All posts tagged Balloon Juice

Yet I Love It So

Responding to a request, Tim F. at Balloon Juice put up a YouTube video of Winger’s “Seventeen.”

A few comments from the thread that followed:

No. Nobody requested Winger. YOU CAN’T PUT THIS ON US, MAN!

What happened to that guy’s shirt? Was he in an accident or mugged or something? I hope he’s okay.

This song is so terrible, and yet I love it so.

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Parson Brown v. Circus Clown

Bits and pieces this evening.

Non-music related. In China, they’re putting the finishing touches on a high-speed railway line that will travel a 1,070 kilometer route in three hours. Infrastructurist notes that that’s like having a train that could take you from Richmond, VA to Portland, ME in three hours. Man, that sure would be cool. Someday, perhaps.

Phish. I was listening to some live Phish this morning: February 4, 1993 at the Providence Performing Arts Center. It turns out that this show marked the first time that “Sample in a Jar” was played live. By crum, I was there for it.

The Internet is really amazing. This morning, at the deli, I heard Annie Lenox’s version of “Walking in a Winter Wonderland.” Just as I exited the deli, the song was at the part about “in the meadow we can build a snowman/and pretend that he’s a….” This prompted me to wonder, as I often have, why some versions of the song finish that line with “Parson Brown,” while other versions finish it with “circus clown.” Weirdly enough, DougJ at Balloon Juice wondered precisely the same thing in a post today at Balloon Juice. His commenters quickly explained – the song has two verses.

This Novice Will Pass on the $20 DJ App

I’ve got not much this evening.

John Cole cracked me up last night with this one.

I can’t remember how I started following Amidio, Inc. on Twitter. MPomy, probably. Anyway, they just made it through an epic approval period for their Touch DJ offering in the app store. I checked it out this evening – 20 bucks for that action. One reviewer, who loved the app, warned that “the learning curve may be steep for the novice.” I think I’ll pass for now. I’m tinkering with Groove Maker, which is free and hopefully easier on the novices.

2 Comments

by Gillies on November 17, 2009 • Permalink

Posted in Technology

Tagged Amidio, Balloon Juice

Posted by Gillies on November 17, 2009

http://gilli.es/2009/11/17/this-novice-will-pass-on-the-20-dj-app/

Steel Wheels

To kick off discussion on an open thread last night, Tim F. over at Balloon Juice had this to say:

In my opinion, Steel Wheels marked the moment when the ‘Stones demoted themselves from legitimately cool to a legacy band on permanent tour. Discuss.

I remember when Steel Wheels was released back in 1989. High school. The band did an event to promote the record (or the tour, or both) at Grand Central Station. They rode in on a train, which I guess was a Stonesish thing to do.

I also remember that a friend gave me the tape, not as a present or anything. She just didn’t like it. I doubt she would have parted ways so easily with Exile on Main Street or whatever.

Other than “Mixed Emotions,” which I think was the single, I can recall only one track from the record: “Almost Hear You Sigh.” That was one I liked. Tune’s got more than a little cheese, yes, but I have to say it still hooks me.

4 Comments

by Gillies on October 28, 2009 • Permalink

Posted in Music

Tagged Balloon Juice, Cheese, Listening, Rolling Stones, Steel Wheels

Posted by Gillies on October 28, 2009

http://gilli.es/2009/10/28/steel-wheels/

Go-Go

The Washington Post magazine has a cover story this week about Chuck Brown, the guy who created go-go.

Blending syncopated Latin beats with elements of jazz and African rhythms, Brown produced a sound that also derived directly from the music of African American churches. The inspiration led Brown to slow down the up-tempo of disco, which was popular during this period. “I just cut the beat in half,” he says. And to compete with the DJs, who were able to keep people on the dance floor continuously, Brown ignored the traditional stops in a set and began dropping percussion interludes between songs, twining them together so that there were no breaks. He called his new music go-go, “because it goes and goes,” he says.

There’s material in that story for a much longer post, but I don’t have the energy.

Elsewhere on the topic of go-go, there was a lively thread last night over at Balloon Juice on the best in 1970s funk. Someone nominated this one from Trouble Funk.