Day 11 – A song that reminds you of your best mate

30 Day Song Challenge
Day 11 - A song that reminds you of your best mate

Perhaps I should have kept yesterday's anecdote for today's post because, is it just me, or are the pals you had in your youth the best pals you ever have? No? Just lonely, boring old men like me that think that then?

So here is a song that reminds me of a recently retired colleague who goes to gigs with me. He is a huge Blues fan, and when he was given a boxed set of the Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: A Musical Journey DVDs, he gave me the complete set of individual DVDs he'd bought himself. Now that's the action of a good mate.

More significantly, when I was looking for somebody to go to see Airbourne with, he agreed to come with me - even though it's not really his thing. So, because it reminds me of Tom, here is Running Wild:


Both of us suffered hearing problems for about a week afterwards but at least I was a fan and knew most of the tracks that had deafened us!

Day 10 – An awesome driving track

30 Day Song Challenge
Day 10 - An awesome driving track

Another easy choice. Rush - Red Barchetta. A driving song about driving.


Actually, I was tempted to use Without You by Nilsson because it ties in with a memory from my teens. I went on holiday to the Lake District with two mates and my dog Ben in my ancient Mini (called Mildred). On the way home late at night, we were listening to the radio. (I couldn't afford a cassette player for the car and even the radio was housed in a contraption my dad had made from plywood with an aerial that hung onto the window.) As we were belting up the motorway (well, 50mph was about as good as Mildred could manage) Without You came on the radio. Quite spontaneously, when it got to the big chorus, all three of us joined in - singing it at the top of our lungs. By the time we got back to the chorus, we were encouraging Ben to join in by howling. Ah, happy days. (Maybe you had to be there.)

Day 09 – Favourite new release (has to be less than 2 months old)

30 Day Song Challenge
Day 09 - Favourite new release (has to be less than 2 months old)

Technically, this is more than two months old but I only got it in February (I wrote about in Free Music Friday #90: Just Another Rider). So, I'm going to pretend it's two months old because it's a current favourite. (My 30 Day Challenge, my rules!)




Outstanding!

Probably my favourite track on the album is Devil Got My Woman but I wanted to post one of the official videos. On the official video front, as well as the one I've embedded above, you can also see Gregg talking about the album and see him play Floating Bridge and Just Another Rider.

Free Music Friday #95: Late again

Free Download Friday is late again but that is oddly appropriate because today's free download is from a band that hasn't released anything for a couple of years. Well, perhaps they are not late but they are... anticipated!

The Arctic Monkeys are due to release a new album later this year and have released this track, Brick By Brick, to whet your appetite. As well as the free download, they have also put out this video:

Quite a different sound, eh? If I hadn't been told it was the Arctic Monkeys, I would never have guessed. Less Indie and more Rock. In particular the distinctive vocals seem to have been lost in favour of a more generic vocal sound, which I think is a shame. Apart from that though, I like the track. I like the drumming and I like the overall sound. It will be interesting to hear just how representative of the album it is.


Bonus Free Download

I think this one is time limited and it may already be past time otherwise I would have featured this song: Black Stone Cherry: Blame It On The Boom Boom. Give them your email and they will give you a great track from an outstandingly good band... if you hurry.

Day 08 – The song you play the most on your iPod

30 Day Song Challenge
Day 08 – The song you play the most on your iPod

I'm not surprised to discover it is a Rush song: Closer To The Heart.


Check out Neil's tache!

For the record, the number two song is Tom Sawyer also by Rush and number three is Ball Peen Hammer by Joe Bonamassa.

Day 07 – A song that reminds you of a season

30 Day Song Challenge
Day 07 - A song that reminds you of a season

It's possibly a bit to early in the year but no Christmas Season is complete without a daily dose of Slade and Merry Xmas Everybody:


All together now, just like Noddy: "It's Christmas!".

Day 06 – A song by your favourite band/artist

30 Day Song Challenge
Day 06 - A song by your favourite band/artist

Favourite band is easy but favourite track is tricky because there are so many to choose from. In the end, decided to go for the title track off the album which first introduced me to Rush: A Farewell To Kings:


What do you think of Geddy's kimono? Dandy or dork?