A couple of sentences in an old music magazine got me going and I felt I needed to listen some more music by Ryan Adams. I got the album Pneumonia by Whiskeytown a couple of years ago and really liked it. At that time I did not even know Ryan Adams was a member of that group.

I went to the library and got four albums by Adams with me home. After listening to them for a few days two albums stands out as my favourites at the moment, Easy Tiger and Jacksonville City Nights.

I guess most of you are aware of a british group called The Beatles. The only way to enjoy them digitally is on either CD or by playing the game The Beatles: Rock Band. They are not available on iTunes or Spotify.

But the other day I found a really nice way of enjoying their incredible music anyway. I did a search for their songs on Spotify and I have to tell you there are plenty of recordings of their music by other artists there. Some are totally unknown and sounds like a cover band playing an exciting set of Lennon/McCartney songs in a hotel bar on Mallorca at three o’clock in the afternoon. But some recordings are from established and known artists.

It was here that I found Dolly Parton’s stunning bluegrass version of “Help!”. It was recorded for the 1979 album “Great Balls of Fire” and is well worth checking out. I can guarantee that you are in a better mood and life seems brighter after you have listened to it.

Listen to Dolly Parton – Help! on Spotify.

To answer the question in the heading… Yes, way better!

I discovered the norwegian progressive metal band Pagan’s Mind a couple of years ago and listened to their first two albums. If I should compare them to anything else it has to be Dream Theater but another way to describe them would be as a happy medium between two fellow norwegian bands, not quite as “dark, scary and angry” as Dimmu Borgir and not quite as soft and pop as A-ha.

Recently I found out that they had released a new album called God’s Equation and I looked it up on Spotify. Oh my God (’s Equation) it was good! They have definitaly made their best album to date here. Everything is top-notch and the songs are not just showcases for how good they are at their instrument. The music is powerful, energetic and dare I say catchy. I have serious difficulty to sit still and shut up when I listen to this album, I play air-guitar, air-drums and sing like a maniac… it sounds like crap but I am in heaven.

Take a listen to God’s Equation on Spotify.

You can also listen to them on YouTube.

I came across this album cover the other day on the internet and thought it looked kind of cool. Then when I read what music it was, it made the whole thing so much better. I could not believe it!

Just for fun I removed the title and information on the cover and have now posted it here. Can you guess what artist or music it is?

I will post the original cover in a few days. Feel free to post you answers or comments. Good Luck!

I bought some more vinyl last weekend at the local charity shop and here is what I got.

Styx – Crystal Ball (1976)
Never heard this album by Styx before or anything else by them for that matter, except their 1983 concept album Kilroy Was Here which I got on vinyl when I was younger. I remember really liking that album but it being kind of corny at the same time. But it did have some pretty catchy tunes and I dare you to listen to the tracks “Heavy Metal Poisoning” or “Mr Roboto” without secretly smiling and singing along to Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto?

Philip Lynott – Solo in Soho (1980)
Mr Thin Lizzy’s first solo album. I have never heard it before but have read good things about it. A lot of great guest musicians, current and former Lizzy members played on the album including Huey Lewis. Yes, it is the same man as in Huey Lewis and the News! According to the interweb he played some harmonica with Thin Lizzy.

It’s Hip to Be Square!

Thin Lizzy – Jailbreak (1976)

I have never listened much to Thin Lizzy, I bought an album a few years ago after reading a very interesting article in Sweden Rock Magazine. The album was called “Bad Reputation” and was really good. It was not your typical Thin Lizzy twin-guitar rock album but showed them in a different light with some more acoustic and folkmusic inspired songs. The album Jailbreak has to be one of the more classic Lizzy albums with both “The Boys are back in town” and the title track “Jailbreak”. Two tracks killed to death by thousands of pub rock bands. This vinyl edition was quite nice with a cartoon like cover and a cut-out in the TV.

Deep Purple – Fireball (1971)
An album with the classic Mk II lineup of Deep Purple. I am sure I have heard a couple of the tracks on this album but from just looking at the titles on the back I can not recall anything… but I do like the title “Demon’s Eye”… That sound evil enough too be cool…

Here is a hilarious clip from the movie Mystery Men, a “forgotten little movie” with an amazing cast. Unfortunately it is not the best script in the world but it has some great moments and this is one of them, a battle of the brains between Captain Amazing and Casanova Frankenstein…

Here is one of the darkest pieces of Star Wars music, “The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme)“, played in one of the Death Star elevators. This clip is from the Family Guy hour-long episode Blue Harvest which is a “tribute-remake-parody” of the movie Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

Lovely stuff and quite funky…

Now, I am going to ruin this moment a little by giving some nerdy facts… “The Imperial March” was first heard in Star Wars Episode V:The Empire Strikes Back, so how can it possibly be played in this elevator?

Maybe Darth Vader commissioned this piece of music by John Williams first and tried it out on the Death Star before he made it is own personal theme?

Are you a collector? Yes? No? Records? Stamps?

Now you do not have to choose, you can collect both records and stamps and be twice the nerd.

I have to find some pen pals from the UK and in my opinion they have managed to pick out some very good albums, both musically and with great cover art.

“For decades the album sleeve has been the canvas for some of the most
imaginative graphic artists in the world. This stamp issue salutes this unique art form and celebrates some of the greatest examples, used by UK artists.”

Read more about these cool stamps and other British stamps and postmarks at Norvic Philatelics.

There is nothing like standing in front of a big pile of laundry and wondering where to start?

But today I got some help from the guys in Slayer. I folded the laundry while listening to their new album World Painted Blood. The album sounds great with your typical aggressive Slayer sound and great performances from all members.

But I bet they never thought that they recorded laundry-folding-music… He He

The other day I felt like listening to the song 21st Century Schizoid Man. I have been listening to and enjoying progressive rock for quite some time now but never really listened to the band King Crimson. I guess you need to find the right album to start with because from what I have gathered they are an unreliable bunch when it comes to the music. And when I write they I guess I mean Robert Fripp…? I did take home the album Three of a Perfect Pair from the library but never really got into it, but I am ready now to give it another go.

But I watched a documentary a while ago and on it they talked about the birth of prog rock and they played the track 21st Century Schizoid Man from the album In the Court of the Crimson King and it was just awesome! That track might not have been buried for the rest of the world but for me it was quite and ear-opener and had been more of less buried to me.

I  did a search for the track on Spotify but the original recording by King Crimson were nowhere to be found, actually no recordings by King Crimson are available there, at least by the time I write this. Here it were the second buried treasure is found…

Instead of the original recording I found a whole bunch of cover versions of the song and listened to the swedish death metal group Entombed and their version which I had heard before. After it came a version by the Canadian band April Wine. I have never heard them before and I must say that their version was really great! They have rearranged it slightly and it is kind of a cross between progressive and southern rock.

April Wine was one of those bands which I had heard little about and never paid much attention to. They were lost along with other bands with semi-metallic looking band logos and names like Steel Virgin, Great White and Molly Hatchet.

April Wine’s cover of “21st Century Schizoid Man” is available on their album Harder… Faster from 1980.