Points to Cris for pointing me to Kina Grannis. Grannis is a "Web 2.0" musician, someone who has embraced the Internet as a component of her art rather than simply a way to distribute it. While she has released a few CDs to iTunes, her biggest presence is on YouTube, where she releases a new homemade video each week, featuring either an original song or a cover and concluding with several minutes of "video blog," where she updates her fans on what's going on in her life, answers questions and rambles in general. The effect is that her music and personality come packaged together, in addition to spotlighting a path that is open to any aspiring musician.
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Monday, September 8
Mathematics in Music
There's actually some mathematical reasoning behind the prevalence of Canon in so many other pieces of music, but I couldn't find it in my cursory search. I'll have to see if I can come up with it later.
It's hard not to notice an interesting quirk of hip-hop music: the tendency for the artist to announce his name (sometimes repeatedly) in the song itself. Do you suppose this is an insecurity issue, part of the real or faked machismo of the genre or just a way to help listeners identify artists who sound a lot alike? It seems like a lot of "professional wrestling"-esque posturing. It's hard to see this working in other genres, although I suppose it would be comical to see John Williams start inserting his name into the beginnings of classical scores.
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Thursday, October 11
Day of Links
- My baby sister's campus is on lock-down after the get-away vehicle from an armed robbery at a casino was discovered in the vicinity. Scary stuff, but it's good to see the campus is taking it seriously in the wake of other recent campus incidents.
- There is a real decommissioned Titan missile base for sale on eBay. Perfect for an Evil Mastermind Lair(tm), a zombie-apocalypse retreat or a do-it-yourself Stargate facility. If only I had $1.5 million (plus another several million to renovate it, since it was "stripped for scrap" in the 60s). We could pool our money for anyone interested.
- As amusing as this video is on its own, it's compounded by the fact that the "blonde" second-from-left is one of my uncles. I'm glad to see he makes an even less attractive woman than I do.
- Although not a cup of tea palatable to everyone (both musically and politically), I found the song "Empty Walls" (even if the video quality on the official site is somewhat lacking) a sad-but-moving entry. For those trying to place the voice, this is the lead singer of "System of a Down" on his first solo outing.
I actually have a day off (or an illusion thereof, anyway; I have to work yet today, but under the nebulous and appreciated auspices of "come in when it's convenient to you" rather than the draconian edicts of "be here at 10 a.m."). Consequently, it's 1:30 in the afternoon and I'm sitting at my computer in my pajamas (today consisting of black pajama pants and a vintage Rogue t-shirt I've owned since high school; yes, I'm aware real women aren't shaped like that, but anything purchased during the formative years of awkward social development is grandfathered in), eating Fudge Stripe cookies and drinking Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper (Breakfast of Previous Champions Who No Longer Give a Damn (tm)).
I've spent the better part of the last hour engrossed in iTunes (searching, nay, scavenging for resplendent harmonies, as survivors of zombie plagues furtively scour the ruins of dead cities for canned goods and ammunition). Should you have iTunes installed, the following links should open directly to the album pages in said program; if not, you have utterly failed to maintain your place in the technological advance and I shun thee as a heretic.
I first looked at the Hinder Live album. I admit to owning a few Hinder songs. These songs, however, were recorded directly from a concert. A concert where apparently the lead singer was slightly inebriated. Allow me to transcibe the lyrics of "Get Stoned" as you listen to the clip:
"Just hear me out. If it's noparatropafenkatilma heart explodes. I highly doubt, that I can make it through another of your episodes. Lashing out. Whethilabennywushubumaforya lose control."
I briefly looked at The 21 Funniest Songs on iTunes (which is more than a little subjective). I know Lane is a fan of "White and Nerdy," and I was amused with Willie Nelson's "Cowboys are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other" (I'm sure that one went down well, pun possibly intended, in the country-fied areas of the nation). My favorite, however, was Jonathan Coulton's mellow acoustic version of "Baby Got Back" (already an amusing song, here taken to a different level with heartfelt crooning by a white guy).
For Tim's benefit, I also picked up a couple of songs from Blaqk Audio's "CexCells" album (tracks 1 and 8), Nicole Atkin's "Skywriters," Paramore's "Misery Business" (whose opening riffs sound disturbingly similar to "The Ketchup Song"), half an album from Charlotte Martin and a full album from Holly Brook.
Holy crap. This is the last news I expected to come out of Apple and the digital rights management crowd. I railed about the lock down of Apple's ACC format to iTunes as targeting the wrong audience years ago when I first signed up, so this just shocks me. I wonder if they're actually going to sell MP3s or if it will still be ACC without digital rights management.
