Dance | LovetheMusic

The Buena Vista Social Club was a club in Havana, Cuba that was popular in the forties for holding dances and jam sessions. It has since closed, and is now a recording by Juan de Marcos Gonzalez, and Ry Cooder. I’ve got one of the BVSC albums, and recently got my hands on one called Rhythms Del Mundo: Cuba. It features covers of popular songs with la Cuban flair. It’s very cool. Who knew that Coldplay’s Clocks would be so good with that beat? And Maroon 5’s She Will Be Loved is a definite improvement, as I hate that song anyway. Yikes.

This album was also created to help fund APE, or Artists’ Project Earth, a very cool organization that is concerned with climate change and other humane earthly issues.

I’d love to post the whole album, cos its great, but then I’m sure I’d get into nasty legal trouble. Just to give you an idea, here’s the tracklisting:

1. Clocks - Coldplay
2. Better Together - Jack Johnson
3. Dancing Shoes - Arctic Monkeys
4. One Step Too Far - Dido & Faithless
5. As Time Goes By - Ibrahim Ferrer
6. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For -
U2 & Coco Freeman
7. She Will Be Loved - Maroon 5
8. Fragilidad - Sting
9. Killing Me Softly - Omara Portuondo
10. Ai No Corrida - Vania Borges feat. Quincy Jones
11. Modern Way - Kaiser Chiefs
12. Don’t Know Why - Vania Borges
13. Hotel Buena Vista - Aquila Rose & Idania Valdez
14. The Dark of the Matinee - Coco Freeman feat.
Franz Ferdinand
15. High and Dry - El Lele de Los Van Van feat.
Radiohead (samples)

Really, really kickass links (if you don’t know about the BVSC, definitely check it out. Music lovers will appreciate.)

Rhythms Del Mundo // APE // MySpazz (RDM) // Buena Vista Social Club (Wiki) // Buena Vista Documentary (PBS) // YouTube Video showing the collaboration

BUY THE ALBUM

Coldplay - Clocks [5:02m]: Play in Popup | Download

Jack Johnson - Better Together [3:28m]: Play in Popup | Download

Maroon 5 - She Will Be Loved [4:06m]: Play in Popup | Download

Coco Freeman & U2 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For: Play in Popup | Download

Astute readers may have noticed a recent sharp decline in my commentary on opening bands at the last few shows I’ve been to. Normally I like to give them a reasonable amount of room in my review because, if they’re good, they deserve a bit more exposure. This past few weeks, however, going back to the Arcade Fire on Sept. 26, I’ve had a bad habit of showing up kind of late.
I would like to say that the two songs I caught from LCD Soundsystem at the Arcade Fire show were excellent. They play an interesting mix of indie rock and electronic dance music, and are not afraid to jam on either of those tips. Their last song was called “New York, I love you But You’re Bringing me Down” and I thought it was decidedly worth listening to you, so that’s the song I’ll be providing.
The Bravery opened up for the Smashing Pumpkins, and I likewise only heard the last couple of songs. I rather enjoy their hit single “Time Won’t Let me Go” because I can relate to it; I never had a Summer of ‘69, either. I assume this was played earlier in the set because I didn’t recognize any of the stuff I heard. And if I heard it again, I still don’t think I’d recognize it, whereas I could tell either LCD Soundsystem song I heard, and maybe spot some stuff I didn’t hear as being LCD SS. The Bravery sounded pretty much like…I dunno what the hip kids are calling the genre, but whatever you’d call the Killers. Also: Bands from New York and LA, you look as stupid in skin-tight denim as Stryper looked in spandex twenty years ago. Cut it out, seriously.
Really all I can tell you about the bands that opened for Saves the Day is that they were called Single File and Dr. Manhattan, and that Dr. Manhattan is a really cool name for a band. I missed these sets due to all the walking involved in getting to Kilby that night. Sorry guys, maybe next time.
So the winners of the winners of Best Opening Band during my Early Autumn Concert Blitz is LCD Soundsystem. Give ‘em a nice round o’ applause!