Wow. It was one year ago today that I squeezed out my first post as The Burning Ear and 411 posts later and here we are. It’s amazing how fast time flies and how much great music can come out in a year. Birthday’s are a time for celebration and gift giving so I’ve wrangled together a little something for all of you to celebrate with. Over the past 12 months a number of great tracks have found a happy home in my stereo but for whatever reason or another I never covered them on the site. As a 1st birthday gift I thought I would bundle them all up for you. For the sake of browsing I’ve taken these 25 tunes and divided them into three ridiculously arbitrary categories. There is also a zip of all the jams at the bottom of the post so grab that bad boy. I hope that you all find some new favorite bands and remember that there are more sweet, sweet jams popping up here everyday. It has been a great pleasure to work on TBE this past year and to watch myself grow along with it. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all of you who stop by everyday to listen to these great songs and read my silly words. More and more people are leaving comments and I can feel the TBE community growing. We may never take over the world but we will certainly be having the most fun. Stay tuned because their are a few things in the pipelines that I am looking forward to. I only hope this next year is as exciting and fruitful as the last!
https://www.theburningear.com/media/2010/02/TBE-Happy-Bday-Cake.jpg667534Brandonhttps://www.theburningear.com/media/2015/03/TBE-Header-Logo-2015-stack1.pngBrandon2010-02-09 01:53:352011-12-13 17:30:29The Burning Ear Turns 1! Happy Birthday To ME and Thank You to YOU!
OK, so Christmas is quickly approaching and although you have been thinking a lot about shopping as you have been listening to TBE X-Mas Part 1, you haven’t been doing much about it. Now that shopping days are countable on our hands it’s time to kick the spirit into high gear. I’ve done all I can to help by cobbling together this mix of Christmas classics covered by our contemporaries. You don’t even need to celebrate Christmas to enjoy these jams! So weather you are as behind on your holiday business as I am or not, throw this bad boy on a blank CD, stop staring at that cute kitten, and get movin’ pronto!
It’s crazy to think about it but Christmas is right around the corner! However, while most blogs are geeking out over their best of the year/decade lists (umm… it’s not over yet, dudes) I’ve been working to collect a couple X-mas mixes for the holiday season. If you are anything like me you can’t handle getting too deep into Christmas music until the date looms a bit closer, so I figured I would start slow. Today I’ve got a mix of pretty snazzy original Christmas songs by some great artists. Start easing yourself into the holiday spirit and next week we will get into holiday standards covered by great bands. Do I need to mention that this mix fits nicely on a CD or in an iTunes playlist? No, you got that already? Good, good.
Just when you thought you weren’t going to be getting an exclusive mixtape to jam to all weekend, BAM, here it is! Surprises are fun as hell, but not nearly as fun as this buttery smooth funk-fest that L.A.’s own DJ Bouji has served up for us. I have seen this guy spin a few times and he always lights it up with his flow. His Just Quit mix is no different as he mixes genres, decades, and styles into one big party anthem. If you have been listening to his Mash N Slash of Sammy Bananas remix of Trackademicks “Enjoy What You Do” then you know what’s up. If you check out the tracklist after the jump you’ll see Miike Snow rolled into Peter Gabriel and Kings Of Leon paving the way for The Outfield. I love it. Download the whole thing below and have a kick ass weekend.
https://www.theburningear.com/media/2009/09/djbouji_logo.jpg15001500Brandonhttps://www.theburningear.com/media/2015/03/TBE-Header-Logo-2015-stack1.pngBrandon2009-09-25 19:31:272011-04-10 19:04:01TBE Exclusive! /// DJ Bouji and the 'Just Quit' Mix
Every so often an event comes along that is so powerful/epic/moving/tragic people never forget where they were when it happened/they heard. JFK’s assassination is one. 9/11 is another. I have a feeling that news of Michael Jackson’s death might be another for many. Nobody I can think of has affected as many people around the world. Over the past 2 weeks we have seen and heard a lot of tributes to MJ and today I wanted to give mine. I’ve gathered some of my favorite MJ remixes and covers here and will mix in a few memories of my own as they relate to Michael.
My first concert ever was a Michael Jackson Concert. It was just me an my dad at The Great Western Forum and I was probably about 6 so I’m guessing it was the Bad tour. I was too young to really know what I was seeing but it definitely made an impact. My memory is hazy but I know my dad and I stood at the railing, my earplugs in place, and I just stared at the stage.
“Beat It” get the Weird Al treatment and “Eat It” pushes MJ further into my consciousness although I am still more familiar with him as a celebrity than I am with his music.
Dangerous is released. I am 9 years old. This is epic. “Black or White” spawns a million playground jokes about his skin color. My friend Brian has a “Black or White” parody on their answering machine. Something about how anyone can leave a message, it don’t mater if you are… well you get it. Awesome.
All the child molestation stuff comes out and I guess I just assumed he was “Wacko Jacko” and had been getting pervy with kids. A kid in my class says he knows one of the boys suing MJ. Coming from this kid the whole thing now seems less credible. But what do I care, I just drive by Neverland, I don’t sleep there.
