Tarantino's Kill Bill Soundtrack: Ricardo Arjona, Reel Big Fish, Tomoyasu Hotei, Stranger (Tampa)

"BATTLE WITHOUT HONOR"            TOMOYASU HOTEI

From Quentin Tarantino's masterpiece Kill Bill comes this explosive guitar instrumental by one of Japan's leading musicians.   Uma Thurman in the yellow track suit, the nightclub fight with the Crazy 88's, Lucy Liu's scene in the snow, so many visual memories of that incredible film.    Tomoyasu Hotei's guitar track perfectly captures the excitement, the revenge, and the feel demonstrated in Tarantino's motion picture.

"3-D"                                STRANGER

So many memories of this Tampa band.   Met Ronnie Garvin in Dunedin when I first moved to Florida in the late 80's.   He was a brilliant guitarist and together with lead singer Greg Billings, Stranger ruled the local rock scene in Pinellas and Tampa during the 80's and 90's.   The bar band set included great songs like "Okeechobie Whiskey, Thunder Bay, Play Something I Can Dance To, Shakedown, and Get On Up.   I saw them at ML Chasers on US 19, Cuso's on Indian Rocks Beach, and countless other locations.  Since Ronnie's death, Greg Billings leads his own self-named band now but he's still local and carrying on their legacy.  This video is one of the very few promotional videos they made.

"TALK DIRTY TO ME"                   REEL BIG FISH

Yes, it's a cover of the Poison song but Reel Big Fish take it on a whole new direction.    I love accents and what guy wouldn't love hear to hear a cute girl with an accent telling him to talk dirty to her :)   Reel Big Fish are a punk/ska band out of Huntington Beach, California that use horns, ska beats, a party attitude with their pop punk sound.   On this cover, Tatiana DeMaria is a guest vocalist, love the playful touch she adds to the lyrics.

"SIN TI....SIN MI"                      RICARDO ARJONA
 

A great friend told me about Ricardo Arjona and how amazing his lyrics are.   Unfortunately for me, they're in Spanish!    I've been told he's kind of a rebel, writing political songs, passionate songs about causes he believes in, and he's even had songs banned in countries.   Ricardo's goal isn't radio airplay but singing songs that speak from the heart.   Regardless of the language barrier, I can "feel" his music and I'm looking forward to hearing more of his music.

travis