A couple of years ago while I was visiting my best friend, she gave me a CD she purchased, telling me she thought I'd like it. She enjoyed it, too, but thought the boyfriend and I would like it a bit more, and she was spreading the music love, something I totally agree with. 

She was spot on. Turns out she bought the CD because it was related to Jack Johnson, and back in the day she collected almost everything he produced. This happened to be a soundtrack that was done for one of his many surf movies (Thicker Than Water, The September Sessions). I quickly fell in love with it, and have listened to it on and off since. Since this month is one of those 'on' times, I thought I'd share the prettiness with you.

Sprout Soundtrack @ JackJohnsonMusic.com

Buy Sprout Soundtrack // Film 

Banderilla - Calexico MP3

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/10%20Banderilla.mp3]

Spanish Flowers - Sprout House Band MP3

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/12%20Spanish%20Flowers.mp3]

Practice Twice - Sam Prekop MP3

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/01%20Practice%20Twice.mp3]

Otherwordly Beats + Caterwauling + Ear Sex = Thievery Corporation 

I considered not writing this post, thinking, "Everybody has to know who the Thievery Corporation is…", but then I realized that even if one of you didn't know who they were before you read this post, then it was all for something. I'm so nice. And it would defeat our purpose.

Thievery Corporation was introduced to me by a friend when he was drunk, telling me how awesome they were. I took all this with a grain of salt, but he did burn me a disc with some of their stuff. I guess some people can communicate honestly when intoxicated. Well. I got hooked.

Some of you may be familiar with the track "Lebanese Blonde", which was featured on the Garden State soundtrack. (I swear, every song in the world has been featured on that soundtrack, and I've never even seen the bloody film.) They recently released their album "Versions" in 2006, which is a compilation album featuring a handful of outside artists. 

Possible categories: electronic, dub, acid jazz, lounge, world, ambient, experimental, indie, etc. 

What I like about Thievery Corporation is the global feel they have. They combine styles of music from all over, and languages, too, which makes for a quality blend of sound. Added to their political bent, you get music which is a sign of the times, and to me, representative of ever-increasing surge in globalization. (I'm an anthropology major, what can I say. <<—That. ) 

So, you have quick rundown of Thievery Corporation, a handful of links, and some selected mp3s. They're quite hard to choose, because TC is one of those groups whose albums have 12 out of 13 uber tracks. The ones I chose are from the albums I'm more familiar with. I'm not writing a band history because I don't care what year the DJ was born in. Its all about the music, dawg.

Related Links:

Thievery Corporation Official Website

Thievery Corporation on MySpace

Thievery Corporation Wikipedia Entry

Thievery Corporation at Last.FM

Related Ear Sex(doing a bit different):

Le Monde

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/02%20-%20Le%20Monde.mp3] 

Facing East

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/02%20-%20Facing%20East.mp3] 

Lebanese Blonde

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/04%20-%20Lebanese%20Blonde.mp3] 

Heaven's Gonna Burn Your Eyes 

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/01%20-%20Heaven%27s%20Gonna%20Burn%20Your%20Eyes.mp3] 

Jazz + Ska + Pop-Rock + Down-Under + Reggae = Excellence 

Two Shoes - The Cat Empire (2005)

The Cat Empire Official Website 

Label: Velour Recordings 

I've had the sublime luck to get my hands on The Cat Empire. 

I feel like a bad person now, because I hadn't heard them before, or spread the word about how amazingly rockin' they are. Australia continuously pumps out the music, the good stuff that we shouldn't go without.

We (refers to my infamous boyfriend, the guy I bounce everything off of) put this album in mid-blast to check out while we did a Spring clean yesterday, and after the first track, we turned it up full-blast and yelled to each other, wide-eyed, "These guys are ***king awesome!"

After some bopping and cleaning, I asked the boyfriend what he thought (he's a VERY harsh critic), and he admitted to infatuation. Excellent.  

