Burlington Music Journal

"America's Most Unsophisticated Band!"

2012-01-30T16:45:00.000-08:00

Freddie Fisher & The Schnickelfritz Band were a great novelty band from the 1930s, pre-dating Spike Jone's debut in 1942, and if their music has a familiar sound to readers of this blog, they should - most of the members left band leader Fisher and formed the Korn Kobblers. A nice person has posted an album of Fisher & Co. songs of wildly-varying sound quality, but hey, it's free, so who can complain? Gonna have to find an album by these guys. For further study...

Freddie Fisher & The Schnickelfritz Band

The Crumbling AntiMusic of BuboTucoTumbo

2012-01-27T13:21:00.000-08:00

Bubo, Tuco & Tumbo are one and the same, making inexplicable instrumental (with vocal gibberish) thoroughly obscure music that is by turns, annoying, fascinating, grating, compelling, always highly original, and frequently rewarding. They exist in that rarefied world of abstract esotericists like Zoviet France, or Nurse With Wound.

I literally have no idea how most of this music was made. It's not jazz, tho it sounds improvised at times, and doesn't sound especially electronic - there's an organic hands-on feel to these steadly-thumping rhythms that just go shambling on along like some Rube Goldberg device (perhaps machines were used?) as all manner of hard-to-identify mystery sounds create dense, odd textures; it's self-described as "Totally Free - SoundAndFormDeconstructor -CrumblingAntiMusic."

It's a hugely prolific project - when I was first contacted, 12 releases were up and I see some more have been added, but much of it is of a visual nature. And like our old pal The Everyday Film, I've been given not a shred of explanation or biographical information. When I asked, they replied:

-You should create your own opinion about these lines.
It's better if you first listen to all the albums.

-I have no web space other than mail.
Bubo/Tuco/Tumbo is my temporary project.
I am a painter; took a long break away from other projects earlier this year and devoted some time to creative areas in which I have no natural talents, skills or knowledge.

Material that arrived to you, was created between March and August 2011.

-Bubo/Tuco/Tumbo is only the soundscape for an art catalog which is now nearing completion and will be totally free, just like Bubo/Tuco/Tumbo vibrations – this material is in no way intended for marketing but is meant as collective property.

-BuboTucoTumbo of Humal/Animan Collective

All free downloads, all available here:

BUBO - TUCO - TUMBO

The first batch:
I started with album #1 and wasn't sure if I'd continue - it's mostly in the Hafler Trio/Derek Bailey school of plunk-and-scrape improv that doesn't do much for me. But the final 3 tracks really got me, and I continued to find some really good stuff scattered throughout, e.g.: "Reverberatordog" on album #5; the first couple tracks on #6, an album that features lots of amusing jibbering/chattering; and what are those sounds on #7: porn on one track? Monkeys on another? It all makes the Residents sound like Air Supply. "APOPHENIANIMALS" on #8 is really good, tho it doesn't need to be 19 minutes long.

#9 is called "THE BEST OF TUCO," and they ain't kidding. The whole thing's pretty solid - start with this one.

The second batch (all album titles named after lines from "The Good The Bad & The Ugly" for some reason):
"TUCO -1- A" is a pretty interesting album, tho I can't tell if it's on-line anymore. It, like, "TUCO -1-B" feature some atonal Jandek-like guitar thrumming (I like tracks # 134 and 139). Much of "TUCO - 2 - A" sounds like hitting guitar strings with drumsticks, except for the last track, the ghostly disembodied voices of track # 152. And since that album also seems to be off right now, check it out in all it's 15-minute glory:

TUCO -2- B starts with industrial drones and silences, ends with string instrument scraping. I like #156. "TUCO -3- B" is nothing but noise tracks, all exactly 1:15 long. Didn't like.

That's as far as I've got. They've added some albums (and lovely artwork) since. Anyone want to check 'em out and leave a comment? Color me intrigued...

John North Wright is STILL Outasight

2012-01-25T11:52:00.000-08:00

As I wrote back in '06: In 1995, The Phoeniz (AZ) New Times received a demo tape from one John North Wright. The tape began with the growly voice of a middle-to-senior aged man announcing, ""Hi, I'm John Wright. Uh . . . all these songs are copyrighted 1985, words and music by myself. Uh, conceptually, they form the songs for a, uh, rock video opera I have written in my mind. It's set mostly in Hawaii and the Orient. It's called Teenage Volleyballers." What follows is an interminable tuneless guitar & voice meditation on, yup, teenage volleyballers, with little to say about them except that they're "out of sight."...Obsolete slang, hilariously inept music, and a generally creepy pedophile-ish aura all come to together to create the stuff of outside-music legend.

John North Wright Soundcloud page

Wright was an anti-Semetic paranoid conspiracy-theorist and Dylan-influenced singer songwriter (tho he blamed Dylan for telepathically stealing his woman) from Port Huron, MI (he pronounced it "Port Urine") and left this world back in '04, but thanks to the good people at Hott Lava, 15 songs (and possibly more to come) are now up for free listen/download. All the old 'hits' are featured, like "Teenage Volleyballers" and "Down In The Land Of Evil" which, as I wrote in a Wright update, has something to do with Satan's, er, "schlong." Some great new tracks have been added - "I'm On Medication" really is as good as its title. Outsider essentials.

I'm On Medication by johnnorthwright

The Musicalness of Dan Ellsey

2012-01-23T15:56:00.000-08:00

Hyperscore is software originally intended by its creators at MIT's Media Lab as a toy for children - they would draw and paint on the monitor and music would result. But then Media Lab's Tod Machover introduced it to disabled folks like one Mr. Dan Ellsey of Boston.

Quoth this LA Times article: "Born with cerebral palsy and unable to speak, he (Ellsey) was forced to communicate with a clumsy headset that pointed to letters to spell out words. He had little control of his body movements. He was in his early 30s, had never been more than five miles from where he was born and seemed doomed to spend a cocooned life in the hospital.

The Media Lab scientists designed a more refined headset for Ellsey that not only inspired him to compose (he turned out to have interesting musical ideas) but even allowed him to perform by controlling tempo, loudness and articulation. He blossomed, and Ellsey, while still a severely affected cerebral palsy patient, has become an active participant in the Hyperscore program, performing, making CDs and teaching other patients."

You can listen/buy his album "Masterpiece," featuring such interesting song titles as "My Musicalness" and "Our Musically":

HERE

So what's it sound like? Like instrumentals using synthetic versions of familiar sounds (strings, piano, drums) in unfamiliar ways - it all sounds a little off-kilter, like a drunken jazz band playing songs that unexpectedly lurch from part to part, then stopping in their tracks to repeat a passage over and over - not in a Minimalism sense, more in the needle-stuck-in-groove sense. The un-relaxing song "Relaxation" has an insistent snare drum relentlessly pounding away irregular rhythms. My fave on the brief (17 minute) collection is the accurately-named "Thrilling Trills." Music of no known genre.

DEB DOES KENTUCKY

2012-01-19T11:43:00.000-08:00

Had a request from a reader in Morocco (!) for a few albums originally hosted by the late, great site Bellybongo. Tho I don't have albums by Lynn Rockwell or The Trilogy (anyone?), I am glad I had this little wonder. Deb Hyer played ramshackle one-man-band versions of late '60s/'70s easy-listening hits on garage-y guitar, sleazy electric organ, and one-note duck-quack sax. And then there's his singing - he may have been from Kentucky, but his sense of pitch was all over the map.

Actually, the crude arrangements really improve the sappy nature of these songs, bringing them somewhere in between the punk raunch of The Modern Lovers or ? & The Mysterians, and the outsider chaos of The Shaggs. On "Bridge Over Trouble Water," however, it all just completely collapses. "Pain is all around"? He ain't kidding!

Comments to the Unusual Kentucky blog tell us that Hyer was a prolific lounge entertainer in his day, and he recorded another album called (gulp) "Nashville Streaker." Tho we still don't know why he was named 'Deb.'

Deb Hyer "One Man Band"

1. One Man Band
2. If I Had a Million
3. Too Late To Turn Back Now
4. Baby Dont Get Hooked on Me
5. Proud Mary
6. till I Meet You
7. I Believe In Music
8. Bridge Over Troubled Water
9. Joy To the World
10. Rock and Roll Lullaby
11. Someday
12. Help Me Make It Through the Night

(ALMOST) 2 HOURS OF MUSICAL ECSTASY!

2012-01-17T12:18:00.000-08:00

TAKE NOTE! Update your address books, because in a month or so, my only email address will be:

mrfab3@hotmail.com

Yep, hotmail - the first email address I ever got, back in the 1900s. Remember the days? Horse-drawn wagons...gals in bonnets...barn dances...how we got those barns to dance I'll never understand (boom-tish!). Anyway, I'm getting rid of hosting my own bandwidth - everything's blogspot, mediafire and divshare from now on. Will save me plenty of $, so if there's anything you want to download from the old days, do it now. Otherwise, write me/leave a comment, and I'll re-up on divshare or sumthin.
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Last week was my 6th appearance (I counted!) guest dj-ing on legendary weird-ologist Greg Bishop's show Radio Misterioso, and Greg thinks it might be the strangest one yet. He has posted it for your listening/downloading pleasure:

Music For Maniacs on Radio Misterioso

"Plan Nine From Outer Space" intro

talk

EJH (Electronic Jew’s Harp) "Skyer" [thanks to Rich from Kill Ugly Radio]
David Leibe Hart "Ring Out The New Year" [from new Best Of cassette]
Stock Hausen & Walkman "Index"
Jean-Jacques Perrey "Crazy Crow & Daffyduck"
Mel Blanc "Daffy Duck's Rhapsody"
Mel Blanc "Daffy Duck drug PSA"
Bernie Sizzey (Solitaire) "Smokin' and Trippin' Song"
"The Hippie Revolt" film ad
Ben Colder "The Love-In"
Lothar & The Hand People "L-O-V-E (Ask For it By Name)"
Rascal Reporters "Freaks Obscure"
Lalo Schifren "Be Happy Again (Jingle of the Future)"
Longmont Potion Castle "Rec Center"
The Korn Kobblers "The Light Turned Red"
Duangdao Mondara & Chailai "Muhammad Ali (Black Superman)"

talk

"Space is So Startling" (original London cast recording): "Sleep on! /Millions of years ago /Why worry? /It would help a lot to squat"
Twink The Toy Piano Band "Tough Cookie"
Messer Chups "Voodoo Man"
The Spotniks "Rocket Man" [see the video we were talking about HERE]
William Shatner "Rocket Man" [not the well-known video version, but a new studio remake]
"Space is So Startling": "The world can be one family/Space is So Startling"
Bill Cosby "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band"
Ted Mazio Percussion Group "I Didn't Know What Time It Was"
D.A.F. "Die Fesche Lola"
Shoji Tabuchi "Orange Blossom Special"
King Kennytone & His Top Toppers "Sussy Twist"
Bogard Brothers "I'm In Love"
The Hathaway Family Plot "Means of Production"
Ace of Clubs "Rehab Dem Bones" [Amy Winehouse vs Herman Munster mashup]
David Leibe Hart "That Girl" [previously unreleased tune from new Best Of cassette]
Department of Crooks "Plan Nine From Las Vegas"
Hoosier Hot Shots "Etiquette Blues"

talk

"Thank you for your very kind attention."

Bernie Sizzey: Music For Shock Treament Lounges

2012-01-12T09:46:00.000-08:00

Today's post is a big one, but this is a big discovery: a prolific outsider artists' complete works now available for free download. Meet Bernie Sizzey (aka Bernie aka Solitaire): mental patient, transvestite, drug user, coprophiliac, and, more importantly, singer/guitarist/keyboardist/ lo-fi home recorder and songwriter for 30 years now of everything from instrumental ambient space-rock, to unrepentant lysergic trip-outs, to confessional ballads detailing his life in catchy, upbeat songs that are never feeling sorry for themselves. He hasn't been dealt the best hand in life, but you won't hear him complain. (Well, unless maybe he runs out of pot.)

He was discovered by electronic/experimental musician Lee Ashcroft, whom some of you mashup fans may remember as "Mixomatosis." Lee writes:

"I have my friends at Colchester Arts Centre to thank for introducing me to Bernie's world. It was 2005, years before I'd heard the term "outsider music", and I went to see Matt Elliott from Third Eye Foundation live. Leaving the venue I walked past a table full of hand-made CD-Rs. Stained by tobacco and cannabis smoke and leaves, they each bore the name Bernie Sizzey. Bernie was nowhere to be seen but, after being told the Arts Centre was the only reliable place to find these discs (a fact that remains to this day - you won't find him on Bleep.com), I was told to "help myself". Few others did.

This was raw, powerful music. Through the haze of psychedelia, it seemed that one man had encompassed pop, rock, trance and hip-hop into a single, unique sound. At one moment he could be rapping about the Avon lady, the next singing a ballad to his mother, who put her son up for adoption mere days after giving birth. He had made his life an open book, and channeled his demons into some of the most exciting music I'd ever heard.

I wouldn't meet him for another four years. Arts Centre staff had told me he could often be found sitting on a wall opposite the centre, behind the local Mercury Theatre, wearing ill-fitting women's clothes and drinking special brew. And sure enough, walking through town one day, there he was. So excited to discover he had a new fan, he hastily put together a box-set of his entire repetoire from 1981 to 2007. Knowing this box-set, 'Be Kind, I'm Cute', was released in an edition of precisely two copies, I offered to put the contents online.

Finally, after two years of ironing out the myriad glitches present on the discs (some the result of poor-quality audio leads, others the result of the aforementioned drug leaves), I placed the entire collection, including materail released since, onto Bandcamp. Why am I doing this? Because this needs to be heard. All outsider art is important, because it avoids all commerical thought process. Art is often defined as something which lacks a genuine purpose. Outsider art has a purpose, if not for its audience, then for its manufacturers. It's art that exists not because it wants to, but because it NEEDS to.

Bernie's music is vital, and deserves to be heard. I consider it a real priveledge to be able to share it with the world, because I know that whatever problems Bernie faces in his life, knowing his music has an audience is something he can take a lot of comfort, satisfaction and pride in. No amount of money can achieve that.

Lee Ashcroft, January 2012

PS. Matt Elliott was unavailable for comment."

---

The following text is edited from emails and transcripts from Bernie:

"Hello Mr Ashcroft. Testing, testing, hello Mr Ashcroft and the nice guy, kind guy that wants to do this (that's you Mr Fab!)... I dont understand what a blog is, see? um... right. Biography. Born 28th April 1964. I was adopted nine days later by a couple, Mr Henry and Barbara Sizzey. I used to live up Layer Road, my mum was born up there. My dad used to live in Ipswich, then to Langham. Um, that's my dad, my adopted dad. I'll tell you about the social work slags later but um...

Yeah, adopted when I was nine days old. My mum and dad were really good people. They brought up three of us children. We were all other people's children that they brought up. We grew up with an Alsation, Sheena, and then Max when Sheena died. Lived in Brightlingsea, although actually... my mummy never wanted to know me. It will remain nameless. Don't really know if I want to see her. She got rid of me once. Don't really know... anyone if... if I could stand to get rejected by another human being again like that. But my mum and dad brought me up.

Oh yeah, the social workers, they said you can look up your blood family, which I gave them the name of, and they said "but you can't look up the Sizzey family, 'cos they're not blood related, and you couldn't do that. It would be against the law," and I said "up yours, social worker"...

Yeah, um, got hurt terribly by a woman. My first girl really, up the Colne High School up there in Brightlingsea. I think it's called the Colne Community College now, or something. I went there... started there in 1976...I asked a woman... gave her a letter and stuff... that girl in my class, in my form room... if she'd um, we could like get it together. She was really posh and that, and big arse and stuff, and... you could have cut the atmosphere with a knife for the next three years. Didn't tell my mum. My mum said "did you go out with her?" and I said "yeah." But I said "she don't wanna meet you" and stuff. So I lied blatantly to my mum and kept everything in after that really.

Later, I had some good friends around me though, and uh, but later I got into, like, a bit of coprophilia and scat and stuff in the local bogs [toilets]. I could even get a few... TICs with washing lines and stuff and a few shoplifting in Woolworths. Couple of Clash tapes and things, and Buzzcocks and that. They used to keep them in the cases in them days! Ha ha!

Anyway, moving on from that. I did have a girlfriend about a year later when i was 13. 13, 14. Carol. She was a bit plain for me. She's a nice lady and... went back to school after the summer and she weren't there. Apparently she'd move on, anyway. I took it pretty badly, after the other girl as well, who'd turned me down. And um... really things took a bit of a nose dive after that. Always had a sick note for school. Always had a sick note for sport, and that. I hate sport.

Cut a long story short: About the age of 15, started playing guitar. Picked up my sister's one. It was nylon. I put steel ones on it which cut into the neck, but it still worked. I learned how to tune it to itself, and... I still don't keep it in proper, classical tune because they're all up themselves. Tune it how I want. Anyway... started having a group called Rohan. AJP, who's on 'Reel to Real', I think he's a radiotherapist now up there in Peterborough...Haven't got a lot by them anymore, all the tapes have got lost, but I have got the two songs off 'Reel to Real' that I done with AJP...They used to say "don't bring Bernie," you know, because I was obviously so strawn away and that, and dirty and that, that they just didn't want to know. So that was the end of Rohan.

Aged 16, got into Severalls. By the age I was 21, I'd already had ECT [electro-convulsive therapy aka electro-shock]. Had ECT on my 20th birthday! 21st April 1984, we all know what I was doing that morning. Getting a taxi, a paid taxi into Severalls... we was very poor though, so we got a... hospital taxi took me there.

Realistically, it was just drugs, drink, special brew. Not many girls. Couple of lays, but no actual girlfriends until I started making my music. This doctor, this psychiatrist just turned my guts so much that I felt I had to write her a few love songs, to be cute to her, and tell her she can always kidnap me, keep me in a cupboard and kill me. "How much is it?" So I made a few songs, then when I wrote 'Beacon' on 'The Game so Far', sent it to all the neighbors, hey bingo, Vanessa said she loved it. Rest of then 'til now's been history. I've been loved. I've learned how to communicate. I really love that girl Vanessa. And just recently I've got Bandcamp... and Lee's been absolutely fantastic.. you (you Mr!), you kind man, good for you. If you ever need anything sucking, come this way. I mean... I didn't mean that! I mean... if you ever need... ah, bottom."

--------
And that, I believe, marks the first offer of oral sex I've received on this blog. And it's about time! Anyway. Ladies and gentlemen, with no further ado, may we present:

The Complete Works (So Far) of Bernie Sizzey

Where to begin? Lee recommends the "Flux Transmissions" album, and I'd add his sampler "Hippie Scat." "Flux" contain gems like "Dream-Conduit," and the winning bubblegum of "Spinning Top!!" "Scat" is packed with hits like his insanely catchy and funny "Smokin' and Trippin' Song," the 1:30 long should-be-garage-rock-classic "Her Favourite Rubbish," an ode to a "psychedelic Avon lady in the sky...", and "Friends Forever," a great bit of space rock disco - imagine Chic covering Hawkwind. The lyrics to "Slave Shuffle" hints at the darkness in his life ("am I just a basket case/not fit for the human race?") even as the New Wave synth-pop music sets toes happily tapping.

It is these older recordings, sometimes released under the name "Solitaire," that are the most intensely personal, lyric-driven tunes, written in an informal, off-the-cuff manner, as if an uninhibited neighbor stopped you on the street to tell you what happened to him today and to share old stories. Pick hits from "Bit By Bit": "Days," "Garden" (a tribute to his recording engineer!), and "Squeeze," and from "The End Of The Game": "Moonshine Man" (about his dealer), and "Hippie Scat," which details the stupendous amounts of chemicals he ingests. Which leads to this chicken/egg question: did his mental problems/hospitalizations result from his drug use, or are the drugs a way to help him cope?

More recent releases such as "Hard-Wired," the pointedly-titled "Music For E.C.T. Lounges," and the more dance-y "Dementia Praecox" are mostly instrumentals in the Pink Floyd/Tangerine Dream school of head music. Recording quality, tho still a bit lo-fi, is definitely improving.

Much thanks to Lee for allowing us the opportunity to be the blog that gets to introduce Bernie to the world. As Bernie says, "Have a nice trip!!"

The New Music Industry - The Online Revolution

2012-01-09T21:43:00.000-08:00

Technology has leveled the music industry playing field. It used to be that an artist had to make a demo, submit it to many record labels, and hope and pray they were at least called.

The next best thing to getting a record deal was starting your own label but doing so was expensive & risky. There was no guarantee of success and all the rules still applied for a traditional business: most of them fail within the first 5 years. Let's not even talk about "Industry Rule #4080" and the shadiness that exist with some of the people in the industry.

There are countless stories of artist who have gotten jerked in the music business. From poor money management to getting robbed of publishing rights, it's all happened.

In comes the Internet to change the music game forever.

Most music websites in the beginning of the Internet were static webpages. You had sites that allowed you to put up a picture and some words. Then came websites with sound bites and finally the ability to upload songs. Later the ability to upload videos was developed and the game changed.

With services like PayPal, artist could sell songs and beats directly online. With sites like YouTube, artists could post videos of themselves online to widen their fan base. The Internet kept expanding and sites like MySpace were created to help music artists get massive exposure. MySpace and other social networking sites allowed artists to get worldwide exposure and seek out people that would be interested in their music.

It was like putting your marketing on steroids! Regular Average Joe's started popping up on the Internet and getting major deals because the big labels started coming to the Internet for the next big thing. These artists basically had a built-in fan base and this made them easy to market and promote because essentially they had already done the initial legwork.

Some artists even got smart and decided to diversify and figure out other ways of making money online. In addition to selling songs online, some artists began to sell music information products, sell website advertising space, affiliate marketing, and offer web design services.

Let's look closely at these other ways of making money off the music industry online.

Selling music information products online include things like eBooks and video courses. There are courses on everything from songwriting to how to market your beats online. Information products are cheap to producd and they can be sold over and over very inexpensively.

Many artists have written about what they have done to be successful in the music business. There is no shortage of people trying to get into the music business and people will gladly pay money to learn how to the get ahead of the game faster.

Another way of making money offline in the music industry is create a website or blog and sell advertising space. If you have a high traffic website you can place ads throughout your website that are targeted to your fans. There are companies that will pay you to bring traffic to their sites by clicking on special links that you have place on your site. The more people you send to their sites, the better for you.

A different and popular way of making money online is affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is when you sell other people's products and services. You do not create the products or services but you get paid a percentage of every sale that comes from your special affiliate ID. There are plenty of music affiliate programs all over the Internet. Most of them are free to join.

You should do you homework when picking out products to sell. There are different programs and rules for each merchant. Read up on any merchant that you like and find out as much as you can about their company and product.

Last but not least, some artists not only sell music on and offline, they also sell other services like web design. Most businesses online hire web design professionals to carry out the company's vision for the future. A good freelance web designer can make a living building quality websites.

