Songs in the Key of Rock (Dig) [Limited Edition] [Import]

Songs in the Key of Rock (Dig) [Limited Edition] [Import]

Track Listings

1. In My Blood

2. Lost In The Zone

3. Gasoline

4. Higher Places (Song For Bonzo)

5. Get You Stoned

6. Written All Over Your Face

7. Standing On The Rock

8. Courageous

9. Secret Life (Bonus Track)

10. The Truth

11. Wherever You Go

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Full title - Songs In The Key Of Rock. Limited digipak edition of 2003 album features11 tracks including one exclusive bonus track, 'Secret Life'. Frontiers.

Tracks:

Love's In Need Of Love Today
Have A Talk With God
Village Ghetto Land
Contusion
Sir Duke
I Wish
Knocks Me Off My Feet
Pastime Paradise
Summer Soft
Ordinary Pain

Tracks:

Isn't She Lovely
Joy Inside My Tears
Black Man
Ngiculela/Es Una Historia/I Am Singing
If It's Magic
As
Another Star
Saturn
Ebony Eyes
All Day Sucker
Easy Goin' Evening (My Mama's Call)

Amazon.com essential recording

Songs in the Key of Life (1976) was the highest high point of Stevie Wonder's career. More sprawling than Innervisions and Talking Book, this two-LP-plus-EP was also less of a consistent stunner than either of those masterworks. That Songs retains an enormous amount of visionary relevance, though, is demonstrated not only in Coolio's borrowing of "Pastime Paradise" as a template for "Gangsta's Paradise," but in the cold-as-ice synthesized string quartet of "Village Ghetto Land." This is Stevie, so naturally that cut's anger is balanced by the ultra-buoyant "I Wish," "Sir Duke," and "Another Star." The 2000 reissue boasts radically improved remastered sound. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews:

I Love Stevie.......2007-07-27

I am loving rediscovering this beautiful work of love and art with my children. I LOVE STEVIE.

My first choice for a desert island.......2007-07-08

Undeniably classic Stevie Wonder. If you're a fan you have to have this one; if you're new to Stevie this is the place to start. Unlike some of his sugar sweet music from the 1980s, Songs In The Key Of Life has some melodies that can only be described as "haunting" -- they stay with you a lifetime. Some believe that a great meal should be paired with a great wine. Here, each melody is paired with the right lyrics. It's perfect and it's also the one album I would take if I could take only one to a desert island banishment.

The definition of music at its best........2007-06-17

If you check your local music store and looked through the Stevie Wonder CDs, you are likely to find this album more than the other albums (aside from "A Time To Love.") Though this album is over 30 years old, it's still in demand, and with a good reason: the 21 songs on this album are some of the greatest works to ever enter the music industry.

Most artists these days stick to one type of music, rarely trying something different. Wonder, on the other hand, has mastered not only his usual R&B and funk songs such as "I Wish," but on this album he also throws in some Latin, classical and funk/rock fusion twists, and he delivers them just as well as his usual genre.

Wonder without a doubt has talent in songwriting. He sings about almost everything that you can sing about, such as world peace ("Love's In Need Of Love Today"), love ("Knocks Me Off My Feet"), heartbreak ("Another Star"), world problems ("Village Ghetto Land") and equality ("Black Man") to name a few. No matter what he sings about he delivers some of the best vocals, lyrics and composing of all time. Most of his songs are upbeat and danceable, such as "Ngiculela" and "Sir Duke." "As" and "Summer Soft" are the most beautiful, poetic songs on the album and the music accompanying them are just as extraordinary. The funk songs Wonder is known for are also here. "I Wish" and "All Day Sucker" are funkier than "Superstition" from the album "Talking Book." "Ebony Eyes" is a very fun song that has a slight Beatles feel to it.

Wonder also includes two instrumentals: "Contusion" and "Easy Goin' Evening." Both of them show Wonder's skill with instruments, especially the harmonica (in "Easy Goin' Evening") which he is very well known for. "Contusion" is a great display of R&B/rock fusion and is very fun to dance to.

With twenty-one songs on this album, each of them some of the greatest songs ever, it's difficult to not like the album. This is music at its absolute best.

You Can't NOT Give This Album 5 Stars.......2007-06-08

I never really considered myself a Stevie Wonder fan, but after listening to this album, I realize why people love him so much. The songs off this album have been sampled and re-recorded by so many other artists it's scary! His R&B songwriting was second to none during the mid 70s.

stevie really wonder.......2007-05-13

great album: one of my favourites through all times. I already own the LP but on cd the quality is excellent. great buy!!!

