For all my SWIKs with Madonna as our soundtrack

Today, September 29, 2009 Madonna released her third (or fourth?) greatest hits album. Celebration is a double CD set that spans her twenty-five year career. I can’t let the moment pass without saying a few words about this SWIK Icon. A great deal has already been said about her. What can I possibly add? First, a mix of a few songs that didn’t make this new album and weren’t necessarily hits, but that you may have missed and are worth checking out. Second, a personal history. Any woman my age has grown up with Madonna. We all have some Madonna memories at this point. Whether you love her or hate her, there are probably moments where her music played a part and there’s a specific instance where you can recall hearing a song and having some sort of reaction. I’m huge fan of her music, but this post is not a tribute to her. It’s a trip down memory lane with Madonna providing the soundtrack. So even if you aren’t a Madonna fan, you may enjoy the post. It’s actually a tribute to all the woman in my life who have shared my personal Madonna soundtrack. You can start playing the SWIK Icon Madonna Mix with this new Grooveshark widget and listen while you read. Just press play.

End of Summer Noise(ttes)

The summer is officially over. According to the calendar, the season ended on Monday. I attempted to extend it as long as possible, but it really ended on Sunday when I had what will likely be my last water-ski of the season. While I was skiing, the Noisettes song “Don’t Upset the Rhythm” went through my head. I never found my rhythm navigating the extremely bumpy waters, but I did have fun. The Noisettes are great fun as well. They have that summer girl-band sound, even if they are actually two men and one woman. It’s amusing to me that with this summer sound, their newest album, Wild Young Hearts, was released in the U.S. on the first day of autumn.

Falling In Love Again

I’ve wanted to write about Imelda May for a few months. This past weekend while looking for some live music, I discovered that she was opening for Chuck Berry. Unfortunately, tickets were about $100. Not the amount that I, and my friends visiting from out of town, wanted to spend. Luckily she was in NYC for a few days. I checked out a show on Tuesday at Piano’s, a small club on the Lower East Side. A perfect excuse to write about her. Plus a chance to see her live and find out if she was as good as she sounds on her album. Would I fall in love with the music again?

SWIK Icon Series: The voice of glamour and danger

In a wonderful end to what was otherwise a not-so-fabulous summer, this past weekend I had the opportunity to navigate some curvy Maine roads in a peach-colored 1960 MGA convertible. The car belongs to my uncle, who is attempting to restore it to a semblance of its former glory. After a brief lesson on the quirks of a car nearly five decades old, I was permitted to take it for a spin. With my scarf blowing in the wind, but no working radio, the song blaring inside my head was “Kiss Them For Me” by Siouxsie and The Banshees. Why? Or you may even ask, who?

In The Background and In High Heels

Last week was a bit of a whirlwind. In a highly unusual case of social activity, I found myself out every night long past my regular bedtime. From tapas with my cousin to a work-related roof deck party as well as a Wine Library TV event, the weekend couldn’t come soon enough. Yet, I knew the weekend wouldn’t be any slower and that live music would be part of it. My friend Suzy T. was in town. We work together at a large, conservative, multi-national organization, but we both started our careers in the music industry. With a fellow music-lover in town, a live show was on the agenda. While there’s plenty of live music on any given weekend in NYC, it’s easy to make a bad choice and hear something awful. Fortunately for us, we got it exactly right and found what was probably the best show in town. We headed to the Bell House on Saturday for the second night of the Brooklyn Soul Festival.