'Mad Man Blues' by 'The Rosewood Thieves'

Though it looks like I wrote about my ear infection Wednesday, I actually wrote that post on Tuesday when the internet was down at home. After the internet returned to life later that evening, I was too distracted by the splashy news of Joran van der Sloot’s confession to get around to posting my invaluable contribution to the field of musical criticism until the other night.

Grizzly murder(s?) aside, here are the things about Joran van der Sloot that I enjoy:

1. His name. Simply put, Mr. (‘Baron’, perhaps?) van der Sloot was blessed with the perfect Bond villain name. Work up a Scottish lather with your best Sean Connery imitation and yell out, “Where is the plutonium, van der Sloot!” Tell me that just doesn’t feel right.
2. The fact that he travels the world playing high-stakes poker. I mean, really, could he be more of a Bond villain?! At this point, smart money is on the unfortunate Ms. Holloways remains being found in an elaborate tank of sharks and electric eels beneath the island of Aruba.
3. The exotic (and, um, cinematic) locales. Aruba! Peru! Good thing he was caught before his crime spree could reach the Galapagos.
4. Not satisfied by murdering an innocent teenager, he has the gall to then extort her grieving parents to fund his participation in a regional poker tournament (add all necessary “allegedly”s before the crimes as you see fit). That’s a whole new type of evil --supervillain evil … At this point, if 007 isn’t blowing up Baron van de Sloot’s Peruvian jail/secret-headquarters on the big screen by next summer, I am going to go film it myself.

This 007 tangent got me thinking about who I would want to see perform the iconic opening number in my Bond movie. After much searching, I have settled on ‘The Rosewood Thieves’ as my nominee and their song ‘Mad Man Blues’ as representative of their most Bond-worthy output.

‘The Rosewood Thieves’ play mid-60s (post-drugs, pre-burnout) blues/rock/folk (think ‘Beatles’ then take two respectful steps back) that has the effortless cool of a classic tuxedo, along with the requisite undercurrent of danger apropos of the life of a secret agent. The only thing The Rosewood Thieves are missing (and why I might call them back for a second interview before inking their contract) is the sultriness needed to tease out flesh in the voluptuous silhouettes dancing sleekly in the barrel of a gun as the primary cast is introduced. They have the sauce, but need work on the sizzle.

You can see a video of ‘The Rosewood Thieves’ performing ‘Mad Man Blues’ live at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Mo8NMQaSr4

How about you; who would you have sing the opener?

(Note about this blog: This is meant to be an interactive experience. You are encouraged --‘encouraged’ because ‘legally mandated’ is of debatable accuracy-- to write comments about what you think of the songs I recommend, how a joke offended your delicate sensibilities, and how excited you must feel to discover quality new music.)