The online revolution has definitely changed the music industry. An artist who once would not have had a chance to get exposure in the music business can not only get that exposure online. They can also generate money online as well to help them advance their career and allow them to do what they love more easily.

How to Market a New Music Band

2012-01-09T21:40:00.000-08:00

When you start out life as a new band it is important to get out of your garage or practise venue and introduce yourself to the wider public. If you are seeking to secure a record deal and aim for a successful music career as a recording artist being able to perform live to a high standard, book your own gigs and gain exposure is essential. Starting a band is tough and becoming a professional band is exceptionally difficult to achieve, but it is possible if you get certain aspects of the process right.

This article will assume that you have the talent, you have tracks of sufficient quality and you have the drive to succeed. Now let us focus on how to get known in your local area where you will hopefully begin making a name for yourselves.

1. No Gig Too Small

Most bands begin in pubs playing to a very small audience earning zero fee. You should go and meet gig venues and offer to play a gig and emphasise that you will promote it yourselves. An Email is simply not enough and more often than not you will get no reply. Visiting the venue shows that you are serious and this will secure you many bookings.

When you are starting out the experience of playing live, dealing with your PA system and getting the sound levels right for your performance is an essential part of being a reliable and quality live act. Pad out the audience with friends and family and take constructive feedback on your performance from the venue owners. Hopefully they will invite you back and tell their industry colleagues in other venues what a great idea it would be for them to book your band for a gig.

2. Learn basic PR

Common sense is the way forward in terms of your PR. Contact the local press and invite them to attend each gig but do not get too pushy with them as they get many invites of this nature. It may take some time and many requests before a reporter comes to your gig. Hopefully if you keep asking, eventually they may have a free evening and come along. At this point you must have the talent to impress them.

Send out well-written press releases to local music websites, magazines and local events portals with a high resolution photo they can use as a thumbnail or avatar for their listing or article. This makes it easy for them to create an article in a short amount of time which increases your chances of getting exposure.

Another good idea is to provide small leaflets for the venue in advance and ask them to distribute the leaflets to promote the event. It is in their interests to get customers into the venue so they will often be receptive to this type of promotion. Let the local youth club or youth organisation know you have a gig as young people love music and are often looking for things to do in the evenings.

3. Fully utilise the Internet

There are many social networks dedicated to music and you should have a webpage on all of them, particularly the larger ones. You should add photos, video, event information and connect with other users who will hopefully love your music and become your fans. Having these pages helps create a really professional feel for your band and make you look very established. Mailing lists are fantastic for getting the word out about a gig or a new music release. The social networks can store playable mp3s of your band performing and videos of your performances. Ensure that any media you use whether audio or video is good quality or you will make yourselves look like amateurs.

Do not fall into the trap of thinking you are better than you are. There are thousands of bands out there and plenty of options for a venue owner that you offend either by accident or on purpose. Remember the worlds biggest and best bands can get away with bad behaviour because they guarantee big money and are in high demand. The majority of bands are easily replaceable if they prove too difficult to work with!

Your success as a new band in the early days is about is getting your band known, and creating a good first impression. That will open some doors which will put you in a better position to hopefully landing that big break.

How to Find New Music for DJ Mixes

2012-01-09T21:38:00.000-08:00

Take away the skills of DJing and the most important you're left with is the music. The music you DJ will make or break you; bring nothing good to the tables and people are going to lose their interest and go to the next room (or worse, leave the club).

People want to hear new music all the time; they don't want the same tracks over and over again. I've put together a simple guide on how you can find new music for your DJ mixes that won't require you to dig through musty, old crates...

How to Find New Music for DJ Mixes

Luckily, you're in the age of information which means that you can easily discover new artists and tracks while sitting back in front of your computer. Here are some of the sources I recommend when digging up new music.

YouTube

YouTube is a stellar source of finding new music when you begin to dig around the interface. I recommend starting with some of your favorite artists and then take a look through the sidebar which shows recommended videos. Another way to find music through YouTube is to subscribe to channels which will always keep you in the light of new music releases.

Ask Around

Jump onto Facebook or your Twitter account; start asking people what music they're listening to these days. Remember, the music you DJ may not necessarily be the ones you absolutely love - there needs to be some form of compromise to get the people onto the floor before hitting them with tracks from your personal stash. Get on these social networks and ask for recommendations; share what you like and people will be quick to share what they recommend.

Music Blogs

Websites and blogs are listed in the millions across the web. There are hundreds of thousands of great blogs you can dig into for finding new DJ releases. Besides some of the big ones like Beatport, you could subscribe to smaller blogs that review and share new music. There are also websites and blogs that release music free of charge by indie producers which could give you a great selection of music that no-one else is playing at the time.

Online Radio

Want to listen to other DJ's and find out some new tracks at the same time? Internet radio is for you. Streaming radio, on the web, is a great source of finding new music depending on which shows you follow. Generally, track lists are shared by fellow DJ's and many people will join in on the discussion of the show to share and ID tracks. Not only will you be getting a good amount of listening in which is fun in itself but you can find those hot tracks by big name DJ's you'd also like to drop in a mix.

Discover New Music With Your Wireless Internet Connection

2012-01-09T21:37:00.000-08:00

Most everyone has that one favorite band that they find themselves listening to over and over again. While having a favorite band is a fun thing, there is something to be said about being able to find fun new music as well. One of the best sources for finding new music is the internet. There are a large number of ways that music can be discovered, purchased and enjoyed. With a wireless internet connection you will have everything that you need to be able to expand your musical library. If you are starting to get bored with the same tracks every day, then make sure and go out there and diversify your music selection.

One great way to find new music is to listen to internet radio stations. There are many stations that have popped up recently where you input a few favorite songs or artists and they will begin to play music by other bands that sounds similar. This is a great way to get to know music that you had not heard before or heard recently. Once you have used your mobile broadband connection to connect to such a site, you will be able to save the different artists that you like and dig up more info on them later.

Another way to find out about new music that is just coming out is to read music blogs. There are a number of different blogs that maintain all kinds of stories about the state of the music industry and what is coming out. This can be an especially great source of music information for folks who are into musical niches that do not get much coverage in the mainstream press. If you begin to comment on the blogs you can even form a little online community centered around niche musical tastes. With your 4G connection, you will find that musical worlds of which you had been unaware will open to you and present enormous possibilities.

Finally, once you have discovered music that you enjoy listening to, you may want to purchase some so that you can take it with you wherever you may want to go. There are many different options. If you want to be old fashioned, then you can purchase a CD from almost any store on the internet. Options also exist for folks who want to download the album directly to their computer. You'll be creating less waste and saving on wait time. It is also possible to only purchase the songs that you want to hear in many situations. As long as you have a mobile broadband connection you will be able to take advantage of different ways that folks can purchase and consume music.

In the end, there are a lot of different ways to discover new music online. When you are the proud owner of a 4G connection, then your musical experiences will be greatly amplified and improved. Upgrade your internet connection today to get the musical experience you have waited for.

THE AUDIO COMPOST OF J fm

2012-01-09T16:29:00.000-08:00

"Compost" is the aptly-titled 16 minute free download mini-album courtesy of of Nova Scotia, Canada's J fm. He grabs samples of pop music detritus, throws 'em in a grinder and makes hazy lo-fi audio mulch. Fans (like me) of the L.A. Free Music Society's woozy tape-loop shenanigans from the likes of Tom Recchion and Dinosaurs With Horns will dig this. Mr. J fm sez: "i just record onto a tape from my sp404, i carry a solid lil dictophone around and grab samples anywhere i can, everything's game. those sounds get treated, trashed and put into a shape on the sampler." Download it from the Divorce label website

HERE

This video for the non-album track "Frozen Frisbee" utilizes a David Blaine 'Street Magic' VHS tape:

HAPPY NEW WEIRD

2012-01-06T15:26:00.000-08:00

Oh, my overflowing in-box! Now that I'm back from vacation, I simply MUST tell you about:

- Yrs truly, Mr Fab, will once again be spinning all the platters that matter for that internet host with the most, Spacebrother Greg, on his Radio Misterioso program this Sun. Jan 8th, 8:00 PST on killradio.org: two solid hours of as many strange sounds as we can cram in, including lotsa stuff I haven't posted here.

- RIAA's last (?) ever album "The Wonderful World of Sound" is now available for free download. 21 big hunks of mashup/sound collage goodness.

- The Amazing Australian Sound-Effects Bird can do more then say "Polly Wanna Cracker" - he can imitate stuff like power tools, water dripping, and a truck backing up. Made me laff!

- Bastiaan Maris' Large Hot Pipe Organ plays music by shooting fire thru tubes of different lengths; a 2 track ep is available that I'll have to track down, but 'til then, here's the monster at work:

- "Sin-atra" is a heavy-metal tribute to Frank Sinatra. Uh-huh. And it works about as well as you would expect, with results ranging from "actually, this is kinda cool" (Dee Snider's "Kashmir"-inspired version of "It Was A Very Good Year") to "train-wreck" and/or "hilarious" (pretty much the rest of the album). Members of Anthrax and Cheap Trick, among other metal stars, appear. Listen HERE for, if no other reason, proof that the world may have lost it's collective mind.

Thanks to windy & Whizzdumb (sounds like some old show-biz team!) for the tips.

Exotic Sounds of Tiki Gardens

2012-01-03T15:18:00.000-08:00

Here we are, back from vacation, ready to...go back on vacation. So let's warm up these darkest depths of winter with one of the most expensive exotica albums ever. Yep, this one goes for hundreds of dollars on ebay, and I have no idea why. For one thing, it's not a music album so much as a tourist souvenir record, complete with nerdy narration. As such, it's a fascinating time-travel back to '60s kitsch America, but the one-man organ band ain't exactly on the order of Les Baxter's complex arrangements (tho Princess Carloa's "Hawaiian Wedding Song" is beautifully sung). Tropical birds, waterfalls, ocean waves, and a volcano also make guest appearances.

Florida's Tiki Gardens was built in 1963. Alas, it was sold in 1990 and demolished - just before the tiki revival.

Exotic Sounds of Tiki Gardens

includes: "Torch Lighting Ceremony," "Selected Sounds of Tiki Gardens," "Polynesian Fantasy Theme Song ."

Worst Christmas Album Of The Year...

2011-12-19T20:39:00.000-08:00

...is by the Stone Temple Pilots guy Scott Weiland. Listen to it streaming here (if you dare).

The first song had me thinking that he just might pull it off, but then...it was hard to listen to "I'll Be Home For Christmas," which you can listen to/download

HERE

without spitting out my eggnog in laughter. The absurd crooner vibrato and wavering pitch of the former rocker/junkie/jailbird is backed by "sophisticated" orchestrations, pseudo-calypso, cheezy Casio drum-machine lounge, and even the whitest kind of Jimmy Buffet-reggae. Won't knock out Dylan's xmas atrocity as 'worst holiday album ever by a rocker,' but Bob does now have some serious competition. Merry Kissmyass!

Elvis with Buddy Love with Elvis with...

2011-12-16T14:40:00.000-08:00

The Elvis Experience with Buddy Love is a curious bit of Elvis-iana from Spain. Apparently it's yet another E impersonator, but one that raises a number of questions: why does he go by the name Buddy Love, the name of a Jerry Lewis film character? What's with that picture (taken from his MySpace page)? Is he doing a Buddy Holly impression on "True Love Ways"? And why does he start this CD-R (presumably sold at shows) with four obscurities, then a Peggy Lee cover, instead of Elvis classics? Maybe those songs where big in Spain. "Edge Of Reality" is totally great, tho, it shouldn't be obscure - this late-period b-side from a forgettable film had me seeking out the original (see vid below). Would go well on a psychotic-themed playlist with Porter W`goner's "Rubber Room" and The Cramps "Can't Find My Mind."

Buddy's accent and not-entirely-complete grasp of English does come thru on the slower numbers like "Fever," where he sings lines like: "fever started out ago." And on "Viva Las Vegas" is he singing "Fever Las Vegas?" Weird how he doesn't do many of the famous songs - I had to use an internet lyrics search to find what some of these songs were called, and I thought I had a fairly good grasp of The King's career. Guess I don't know as much about him as I thought...and I've even been to Sun Studios, Graceland and his childhood house in Tupelo.

The Elvis Experience with Buddy Love

01 Pocketful of Rainbows
02 It Hurts Me
03 Young and Beautiful
04 Edge Of Reality
05 Fever
06 Flaming Star
07 Are You Lonesome Tonight
08 Memories
09 Forever My Darling
10 She's Not You
11 Rubberneckin'
12 True Love Ways
13 Separate Ways
14 Viva Las Vegas
15 My Boy

And if anyone wants to buy me a Christmas present, holy crap, check THIS out - it's the female Eilert Pilarm!

Thankyouverymuch, windy.

YOUR COMPUTER DYING: THE REMIX

2011-12-14T09:30:00.000-08:00

Jeff Kolar's "Start Up / Shut Down" is a free 'net-label two-track single creating solely from: "Window and Macintosh operating system event sounds. This project features remixed material sourced from Microsoft Windows (3.1, 4.0, NT, 95, 98, Me, XP, Vista, 7, 8) and Macintosh OS (10.0 Cheetah, 10.1 Puma, 10.2 Jaguar, 10.3 Panther) operating systems."

The glitchy abstract electronica of "Start Up" certainly doesn't sound like anything you would expect to hear coming out of computers, unless you threw a bunch of 'em into a full bathtub and recorded their dying screams. "Shut Down" is really nice, a sci-fi drone-fest - easy-listening music for robots.

Mr. Kolar is the man behind "Other Voices," the sound piece made from homemade radios we wrote about earlier this year.

Jeff Kolar's "Start Up / Shut Down"

New Wave Covers For Oldies Lovers - Part 3

2011-12-12T09:51:00.000-08:00

Like I said: "During the upheaval of the late '70s/early '80s punk days, there was a real changing-of-the-guard feeling that led many groups of the time to cover classic oldies from the sacred rock 'n' roll canon in an irreverent (if not downright disrespectful) fashion." Part 1 and Part 2 of this series have been two of my most-downloaded collections, so here's a third batch - with suggestions from some of you - of wild 'n' wooly '70s/'80s devolved covers ranging from hardcore slammers to New Wave synth nerdiness to art-damaged tune destructions. You'll probably recognize a few famous things here, but there's plenty of obscure-but-great ripped-from-vinyl rarities as well. Weirdly enough, there are not one, but two electric violin-based tracks here: Walter Steding, and Nash The Slash. And, seriously, when was the last time you listened to the Plasmatics?

Put your hands in your pockets and commence pogo dancing...NOW!

New Wave Covers For Oldies Lovers - Part 3

Elvis section:

1. Dead Kennedys "Viva Las Vegas"
2. Walter Steding "Hound Dog" [Robert Fripp on guitar]
3. John Cale "Heartbreak Hotel" [live, with possibly Brian Eno, Kevin Ayers, Mike Oldfield)
4. Judy Nylon "Jailhouse Rock"

5. Frank Sumatra And The Mob "Telstar"
6. The Plasmatics w/Lemmy "Stand By Your Man"
7. Nurse With Wound "Antacid Cocamotive 93 ["The Locomotion"]"
8. Brian Sands "Baby You're A Rich Man"
9. Dictators "I Got You Babe"
10. Hüsker Dü "Love Is All Around ["Mary Tyler Moore Show" theme]"
11. Talking Heads "Love Is All Around" (live) [The Troggs]
12. Pure Hell "These Boots Are Made For Walking"
13. Ronny "If You Want Me To Stay"
14. The Plugz "La Bamba"
15. Brian Eno "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"
16. Nash the Slash "Dopes on the Water" ["Smoke On The Water"]
17. Implog "On B'way"
18. Hüsker Dü "Eight Miles High"
19. Plasmatics "Dream Lover"
20. The Stranglers "Walk On By"

Thanks to those of you who suggested some of these.

BIZARRO CLOWN JAZZ

2011-12-08T10:31:00.000-08:00

Jazz legend Charles Mingus needs no introduction, and if you don't know the name of writer Jean Shepherd, you probably know of his works, e.g. the 1983 film "A Christmas Story." None of which will prepare you for this 12 minute hunk of twisted circus jazz and dark humor, the kind of spoken word/music surrealism that Joe Frank does, but this is from 1957. From Mingus' album of the same name, prepare thyself for..."The Clown":

T.V.O.D.

2011-12-05T12:17:00.000-08:00

I can think of no better way to spend seven-and-a-half minutes then with this stupendous stop-motion animation/sound & audio collage by Los Angeles' Janie Geiser. Like if one of Joseph Cornell's shadow boxes was animated by the Brothers Quay:

Halfcast Podcast, who made all those bee-YOO-tee-ful outsider-music videos for us last month, have returned with a hilarious Yuletide chestnut featuring the late, beloved Wesley Willis. Merry Christmas!

The use of the also late, great Del Rubio Triplets in the Wesley Willis video prompted me to revisit that magic moment from their appearance on the Pee Wee Herman Christmas special:

Ah, the Del Rubios. I miss 'em. Saw at the old Rhino Records store late '80s. They were well into their 60s at the time, in their trademark miniskirts and gogo boots, and were so chatty and friendly they spent half the time talking to the crowd. Actually, when I saw Wesley Willis in the late '90s he also spent half the time doing other things besides playing music. It was at the Luz de Jesus Gallery, to promote his show of identical-looking pictures of Chicago cityscapes, as obsessively repetitious as his music, and in lengthy stretches between songs, he'd grunt things like "kick a camel's ass," and have girls come up from the audience to head-butt him. Good night, sweet prince(esses).

Best Music Events in Austin, Texas

2011-12-03T04:34:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for a place to live where there is always something going on, especially within the music industry, then Austin Texas is the place for you. No matter what type of music you are into, there are always awesome music events going on in Austin, and you can find concerts to go to pretty much every week if this is something you are into. The many Austin nightclubs boast some of the best entertainment in the city, and you will find some of the best in local entertainment here. If it is the larger, more well-known acts you are interested in, there are concerts and events going on all the time.

Austin Music Festivals

There are many different music festivals held in Austin throughout the year. The biggest, and probably the most popular, is the Austin City Limits Music Festival, which is the largest music festival the city holds every year. This festival goes on for three days, and is held at Zilker Park, which boasts 46 acres where some of the most popular artists from all over the world play. Some of the acts that have been featured at this music festival include The Eagles and The Strokes. Not only will you get to enjoy some great music, you can also find some delicious food and great shopping. There is even a concert venue for the little ones in your family, Kiddie Limits, where they can enjoy music that is written and performed just for them.

Another popular Austin music festival is the Austin Reggae Festival, which is a celebration of everything Jamaican, from music to food and culture. This festival is held in the spring, and there are four days of music and fun, so you probably will want to pitch a tent and enjoy the entire festival. This is a fun time for the whole family, and there is something for everyone to enjoy, no matter what their ages. Bring your family and a tent, and enjoy four days of music, fun and food.

If you would like to step back into the 60's, then you simply have to take in the Austin Psych Fest, where you can listen to some really great psychedelic rock. This festival began in 2008, and is growing year by year. There are some really amazing musical performances, which combine not only awesome music, but some terrific visual art to give you the total psychedelic experience. Modern psych bands such as The Black Angels and Silver Apples have performed at this festival, which is geared more towards adults rather than entire families.

Music lovers will love living in Austin, Texas. Not only are there terrific music festivals in all genres of music held year-round, the nightclubs boast some of the greatest entertainment in Texas, and of course, there are always concert events going on. Whether you want to get hard and heavy with your favorite rock and roll bands, kick back with some country western, or take in the opera, you can find it all in Austin, Texas.

Best Musical Instruments for Kids Under Age 5

2011-12-03T04:33:00.000-08:00

As a parent, I am sure that you are dumbfounded by the sheer amount of musical toys on the market. We all like the idea of introducing our kids to music, but which instruments should we buy? Does my 3-year-old child really need a $300 guitar? As a professional musician and dad of a toddler who is currently dealing with this issue, I am going to try to greatly simplify the process for you in a way that will save you money without compromising your child's musical explorations. My emphasis will be on presenting cool (wood, handmade, Fair Trade, Eco-Friendly) alternatives to the cheesy plastic instruments sold at most toy stores. I like the idea of finding instruments with staying power -- ones that have the potential to be played for a lifetime assuming that they survive the toddler years - or at least can be saved as keepsakes. That toy drum adorned with popular cartoon characters is not going have much use after age 5, and is destined for a landfill.

The first thing I am going to do is separate musical toys from musical instruments. For clarity, I am defining a musical instrument as any device that has a direct correlation between a child's action and pitch. For example, hitting a drum, plucking a string, striking a key, or blowing air through it all result in a tone or pitch being produced. I will even go one step further and say that there must be some way to play an actual melody (note for note) on the toy in a way that resembles a real musical instrument (excluding drums and percussion instruments like shakers). This is difficult to put in words, but it will become very clear as you read on.

Working from this definition, most Musical Tables, and Toy Guitars with no strings and lots of flashy buttons do not qualify as musical instruments. I am not saying that these toys are bad or useless (purists will vehemently disagree) - simply that they are not musical instruments. We have an activity table that I thought I would hate, but as I observed my son discovering more things on it and "commanding it", I began to see some value. At 2, he could make it play the 'Counting to Ten Song' and the 'Alphabet Song' as he sang along. Nevertheless, we try to keep the flashy battery operated toys to a minimum.

I should mention that some of the alternative instruments are handmade and imported. A few of the retailers screen the products to make sure that they are not manufactured with toxic materials. If you have questions or concerns about a particular instrument, please contact the store directly before buying.

I should also mention that this article is only meant to be small guide to get you started on your search. Obviously, there is no way to cover every musical instrument on the market, but hopefully my research will save you a lot of time and will help you make sound buying decisions (pun intended).

Avoiding Frustration is the Key
For children under the age of 5, music should be all about play and the joy of discovery. You don't want to frustrate your child by introducing an instrument beyond their capabilities. Naturally, every child is going to be different in terms of developmental abilities, and you will have to discern whether a particular instrument is too advanced. In this case, you can simply put the instrument away and try again in six months or a year.

Percussion Instruments for Kids
The obvious place to start is with percussion instruments (shakers, drums, tambourines, etc...) since they are the most primal and the most capable of providing instant gratification. However, most parents are unaware of the alternatives to the kiddie plastic stuff found on the toy isles. Remo Percussion has a cool line called "Remo Kids Percussion", and Meinl Percussion has a kid line called "Nino Percussion" that has the best instruments in my opinion. The Nino product line definitely has staying power as instruments and keepsakes. Jamtown is a great source for more eclectic Fair Trade instruments with a great line of handmade shakers and drums that are definitely keepsake worthy.