Songs In The Key Of X: Music From And Inspired By The X-Files

Average customer rating:

Pure 90s
For the most part, a great album
not bad
A classic collection of rare, dark masterpieces!
X-File fan or not, this is a great CD

Songs In The Key Of X: Music From And Inspired By The X-Files
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Warner Bros / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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The X-Files: The Album - Fight The Future
The Truth And The Light: Music From The X-Files (Television Series)
The X-Files: Original Motion Picture Score
The X-Files - Fight the Future (Widescreen Edition)
I Know What You Did Last Summer: The Album

ASIN: B000002N3A
Release Date: 1996-03-22

Tracks:

X-Files Theme - Mark Snow
Unmarked Helicopters - Soul Coughing
On The Outside - Sheryl Crow
Down In The Park - Foo Fighters
Star Me Kitten - William S. Burroughs & REM
Red Right Hand - Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
Thanks Bro - Filter
Man Of Steel - Frank Black
Unexplained - Meat Puppets
Deep - Danzig
Frenzy - Screamin' Jay Hawkins
My Dark Life - Elvis Costello With Brian Eno
Hands Of Death (Burn Baby Burn) - Rob Zombie And Alice Cooper
If You Never Say Goodbye - P.M. Dawn
X-Files Theme (P.M. Dawn Remix) - P.M. Dawn

Amazon.com

An influential TV series of the '90s has generated a dark, eerie, and vaguely campy set of "inspired-by" songs from a diverse group of musical fans. Pride of place here goes to three tracks: the Foo Fighters' delicious cover of Gary Numan's "Down In The Park," a filthy remake of R.E.M.'s "Star Me Kitten" by literary lion William Burroughs, and a titanic, cross-generational collision between Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper on "Hands of Death (Burn Baby Burn)." Sheryl Crow's "On The Outside" is a toss-off in this company, while Mark Snow's famous X-Files theme loses its creepy edge in both extended and P.M. Dawn-remixed incarnations. --Jeff Bateman

Customer Reviews:

Pure 90s.......2006-09-28

Not only is this something for X-Files fans, but also for anyone who is a fan of 90s music. Love the Foo Fighters version of "Down In The Park". Also Nick Caves' "Red Right Hand",that song you always heard but wern't sure who sang it. The opening theme song is so powerful sounding you almost forget that this is music for some sci-fi telvision show on Fox; Full length version too. No heavy metal from Filter however. Rob Zombies song is pretty loud and intense. The REM song is just some music with some old guy talking rather than singing, pretty dumb. I know an X-Files sdrk should have some weirdness but the REM song is one to forget. There are two hidden tracks on this cd. The only way to hear them is to rewind past the first track on your cd player.

For the most part, a great album.......2006-01-25

If you're looking for variety, you would do well to purchase "Songs in the Key of X". Being a fan of "The X-Files" would probably help, but it's not neccesarily required. Where else could you find Sheryl Crow, Rob Zombie, and Screamin' Jay Hawkins all in the same place? Not only is this album a worthy soundtrack to one of the great shows of the 1990's, it's also an interesting collection of music that you probably don't get to hear quite often. While there are some big-name musicians like Foo Fighters, REM, and Sheryl Crow (as mentioned above), their contributions to "Songs In the Key of X" are significantly different from their more popular songs. REM's contribution is noteworthy, for it features novelist William S. Burroughs reciting the vocals to their song 'Star Me Kitten' with music done by the band. It's a moment that's as strange as anything Burroughs devised for one of his novels. While this song doesn't have much in common with the show, it's still one of the finer tunes on here.

In addition to mainstream alternative rock, there's also music by bands who didn't quite make it to the top. Meat Puppets and Soul Coughing both offer up musical tributes to paranormal phemonena, while the normally aggressive Filter tones things down a bit with their song 'Thanks Bro'. Not the best song on this album, but it's worth a glance if you enjoy their other music.

While this album earns points for its eclectic lineup of artists and the high quality of the music featured on it, some of the songs are total disappointments. Danzig's 'Deep' is a monotonous dirge about the usual topics: evil and death. He's done better in the past. PM Dawn's remix of the classic X-Files theme is tolerable, but not as memorable as Mark Snow's original. Perhaps someone like Moby or the Chemical Brothers would have been a more appropriate choice to redo the theme?

So yeah, "Songs In the Key of X" is not the perfect soundtrack. But despite some weak offerings, anyone who enjoys offbeat music and 90's alt-rock should give this album a try. Out of the two X-Files compilation albums released, it's by far the superior choice to the movie soundtrack. At least this album didn't have Sting trying to sound like Bob Marley...

not bad.......2005-09-03

i always wanted to but this when i was a kid, it got some kick ass tunes on it

A classic collection of rare, dark masterpieces!.......2003-09-02

Fantastic songs here collected beside fantastic artists, each one a bold and artistic masterpiece. Artists include R.E.M., Nick Cave, Sheryl Crow and a William S. Burroughs' take on "Star Me Kitten" that you will not soon forget. For sure an adult album, appreciated only by the outsider or paranormal-infatuated abductee-wannabe, or artist with the respect for briliance. The music is hard to classify, as it usually borders between rock and alterative, sometimes to the acoustic-style soft rock-meets-techno hybred. The music is so well-recorded and performed that it is often hard to imagine that it is nearly ten years old. I think that age will only add to the deeply hard core occult factor of this music, which can truly be discribed as the genuine article.

