New Music - Lexagator Loves

Music To Run To…

October 29, 2012 · Leave a Comment

In order to keep my behind in tip top shape (from sitting in front of a computer for 9-10 hours a day) I starting running in April. I have done a few 5Ks and now I’m preparing for a the Mermaid 10k (in SF) in a few weeks!

Music is a huge tool to keep going in a race and a perfect way to tune out your body screaming at you. I usually put together a playlists in Rhapsody or Rdio. Below is one I have been using for my previous 5K’s. Do you have any suggestions on songs to add? If you are a Rdio user the playlist is open to collaboration and if not below is a form. Would love to hear what motivates you to keep going!

http://rd.io/x/QFTIL1GknA

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Thank you for your response. ✨

Flute + Hip-Hop =Awesome

May 20, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Here is the proof you can add a classical instrument to a hip-hop song and make it better than the original!

Check out my friend Steve Pageot playing on a remix of Kelly Rowland’s “Motivation”

Rebirth Brass Band: The Rebirth Of New Orleans

April 12, 2011 · 2 Comments

It’s a Tuesday night in New Orleans. Music fans are lining up at the Maple Leaf Bar to the Rebirth Brass Band. Everyone pays a small entrance fee and cozies up to the bar for some drinks. Once the concert goers are hydrated they surround a very small stage awaiting the Rebirth Brass Band to take the stage. A few locals are impatient stamping their feet and exclaiming “Rebirth we are waaaaaiting…” Finally the brass band takes the stage from the first note the audience is captivated, screaming and dancing to the grooves. If this sounds like a fabulous night you are right but believe it or not this occurs every Tuesday night in New Orleans.

Rebirth has been around since 1972 and formed by original members The Frazier brothers, Phil and Keith, along with trumpet legend Kermit Ruffins. The brass band has been called a “New Orleans Institution” by the New York Times. In season 1 of the hit HBO show Treme the opening scene featured the band leading a second line parade into the city. I recently watched the scene with my parents whom were both engrossed in their newspapers when I popped the DVD in. As the band marched and the music grew in intensity both of them could not divert their eyes form the TV screen. I am off the opinion if you cannot be moved by Rebirth’s music you have no soul.

Today, Rebirth’s latest effort “Rebirth Of New Orleans” is available at music retailers everywhere on Basin Street Records. The first track off of the album “Exactly Like You” tips off with a triumphant snare cadence as to make sure the audience is ready to listen. The second track “You Know You Know” features the horn line in very tight unison. There is also a spirited saxophone solo on this track too and while Rebirth has the power to blow everyone’s face off it is nice to have solos to hear the individual musicality of the musicians. In the track “The Dilemma” there is an Afro-Cuban groove locked in by the horn section and drums. My favorite song on the record has to be “Let’s Go Get ‘Em” with this infectious groove that motivates the listener to just get up and give life everything you got. While all of the music on this record is a party there is no missing the message in the lyrics. On “What Goes Around Comes Around” the listener is reminded “What goes around comes around in its time…” “On “Do It Again” it is clear that the band is here to stay and “We have already done it and we goin’ do it again.”

After several spins of this disc I can easily say that it has captured the intensity of a live Rebirth Show. Whether the horns are blasting or there is ahorn solo it is absolutely breathtaking what a band like this can come up with. Consider this article a gentle reminder to book your travel now to New Orleans and make sure that includes a Tuesday night session with the tightest band in the land, the Rebirth Brass Band.

To preview some music from the new record click here.

New Music: Oh Land

March 23, 2011 · Leave a Comment

It may be cliché but sometimes the worst pain becomes something beautiful and musician/singer Oh Land is an example of that. Oh Land, a pop artist from Denmark was once ballet dancer when she suffered a devastating spinal fracture which quickly ended her budding dancing career. Luckily for Oh Land she had be exposed to music at birth by her musical parents, her dad a organist and her mom a opera singer. Oh Land poured her heart and soul into her music. Her new self-titled album is out now and she recently finished a buzzed about SXSW performance.

If you would like a taste of her music, Oh Land’s Facebook page is offering two free songs for “Liking” her page! I highly recommend checking her out!

Oh Land is currently on tour, this Saturday she is playing the Fox Theater in Oakland.

Album Review: Daybreak By Sierra Hull

March 8, 2011 · Leave a Comment

When we think of music prodigies what immediately comes to mind? I think Mozart or Yo-Yo Ma. In the bluegrass world 19 year old mandolin/vocalist Sierra Hull is one of the newest musical child prodigies. She started playing the mandolin by age 8 and hit the festival circuit where she became nationally known by her inventive picking techniques. By age 11 she was personally invited by Alison Krauss to perform at the Grand Ole Opry and then at the ripe age of 12 she was being pursued by Rounder Records for a label deal. This spring she will be graduating from the Berklee College of Music. Hull is one of the first bluegrass musicians to be awarded the Presidential scholarship worthy of $175,000. During her time at Berklee she managed to record an album called “Daybreak” that is available at your favorite retailer today.

Daybreak is Sierra’s sophomore effort and it is already starting to move beyond traditional bluegrass outlets. Her first single/video “Easy Come, Easy Go,” will be premiering on CMT this week. Hull’s introspective lyrics on this song appeal to country fans with nod to love lost, “I can look back on our story, but that chapter is closed.” The video shows Hull moving on from her childhood becoming a grown woman, where she sings “I’m not a child anymore.” Other tracks that stand out are the instrumental “Bombshell,” where Hull quickly strums her mandolin with such control it feels effortless. Amazingly for this 19 year old she wrote 7 out of the 12 tracks on her album. Her album varies from straight ahead spirited bluegrass, soulful gospel and pop ballads. Her voice and harmonies with her band are extraordinary and she is able to look at all her subject matter in a very mature way. It does not seem that traditional boundaries like genre will fence in Sierra Hull. She will appeal to music fans everywhere looking for exceptional musicianship, soulful singing, and lyrics they can relate to.