This weekend, I watched the documentary, Man In The Sand. It’s ostensibly about the recording of the album Mermaid Avenue, but really it’s more about Billy Bragg exploring the legacy of Woody Guthrie. Some really good moments, like when Billy get’s quite suprised at a singer’s improv lyrics. Well worth the rent.
Posts Tagged ‘music’
Man In The Sand (MR)
Monday, December 8th, 2008Corp Covers
Monday, November 17th, 2008One of the, to me, stranger bits of the consolidated music biz are all the corporation-style cover albums. For example, someone put together a well produced set of cover songs done in simlish, the fake language of the video game Sims. Talk about a strange cross-marketing plan.
Odd Covers
Monday, November 10th, 2008AllMusic says the Amadan version (Tell Me Ma) is “traditional”, but lists “Ronan Heenan/Alison Marr/McCroary/Ryan” as composer for the Lick The Tins version (Belle of Belfast City). A quick google suggests tha the traditional badge is fully appropriate.
Which Way Does It Go?
Tuesday, October 14th, 2008I just noticed that one of the remixes of one of my favorite happy hardcore songs, I Wanna Be A Hippy (Ilsa Gold mix) makes extensive use of my favorite bit in Desmond Dekker’s Israelites. Now the question becomes, is the Ilsa Gold mix my fave version of the hippy song because of the sample, or do I like the Israelites because of Ilsa Gold? I know which one came first chronologically, but which one I was exposed to first? That’s a harder question to guess. It seems an unlikely song to hear on AM radio in Texas during the ’70s, but what do I know.
The Mickey Bus Is Coming
Thursday, October 9th, 2008The Mickey Bus is coming
And everybody’s jumping
A crazy colored yo-yo
A pumpin pumpin disco
The bus is coming closer
No time to be a poser
Needs More Cowbell
Wednesday, September 10th, 2008Big Country and Anna
Monday, September 8th, 2008I just finished reading Anna Karenina, and am finding it’s influence in all sorts of unexpected places. There is a mefite named vronsky, whom I long to memail and ask after his motivations, since I didn’t find Vronsky to be the most heroic character of the novel. I’m listening to Big Country’s Harvest Home, and thinking about Levin’s obsession with his tasks as landowner.
Cover Surprises
Thursday, August 14th, 2008I knew that most Joan Jett songs are covers, but I never would have imagined that “Do You Wanna Touch Me” was her covering Gary Glitter. Then again, maybe I would.
Update: LOLZ, another Joan Jett track, “Doin Alright With The Boys” is a Glitter track?
Wishlist Surprises
Monday, August 4th, 2008I’ve had an Amazon wishlist for quite a while. When I first started buying from them, I used an actual Wyse terminal attached to an external modem (for the purposes highly overpowered at 19.2kbps). Sometimes an item ends up on the list that I have no clue why I put it there. Like the 6-CD’s of crappy covers that is Party With Pride,which if my guess is correct, I put on the list for it’s cover of “99 Red Balloons”. But the ‘artist’ names are totally worth the used CD price I paid….”Venus With Penus”…alllllllrighty then =p
The Kool-Aid Tastes Good
Sunday, July 20th, 2008I have tasted the Kool-Aid, and I have to admit, it’s a pretty tasty beverage. I’m not talking the real kool-aid, I’m talking the metaphorical, in this case, the Apple-way. I picked up an airport express, and spent the $10 to get access to the app store for my touch. I have to admit, while there were some problems getting it all set up, once it was, it just works.
Finally, I can listen to the same music in the bathroom, as I am in the living room. It’s synchronized, no distortion, no static, just music. And the itouch’s remote software lets me select, pause, and rate music from anywhere in the apartment. If only they had a built-in time-shifting plug-in for audio. I guess life can’t be totally perfect.
Random seems really unrandom, but maybe that’s because I haven’t loaded so much music in yet.