Okey, so I'm rambeling. It's incredible music! (Not the kind you listen to once and throw away!) My favs here would include "Man of Steel" by Frank Black, "My Dark Life" by Elvis Costello and "If you never say goodbye" by P.M. Dawn, but I love each and every one of these songs intimately. In short, Songs In the Key of X is an occult gem. So turn down the lights, put all chores aside, lay back, crank up the volume and let your imagination be guided along a seamy world of dark paranormal suspicion, lonely fear and optimistic intrigue. My god, the more I think about it the better I really realize that it is! (Rambeling again!)

So enjoy!

X-File fan or not, this is a great CD.......2003-04-08

Songs in the Key of X cannot really be called a soundtrack; it consists not of songs necessarily from The X-Files but songs inspired by and worthy of inclusion in the show. It's quite an eclectic mix, featuring many dark songs that sparkle with the horrid electricity one associates with The X-Files. The premiere track has to be Red Right Hand by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. This song is itself part of the lore and mythology of the show; any X-Files fanatic can tell you the story of how Chris Carter heard this song driving home from work one night and fell in love with it. Besides highlighting the road trip of abductee Duane Barry in Season Two, the song has also been featured prominently in the Scream movies, so this one will be familiar to many. Clearly, most of these songs are in the same dark, forceful vein - e.g., Danzig's Deep, Screamin' Jay Hawkins' Frenzy, and Hands of Death (Burn Baby Burn) from the powerhouse duo of Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper. Soul Coughing's contribution Unmarked Helicopters may best fit the milieu of The X-Files and is an excellent song to boot. The Foo Fighters, a band that has never really captured my attention, makes a nice addition with Down in the Park. Frank Black's Man of Steel was a pleasant surprise to me, having only heard a much different kind of performance from him on Gordon Gano's Hitting the Ground.

The great variety of songs here means two things: there is something for everyone here, but every individual will also undoubtedly have a few tracks he/she doesn't particularly care for. Sheryl Crow's On the Outside is a perfectly good song, but it doesn't seem to fit here in my opinion. Elvis Costello's My Dark Life has potential but never succeeds in grabbing my attention. Star Me Kitten from William S. Burroughs & R.E.M. is just strange and almost unexplainable (it also is the primary reason for the Explicit Lyrics sticker on the cover). The big mystery here for me, though, is P.M. Dawn. Not only does their song If You Never Say Goodbye seem out of place, their remix of Mark Snow's excellent X-Files Theme is quite unnecessary given the greatness of Mark Snow's original version that starts this CD off with a bang.

You don't have to be an X-Files fan to enjoy this CD, but fans will have much more appreciation of the ingenuity and creative track selection that went into this album. The liner notes feature some perfectly odd artist drawings of X-Files characters and scenes as well as statements about the album from X-Files bigwigs Chris Carter and David Was. One should not think this album was released just to make money off of the hot X-Files name; there is a lot of quality music here that one might not ever have the chance to discover on one's own.

Songs in the Key of Life
Average customer rating:

I Love Stevie

My first choice for a desert island

The definition of music at its best.

You Can't NOT Give This Album 5 Stars

stevie really wonder

Songs in the Key of Life
Stevie Wonder
Manufacturer: Motown
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Stevie Wonder - The Definitive Collection

ASIN: B0000060NA
Release Date: 1992-04-13

Tracks:

Love's In Need Of Love Today
Have A Talk With God
Village Ghetto land
Contusion
Sir Duke
I Wish
Knocks Me Off My Feet
Pastime Paradise
Summer Soft
Ordinary Pain
Saturn
Ebony Eyes

Tracks:

Isn't She Lovely
Joy Inside My Tears
Black Man
Ngiculela - Es Una Historia/I Am Singing
If It's Magic
As
Another Star
All Day Sucker
Easy Goin' Evening (My Mama's Call)

Amazon.com essential recording

One of the first albums to debut at No. 1 in Billboard, Songs in the Key of Life was the highest high-point of Stevie Wonder's career. More sprawling than Innervisions and Talking Book, this 2 LP-plus-EP was also less of a consistent stunner than either of those masterworks. That Songs retains an enormous amount of visionary relevance, though, is demonstrated not only in Coolio's borrowing of "Pastime Paradise" as a template for "Gangsta's Paradise," but in the cold-as-ice synthesized string quartet of "Village Ghetto Land." This is Stevie, so naturally that cut's anger is balanced by the ultra-buoyant "I Wish," "Sir Duke," and "Another Star." --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews:

I Love Stevie.......2007-07-27

I am loving rediscovering this beautiful work of love and art with my children. I LOVE STEVIE.

My first choice for a desert island.......2007-07-08

The definition of music at its best........2007-06-17

You Can't NOT Give This Album 5 Stars.......2007-06-08

stevie really wonder.......2007-05-13

great album: one of my favourites through all times. I already own the LP but on cd the quality is excellent. great buy!!!

