Pages Tagged “Music”
Reviews
- Amazon Music ★★★☆☆ I want to use it to listen to music. Amazon wants to use it to sell me more subscriptions.
- Jellyfin ★★★★★ Great for playing music across my local network, doesn’t phone home to a cloud or try to upsell subscriptions.
- Plex ★★★☆☆ It does let you stream your local media library, but it insists on connecting to a cloud account and pushes you to buy a subscription, even if you’re not using its remote services.
- Space Oddity
★★★★☆
Catherynne Valente
Not quite as fun as the first book, but it’s just as absurd and chaotic, and exactly what I needed in the weeks leading up to the 2024 election. - Space Opera
Fun sci-fi social satire from Catherynne Valente. The world is a mess, but we can find the sublime in chaos.
Tech Tips
- iPod vs. Ogg (Obsolete) Apple has no motivation to add Ogg support to the iPod. They’ve paid the MP3 tax, and so has software their target audience is likely to be using.
- Move Your iTunes Library from Mac to Windows In theory it’s easy, but you have to deal with a different folder structure, illegal characters, and then wiping and resyncing your iPod.
Blog Posts
- Meloetta is Ready for Rehearsal
All set!
- Cello Goodbye
The kid’s gotten interested in playing music and has been trying out various instruments over the last few months. (Yay for rentals!) The latest is cello. As soon as he heard Bach’s cello suites, he was convinced. We lined up lessons with the same teacher he’d had for violin earlier this year. Then we went […]
- Devovid
Bizarre story (how could it not be?) in the LA Times on Devo co-founder Mark Mothersbaugh’s experience with Covid-19 and the delusions he experienced at the height of the illness during two weeks in the ICU. Among other things, he became convinced he’d written an entire new Devo album and hallucinated the band performing it […]
- Disco Mickey
Found this yesterday at a used book/media store. I think I may have heard it back in the day, though the only thing that comes to mind is “Macho Duck.” No, I didn’t buy it.
- What I Miss About CDs
You know what I miss about CDs and other physical music media? Liner notes. Art, lyrics, sometimes stories… …and credits. Who is that familiar-sounding background singer? Who wrote the song? Is it a cover? This one really reminds me of a certain composer, lyricist, or arranger’s style – can I confirm that? The performer and […]
- Chess in Concert: Post-Cold War Edition
The cold-war musical Chess works surprisingly well set in the present day. UCI Drama’s production is a concert staging of the show, with the orchestra and choir onstage, and the actors carrying handheld microphones with minimal props. It works well, especially for the more 80s-pop numbers like “Nobody’s Side” and the big ensemble songs like […]
- Musical Nostalgia in a Nutshell
I used to hear this song everywhere! This really takes me back! 😀 (one verse later) Oh, yeah. I hated this song. 😒
- Rocking Like Stardust
I drove by this sign while listening to “Ashes to Ashes.” With timing like that, I had to turn around and get a photo.
- Les Mis / Chess: Cosette vs Florence (and Eponine)
Judy Kuhn sings both Florence on the Broadway cast album of Chess and Cosette on the Broadway cast album of Les Misérables. My recent Chess-listening binge got me thinking about the two roles, how much stronger a character Florence is (at least when looking at the stage version), and how Eponine’s greater degree of agency […]
- Listening to Chess
I recently went through a few weeks listening to Chess over and over again. This happens every few years when I find a new (to me) recording of the musical, and then I forget about it for a few years until I stumble on another version and the cycle starts again. I’ve never seen the […]
- Flash and Les Mis in the Golden Age of Radio and Comics
Two of my fan interests sort of intersected with a pair of articles I wrote last night: Flash Comics and Les Misérables in the late 1930s/early 1940s.
- Going “Into the Woods” on Stage & Screen
I finally saw a stage version of the Sondheim/Lapine musical just a few weeks before the movie came out. Thumbs up to both!
- I Finally Saw “Ragtime”
Ragtime has even more emotional impact on stage than the songs do alone, and the historical themes resonate strongly with the present day.