Two Shoes is excellent. A wild, upbeat fusion of jazz, reggae, ska, hip-hop, with influences of Cuban, Latin, and Aussie music. The actual quality of the instrumentals and vocals is amazing; a band comprised of six main members plus "The Empire Horns" works together very well. The loose down-under accents of the vocals gives me a deja vu of British ska, whilst making it a very relaxed and lazy fun.  

The album was just released in the U.S, after being a double platinum down under. This is the first album of theirs I've had the luck to listen to, so hopefully I'll be getting my hands on other material. Short of comparing this work with their other work, I can say just by this listen that the album is awesome, and has immediately been filed into my favorites.

I'm not sure how successful they'll be in the U.S.; not because they lack talent or anything of the sort, but because the U.S. music scene differs greatly from the prominent, popular music in Australia. Perhaps the U.S isn't ready for their unique, crazed sound, as prevalent music here seems to be emo-metal and bubblegum pop, r&b, and hip-hop. We'll see. I hope they'll be a hit, because then they'll probably take a tour, perhaps making their way down to see me. Yay. 

Some favorites: "Protons, Neutrons, Electrons", "The Chariot", "Two Shoes", and "Sol Y Sombra".  

Final Verdict: Definitely worth listening to, and buying. Make a trip out today and pick it up–seriously.  

The Cat Empire - Sly

[audio:The%20Cat%20Empire%20-%20Sly.mp3]

The Cat Empire - Two Shoes

[audio:The%20Cat%20Empire%20-%20Two%20Shoes.mp3]

The Cat Empire - Hotel California (Released on Like a Version by Triple J, an Australian radio giant) 

[audio:The_Cat_Empire_-_Hotel_California.mp3]

Stream "The Chariot"

Related Visual:

"Sly" on David Letterman (YouTube) 

 Related Links:

Buy This Album!

The Cat Empire Official Website

The Cat Empire on MySpace

Bio on Wikipedia 

Jazz // Contemporary R&B // Soul

Ooh, a fabulous combination of a hot voice, sound lyrics, smooth beats, and a hint of reggae, unless my ear is wrong….straight out of England, too! What could get better? A little bit, actually. While Amy Winehouse's new album is impressive in style, bold lyrics and bringing an old genre of music back to the forefront and mainstream, her album sounds tired. The album is almost entirely set in the sixties, reminescent of The Supremes and Diana Ross, which makes for a good change of pace but also a lack of originality. Theres a traditional snappy beat, with backup vocals that remind me of a 'Dirty Dancing' summer. "Rehab" is the first track on the album, and a single, I believe, which is understandably popular. "They tried to make me go to rehab/I said No, no, no/They tried to make go to rehab/And I won't go, go, go" is autobiographical in nature, according to some sources on the net. Drama aside, my personal favorites are "Rehab" and "You Know I'm No Good". Have a listen, it makes for good music but not a breakthrough album. I'm a tough critic, apparently. Final Verdict : Take it for a spin and make up your own mind. Jazz and soul is always good (in my book), but don't expect a favorite.

Related Audio:

Rehab 

[audio:http://themusicisart.com/miaxx/rehab.mp3] 

You Know I'm No Good

[audio:http://www.snapdrive.net/files/114532/You%20Know%20I'm%20No%20Good.mp3]

More By Amy Winehouse

Related Links:

Amy Winehouse Official Website

Amy Winehouse on MySpace

Buy This CD

Desert Rock // Jazzy // Latin Guitar

This track, available at Calexico's website, is a good representation of their melted pot of music. The album has a desert feel, ripe with solitude and and a road trip soundtrack sound. Add a dash of jazz and you have Feast of Wire. (Like my cooking analogies?) A Calexico review is coming, stay tuned.

 >> Across the Wire

[audio:http://www.casadecalexico.com/download/acrossthewire-acou-hb.mp3]

Related Links 

Calexico Official Website

Calexico on MySpace