Downloads

“Really Trying 2 Catch U”

Mary J. Blige

www.buzztone.com/comps/pepsismash/maryj.htm

Ringtones are big business, and no one knows this better than singers and songwriters who stand to pad their retirement funds with ringtone royalties. So it should come as no surprise that some musicians will hawk the new technology, despite the fact that nothing could be more unnatural sounding than these digital carillon renditions of hit songs. Blige has been an artist of integrity. For this Pepsi Smash ringtone, she appears in a series of vignettes with a developing story line set in a nightclub where she’s performing. There is a consistent cast of characters and each vignette highlights a separate ringtone. It is advertisement, pure and simple, but Blige lends her smart flair to the proceedings. If only she were applying it to something other than those irritating sounds we hear in the supermarket.

“When the Night Feels My Song”

Bedouin Soundclash

ca.music.yahoo.com/ar-12703762-videos--Bedouin-Soundclash

The song owes more than a little to Toots and the Maytals’ “Pressure Drop,” but the breezy feel and marvelously shifting bass excuse all borrowings. There are two video versions -- the original with time-lapse photography of the group’s home city of Toronto at night, and a more recent one focusing on the three members playing and hanging out on the street. The latter better brings out the charisma and optimism of this youthful band that’s currently on tour in the U.S.

“Black Dog”

Tim Easton

www.newwestrecords.com/timeaston/mediaplayer

Not the Led Zeppelin tune, and put aside the memory of Nick Drake’s song with the same title and similar mood. This Joshua Tree resident conjures a haunted vision of a wayward dog that becomes an extended metaphor for transgressions by the U.S. government. Easton has crafted little video introductions and still photos for each track on his new album, “Ammunition.” His delicate guitar picking and rich, weathered voice swim deliciously in oceans of reverb and will be on display this weekend at the Joshua Tree Music Festival.

“Ridin’ ”

Chamillionaire, featuring Krayzie Bone

music.aol.com/videos/newthisweek.adp

Chamillionaire adds another chapter in the continuing saga of rapper vs. the police. This time the defense claims harassment on the grounds of suspicion of “Riding Dirty,” that the car is straight from a chop shop. Much of the video takes place in the car, alternating with shots of Chamillionaire and Krayzie Bone rapping in front of a white backdrop. Musically, the track kicks into gear when Krayzie Bone enters with his superb rhythmic sense and rhymes.

“Funhouse w/Buddy Emmons”

Danny Gatton

dannygatton.com/Video/buddy.mov

There are guitar players who, on hearing Gatton’s name, will genuflect; others will cry. The virtuosic Gatton, whose name is as sacred in some circles as those of Jimi Hendrix, Wes Montgomery or Django Reinhardt, took his own life in 1994. His recordings have gone in and out of print since, partly due to wranglings between Gatton’s estate and his mother. This is a crude but exhilarating concert video from 1988 featuring Gatton’s extraordinary Telecaster playing and pedal steel wizard Buddy Emmons.