Plan Toys is an environmentally conscious company that makes its toys from recycled rubber wood and colored eco-friendly dyes. They get big points for this. However, most of their instruments will not have much use beyond the toddler years. Their toy instruments tend to be more for the ages 1 - 3, and my favorite one is the Solid Wood Drum. It can produce three different tones and is a great example of an early instrument that can be played for a while. It is also a nice keepsake.

Depending on the child, drum sets often require motor skills beyond a toddler's capabilities to be played properly. However, if your child is drawn to a drum set by all means go for it - especially if a family member already plays the drums and can instruct your child on the basics.

And let's not forget that empty boxes and pots and pans make great drums as well!

Also in the realm of percussion are pitched percussion instruments such as toy pianos, xylophones, and glockenspiels. These make great instruments for toddlers because there is a direct correlation between action and pitch, and they only require the motor skills of touching or striking. The only thing to watch out for in this area is that there are many on the market that are not tuned (the notes do not correlate to a scale) -- making them noise makers as opposed to instruments. The best way to research this is to read the comments from online retail sites. The feedback from parents in this area is invaluable, and the price difference between tuned and un-tuned is negligible.

Finally, my favorite percussion instrument for kids is the Kalimba. The Kalimba is an African instrument that is played by plucking the tines or keys with the thumbs. It is also called a Thumb Piano or Mbira. There are tons of import versions of Kalimbas online, but most of them do not claim to be child friendly and consistency/quality seems to be a big issue. I list a few good sources on my site. The Kalimba is another great example of an instrument with staying power. You'll be able to play it for a lifetime.

Wind Instruments for Children
Buying a wind instrument for children under age 5 is a little tricky because you want to be sure they have the lung capacity and are old enough to understand the concept. Unlike simply striking a percussive instrument and producing a tone, wind instruments require your child to blow and finger at the same time. As a result, most wind instruments are recommended for children over age 3. Here again, I believe you can introduce it sooner especially if a family member happens to play a wind instrument.

Unfortunately, there are few alternatives to the cheesy plastic versions of trumpets, saxophones, and clarinets simply because the legitimate versions are beyond the abilities of most kids under 5. In addition, the real versions can potentially cause problems with your child's developing mouth and facial structure.

Hip alternatives include the Suling flute and Ocarinas sold by Jamtown. They are recommended for children over age 3. I bought both of them for my 2 1/2 year old son, and they were definitely too advanced for him. I'll try again when he turns 3.

Harmonicas are also popular wind instruments for children, and they are tuned to a particular scale so that there are no "wrong notes". Hohner has been making Harmonicas for 150 years and is a good place to start.

String Instruments for Kids
String instruments are actually quite challenging for kids under age 5 so you want to be careful not to introduce them too early. Guitars and violins require a toddler to do two actions simultaneously to produce a melody: fret the string with one hand while strumming, plucking, or bowing the string with the other. They also require a fair amount of finger strength. Finally, even if your child can manage the first two actions, producing a musically pleasing tone is not easy.

For this reason, guitars and violins are not instruments that most children under 4 can get going on their own. They really require some form of formal instruction, either privately or in a group.

A Ukulele is perfect for small hands and is a genuine alternative to the plastic electronic guitars with all of the buttons and flashing lights. At least it has strings (4) and is made of wood. However, most of the toy Ukuleles do not hold their tuning so if you want an instrument that your child can grow with, I'd spend a little extra and buy a 'real' one. Again, read the feedback online in order to find one that holds its tuning. It will only cost you about $20 more than the toy version, and it will also look nice on a shelf if it survives the early years. The Lanikai LU-21 Soprano Ukulele is a good example of a proper beginner's instrument.

If you are looking for a real guitar or violin, I highly recommend a visit to your local dealer. This is the best approach as opposed to trying to find the right instrument online. In addition, a local dealer may also be able to provide lessons.

I discovered Lyres while I was doing the research for this article. They appear to be very cool because they don't require a child to fret with one hand and pluck the string with the other as on a guitar. You tune them to a scale, pluck the strings, and there will be no "wrong" notes. Most include songbooks and tuning instructions so you will need a little musical knowledge to set it up and maintain it. The only drag is that they are quite expensive (around $130), but if you factor in that they can be played for many years, the extra expense may not seem so exorbitant. Plus they are beautiful looking instruments, and they are definitely keepsake worthy. I suggest searching for a YouTube video of someone playing it to see a Lyre in action.

Time for Lessons?
This is a good time to bring up when you should actually start formal lessons for a child. There is lots of debate in this area, but certainly if your child expresses a desire then go for it. However, conventional wisdom is that during this period, music and instruments are more of an activity and formal instruction is not required. Most agree that the time for private lessons starts after age 5 depending on the child. "Tiger Mom" would disagree, but I am going let my child's interests and explorations be the guide during these years. Incidentally, I remember wanting to take piano lessons around the age of 7 or 8, and I started at age 11.

My Child has a few Instruments - What's Next?
So what do you do after you buy a few of these instruments? Stay tuned for the next article...

5 Best Musical Instrument Apps for Android

2011-12-03T04:32:00.001-08:00

For the average person, music helps relax the mind and calm the senses. For the music enthusiasts, lively beats and interesting words bring inspiration and entertainment.

Is music limited to radios, televisions and music players? Definitely not, for even the smallest of gadgets are completely capable of playing your favorite tunes. With the rise of smartphones and tablet PCs, listening to music must be a crucial feature. Most smartphones, tablet PCs and other portable gadgets run on a particular operating system, and Android is undoubtedly leading the race. The Android Market boasts of thousands of applications, and a considerable chunk of these is dedicated for all the music lovers all over the world.

Apart from music players, what other applications are dedicated for music? Here are the 5 best musical instrument applications for your Android gadget:

1. JCI Piano Chords

If you cannot afford a grandiose piano, this piano application will do. Created exclusively for all piano enthusiasts, the JCI Piano Chords application allows you to master the black-and-white musical keys, at least in a virtual way. Release yourself from the tension and play soft tunes, or excite yourself with pleasantly loud rhythms. With this application, you can adjust the reverb mix, roll keys and record anything that you have practiced.

2. Harmonica

The harmonica is a lovely instrument capable of creating captivating tunes. The simple use of your lips is enough to create rhythms that are very pleasant to the ears. How can you play this virtually, through your Android gadget? Technology should never be underestimated, because you can now play this instrument using your handheld device. The Harmonica application boasts of a diatonic harmonica with 10 genuine holes. You can play single notes and chords with this virtual instrument, as all the 12 keys from can be used.

3. Guitar: Solo

The guitar is indeed one of the most popular musical instruments. Fortunately, those who cannot bring themselves to learn the art of strumming will find Guitar: Solo a more enjoyable experience. This is great for jamming sessions, if bringing a guitar is impossible. You can use this application to play your favorite hits and create your own songs. The user interface is also customizable, so you can change the settings any time you want.

4. Electric Drum

This programmable drum machine is a drummer's best friend. With this application, you can use various musical samples or loops to create new beats. This application also features real-time song playback and editing, song recording and customizable drum kits. Developers constantly update this version, so any glitches are fixed in no time.

5. Tuner - gStrings

This all-around application will let you play various musical instruments like the guitar, bass, piano, violin and viola. This will also allow you to learn orchestra tuning and adjust the microphone sensitivity. Moreover, there are different temperaments that you can explore such as the Meantone and Pythagorean. Music lovers who love to play string and wind instruments will definitely enjoy having this application on their Android gadget.

Best Music Phones of All Time

2011-12-03T04:31:00.001-08:00

It's a fact that there has been a tremendous demand for music phones. The growing trend has made mobile companies to offer entire series of mobile phones based on music feature being the focus. Examples are many like the Nokia Xpress Music series, Sony Ericsson "Walkman" series, Motorola's "Rokr" series and Samsung's "Beat" series.

When buying a music phone one is stuck with so many options that its hard to chose one, so usually when you go to buy a music phone whether the choice you are making is correct or not. Is the music phone i am going to buy worth the money it's priced at?. These are some of the questions that every one has in mind before purchase. So we have compiled a list of the best music phones to hit the market in recent years and those who are a hit in the market to this date. So when you buy any of these music phones you would surely not regret your decision. Here is the list of Top Five music phones of all times.

1. Nokia 5800 Xpress Music

Nokia's highly popular Xpress Music series has many fabulous music phones in its lineup. But the most famous music phone which is a great hit in the market, is 5800 Xpress Music.It was Nokia's first Symbian S60 touch phone. Nokia says it has shipped more then 8 million units worldwide since its launch.

Features are:

    * 3.2 inch display,360x640 pixels with accelerometer for auto rotate
    * 3.2 MP camera with dual LED flash and geo-tagging feature
    * GPS with A-GPS
    * Micro-SD card slot upto 16GB
    * WiFi
    * Tv Out
    * OVI and Myspace integrated
    * Fm Radio with RDS (maximum 20 channels)
    * Built-in stereo speakers
    * Full QWERTY keyboard (after firmware update)
    * Secondary Videocall camera

If you are buying 5800 Xpress Music make sure you are running the latest firmware update which has made several improvements to the default firmware like updated applications, more CPU speed, better performance.

2. Sony Ericsson W995

Sony Ericsson W995 comes with not only the best audio quality and performance but also comes with an 8MP camera. It's not just a mere music phone but a smart bundle of many things which include a great camera, WiFi, GPS and Multi tasking support.

Features are

    * 2.6 inch TFT display with accelerometer
    * 8.1 MP camera with autofocus,LED flash,face detection and geo-tagging
    * Walkman player version 4.0 with SensMe and shake control
    * Stereo speakers and 3.5mm audio jack
    * Multi-tasking support. Listen to music and work at the same time
    * WiFi with DLNA support
    * Comes with 8GB card
    * Fm Radio with RDS

3. Nokia X6.

The X6 is perhaps the newest in our best music phones of all times. The reason is that it is one great music phone with top notch audio quality. X6 comes in three version, X6 32GB, X6 16GB and X6 8GB. It's an all rounder phone with 5MP camera and sleek stylish looks.

One feature which was previously on board in X6 was one year free music subscription which is now cancelled by Nokia.

Features:

    * Large 3.2 inch display,capacitive touchscreen, accelerometer, proximity sensor
    * Motion based gaming
    * 5MP camera with dual LED Flash
    * WiFi
    * Virtual QWERTY keyboard
    * OVI,Facebook,MySpace, YouTube,Yahoo IM and Windows live support.
    * FM radio with RDS
    * 35 hours of music playback time

4. Apple iPhone 4

Without any second thoughts Apple iPhone 4 strong music performance even though it has so much to it besides just delivering excellent audio quality. Apple's iPod is a popular music gadget and you can expect that Apple will leave no stone unturned in bringing out the same or more then the audio performance of iPod. Its got so much in it you won't regret buying it.

Features:

    * 3.5 inch display 640x960 pixels
    * 1 GHz Apple A4 processor
    * 5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus, LED flash, geo tagging
    * Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
    * Video: 720p @30fps, LED video light, geo-tagging,
    * TV Out
    * Music play upto 40hours

5. Sony Ericsson W902

Belonging to the Walkman series is a certificate for W902 itself that the phone is a high quality music phone. W902. It is one of few music phones to have an equally good camera as well. With dedicated music keys and features like multi tasking support W902 makes it to our list of Top 5 music phones of all times.

Features:

    * 2.2" TFT display
    * 5 megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash
    * Walkman 3.0 music player with Shake control and SenseMe
    * Fm radio with RDS
    * Multi tasking
    * 256 MB internal memory, Comes with 8GB card.

"I HOPE YOUR BIRTHDAY IS AS SPECIAL AS YOU AAAARE!"

2011-12-02T16:06:00.000-08:00

Gnarboots are a completely ridiculous band from Central California that play a variety of styles with a surprising amount of skill, considering the fact that they're a buncha immature smart-asses who take nothing, including themselves, seriously. A stance I support in theory - the problem is that sometimes amusing oneself doesn't always translate into amusing others. This album, however, is a loveable mutt that I liked even better on second spin. The Dead Milkmen of a new generation? Sayeth they:

"...it is a weird album and we are a weird band. We have a bunch of birthday songs on there (including a hardcore punk song) as well as a cover of the Kelly Family's "Aint gonna pee pee", a cover of the Christian band Lust Control's anti-masturbation song, "The Big M." There's a ska song about Joey Lawrence, punk songs, electronic songs, hip hop songs, and other weird things." I like the old chacha record samples. And it's all free!

Gnarboots Happy Birthday

1. Birthday 2
2. Doggy Door
3. The Big "M"
4. Interlude
5. Fantasy
6. WE.R.ALL.GNARBOOTS
7. Special Day I
8. Ain't Gonna Pee-Pee My Bed Tonight
9. Today Is My Birthday
10. Nerds
11. Interlude
12. I Want To Be Joey Lawrence
13. You're So Rude
14. Birthday 3
15. Monica Birth
16. Police of F`shion
17. Special Day II
18. Welcome to my Birthday Party

FUN WITH SUN BOXES

2011-11-30T16:12:00.000-08:00

Fayetteville's Craig Colorusso doesn't "compose" music so much as build gizmos that allow Mother Nature to write her own jams: "Sun Boxes are...twenty speakers operating independently, each powered by the sun via solar panels. There is a different loop set to play a guitar note in each box continuously. These guitar notes collectively make a Bb chord. Because the loops are different in length, once the piece begins they continually overlap and the piece slowly evolves over time."

The loops-of-different-lengths approach reminds me of Eno's "Music For Airports," and there is a similar meditative effect with this music. The ambient sounds of nature (the beach, insects, etc.) are a crucial component - these are, quite literally, field
recordings. I first listened to this stuff Monday morning after a crazy Thanksgiving weekend (complete with a live "Yo Gabba Gabba" concert and thousands of screaming toddlers!) and it was as nice as dipping into a warm bath. Aaaah...

Listen or buy:

Sun Boxes Seven Inch

or listen to a continuous stream.

Benny Hill - The Ultimate Collection

2011-11-29T14:26:00.000-08:00

Poor Benny Hill.

Britain's most popular comic and master of funny songs and witty wordplay gets about as little respect as the equally under-rated Three Stooges. Python's the "Beatles of comedy," the Bonzos get the cult cred, but mention Hill's name and watch people roll their eyes. Songs about wives, mothers-in-law, naughty double-entendres - it's all pretty unhip, music hall stuff. Hill was one of the last of the vaudevillians.

His reputation is largely based on his popular, long-running tv show, but he wasn't all about leering at and chasing after the scantily-clad ladies featured on the show, and this album's the proof - clever rhymes (hey, Snoop Dogg and Biz Markie are fans) and surprisingly strong singing serve a variety of song styles popular from the late '50s to the '70s: doo-wop, country-western, go-go beat, various pseudo-ethnicities, folk rock, and on the genuinely rockin' "Rose," garage-rock. Dylan (on several occasions), The Platters, and Sonny & Cher are winningly parodied. The latin/calypso "Bamba 3688" totally rules, funny or no. But most of these songs are funny, and some are really funny. I actually did LOL whilst listening to this. And does "Transistor Radio" from 1961 feature the world's first Elvis impersonation?

Benny Hill - The Ultimate Collection

1. Gather in the Mushrooms
2. Transistor Radio
3. Harvest of Love
4. Pepy's Diary
5. Gypsy Rock
6. The Piccolo Song
7. Lonely Boy
8. Moving on Again
9. The Andalucian Gypsies
10. The Egg Marketing Board Tango
11. Bamba 3688
12. What a World
13. I'll Never Know
14. My Garden of Love
15. In the Papers
16. Golden Days
17. Flying South
18. Wild Women
19. Jose's Cantina
20. Rose
21. Those Days [Duet with Maggie Stredder]
22. The Old Fiddler
23. Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)

Your Holiday Gift-Giving Problems SORTED

2011-11-23T10:15:00.000-08:00

On this most joyous of holiday seasons, give the gift that keeps on giving - the gift of music! Especially weird music that no-one else in your family will like and will disrupt your turkey dinner! Almost everything in this collection was released this year and is available for purchase usually from the artists themselves. Hmmm... we need a word to describe artists not playing "indie rock" or who are on those indie labels that are just farm leagues for the majors, but really are putting out their own CDs/cassettes/vinyls entirely on their own...a word somewhere in between "indie" and outsider"..."in-sider"? Whatever, these are some talented freaks well deserving of your support. Some of the best new music of the year:

M4M Idol 2 Buy (22 Big Songs! Original Hits From The Original Artists!)

This collection is sorta the sequel to the M4M Idol contest from earlier this year, but I'm not gonna hector you into voting for your fave this time (tho you certainly can if you want to.) Artist include:

Bruce Haack/Sound Capsule: What, hasn't Bruce Haack been dead for years? Yes, like Gen. Francisco Franco, electronic music pioneer/oddball Bruce Haack is still dead, but his unfinished album "Electric Lucifer Book III" has sorta been finished by someone I hadn't heard of. I was dubious, but the results speak for themselves.

Twink The Toy Piano Band: Yay, a new Twink album! "Itsy Bits and Bubbles" won't be released til Dec. 1, and the usual whimsical instrumental approach now includes circuit-bent electronic toys, 8-bit video game bloopity-blips, "kitchen drawer percussion," and numerous toys including (natch) pianos. What could have been a long-exhausted one-joke idea continues to thrive thanks to strong songwriting, a widening sonic pallette, and a refusal to play cheerful, innocent music with an arched eyebrow. Excellent artwork, too.

Drexel, Gamma Like Very Ultra, and The Mind of God are a buncha no-good, smart-ass avant-'tard bands playing spazzy songs with titles like "Poop Stains" and "Let's Kick Toby Keith in the Balls," and I love 'em. All 'net-releases cuz no self-respecting professional label would release this nonsense. But, actually, really well-played, not just screwing around. More, please.

Johnny Aloha has never been seen in the same room as ace lounge parodist Richard Cheese; his "Lavapalooza" album remakes songs like "Paradise City," "Gangsta's Paradise," and "California Gurls" in a way that is not only hilarious, but, recorded as it is with top-notch Hawaiian music pros, perfect tiki tuneage as well. If you were ever wondering, "What if Don Ho was a loc-ed out gangsta?" your feverish desires have been granted.

Non-Bio, William Bowers and Peopling all make dark, abstract/ambient/noise soundscapes. Fascinating. Non-bio's "Microsleep" sounds like it samples a scratchy old 78 rpm to chillingly occult effect

Party Killer dares to improvise; This big Portland band even sound like Black Sabbath on one song...if Sabbath used cheap electronics. Mind-melting craziness.

Orchestra Superstring: featuring DJ Bonebrake from X (hell, yeah!) on vibes, this exotica-ish instrumental combo's latest album "Easy" features the bizarre, wonderful sound of the "guitorgan" - not the usual cocktail-hour jazz.

Midnight Habit: speaking of bizarre instruments, an electric kazoo (!) is featured on this chilled bit of electro. Its nasal roar sounds pretty great, so who needs guitars anymore?

Stealing Orchestra: These Portuguese master of mirth and mayehm get serious on their first release that isn't a free download. Still wildly eclectic and eccentric, they just no longer sound like a cartoon soundtrack.

Last AND least...

Trudy Andes: this cringe-worth 9/11 tribute was sent to me by one of you who asks not to be named; well, I'M not gonna take the blame for it! Haven't we all suffered enough after 9/11?! Maybe some Twink videos will make you feel better:

Paul Rubenstein: Microtonal Music on Homemade Instruments

2011-11-22T15:37:00.000-08:00

We first wrote about Paul "Ubertar" Rubenstein in 2009 when he was leading microtonal guitar-building workshops for New York children. They would then jam on these groovy home-made instruments, writing original songs to most charming effect.

His new album is solo - no kids - but it serves to demonstrate the man's compositional originality. Microtonal doesn't mean "out of tune," not if it's done right. In this instance, as with the Kraig Grady records we featured earlier, avoiding the usual Western do-re-mi scale doesn't mean ear-wrenching atonality, but a gentle Zen-like Asian feel. Percussives plink and plonk, chime-like keyboards tinkle, and sometimes an electric guitar-like object (perhaps the "alumitar," pictured right) shreds over it all. Track 5 has some fantastic harmonic interplay, and Track 6 should be a hit, sporting the most irresistible melody in 5/4 time since the heyday of Dave Brubeck. Tasty, tasteful, and tuneful.

The new album "Solo Trios" is now available from Spectropol Records (or listen/buy from the Bandcamp page), but His Ubertarness has given us permission to post the entire album... at 128 kbps. That's right: if you want it in hi-fi, you gotta buy it. As well you should - the NY school system has made the questionable decision to cut his music classes. So the man is available to do scores, soundtracks, whatever you need. Maybe even parties, weddings and bar mitzvahs, tho those would be some pretty weird bar mitzvahs. What would Aunt Myrna think?! Anyway. Thanks muchly to Mr. Rubenstein.

Paul Rubenstein "Solo Trios"

MUSIC THAT LOOKS AS GOOD AS IT SOUNDS

2011-11-21T10:34:00.000-08:00

"The cristal baschet is one of the most beautiful musical instruments you will ever see, made of vibrating, tuned steel, fiberglass amplification cones and wire "whiskers" that shimmy when fingers rub the glass-rod keyboard. Film composer Cliff Martinez's version, which resides in the living room of his Topanga Canyon home, is about the size of an upright piano and is as much sculpture as instrument." So says this L.A. Times article about the soundtrack to the recent neo-noir film "Drive" by former Captain Beefheart (and Red Hot Chili Peppers) drummer Martinez.

The cristal baschet, created in 1952 as a sound sculpture by Bernard and Francois Baschet, is a cousin of the glass harmonica and glass instruments we've featured here, in which the moistened fingers of the player rub the instrument, like running your fingers around the rim of a wine glass, creating a melodic humming drone. The soundtrack album is a surprise hit, bringing this odd, obscure object to mainstream ears. It's dark, moody, eerie & lovely stuff, and you can listen to it here (jump down to track 6):

Drive (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

The Warhol Tapes

2011-11-18T15:41:00.000-08:00

The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh put out a book that included a CD of excerpts from Warhol's private audio tape collection. The album is narrated by John Giorno, the poet who starred in some of Warhol's early films.*

Warhol used to carry tape recorders with him everywhere, and the Warhol museum has thousands of hours of 'em. This is but a wee sample, but a fascinating one, featuring goodies like a raw Velvet Underground jamming on "I'll be Your Mirror" with Nico, and some songs I don't recognize; Andy discussing a commissioned portrait of a guy with a hard-on that has never been exhibited in public; a campy Pope Ondine; a no-nonsense Edie Sedgewick; a Man Ray photo session; Holly Woodlawn on why it's a pain to be a drag queen; and a discussion of art featuring famous people's private parts. Yes, Mick Jagger and Studio 54 are here, but we also go shopping with Warhol at a grocery store. As Andy would say, "Oh, gee!"

