Tag Archive for: music

h2o mp3: Crazy Water – Was (Not Was)

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This very catchy, funky bluesy track isn’t about plain water, but “crazy water” and the economic boom and bust it created during and after Prohibition in a small Texas town. In 2008 the cult-favorite band Was (Not Was) released its first album in 16 years, called “Boo!” (For more on their story including how they came up with that band name, read this article on npr.org or this first-person account from the Seattle Times.)

Lyrics
In a deserted town at the corner of Main and Third
there’s nothing moving, not a butterfly nor bird
used to be some action here,
big motel and movie stars
but its been like judgement day,
trains and planes and fancy cars
The Senator’s Son and the President’s Daughter,
all came to town for that Crazy Water.

It was the pride of northern Texas,
an oasis cool and clean
now its just a dusty truck stop,
an evaporated dream.
The Senator’s Son and the President’s Daughter,
all came to town for that Crazy Water.

Play the track

[audio:http://thirstyinsuburbia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/crazy-water-was-not-was_64kbps.mp3]

Download Crazy Water – Was (Not Was)
Low-fi 64 kbps mp3 file for sampling.
Like it? Support the people who make music. Buy this track at Amazon or iTunes.

Bonus enhanced experience: watch the music video!

h2o mp3: Under the Underground Water – Telefauna

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This Montreal band is presently on hiatus and too bad, because I wish we could enjoy an ongoing steady stream of their quirky, funky, melodic art-pop. In their absense they’ve generously left this and other great tracks on their website as free downloads. (Link below). Thanks Telefauna! Under the Underground Water is from 2007 and reminds us that like water deep beneath the desert, the vital substance of life and people that we thirst for is also found far beneath the surface.

Lyrics
Tell me what you want, you want drinking water
Tell me what you need, you need telefauna
tell me what you want you want drinking water
Very deep below the surface of the Sahara
Deep below the surface of telefauna

Under the water, under the water,
under the water near the underground water
Under the water, under the water,
under the water near the underground water

It’s not the surface but what’s below, that you, that you wanna know,
you gotta know uh oh
It’s not the surface it’s what’s below, it what’s below,
it’s underneath the snow, uh oh

Play the track

[audio:http://thirstyinsuburbia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/03-telefauna-under-the-underground-water-edit.mp3]

Free MP3 Downloads at www.telefauna.com, including Under the Underground Water

h2o mp3: The River Hymn – The Band

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This weekend, pack a picnic, head to the water’s edge and enjoy this song. The sentimental, nostalgic lyrics will have you drifting back (and wishing for) a simpler time.

The Band was active from 1967 to 1976 and again from 1983 to 1999. This track is from their 1971 album Cahoots. Although they never achieved mass success and appeal, they earned admiration from music journalists and other musicians and the group holds a place in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and achieved a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award last year.

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Lyrics
The voice of the rapids will echo
And ricochet like an old water well
Who’d ever want to let go
Once you sit beneath its spell
It’s dark and wide and deep, towards the sea it creeps
I’m so glad I brought along my mandolin
To play the river hymn…

You can ride on it or drink it
Poison it or dam it
Fish in it and wash in it
Swim in it and you can die in it
Run, you river, run

Play the track

[audio:http://thirstyinsuburbia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/the-band-the-river-hymn.mp3]

Download The River Hymn – The Band
Low-fi 64 kbps mp3 file for sampling.
Like it? Support the people who make music. Buy this track at iTunes or Amazon.com

h2o mp3: Glass of Water – Coldplay

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My daughter went to Omaha and saw Coldplay and all I got was this crappy giveaway CD!

Actually there’s nothing crappy about it, and it includes this live version of “Glass of Water.” What’s more, you too can own this CD as the band is offering it as a free download on their website “as a thank you to our fans.” Yea! And thank you!

Lyrics:
And they say you can see your future,
inside a glass of water,
with riddles and the rhymes
but will I see heaven in mine?

♫

Play the track

[audio:http://thirstyinsuburbia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/01-glass-of-water-live.mp3]

Download Glass of Water (Live) – Coldplay

h2o mp3: The Water Remembers My Face – The Western States

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Last summer, this indie country-folk band from Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada packed up a rented van and drove 2 days to Austin, Texas to record their sophomore album, Bye and Bye.  The album was recorded live to two-inch tape without the use of any digital technology or effects, giving this track a warm, pure and earthy “something’ that’s hard to put your finger on, but irresistible.

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Lyrics
The river runs faster this time of the year
I never kept up with its pace
and now I sit by it and I think of what to do
cause the water remembers my face

Play the track

[audio:http://thirstyinsuburbia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/05-the-water-remembers-my-face.mp3]

Download The Water Remembers My Face – The Western States
Low-fi 64 kbps mp3 file for sampling.

Like it? Support the people who make music. Buy this track at iTunes or Amazon.com
Visit The Western States on MySpace.

h2o mp3s: Água de Beber

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The song “Água de Beber” (Water to Drink) is a 1963 bossa nova blockbuster composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim, a Brazilian songwriter and artist celebrated as one of the primary creative forces behind bossa nova jazz and one of the most influential popular composers of the 20th century. (He also wrote “The Girl from Ipanema” and  “Águas de Março” (Waters of March), a promising song for another day!)