- I’m Going to Miss the iPod Click Wheel
I prefer the older iPods for listening to music in the car, because a touch screen is a horrible interface for pause/play or skip while driving.
- Surprisingly Popular Song
I was mostly ignoring the music until my brain latched onto a familiar sequence of notes. That couldn’t be a dance mix of Popular from Wicked…could it?
- I Finally Saw Frozen / Tangled Musical Thoughts
It’s hard not to think of Tangled after seeing Frozen, and I ended up comparing the music over a few days of heavy listening.
- Somebody Hears You
Every time I listen to Vienna Teng’s “The Hymn of Acxiom,” it gets creepier. It’s beautiful, it’s haunting…and it’s all about how big data is tracking…
- Cassette…Now I Remember
I tried to explain what an audio cassette was to a two-year-old. It turned out to be trickier to demonstrate than I expected.
- False Choices, Free Culture and Music.
It’s not just “pay for everything in this manner” vs. “take what you want.” Tech has transformed media distribution, so we need new compensation models.
- Explicitly Tainted Tracks
It’s silly to mark a song as having explicit lyrics only because another song on the same album does – especially since the song, not the album, is now the base unit of music.
- Pop Stars as Fish
Ace of Bass, Death Crab for Cutie, Sushi and the Banshees, and other band/singer names adapted to life under the sea.
- Hello chkdsk, my old friend…
Hello chkdsk, my old friend I’ve got to run you once again Cause my Windows box is acting weird And the disk drive must need something cleared And the error that was printed on my screen Made me scream And put aside my work For chkdsk
- Favorite Music of 2009 – Top 3 Albums
Vienna Teng’s Inland Territory, Vertical Horizon’s Burning the Days, and Butterfly Boucher’s Scary Fragile.
- Tori Amos vs. the Hulk
I never thought I’d see Tori Amos show up in a Marvel Comics comedy video starring M.O.D.O.K. — or that when someone started singing Christmas songs, it would be the Hulk. From the M.O.D.O.K. Holiday Special.
- That’s, Um, Not Relaxing
Yow! “Perfectly Relaxing Songs” don’t work so well when the volume changes drastically between one song and the next.
- Star Wars Band Names
Take the name of a real band and alter it to make it a Star Wars reference.
- Starting the Week with Weird Al
Starting shuffle with a Weird Al song? Fun. 2 in a row? Odd. By the third song I was getting suspicious.
- Hear me!
A few minutes ago I was trying to fix sound on my Linux box. Nothing would play, until Katie heard it beep to notify me of a new Twitter message. I closed Twhirl and suddenly my music player worked. The song lined up? Vertical Horizon’s “All is Said and Done.” The first line of the […]
- Download? Don’t Download?
How appropriate! You can download “Weird Al” Yankovic’s “Don’t Download This Song” for free. (via @amazonmp3)
- Frustrations (And a Few Bright Spots)
Hard disks should not sound like buzz saws. Slashdot article “FOSS Sexism Claims Met With Ire & Denial”…gets met with ire & denial. *headdesk* Listening to lightsaber sounds from across the office. I think my coworker w/ the new Android phone found an app for that. Vertical Horizonâs Burning the Days is growing on me, […]
- New Paper Raincoat Album (and free song!)
The Paper Raincoat opened for Vienna Teng when we saw her at the Roxy back in April. I liked them enough to not only buy their EP, Safe in the Sound, at the concert, but sign up for their mailing list. “Brooklyn Blues” kind of reminds me of Fountains of Wayne in their quieter moments, […]
- Aâa or Pahoehoe?
Probably the influence of the Hawaiâi sign across the street, but I could swear the song on the radio was “My Kind of Lava”
- Phoenix Rhyme
I still think this Aimee Mann lyric should be: Got out of Phoenix Just in time A box of Kleenex For the rhyme …instead of the real words, which finish with “for the ride.”
- Skipper Dan
“Weird Al” Yankovic’s song “Skipper Dan” has been stuck in my head on-and-off all weekend. Living near Disneyland makes it that much more funny.