The Andy Warhol Museum

The book/CD is way out of print and going for crazy sums on Amazon: $160 is a bit out of my price range. There is one (1) copy in the entire L.A. County Library system, and it's in the "closed stacks," meaning a librarian has to retrieve it for you and you can't take it out of the library. So I had to bring my wife's laptop to the library at a later date, they sat me in a special section, and I loaded in and copied the CD. Dang, the things I do for you people. Send me booze and chocolates! Remember me in your will!

*But I know Giorno for the boss albums he put out in the late '70s/'80s on his own label that featured everyone from Laurie Anderson and William Burroughs to The Butthole Surfers. Good stuff.

Meaningful Wedding Music

2011-11-17T17:03:00.000-08:00

There are many ways to bring personal meaning into your wedding, from wearing a sentimental set of bridal jewelry to carrying a replica of your grandmother's bouquet. Music can be one of the most wonderful ways that a couple can make their wedding even more special, and it is especially nice because it often has shared meaning for both the bride and the groom. These are some of the ways in which you can include meaningful wedding music into your celebration.

Start by thinking about your ceremony music. A special solo sung by a vocalist can be a lovely addition. The person who sings the solo can be one layer of what makes is meaningful. At one wedding I attended, the groom's teenage daughter sung a beautiful song in honor of the couple, which was very moving. No vocalists in your family? No problem, simply select a song which has personal meaning to the bride and groom. If you have waited forever to find each other, "At Last" would be a beautiful choice. Couples who share a strong religious conviction might prefer a traditional solo such as "Ave Maria" for their ceremony. As long as the song is personally significant, it will be a beautiful choice.

The ceremony processional is a fantastic opportunity to include some music with meaning. Just be sure to check on any restrictions your church may have, as some only permit traditional religious or classical music. Once you get the green light from your officiant, feel free to pick a processional song which really captures the joy of the first moments as newlyweds. The particular song will depend on your personal taste, whether you like something classic like big band or more contemporary. Whichever song you select, keep in mind that all good processional songs have an upbeat tempo.

Perhaps the wedding music that gets the most attention is the first dance song selection. Something that I absolutely love is when the newlyweds dance together to the same first dance song used by one of their sets of parents. It is a beautiful family tradition, and is perfect for the bride who tends to prefer classic wedding style, like pearl bridal jewelry and white roses. If your parents are divorced, it would be better to go a different direction with your first dance selection, such as dancing to the first song you ever danced to together. Don't have a special song as a couple? Then simply choose the song whose lyrics best describe your relationship.

You can also make your wedding music more meaningful by including selections which give a nod to your heritage. Often this will take the form of a special feature, rather than the music for the entire ceremony or reception. It can also be a fun surprise to arrange for your intended. Let's say that your groom has Scottish heritage - why not have a bagpiper waiting when you exit the church at the end of your nuptials? Or treat your guests to a brief performance by a troupe of Celtic dancers if your folks hail from Ireland. When the bride and groom both have strong cultural ties, by all means feature a musical selection from each tradition. It would be a great way for each family to get a taste of the other's cultural heritage, and a meaningful addition to your wedding.

How else can you include meaningful music in your wedding? If you are a good singer, perform a song dedicated to your new spouse during the reception. Or perhaps you are a composer - write an original piece in honor of your wedding day. There are countless possibilities for using music to make your wedding more meaningful and memorable.

Wedding Music Around the World

2011-11-17T17:00:00.000-08:00

Here Comes the Bride may be played at every wedding you attend, but that's not the case around the world. Wedding music traditions vary from country to country, and even from one religion to another within the same country.

America

Here Comes the Bride is still a favorite for the bride's walk down the aisle, but Pachelbel's Canon in D Major has become a close contender. Songs include hymns, popular music, and classic music...basically whatever the couple desires, as long as the event venue doesn't prohibit it. In America, weddings may be held anywhere, as long as a minister or justice of the peace conducts the ceremony and proper paperwork is filed with the government.

England

Just like in America, Here Comes the Bride is the song of choice for the bride's entrance. English weddings are very stepped in custom and tradition, so many brides may choose to employ a harpist. In England, law requires weddings to be held in an approved place-mostly churches. Like Americans, British weddings may have a mix of music, but British ceremonies are usually very traditional and formal.

Australia

Pachelbel's Canon in D Major is popular here, along with many of the traditional love ballads used at wedding ceremonies in America. One thing that differs in Australia is the signing ceremony, which also can involve music. At the end of the ceremony, the couple signs the wedding certificate while everyone watches. British ceremonies may incorporate musical instruments such as bagpipes and a didgeridoo.

Japan

The traditional Japanese wedding is called a shinzen shiki, a ceremony conducted by a Shinto Priest and a shrine assistant. The bride and groom may either wear a gown and tux or traditional Japanese wedding garb, which includes a kimono and hakama. These traditional weddings use flutes and drums. Summer Candles and Dolphin Ring by Anri are both popular wedding songs. Similar to American and British weddings, Japanese weddings include sappy love songs.

Mexico

While the Mexican wedding ceremony may be serious and traditional, the reception is a full party, with salsa and mariachi music getting everyone on their feet. Mariachi music involves a wide variety of music, including guitars, drums, and even violins. Canon in D Major is also popular for the bride's processional here.

Ireland

It should be no surprise that bagpipes are popular in Irish weddings. Many couples are choosing to honor their country's rich tradition, so Celtic music is very popular in Irish weddings. The Irish Wedding Song is often played at receptions and Danny Boy and Irish Eyes Are Smiling are always popular at gatherings in Ireland.

India

White gowns have no place at a Hindu wedding. The bride traditionally wears a beautiful red sari and covers her feet and hands in henna tattoos, known as henna staining in India. Music plays a prominent role in the Hindu wedding ceremony and many popular wedding songs (including Aaj Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai) have been used in Bollywood movies. The wedding ceremony and post-ceremony are very involved and may last a few days, including the bride leaving her groom to join her new family and the wedding party welcoming the bride to her new home.

Conclusion

Music provides the backdrop for all wedding ceremonies. No matter where your wedding is set, the feeling of rich tradition is still the same. From Here Comes the Bride to Aaj Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, brides all over the world are celebrating their love with music.

Keong Racun - From Lipsync to Amazing

2011-11-17T16:58:00.000-08:00

The media in Indonesia has been intensively discussing the phenomenon of video "Keong Racun". The video is still an issue in the news, both in conventional media and cyberspace and sites such as Facebook and Twitter can not escape the popularity onslaught of this video.

Try to type the keyword "Keong Racun" in Google and you will find millions of sites focused on the video. On Youtube, it's gotten more than 3 million views, a fantastic number for a home video. So what exactly is behind the phenomenon of "Keong Racun?"

In truth, Keong Racun, is actually a video of two teenage girls named Shinta and Jojo, who were a lip-syncing to a song titled "Keong Racun" (translated as: Toxic snails). Keong Racun is a popular song in one province in Indonesia. The song is a homage to "dangdut," a stream genre that is claimed to be native to Indonesia. The tremendous response to the video greatly exceeded their expectations and Shinta and JoJo were offered a recording contract from one of the major labels in Indonesia.

In fact, Shinta and Jojo admit they can not sing the song live. They are not singers which is a fairly major requirement to becoming a star singer. But, so long as there is a demand from the public, there is no harm in producing the album with two girls - money is money. Perversely, Shinta and Jojo's popularity has dwarfed that of the original singer. According to news sources, the song was first popularized by a local singer named Lisa. In an interview, Lisa expressed dissatisfaction because she was not a part of the popular lip-syncing video, and does not appreciate having her work appropriated by two non-singers.

The amazing groundswell of popularity over this video proves you never know what is going to strike a chord with people - even a goofy, silly lip-syncing video with two cute girls.

TAUFIK HARSONO.Born in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia. Have graduated from the University of Gadjah Mada Indonesia majoring in psychology. Ever worked in various fields, including photography, graphic design, web design, digital retouch, music editing, and so forth. Currently working as a freelance photographer and digital retoucher, other than as a writer for motivation blog.

The Sound Reggae Music Makes

2011-11-17T16:56:00.000-08:00

Its distinctive beat gives it away. There is nothing in the world that sounds like reggae music. The expected chops and the back beat by the rhythm guitar and the distinctive sound of the bass drum marks reggae as a genre by its own right. Reggae music originated from several other Jamaican music types just as great as it is like ska, rocksteady, RandB, Jazz, Calypso, and Mento.

Jamaican music is as rich as its history. The soul of each and every Jamaican song traces its roots to the black people herded onto ships, clinging to their most priceless possessions--clothing, food, and for many, their drums. These drums that traveled as far as their owners have are what brought the world priceless gifts and that are the gifts of music. The slaves used their music to fill-up their lives and sang about everything. They have songs of praise, songs of love, songs of loneliness, and songs of inspiration. It is not surprising therefore, that reggae music has been used by the likes of Bob Marley and The Wailers to promote certain political issues like poverty and injustice.

From the characteristic drumbeats, Jamaican folk music has embraced innovation and has added a whole range of flavor to their indigenous music. Combining the drumbeats to a lot of different musical instruments, like the rhythm guitar, and the trumpet, produced ska, rocksteady and eventually reggae.

Reggae music swooped Jamaica just when it was about to proclaim its independence and the masses were clamoring for a beat, a sound that could articulate their emotions. Reggae rose up to the challenge and succeeded. A few years later, when the assurance of an improved quality of life and the promise of a bright tomorrow for a liberated nation came up empty reggae was still being played. But it started to serve a much higher purpose than entertainment. For the first time in its history, roots reggae took on its rebellious and defiant form. Reggae music told of stories of suffering in the shanties of Trenchtown, it told of stories of violence and corruption but most of all it told the people of Jamaica to get up and stand up for their rights.

As the country grew from bad to worse, the people started to look for a moral guidance that would give sense to the life of wretchedness they were living in. Rastafarianism answered the call of a people desperately seeking an alternative leader with convincing values of love and peace. The Rastafarian movement boomed, gained a huge following in Jamaica and reggae was the movement's music. Eventually, roots reggae would be identified with Rastafarianism and vice versa. Dreadlocks, khakis, and kaftans became the symbol of reggae attitude.

Just when it seems that the evolution of reggae has gone through so much, it began to take on another controversial form with the arrival of dancehall reggae. This new type of reggae music is so called because its raunchy lyrics only allowed it to be played in dancehalls. Dancehall reggae is a form of rebellion against roots reggae because many artists believe that reggae music has gone too mainstream that it catered more to the demands of the audience than to reggae's real spirit. Infused with a lot of techno beats and computer generated riffs, dancehall departed from old school reggae music's slow and lulling beat and enveloped a more upbeat and fast rhythm.

And then there was ragga. Ragga music could be gangsta rap's ancestor as it boldly came out with songs on violence, guns, and gangs. Many ragga songs were evidently masochistic with harsh lyrics demeaning women and praising male supremacy.

Over the course of history, ragga's forerunners saw reason and tamed down their music. A couple prominent ragga figures went back to embrace Rastafarianism and sought a live of uprightness and peace.

Reggae music has come and changed in so many ways over the years. Yet it still makes the same sound as it did several decades ago. Reggae still sings the songs that make hearts beat faster, songs that make the feet dance harder, and songs that reflect the rhythm of the soul.

Bob Marley: Jamaican Reggae and Rastafari Hero

2011-11-17T16:54:00.000-08:00

Nobody in the world is more famous for popularizing reggae than Bob Marley. Born as Robert Nesta Marley in February 6, 1945 in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica, he is a well-known Jamaican musician and singer-songwriter who brought Jamaican music and the Rastafari movement to a worldwide audience.

His best hits include "No Woman, No Cry", "I Shot the Sheriff", "Stir It Up", "Could You Be Loved", "Redemption Song", "Jamming", and "One Love". Three years after his death, the compilation album Legend (1984) was released which thereafter became the best selling reggae album in the world, garnering 10 times platinum in the US and also sold 20 million copies around the globe.

He was a leading advocate of the Rastafari movement, the culture which brought out reggae music from the obscure areas of Jamaica into the global music scene. He was a vegetarian, following the practice of Ital which turns away from consuming meat.

He had eleven children. Three of those were with his wife Rita, two were from Rita's former relationships and the rest were with other women.

He died on May 11, 1981 because of acral lentiginous melanoma which he fought since July 1977. "Money can't buy life" were the final words he told his son ZIggy on his death bed in the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami. A state funeral was given ten days after. Other recognitions were the Jamaican Order of Merit, a series of postage stamps and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

ECK! A MOUSE!

2011-11-16T16:17:00.000-08:00

I think it's safe to say that, of all the thousands (millions?) of albums ever made, this is the only one of it's kind ever recorded.

From the late '70s comes this traditional bluegrass band singing most un-traditional lyrics about "Eck," which was apparently some kinda New Age offshoot of Hindu - songs like "The Sound Of The ECK" are nearly impenetrable to the uninitiated. Weird and funny as you might expect, but very well played if you're into bluegrass. Which I am not (sorry, Steve Martin), but the vocal harmonies on "River Of Light" totally rule, even as they sing things like: "Look to the light of the living Eck master, he will guide you." Probably wouldn't go over so well on "Hee Haw"...

Hindu Kush Mountain Boys Plus One

And - hey, guess what! - there's actually a new album in the works from these guys. Good karma to windy for sending us this one.

THE HENDRIX OF THE JEW'S HARP

2011-11-14T10:39:00.000-08:00

Anyone having trouble with Mediafire? Recently, they've changed things a bit. Anyway. As I originally wrote a few years ago when this album was still in print and I only posted one song from it:

There are millions of great guitar and piano players in the world, but, quick, name a great jew's harp player. The jew's harp? That thing you stick in your mouth, pluck, and go boing boing boing? With the vaguely anti-Semetic name? The same! Meet Tran Quang Hai (also spelled Tran Hai Quang), Vietnamese-born music professor, folklorist, and jew's harp hero. (Hey, if there can be guitar heroes...)

His album "Jew's Harps of the World" does indeed survey various international jew's harp styles, though it mainly features those of Vietnam. Perhaps not melodic in the traditional sense, jew's harps are nonetheless capable of producing surprisingly diverse sounds and rhythms, sometimes suggesting electronic effects like distortion, wah-wah, and phase-shifting, though, of course, it's all acoustic.

Tran Quang Hai "Jew's Harps of the World"

I'd just like to add to my original review that this album doesn't feature any other instruments besides the jew's harp. I play it at the same time as other albums. Goes with nearly anything! Boing, boing, boing...

STRANGE INSTRUMENTS FOR JESUS

2011-11-11T09:52:00.000-08:00

The Musical Betts were a husband-and-wife duo who played (mostly) instrumental versions of gospel songs on such instruments as cowbells, marimba, musical saw, slide guitar, and sleigh bells. And vibraharp, which I think is like a vibraphone. Really cool stuff, but alas I know nuthin' about 'em. I do know they had at least one other album besides this one cuz Otis Fodder and Dana Countryman posted a song off it for their Cool and Strange Music Magazine comp, included here as a bonus.

It's a bit odd hearing melodies played on instruments like cowbells performed not as Spike Jones-like comedic music, but in a stately, emotional manner. If Tom Waits has this album, I would not be surprised.

The Musical Betts

1. I'd Rather Have Jesus
2. The Lords Prayer
3. What A Friend We Have In Jesus
4. Rock of Ages
5. He Lifted Me
6. Ring The Bells of Heaven
7. Dwelling In Beulah Land
8. Near The Cross
9. Let The Lower Lights Be Burning
10. Jesus Loves Me
11. Church In The Wildwood
12. Just As I Am
13. BONUS TRACK: Grumblers

RAY BOURBON: KING OF THE QUEENS

2011-11-08T10:11:00.000-08:00

Even if only half the things said about Ray Bourbon are true, he was still one of the strangest figures in American entertainment. He:

- ran guns for Pancho Villa in drag
- was working full time as a drag queen performer as far back as 1932
- staged a media hoax claiming to have had a sex-change operation...but may have actually had the operation
- was mixed up in a Soviet gay spy caper
- put on a show featuring dogs with dyed colored fur who could urinate on cue
- was carrying a trailerful of animals when his car caught fire; when he gave his animals to a shelter for safekeeping, the animals were sold for medical experiments; Bourbon then put a hit out on the shelter owner, who was, in fact, killed, and Bourbon was sent to prison!

"Ray Bourbon had a show business career as a comedian and female impersonator that spanned over fifty years, well into an era when Gay liberation would take shape. He was perhaps the most well-known and well-traveled performer in Gay venues during the last century, but he remains largely forgotten today, his comedy both a glimpse into and a relic of another time.... His stage persona was complex and layered in many subtle ways; Ray is at once a gossipy drag queen, a bitchy diva, a butcher of sacred cows, and a keen observer of human nature. Ray would perform and record some of the same routines in the 1930’s, the ‘40’s and later in the ‘60’s; his quick patter and skills at improvisation keep the material fresh and the listener on edge."

Lots of free listening/downloading here:

15 Ray Bourbon albums

I haven't heard all of the albums linked to above, but what I have heard is plenty fun, replete with naughty double-entendre tunes like "My First Piece." Much of it replicates his low-budget nightclub show - campy, funny songs usually minimally backed by piano. These recordings range from scratchy old 78s to mid-60s hi-fi albums, but he/she keeps a pretty consistent style throughout, remaking some songs and routines several times over the years/decades.

Kudos to Randy A. Riddle aka coolcatdaddy for his extensive research and preservation work.

OUTSIDER MUSIC VIDEOS

2011-11-04T11:41:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday! Here's a big ol' mess o' videos sent to us by their creator Halfcast Podcast. The music is by various hapless outsider unknowns, but I do recognize Dean Milan, whose ludicrous "Do It Like A Dog" was popular on WFMU's "Incorrect Music" show way back when. This is a different, er, "tune" by him. And there's a song-poem that was featured in the "Off The Charts" documentary. Otherwise, most of these artistes were featured on the old MP3.com. I fondly recall their "Worst of The Worst" feature, where I imagine many of these songs appeared.

The funny and well-done videos are mostly collages of found-film that nicely illustrate each song's bizarre subject matter. Thanks muchly, Halfcast Podcast!

David Liebe Hart Does Not Need A Psychiatrist

2011-11-01T16:14:00.000-07:00

As we wrote back in '08: "David Liebe Hart believes he was abducted by aliens, hosts a public-access TV program called 'The Junior Christian Bible Story Puppet Show,' draws pictures and performs music for tips on the streets of Los Angeles, and is looking for a woman." Nothing's changed in that department - he's still lashing out at racist churches, frustrated by women, and is pleading for interstellar peace among warring alien planets. But there are some new topics on his mind, e.g.: he really likes Ellen DeGeneres "even tho you're gay," and Karen Carpenter. And I was surprised to learn that, as someone of Irish descent, I'm from the Omegan alien race. Wow!

Hart has released several albums in recent years, again with sympathetic bandleader Adam Papagan. The effortlessly enjoyable "New Songs Improvised Live: 6-05-08" is described thusly: "These songs were recorded live on the radio. David had no prior knowledge of the songs' topics. They were written up before the show, thrown into a lunch bag, and then randomly chosen before each song began. Thus, the lyrics for every track (with the exception of Love One Another and All My Friends Like Asian Girls) were entirely improvised, as was much of the instrumentation. Of course, you could never tell."

The results sometimes suggest Wesley Willis and Shooby Taylor the Human Horn backed by Half-Japanese. Oh, and he would also like to say: "I don't need to see no psychiatrist...we need to accept each other the way we are...we need to have tolerance for other people, no matter how they're different from we are." Yup. Listen for free, or purchase:

David Liebe Hart and Adam Papaga: "New Songs Improvised Live: 6-05-08"

His "Monsters" collection is just over 20 minutes of punk aggression, in contrast to the mostly positive "New Songs Improvised." In a vindictive mood, he names names, calling out those who have done him wrong. And he has just about had it with you women jerking him around. Don't mess with the Hart-dawg!

Top 7 Hard Rock And Heavy Metal Guitar Tunings

2011-10-28T09:28:00.000-07:00

There are many different guitar tunings that are used in Rock and Metal music besides standard tuning. Guitar players in these genres like to use these tunings because they give a heavier and darker sound to their music.

Some of the more popular tunings used are Dropped D, Dropped C, Dropped B, E Flat, D, C and open G. Here are the descriptions of how the strings should be tuned and some of the bands that use them.

Dropped D tuning:

E ----------1st string

B ----------2nd string

G ----------3rd string

D ----------4th string

A ----------5th string

D ----------6th string (thickest)

This tuning enables power chords to be played with a single finger on the lowest three strings and produces a dark sound with it. If you're music doesn't fit together with this dark sound, you can place a capo on the 2nd fret and can still easily play power chords.

Some bands that use Dropped D tuning are:

Alice in Chains, Foo Fighters, Godsmack, Led Zepplin, Nirvana, Rage Against The Machine, Silverchair, Soundgarden and Velvet Revolver.

Dropped C tuning:

D ----------1st string

A ----------2nd string

F ----------3rd string

C ----------4th string

G ----------5th string

C ----------6th string (thickest)

Dropped C tuning is the Dropped D with each string lowered one whole step. Dropped C tuning produces a very low and heavy sound and is used by many of the new Heavy Metal bands.

Some bands that use Dropped C tuning are:

30 Seconds to Mars, Atreyu, Buckethead, Bullet for My Valentine, Children of Bodom, Godsmack, Bad Religion, Metallica, Mudvayne, P.O.D., Papa Roach, Rammstein, Shadows Fall, System of a Down, Three Days Grace and Ozzy Osbourne.

Dropped B tuning:

C# ----------1st string

G# ----------2nd string

E ----------3rd string

B ----------4th string

F# ---------5th string

B ----------6th string (thickest)

This tuning will need heavier gauge strings to be effective. Also you might have to widen the string grooves as well as adjust the tension in the neck of your guitar.

Some bands that use Dropped B tuning are:

Audioslave, Limp Bizkit, Machine Head, Mudvayne, Slipknot and Stone Sour.

Eb tuning:

Eb ---------1st string

Bb ---------2nd string

Gb ---------3rd string

Db ---------4th string

Ab ---------5th string

Eb ---------6th string (thickest)

This tuning is Standard tuning turned down a half step. There are a few reasons that bands use this tuning instead of Standard tuning. One reason is to sound heavier by using heavy gauge strings. By tuning down a half step it is easier to bend these heavy gauged strings. Another reason why some bands use this tuning is to compliment the lead singers voice.

Bands that use Eb tuning are:

Alice in Chains, Anthrax, Dream Theater, Guns N' Roses, Jimi Hendrix, Kiss, Megadeth, Metallica, Motorhead, Nirvana, Poison, Slayer, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Stone Sour, Van Halen, Weezer and Yngwie Malmsteen.

D tuning:

D ----------1st string

A ----------2nd string

F ----------3rd string

C ----------4th string

G ----------5th string

D ----------6th string (thickest)

D tuning is also known as whole step down tuning and as you have probably already guessed, it's Standard tuning tuned down a whole step. D tuning has been used mainly in Heavy Metal music.

