Thanks to the damage sustained by one of my readers when listening to the irresistibly catchy toe tappy-ness of The Cat Empire as described in my last rant about Aussie music, this edition of what’s on my ipod comes with a warning not to follow the links unless you are prepared for some uncontrolled foot tapping.
Todays music post is about the amazing Ash Grunwald. While I was looking for videos to share with you I played this one, Walking, which was used in the movie Limitless http://youtu.be/dovf9HCgYAs. The ears of the Man of the House, whose musical tastes stalled about 20 years ago, perked up and he said ‘ooh, I like this one, turn it up’. There is hope for him yet. When you watch the clip look at the black instrument the drummer on the left is playing. Yes, he is using a hammer, yes, it is a car door.
I first encountered the blues/roots playing Ash Grunwald when he performed on the very funny Australian comedy/news TV show, Good News Week. He wandered up on stage with his guitar and just let loose. He was totally amazing and judging by the reaction of the crowd I wasn’t the only one who thought so. Here is the link to it http://youtu.be/YvcgMFg1RHQ. The best part starts at 3:00, and the bit where he sings ‘maybe we could do that speedy-up thing that makes me sound good’ and then really speeds it up, ad-libbing the end of the song is priceless 🙂
I also found him doing an amazing live version of Robert Johnson’s Crossroads in 2004
At this point I am going to tell you one of the methods I use to check if I am correct in thinking a particular song is good.
I will sit in the loungeroom while the boys (aged 9 and 11) are on the Wii and play it. If I can put it on loud enough for them to not be able to hear the game they are playing and there are no complaints it is obviously good. If they start unconciously singing along while they are playing their game I know I am onto a winner.
While I am typing this they are choosing to sing along with the chorus of Ash Grunwald’s Breakout instead of listening to Sonic the Hedgehog. High praise indeed.
OK. My toes are irrevocably damaged beyond repair and I don’t trust you enough yet to chance another link. But, just so you know it’s not an anti-Aussie refusal I decided to listen to something I haven’t heard in a while that lets me just swing my feet gently. Carefully avoiding the pitfalls of going straight to ‘Down Under’ by Men at Work I’ve decided to share something relaxing, so how about a little Colin Hay? And no, I don’t mean Colin Hay is little. Here’s a link to ‘Overkill’ for those of you with good memories and who perhaps enjoyed Scrubs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpn_lNjPuec&feature=fvst Enjoy it my peeps and accept that I’m not out to damage our feet like a certain nameless blogger.
Thank you for that! Overkill is just a lovely song, isn’t it and I haven’t listened to it for ages 🙂 Of course as soon as I hear the dulcet tones of Colin Hay my brain is singing Down under, draping an Aussie flag over its shoulders and running around shouting ‘you’d better run, you’d better take cover….’
I understand that you are saving your feet but please click on the link for crossroads at the very least!! It is an amazing cover of a song often done badly, your life will be the poorer for missing out!
I’ll be honest…I’m not big on blues but oh my god…this guy can sing! My jaw literally dropped during Crossroads. A-mazing.
I am not a massive blues fan either but I can’t resist him! That version of Crossroads is just watching an artist at work isn’t it.
It is indeed. I really like the fact that he’s a real muso and not just in it for the ‘look at me I’m a star’ type ego trip. You can tell he /feels/ that music right down to his toes.
Damn you Daud! After listening to Overkill I had to listen to Land Down Under…where will it stop?
I’m listening to Crossroads and weeping openly into my Coconut Mocha coffee. Also, so happy you advocate Robert Johnson. I discovered him when I started reading a book called Wolf Whistle, by Lewis Nordan. I met Nordan during my undergrad degree and he talked about his process for writing the novel. It involved late nights and copious amounts of Robert Johnson. I’ve not yet heard a Robert Johnson cover that was worthy of acknowledgment. Until now, of course. Fabulous.
I wanted to check that Crossroads cover was worth including in this post and even though my download speed slowed to less than dial up (curse you Telstra!) I waited for it to load.
Yes, it took hours. Yes, it was totally worth it. (Yes, I swore at the innocent computer. A lot.)
I’m so glad you enjoyed it as much as I did, although most of my tears were relief that I could finally watch the damn thing and go to bed! 🙂