- Hero, Headlines & Spam
Just learned “Holding Out for a Hero” is cowritten by Jim Steinman. Explains why it keeps turning into “Good Girls Go to Heaven” in my head Writing for Twitter Spam vs SPAM. I suspect it’s way too late to close the barn door on this one. Kinda like “hacker.”
- Deep Fried WHAT???? A Night at the Fair with Al’s Brain, Melissa Etheridge and a Ferris Wheel
Photos and remarks about Al’s Brain, fried food, Melissa Etheridge concert and a night ride on the Ferris Wheel at the OC Fair.
- Tori at the Greek
Missed the opening act, but here in plenty of time for Tori Amos. Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, turned out to be a great concert!
- Planning for 90s Nostalgia
One day, someone will take a collection of popular songs from the 1990s and turn it into a nostalgia musical. Update July 2016: I was wondering if this had happened yet. I suppose you could count “American Idiot,” but apparently the album was intended to tell a story, so it’s not quite the same as […]
- San Diego and Butterfly Boucher
We took a weekend trip to San Diego, hit Old Town and the Gaslamp District, and saw Butterly Boucher in concert at the House of Blues.
- Vienna Teng Observation & Concert
Lunchtime observation: Why is it that whenever I put Vienna Teng on random on the iPod, “Passage” always seems to come up when I’m driving? Evening: Just saw Vienna Teng in concert at the Roxy. Fantastic! Opening act The Paper Raincoat was good too.
- Ticketmonster & DMCA Yourself!
Ordered tickets to see Vienna Teng! Amazing how Ticketmaster can turn two $15 tickets into a total of $50. Associated Press sends nastygram to their own affiliate for using AP’s official YouTube channel. (via @ThisIsTrue)
- iPod Thoughts
If I had to replace my iPod, what would me options be? Comparing the iPod Classic, iPod Touch, G1, or getting a used iPod.
- Fluttered By
Just discovered Butterfly Boucher is doing a show in LA at the Troubador tonight (with Ten Out of Tenn). Sadly, it’s too late to plan on going.
- Snakes on a Song
Best thing about Snakes on a Plane was the Cobra Starship song at the end. Thank you, iPod for reminding me!
- Blocking the Impulse Buy: Shazam, Amazon MP3 Store and Android
How I *almost* bought an album from my phone immediately after hearing a song on the radio, and what obstacles stopped me.
- Waitaminute
Listening to “Into the West” (end credits song from Lord of the Rings: Return of the King). Lyric, “Across the sea a pale moon rises.” It’s all about crossing the sea into the west to go to elf heaven. Presumably the speaker is standing at the Grey Havens, waiting for the ships to arrive and […]
- Nightmare Revisited
Listening to “Nightmare Revisited.” All-American Rejects were not the best choice for “Jack’s Lament” Amazingly, “What’s This” is worse. A song all about the thrill of discovery with NO ENERGY. Are they thinking about what they’re singing? Korn is knocking “Kidnap the Sandy Claws” out of the park. *whew* OK, this album is definitely improving. […]
- Bells, Not Words
I like “Carol of the Bells” as an instrumental piece. Sung with lyrics? Not so much. It feels tacked on.
- Christmas Songs
I like hearing so many different kinds of music at Christmas time. Except when they play the same songs over and over and over and over and…
- Clarify and Classify
If only the super high-tech jet fighters had identified, clarified & classified, they’d have seen the attack for what it really was. Good grief. “Traditional marriage” didn’t go away when gays were let into the club. It doesn’t need a discriminatory law to “restore” it. South Coast Plaza has Christmas decorations up ALREADY. Halloween doesn’t […]
- Looking back: Slashdot on the iPod Launch
2001 verdict: “No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.” That “lame” product revolutionized digital music, changed Apple’s focus, and led to the iPhone, which transformed the mobile phone industry.