Bands that have used D tuning are:

Alice in Chains, The Beatles, Bullet For My Valentine, Bob Dylan, Children of Bodom, Dream Theater, Guns N' Roses, Motley Crue, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, Racer X and Soundgarden.

C tuning:

C ----------1st string

G ----------2nd string

Eb ---------3rd string

Bb ---------4th string

F ----------5th string

C ----------6th string (thickest)

C tuning also produces a low sound that is mostly used by Hard Rock and Metal bands. The tuning is 2 whole steps below Standard tuning, which gives it a heavy sound but still maintains the same intervals as Standard tuning.

Bands that have used C tuning are:

Atreyu, Black Sabbath, Bullet For My Valentine, Deftones, Dream Theater, Jimi Hendrix, P.O.D., Queens of the Stone Age, Slipknot, Steve Vai and The Who.

G tuning:

D ----------1st string

B ----------2nd string

G ----------3rd string

D ----------4th string

G ----------5th string

D ----------6th string (thickest)

Other than the Drop D tuning, G Tuning is one of the most popular alternate guitar tunings.

Some bands that have used G tuning are:

The Rolling Stones, The Black Crowes, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Pink Floyd and Pearl Jam.

These are just some of the alternate guitar tunings that are available to you to experiment with. Play around with them and see which tunings fit your style of music.

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Heavy Metal Guitar Solo Playing

2011-10-28T09:26:00.000-07:00

A heavy metal guitar solo is a musical piece or passage, which is a part of the whole musical performance. Guitar solos as such, have been the mainstay of guitar performances for quite some years now. So, if you have been fascinated by the magnificent guitar solos of heavy metal music or any other genre, knowing few important facts about them might help you to understand them better.

Guitar solos can be performed with an acoustic or an electric guitar, but for heavy metal music, you would need to use an electric guitar. They can be performed without any accompaniments, like in case of classical or folk music, an acoustic guitar solo is usually performed without the support of any other musical instrument. They can be performed along a band, which is precisely the case in rock and metal music. They can be even performed along with a full drawn orchestra.

Although lead guitar riffs have been used across many genres, the rock and the metal music schools have used them more than anyone else. The 1960s and the 1970s can be termed as the golden period of guitar licks and solos. This time period also coincides with the rise of many classic heavy metal bands like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Judas Priest and so on. In the early 1980's one of the most famous bands in metal guitar playing is Iron Maiden as they popularized metal music with their blend of galloping and harmonizing guitar music.

The shredding of the guitar riff is one of the major attractions of heavy metal music and involves a lot of harmonics technique. This was greatly popular during the 1980s but gradually began to lose steam with the arrival of the nu metal in the mid 1990s. However, the role of the lead guitarist in heavy metal music can not be undermined and sometimes he enjoys more popularity than even the lead singer of the band.

Some of the lead guitarists of the heavy metal bands have even cut albums featuring just their guitar solos. So, it remains a very popular and admired form of instrumental recital till date. A metal guitar solo is additionally attractive because it has a raw power and virility and communicates an intense passion. The loudness and the power have combined to create a therapeutic effect for generations of listeners. So, if you have also been smitten by its power and beauty, you might give it a shot and learn playing it yourself.

Heavy Metal Guitar Songs

2011-10-28T09:24:00.000-07:00

So, you have always dreamed of playing heavy metal guitar songs? But if you are a beginner, you might find it difficult to find out where to start. Playing a heavy metal song can be a little difficult to manage if you do not know the right techniques. It is also important to know certain easy songs which might help you to move on to more complicated stuff.

There are few interesting facts about heavy metal songs, which might help you to understand them better. The lyrics of the heavy metal songs are probably not as important as the entire effect that the music is supposed to create. Much of heavy metal songs, especially those belonging to death metal, involve growling and shouting. However, some songs can have simple yet deep and penetrating lyrics.

Many of the songs in heavy metal music deal with abject issues such as life in the streets, usage of drugs, and gory and violent subjects related to death, suicide etc. The dark tones of the lyrics help the composers and the listeners to vent out their frustration and thus it can have a cathartic effect.

There are few things that you should remember before you start learning metal songs. We all admire the guitar greats like Eddie Van Halen, Kirk Hammett, Jimmy Page and Randy Rhoads. But it will be sometime before you start playing like them and for this you would require a lot of talent and even greater hours of practice. The advice that I would give newer guitar players is not to start learning difficult songs as you would quickly lose morale in not being able to play very technical songs.

So, you might start with some easy songs like "Confined" by As I Lay Dying. Although, the guitar part of the song sounds very complicated yet the beauty of the song lies in its simplicity. If you have a good command over the rhythm part, you might play this song with the desired effect. "Change" by Deftones is another easy to play metal song. Although Deftones is essentially a nu metal band, yet the song has various shades of metal music.

Therefore, learning to play heavy metal guitar songs can become a very easy and interesting task if you proceed in a systematic and step by step manner. If you can manage to play these easier songs with adequate skill and passion, you can definitely move on to more complex tunes in a very short span of time.

The Rockin' History of Alternative Rock Music

2011-10-28T09:02:00.000-07:00

A descendant of punk rock, Nirvana was one of the most famous bands to make alternative rock music mainstream. Ironically, this genre became popular after the grunge period - which deprecated mainstream, commercial types of music. In addition to Nirvana, some extremely well known and highly successful bands formed around alt rock, including REM - one of the earliest "alternative" bands, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Violent Femmes, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and many others.

In the early days, it was mainly the college radio stations that promoted this sound. In fact, 'college rock' was the phrase used to describe alternative rock in the 1980s, before the genre coined as alternative rock music became popular in the mid 1980s. As the popularity of the music grew, other previously separate genres became grouped under alt rock as well. These genres are comprised of post-punk (since alternative rock is offspring of the punk genre), New Wave, indie (also known as independent) rock, pop, and punk rock.

A landmark of alt rock's popularity, Jane's Addiction, a band formed in the mid 1980s, frontlined Lollapalozza - the first festival that catered specifically to alt rock music. This was the mark of the rise to fame for alt rock in the early 1990s. The abundance of the alternative genre in America continued throughout the late 1990s and 2000s. Among these bands are Franz Ferdinand, The White Stripes, and The Strokes.

Across the pond, the American grunge spread like wildfire in the 90s. This resulted in some rebellious British bands that opposed American grunge. To express their opposition, British "Britpop" bands emulated the American explosion of alt rock; some of these famous bands include Oasis, Pulp, and Suede.

Alt rock music was made known almost 30 years ago and is still widespread and frequently played on American radio stations. This is most likely a genre that will continue to evolve and further root itself into American culture as the music continues to evolve.

Paramore is one of the newer alt rock bands to become famous. They have three albums released and their popular "Brick by Boring Brick" single is still played on kroq in SoCal and other rock radio stations throughout the United States. They are scheduled to head the Warped Tour this summer at the San Diego location, and continuously sell out stadiums on their tours.

As you can see, alternative rock continues to have a large following and is here to stay for many decades.

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASHACRE

2011-10-27T16:29:00.000-07:00

Need new spooky sounds for your Halloween party? Here's so much music I haven't even had a chance to check it all out yet, a FREE! download collection called:

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASHACRE

2 CDs worth of mashups, remixes, and some possibly original songs. Once again, UK's Cheekyboy has put this together, a tradition going back to 2004. I can tell you that Amoraboy's "Doorbusters" is great, another example of the miraculous alchemy that can take place when two songs/artists I don't really care about (in this case, The Doors, and the "Ghostbusters" theme) are mixed into a really clever gem. And Markyboy's "The Killing Mash" is funny, taking the piss out of Echo & The Bunnymen's dead serious high-art song "The Killing Moon" by backing it with the ridiculously old-fashioned, terribly cheerful instrumental of Bobby 'Boris' Pickett's "Monster Mash."

"Strange Rush To Regulate Evil Deeds" from Orange County's always masterful Voicedude and "Psycho Killer on the Dancefloor" by A+D, the dynamic duo behind the Bootie mashup club nights, are solid bangers. It hardly seems appropriate to dance to Bud The Weiser's track, dropping gruesome audio from the film "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" over beatz, but there it is. Apart from rockin' the party, there are pure sound-collage tracks as well, a la Alan Black's mix of Tom Wait's "What He Building in There" with gawd-knows-what creepiness. Godzilla, The Addams Family and Vincent Price show up on this album, as well. And dropping Gene Wilder and the Monster singing "Putting On The Ritz" from the movie "Young Frankenstein" over DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince's "Nightmare On My Street" was freakin' brilliant (if only they could get rid of the Evanescence chick's singing.)

The Best Blues Songs Ever

2011-10-27T07:42:00.000-07:00

It is entirely a matter of taste as to which are the best Blues songs. However it is possible to speculate as to the most influential songs.

It can be argued that Blues music bought about a greater awareness of the plight of African Americans, as new audiences became interested in its origins and originators.

I clearly remember as an adoring fan of Muddy Waters; Howlin Wolf and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, feeling outrage at the early 60's news reports that a whole people were subjected to such terrible discrimination. The anti establishment feelings so typical of my generation, and empathy with subjugated Black Americans, would manifest itself in the aggressive British interpretation of their Blues music.

The adoption of Blues music by young British musicians, and their successful introduction of that music to white America, inspired a whole generation of white American musicians to rediscover the music and popularize it. This brought recognition to the Black musicians that had created it.

It is the ten songs that had the greatest influence on the "discovery" of Blues that I am presenting here.

Blues music was introduced into Britain after the war. Records came in through the sea ports, and well informed successful Jazz band leaders financed visiting Black artists to visit and play on their shows. Inevitably, their performance influenced the young British musicians who, were looking for something different from the pre war dance band scene.

Smokestack Lightening

Written and recorded by Howling Wolf.

Smokestack Lightening is based on a driving riff and has no chord changes. Released in Britain in 1964 by Pye Records, it reached the Top 50. In 1999, the song was given a Grammy Hall of Fame Award

Boom Boom

Written and recorded by John Lee Hooker, the first American blues artist to do a club tour of Britain. Boom Boom was released as a single in 1961.
Boom Boom is a classic example of Hookers unique timing and chord structure.

The Animals recorded "Boom Boom" for their 1964 UK debut album "The Animals". Their rendition generally follows John Lee Hooker's version, except it conforms to a 12 bar sequence.

Worried Life Blues

The first song written and recorded by Maceo Merriweather in 1941

Inspired by "Someday Baby Blues," recorded by Sleepy John Estes in 1935, however "Worried Life Blues" has gone on to become a Blues "standard" and has reputedly been covered by more artists than any other blues song.

I Got My Mojo Working

Written by Preston Foster and popularized by Muddy Waters. Possibly the most influential of the Blues artists to visit the UK. Covers of this were made by many artists but of special importance were Alexis Korner, a pioneer and possibly the first British Blues band with Blues Incorporated, & Manfred Mann, a highly successful commercial band. Both versions were released in 1964, in itself a testament to the impact of Waters original.

Baby Please Don't Go

By Big Joe Williams, and covered by "Them" becoming the first "hit" record by Van Morrison in 1964. It became the weekly signature tune for the hugely influential television show "Ready Steady Go". The "B" side of the single featured the now-legendary "Gloria". It became a top ten hit in the UK, and launched "Them" and Van Morrisson to world fame.

Hoochie Coochie Man

Written by Willie Dixon and recorded by Muddy Waters in 1957 but covered by almost every blues artist since! The verse and intro are played over "stops" that were to become a feature of many blues recordings. The first cover version was released in 1962 by Alexis Korner on his album "R&B from the Marquee"

Crossroads Blues

Written and recorded by Robert Johnson in 1937 and largely unnoticed until Cream released their version in 1968. The song ranked #10 in the worlds greatest solo's, contributed greatly to the world wide fame of the band and to Eric Clapton in particular.

This success bought Robert Johnson's small but remarkable catalogue of songs to the attention of the music world and has earn't him the acclaim he so richly deserves.

Sweet home Chicago

Robert Johnson 1937. This song has become the Blues "anthem".

The list of artists who have covered the song is immense, including Magic Sam, Buddy Guy, Freddie King, Status Quo, Fleetwood Mac, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Blues Band, and the 1980 Blues Brothers movie.

Everybody Needs Somebody to Love

Written and recorded by Solomon Burke in 1964, For many years it was the opener for the Rolling Stones live shows. They released a live version of the song on their 1965 E.P. "Got Live if you want it". The Rolling Stones were to become the most successful Rock band of all time, and they have been fundamental to the wider awareness and appreciation of the early Blues artists. They took there name from a Muddy Waters song "Rolling Stone". The songs riff was "borrowed" for the first "Small Faces" hit single "What You Gonna Do About It" also in 1965. The successful "soul" artist, Wilson Pickett covered the song and it entered the US charts in 1967. This song also features in the 1980 "Blues Brothers movie" The song, as are several of those mentioned, is ranked on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Hound Dog

A twelve-bar blues written by Jerry Leiber and originally recorded by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton in 1952. In 1965 she toured Europe as a part of the American Folk and Blues festival that had become an annual event and had become so influential to the emergence of British Blues. The 1956 remake by Elvis was his second #1 hit and is possibly the first blues song to become a #1 hit record.

Whether you agree or not with my selection of "the best Blues songs ever" I am sure we can agree that theses songs have helped to popularize the Blues genre.

If you like Blues Music then you may like to check out Dr Charlie. He is highly influenced by traditional Blues but with a very different interpretation that you may like.

The Development of Blues Music

2011-10-27T07:40:00.001-07:00

Jazz, rock music and country and western are just some of the styles that owe a lot of their progression from the original blues. The contribution of Blues music to the development of many other genres of music is very significant. Blues was originally grown out of the hardships endured by many generations of African Americans, and first arose from the rural Mississippi region, around about the time of the dawn of the 20th century. The style developed from work shouts (known as arhoolies), and became the vocal narrative style that we associate with blues music today.

Jazz, rock music and country and western are just some of the styles that owe a lot of their progression from the original blues. The contribution of Blues music to the development of many other genres of music is very significant. Blues was originally grown out of the hardships endured by many generations of African Americans, and first arose from the rural Mississippi region, around about the time of the dawn of the 20th century. The style developed from work shouts (known as arhoolies), and became the vocal narrative style that we associate with blues music today.

Industry was progressing, and by the 1920's Blues music was also developing - affecting the everyday lives of people involved. There was by this time a very particular style, based around a three-line stanza. The stanza contained just one line of verse, repeated, and then finished with a final line of rhyming verse.

The style also included a repeating blues chord progression, which was the basis of the harmony. The usual rule of thumb was a 12-bar pattern utilizing the 3 major chords of a scale. The text was set to a 12-bar chorus, and typically was between four and eight stanzas in length.

In typical cases, the melody is formed by flattened third, fifth and seventh notes of the major scale. The outcome is the 'bent' notes that lend Blues music that distinctive sound - the bittersweet emotional impact that lacks in other genres. For the majority of blues music the focus is on the vocals - contradicting the fact that performers will often improvise instrumental solos over the Blues chord progressions.

Country Blues

Many itinerant musicians (the majority of which were men), travelled from one community to the next, singing songs that focused on love, freedom, sex and the general sorrows of life. Often referred to as 'Delta Blues' (in tribute to the Mississippi Delta were they first originated), country blues arose from the Southern rural experience, particularly influenced by the impact of emancipation.

Classic Blues

African Americans began to migrate, mainly looking for work. Areas such as Memphis and New Orleans began to become more populated, and these people brought their own brand of music with them. As they settled in these areas, it led to Blues music becoming much more urban-orientated. The music evolved as their way of life evolved. Male or female vocalists began to appear more regularly, and there was now the addition of a single piano.

The audience also grew, and Blues became more mainstream. Throughout the country as a whole, Blues music could now be heard in dancehalls and barrooms. The music industry as a whole started to take note, and more and more compositions and marketing arrangements emerged, as people began to take notice. The popularity of this kind of music grew exponentially. What would become known as Classic Blues became so popular that many songs were released with the word 'blues' in the title to capitalize on this, even though they bared little or no relation to the style of music.

Electric Blues

Its center, previously clustered around Memphis and New Orleans, began to migrate, and soon cities such as Chicago became the central point of much of the music. The appetite for the style of music known as the Blues was quite voracious.

The end of the Second World War brought a new revival into the genre, and artists began to develop the music, primarily through adding a bit of extra emphasis on the bass drums and cranking up the guitar sounds. Artists like Elvis and Bill Haley began to incorporate the Blues methods into their own unique brand of rock n roll. By the 1950's this style was no longer centered around the African American community, and was universally practiced across all races.

The influence that Blues music has had on the music industry as a whole is undisputed, and yet Blues music is still evolving, still developing, and still evoking the stirrings of the soul to anyone who cares to listen! The incorporation of the Blues style into different genres still exists today, and Blues music in its own right continues to go from strength to strength - many top selling artists maintain the original styles.

Beatles Arias

2011-10-25T10:08:00.000-07:00

In 1966, opera singer Cathy Berberian recorded an album of Beatles covers, backed by classical arrangements.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to hell.

Cathy Berberian "Beatles Arias"

Regular readers of this blog will find this album frequently hilarious (love how she trills her Rs); otherwise, it can clear rooms. Berberian has extensive legit classical and avant-garde credentials - she was composer Luciano Berio's wife; John Cage wrote pieces for her. So it's not easy to dismiss this as another misguided record company Beatles rip-off. Maybe if I spoke European, I'd understand the interview included on this album which may reveal her motives.

1		Ticket To Ride
2		I Want To Hold Your Hand
3		Michelle
4		Eleanor Rigby
5		Yellow Submarine
6		Here, There And Everywhere
7		Help!
8		You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
9		Yesterday
10		Can't Buy Me Love
11		Girl
12		A Hard Day's Night 13 Interview
		Récitals
14		Introduction
15		Ticket To Ride
16		Yesterday Piano – Bruno Canino

Do Other Music Bloggers Get This Kind Of Mail?

2011-10-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

"Hello:

Guinness World Record holder (for woman with the longest fingernails), The Dutchess, is breaking into the music industry. The multi-talented phenomenon has recently announced the debut of her rock single, “Phoenix" The song was released on YouTube earlier this summer and created a buzz..."

So sayeth her publicist. Which is why I couldn't go into publicity. The Python-esque results would have been something like:

The Dutchess: I want to be a singer.

Publicist: Okay. And what are your qualifications?

The Dutchess: I have the world's longest fingernails.

Publicist: I see...You know, if a record company is looking for singers, I doubt that the first thing they'll ask is, 'Does she have long fingernails?'

Her useless song features Miss ScaryNails' r'n'b vocal stylings over rock guitar. The video (which I bailed out on half-way thru) had me wondering: how does she do anything with those nails? It would be more interesting if they showed her going about her day, getting dressed, etc. Maybe I shoulda watched the whole video...

The Everyday Film: Festival of Emotions

2011-10-18T12:59:00.000-07:00

One of the most enigmatic figures in music today, The Everyday Film, sent us their new "album" (11 songs in under 10 minutes) entitled "Festival of Emotions," and, on some tracks, this usually horrifying figure actually sounds like he/they might be in a somewhat better mood than usual. Maybe even in love, or some bizarre variation thereof. Elsewhere, it's the usual claustrophobic terror-tronics. A festival of emotions, indeed.

We have permission to post two tracks from it:

"The Bottom Of The World," only 39 seconds long:

"You, The Entrance; You, The Exit," an epic, at 1:39:

My Writing-Fu Skills Are No Match For This Album...

2011-10-14T14:27:00.000-07:00

...because I'm at a loss as to how to describe it. It's great to encounter music that fits no known genre until you're the fumbling fool trying to review this 1993 release by German composer Helmut Neugebauer and his band Die Vogel Europas. But (*cracks knuckles*) here goes:

Mainly guitar and drums making a kind of fractured funk, like two Gang of Four records playing at the same time at 78 rpm...but with jazz sax that suggests a European Capt. Beefheart...er, more like a Raymond Scott/Carl Stalling cartoonish craziness...only with sampling and industrial-like sounds, but it's not industrial music, really....well, maybe in the Foetus sense, but it's kinda proggy, what with all the unusual time signatures and complex songwriting, only done more in the spirit of an exuberant Eastern European dance than some show-offy prog band...
I think I've embarrassed myself enough. But, hey, the Allmusic guy describes it as 'unclassifiable,' so there, it's not just me. He also says that "It's a classic and deserves to be heard by everybody."

Helmut Neugebauer & DIE VÖGEL EUROPAS - Short Stories

p.s.: Elliot Sharp plays on this album, I bet some of you have heard of him.

Punk Music

2011-10-12T15:03:00.000-07:00

Punk music or hardcore punk or simply hardcore are all aliases of the same genre of music that is said to have literally rocked the musical scenario everywhere in the word. Considered to be a lot heavier than the punk rock, this music genre was in the early 1980s in the United States of America and United Kingdom. Traditional hardcore has never met with as much commercial success as the fusion and sub genres of this style of music.

Influence on other genres:

The punk music had a lot of influence over other genres of music such as alternative rock, electronic rock, Emo and post hardcore, metal and thrash core. Each of these had separate bands of music that played music belonging to these fusion genres and worked on further improvisation in their technique.

Here are a few fusion sub genres and their bands and solo artists who contributed a lot.

>> Alternative rock is a fusion genre where we get to listen to hardcore punk and rock music. Famous bands are Meat Puppets, Minutemen, The Replacements.

>> Electronic music is a musical amalgamation of electronic music, techno and hardcore punk.

>> Nintendocore is a mish mash of hardcore punk sprinkled with music for video games and chip tunes.

>> Emo and post-hardcore are fusion genres wherein the style of music evolved from mere screaming and heavy metal use. Noteworthy bands are Big Black, Naked Raygun, Rites of Spring and Nation of Ulysses.

>> Metal has many takers and these artists and band members took the punk music to a whole new level by adding heavier hardcore elements to it. Noted bands are Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, Metallica, Slayer, Corrosion of Conformity and Suicidal Tendencies.

>> Thrashcore consists of crossover thrash and is characterized by the presence of blast beats.

Music and clothing style:

Punk music was a genre of music which not only rocked the music world but also heavily influenced the cultures. In terms of music, hardcore punk laid more emphasis on the rhythms than the tunes. In fact, one can observe a lot of screaming, chanting of verses and poetry which are extremely loud. Stage diving and slam dancing are two styles of dancing which is influenced by the punk scenario. People who were the fans of this kind of music had a very distinct way of dressing up. Their clothes such as their T-shirts, jeans had a totally different feel to it. There was a lot of extremism to it such as wearing clothes that were styled to look like torn, studs, spikes, use of safety pins etc. The hairstyle was another feature of their personality which separated from the rest of the masses. They weird crew cuts on them and a few even colored their hair in bright shades of yellow and pink.