Average customer rating:

See him live at all costs! Then reminisce with the CD.
Like nothing else I can think of
Wonderful! Unlike Anything I've Ever Heard!

Songs in the Key of Beotch
That 1 Guy
Manufacturer: Righteous Babe
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Moon Is Disgusting
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Population Override

ASIN: B0002OOUVO
Release Date: 2004-09-07

Tracks:

One
Weasel Potpie
Halfassed
Mudpies
Birds
Sparkle in the Sun
Axlrod
Ball o' Bonafide Fax
It's Raining Meat
Steamin' Hunks
Joyful Noise
Forgotten Whales

Album Description

For years, That 1 Guy has been stunning crowds with his remarkably peculiar one-man show, applying his stand-up bass prowess to the monstrous, homemade instrument. Standing nearly seven feet tall, The Magic Pipe is a chaotic collage of galvanized steel, duct tape and electronic gadgetry, run through an array of samplers and effects boxes.

On Songs In The Key Of Beotch, the pipe's unique, throbbing sound propels Silverman through tales about roadkill meals, sadistic birds and showers of meat. Beotch is an inspired work of sonic insanity. It's the antithesis of modern pop convention - the music captures the imagination just like any fresh-faced musical innovator, from The Beatles to Björk.

Customer Reviews:

See him live at all costs! Then reminisce with the CD........2005-06-14

I'm in total agreement with John Doe's assessment below. I'd just like to offer a bit of clarification: Amazon lists this as "Songs in the Key of Beotch [LIVE]." It isn't live, as in "live in concert" but as it says in the liner notes "Recorded live to 8 track." Unless you see him live, your ears will not comprehend how he accomplishes this. Truly jaw-dropping, and for that reason, I give this five stars, for pure musicality and creativity. And the tunes are great, and funny too!

Now we can only hope that the next album has more tracks featuring his one-of-a-kind Magic Cowboy Boot. (Only those who have seen him live know what I'm talking about!)

Like nothing else I can think of.......2004-11-23

That 1 Guy has to be seen live to get the full impact of what he's doing. Not that this is a bad CD, but it lacks the jaw-dropping je ne sai quois that he brings to the stage. I've had the privilege of seeing him a couple of times, and the manic intensity of the show has people looking at each other in stunned amazement as he drops his ridiculous science on the crowd.
That said, this CD is a good introduction to That 1 Guy; clever lyrics, offbeat material, and of course "The Pipe." If you are bored with what you've been listening to, try this; That 1 Guy is the biggest star you've never heard of.

Wonderful! Unlike Anything I've Ever Heard!.......2004-09-12

I encountered 'That 1 Guy' at Sacramento State University when he was giving a performance in the Student Union. I walked in during the last 30 seconds of his performance but the music caught my attention so much that I bought his CD. When I listened to it, I was surprised to find that I liked every song I heard. Each track blended into the next with ease and although the lyrics are a little unusual at times, they were extreamly enjoyable. The 'Magic Pipe' that he plays his music on is just amazing. One instument makes all those very different sounds..I would love to see how it works. This CD blends many popular music styles but gives them an edge that is completely its own. It's a wonderful break from the mainstream stuff that is heard on the radio and I would recommend this CD to anyone who is looking for some good music with a little bit of that something extra.

Average customer rating:

A little more consistent sound than "Sweet Life"
Music for the Excessively Intoxicated
Magnet Magazine's 20 BEST ALBUMS OF 2001.
Haunting...
Best Ever Varnaline

Songs in a Northern Key
Varnaline
Manufacturer: Artemis Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Varnaline

ASIN: B00005MJW7
Release Date: 2001-07-31

Tracks:

Still Dream
Song
Indian Summer Breakdown
Blackbird Fields
Blue Flowers on the Highway
The Drunkard's Wish
Difference
Anything From Now
Down the Street
Green Eyed Stars
Sister & the Chrome Waves
I Don't Want
Let It All Come Down
Broken Song
Murder Crow

Amazon.com

Released in the wake of a trend among alt-country vets to tweak twang with summery pop, Varnaline's fifth full-length is no teenage symphony to God. If anything, Songs in a Northern Key takes the opposite tack: It's dark, thorny, and full of mutterings about middle age ("My aching back is filled with jagged cracks"). Swamped with reverb, full of the drone of wheezy old organs and cranky guitar feedback, and recorded in faulty fidelity reminiscent of a Dinosaur Jr. disc, it's a clear sidestep away from Varnaline's broad, melodic 1998 album, Sweet Life. "Indian Summer Takedown" is a highlight and plenty catchy, but the balance of the album is dominated by brittle ballads ("Blackbird Fields," "Murder Crow") and noise rock ("Song," "Let It All Come Down"). Mostly a solo effort from Varnaline mastermind Anders Parker, Songs in a Northern Key is convincing proof that bleak is beautiful. --Anders Smith Lindall

Customer Reviews:

A little more consistent sound than "Sweet Life".......2007-01-17

I got this CD after getting Sweet Life and this album seemed a little more uniform. With Sweet Life you had twelve songs, each one sounding different from the other, perhaps a little more of a group dynamic at work. With this CD, the songs tend to follow more of a consistent sound and that sound is excellent. I take it that this effort was more of a Anders Parker solo effort than Sweet Life. Heck, both albums are great, outstanding band and a really hypnotic sound.