- The Singing Fly
The latest newsletter for the Center Theatre Group includes a mention of The Fly: The Opera. Yes, The Fly, based on the sci-fi film about a scientist who gets combined with a housefly in a teleportation accident. And its remake. As an opera. ð¯ Plácido Domingo conducts the U.S. premiere of the LA Opera-commissioned opera […]
- Comic-Con 2008 Autograph/Sketch Tally
This year I collected a lot of sketches and autographs at SDCC, from regulars like Sergio Aragonés and the Foglios to rare guests like Tori Amos.
- Tori Amos Panel and Signing – Saturday at Comic-Con
Tori Amos appeared at SDCC to promote Comic Book Tattoo, a collection of comics based on her songs. I was lucky enough to make it to her signing.
- Saturday Morning in Line at the Con (SDCC 2008)
Crowds, coffee and crazy lines: Waiting for Heroes in Hall H and navigating the floor from Artists Alley on up.
- Rambling On
On the subject of filk, and trying to define it, there’s a whole subset of songs by professional musicians that just rides the edge. (Half of “Weird Al” Yankovic’s repertoire, for instance.) Twice in the last week I’ve heard Led Zeppelin’s “Ramble On,” which is apparently about Aragorn and Arwen from Lord of the Rings. […]
- Filker Tom Smith Needs Help
Musician Tom Smith (author of the Talk Like a Pirate Day theme song and Girl Genius’ Transylvania Polygnostic University Fight Song, and a.k.a. filkertom on LiveJournal) is in the hospital after a nasty injury, facing expensive surgery and months of hospital bills…without insurance. And of course he can’t work while he’s in the hospital. A […]
- Tori at Comic-Con!
Tori Amos will be signing copies of Comic Book Tattoo at Comic-Con 2008! Good thing I didn’t pre-order it, because I’ll need to buy it onsite to get in.
- iPod on Random
Caught “Weird Al” Yankovic’s song, “She Drives Like Crazy” — appropriately enough, while on the freeway. I never used to understand why he did the funny voices in the song, until I remembered the Muppets music video of the original song (“She Drives Me Crazy”), with Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog…and suddenly the voices […]
- Smilers in Concert
Went to see Aimee Mann on Friday at the House of Blues. She’s promoting her new album, @#%&*! Smilers (and yes, it’s pronounced as you might expect, though she also gave an alternate pronunciation of “Effing Smilers”), which just came out last week. Of course, this meant that most of the audience either hadn’t heard […]
- Hazards of DRM on Music (or video, or any other media)
Mark Pilgrim, in The Day the Music Died, points out what happens when DRM meets market failure. On August 31, Microsoft will turn off the servers that validate their “PlaysForSure” DRM system (this predates the system they use for the Zune). This means that anyone who has bought music that uses PlaysForSure will not be […]
- Songs with a Twist
Recently, I was reminded of a conversation about songs with twist endings. Like a Twilight Zone episode, they’ll set up one situation and then in the final verse, switch things around to a completely different perspective. One example would be Vertical Horizon’s breakthrough hit, “Everything You Want.” The chorus repeats: He’s everything you want, He’s […]
- Links, from the Astronomical to the Surreal
The Value of Space Exploration, via Phil Plait. Neil Gaiman on The Fairy Feller’s Master Stroke, a painting by a madman that’s inspired its share of stories. And from Comics Worth Reading, our WTF entry for the day: Paradise by the GoPhone Light. It’s a commercial done in the style of a music video, featuring […]
- Tori Comics
So, what comic book event of the summer has me the most excited? Is it Marvel’s Secret Invasion? DC’s Final Crisis? The release of The Flash Companion? Geoff Johns returning to The Flash for Rogues’ Revenge? Well, that last one is close, but it’s actually Comic Book Tattoo, the upcoming ~500-page anthology of comic book […]
- Musical Thoughts of the Day
1. Fountains of Wayne‘s song, “No Better Place,” popped up on the iPod today. There’s a great line that made us both laugh when we heard them at a concert several years ago, opening for some band that one or the other of us wanted to see: It may be the whiskey talking But the […]
- The Ballad of Barry Allen
