This song from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra was introduced to me by a friend of mine freshman year of college. I always feel like it has this special rocking out quality because it would be playing during parties in our little dorm room and get huge (positive) reactions from the crowd. Let’s give it another spin this holiday season, with a video of what appears to be some rich dude who synchronized his house lights (etc. and i mean ETC.) to the jam. This man is serious about his TSO.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra – Christmas Eve/ Sarajevo 12/24:
Today’s Holiday Jam is one of the season’s best. Originally released in 1994, Mariah Carey‘s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” was an instant classic. No matter how many times I hear it each year, it’s one Christmas song that I never get sick of. Mariah just released a new dance remix of the song this year, but, in my opinion, you shouldn’t mess with the original.
A couple of days ago in Sparta, Wisconsin, a man dressed up in a santa suit stumbled out of a car and proceeded to hug and then interrogate a groups of kids about the whereabouts of his reindeer. Obviously, he was wasted at the time, and was later cited for open intoxicants. Sounds pretty funny to us.
Today’s Holiday Jam is a shoutout to all the reindeer out there, especially our homeboy Rudolph, in this hot version from The Temptations. I guess they just released their 48th album back in 2007! That’s kind of nuts. Kind of like this video.
In a profile today in the Times, landscape architect turned “tree-hugger”, Scott Martin of Torrance, California explains his new Christmas tree rental service. His business is centered around the concept of delivering live, potted Christmas trees that are taken away and re-planted after the holiday is over. Mr. Martin, who delivered trees for a nursery as a teenager in California, explains “California is more attached to the green movement, so they are more willing to try this service here.” To rent a tree, you would visit his website, livingchristmas.com, pick out a tree from among several varieties, and schedule your delivery. Prices range from $50 to $185 depending on size and type of the tree and the recommended length of stay for a tree in a house is two-three weeks. One of the coolest thing about this service is that after the tree is picked up and re-planted, customers have the option of renting the same tree the following year so it may return taller. I don’t know how good that is for the tree, being uprooted and re-planted annually but it’s certainly better than chopping it down. I won’t be surprised if this business concept catches on around the country.
As we are just a week away from Christmas Eve, today marks the start of our week-long Holiday Jam of the Day series. We’re starting things off with a Christmas tree classic from A Charlie Brown Christmas. “O Tannenbaum”, originally a German song, has many versions and is often referred to as “Oh Christmas Tree” here in the U.S., but this is my favorite.
As I mentioned in my post yesterday, the N.A.S.A album, The Spirit of Apollo, has continued to rock since its release in early 2009. In addition to all the musicians who collaborated on the music, fine artists were paired with animators to create all of the album’s official videos. One of my favorites, “Whachadoin?” is below. I hope that we don’t have to wait another six years for the next album.
N.A.S.A. – Whachadoin? (ft. M.I.A., Spank Rock, Santogold, & Nick Zinner):
After a 30-year court battle, the Shinnecock Indians of Long Island finally won their case, proving that they meet the criteria for federal recognition as a Native American tribe. This federal recognition will allow them to pursue their plans to build a casino in New York City or its suburbs. The Shinnecock Indian nation has 1,066 members, most of whom live on 800 acres in Southampton, NY. As Randy King, chairman of the Shinnecock trustees said in a statement cited by the Times, “This recognition comes after years of anguish and frustration for many members of our Nation, living and deceased … Perhaps this recognition will help some of our neighbors better understand us and foster a new mutual respect.” The Shinnecocks would only be approved to build a “Class II” casino on their own land, which could feature video slot machines but no table games. Some tribal leaders have expressed interest in building elsewhere in the state so that they could build a “Class III” casino which they think would be more lucrative for the tribe and the state. The state would get no proceeds from the “Class II” casino, but they would be likely to insist on a percentage of the proceeds if the tribe is allowed to build elsewhere.
Money is what it’s all about these days and N.A.S.A. knows how the Shinnecock’s are feeling. That’s just what they’re talking about in “Money,” one of the best singles of of their debut album The Spirit of Apollo that came out earlier this year. We first talked about N.A.S.A. back in April and we haven’t stopped listening since. N.A.S.A. is a creative collaboration between Sam Spiegel (Squeak E. Clean) and Ze Gonzales (DJ Zegon). Sam Spiegel is a producer, composer, DJ, and remixer based in L.A. and Ze Gonzales is a DJ who made a name for himself on the Brazillian club scene and later as part of the rap-rock group Planet Hemp.
There are so many people on this album, including Kanye West, M.I.A., Santogold, Lykke Li, Spank Rock, and some of their musical heroes like Tom Waits and David Byrne (who is featured on “Money”). N.A.S.A. stands for North America/South America and is rooted in and permeated by Brazillian funk. There are a number of unexpected collaborations on the seventeen track release. As Spiegel explains on their MySpace page, the tracks themselves dictated who would be asked to collaborate, “we never said, ‘let’s make a track for this person.’ We’d usually make something we liked, and then as we were starting to write the song, it would tend to go in a direction that we’d be like, ‘this sounds like George Clinton,’ or ‘this sounds like Method Man.’ We would start to feel the song out, and feel the artist through the song as we did it. Basically, we’d sit around as we were making these tracks and say the nuttiest combination of names, like our dream of who we could get on the song. It’s crazy, a lot of times they actually happened.” A full-length documentary film about the creation of the album is nearing completion. It is said to include interviews with many of the artists who contributed to The Spirit of Apollo and some footage from the studio sessions. It’s the type of album that you listen to again and again and always hear something new. It sounds like the soundtrack from an epic party that you will never forget. This album rocks and I think it’s selling now for only $10 on iTunes; I know what my friends are getting this holiday season.
N.A.S.A. – Money (feat. David Byrne, Chuck D, Ras Congo, Seu Jorge, & Z-Trip):
East Village to Brooklyn 