5 posts tagged “music”
I've been very bad with the concentration this week, but this is the kind of thing that makes me glad there are archives in the world, and that radio stations like WFMU continue to rock their formats so well, on the radio and on these here tubeses.
From their blog, the greatest music blog there ever was, here are 79 different versions of the song "Popcorn." If you think this could find its way into an audio round someday, you're thinking one of the many wonderful things I too am thinking. (I mean, we'll see how the Kraftwerk version sounds, but hey, optimism is free. It's the first Friday of Spring, and I'm looking forward to a nice nap with the windows open before I go off a-carousin'.)
See you tomorrow, you sexy, beautiful bastards.
Peter Case is a rare animal: a guy who wrote solid songs with his first band (The Plimsouls) and then left that band, cleaned himself up, found Jesus, and became a better songwriter. Generally escaping your turbulent youth to find yourself in a comparatively peaceful and centered adulthood is not the way to creating compelling art. But like I said, Case is different. His compositions are infinitely sing-alongy despite the fact that he gets more literary and artful with each release, and his stories about lost outcasts, losers and people barely holding it together kind of, um, resonate with me. The guy can write.
The excellent 80%-politics-20%-music site Crooks and Liars has an unfinished preview song off Peter's next record, and while I can't hear the song from here at work (the little pterodactyl in my machine can't chisel out the notes that fast), the mere news that he's releasing a new record fills me with glee.
I thought it merited mention that Evel Knievel is suing Kanye West over his latest video, in which Kanye does some wacky daredevil stuff dressed as "Evil Kanyevel" (clever, eh?).
According to a statement from Evel's publicist, "Evel is a world icon who has built his name and brand incredibly over the years and this is a slap in the face of his accomplishments. Unfortunately, Kanye West’s music video did not properly project the brand and image Knievel worked so hard to build throughout his illustrious career."
Does Knievel have a case? Well, probably. Watch the video; it's not awful (especially if you're one of the ever-shrinking number who still find Pam Anderson to be all that). The homage is both deliberate and faithful, and actually, Knievel comes off fairly well compared to the Cosell and Pam Grier characters, both of whom seem kind of dim. Evel Knievel was a rock star 30 years ago, and to have him portrayed as a rock star, by a rock star (fronting a band at his own event, having the fly honeys fighting over him right up to the moment of launch and beyond, the microphones & cameras following him all the way in and out of the scene, with generous use of crane & helicopter shots for dramatic and hagiographic effect) seems loving, fair and appropriate. If I were him, I'd only be pissed that I wasn't involved.
And not to give the spoiler ending away, but The Snake River Canyon didn't get any narrower.
Also, yes, this is the same video he threw the shitfit about last month.
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I set up a bookshelf on Shelfari, which seems like a book version of the music compiler/custom radio app Audioscrobbler/Last.fm, on which I'm rather more active these days. I find Last.fm to be pretty useful and interesting (and you can listen to my stuff on it too; I don't know how that happened, but I'm certainly okay with it. Go nuts.)
Both are free services, both benefit from more people getting on and sharing what they like, and I'm happy to help out as best as I can if you have any questions.
Will be the name of the band. We've already got songs (I haven't made an album in almost 5 years, so sweet elvis in graceland but we have songs), and four out of the five players are on board at least to start. It'll be me singing & playing rhythm guitar, John McD singing & playing keys & horn, a bass player & drummer who are on board but let's wait to make sure they work out, and then we need a fifth player, preferably another solo/noise instrument. (I'm thinking either cello or accordion.)
The music will be what I consider to be straight American-style songwriter-driven pop. Think Steely Dan, They Might Be Giants, Warren Zevon, Elvis Costello (who's as American as anyone except for the accent, and has been for two decades at least). John is a Zorn & Cage acolyte, and is currently recording & arranging an album with Anthony Braxton. He finishes on Thursday, and we literally get to work this weekend.
We've been co-writing. I'm excited. This is what I've been doing while not-blogging.