I just discovered that They’re Everywhere, the album featuring the Flash-themed song, “The Ballad of Barry Allen,” is now available on Amazon’s MP3 store. The band, Jim’s Big Ego, is headed by the nephew of legendary Flash artist Carmine Infantino, who did the cover artwork on the album. And yes, the song’s actually good! It’s […]
- Tori Amos Comics & Concert
Now this is cool: Image Comics will be releasing a graphic novel anthology with stories based on Tori Amos songs next summer! And Colleen Doran is illustrating one of the stories! (Her blog is where I heard about it.) We went to Tori’s concert on Saturday at the Grove of Anaheim. The standing-room show was […]
- Phantoms and Rock(y Horror) Operas
Watched Phantom of the Paradise this weekend. It’s a bizarre 1974 mash-up between The Phantom of the Opera and Faust set in a satire of the 1970s music industry. The movie casts Paul Williams (who wrote all the music for the film) as a reclusive recording mogul, Swan, who steals a struggling songwriter’s pop cantata […]
- There Wolf
Fedora 8 has just been released, code-named “Werewolf.” As is tradition for this particular Linux distribution, the official release announcement is accompanied by an alternative, humorous announcement playing off the code name. This time, the joke announcement is a song parody of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” And unlike a lot of really bad filk I’ve seen […]
- Best random song pairing ever
The following two “Weird Al” Yankovic songs popped up sequentially on the iPod the other day: “I Love Rocky Road” (based on Joan Jett’s version of “I Love Rock ânâ Roll,” and all about ice cream.) “Cavity Search” (it’s about going to the dentist—U2’s “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” is turned into […]
- The Weird…
Last night we went out to the Orange County Fair to see “Weird Al” Yankovic in concert (the Straight Outta Lynwood Tour). I don’t remember how we managed it, but we got tickets for the fifth row, putting us about 10 feet from the stage. We were off to the side, maybe 20–30 feet from […]
- Radio Connection
They say that the Southern California car culture is isolating. It’s hard to argue with that, when everyone’s shut up in their own little boxes. But today, on my way to work (delayed a bit on account of dentist), I was listening to KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic and stopped at a traffic signal. They were […]
- Snow More!
Oh the crowds outside are frightful, But the music’s so delightful… âCept for ev’ry darn place we go, It’s “Let it Snow!” “Let it Snow!” “Let it Snow!” Seriously. It seems like this song has somehow become the most popular Christmas song this year. I normally don’t mind it, but come on! It doesn’t help […]
- Riddle Me This
I really liked the last two Five For Fighting albums, America Town and The Battle for Everything. “Superman” was quite possibly the only song I’ve heard that made me run out and buy an album without checking other songs first. So I was eagerly awaiting “Two Lights.” Unfortunately, after listening through twice, I only actually […]
- Traffic Truth
I was listening to the traffic report on KCRW this morning, and realized the background music sounded familiar. I thought about it, and realized that it was the instrumental track from Aimee Mann’s song, “Nothing is Good Enough.”
- Play, Play, Repeat
The recent controversy over Star 98.7’s decision to drop their morning talk show (since reversed) and try out a new format brings up one of those great mysteries of the ages: Why do so many radio stations play the same small list of songs over and over? I understand the desire to play popular songs […]
- Alternative to Music?
Since Star 98.7 has suddenly decided to play actual music in the mornings last week, I’ve listened to it a couple of times on the way to work. They do still seem to like playing the same 10 songs over and over again, so there’s only so much I can take before switching over to […]
- Who invented the gay artist?
Over the weekend, Something Positive’s Monette met her girlfriend’s half-brother, who wants to write showtunes when he grows up. Friday’s Real Life featured Tony taking Greg to task over singing a song from Monty Python’s Spamalot. Where did the showtunes=gay (or at least effeminate) stereotype come from? While we’re at it, where did the art=gay […]
- Singing Monkeys on Stage!
