A Few iTunes Recommendations

Sure sign that my life is slowly returning to normal - Like a crystal meth addict rushing into a 7-Eleven trolling for Mountain Dew, I'm back on iTunes. Therefore, I thought I'd take this opportunity to make a few eclectic recommendations to you, my faithful, obsessive readers, of song that I downloaded in the recent past that you should download in the near future...

Seasons of Love by the Cast of Rent - I saw the trailer for Rent in the theater the other day, and it was one of the best I've seen in a long time. It consisted of this song, sung by the cast on a stage, with cutaways to scenes from the movie. Like the song, it's simple but beautiful. The movie will star the original Broadway cast, which includes two of my favorite actors in Taye Diggs and Jesse L. Martin.

I Play Chicken with the Train by Cowboy Troy - Sitting at my friend Tommy's place the other night, I stayed around long enough to see hear this guy on Jay Leno. Nothing could prepare me for what I saw - apparently, Cowboy Troy is the pioneer of a type of music known as "Hick Hop," a hybrid of hip-hop and country music. The performance was audacious, well-done, and more than a little unintentionally funny. Needless to say, I now consider myself to be a big fan. He is part of something called the Muzik Mafia, and is good friends with Big and Rich, who backed him up on this song. Cowboy Troy is also a proud graduate of the University of Texas. I don't think it's too early to nominate him for a "Distinguished Alumnus" Award - If Matthew McConaughey can win one, why not Cowboy Troy? (Last note: Check out Cowboy Troy's iTunes Playlist - I think it's one of the better ones I've seen...)

Seven Spanish Angels by Ray Charles and Willie Nelson - Two timeless American voices that work very well together on a great song that plays to both of their strengths. Great track - there are few who can match these two for duets.

Shine by Dolly Parton - A lot of country recommendations today, huh. This is a Dolly Parton cover of a Collective Soul song that Josh Brannon and I once covered at a youth group talent show (I played bass... poorly). Dolly is one of the most talented songwriters and performers of her generation, but is grossly underrated because she's well known for other, uh, things. Perfect illustration of this - when Dolly performed this song on an episode of Austin City Limits, she played the guitar, and played it well, but had to do so while awkwardly trying to maneuver the guitar around her, uh, self. Great performance, and a solid 85 on the UCR.

That's all for now...