Some of the noted bands of punk music style are 88 Fingers Louie, Angry Samoans, Antidote, Bad Religion, Biohazard, Blood for Blood, Career Suicide, Civil Disobedience and many more.

Free Digital Music Distribution

2011-10-12T15:01:00.000-07:00

In case you are an up-and-coming singer or a musician who is selling your music online, it is important to have a plan that will allow you to make a lot of money from this. As you can imagine, the music industry can be a tough one and it will be easier to sell music if have an established a name. But, if you are an aspiring singer you could still earn money with your talent from selling music online. In fact, many professional singers these days get their start online, which help to pave the way for a professional career.

Since your intention is to sell your own music online, the following are several things to help you get started.

Create good quality music and then prepare them for free digital music distribution on MP3, CD and more. You could also create a video to use as promotional material. You should pay close attention to sound quality, because you don't want to give people below average audio quality. Copyright your songs. Naturally, you have to own music before you are able to sell them. This is why it's important to get copyright for your songs. Visit the copyright office or check the websites for requirements that will allow you to get this process done easily.

Promote the music on forums, social networks or from your own site. Internet marketing can be fast and easy, so take full advantage of social networking websites, blogs and forums. With good promotions online, you are guaranteed to sell a lot of music. One of the effective ways to sell your music on the internet is to give sample or demos for people to listen in order to buy the full CD.

Make use of online stores such as eBay and Amazon to sell your music. You can sell this on CD or as a downloadable. It's also possible to sell your music on sites that enable the independent musicians to sell their songs. Promotion will also be important, so you want good materials to ensure that you are selling music regularly.

Establish your own musical style, sound and image. Singers sell no just because of their singing abilities and voice, but image or overall package will make a difference. As a result, before you even start to think about selling your music, its best to come with an overall package that is sellable. In addition ensure that practice a lot before distributing the final CD.

While My Pencilina Gently Weeps

2011-10-10T16:10:00.000-07:00

"The pencilina is an electric board zither played primarily by striking the strings with sticks; also by plucking and bowing." And musical instrument inventor/singer-songwriter Bradford Reed is, so far as I know, the world's only performer on this nifty instrument. It's a credit to his songwriting that I didn't know anything about this instrument when I first heard his music - I just liked the song.

Of this 1996 album, the Brooklynite writes, "A strictly live pencilina album. For better or worse I used to have a very purist approach to recording- It must be live. A 50/50 split of instrumental and vocal tunes." Yup, no other instruments - just the one-man-band doing his eccentric thing. Songs range from slightly dissonant, possibly micro-tonal, plinkety-plunking, to actual catchy tunes. The slightly rough, unaffected singing makes Reed appear to be some sort of indie-rock Harry Partch.

Bradford Reed - "Live! At Home"

This album's going out of print, but he's got more for sale on his site. I recommend "Solo Live Songs" if, for no other reason, the excellent "She's A Rocket." And I can't believe I'm writing about someone from Brooklyn. I'm so trendy! Please forgive.

THE ENVELOPE PLEASE...

2011-10-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

One month ago I posted a collection of artists who are making the world a more beautiful place by freely distributing songs or albums, and I asked you to vote for your favorite. Like "The X-Factor," only with good music. I might do this again, only for commercial releases, not freebies. Was one month not enough time? Anyway, the final tally is..(drumroll)...

Buttress O'Kneel - 12
Bloody Death Skull - 8
Oreaganomics - 2
Bivouac - 1
Jinnwoo - 1
Docteur Legume et Les Surfwerks - 1
all the others - no votes

Buttress O'Kneel is the winner! Take your bow, lady. Words like "mashup" and "remix" don't really do justice to Buttress O'Kneel's method - Top 40 pop crap gets sliced, diced, and tossed into a dizzying, exciting hardcore electro stew. Compared to other djs who timidly drop a Vanilla Ice acapella over a Chemical Bros instro just to move a dance floor, O'Kneel shreds copyrights with a blood-curdling vehemence. Smash the state!

Her 2000 album "Compact Scipppp" utilizes skipping CDs a la Oval to lovely effect, but after that, the kid gloves came off, and every album since then has employed the same break-core/sample attack. All her albums are free, and all are good. Dive in anywhere.

This is good timing, actually - she has a new album now out called Compop 14.6: Avant-Tarde: Tardcore that throws Bob Marley, Katy Perry, Black Sabbath, Queen and numerous others into the meat grinder, records their screams of agony, then mixes them with results ranging from toe-tappin' almost-pop to abstract glitch. Play loud.

Buttress O'Kneel - 11 albums

"We Love Bananas Because They Have No Bones"

2011-10-04T10:13:00.000-07:00

(Vote for "M4M Idol" - only a couple days left!)

Debuting in the early 1930s, The Hoosier Hot Shots were one of the first, and best, novelty groups of the 78 rpm era, and if you can't figure out what they were like from such song titles as "From The Indies To The Andes In His Undies," well, pardner, there ain't much I can tell ya. Listen to me, talking like a hayseed - that's what listening to these guys will do to you. But despite their "rural" schtick, they were actually plenty sophisticated, essentially playing hot jazz with as much virtuosic flair as any fancy-pants big-city orchestra. Only funnier.

Their trademark sounds were a cartoon-ish slide whistle, klezmer-esque clarinet, superb multi-part vocal harmonies, and, quoth wiki, "...a strange, homemade instrument known both as the "Wabash Washboard" and "the Zither," played by Hezzie [Trietsch]. It consisted of a corrugated sheet metal washboard on a metal stand with various noisemakers attached, including bells and a multi-octave range of squeeze-type bicycle horns."

Hard to pick favorites, but can you really go wrong with a song called "We Love Bananas Because They Have No Bones"? And what happens to "Sioux City Sue" will interest the pain and bondage crowd. What must be a much later recording then their '30s/'40s heyday has them demolishing Elvis' "Hound Dog." Surprisingly, they play it straight on the sentimental ballad "Someday (You'll Want Me To Want You)." Tho it is pretty weird hearing the slide whistle try to make like a lonely sax solo.

Some saintly soul has prepared four short albums (10 songs apiece), w/a bonus ep of a few songs taken from YouTube vids. Albums (or just individual tracks) can be downloaded for free here:

HOOSIER HOT SHOTS

"This is the silliest music I've ever heard. A-"
- Robert Christgau

STAR TREK FAN BANDS: NOT NEARLY AS BAD AS ONE WOULD THINK

2011-09-29T14:35:00.000-07:00

(Vote for "M4M Idol"! You've got 'til Oct. 6.)

A Klingon death-metal band. Just think about the sheer awesomeness of that concept.

"Trekkies 2" is a 2004 documentary about the most extreme 'Star Trek' fans, produced and hosted by, of all people, Bing's granddaughter Denise Crosby. The soundtrack album features some funny bits of dialogue from the film, a few soundtrack cues, and lots of entertaining fan songs. Somehow Fred Schneider of the B52s ended up on here as well. Maybe he's a Trekkie? Wouldn't be too surprising.

As for the musical acts, who pretty much only perform at 'Trek'/sci-fi conventions, Warp 11 are quite good in that Descendants/Bad Religion/Green Day-style of melodic punk. "Everything I Do, I Do With William Shatner" really is as good as it's title. No Kill I: The Next Generation (yep, that's the band's name) make a great Devo-ish New Wave ruckus. Ash Productions are two charming teenage girls. Reminding us of Trek fan history, Leslie Fish does it old school: a solo acoustic "filk" (sci-fi folk) tune. And then there's death-metalers Stovokor, who not only dress up as Klingons, but they sing in the Klingon language.And if you ain't down with that, well, pally, you have landed on the wrong blog.

I don't know much about 'Trek" beyond watching the original series ("TOS" in Trek talk) as a kid, but it's inside nature is what I like about this stuff. Fan music, like song-poems, make me realize how generic most music is. Frank Sinatra couldn't have sang about "Star Trek" (or what his favorite color is, or who he supported for President) because he had a general audience, so we just got lots of love songs since, presumably, that's a human universal. So it's fascinating to me to hear people singing passionately about something very specific. They can only exist in the rarefied world of fellow fans, or, in the case of song-poems, they just put out tiny pressings of private recordings. They don't have to worry about what the music biz (even the "indie" end of it) thinks.

Trekkies 2 The Official Soundtrack

1. Since I Was Zero - Denise Crosby 2. Beam Me Up - Fred Schneider 3. The Worst Time To Call - Gabriel Koener 4. Italy Theme - Billy Sullivan 5. Channeling Roddenberry - Karl Miller 6. Red Alert - Warp 11 7. A Girl Came - Brian Dellis 8. Everything I Do, I Do With William Shatner - Warp 11 9. We're Niners - Michael Leon 10. Boldly Going - No Kill I: Deep Space Nine 11. Extremities - Gabriel Koemer 12. Vulcan Mind-Meld - No Kill I: Deep Space Nine 13. Low Frequencies - Jason Lewis 14. For The Glory Of Qo'nos - Stovokor 15. Klingon Santa Claus - Denise Crosby 16. Life In Exile - Stovokor 17. My Rank Is Commander - Renee Morrison 18. Arkansas Theme - J.J. Holiday 19. Ever Hear Of Filking? - Denise Crosby 20. The Expendable Guy (Live) - Ash Productions 21. A Typo - Kathleen Sloan 22. Banned From Argo (Live) - Leslie Fish And Friends 23. What's Normal - Dave Smith 24. No Kill I Theme Song (Live) - No Kill I 25. Auk - Jean Whitehead 26. Tranya (Live) - No Kill I 27. Remain Calm - Allen Maxwell 28. Data And The Beta (Live) - No Kill I: The Next Generation 29. Starbase Dentist - Denise Crosby 30. We Are The Borg (Live) - No Kill I: The Next Generation 31. It's Just Good - Jon Garrison 32. Germany Theme - Billy Sullivan 33. Ethan's Aliens - Ethan Philips 34. Beam Me Up (Instrumental Reprise) - Fred Schneider 35. Lame Reality - Ward Young

3 Styles of Jazz Music

2011-09-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

Jazz comes in many varieties and in this article I will be comparing and contrasting 3 of these styles including New Orleans Jazz, Harlem Stride, and the White Jazz. For the New Orleans Style I am using the song "Potato Head Blues" by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven and for Harlem Stride I chose the song "Charleston" by James P. Johnson and lastly I chose the song "There Ain't No Sweet Man" by Paul Whitman to represent White Jazz.

New Orleans is the birthplace of Jazz and the New Orleans Style is one of the oldest forms of Jazz. At the time of the birth of Jazz in the late 1800s black people were oppressed and segregated. This led them to have a music of their own that was deeply rooted in music and rhythm. After the civil war there were a lot of extra instruments available and many blacks purchased them and began playing music. These blacks may not have played their instruments very well, but they did use rhythm very distinctly and this lead to the first jazz music. White Jazz was the white community's response to the new music of the blacks. At first white musicians played songs written by blacks, but eventually they developed their own style which lost some of the edgy feel and in my opinion does now swing as much as black music from that time. Harlem Stride is the eastern piano style of playing jazz, it is played by using the left hand alternating between bass notes and midrange notes. This creates an oom-pah feeling to the song, and while the left hand is kept busy with the stride the right hand is free to play complex melodies.

As mentioned earlier Jazz is rooted in rhythm; it has that feeling to it that cannot be explained in words, but is instantly recognizable when heard. When listening to the songs "Potato Head Blues" and "There Ain't No Sweet Man" it is easy to find similarities in the rhythm that they employ. Both of them are written in 4/4 time and employ very low notes played on brass instruments to keep the tempo. On the other hand in the song "Charleston" there is only one instrument used and that is the piano, but there are still single notes played very low on the piano to keep the rhythm. All three of these songs are played at an upbeat tempo but "There Ain't No Sweet Man" somehow seems to be played at a much slower pace. This is accomplished in the song by having the musicians play their instruments in an almost lackadaisical fashion.

Many people do not consider notated jazz music true Jazz because it is impossible to capture the feeling of Jazz with notation. Paul Whitman used notated music in his song "There Ain't No Sweet Man" because it was played by a large orchestra and it otherwise would have been impossible to play with that large of a group. Both "Potato "Head Blues" and "Charleston" were not notated when they were recorded, and that allowed for some spontaneity in the recording which is a large part of the Jazz feeling. Sometimes the melody of a piece can be lost to the untrained ear because of the way the song is interpreted in a Jazz style. These three songs were all designed to be played as Jazz and they are considered to be Jazz songs and in "Charleston" and "There Ain't No Sweet Man" it is easy to pick out the melody, but when I listen to "Potato Head Blues" the melody is hard for me at the beginning because so much is going on.

"Potato Head Blues" immediately starts off with polyphony style and this is mainly the reason why I can't seem to find the melody as well at the beginning. "There Ain't No Sweet Man" has a small intro that shortly breaks into a homophony and although there is still a lot going on in the song all of the instruments revolve around one melody. When listening to these songs I hear crisp harmonies throughout and this consonance of harmony used in the songs makes them very enjoyable to listen to. "Charleston" is a fun and happy song to listen to but because it only involves one instrument, the piano, it does not have as much depth to it as the other songs. In "There Ain't No Sweet Man" a full orchestra is used including brass, woodwinds and stringed instruments. Using that many pieces in a song creates a fullness to the music and a complexity that is not easily replicated. "There Ain't No Sweet Man" uses the trumpet for the melody and also the voice. "Potato Head Blues" also uses trumpet as the primary melody carrier but many other instruments are used including the cornet and even a guitar.

The overall tone and feelings of the songs are vastly different from each other; "Charleston" is a very upbeat song that has a playful side to it, I would describe the song as having a warm and cold tone at the same time. "There Ain't No Sweet Man" has a distant feeling to it while the instruments are playing the intro but even after the singing begins there is still a distant feeling mixed in with the lyrics. For the most part "Charleston" just has one volume throughout the song but it still uses the dynamics of hard and soft to emphasize different parts of the song. "Potato Head Blues" and "There Ain't No Sweet Man" use a wide variety of volume levels and dynamics to get the feeling of the songs across. This is partly possible because of the different instruments used; when they use softer instruments such as the guitar, during a bridge in the song it can be particularly effective as a transfer into another part of the song.

All three of these songs are considered to be Jazz and in my opinion they all have that swing to them which is imperative to a Jazz song. However, these songs swing in different ways, "Charleston" uses the Harlem Stride to keep the song moving around and liberates the right hand play the melody in a swinging jazz style that is full of fun. "Potato Head Blues" use strong polyphony to grab the listeners' attention right at the beginning and eventually dives into solos where the musicians show off the ability to improvise in the Jazz style, which the do in an astounding fashion. "There Ain't No Sweet Man" may not have the, off the cuff, feeling that the other two songs have, but its uses each instrument to the advantage of the group and the result is beautifully arranged piece that manages to gain the jazz feeling without the direct improvisation.

Start Making Original New Indie Pop Music

2011-09-27T09:17:00.000-07:00

In the past, being recognized as new indie music artists was so hard to do. You had to be a really good musician in order to be heard for your unique new indie pop music. Nowadays, with the help of the Internet, all you need to do is upload your song into a website and wait for people to comment on it. As it becomes easier, more and more people are doing it, and the difficulty is now focused on how to be heard amidst the thousands of aspiring new indie pop music artists. Here are a few tips so you can be heard.

How New Indie Musicians Beat Writer's Block

As a new indie music artist, you need to have serious writing skills. But sometimes, even the most experienced independent artists, to the latest indie musician on the blog, we all sit for hours with nothing to write about. Do you always suffer form creative block?

Whenever we get this, we usually say that we are not inspired enough to write something. But the truth is that creative idea is just inside your head waiting for the right moment to pop out. So what can you do about it? Stimulate your brain to get it ready for creating some truly original new indie music. Do something that involves a creative process. Watch a movie, listen to some good songs, read, paint, or whatever it is that get you going. And when that idea pops out of your head in the middle of the night, be sure you have a piece of paper at your bed side. In fact, it is better if you carry a small notebook with you so that your ideas will always be written and never forgotten.

Another problem you have with writing as new indie pop music artists is originality. Artists nowadays talk about the same thing in their songs, and their music is arranged in the same way that most artists do it. How do you establish uniqueness? Whenever you try to write a piece of music, do not think too much. Write whatever you feel like writing and play whatever you feel like to your heart's content. After that, review what you have written and if it sounds too familiar, make an effort to come up with a unique style.

New Indie Music Artists Need the Right Environment...

The environment in which you summon your creativity and become new indie music artists also plays an important role. Be sure you always do it in a comfortable place. Stress-free environment helps, and if you always choose to write in a studio, make sure that you have become comfortable in it. Your home is also a great place to start, just be sure there is nothing that can bother you when you start to sit down and write.

What is great about indie music is the fact that there are no rules, and you are free to write whatever you want. Your lyrics do not even have to make sense. If you want a song that reflects more of your personality and your life, you can do that too. Indie music is a reflection of what the artist truly wants his or her music to be, and nothing can stop you from writing what you want.

Once you have completed your song, make sure to record it. Recording it in a professional recording studio will ensure you that the quality is great compared to home recording. But if you are just starting out, you can put up your home recording studio and try to record it in the best way possible. If you can, try to save money for a professional recording because it is such a good investment when it comes to making music.

New Indie Music Artists Need Inspiration!

If the writing process is taking longer than expected and you still do not have that killer new indie music song in your mind, do not worry. Making music is not an overnight process, and sometimes a song can take months of writing before it can actually be recorded. Professional artists, let alone new indie pop music artists, do not make them overnight and the entire process could take up to a year. Stay calm and wait for that genius piece you have been waiting for. It might just come to you in the least expected time. Look below for some interesting inspirational starting points...

For some inspiration, there's nothing better to do than surround yourself with what you're trying to create! I don't mean mainstream music, but new indie music straight from a band's garage or a small indie music label.

The Traditional Or Contemporary Church Music Controversy

2011-09-27T07:36:00.000-07:00

There is a controversy brewing in the Christian community in regards to the style of music offered in a church worship service. There is some debate as to which is more appropriate. Whether you agree or disagree I hope this article will help you decide.

This controversy stems from the use of traditional verses contemporary music. This has stirred up quite a bit of debate. In this article I want to share with your some thoughts and ideas regarding contemporary church music.

The danger of contemporary church music stems from the fact that modern music as an art form is thought of as a variety of entertainment. When shown in this light the real danger is that contemporary church music can look more show business more than a ministry. This is the primary argument of those who favor traditional music.

As you study your Bible you will learn about several examples where music is important. Here is one example. David was skilled musician. One of his early jobs was to play music for King Saul. When ever he play for the king, the king was either soothed or agitated by the sounds he heard. That is the power of music to reveal emotion and produce an emotional reaction. The emotions were reveals purely on Saul's attitude at the time.

Consider music is an important part of modern society. It has been that way from the creation of civilization. Music will mirror the culture. It tells the stories of important themes and ideas. By this we learn about the many implication of the world view. It says a lot about our society.

The purpose of church music is to be a part a worship service. It is part of the ritual. The music is integral in the service. The songs used in the service need to be based on solid biblical principals. Now when you combine this idea with current music styles we get contemporary church music.

So what makes a song fall into the category of contemporary church music? This type of song is identified by first by its lyrical content and second by the music genre. You should realize there are a multitude of musical genres. These genres include rock, jazz, country, rap, folk, and classical. Each genre provides the listener with us with a variety of performance style options.

The music genre is really at the heart of the controversy. The modern praise and worship songs use up to date music style that appeal to our modern culture. It offers the listener modern lyrics and song music style with a traditional biblical message. In fact this genre of music is more defined by the lyrics than the style of music. What we find is the most common theme to contemporary church music is worship and praise and worship to God and/or Jesus.

Regardless of the type of music here are three things to keep in mind when considering song selection for your church.

* The songs must proclaim God's Word

* The songs need to be appropriate to the worship service

* The songs need to mirror the belief of the congregation

As you can see the crux of the issue is about the style of music. We all have preferences to what we like and don't like. Sometimes we want the status quo other times be may be more adventurous and try new things. But the bottom line is that no matter what music genre it is the lyrical content that guides us. Especially when the lyric are in agreement with the Scriptures.

"Get some haircuts on your kids! Teach 'em some decent music!"

2011-09-26T09:41:00.000-07:00

(Vote for "M4M Idol"! You've got 'til Oct. 6.)

This nearly hour-long sermon starts off nicely enough, before we get to juicy quotes concerning: dirty stinkin' hippie beatniks! The Communist conspiracy! 15 minutes in we get to hatin' on The Beatles and rock music. "DIRTY FILTHY VILE ROCK FESTIVALS...are bent on destroying America." Hey, botanists! We learn about how rock music kills plants - it's been scientifically proven! He recites almost all the lyrics to "Back in the USSR" and "White Rabbit" ("Feed your head! Feed your head!"). He pronounces Bob Dylan's name "Bobby DIE-lin" and Phil Ochs "Phil Oh-cha," and screams about LSD. First time I've heard a preacher quoting Frank Zappa.

Communism did fall - clearly it was no match for Pastor Jack's awesomeness. Sound collagists/mashup producers...start your samplers!

sermon by Pastor Jack Hyles

His "Satan's music" page has lotsa good readin': "The Jonas Brothers—Satanic to the Core!!!," "Country Music Television (CMT) is of the Devil," and "Miley Cyrus' Supports Immoral Rights, Corrupts the Bible, and Works to Destroy America!"

(Long hair and sandals are evil? Isn't that how Jesus dressed? Damn hippie liberal...)

God bless windy for the tip.

Top 5 Pop Music Numbers in Last Few Weeks

2011-09-24T09:20:00.000-07:00

Do you love pop music? That's great. Here we would like to find out the top 5 pop music numbers that are doing great in different music charts across the world in last couple of weeks. Perhaps you have all these numbers in your private collection. But this list would definitely add something to your pride. So, here we go.

The top artist who has been rocking different music charts across the world for last 12 weeks is Pink. This pop powerhouse performer has been around since late '90s but in the primary days she was taken just as another pop artist. But now, the weather has changed in her favor. Her move from a local 'Club Fever' to the international arena is unbelievable. Anyways, "So What" from her latest and fifth studio album "Funhouse" is the top number that has acquired the top position in different music charts of 11 countries across the world. And this is the most successful solo number in her music career.

The next number in the list is Katy Perry with her 'Hot n Cold' from her latest album "One of the Boys", released on 17th June, 2008 in US and Canada. The magical combination of cheeky music and commercial pop are doing great in different top pop music charts across the globe. The debut album has already sold 749,000+ copies in different parts of the world and it is certified Gold in US.