Just got an email from Disney on Broadway (I assume I must have given them my email address when I bought Lion King tickets several years ago) offering me advance tickets to their new Broadway show, Tarzan. WTF? Admittedly, I thought The Lion King was an odd choice for a stage musical, and it turned […]
- Lightning Storms and Aimee Mann
We drove up to UCLA last night for an Aimee Mann concert, and somehow, despite all the rain on the way up and back, we managed to not need our umbrellas at all. The concert was great, and very different from the last concert we saw at Royce Hall just by virtue of having a […]
- Watching Evita: Deja Vu
The production of Evita was based on the original staging, just like the one I did in college. Also, musings on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s story structure.
- Perfect Price Point
Reportedly the recording industry is still pressuring Apple to raise the prices on the iTunes Music Store. They don’t seem to understand that a big part of what made iTMS a success was the 99¢ price point. It’s sometimes cheaper than buying a CD, and more importantly, you can impulse buy at that price. Steve […]
- Original Sinsuality
I was going to write a review of last night’s Tori Amos concert at the Greek Theater, but I realized I already wrote most of it about the Concert at Royce Hall back in April. We got tickets for this one because it was a new tour, and we figured there was a chance it […]
- Maps and Music
Leave it to MapQuest to remind you that the nearby railroad actually is the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (and immediately lodge the song into your mind). Actually, I’m also reminded of a Forbidden Broadway bit on a musical version of Anna Karenina, which finished with the parody, “On the Ashkabad, Tblisi and the Kiev […]
- Star Wars Classical
I woke up this morning to the music from Episode III playing on the clock radio. What’s odd is that I recognized it immediately despite the facts that I had not listened to the soundtrack, and the section I heard was all new music. None of the recurring themes from the other films was present, […]
- Tori Concert: Back to Basics
Two weeks ago (April 25, specifically) we went to a Tori Amos concert in LA. It was a vastly different experience from the others we’ve been to. You see, she started out as basically her and a piano, and each album has added more and more layers of instruments. It always reminds me of a […]
- The iPod Shuffle is a success
I stand corrected. I figured the iPod Shuffle would be a joke, but the headline speaks for itself: Shuffle grabs 58% of flash player market.
- Survivor: Mac OS X
In checking my pre-order status for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, I noticed this customer recommendation: I assumed it was yet another book about the OS timed to come out just as people would be interested. No, it’s the 1982 rock album by Survivor, featuring the well-known Rocky III theme…which has now lodged itself firmly in my […]
- It worked for DIVX, right? (Oh, wait…)
You know, when Napster announced its subscription music plan, I never gave it a second look. Not because I assumed it wouldn’t work with my Linux box or Katie’s Mac, but for one simple reason: No matter how many songs you “buy” on the plan, once your subscription lapses, they’re all gone. Want to stop […]
- OK, that was weird
I’m listening to Evanescence’s Fallen and skimming this week’s link-checker report. Apparently the Taco Belle Amy Acker fan site was unreachable at the time it was checked, but it’s up now. So I started reading some of the interviews on the site, noticing they were all pre-Illyria…. at which point the album gets to “My […]
- Cry me a river
So Apple is ticked off at Real’s reverse-engineering to let people buy music from Real and play it on an iPod. Apple has threatened DMCA sanctions and all but promised to deliberately break it in the next software update. Excuse me? In general I like Apple, but their insistence on locking the iPod to iTunes […]
- But he wasn’t the one on drums
Went to the Counting Crows concert last night. They have a D’Amico drum set. Between the (all-caps) font and the distance, I kept misreading it as D’Argo!
- At least it’s not a dance mix
On the drive to work this morning, I noticed that KCRW was playing Pachelbel’s Canon in D in the background of their traffic report. As usual, the orchestration added several layers over the course of the report… …and then, just as they were finishing, the drum track started.
- Songs Not to Play at a Wedding
Break-ups, infidelity, sadness, pain and anger are all popular topics for songs…but they might not be the best way to celebrate a wedding!
