Eclectic Grooves

As the Breeders so aptly stated on their infectious slice of summer jam “Saints”, “Summer is ready when you are”.   While I’ve been ready for summer since it ended last year, I wasn’t quite expecting the sudden onslaught of heat that the Portland area received at the beginning of July.   But once the days started to stretch longer and the warm air was hitting my skin, I became inspired to create a new soundtrack for my summer days. Since summer weather in Portland doesn't typically start until around the first of July, I started to compile my summer playlist at this point. Over the past few days, I have managed to narrow my selection down to an eclectic mix of songs spanning genres as diverse as funk, jazz, rap, soul, gospel and rock that clock in at just over an hour. So fire up the barbecue, bask in the afternoon sunlight and don't hesitate to dive right into this year's summer mix! Summer Mix 2013 1) New Dawn- There...

Well.. The past few weeks have been difficult for me, as I've been in and out of urgent care twice, and put on two different types of antibiotics all within the same week. I'm still not sure if the infection is getting any better, but I have to keep the faith. I have still been thinking about posting on the blog, but the level of discomfort has kept me from doing this until today. Life is a strange thing. One day you have a job and steady money coming in, and the next one you find yourself looking for work and heading to the doctor with a serious infection that needs immediate attention. Whenever I experience something like this, I think of other people who have to deal with pain on a regular basis, and I thank my lucky stars that I have generally been in great health throughout my life. My friends, girlfriend and family have been extremely supportive of me over the past few weeks, and I am eternally grateful that they are a part of my life. This post goes out to all of those p...

I sincerely apologize to those dedicated visitors to my blog for not updating this over the past week. I am using Blogger Beta, and it is having issues with text and picture placement. Also, Blogger seems to be down a lot for maintenance lately. So, if the text and spacing don't seem to look right on the page, it's because Blogger isn't displaying it properly. If anyone has any ideas about switching to another free blog service that works better, I'm all ears. Well, enough about that! Let's get on to the final installment of the It Came From Memphis series. The Box Tops The Box Tops: The Letter and I Must Be the DevilI Must From: The Best of the Box Tops: Soul Deep [Arista, 1996] Alex Chilton first struck an emotional chord with the nation after receiving critical acclaim for the Box Top's first single "The Letter" in 1967. "The Letter", produced and written by Dan Penn, became one of the highest-selling records of 1967...