Music for the Excessively Intoxicated.......2002-05-10

Varnaline's best feature is their individuality. They cut their own course with this music. It's strength is that it's quite different, not routine. The CD opens with "Still Dream," more arrangement than melody. "Song" is a dreamy wash of electric guitar. The organ is front and center on the slow plodding "Indian Summer Takedown," "Color me depressed, all my nerves got undressed." "Blackbird Fields" is a sad contemplative acoustic guitar track. "Blue Flowers on the Highway" is quite unusual, a midtempo track with crashing cymbals. A short instrumental interlude is titled "Drunken Wish," for reasons known to Varnaline. The next two tracks run together for me, almost indistinguishably. "Difference," with its dense arrangement and ponderous melody, flows into "Anything from Now." "Down the Street" has a chiming guitar that sounds like Tom Petty playing while seasick, "You were just a broken toy, a broken house with no more joy." "Green Eyed Stars" has more bashing cymbal and sounds like the band had fun testing an echo chamber. 41 seconds of guitar noodling is titled "Sister & the Chrome Waves." "I Don't Want" is another slow plodding track. "Let It All Come Down" is my favorite track, thundering slow motion guitar, heavy on reverb. "Broken Song" is a slow acoustic guitar piece with trite lyrics, "I am a young man, soon I'll be dead; if you were a rich girl, well, maybe I'd live." The CD concludes with "Murder Crow," an anguished folk melody that ends with the tinkling of a music box. "Songs In A Northern Key" is interesting because it's adventurous. It's not a happy album, perhaps best enjoyed for those excessively intoxicated with the blues.

Magnet Magazine's 20 BEST ALBUMS OF 2001........2002-01-23

In 1997 We called Anders Parker "an intuitive, emgerging classicist destined to carve out his own chapter." And so he does with Songs In A Northern Key, dancing drunkenly in the crevices between The Who Sell Out and the White Album while the ghosts of Nick Drake and Townes Van Zandt nod approvingly. A dense, arresting masterpiece equally steeped in alt-country, post modern phychedelia and shot-in-the-heart classic folk. -- Magnet Magazine

Haunting..........2001-12-18

While I certainly can't agree with characterization of this album as 'sonic mush', I also understand where a listener looking for the typical Ray Kennedy/Twangtrust sound would be baffled and disapointed by this record. Varnaline has almost nothing to do with country music--- or even rock music--- in any conventional sense. Those looking for clean and loud guitars, clear vocals and concise song structrure, look elsewhere. This album is probably unlike anything else Ray Kennedy has had a hand in engineering or mixing.

This is lo-fi chamber-country-pop --full of moaning organs, mixed-down, tuned-down guitars, ocassional strings and even horns. In many instances, the nuances of melody are not readily discernable, but in the darkness gleams Anders Parker's regret-drenched, cracking voice that at times reminds one of the Band's Richard Manuel. His lyrics are mostly goreous, elliptical and occasionally opaque. The sound is somewhere bewteen Will Oldham/Palace/et. al and Son Volt/Uncle Tupelo. The album opens up with repeated listenings. It is obviously influenced by Lo-fi, chamber-pop masterworks such as "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea" by Neutral Milk Hotel and "When your Heartstrings Break" by Beulah, but manages to be its own thing. When Parker sings with female accompniament, the results are often heart-paralyzing.

This record is made up of beautiful, bleak and slow stuff punctuated with epiphanies of innocence and light. It is possibly the penultimate late-night album--- the perfect chaser for heartbeak and whiskey. Parker, of course has no intererest in actually *mending* that broken heart, but occasionally elevating its suffering to the level of the rarefied and epic.

Best Ever Varnaline.......2001-12-09

Anders has finally pulled it together and produced a stellar album from start to finish.

Average customer rating:

Songs in the Key of Z, Vol. 1-2
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Cherry Red UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00067FGNI
Release Date: 2004-11-22

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Philosophy of the World - The Shaggs
Walking the Cow - Daniel Johnston
Walking on the Moon - Lucia Pamela
Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere - Peter Grudzien,
Downloading the Repertoire [Excerpt] - Jack Mudurian,
Stout-Hearted Men - Shooby Taylor
In Canada - B.J. Snowden
Jailhouse Rock - Eilert Pilarm
Virgin Child of the Universe
Rock 'N' Roll McDonald's - Wesley Willis
Telstar [Rough Demo] - Joe Meek
At the Gross Roots - Darwin Gross,
Cousin Mosquito #1 - Malinda Jackson Parker
Touchy - Luie Luie
Standing in a Trash Can (Thinking About You) - Legendary Stardust Cowboy
Vampire Suite - Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band
Butterfly Mind - Arcesia
They Told Me I Was a Fool - Jandek
Oh Baby, Your Loves in Town - Dusty Roads Rowe
True Love - Miss Sue, Tiny Tim
Songs in the Key of Z: The Legendary Stardust Cowboy #1 - Irwin Chusid

