Metro Shuffle: Coldplay and Beardfish
Posted: August 31, 2009 Filed under: Deep, Listening | Tags: Beardfish, Coldplay, deep thoughts, Frank Zappa, Guyute, Steve Vai, Trey Anastasio 2 Comments »Couple of bits and pieces this evening.
- I got home from work this evening, and there was a full blown Michael Jackson dance party going on in my living room. I joined right in.
- As I noted here, I paid five bucks for the GarageBand lesson of Sting teaching “Message in Bottle.” The file for the lesson was 699 MB. I shudder to think what kind of file size would be required for Trey teaching a lesson on how to play “Guyute.” I’d probably pay about $10 for that action. Maybe $15!
- On the Metro home this evening, I first hit, quite deliberately, Coldplay’s Viva la Vida. That tune has to be one of the all time great songs for travel on public transport.
After that, I forwarded manically for another good tune and found one in Beardfish’s “The Hunter” off “Sleeping in Traffic.” No link for that one on Grooveshark, alas.
Now, the juxtaposition of Coldplay (mega pop humongous) and Beardfish (relatively obscure Swedish prog) prompted me to recall an overcaffeinated meta reflection I had this morning: the tension between community and individuality in music.
In one sense, the love of music is about communing with others, like the MJ dance party that took place a few hours ago, or this blog, or learning to play “Message in Bottle” – just like Sting! I also think of the community around Phish, one I’m getting more familiar with online these days. Or Metallica – half the fun of going to see those guys live is to commune with the other jonesers who love the band just as much as you do. You all bang your head together.
On the other hand, love of music is the search for originality, a chance to be unique or close to it. For example, I admit I get some satisfaction in knowing that probably less than 1 percent of my friends knows what the heck a Beardfish is. I’d also wager that a very low percentage of my friends would even like to listen to Beardfish, if given the chance. There’s satisfaction there too: being apart from all the others. Artistically, I guess Frank Zappa is a good example of the musician’s quest to be sui generis. Here, along those lines, is a clip of Steve Vai talking about auditioning for Frank:
Photo Booth
Posted: August 30, 2009 Filed under: Technology | Tags: Apple, Fender Guitars, Guitars, Photo Booth, Starcaster Leave a comment »Poking around my applications folder this evening, I came across Photo Booth. Brilliant!
I took one of myself that had me laughing so hard that tears came to my eyes. I’d share that one on the blog, but I don’t want to frighten anybody.
Instead, here are two tricked-out photos of the Starcaster.
Thom Yorke Sings Neil Young
Posted: August 28, 2009 Filed under: Listening | Tags: Neil Young, Pasta Primavera, Radiohead, Rock God Cred, Thom Yorke Leave a comment »Continuing the Neil Young theme, I found (via Rock God Cred) this Pasta Primavera post embedding a clip of Radiohead covering Neil Young’s “Tell Me Why.”
Yes, Thom Yorke is well suited to singing Neil’s stuff.
Downloading Beardfish, Uploading Neil, Streaming Phish
Posted: August 27, 2009 Filed under: Listening | Tags: Beardfish, iTunes, Mr. Miner's Phish Thoughts, Neil Young, New Releases, phish, the internet is really amazing 2 Comments »
That was my triple play this evening. While downloading Beardfish’s new one, “Destined Solitaire,” from the iTunes store, I took the opportunity to upload my CD of Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” into my iTunes library.
As all that was going on, I cranked up Phish’s “46 Days,” recorded live at Merriweather on 8/15 and conveniently embedded at Mr. Miner’s Phish Thoughts.
So that’s something old, something new, something borrowed, and even, as the picture shows, something blue.
The Evolution of “Sunoco”
Posted: August 26, 2009 Filed under: Recording | Tags: Keep it Dark, RPG Productions, Sunoco Leave a comment »My post last night prompted me to think of an FBdN original where I paid a little homage to “Keep it Dark.” The song is called “Sunoco,” and its title refers to the name of a greyhound that we fostered. Pretty good guy, as I recall. He got adopted by some folks in Takoma Park, Maryland who renamed him Maui.
Anyway, I wouldn’t call the composition brilliant or anything, but it’s one original tune I’ve got a couple of versions of. Here’s what the song first sounded like when I recorded it in GarageBand in September 2004.
Then RPG Productions took a crack at it, down in the basement of Casa de Sturjean, in early 2005.
Then I subsequently tricked the RPG recording out with some extra tracks, including some psychedelic whistling and an odd voice-over bit.
Would I Have Shrugged at the iPhone at Age 14?
