The Walkmen vs Alicia Keys Mashup
I’ve always been fascinated with mashups. There are some wonderful songs that mix into an equal or better song than the original. There are also mash-ups that mix two already poor songs into a worse song. I attempted to contribute my remixing cents into the pot and I chose “No One” by Alicia Keys to...
Mixtape: Presently October
“Feel the Pain” by Dinosaur Jr. This live version has a painful introduction- It’s a bit scratchier than the studio version. The instrumental arrangements are so complimentary. The bass and guitar were born to play like this together. This song comes off of their lesser-known gem of an album Without a Sound. “Give Me Strength”...
Undiscovered Lyrics from the Basement Tapes
If you have your hands on the Basement Tapes bootleg, you will have a fragment of a song called “I’m Alright.” Below are the lyrics transcribed by me (most likely off a bit as Dylan is good at mumbling). Bob Dylan and the Band are playing here for about a minute. Possibly they ran out...
New Pop Music is Radiohead
Radiohead seems to fit well as a poster child of the current Pop Music. They have taken the sentiments typical of Pop Art and electromagnify it. The attitude of ambivalence and conflicted duality seem to be expressed in the sonic compositions. They blend electronic transformation with traditional instrumentation of rock or alternative music. They utilize...
Black Swans are the Forrest Gump of Tom Waits
That’s the only way I can describe the chillingly odd voice of Jerry DeCicca, the singer for The Black Swans. The Black Swans borrow some of the Midwestern folk style with some extraordinary additions that make me say “Interesting.” The voice is like nothing I’ve heard. It’s not that it is so deep, it manages...
My Morning Jacket sings George Berkeley
I admire the ideas of George Berkeley. He’s probably misunderstood. He probably didn’t think what he was saying was the absolute nature of reality in it’s precise form. He merely brought to the surface that you can be completely sane and logical and believe that the physical doesn’t exist (or more accurately, that the material...
Mixtape: July is a Trip
July is certainly a trip. It’s a pronouncement of lingering summer. It marks the start of changes and getaways. It was like a prequel to a round trip vacation and the month has return to even more new explosions. You can insert some of your favorite party jams as well if you feel the need....
Obscure CDs: The Sea and Cake
The Sea and Cake is the name of an album, an artist, and also derived from a song “The C in Cake.” I’m not familiar with the song other than it being from an avant-garde indie band out of Chicago. If you asked me a couple weeks ago, I’d know nothing of all three. The...
Mixtape: A Tune in June
It’s that time to not really have a specific time to roll out with this monthly playlist. The downside of user videos is the sound isn’t so crisp. This My Morning Jacket song tingles down to the center of my body. So much energy. This song echoes my recent blog post about language: all that...