The next in the list is TI with his song "Whatever You Like" from the album "Paper Trail" released on 30th September, 2008. "Paper Trail" is his sixth studio album. Though the release was delayed for a few times, it sold more than 357,000 copies in USA within three days of its release! Though "Paper Trail" released on 30th September, the song "Whatever You Like" was first released on 16th July. Though the music have some similarities with Lil Wayne's song "Lollipop" (both of them have same producer - Jim Jonsin), it did great in different top pop music charts around the world. By the way, did you listen to the parody of the song recorded by "Weird Al" Yankovic!

In the fourth position we have Leona Lewis' 'Better in Time' from her debut album "Spirit" released on 8th April, 2008. It doesn't matter if her strong voice reminds you of young Whitney Houston, the winner of The X Factor (the British reality talent show - third series) is doing great in different parts of the world. And do you remember that it ranked top in Billboard top 200 music charts on 26th April! It has own many critics due to its elegant melody, emotive voice quality and lyric - across the world.

In the fifth position we have "Womanizer" by Britney Spears. The song was initially recorded for her forthcoming album "Circus" and was released on 7th October 2008 in USA through digital distribution. Though this song received some mixed reviews from critics, it has been doing great in different music charts across the web. Some people say that it is Britney magic that is working the way to the top for last 5 weeks.

Do you have all these numbers in your collection?

Mexican Water Jug/Soda Bottle Folk Instruments

2011-09-23T12:56:00.000-07:00

(Vote for "M4M Idol"! You've got 'til Oct. 6.)

A welcome recent trend in Mexican and Mexican/American music is playing instruments made out of recycled garbage. Apart from looking real cool and producing new sounds, it's another example of the resourcefulness of low income people (see also The Congo's Konono No.1, and Staff Benda Bilili.) So far as I know, there haven't been any recordings of this stuff yet, but there are a few YouTube vids featuring the Sparkletts bottle/garden hose (or PVC pipe) "tuba" and plastic 2 liter soda bottle "trumpets." I say "so far as I know" because the comments are all in Spanish and I'm just not bilingual enough to understand it all, e.g.: are there any recordings featuring these instruments? And the last video demonstrates how to make a water jug tuba - can anyone out there translate it for me? I want! Muchas grassy-ass.

First up, the border style known as norteña music. The flatulent sound of this tuba makes me laff!:

Slightly better sound quality on this tune; note the European polka beat, the mark of the norteña (Northern) style, aka Tex-Mex:

South of the border for some Coke bottle mariachi:

Judging by other videos, it seems pretty basic: garden hose or pipe, connects to bottle (e.g.: 12 oz soda bottle), connects to big jug. But - que? - this vid makes it seem more complicated:

Pierre Bastien's Musiques Machinales

2011-09-21T09:46:00.000-07:00

(Vote for "M4M Idol"! You've got 'til Oct. 6.)

It's a "Two-For-Tuesday"! On Wednesday! Here are two absolutely spellbinding albums by French composer Pierre Bastien, who, since childhood, has been fascinated with the idea of incorporating machines into music. His first experiment was with a spoon attached to a metronome striking a pan. Since then he has come far indeed, constructing Erector Set-like rockin' robots, and on his "Mecanoid" album, brilliantly incorporating (non-hip hop) turntablism. Over the repetitious rhythms of his machines he often blows cool Miles-like jazz horn. The results, on his "Musiques Machinales" album, range from the Steve Reich-like minimalism of "Chez Les Crânes" to "Marchin' Band," reminiscent of "Rain Dogs"-era Tom Waits. Scratchy fiddle and, on at least one song, what sounds like a musical saw also feature in his cabinet of curiosities. Like Frank Pahl and his Scavenger Quartet (whose "We Who Live On Land" album I recently posted in it's entirety) gorgeous melodies such as the one on "Vipers" from "Musiques Machinales" sell these obtuse ideas. Magical.

PIERRE BASTIEN "Musiques Machinales"

PIERRE BASTIEN "Mecanoid"

Christmas Songs - Top 5 Traditional Christian Songs

2011-09-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

Music brings peace to the soul. Christian Christmas songs were a way for people to spread the joy and message of the festival through music. That is the reason for the evolution of Christmas based songs.

Through the years, many artists have come up with their own originals songs, while most have adapted traditional songs to new tunes. Of those traditional songs, 7 are listed here as the top most listened to songs.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Originally written by Charles Wesley in 1739, this song has been widely adapted by music artists from every genre possible. It is considered one of the best Christmas songs till date.

In the original version the first two lines were 'hark! How all the welkin rings, Glory to the King of Kings'. In the present version it has been changed to 'Hark! The herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King'. The best adapted version of this song till date is Blackmore's Night's version.

O Holy Night

Cantique de Noël or the O holy night is the brainchild of Adolphe C. Adam, composed in 1847. It was in French and was translated to English by John Sullivan Dwight. This song has the fame of being the first music to be played on radio. The first two lines are 'Oh holy night! The stars are brightly shining, It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.' The best adapted version is by Smokie Norful.

The First Noel

The fist noel is thought to be a translation of a French song, though not proved to that fact yet. It was first seen in the year 1833 in a collection of carols complied by William Sandys. The first two lines of the songs are as follows:

The First Noel, the Angels did say, Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay

The best adapted version of this popular song is Randy Traves.

Silent Night

Silent night was first written in German by Josef Mohr in 1816. It was later translated in the year 1863 by John Young. First two lines of this famous carol are 'Silent night, holy night, All is calm, all is bright'.

This is one the most soothing songs of the list and has been done justice to by Go Fish Acappella and Yolanda Adams with her mesmerizing voice.

Away in a manger

Printed in a school book, this song dates back to 1885. It is erroneously thought that Martin Luther wrote the song. The music to this song was composed by William Kirkpatrick. 'Away in a manger, No crib for His bed' song has been sung best by Mahalia Jackson.

The traditional Christmas songs have best conveyed the true meaning of Christmas, the joy and the good times.

Camp Records Was Totally Gay

2011-09-16T16:19:00.000-07:00

(Don't forget to vote in the M4M Idol contest!)

The Queer Music Heritage site sez: "Almost nothing is known about the mysterious 60's record label Camp Records. They released an album and ten 45 rpm records of gay parody songs, most done with effeminate voices. I believe they were issued in the early 60's, as they all appeared in an ad in the gay magazine Vagabond, dated 1965... The artists singing most of the songs were uncredited, or with names obviously made up, like Byrd E. Bath and B. Bubba, but one name stands out, Rodney Dangerfield...This would have been very early in Dangerfield's career, as his website bio says he decided to devote his career to comedy at age 40, which would have been in 1961. But I don't think it was the comedian we know..."

This is not only funny stuff, a must for novelty music fans, but a peek into an underground world all but unknown to mainstream society at the time. Hard to believe now in this age of RuPaul, but this type of music was extremely rare - it was practically illegal. "The Queen is in the Closet" album often takes familiar public-domain melodies and sets new lyrics to them, e.g. "A Naughty-cal Tale" is based on the old sea chanty "What Do You Do With A Drunken Soldier." The 45s sometimes get into rock 'n 'roll territory. "Homer The Happy Little Homo"? "Stanley the Manly Transvestite"? What are you waiting for, you silly savages? They're all free for your downloading pleasure at this fabulous site here:

Camp Records

Don't forget to scroll to the very bottom of the page for a more recent (1980) single. I've known about this site for a while (thanks to Spacebrother Greg) but was reminded about it after recently reading John Rechy's classic autobiographical novel "City Of Night," which deals with the same underworld of hustlers and drag queens. It was a surprise best seller in the early '60s, pulling the lid off the scene, and tho some of it hardly seems shocking to modern sensibilities, it's still pretty fascinating. Rechy's genuine experiences invest the book with an authenticity that will make reader feel thoroughly familiar with this world by the end of the book. The next step in your low-life lit journey, after you've absorbed Chandler, Bukowski, et. al.

Musical Genres Or Styles of Guitar Music

2011-09-15T07:32:00.000-07:00

Music is a free expression of emotion and feeling. It is an artistic expression of passion for melody, rhyme, measure and lyrics. Man's love for music is evident on the number of musical instruments that were developed and used through the decades. Among these ancient-modern instruments is the guitar.

Guitar is one of the stringed instruments that have a history rooted from the ancient times. Through the centuries of its use, it has created thousands of tunes and has entertained millions of people from the era and area on which it was used. The ancient forms of music created by the guitar also evolved along with the guitar's many forms. With man's continuing passion for music and for this stringed instrument, modern times have created modern niche of guitar music.

Blues is one of the vocal and instrumental forms of music that uses blue notes. It has emerged from African-American communities through their spiritual and work songs as well as chants. With the use of rhymed and simple narrative ballads, the community has created music with a prominent call and response pattern. Blues are traditionally played with a piano as in churches and gatherings. Later on, the accessibility of guitars and its popularity among bands have made more music for blues, making it the root for some other musical genres such as the jazz, rhythm and blues, bluegrass and rock and roll.

Jazz is one of the popular genres of music that are played with the guitar. It is known to have originated from the blue notes or Blues. Considered a confluence of African and European music traditions, Jazz is distinct for its improvisations, polyrythms, syncopation and swung notes. Jazz has made beautiful music with its fusion with the big-band style swing, bebop and Latin, Afro-Cuban and Brazilian music. Eventually, Jazz was incorporated in 20th century American pop music.

The more recent musical genre of guitar music is pop music. With its noticeable rhythmic element, melodies and hooks, its mainstream style and conventional structure made it very popular among the teenage population. Today, these are the music that usually appears on top of the record charts, which are determined by the number of sales and popularity in air play. And most of the songs in this genre are accompanied by the tunes of the modern and classic construction of guitars.

The versatile application of guitar to music explains why professional guitarists can play all musical genres. From rock to pop, classic to modern beat, no one will ever miss out the significant contribution of guitar tunes to the whole effect of a song or musical piece. Even for novice guitar players or those who are starting to learn to play the guitar, the selection of play pieces or practice pieces is limitless, making the learning process more interesting and exciting.

PRANKSTA PRANKSTA

2011-09-14T13:28:00.000-07:00

(Don't forget to vote in the M4M Idol contest!)

It's not about the salary, it's all about hilarity. First up, a video sent to us from reader Pseudonym Smith: "It's economics as rapped by Keynes and Hayek, and I now know everything I ever will about their ideas." Ha, yeah, me too. Listening to debating economists is like an atheist listening to a debate between a Christian and a Muslim. I'll admit that these guys do have mad flow. But are they as good as Red Shadow, The Economics Rock 'n 'Roll Band?

I was surprised to learn that there are two "chap-hop" rappers coming str8 outta England, takin' ya back to the '80s - the 1880s, that is. Last year we covered Mr. B The Gentleman Rhymer, now dig Professor Elemental. His album "The Indifference Engine" features the dis rap "Fighting Trousers," but gentlemen, please, there's no need to fight - tho they have different styles (Elemental is more of a Jules Verne adventurer-type than Mr. B's Bertie Wooster sort) they both share a love of manly mustaches, drinking tea, and sampling old 78 rpm records. Anyone who can bust rhymes over Slim Gaillard's "Flat Foot Floogie (With a Floy Floy)" (on the excellent "A Fete Worse Than Death") is a right def emcee, eh, what? I would start with the song "Penny Dreadful," as it serves as a jolly good introduction to our man.

Professor Elemental "The Indifference Engine" - listen to it streaming for free, or buy.

The Rappers Delight Club are, indeed, a delight - from their MySpazz page: "This is a musical side project for a rotating group of [Baltimore] elementary school children that I work with. This is probably the best thing you'll ever hear [True dat]...This project comes out of a "typical" daycare program. Every month we do different clubs, and the Rapper's Delight Club is just one club that I do every year...We've just finished a new track, "I Don't Wanna Grow Up...Yet", that uses Tom Waits' "I Don't Wanna Grow Up." He also thanks bands like No Age and Yo La Tengo for providing music. The kids are most definitely all right.

I have come to really hate the painful ordeal of flying, but this dope rapping flight attendant would make it easier. It's an acapella - any mashup producers want to use it? Maybe with "Leaving on A Jet Plane"?

"NOTHING QUITE PREPARED ME FOR GROUND ZERO"

2011-09-09T12:10:00.000-07:00

(Don't forget to do your patriotic duty and Vote for M4M Idol!)

You maybe getting 9/11 fatigue right around now, and those bad tribute songs I wrote about last year won't help, but this rousing musical theater-style song should pick you right up - after all, it's by a singing telegram guy. As his website says, it's his job to make people happy ("Ask about our special Neil Diamond tribute.")

The song starts playing automatically once you click on this page (AND you can read/sing along with the printed lyrics):

Kerry Prep - "Ground Zero"

And how 'bout that Burger King ad, eh? Even more tasteless than their fries. Thanks to IVOR for the tip.

The Unique Music Genres of Colombia

2011-09-09T07:30:00.000-07:00

Colombia has several styles of music that originated from its territory long ago and remain popular to this day...

Vallenato: Born in the city of Valledupar (Cesar) from which its name is derived, this folkloric style of music is especially popular in the country's Caribbean region. It owes much of its rhythms to the slaves brought from Africa in centuries past. Carlos Vives is vallenato's biggest star. Valledupar hosts an annual "Legends of vallenato" festival. Folks from the Caribbean region have the odd custom of installing huge speakers on their porches and blasting vallenato at top volume day or night. Nobody complains!

Guasca: Folk music from Antioquia, where the town of Betania considered the "capital" of the genre. The lyrics are typically vulgar and humorous. It's biggest star, Octavio Mesa, died recently. International pop star Juanes has said much of his inspiration came from the latter.

Llanera: Music from the "llanos", or plains, of eastern Colombia. It's distinguishing characteristic is its very original use of the harp, producing sounds that are decidedly not classical. Villavicencio, in Meta, is the capital of this music genre.

While in Colombia, you'll hear all three styles on a daily basis, whether it be in taxis and buses, or bars. Colombians love their music and can't seem to get enough of it. Other popular music styles didn't originate from Colombia: cumbia, reggaeton and Mexican rancheras. You'll hear more Vicente Fernandez tunes here than in Mexico! On the pop scene, native son Juanes is more popular than native daughter Shakira, the international phenomenon.

Vote For M4M Idol!!

2011-09-06T11:36:00.000-07:00

Don't you wish all of those "[name of country] Idol"/"X Factor"-type shows had good music? Well, now here's your chance to be Simon Bowel (pictured left, on toast) - vote for any of the artists featured on this sampler of home-brew recordings. Most of these acts wrote to me asking for a review of their work, but, goshdurn it, I just don't have the time. Forgive me, bedroom maestros of the world.
But these are all FREE releases, so if you like the sampler tunes, there's often whole albums for you to download. It's really good stuff. I wouldn't subject you-all to anything I didn't genuinely enjoy, so it's gonna be a tough call. A real horse race.

How do you vote? Simply listen to the "M4M Idol" collection i posted below and then leave a comment stating who's your favorite artist of the bunch. The winning artist will get a full-length review (woo-hoo!) in a future M4M post. Yeah, I know...sorry I don't have any valuable cash prizes/record deals to offer the winners, but hey, I get hundreds (sometimes thousands) of eyeballs on this blog each day, so they are getting some exposure.

Musically, it's quite a variety show: lo-fi outsiderness, postpunk prog, campy surf, subversive sound collage, Afro grooviness, ambient/noise soundscapes, twisted electronica, some strange things resembling catchy pop songs. And then there's Jinnwoo's "Sorry Song" which "...was written as an apology from myself to the world for being such a bad and horrible creature...I recorded the piece naked, and in the rain." What would Paula Abdul think?

M4M Idol

1. Bloody Death Skull - I Miss My Homeland 2. Future's Lament 3. Holding Hands
4. Buttress O'Kneel - Exhibit W 5. Buttress O'Kneel - Darkness
6. Cutthroat convention - Warui Neko 7. Cutthroat convention - Parasite's Paradise
8. Death to the Brutes - Death Set 9. Death to the Brutes - No Love, No Ecstasy
10. Docteur Legume et Les Surfwerks - Phibes and Vulnavia, Just Married! 11. Die 1000 Wellen Das Dr Mabuse
12. Jinnwoo - Sorry Song
13. Marc Broude - For the Flies
14. Mike Colin - Fish Bulb 15. Mike Colin - The Future is Not Written
16. Moebius II - Innerstate '94 17. Moebius II - Magic Mirror
18. oreaganomics - Fallin Out Of Buildings Fallin In Love 19. Create Something to Love
20. Pompey - Bivouac Sack 21. Pompey - Candle
22. Sam Simmon s - Midge
23. Skinjobs - Money in the Bank Vs. Money in the Pocket 24. Skinjobs - Sunshine

Remember, you can't complain about who won if you didn't vote!

K9 FUSION

2011-09-02T16:04:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, I was picking up one of our dogs from the groomers, and spied a display of CDs credited to K9 Fusion. The back cover said, "10 1/2 year old mixbreed, Sven the Love Dog, plays each and every instrument on his debut album. The only exception is the drums, which are played by Sven's owner Steve Brooks. Every intense vocalization is produced by Sven, or one of his canine friends...face it, this Dog's the SHIH TZU! Enhanced CD contains a video of the making of K9 Fusion. See for yourself as Sven pounds the piano, claw-picks his guitar, and gnashes his teeth on bass strings with the ferocity of Hendrix himself." Of COURSE I bought one.

The "album" is actually only 13 minutes. The drums basically hold it down, with random plunking, plucking, and growling on top, giving it a canine free-jazz feel. Some sounds have obviously been sampled and looped to make it more "musical." My fave track "Dirty Dog Love" sports a sweet funky bass groove. Obviously it's been looped, but I find it hard to believe that a dog could come up with something like this even once. Hmmm...

Song titles include: "Sing Along With Bitch," "Snot: An Interlude," and "Star Spaniel Banner." I don't think the track "Pants" has anything to do with trousers - it's 7 seconds of a dog panting.

K9 Fusion - "Who Really Loves You"

"I WANT TO PLAY ON THAT GAYWAY..." - POSTCARD RECORDS FROM THE 1962 SEATTLE WORLD'S FAIR

2011-08-31T12:33:00.000-07:00

"It's a postcard!"
"No, it's not. It's a record! Lemme play it"
"No, it's a postcard! I wanna mail it!"
(removing pipe:)
"Hold on kids, you're both right - these 6 postcards we bought at the World's Fair can also be enjoyed on any record-player."
"Gee, dad, that's swell!"
(Dad goes back to his pipe, nodding and smiling)

Despite the ridiculous amount of music I have, I'm not really a "collector." I'm more like a bottom-feeder, buying the stuff no-one else wants. But, while visiting Seattle some years back, I really did have to pry open my wallet and shell out $50 or so for these lovely postcard/records. It was so worth it - all six were in mint condition, never played, and they look and sound great. The artists were probably Seattle locals. I found some info on The Frantics and Frank Sugia, but as for the others, they apparently never made the national scene, or even other recordings.

This fascinating article describes some of the literally hundreds of songs written about the Space Age extravaganza known as the "Century 21" World's Fair of 1962, but I couldn't find many. Two, to be exact, included here as bonus tracks, courtesy of the "I'm Learning To Share" and "Beware of the Blog" blogs. I've also added a song from the soundtrack to an Elvis film shot on location at the fair. (Of course, strange music fans know and love Attilio Mineo's "Man In Space With Sounds" LP, but many other blogs have already posted it.) So this is all I got so far, but it is, to quote Joe Juma, "an acme of delight."

Seattle World's Fair 1962 (file includes picture/label scans)

01 "Invitation To The Fair" - Joe Juma (a country stomper)
02 "World's Fair Seattle" - Billy Earles (Man, dig this finger-snappin' lounge crooner)
03 "Summer of '62 - Ronnie Draper and the Fordomatics (frantic banjo-driven hoedown with those white-bread folk-revival vocal harmonies)
04 "Cafe in The Sky" - Kelly Gates (Space-Age organ sounds? Now we're talkin'!)
05 "Gayway Twist" - the Frantics (this rock'n'roller is an instrumental, which, considering the title, is perhaps just as well)
06 "Come and See Seattle" - Frank Sugia Trio & Naomi (an accordion waltz for the Lawrence Welk crowd - Sugia seems to have had a fairly successful musical career, releasing an album in 1967)

bonus tracks:
Elvis Presley - "Take Me To The Fair"
Joy and the Boys - "Meet Me In Seattle"
The Lancers - "See You In Seattle"

Manic Hispanic

2011-08-29T11:21:00.000-07:00

I love Manic Hispanic, and their Chicano parodies of punk rock classics, a la El Vez and his Mexican-ized take on Elvis. But then again, I grew up in Los Angeles surrounded by Mexican American culture. And I grew up on punk rock (some of these guys played in crucial SoCal hardcore bands like Agent Orange and the Adolescents.) So I get the jokes. You may not. But, if nothing else, this rocks, and musical pleasures are good enough.

Manic Hispanic "The Recline of Mexican Civilization" (2001)

1. Alberto's [Descendents "Der Wienerschnitzel"]

2. Mexican Tar [Johnny Thunders/Ramones "Chinese Rock"]

3. Get Them Immigrated [The Offspring "Come Out and Play"] - nice mariachi horns!

4. Uncle Chato's Garden [Bad Religion "My Atomic Garden"]

5. Brown Man in O.C. Jail [The Clash "White man in Hammersmith Palais"]

6. If the Vatos Are United [Sham 69 "If The Kids Are United"]

7. Mommy's Little Cholo [Social Distortion "Mommy's Little Monster"]

8. Bored With You Esse [The Clash "I'm So Bored With The USA"]

9. Rudy Cholo [Rancid "Ruby Soho"]

10. Lynch the Landlord [Dead Kennedys "Let's Lynch the Landlord"]

11. Brown Girl [X "White Girl"]

12. Tijuana Must Fall [Catholic Discipline "Babylon Must Fall"]

Pop Music Icons

2011-08-28T09:15:00.000-07:00

Pop music is usually comprised of happy, upbeat rhythms with simple melodies and lyrics that relate to love, relationships, sex and dancing. It is not a genre that is meant to bring deep and serious world issues to the fore, nor is it meant to invoke introspection and reflection. It's there simply to bop around to, and join in the rousing chorus at the top of your lungs. Its feel good music, designed for fun and lighthearted entertainment.

Unlike other music genres such as rock and hip hop, where the songs are often written by the artists themselves, pop songs are usually written by professional songwriters. In order to generate as much exposure as possible, artists create music videos and stage extravagant live performances to attract media interest. Music videos are particularly important as they can enjoy international commercial success and thus reach an extremely wide audience. This has made pop, arguably the world's biggest music genre.

"Popular music" has been around since the 50s, with people such as Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley falling into the category. Pop music, as most of us know it, really came into its own in the 80s with the rise of artists such as Michael Jackson and Madonna.

Michael Jackson had nine no.1 singles in the US alone during the 80s, and sold over 136 million albums even though he only released two, Thriller and Bad. This ensured that he became the most successful artist of the 80s and earned him the title "King of Pop".

