This new album by Caravan Palace is fucking fantastic: old-timey swing jazzy stuff fused with electronic goodness. Their first album was really impressive, and this one really keeps their hot thing going. ”Clash” and “Dramophone” are especially good. It’s a steal for $7 on Amazon (14 tracks), a dollar less than iTunes. (I prefer Amazon MP3 nowadays but iTunes works as well, in a pinch.) Give the songs a preview and grab it!
Note: this is not an advertisement–I just love this album. 
People always say, “Today’s hits sound soooo manufactured!” And they’re right, because they are manufactured–apparently by teams of writers and musicians who get together at “writing camps” to concoct hit songs. I had no idea this was going on, but totally makes sense! I don’t listen to popular radio at all anymore because all that shit sounds the same. Whiny voices auto-tuned to robotic perfection, passionately bleating over generic dance beats. Same chords, same song structure, same mindless lyrics, over and over and over again. Do people really enjoy this generic tripe? Couple this with radio stations which no longer do local programming (they get their music via satellite from elsewhere) and you’ve got yourself some stale, homogenized radio. How utterly boring.
I listen to a lot of internet radio these days, because there is far more variety and the advertising isn’t nearly as intrusive as on FM. (SomaFM, jazzradio.com, and gotradio.com are my current faves.) And never will I run into the tinny whinings of Rihanna, Britney or (gods help us) Justin Bieber. Not even a grain of Gaga. It’s bliss!
Def Jam started paying for Rihanna’s recent single, “Man Down,” more than a year ago. In March of 2010, the label held a writing camp in L.A. to create the songs for Rihanna’s album, Loud.
At a writing camp, a record label hires the best music writers in the country and drops them into the nicest recording studios in town for about two weeks. It’s a temporary version of the old music-industry hit factories, where writers and producers cranked out pop songs.
“It’s like an all-star game,” says Ray Daniels, who was at the writing camp for Rihanna.
Daniels manages a songwriting team of two brothers, Timothy and Theron Thomas, who work under the name Rock City. “You got all the best people, you’re gonna make the best records,” he says.
Shit…if I’d known this, I would have skipped her show a couple of months ago. ’Cause I’m like that.
In the wake of the publication of her autobiography last year Between a Heart and a Rock Place, the “Invincible” pop-rock veteran is taking her love of Christmas and new-found literary propensity and combining them into what she describes as a work of ”historical fiction” set in the modern day about the second coming of ol’ J.C.. Benatar told Billboard that the Christian messiah’s return has long been a topic of interest to her. “It’s one of my hobbies, so I just started writing this story,” she said. “I’ve been putting it together for almost 10 years.”
via crawdaddy.com
Just realized that we were out of the country when the whole Rebecca Black “Friday” thing hit its peak, so I’ve never heard it and don’t know a thing about her–except that everyone HATES the song. How long can I remain oblivious to this soul-crippling crapulence?
I’ve been digging out some Irish music that I haven’t heard in a while, getting into the groove for our trip in just over a week. This came on last night as I was cooking…I had forgotten what a brilliant (and bitchy in its own way) song it is. Here are the lyrics to Paul Brady’s version, which many consider to be the best! Look it up and play it if you can (maybe on iTunes?), it’s a lovely song considering the lyrics. I do have to admit that I had to look up the word “spalpeen”, though…
Arthur McBride and the Sergeant
Trad arranged and adapted Paul BradyOh, me and my cousin, one Arthur McBride
As we went a-walking down by the seaside
Now, mark what followed and what did betide
For it being on Christmas morning…Out for recreation, we went on a tramp
And we met Sergeant Napper and Corporal Vamp
And a little wee drummer, intending to camp
For the day being pleasant and charming“Good morning ! Good morning!” the sergeant did cry
“And the same to you gentlemen! ” we did reply,
Intending no harm but meant to pass by
For it being on Christmas morningBut says he, “My fine fellows if you will enlist,
It’s ten guineas in gold I will slip in your fist
And a crown in the bargain for to kick up the dust
And drink the King’s health in the morning.For a soldier he leads a very fine life
And he always is blessed with a charming young wife
And he pays all his debts without sorrow or strife
And always lives pleasant and charming…And a soldier he always is decent and clean
In the finest of clothing he’s constantly seen
While other poor fellows go dirty and mean
And sup on thin gruel in the morning.”“But”, says Arthur, “I wouldn’t be proud of your clothes
For you’ve only the lend of them as I suppose
And you dare not change them one night, for you know
If you do you’ll be flogged in the morning.And although that we are single and free
we take great delight in our own company
And we have no desire strange faces to see
Although that your offers are charmingAnd we have no desire to take your advance
All hazards and dangers we barter on chance
For you would have no scruples for to send us to France
Where we would get shot without warning.”“Oh now!”, says the sergeant “I’ll have no such chat
And I neither will take it from spalpeen or brat
For if you insult me with one other word
I’ll cut off your heads in the morning.”And then Arthur and I we soon drew our hods
And we scarce gave them time for to draw their own blades
When a trusty shillelagh came over their heads
And bade them take that as fair warningAnd their old rusty rapiers that hung by their side
We flung them as far as we could in the tide
“Now take them out, Divils!”, cried Arthur McBride
“And temper their edge in the morning.”And the little wee drummer we flattened his pow
And we made a football of his rowdy-dow-dow
Threw it in the tide for to rock and to row
And bade it a tedious returningAnd we having no money, paid them off in cracks
And we paid no respect to their two bloody backs
For we lathered them there like a pair of wet sacks
And left them for dead in the morningAnd so to conclude and to finish disputes
We obligingly asked if they wanted recruits
For we were the lads who would give them hard clouts
And bid them look sharp in the morningOh me and my cousin, one Arthur McBride
As we went a walkin’ down by the seaside,
Now mark what followed and what did betide
For it being on Christmas morning(From the traditional, adapted by Paul Brady/ Copyright control)
Ahhh, the unedited ”Close to the Edit” by Art of Noise. Still one of the best/weirdest videos I’ve ever seen, awarded by MTV for Most Experimental Video and the Best Editing. The bits where they destroy classical instruments actually pissed off some in Britain, leading to a different video later on. But look how much fun it must have been!
