I have said recently that the 0’s were the worst decade of rock music but it was not all bad. In fact, I think rock music started from the beginning and rebooted in that decade (I might write a wordy diatribe about this sometime?) but for now I give you White Stripes– Echoes of Son House and T-bone Walker complete with a crazy wild man singing and playing while a seriously nice respectable attractive lady bangs the drums….this is tasty stuff.

How Nickelback Saved Rock Music

April 8, 2013April 12, 2013 ~ Cave_Guy ~ 9 Comments

Rock dies and comes back all the time. Each generation shocks it back to new life. It will echo their frustration and pain; it will celebrate with them.

Yeah, yeah, yeah…that’s what I’d like to think but:

Nickelback was the greatest rock band in the worst era of rock music (the dreaded 0’s). They produced hit after hit and set the standard for commercial success while the music industry got derailed by the monster of file sharing. Like a sophisticated factory fishing vessel wiping out the last of the great whales, Nickelback harpooned and sliced their way to the top with mechanical precision. They took everything and reached a saturation point that made them the pinnacle of rock music.

Is that bad?

Every form of entertainment needs a good villain.

While the general average public was busy supporting their favorite band by buying tickets and CD’s and downloads-we serious types were doing way too much of thinking what good taste we had and not supporting quality music with our hard earned dollars. We can learn a lot from Nickelback fans.

It is simple and it works.

This band was formed for the sole purpose of making hits and making money. You have to respect them for getting away with it.

“Nickelback is prefabricated emotionless garbage, I need my music to live on the edge” -O.K fine, but isn’t it good to have a band that shows young people that even with limited talent and zero originality- you can still make a good living as a RockStar?

Someone needs to set the standard in order for all the haters to respond with stuff of their own.

And are they really that bad or are we just piling on? Admit it Rock Fans- if 5FDP does a version of “Follow you Home”…all the kids would love it.

Or if M83 all of a sudden were the biggest selling group in the world-All “serious music fans” would dismiss them as just “a bunch of over-important artsy monk-chanting mixed with atmospheric disco”.

So thank you Nickelback for helping me see that music for the masses has a place in this world.

I still can’t listen to you but thank you.

Kurt Cobain

April 5, 2013April 5, 2013 ~ Cave_Guy ~ 7 Comments

Hard to believe it’s been 19 years since we lost the last great named storm of rock music.

Silversun Pickups.The Pit

April 1, 2013April 3, 2013 ~ Cave_Guy ~ Leave a comment

Silversun Pickups with this song are psychotic-hypnotic-hipsterdisco-rock. Radiohead with a little sway; The Talking Heads from L.A instead of N.Y. This proves that Dave Letterman is still ice cool.

When I started doing this and all these great music bloggers were putting out a best of 2012 list-I had not listened to enough new music to join them- I am getting there and would throw this one on that list. (Yeah, a little late to the party but where are the plastic cups and I am good with whatever is in the keg, even if it is a little flat and warm by now, it still tastes great!)

Nostalgia is a Disease

March 9, 2013March 14, 2014 ~ Cave_Guy ~ 9 Comments

Nostalgia's not what it used to be — Nostalgia’s not what it used to be (Photo credit: marc e marc)

Warning! Nostalgia is coming up from the depths to sink your little ship of happiness. Nostalgia will rob you of great new experience happening all around you. Nostalgia will stop your brain from firing and creating new pathways as you learn and evolve…nostalgia is killing you! There is only one cure- new stuff for the brain.

I know this is rich coming from a guy that runs a blog about digging up good songs from everywhere. But the key here is: we dig them up and polish them off while trying to keep them in perspective; organizing these artifacts in line with their place in music history and go rescue some more. We don’t dwell on them and live with them…there is a reason that the past is gone and if you try to live there, you will diminish yourself to the point of an unfunny joke. Yes, nostalgia is that bad.

I can’t even listen to “classic rock” radio…Could you please play “Stairway” and “Freebird” again my brain is not numb; if I hear “Come Sail Away” or in fact anything else from Styx again…I am pretty sure with a good lawyer that I cannot be held responsible for the ensuing panic attack that will hit me. Why would you choose to live with this stuff and just stay there? The brain is not stretching and creating new things…it is stuck in dangerous limbo and suffocating on stale air. Get on that bus and head to the Church basement for a bingo game…it is over…you are done! (O.K, getting on a bus and attending a rousing bingo game is an upgrade for ‘Mr Classic Rock”)

So I strongly encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and find something different to tackle; I don’t care what it is. And when I say listen; I mean really get in to the depths of what they are saying and who they are saying it to, let the sound wash over you. Fall in love with a new band or genre…really listen.

And if you do this…magic might happen. The magic of understanding and really enjoying something that was unknown before. Now you are not just sampling something for the sake of exploration. You have added something new- you have forced the brain to change and grow. This does not mean that the old favorites will be replaced; the opposite happens as there is more variety to help frame them and place them in perspective. I did this a few years ago with Hip-Hop as I listened and listened ‘till I found something that would stick and gain traction in my rock n roll conscious. I discovered GZA from Wu-Tang and was blown away by the lyrical assassin. The beat is wrapped around the words and the words are something I did not expect- they are intelligent and insightful and relevant. The music is open to interpretation and can be enjoyed by people from all walks and ages and situations.

And this goes the other way as well. The 15 year old can learn a lot from ditching Mac Miller for a day and cranking up a little Led Zeppelin.

Exploration is not nostalgia-it is the opposite.

Concrete Blonde

February 25, 2013March 28, 2015 ~ Cave_Guy ~ 4 Comments

Concrete Blonde for Monday song time and today we have two. I don’t want to say I love this band or this band is cool, but I do and they are. It makes me glad to know they are still out there and working on a Brazil tour as I write this. The first song is the big hit Joey. The second is the first song I ever heard from this band and was hooked right then “True” sums it all up- a word to describe them. They have been a genuine alternative/underground/independent band the entire way. They give you all they have at live shows. I don’t know what else to say about them other than enjoy.

2nd Wonder of Rock-Abbey Road

February 22, 2013March 28, 2015 ~ Cave_Guy ~ 3 Comments

If there are no serious objections…I have found the second Wonder of rock music….Everyone knows that classic shot of the Beatles crossing the street here. Now I have to build a nice looking page for them.

Luna Florencia

I’m not a fan of graffiti, no matter how it’s done, but seeing quotes of songs from my all-time favourite band outside Abbey Road studios I was instantly taken. It was a beautiful reminder of just how influential the Beatles were and still are, but it also made me wish I’d been round to witness the Beatlemania 40 years ago.

Abbey Road, London