I broke down and bought a Nickelback song on iTunes yesterday. Not so much because I like Nickelback, but because I liked the song itself. The video is reminiscent of my favorite Sarah video, which still makes me teary when I watch it. Oh, look, my humanist tendencies are showing again.
iTunes update, for those acquaintances who mine my stream-of-conscious for new acquisitions:
I bought the new Sarah McLachlan holiday album; as much as I love Sarah, I have to give it an "okay" at best. Maybe it'll go up as the holiday approaches.
"The Mating Game" by Bitter:Sweet is very eclectic, in a jazz/techno way. "Breathless" has been done by several artists (I have a Corrs CD somewhere with it), but this is a very slow, moody version. The Killers and Augustana are on the radio and shouldn't really need an explanation. Cris sent me the recommendation for Helena Paparizou (good pick, Cris). Not quite Shakira, but close enough for comparison. "Mad World" is a slow, beautiful, almost-creepy remake of a Tears for Fears song that was done for the "Donnie Darko" soundtrack and recycled for an advertisement for the "Gears of War" video game (it's on Lisa's "banned" list now, due mostly to the line "I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad, the dreams in which I'm dying are the best the best I've ever had").
The Pink, Ben Folds and Feist songs are good for at least one listen. I found the Alanis songs on a compilation and bought them in a "college reminiscence" mood. "Breath Me" by Sia is probably the standout in this entry; if you only listen to one from this list, try that one. Gilli Moon's "Need You Tonight" is, indeed, a remake of the INXS song, although if you don't know that ahead of time it takes a few lines to figure it out (I didn't know that before I bought it). The Wired All Wrong song was free; I don't think I like it much. I found the Brett Dennen song in a compilation somewhere; he sounds vaguely like Tom Petty if you like that sort of song. I bought the entire Kate Havnevik album and have enjoyed it so far. She's something of an acoustic Imogen Heap ("Nowhere Warm" is my favorite), very good for background music when you're doing graphic design.
I've finally seen a concert for an artist I really wanted to see (previous, usually pleasant, outings have been undertaken in the role of companion). The James Blunt concert on Sunday was fantastic (although sparsely attended, which disappointed me). He played all three of my favorite songs, played the gong at one point, jumped off the stage to hug people in the front row (not me), offered to take off one piece of clothing per song if everyone else in the auditorium did and broke a guitar string. He also did a very soulful song I hadn't heard before that was illustrated with amateur video from his military tour in Kosovo, showing the plight of the war-stricken region. Perhaps the best, though, was this:
Woman in the crowd: "James, I love you!" James: "Thanks, mum."
I *am*, however, annoyed that the Web site said "No cameras" but the sign at the door said "No cameras with exchangeable lenses." Bastards. I could have had pictures. Grrr.
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Sunday, October 29
Hollowood
Although I like this song, I spent the first minute of the video thinking "Wow, this is the cheapest video ever; it's just people milling around a party." Then they began implementing the special effects, and my impression level went way up. I won't tell you what they are (other than to say they're surprisingly seamless); just watch it to see.
Posted at 11:26:00 PM. |
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Tuesday, October 3
Long-term Investment
I preordered the new Evanescence album through iTunes, and apparently it's a good thing I did. According to this, everyone else has to wait until 2038 . . .
Posted at 11:25:00 AM. |
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Wednesday, September 6
Musical Musings
Before the impending descent into madness, I present, on a silver platter or the electronic equivalent thereof, a brief glimpse into the warm cocoon of music spun in recent weeks in the corner of my bedroom (this is kind of like crack to Tim, so he should be a happy little addict today).
Panic! at the Disco and The Raconteurs have been playing on the radio lately. They're catchy enough for one song download off iTunes. I'm not sure I actually like the Hinder song yet. The Gossip was a free download that was actually really good (I'd recommend it). I bought Nina Gordon's entire new album on a whim; it's good, although mostly as background music. I can't actually think of the words to any of the songs at the moment, but I can hum along once the song starts. Leigh Nash is the lead singer of Sixpence None the Richer, so you've probably heard her voice; the solo song is pretty good. I found some live versions of Imogen and James Blunt that are incredible (that probably explains why the Imogen songs have much higher play counts). I also found some live KT Tunstall songs which are good, but very slow and moody (not something I should be listening to lately). The second Evanescence song is from their unreleased new album and you may have heard it on the radio; the other I found buried in their iTunes catalog and it's fabulous (although at some point all Evanescence songs tend to sound alike). The surprise stand-out here is Roisin Murphy. I bought the song on yet another whim and at first I didn't like; it's sort of an odd big band/techno combination (timpanis and synthesizers) and is very percussive. After I listened to it a couple of times, though, it almost became addictive (other than the highly discordant end that could have been cut). If you're looking for something unusual, check it out.