I don’t have kids and I have no desire to ever go there, but I’m thoroughly enjoying the latest kids’ album by my favoritest band ever. It’s catchy, it’s smart, it’s cheap (currently just $10 for the CD/DVD combo on Amazon), it’s silly and weird enough for kids and adults, and…it’s TMBG! A much better review was posted on Boing Boing recently for those interested (see link above). Very highly recommended, though not for those whose ears bleed at the utterance of the word “evolution” or vague, playful jabs at non-sciency beliefs.
I like those stories
About angels, unicorns and elves,
Now I like those stories
As much as anybody else,
But when I’m seeking knowledge,
Either simple or abstract,
The facts are with science,
The facts are with science,
Science is real!
This is the album They Might Be Giants was put on Earth to record: they are genuine science nerds, and it shows.
For Here Comes Science contains a broad, inclusive and thought-provoking tour through science in all its facets. Songs like “Science is Real” (which explains how scientific beliefs are different from beliefs in unicorns and other beliefs formed without rigorous testing) and “Put It To the Test” (possibly the best kids’ song ever written about falsifiablity in hypothesis formation) cover the basics, the big Philosophy of Science questions.
I ditched iTunes for music purchases years ago, and while I prefer to buy songs either from Amazon MP3 Downloads (DRM-free and high quality) or the artists themselves, I still enjoy grabbing the occasional track or album from one of several Russian MP3 sites. They may be of dubious legality, depending on who you ask, but they have stuff you just can’t find here in the U.S. and they’re a goldmine for someone like me who has some odd musical tastes. And it’s dirt cheap, besides.
So the other day I was pleasantly surprised to get the following email from one of the sites I frequent (I won’t say which):
from: *******.Ru
to: Dear customer
date: Sun, Aug 31, 2008
subject: Account replenishmentDear customer!
Your account has been replenished with 10.00 USD
It is bonus from *******.
Best regards,
*******.ru
Well, isn’t that nice! $10 just for remaining a customer. When was the last time iTunes did that?
On a side note, I don’t use these sites without a bit of caution–utilizing my credit card’s “virtual account numbers” is a must, just in case. But the tradeoff is a wealth of music that I simply can’t get anywhere else, either because of availability (out of print) or astronomical import prices.
A favorite artist/singer/thinker of mine, David Byrne, has just released a new album in collaboration with Brian Eno called Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. And it’s fantastic. You can buy it online (high quality DRM-free MP3 files) for only $9, which is a steal. This includes a “booklet” in PDF format with lyrics and liner notes. They also give you an option of downloading lossless FLAC files for you audiophiles out there. And if you want to preview the songs first, you can play the entire album for free on the website in high quality. Now, this is the way to sell music! iTunes? What’s that?
Eno ended up doing most of the music and Byrne wrote and sang all the lyrics. The music has an interesting electronic-folk vibe, which Byrne describes in the liner notes:
My favorite tracks are “Strange Overtones” and “Life is Long” (which reminds me vaguely of something by Lambchop, another favorite of mine), both of which you can hear on the album website. But as a whole the album works, and I love it. If it piques your interest, give it a listen!
Is it me, or does the new Madonna single “4 Minutes” totally suck? It’s got Justin Timberlake’s fingerprints all over it, which means it sounds just like every other bit of mass-marketed twaddle out there. (It’s either twaddle or piffle, I can’t quite decide.) Blecchhh. Oh well, I guess it’s nice to see her team up with a black singer for a change.
Here’s a link to the single on iTunes in case you haven’t heard it yet. It’s only a 30-second clip, but that’s enough to put me off if this single if it’s an indication of what the rest of the album sounds like. It was produced by Timbaland, who is also producing about half the world’s bands at the moment…so it’s sure to have a unique sound. I can’t wait for the music reviews to start saying things like “The Material Girl has reinvented herself yet again!” Or has that started already?
I was surprised by how good her last album was, especially compared to the clumsy introspection on “American Life”, but this…ugh. And check out that cover! Christ on a cracker, Madonna! Whatever happened to “I’m older and wiser now, I’m above all that superficial stuff that ties me to this world, I’m a mature woman and I take full responsibility for how I behaved in my younger days when I was deluded by fame and sex and money”? Right out the window. She’s done an about-face (again) and now we’re back to “Wanna see my snatch? It’s right here, wrapped in leather. See it? Mmmmm, I wanna suckle your hard candy, baby!” Um, gross. No thanks, madam.