Madonna was another emerging 80s artist who reached iconic status. Widely regarded as the "Queen of Pop", Madonna has experimented by blending pop with a number of other music genres and has sold over 230 million albums globally. Her album, Like a Virgin achieved Diamond status; one better than Platinum and her single Vogue is one of the biggest selling singles in history. It has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide.

The 90s was not a good decade for pop. It saw the emergence of boy bands and girl groups resulting in the Backstreet Boys, N'SYNC and that fascinating UK phenomenon, the Spice Girls. Groups were assembled more for their looks and appeal to teenage audiences than any real singing talent. Towards the end of the 90s we saw a rise of bubble gum pop and aspiring divas, Britney Spears and her competition, Christina Aguilera. Christina experimented and evolved; Britney stagnated in the sex kitten look and had a breakdown. Australia's Kylie Minogue, a former 80s icon, experienced a revival that carried her through to the next century. Latin pop burst onto the scene with Ricky Martin swinging his hips and Shakira shaking everything else.

The 2000s have seen a lot of artists take time off from their bands to record solo albums such as Gwen Stefani, while others simply left their bands to pursue solo careers like Justin Timberlake and Robbie Williams. We've seen the rise of Teen pop, who've been given a boost by the Disney Channel, as well as Pop Punk like Fall Out Boy and pop rock like Pink. The popular reality show American Idol has changed the way in which many people achieve fame and commercial success in the music industry. Some artists have proved that it is possible to successfully blend pop music and R&B, artists like Nelly Furtado and Rihanna.

Some modern day icons include:

Justin Timberlake, who rose to stardom on the tails of one of the more successful boy bands, N'SYNC. He chose to leave the band and pursue an independent solo career and in 2002 released his debut album titled, Justified. After a break of about four years, in which he recorded with other artists, began a movie career, started a fashion label, William Rast, and established his own record label, Tennman Records, he returned to the studio and released his second album, FutureSex/LoveSounds. He has sold over 15 million albums worldwide.

Nelly Furtado first came to our attention in 2000 when she released her debut album, Whoa, Nelly. "I'm like a bird", her breakthrough single from the album, won her a Grammy award and established her as an artist to watch. In 2003, after taking some time off to have her first child, she released her second album, Folklore, which didn't fare as well commercially as Whoa, Nelly did. However, her latest album, Loose, which she released in 2006, has put her firmly back on the hit parade. It has had several hit singles, most notably, "Promiscuous", "Maneater", "Say It Right" and "Do It". Nelly is not afraid of experimenting with her sound and often incorporates different instruments, sounds, languages and vocal styles into her music. She claims to have attributed her new youthful sound on Loose to the presence of her two-year old daughter.

Kylie Minogue has one of the longest standing and most successful careers in pop music history. She's seen out the 80s, the 90s and has enjoyed huge success in the 2000s. She is primarily famous in Europe and Australia, although her popularity in the US is growing. She is one of the world's most easily recognisable celebrities and earned herself thousands of new fans by the brave manner in which she battled breast cancer and dealt with her resulting hair loss. In January 2007 Madame Tussaud's in London revealed a new waxwork of Kyle, the fourth one. The Queen is the only person in the world to have had more models created.

This November Kylie will release her much anticipated 10th album, her first in four years. For most of her career Kylie has been regarded as a gay icon, which she encourages with good humoured comments such as this one, "I am not a traditional gay icon. There's been no tragedy in my life, only tragic outfits." She acknowledges and appreciates her gay support base by openly supporting AIDS and gay rights causes.

Famous Rock Music Artists and Their Histories

2011-08-27T07:27:00.000-07:00

What few people realize is that most musical talents get their start in classical music and by working with traditional instruments. Some of these instruments include pianos, violas and other such instruments from the baroque era and other time periods. Many musical performers in the modern era transition from piano and classical music to more popular genres such as rock and classic rock. Many people learn to work on the piano initially, and they can use piano benches, a piano bench, or a sheet music cabinet to learn their trade and become better at their jobs. One of the more popular genres in modern music is rock, and amongst that subset there are tons of famous musicians and people who have made their mark on the world of modern music. In the upcoming paragraphs some of the more famous rock acts of the modern era will be discussed and some bands who have done an excellent job of becoming famous and making a name for themselves in modern rock.

One of the more famous rock bands of the modern era is Green Day. Green Day is from Oakland, California and has produced a lot of brilliant music that has reached a global audience. One of their more popular and famous albums is called American Idiot, which was also possibly their most famous album and produced numerous number one hits in the American pop charts. The album that really set the band apart from other groups was called Dookie, which was the group's debut album that really brought them to fame and made them stand out from all the other punk bands that are around in the modern music scene. The band's most recent album is called 21st Century Breakdown and is apparently themed around the pitfalls of modern American society and the problems that exist in the country.

Another famous rock group in the modern era is Blink 182. Blink 182 gained their notoriety in the mid to late 1990's when they came out with a string of records that captured the angst and anger of the teenage population of the country. Recently, and unfortunately, the band has split up and there are a number of different side projects that the various band members are taking part in to take up their time. Blink 182 is probably most famous for their drummer Travis Barker, who is recognized as one of the best drummers in the world, and who was up until recently involved in a high profile relationship with his ex wife.

Finally, a famous rock group from the recent era is Nirvana. Since the death of lead singer and main artistic influence Kurt Cobain, the band split up into numerous projects amongst their members which include Christ Novocelic who plays in the band the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Dave Grohl who is the lead singer and main influence behind the band the Foo Fighters. Something that few people know is that much modern rock music is influenced by classical music and older instruments.

The Invented Thing Quartet

2011-08-25T13:33:00.000-07:00

"Invented Thing Quartet...play a variety of junk, cast off and hand-me-down derived , homely, home-made instruments, noise makers, toys, tools and appliances, (with an occasional standard instrument thrown in now and then)...The band explores, interprets and performs original and cover melodies, tunes, songs, poems, stories, course thesis's, drawings, compositions, recipes and summonses on instruments which include the Lid, Plexolyn, 40-Love, Cyclodrone, Merlenspiel, Harpbladder, Tabla, Rake, Adriolian, Blender, Bad Thing, Calimba, Alligator, Short Wave, The Hinge. Various forms of ITQ have appeared at clubs, colleges, institutions, parks, museums, town halls, homes and galleries, lawns and gardens." Tho I don't know if they play anywhere outside of their native Massachusetts - I would imagine that the visual aspect of their shows must be pretty impressive.

Highlights: a devolved version of "Louie Louie" not unlike "Third Reich 'n Roll"-era Residents, and a hillbilly hoedown version (with Space Age sounds effects) of Laurie Anderson's "O Superman."

Lowlights: lo-fi sound (it's recorded live), but don't let that deter you from listening to these imaginative loonies.

The Invented Thing Quartet - "10 Years"

More info on some of their home-made instruments HERE.

Best Guitar Scale For Rock Music

2011-08-25T07:23:00.000-07:00

The best guitar scale to learn if you are into Rock music is the Pentatonic scale. The Pentatonic scale is also used in many other types of popular music, like Blues for example.

The Pentatonic scale has 5 notes that create 5 patterns that connect across the entire fretboard. These 5 patterns get their names from the notes that are in the scale... Root, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th. Also, just by adding a few notes, you can create all of your other scales just by using this one pattern. You start off by using the Pentatonic to visualize your scales and then you add a note or two and you can play over top of any chords.

Here is the Pentatonic scale 6th shape that you will want to memorize first:

E|---|---|-X-|---|---|-X-|---|

B|---|---|-X-|---|---|-X-|---|

G|---|---|-X-|---|-X-|---|---|

D|---|---|-X-|---|-X-|---|---|

A|---|---|-X-|---|-X-|---|---|

E|---|---|-X-|---|---|-X-|---|

Because this scale is so important to the guitar player, it is usually the first scale and pattern that everyone is taught.

There are also 4 other patterns that belong to the Pentatonic scale that are important for connecting the entire fretboard. Here are the others...

Root Shape:

E|---|---|-X-|---|-X-|---|---|

B|---|---|-X-|---|-X-|---|---|

G|---|-X-|---|-X-|---|---|---|

D|---|-X-|---|---|-X-|---|---|

A|---|-X-|---|---|-X-|---|---|

E|---|---|-X-|---|-X-|---|---|

2nd Shape:

E|---|---|-X-|---|-X-|---|---|

B|---|---|-X-|---|---|-X-|---|

G|---|-X-|---|---|-X-|---|---|

D|---|---|-X-|---|-X-|---|---|

A|---|---|-X-|---|-X-|---|---|

E|---|---|-X-|---|-X-|---|---|

3rd Shape:

E|---|---|-X-|---|---|-X-|---|

B|---|---|---|-X-|---|-X-|---|

G|---|---|-X-|---|-X-|---|---|

D|---|---|-X-|---|-X-|---|---|

A|---|---|-X-|---|---|-X-|---|

E|---|---|-X-|---|---|-X-|---|

5th Shape:

E|---|---|-X-|---|-X-|---|---|

B|---|---|-X-|---|-X-|---|---|

G|---|-X-|---|---|-X-|---|---|

D|---|-X-|---|---|-X-|---|---|

A|---|---|-X-|---|-X-|---|---|

E|---|---|-X-|---|-X-|---|---|

When practicing the different Pentatonic shapes, or any other scales for that matter, make sure to use alternate picking and a metronome. You will want to get comfortable with alternate picking because once it becomes second nature to you, it will allow you to play faster while still sounding smooth and clear.

Using a metronome is something that you should always be using when you practice. Not only will you improve your timing but you will also learn your scales and songs faster if you practice by starting off at a slow speed.

Using a metronome can also help you sound better. Start off at a real slow bpm (beats per minute) and listen to each note you play very closely. Do you hear them ringing clear or do they sound muted. Identify which strings are being muted and adjust your fingers and then play that note again. Keep doing this until all strings are ringing clear. Once you can play all the notes clearly at that speed, then set your metronome at the next speed faster. Then go through the same steps as before until all the notes sound perfect.

Also, try at first to use one finger per fret but if you switch out of position occasionally, that's ok. Do whatever you feel most comfortable doing.

So give the Pentatonic guitar scale 6th shape a go first and memorize it. Don't forget to start off slow and gradually work your way up. Make sure all your notes ring out clear and then try playing it at the next bpm faster. Once you are satisfied with your speed, go on to the next shape and memorize that one. If you spend a little bit of your practice time each day practicing, you will be able to play all of these shapes anywhere on the neck of your guitar. And also once you have all of these shapes memorized, it will be much easier to tackle any other scales you want to learn. Rock and Roll!

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Before They Were Rap Stars

2011-08-22T16:23:00.000-07:00

Here's a second volume of Before They Were Stars, this time putting the spotlight on the first-ever (and sometimes highly-unlikely) recordings from future hip-hop stars: A pre-annoying Black-Eyed Peas! A pre-rap Beastie Boys sounding like The Germs! Ice Cube sounding like The Beastie Boys! Chuck D sounding like Kurtis Blow! RZA and GZA from Wu Tang sounding like Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince!

Before They Were Rap Stars

1 Beastie Boys - Beastie Boys [1982]

2 Ice-T - The Coldest Rap [1982]

3 Spectrum City [aka Public Enemy] - Check Out The Radio [1984]

4 World Class Wreckin' Crew [w/Dr Dre] - Surgery [1985]

5 The C.I.A. [w/Ice Cube] - My Posse [1987]

6 Onyx - Ah And We Do It Like This [1990]

7 Prince Rakeem [aka RZA] - Ooh We Love You Rakeem [1991]

8 The Genius [aka GZA] - Those Were the Days [1991]

9 A.T.B.A.N. Klann [aka BlackEyed Peas] - Puddles Of H2O [1992]

Kitschstortion

2011-08-18T15:05:00.000-07:00

Didn't know what a Vocaloid was 'til I was sent this excellent album, but apparently it's music software that uses actual pre-recorded human voices to sing whatever you program it to sing. Which is, in this case, a festival of sentimental '50s/'60s easy-listening and soundtrack classics. It's all "sung" without instrumental accompaniment, but I wouldn't exactly call it acapella music - the voices get chopped and glitchy. The sweetness of these old songs, however, lends a real warmth that is sometimes lacking in experimental electronica. Really wonderful stuff that sounds like nothing I've heard before - Space Age pop for a happy family of robots.

It's by Kitschstortion, the chap who sent us those rare North Korean albums that we posted earlier this year. You can listen to it streaming or download it HERE. Or just grab it here:

Kitschstortion "Vague Serenade"

A. HAPPY ORGAN, B. PERRY MASON THEME, C. POPSICLES, ICICLES, D. DIAGNOSIS MURDER THEME, E. A TASTE OF HONEY, F. THEME FROM A SUMMER PLACE, G. TELSTAR, H. ZING WENT THE STRINGS OF MY HEART, I. CLASSICAL GAS, J. POIROT THEME, K. TWILIGHT ZONE THEME, L. SPANISH FLEA

Before They Were Stars!!

2011-08-15T12:54:00.000-07:00

A 14-year-old Björk! Billy Joel goes heavy metal ! Tori Amos goes big hair '80s! Debbie Harry of Blondie in a '60s hippie band that should have been called "Bland-ie"! Nick Lowe rips off The Who! Neil Young and that superfreak Rick James in the same band!

It's all strange-but-true, some of it awful, some surprisingly great. Hey, you gotta start somewhere...

Before They Were Stars (A MusicForManiacs Collection)

01 Tony Sheridan [w/"The Beat Brothers": John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney] - Sweet Georgia Brown [1961]

02 Rory Storm & The Hurricanes [w/Ringo Starr] - America [1963]

03 Arthur Lee and the LAGs [pre-Love] - The Ninth Wave [1963]

04 The Primitives [Lou Reed] - The Ostrich [1964]

05 The Wailers [w/Bob Marley, Peter Tosh] - simmer down [1965]

06 Bluesology [w/Elton John] - Come Back Baby [1965]

07 Shotgun Express [w/Rod Stewart-Mick Fleetwood] - I could feel the whole world turn round [1966]

08 The Mynah Byrds [w/Neil Young, Rick James] - Go On And Cry [1966]

09 The Spiders [Alice Cooper] - Don't Blow Your Mind [1966]

10 John's Children [w/Marc Bolan] - Desdemona [1967]

11 Wind In The Willows [w/Debbie Harry] - Djini Judy [1968]

12 Flaming Youth [w/Phil Collins] - Changes [1969]

13 Attila [w/Billy Joel] - Rollin' Home [1970]

14 Fraternity [w/Bon Scott] - Jupiter's Landscape [1971]

15 Brinsley Schwarz [w/Nick Lowe] - (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love & Understanding [1974]

16 Kilburn & the High Roads [w/Ian Dury & some Blockheads] - Rough Kids [1974]

17 Hawkwind [w/Lemmy Kilmester] - Motorhead [1975]

18 The 101ers [w/Joe Strummer] - Letsagetabitarockin' [1975]

19 Björk - Alta Mira [1977]

20 The Nipple Erectors [w/Shane MacGowan] - So Pissed Off [1978]

21 The Coachmen [w/Thurston Moore] - Thurston's Song [1979]

22 Boys Next Door [Nick Cave & the Birthday Party] - Dive Position [1979]

23 Bruce Woolley And The Camera Club [w/Thomas Dolby, The Buggles] - Video Killed The Radio Star [1979]

24 Material [w/Whitney Houston] - Memories [1982]

25 Y Kant Tori Read [w/Tori Amos] - The Big Picture [1988]

IDIOTS

2011-08-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

*sigh*

Got this email this morning, re: CCC's "Cracked Pepper" mashup album that I posted last week:

Blogger has been notified, according to the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright

Act (DMCA), that certain content in your blog is alleged to infringe upon the

copyrights of others. As a result, we have reset the post(s) to "draft" status.

(If we did not do so, we would be subject to a claim of copyright infringement,

regardless of its merits...You may edit the post to remove the offending content

and republish, at which point the post in question will be visible to your readers

again.

Blah blah blah, etc. etc. As I wrote in my original post: You're not gonna find too many mashup albums better than

this 2007 release by the UK's CCC (aka Chris Shaw) and his helper-pal Ill Chemist. Don't know Mr. Chemist, but

CCC is a true mash-master. This release is a follow-up to his tackling the entire "Revolver" album, and is worth a

listen even for those (like me) who are long tired of hearing any more from those mop-tops from Liverpool.

On a technical level, it's well produced, on-time and in-key even as some tracks juggle as many as 10 songs in

one track. More importantly, imaginative touches abound: how did I never notice that Lennon swiped the

melody of "For The Benefit For Mr. Kite" from his earlier "It's Only Love"? Well spotted, sirs.

Weirdly enough, before his mashup career, CCC started the Monkeyman superhero hoax.

And if you want the album (I'M NOT HOSTING IT, NEVER DID) it's easy enough to just search for "mediafire" + "ccc

ill chemist cracked pepper," so I don't know what all this nonsense accomplishes. Sorry, all of your original

comments are gone.

Rock Music Festivals - 5 Getting Ready Tips

2011-08-15T07:21:00.000-07:00

So, you've decided on a rock music festival that you'd like to attend? How do you know if you're fully prepared to make the most of it? Here's the inside scoop on what you need to know to be prepared and have an awesome time:

1. Get directions. Make sure you know where is the festival grounds are located. Plan your route and determine how long it's going to take you to get there. Learn when the gates open, so you can time your arrival for ease of parking and grabbing your favorite band viewing location.

2. Accommodations. Where are you going to stay? Many rock music festivals provide convenient camp ground facilities, but you shouldn't just expect to show up and get a site. If you want to camp, verify that they have tent camping and/or if your size of camper will fit in the sites they have available. Whether you're planning on camping or staying at an area hotel, make sure to get your reservation made well in advance, or you may be out of luck!

3. Other Accommodations. Learn what types of food, drink and other facilities, such as restrooms (and showers -- if you're staying in a tent) are going to be available.

4. Plan for the weather. Rock Music Festivals are typically held outdoors, rain or shine. If you're concerned that there might be severe weather during the festival, bring your own radio receiver that has access to the weather bands, or bookmark on your laptop or smart phone the closest National Weather Service office to the festival location. Then, you can have the latest radar and warning information right at your fingertips. Make sure to pack your rain gear, as well as a hat to provide some shade from the heat.

5. Other Items. What else do you need to bring? Make sure you know what the seating area is like. The majority of festivals require you to provide your own blanket or lawn chair. They don't have bleachers. Learn ahead of time what most people do. You don't want to be the only one on a blanket on a flat piece of land when everyone else has lawn chairs! Check out the Rock Music Festival's website to learn about any activities and/or contests they may have. If you're creative and come prepared, you could win some pretty great prizes!

Rock Music Fiction

2011-08-10T07:17:00.000-07:00

Looking for something different to read? Tired of the same old chick-lit, thrillers, romances, and teen vampire books? If you're like most people you listen to rock music-on the radio, on CDs, and at concerts. Believe it or not, there is a growing genre of fiction devoted to rock music and rock musicians.

They aren't all just about sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll (although a generous sprinkling of these ingredients doesn't hurt!). Many rock music novels strive to capture something about the creative process, the everyday life of a musician, or the impact that rock music has on listeners. Here are a few choice examples of works of fiction that are based in the punk, pop, heavy metal, or rock genre.

The Best in Rock Fiction (June Sawyers and Anthony DeCurtis, editors. Hal Leonard, 2004). This engrossing collection features short stories including T. C. Boyle's "All Shook Up" and Tom Piazza's "Burn Me Up," plus more than a dozen excerpts from published novels. Authors include Nick Hornby, William Gibson, Sherman Alexie (with an excerpt from Reservation Blues), Don DeLillo, Madison Smartt Bell, Jeffrey Eugenides, Rick Moody, and Scott Spencer. In "Ground Beneath Her Feet," Salman Rushdie explores the Orpheus and Eurydice myth in a rock 'n roll context.

Carved in Rock: Short Stories by Musicians (Greg Kihn, editor. Thunder's Mouth Press, 2003). A collection of short stories written by some of the biggest names in rock including Joan Jett, Kinky Freidman, Jim Carroll, Richard Hell, Ray Davies, Graham Parker, Eric Burden, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle, Exene Cervenka, and Wayne Kramer. Given the success that many of these legends have as songwriters, it's no surprise that these engaging and varied tales open new doors of literary experience.

Pistonhead (Thomas A. Hauck. Something.hot Communications, 2009). My own entry into the rock fiction arena. Pistonhead reveals the daily life of Charlie Sinclair, a struggling Boston musician who works in a factory by day and plays guitar for his band Pistonhead at night. He's stressed-out, confused, oversexed, underfed, has an apartment full of mice, and can't get rid of his overbearing ex-girlfriend who tries to make booty calls. When his life can't get much more depressing, he faces a personal crisis and it looks like his dreams of a career in music are over. They aren't--he just has to change his idea of success.

High Fidelity (Nick Hornby. Riverhead, 1995). Although the protagonist is the owner of a record store (remember record stores?), this classic novel is the most successful of the rock music genre. We meet Rob Fleming, owner of a vintage record store in London, whose girlfriend, Laura, leaves him for another man. Rob realizes that he lives not for sexual conquest but for the monogamy that he, until now, dismissed as hopelessly square. The 2000 movie version starred John Cusack and Danish actress Iben Hjejle, and was nominated for a Golden Globe.

Noise: Fiction Inspired by Sonic Youth (Peter Wild, editor. Harper Perennial, 2009). A collection of stories inspired, as the title says, by the music of punk rock legends Sonic Youth. The all-star contributors include Hiag Akmakjian, Christopher Coake, Katherine Dunn, Mary Gaitskill, Rebecca Godfrey, Laird Hunt, Shelley Jackson, J. Robert Lennon, Samuel Ligon, Emily Maguire, Tom McCarthy, Scott Mebus, Eileen Myles, Catherine O'Flynn, Emily Carter Roiphe, Kevin Sampsell, Steven Sherrill, Matt Thorne, Rachel Trezise, Jess Walter, and Peter Wild.

THE VILLAGE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES

2011-08-01T14:01:00.000-07:00

Sometimes even I wonder why I so obsessively write this blog, week in and week out, year in and year out. I'll tell ya why: it's because of albums like this. The universe (or at least the recorded music of planet Earth section of it) continues to astound and delight me, and I just have to spread the word.

Yes Virginia, there really was a 1979 album by a group of Philippino men singing and acting like the Village People. Sung mostly in Tagalog, it features sumptuous full-on orchestrated disco music, a buncha guys in various uniforms singing in unison, campy humor, and non-stop party-time energy. The first song at six minutes long had me a bit fatigued and I was wondering if I should bother with the rest of it, but I did and I'm glad. The fact that a record this ridiculous even exists makes the world a happier place.

Hagibis "Katawan"

The song "Legs" seems to feature vocals from Donald Duck. And dig that poppin' bass on "Nanggigigil."