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Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing [#] - Shooby Taylor,
You're Out of the Computer [#] - Bingo Gazingo, My Robot Friend
America [#] - B.J. Snowden
You're Driving Me Mad [#] - Alvin Dahn
Cousin Mosquito #2 - Malinda Jackson Parker
I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night) - Space Lady
Touch of Light - Luie Luie
Curly Toes [#]
Stepping High Dance - Eddie Murray
Five Feel Nine and a Half Inches Tall - Dick Kent
Recitation About Roy Acuff - Gary Mullis
Deep Bosom Woman
High Speed - Bob Vido
Herma - Thoth
Jet Lady - Tangela Trioli
Birthmark Story - Buddy Max
Heart of the Heartland - Mark Kennis
Songs in the Key of Z: The Legendary Stardust Cowboy #2 - Irwin Chusid

Live from Toronto: Songs in the Key of Eh

Average customer rating:

its good

Live from Toronto: Songs in the Key of Eh
The Mad Caddies
Manufacturer: Fat Wreck Chords
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Rock the Plank
Quality Soft Core
The Holiday Has Been Cancelled
Just One More
Duck & Cover

ASIN: B0002VEQVG
Release Date: 2004-09-21

Tracks:

Intro
Macho Nachos
10 West
Leavin
Weird Beard
No Hope
Contraband
Monkeys
Days Away/The Bell Tower/Popcorn/Days Away
The Gentlemen
Villains
Last Breath
Mary Melody
Drinking For 11
Preppie Girl
Mum's The Word
Road Rash
Silence
All American Badass

Customer Reviews:

its good.......2004-10-12

this is good.
you should get this.
i like it.
they played some cool songs.
also get duck and cover.
cause its good.
thats all.

Songs in the Key of Z: The Curious Universe of Outsider Music

Average customer rating:

Except for the grace of God...
an amazin album
Songs in the Key of Z: It's the Real Thing, Baby
You can never please anybody in this world
worlds but A World

Songs in the Key of Z: The Curious Universe of Outsider Music
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Gammon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Songs in the Key of Z, Vol. 2: The Curious Universe of Outsider Music
Songs in the Key of Z: The Curious Universe of Outsider Music
Incredibly Strange Music, Vol. 2
Philosophy Of The World
American Song-Poem Anthology

ASIN: B00006NSX1
Release Date: 2002-09-15

Tracks:

The Shaggs -- "Philosophy of the World"
Daniel Johnston -- "Walking the Cow"
Lucia Pamela -- "Walking on the Moon"
Peter Grudzien -- "Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere"
Jack Mudurian -- "Downloading the Repertoire" (excerpt)
Shooby Taylor, the Human Horn -- "Stout-Hearted Men"
B.J. Snowden -- "In Canada"
Eilert Pilarm -- "Jailhouse Rock"
Song-poem -- "Virgin Child of the Universe"
Wesley Willis -- "Rock n' Roll McDonald's"
Joe Meek -- "Telstar" (demo)
Sri Darwin Gross -- "At the Grass Roots"
Congress-Woman Malinda Jackson Parker -- "Cousin Mosquito #1"
Luie Luie -- "El Touchy"
The Legendary Stardust Cowboy -- "Standing in a Trash Can (Thinking About You)"
Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band -- "Vampire Suite"
Arcesia -- "Butterfly Mind"
Jandek -- "They Told Me I Was a Fool"
"Dusty Roads" Rowe -- "Baby, Your Love's In Town"
Tiny Tim (with Miss Sue) -- "True Love"

Amazon.com

This collection is a companion to Irwin Chusid's book of the same name. It celebrates outsider music, music "so wrong it's right," and if you're drawn to sounds that make you wonder just what the musician was thinking, this collection is for you. The compilation is enthusiastically, if not always respectfully, annotated by Chusid. His selections range from the output of blissfully un-self-aware but basically functional individuals to the certifiably insane. Among the former are Lucia Pamela, an Ethel Merman sound-alike who contributes an infectiously enthusiastic celebration of "Walking on the Moon," and Congress-Woman Malinda Jackson Parker, a late Liberian lawmaker whose "Cousin Mosquito #1" cautioned against contracting insect-borne disease. The latter include Daniel Johnson, whose "Walking the Cow" weds a sublime melody to puzzling lyrics and a toy keyboard arrangement, and Wesley Willis, who pays tribute to Chicago's "Rock 'n' Roll McDonald's." Some of the artists are quite famous (Tiny Tim), some anonymous (the unknown writer and performers of song-poem "Virgin Child of the Universe")--they're united by their blithe certitude that the world needed to hear their unlikely but singular creations. --Bill Meyer

Album Description

"OUTSIDER MUSIC" refers to a genre of sonic exotica that in some ways is so wrong -- it's right! Outsiders could be the product of supernatural possession, damaged DNA, drug fry, psychosis -- or none of the above. These often self-taught artists may lack conventional tunefulness and self-awareness, but they display an abundance of earnestness and passion. And they're worth listening to, often surpassing all contenders for inventiveness and originality.