- Things you don’t hear on the radio
Well, not often, anyway. But occasionally, twice in one night. Last night, Indie 103.1 (yes, they’re still on the air) played a listener request for “Bohemian Rhapsody” – and then didn’t play the song. Later on, they played a string of people calling in and saying things like “You guys suck!” and “Why don’t you […]
- Learning the hard way
Advice to the world at large: do not watch “A Hole in the World” one night, “Shells” the next, and then go listen to the Evanescence album. You will not like what it does to you. Trust me on this. More when I’m coherent again. *snivel*whimper*
- Back on the Dial
There was an article in this morning’s LA Times about the latest radio station to broadcast on FM 103.1. Calling themselves Indie 103.1, and billed as “alternative alternative,” they have a lot of the things that were great about the “world class rock” format: a wide-ranging playlist, spanning several decades and including deep album tracks […]
- Vertical Horizon winning the filk wars
It’s official: Vertical Horizon now has ten songs to their name that we’ve determined to be at least 75% appropriate for sci-fi, fantasy, or anime music videos. The only other band that comes close to this is the Wallflowers, with four. Don’t ask me how they do this. We just watch (and occasionally read) stuff, […]
- Hazard. Trip Hazard.
While the stage hands were setting up for the Alanis Morissette concert last night, we noticed a sign on the stage that looked like this: As far back as we were sitting, we couldn’t read the words, (although “Caution” was obvious, and since it was next to a bundle of cables and showed an off-balance […]
- To hell with the concert plans
The Orange County Fair usually has some pretty good concerts lined up. Last year, they were all free with admission, but this year, they opened up a separate venue and kicked up the price. Tonight it was Joan Osborne and Melissa Etheridge, which was a very cool concert. The volume got turned up too high […]
- I don’t like Wednesdays
I used to like choir. Once upon a time, it was fun and entertaining and I enjoyed going. That time is not now. For the first part of this semester, we were hammering away at Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, so that 9 of us could go sing it in Hawaii. And while that was […]
- String tribute to WHO?
A few weeks ago I purchased Precious Things: The String Quartet Tribute to Tori Amos from Amazon. I was looking through my recommendations tonight and started finding all these string renditions of popular music, including… This had me laughing, but then I looked further down on the page: WTF?!? Nine Inch Nails string tribute? Hmm… […]
- Another One Bites the Dust
I had a slightly jarring experience on my way back from lunch today which provides a perfect introduction to something I had already planned on writing. I absent-mindedly tuned my car radio to a station that until this week had been an English-language rock station and was briefly surprised to hear a commercial in Spanish. […]
- Interesting compliment #24
Driving back from the Tori concert, fortified with Frappuccinos, we were trying to figure out the distribution of songs per album. Kelson commented that there were several from singles, and that she could probably release an album of just B-sides and have it sell well, which prompted us to start naming all the B-sides we […]
- Concert(ina)
Tori Amos concert last night – second in two weeks at the same theater. It was interesting to compare the differences in the two shows. Security, for instance: at the Counting Crows show, security consisted of shining a flashlight into people’s purses and bags as they walked in. At the Tori show, everyone also had […]
- Exhaustion
Went to the Counting Crows concert last night. Good concert, even after their drummer disappeared partway through the show due to an unspecified medical emergency. They improvised acoustic versions of several songs, then brought on the drummer from Toad the Wet Sprocket (who opened for them) and the ex-drummer from Cake (who I guess just […]
- Subversion!!!
Listening to Hubba Hubba Zoot Zoot at work just feels like it should be illegal. That and Weird Al and stuff from the Cardcaptor Sakura soundtrack CD. And, now that I think about it, posting this message. Just thought I’d share.
- Conan the (Musical) Librarian
I’ve been meaning to pick up a copy of the Conan the Barbarian soundtrack for a while, but kept not finding it. A few weeks ago, we were listening to a copy of Holst’s The Planets we had just picked up. I’d heard the whole suite before, but had only heard “Mars” recently, so one […]
- Random Rent
Someone’s virus-generated email message sent me an attachment: the complete lyrics to the stage musical RENT. Um, okay…