Following, two versions to start your weekend off with a jazzy Latin beat, plus two amazing bonus links:

Lyrics:
Your love is rain, my heart the flower, I need your love or I will die
The rain can fall on distant deserts, the rain can fall upon the sea
The rain can fall upon the flower, since the rain has to fall let it fall on me
(In Portugese, Água de beber, Água de beber camará
(In English, Aqua de Beber, Give the flower water to drink)

From Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66

Play the track

[audio:http://thirstyinsuburbia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/07_-_agua_de_beber.mp3]

Download Agua de Beber – Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66

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From the 1969 sessions of Antonio Carlos Jobim and Frank Sinatra (fab 8-track cover and mp3 via artdecaade.blogspot.com)

Play the track

[audio:http://thirstyinsuburbia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/watertodrink.mp3]

Download Agua de Beber – Sinatra & Jobim

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BONUS #1: Did any of you Mad Men fans catch Agua de Beber in a racy scene where a malfunctioning washing machine sends Betty Draper into a hot fantasy involving a door-to-door salesman? (Not for the kiddies! Embedding is disabled, but you can watch it here on YouTube.)

BONUS #2: Like your tunes with an urban beat? Check out this excellent 2008 version of Agua de Beber by Sergio Mendes featuring Will.I.Am. Stream the song here on imeem.com (signup required).
Update: Here’s an Amazon.com purchase link for this track.

Support the people who make music – buy these tracks at…
Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66: Amazon.com or iTunes
Antonio Carlos Jobim: Amazon.com or iTunes
Frank Sinatra: Amazon.com or iTunes

h2o mp3: We Have No Water Here: Hearts of Palm

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“We have no water here and everybody knows it.” This lyrical snippet dances through my head at least a couple times a week as I read more and more on water scarcity panic attacks.

Hearts of Palm is a band from Denver, and a very good one, too–they were voted the No. 1 band in Colorado, according to the 2008 Denver Post Underground Music Poll. (Read more about them in this Denver Post story. or visit their myspace page.)

Lyrics:
This house is empty and this cause has been abandoned
You’ve walked away from everything you’ve had your hand in
The bridge is burning and all you can do it watch it
We have no water here and everybody knows it
You’re hanging by a thread and everyone can see it’s wearing thin

Play the track

[audio:http://thirstyinsuburbia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/we-have-no-water-here.mp3]

Download We Have No Water Here – Hearts of Palm
WOW! This band generously offers a free download of the entire EP which contains this song. Get “The Bridge” EP at the band’s website, www. heartsofpalm.com.

h2o mp3: We’re Mostly Made of Water: Kid Sam

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Kid Sam is a duo of two cousins, Kishore and Kieran Ryan, from the climate change bellweather of Australia (Melbourne, Victoria) so they’ve got extra cred backing this song in my mind. Rhythmic, clangy, easy to love with a tinge of folk influence… gives me a pleasant case of the head bobs.

Lyrics:
the earth is slowly dying
the icebergs all are melting
they melt into the sea
and the sea keeps on rising
there’s nothing that can stop him
he’s gonna flood the whole world and take back what is his

Play the track

[audio:http://thirstyinsuburbia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/08_were_mostly_made_of_water.mp3]

Download We’re Mostly Made of Water: Kid Sam
Low-fi 64 kbps mp3 file for sampling.
Like? Support the people who make music. Buy this track at iTunes or amazon.com

h2o mp3: Moon River: Audrey Hepburn

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Moon River was composed by Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini in 1961. It’s been recorded by hundreds of musicians, but this is the “original” performed in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Audrey Hepburn. Oddly, Hepburn’s version was not included in the original movie soundtrack. Only months after Hepburn’s death in 1993 was her version released on an album entitled Music from the Films of Audrey Hepburn.

In the movie, the song comes in a scene where writer Paul ‘Fred’ Varjak (George Peppard) has his typewriter-pecking interrupted by Holly Golightly (Hepburn) strumming her guitar and singing the tune on the fire escape outside their apartments.

Lyrics:
Moon River, wider than a mile,
I’m crossing you in style some day.
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker,
wherever you’re going I’m going your way.
Two drifters off to see the world.
There’s such a lot of world to see.
We’re after the same rainbow’s end–
waiting ’round the bend,
my huckleberry friend,
Moon River and me.

Play the track

[audio:http://thirstyinsuburbia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/audreyhepburn-musicfromthefilmsofaudreyhepburn-moonriver2.mp3]

Download Moon River: Audrey Hepburn
Low-fi mp3 file for sampling.
Like it? Support the people who make music. Buy this track at iTunes or amazon.com

h2o mp3s: When the Levee Breaks: Covers

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With some recent mentions of this Led Zeppelin song, I’ve decided to tell you of my guilty pleasure and little secret: I actually collect covers of this song, and my music collection includes (at last count) 16 different versions. I’m especially fond of these two.

When the Levee Breaks: Stream of Passion: This Netherlands band is described as progressive metal with symphonic metal influences; I’ll just say it’s a dark, rich, enveloping hard rock sound overlaid with a gorgeous female vocal performance. From their 2006 single Out in the Real World.

Play the track

[audio:http://thirstyinsuburbia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/04-when-the-levee-breaks.mp3]

Download When the Levee Breaks: Stream of Passion
Low-fi 64 kbps mp3 file for sampling.
Like it? Support the people who make music. Buy this track at iTunes or amazon.com

When the Levee Breaks: A Perfect Circle: This alt-rock “supergroup” is an impressive collaboration of a bunch of talented musicians from such well known bands as Tool, Nine Inch Nails, The Smashing Pumpkins and more. Their version of the song is moody, layered, and very skillfully crafted.

Play the track

[audio:http://thirstyinsuburbia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/11-when-the-levee-breaks-explicit.mp3]

Download When the Levee Breaks: A Perfect Circle
Low-fi 64 kbps mp3 file for sampling.
Like it? Support the people who make music. Buy this track at iTunes or amazon.com

UPDATE: A short time after this post went live, this found its way into my inbox! Although this isn’t the REAL Led Zep, it sure makes me laugh at the logical-but-not-logical path of social networking!