This CD is a counterpart to the book SONGS IN THE KEY OF Z: THE CURIOUS UNIVERSE OF OUTSIDER MUSIC (A Cappella Books/Chicago Review Press), and it was produced by the author, Irwin Chusid. The text explores such avatars of outré sonics as The Shaggs, Daniel Johnston, Harry Partch, Syd Barrett, the Song-Poem industry, Jandek, the Cherry Sisters, Captain Beefheart, Florence Foster Jenkins, Wesley Willis, Wild Man Fischer, and countless other musical eccentrics with cult followings.

This CD features songs by artists profiled in the book. From the uninhibited howling of the Legendary Stardust Cowboy to the arrested-adolescent passion of Daniel Johnston; the LSD-cabaret crooning of Arcesia to Joe Meek's rare, wobbly "Telstar" vocal demo; the Shaggs aboriginal backwoods rock to Lucia Pamela's vertigo-bent outer space lunacy -- SONGS IN THE KEY OF Z promises an unforgettable romp through music too strange for radio but too fascinating to ignore.

For more information on the artists featured on this CD, buy the book (available on Amazon.com). Then behold the magic, the visionary nature of outsider sonics. You may never want to come back inside again.

Customer Reviews:

Except for the grace of God..........2006-07-06

Here is music from blessed retards and mentally ill people from around the "World" (most from the U.S.) There is also music from individuals that fall somewhere between retardation and mental illness, as well as a few that fall between the cracks in the cracks. _ I love this album. _ It's slightly more tasteful than a freak show, and a lot more tasteful than Maury Povich. Some songs blow in my opinion, but that's true of almost any album.... Final statement: Unless you are outstandingly boring and dull-witted, you will really like some of these tracks. Take the trip; it's worth the money!

an amazin album.......2005-03-12

thank god that somebody sat down and put these gems together. They shine like rare diamonds in a musical climate that is becoming all the more narrow and predictable. Buy this album. You will not be dissapointed

Songs in the Key of Z: It's the Real Thing, Baby.......2004-03-18

About a million years ago, when our far-from-human ancestors were still huddling together in a damp hole in the ground, picking lice from each other's armpits, music was born. Those peabrained hominids found they enjoyed barking and howling at the moon together, harmonizing as it were, and gradually incorporated a whole range of yelps, shrieks, farts and belches---which they could and did perform for the sheer exhilaration of the act. Yeah, this was the essential music, the primal music, with a weight and currency all its own, long before the spoken word polluted our ears. So, here we are a million years later, and we've forgotten the primal origin of music, it's been bred out of us---now we PAY a relative handful of polished schmucks to serenade us, because we fear that our own music, our own barking & yelping frenzy, is somehow unworthy. And this is what we now call the REAL world. Thank Christ for schizophrenia... Indeed, only a complete retreat from "reality" can deliver us to the roots of REAL music---and this is where I finally get around to endorsing "Songs in the Key of Z"... This is the real thing, baby, unencumbered by social dictates, false morality, political agendas... My most excellent advice: Don't try to rationalize the contents of this album WHATSOEVER. Don't just TRY to sing along, but really get INTO it, and howl your ass off if it feels good. Rock over London, Rock on Chicago, Northwest Airlines: Some People Just Know How To Fly.

You can never please anybody in this world.......2004-01-16

This is a great introduction to the world of "Outsider" music (term coined by Irwin Chusid). This CD is the audio counterpart to the book of the same title. Outsider musicians play their own unique music, and they all sound different from each other, so there are many different styles here. Personally, I like all of the performances here, but I may be in the minority there. If you like music that is "different", you should definitely give this CD a listen.

worlds but A World.......2004-01-01

Sometimes we are so accustomed to MUSIC big companies made for us. I think it's not too bad for us to listen to something different. If you wanna know what music but MUSIC is. Go out and buy it! You will know there are many worlds in our only one WORLD.

Average customer rating:

Excellent, diverse sound
Great stuff

Songs in the Key of Rock
Glenn Hughes
Manufacturer: Shrapnel
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Feel
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Hughes-Turner Project

ASIN: B0000DIZQX
Release Date: 2003-11-04

Tracks:

In My Blood
Lost in the Zone
Gasoline
Higher Places (Song for Bonzo)
Get You Stoned
Written All Over Your Face
Standing on the Rock
Courageous
Secret Life [*]
Truth
Wherever You Go

Customer Reviews:

Excellent, diverse sound.......2005-11-03

Higher Places is the best song on the album. Sounds like he sang it with a purpose (which he did since he dedicated it to John Bonham). Sold song writing, but this was only a sample of better songs he was yet to write & perform. His live stuff is where his voice really shines.

