The Train of Thought Lounge: Talking Heads & Al Green

I don't know about you, but we here at The Train of Thought have been really into 80's music recently. It's hard to explain exactly what has drawn us back to this particular era. Perhaps it's an attempt to re-connect to a time in which we were really too young to understand what was going on in the world, or maybe listening to the music of yesteryear better helps us put today's music into proper perspective. Whatever it is, we just can't get enough of the awesomely bad sounds of the 80's, ranging from Journey to Foreigner and yes, even to Hall & Oates.

However, one 80's group that doesn't quite fit into the "awesomely bad" category is the Talking Heads. David Byrne was just the epitome of cool, while simultaneously being kind of a nerd (as Lisa Simpson once remarked) and was also so far ahead of his time musically. Talking Heads were popular among a wide array of listeners, mainly because a lot of their songs fit a lot of different moods and really can't be classified into one simple genre.

One of my absolute favorite jams of theirs is "Take Me To The River," a song in which Byrne exhibits his smokier, funkier, more soulful side.



Well, one reason this song showed a lot more funk and soul than other Talking Heads material would be the fact that this is actually a cover! I had no idea this was the case until about two weeks ago when an Al Green song came on XM satellite radio and I recognized that all too familiar refrain, and as it turned out the original version of "Take Me To The River."



The original is somewhat more up-tempo and the blaring horns give it that distinct old-school feel. Both songs are incredible though and it is one of my favorite things in life when a cover stands up equally well to an original (i.e. Foo Fighters' on-point version of Prince's "Darling Nikki").

What do you think?

Train of Thought Lounge-Marvin Gaye

The Train of Thought Lounge: Radiohead

Howdy folks, it's another long-overdue installment of The Train of Thought Lounge, this time featuring one of the classic music videos of all time. It's Radiohead's "Just" off of 1995's "The Bends," widely seen as the band's breakthrough record in the U.S. If you aren't familiar with this video, just follow it all the way through to its particularly chilling ending. The song also kicks ass, might I add, and was covered by British superproducer Mark Ronson, who also made his own spoof version of the video.

Radiohead - Just

The Train of Thought Lounge: Tokyo Police Club

Hello all. Today's installment of The Train of Thought Lounge features a Canadian band called Tokyo Police Club, if that isn't too confusing. They sound somewhat like a cross between Bloc Party and The Decemberists, their songs mainly consisting of frenetic, two-and-a-half minute pop-powered energy bursts. I really was put on to this band, quite simply, because of its name. I thought it sounded cool. Luckily, out of a slew of indie bands with avant garde names (Feist, Spoon and Vampire Weekend come to mind), Tokyo Police Club live up to the anticipation with a refreshing sound.

Here they are live on the David Letterman Show performing "Nature Of The Experiment" off of 2006's "A Lesson In Crime" album. The band has subsequently released "Elephant Shell" in 2008.

Tokyo Police Club - Nature Of The Experiment

The Train of Thought Lounge: 2 for 1 Saturday!

Welcome all to the latest installment of The Train of Thought Lounge. Today we feature the newest singles from two of my absolute favorite bands in the world. First up is the new Weezer song, "Pork and Beans," off the upcoming Red Album which is slated for a June release.

Weezer - Pork and Beans

Next is the new single from The Roots, the scorching-hot "Rising Up" featuring D.C.'s own, Wale and hook chanteuse supreme Chrisette Michele. Enjoy!

The Roots - Rising Up

The Train of Thought Lounge: Bad Brains

Today's installment of The Train of Thought Lounge features Bad Brains, one of the most influential and innovative bands in the history of hardcore/punk rock. All four original members hail from Washington D.C. and they are one of few punk bands to feature an all-Black lineup. Bad Brains, along with other local bands such as Fugazi and Minor Threat, established DC as a major scene for hardcore music from the late 70's to the early 90's.

Adding to the band's lore, Bad Brains were actually barred from performing in Washington's three main music venues and relocated to New York City. They also found success in the U.K. The group has done shows and recorded on and off to this day.

Bad Brains - At The Movies

The Train Of Thought Lounge: Arctic Monkeys

What's up, good people? I thought I'd try my hand at this here Lounge dealy, seeing as how I love nothing more than to lecture anyone & everyone at pretty much anytime about music I like/think they should become obsessed with. Ok I'm clearly exaggerating, but I do want to take this opportunity to hip you guys to Arctic Monkeys, a band comin' straight outta Sheffield, U.K.

I was telling JJ that I like this band because basically most of their songs are about going out in Sheffield and doing the kind of stuff that we do almost every weekend. This song is a prime example: "Last night, what we talked about made so much sense/But now the haze has ascended it don't make no sense anymore." True indeed.

Arctic Monkeys - From The Ritz To The Rubble

New Contributor & Train of Thought Lounge-DJ Shadow

Just call me RB, the newest contributor to this fine blog. I have been lurking in the shadows, commenting and providing some insight into the current state of political affairs, but now I have been promoted to the front page, courtesy of JJ. This is a new experience for me, and I will try my best not to embarass JJ too much. Lets all try to build this community and really extend the discussion to anyone we can.

Since it is Friday, I think will skip the heavy stuff (Rev. Wright, Obama, passport breaches, invasion, and NCAA BUZZER BEATER MAYHEM) and provide this treat for everyone:

DJ Shadow- This Time

The Train of Thought Lounge: Killing in the Name

In honor of this week's visit by Lsouth and the impending partial LQ16 reunion on Saturday night, it was time for some rage. Here's the original music video from 1993.

Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the Name

The Train of Thought Lounge: Snoop buys a nail gun

In honor of the final episode of the wire, I figured I'd start featuring my favorite clips from the show every now and then. (And due to how much I've been thinking about it since last night, heavy on the now) Since it just ended, and I know there are a few of you still trying to catch up, I'll hold of on the massive spoiler filled thing I was writing on the last episode. But for now, here's Snoop buying a nail gun in first scene of season 4.

The Train of Thought Lounge: 1979

I've been in a smashing pumpkins zone recently, and I'd forgotten how tight this video was.

Smashing Pumpkins - 1979

The Train of Thought Lounge

One topic that has been missing sorely missing on this blog is music. Considering the massive presense that it is in my life, and especially since it often acts as a valuable escape from some of the often depressing stuff I post about here, I figured I'd try to feature it a bit more. I figured I'd post start posting youtubes or mp3, and call it the Train of Thought Lounge, in honor of Rahul's glorious lounge tradition that he introduced us in college. It also helps as far as time goes, since this doesn't take long to post, so there can be new content here even when I don't have time for a full post . So here's the first of what will be many, and I figured it was only fitting to start off with one of the all time classics from the album that named this blog.

Talib Kweli and DJ Hi Tek: The Blast

Oh yeah... and how about that other familiar face in the video, Rawkus fans?