Posted: August 25, 2009 Filed under: Listening, Technology | Tags: 1986, Genesis, John Cole, Keep it Dark, Mike Gordon, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Thomas Friedman 3 Comments »Just bits and pieces this evening.
- I know I’ve made something like this observation before, but I wonder how I would have reacted in 1986, when I had about 40-50 records and tapes, if you told that 23 years later I’d be able to keep the lot on a handheld computer that would also serve as a telephone, camera, video camera, notepad, calculator, address book, and so on. Would I have flipped out or shrugged? It’s conceivable that, as a 14 year old, I might have had loftier expectations for 2009, like space travel or invisibility or something.
- Speaking of the iPhone, on the way home from work today, the iPod served up a few outstanding songs. One was “Subway to Venus” by the Red Hots, a fitting tune for riding along in an absolutely packed Metro car. Exiting the station, I was about take off the headphones, when Genesis’ “Keep it Dark” came on. I’ve loved that big riff since the eighties.
- Mike Gordon (@mike_gordon) “Is in the sweaty funky world of practicin 4 mg tour” Outstanding. I’m looking forward to September 12.
I seriously would rather he spend his vacation reading the Onion and porn than the mustache of understanding.
Stub Memories: Grateful Dead 09/17/1991
Posted: August 24, 2009 Filed under: Concerts | Tags: Bruce Hornsby, Grateful Dead, shows you saw in college Leave a comment »
In contrast to some of my other stub memories indulgences, I don’t have to play history detective with this show. It was a memorable gig.
In the fall of sophomore year, a pal of mine was dating someone he had met that summer on Nantucket. She was a serious Dead Head. Like on tour kind of Head.
Her family was also loaded. I can’t remember why.
Now, this turned out to have some ancillary benefits for the friends of her boyfriend, because in the fall of 1991, her loaded parents and my buddy’s parents were kind enough to treat everyone to box seats at Madison Square Garden for a Dead show.
So we all moseyed down to NYC. The night of the gig, which interestingly was a Tuesday, I remember an unfortunate incident occurring as we walked up to the Garden. An absolutely irate cab driver was yelling at a bunch of Dead Head types, who had just gotten out his cab. I guess they had stiffed him on the tip or something. The cabbie ran around to the back of the car, unscrewed the antenna that was attached there, and brandished it at the poor folk. They coughed up some cash, I think saying something like “Ok, ok, ok, ok!” Yeesh. Road rage.
Anyway, inside the show, I remember thoroughly enjoying the box seats. There was free food and booze. Sure, it was a little awkward with the parents and everything, and maybe not the coolest way to take in a Dead show, but that didn’t particularly bother me.
Unfortunately, it did bother my friends, and a decision was made that the gig would be more fun out in the crowd. So we ventured out.
The only other thing I remember about this show was thinking that Bruce Hornsby was a great addition to the band. When they played Iko, the opener, Bruce rocked an accordion!
Here’s the set list, courtesy of Dead.net:
Iko Iko
Greatest Story Ever Told
Althea
Little Red Rooster
Loser
Baby Blue
Brown Eyed Women
Picasso Moon
Box of Rain
Cold Rain and Snow
Samson and Delilah
Eyes of the World
drums
space
This Could Be the Last Time
Black Peter
Throwin’ Stones
Not Fade Away
U.S. Blues
Run Wes Run (2003)
Posted: August 23, 2009 Filed under: Recording | Tags: Wesley Clark Leave a comment »With not a whole lot in the blogging hopper, here’s a track from the FBdN archives: “Run Wes Run.”
The “Wes” referred to in the song title is Wesley Clark, who was running for president in November 2003.
Listening to Rain
Posted: August 22, 2009 Filed under: Listening | Tags: musical microblogging, rain, Washington Leave a comment »
Couple of bits and pieces this evening.
- As the picture shows, there was some serious precipitation in the greater Washington metro area today. At around 4pm, I had a chance to just sit in my mother-in-law’s garden, under a canopy, and listen to the rainfall and thunder for about 10 or 15 minutes. I know that sounds new age, but it was very pleasant. FBdN son #2, under the age of one, was there with me, and he slept like a baby. It’s too bad I didn’t have my iPhone with me, because it would have made some nice recording, perhaps to be woven into a tune like MPomy did with this one.
- Before it started raining, I happed upon my neighbor working on the treebox in front of his house. He had some headphones on, and he was stone cold singing outloud while he worked. Nice. I’m a bit of an expressive listener with the headphones on (the other day I busted myself air drumming some fills to, what else, “Tom Sawyer” on the Metro), so I’m glad to see someone else get into music publicly.
- For anyone interested, I put my iMovie project (of plane coming up to the gate) into the Box.net widget. I think I have a general idea of the sound I want for the original score.