Great stuff.......2004-01-27

What can I say. I just like this CD. Just good "hard-rock" with a great sauce of soul and funck as to expected from Glenn. He still has an excellent voice.
Highly recommended.

Songs in the Key of Z, Vol. 2: The Curious Universe of Outsider Music

Average customer rating:

Outsider Music- Curly Toes
You are driving me mad
Amaizingly addictive
Takes Your Breath Away
I love it!

Songs in the Key of Z, Vol. 2: The Curious Universe of Outsider Music
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Gammon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Songs in the Key of Z: The Curious Universe of Outsider Music
Songs in the Key of Z: The Curious Universe of Outsider Music
Philosophy Of The World
Incredibly Strange Music, Vol. 2
American Song-Poem Anthology

ASIN: B000077SX3
Release Date: 2002-10-29

Tracks:

Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing - Shooby Taylor
You're Out of the Computer - Bingo Gazingo & My Robot Friend
America - B. J. Snowden
You're Driving Me Mad - Alvin Dahn
Cousin Mosquito #2 - Congress-Woman Malinda Jackson Parker
I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night - The Space Lady
Touch of Light - Luie Luie
Curly Toes - anon.
Stepping High Dance - Eddie Murray
Five Feet Nine and a Half Inches Tall (song-poem) - Dick Kent
Recitation About Roy Acuff - Gary Mullis
Deep Bosom Woman - Wayne
High Speed - Bob Vido
The Herma, Scene 5: Recitation/An - Thoth
Jet Lady - Tangela Tricoli
The Birthmark Song - Buddy Max
Heart of the Heartland - Mark Kennis

Customer Reviews:

Outsider Music- Curly Toes.......2005-06-07

This is one outstanding album. Curly Toes, by anonymous, is the best one. Definitely recommended. I'd give it a 10, but that wasn't an option. Also, if you like this try The Annoying Music CD.

You are driving me mad.......2004-05-30

This second volume of "outsider music" is, if anything, even stranger than the first volume. The performers are more obscure than the ones on the first CD. Very few of them had big write-ups in the "Songs in the Key of Z" book. If you don't know what "outsider music" is, I recommend getting the book. Anyway, these performers are definitely outsiders. They all have their own unique styles. All of the songs here are interesting (some more so than others). If you are interested in music that is "out there", you should check out this CD.

Amaizingly addictive.......2004-05-14

If you're looking for silly slapstick songs that are intentionally written to be funny...this is not for you. This is peoples' art, from their soul and expelled for all to enjoy. The humor lies in the fact that the artists are unaware that their music FAR exceeds the boundries of conventional song writing. It is far more entertaining from a psychological standpoint than a musical one.

Takes Your Breath Away.......2003-09-06

This CD is a real prize. I loved the first Key of Z CD (and book) and, if anything, this one is even stranger. I hope that there will be several more volumes in the Key of Z to come. The music on this CD is absolutely mesmerizing. There are a few standouts in my mind on the CD. I don't really even know where to start, but I will mention a few outstanding songs. The darker and longer "Cousin Mosquito #2" is very interesting, yet doesn't quite come up to the version on Volume one. My favorites are, in no particular order: "The Birthmark Story" by Buddy Max, which tells the story of a man trying to talk an Army doctor into cutting off a birthmark in Korea. The material is questionable at best. It must be heard to be believed. Mark Kennis "sings" a song called "Heart of the Heartland." It is an a cappella song about growing up in Iowa. A person named "Wayne" sings a song called "Deep Bosom Woman" which I will not try to describe, other than to say, that Wayne, whoever he is, may be the least competent singer and composer that I have ever heard (yes, I include 'The Shaggs' here). I am also very fond of "You're Driving Me Mad" and "High Speed" (done by one man band Bob Vido). You may want to have something strong to drink before you try "Jet Lady," which I find very difficult to deal with. Also, please insert earplugs before attempting the nearly unlistenable "Curly Toes," which I is a half spoken 'song' about, you guessed it, curly toes. At least it is honest about itself. You will also learn how tall Dick Kent is by the end of the experience. I won't spoil the surprise, but the song in which the secret is revealed is a work of musical genius.

I save for last my personal pick for Best of the Best. Who else could it be but Shooby Taylor? This half scat-half carnival music insanity is one of the most lyrically beautiful songs ever recorded in the Key of Z and justifies the price of the CD by itself. You owe it to yourself to hear the great Shooby sing this all time classic. Do yourself a huge favor and get this today.

I love it!.......2003-08-29

If you're open minded & want some real alternative music (I don't mean 'alternative' in the Nirvana sense of the word. That's mainstream now) buy this compilation. If you can't appreciate Shooby Taylor, Buddy Max & Dick Kent I truly pity you.

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