January 21, 2008

Modcast #81: All Part of Growing Up

It's only fitting that the opening to this week's show is from the soundtrack to Quadrophenia, that's The Who's Get Out and Stay Out which was one of three songs Pete Townsend penned specifically for the 1979 movie version of Quadrophenia. Fitting because as it turns out, this week's modcast has some sixties floor shakersas well as a whole lot of modish british punk from the same '79 era as the film.
  • The Who -- Get Out and Stay Out
  • Gentleman Wild -- You Gotta Leave
  • The Chasers - Inspiration
  • Georgie Fame & the Blue Flames -- Do the Dog
  • The Rezillos -- No
  • Monochrome Set -- He's Frank
  • The Piranhas -- Getting Beaten Up
  • The Buzzcocks -- Just Lust
  • The Zips -- Over and Over
  • The Diodes -- Child Star
  • Ed James -- Selling Out

Bonus Videos

The Buzzcocks -- Ever Fallen In Love




The Monochrome Set -- Jet Set Junta




January 13, 2008

Modcast #80: You'll Never Know


Welcome to Mr. Suave's Mod Mod World. Today's show is the first of the new year and pretty much covers all the bases, from mod gods The Jam to others like Game Theory, Airship, Cream and even The Beastie Boys. That's right, the Beastie Boys. So, don't waste any time. Jump right in, the listenin' is good.
  • The Jam -- The Planner's Dream Goes Wrong
  • The Now -- He's Takin' You to the Movies
  • Airship -- Get Out & Take Your Mother with You
  • The Faintest Idea -- The Anatomic Bomb
  • Game Theory -- I've Tried Subtlety
  • The Things -- Can't Get Enough
  • The Afternoons -- You'll Never Know
  • Now Time Delegation -- Nothin' But a Heartache
  • Cream -- Swlabr
  • The Great Society -- Double Triptamine Superautomatic Everlovin' Man
  • The Beastie Boys -- Pow

Questions or comments? E-mail me at rob@mistersuave.com.

January 2, 2008

Lounge Listening Recommendations For Your Sipping Pleasure

I recently tossed up a post about the Martini Mood complete with a basic martini recipe. Now I've got some lounge music recommendations for your sipping pleasure. These are reviews that I originally wrote for Mr. Suave's Swingin' Cocktail Lounge about a decade or so ago, at the birth of the cocktail nation. But, they're as true now as they were then, and having been listening to these disks again lately, I'd have to say my thoughts then are maybe even more right now. I mean when you consider the dreck that is passed off for lounge music these days, you have to admit that these earlier comps --while cheesy to be sure-- were the real deal.

The Love Handle Lounge is one of those rare CD compilations that grows on you a little more every time you play it. When I first listened to it I was disappointed, hardly touched it for several months. Then one magical day I went back to it, and I became a believer. Tracks from Tito Puente, Bert Kaempfert, Xavier Cugat and others will burn up your disk player. But nothing burns as hot as Jeri Southern's "An Occasional Man". Recommended.







NovaBossa: Red Hot on Verve highlights Bossa Nova, the new wave of the 1950s and 60s. A beautiful blend of samba, Afrocentric Brazilian rhythms and eccentric harmonies created by Joao Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim. After Jobim's and Gilberto's smash hit The Girl From Ipanema, American jazz artists like Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd made Bossa Nova all the rage in the states. Sergio Mendes, Walter Wanderly and others followed. This disk highlights some of the era's best Bossa Nova. Highly recommended.






Racey. Sexy. Sensual. Beat at Cinecitta has all of that covered with its "sensual homage to the raunchy, erotic, filmmusic from the vaults of Italian 60s & 70s cinema." This is music so cool it steams when you play it. A tremendous blending of sounds and harmonies, like pornmusic meets hipster-beat jazz. Italian arrangers Riz Ortolani, Teo Usuelli, Piero Piccioni and more make up one of the best disks of the year. Beware the accompanying booklet: if your aesthetic tendencies shy away from sexy photos and poster art from Italian erotic films, you'll want to leave it unopened when you listen to this one. Very hip and Highly Recommended.




Bachelor in Paradise is not the best compilation of lounge music I've ever heard, but it does have a few standout tracks. Ferrante & Teicher's "Theme from The Apartment" gets things off on the right foot. Nelson Riddle, Andre Previn, Juan Esquivel, and Percy Faith fill in the holes nicely. The tone is decidedly cinematic, and mellow. But lush as well, so the feel of the music goes beyond the movie score and creates a real lavish lounge sound that goes well with any cocktail. Recommended.








Easy Rhythms for Your Cocktail Hour: Music for a Bachelor's Den; Volume 4 If Your Cocktail Hour is bordering on the absurd you might want to throw this disk in the changer and let it run wild. The synthesizers, the organs, the zany Mel Henke. This CD has a little something for every lounge lover -- Richard Hyman, Ray Coniff, Enoch Light, and the ever suave Julie London -- and it delivers it all with a charge of electrcity so 60s like you'll be looking for the moog everytime you hear it. Recommended.