MJ’s marriage to Lisa Marie Presley furthers my opinion of him as a weirdo. To me he is still more of a joke than a legend. Second marriage to that weird lady doesn’t help.
Alien Ant Farm cover “Smooth Criminal” and it takes me over. Every time it comes on KROQ I crank it and rock out to the max. I am inspired to go back and give MJ chance as an artist, not just as “wacko Jacko.”
“Billie Jean” becomes my go-to MJ song and I realize that if he can create a perfect song like that then he is clearly more than just tabloid fodder. More and more of his songs make their way into mu iTunes.
I see the Jackson 5 tribute show at Madison Square Garden in NYC. The highlight of the night is MJ’s performance. He is just breathtaking to see perform live. He makes it through only a few songs before a split seam up his backside sends him offstage. Whatever, it was epic. The date was September 10th, 2001. The next morning I am unknowingly on the last train out of the city as I head back to campus. Thoughts of the show are quickly overshadowed but I can still remember how amazing it was to see him move.
The Martin Bashir interviews air and it is clear that MJ is just a boy trapped in a man’s body. A boy who never had a childhood and never grew up. Suddenly his “molestation” incidents seem much more like innocent child’s play than anything predatory. He just has so much love for the world and never learned how to show it. I feel for him.
I am walking to get dinner in San Francisco with my friend Joe and we are catching up on old times when he suddenly interrupts me to blurt out that “The King Of Pop is dead.” I am stunned. Stunned that he is dead and stunned that he was 50. It was just 8 years ago that I had seen him dance, and I mean DANCE! Wow. What an amazing man. You gave the world so much and it rarely repaid you. You deserved better. I hope you know how much love the we all have for you. May you finally find peace.
https://www.theburningear.com/media/2009/07/michael_jackson.jpg400300Brandonhttps://www.theburningear.com/media/2015/03/TBE-Header-Logo-2015-stack1.pngBrandon2009-07-08 09:15:322011-04-10 19:04:30Michael Jackson Remembered: Remixes, covers, and memories of the King Of Pop
Los Angeles, the city of a million legends and a million disappointed tourists. Its too big to take in by foot and too confusing and traffic-packed to really see by car. It really isn’t a city at all, but more of a collection of cities that all happen to touch each other and give the illusion of being unified. However, while the city/ies may be sprawling and disjointed, they share a role as muse for great music. As I have simmered here this past two weeks I have been compiling my list of great L.A. songs. Some tribute, some complaint, but all about L.A. The mix’s title comes from Bran Van 3000’s “Drinking in L.A.” whose lyrics seemed strikingly poignant during this 26th year of my life. Oh, and it also reminds me of all the good eatin’ I miss when I’m away from L.A. Mmmmm, tacos…..
What is your favorite L.A. song/story/riot/natural disaster/celebrity sighting?
https://www.theburningear.com/media/2009/06/fever-Flavor-cover.JPG11401500Brandonhttps://www.theburningear.com/media/2015/03/TBE-Header-Logo-2015-stack1.pngBrandon2009-06-22 23:45:332011-04-10 19:04:33[JBI!] TBE Presents: Fever For The Flavor – A Mix for L.A.
A native New Yorker said to me yesterday, upon returning from a long absence from his city, “Damn, this city is unstoppable. It never dies.” True. True. While I did not grow up in NYC, I began spending chunks of time here at 3 and always had an affinity for this New York. Although I always said I could never live in such an intense place I ended up living here for two very formative post-college years. On the occasion of my visit to such a seminal city I don’t have pithy words, but I do have a mix tape. A mix tape for NYC. A love letter, a complaint letter, a letter from one man to his former home. Well ok, so maybe it’s not really a letter at all. It’s just a damn mix-tape, a collection of my favorite songs about NYC. Burn it for your subway commute or for your next visit to The Big Apple. Or just download it because you like good music. What are your favorite songs about NYC?
https://www.theburningear.com/media/2009/06/times-square.jpg10001500Brandonhttps://www.theburningear.com/media/2015/03/TBE-Header-Logo-2015-stack1.pngBrandon2009-06-05 20:44:312009-06-05 20:44:31[JustBurnIt!] TBE Presents: I'm A Bulldog - A mix for NYC
Big moves are being made over at TBE HQ and one of them is this, The Slow Burn Summer mix, our first DJ mix by local favorite “DJ be” who was kind enough to blend up a fresh-to-death 60 minutes of straight fire. Put in on your iPod, cell phone, CDR, or whatever and then slip on your shimmy-shoes.
The mix is a single file because this thing is too fresh to be skipping tracks. I have, however, embedded a timecoded track-list in the lyrics section of the ID3 tag so you can at least know where you are at (or jump to your favorite part, if necessary). Let me know what you think of this method.
https://www.theburningear.com/media/2015/03/TBE-Header-Logo-2015-stack1.png00Brandonhttps://www.theburningear.com/media/2015/03/TBE-Header-Logo-2015-stack1.pngBrandon2009-05-26 14:25:532011-12-13 17:26:14TBE Exclusive! DJ be and the Slow Burn Summer mix
