music
aardvarchaeology | August 25, 2007One of the brightest stars of Swedish literature is Carl Michael Bellman (1740-1795). Much of his work is a kind of humorous beat poetry set to music, chronicling the lives of Stockholm drunkards and whores. Central themes are boozing, sex and death."You think the grave's too deep?
Well then, have a drink
Then have another two and another three
That way you'll die happier"
"A girl in the green grass and wine in green glasses
I feast on both, both gather me to their bosom
Let's have some more resin on the violin bow!"
But Bellman wasn't strictly speaking part of the underworld he wrote about.…
neurophilosophy | August 19, 2007
I heard this being played by someone who was selling records and CDs in the street, next to a bar we went into last night. It's an old favourite of mine, from way back when hip hop was still good. There's no video, so enjoy looking at the album cover while you listen. It's by Big Daddy Kane, who hails from Brooklyn.
goodmath | August 17, 2007Sonic Youth, "Or": Very smooth for SY. But great. They're an amazing band.
The Flower Kings, "Blue Planet": A typical track from one of my favorite neo-progressive
rock bands. For the Flower Kings, this is a short one at only 10 minutes.
The Clogs, "Lantern": once again, one of my favorite classical-leaning post-rock bands. Slow,
beautiful track, featuring steel drums and oboe, and even some light vocals.
Mariliion, "Fantastic Place": one of my least favorite tracks from an amazing Marillion
album. Overall, the "Marbles" album was fantastic, but this track just leaves me cold.
Darol…
omnibrain | August 7, 2007From Gary O:
Harvard and MIT researchers have finally addressed a question that has long been puzzling mankind: "If you were a New World monkey, would you rather listen to Russian lullabies or German techno?" In the September issue of Cognition, Josh McDermott and Marc Hauser report finding that both cotton-top tamarins and common marmosets clearly prefer the lullabies. A follow-up experiment concludes that the monkeys actually prefer silence over Russian and German lullabies, as well as Mozart.
Of course no primates (including humans) enjoy listening to Gary Yodel. Here's Gary at Big Bend…
oracknows | August 5, 2007Now I remember why breakdancing got on my nerves in the 1980s:
(Via Attuworld.)
Thus endeth the silliness for this rainy Sunday.
aardvarchaeology | July 30, 2007
I've been largely oblivious to the emo movement in music and youth culture, but being a pop music fan I feel I should find out a little about this recent mass-market outgrowth of the hardcore punk scene. Opportunity struck in the most recent issue of kids' mag Kamratposten left on the john by my 9-y-o son. Enthroned, I found a feature piece about a heavily eyelinered 14-y-o Stockholm emo-subculture girl, with a list of five emo bands deemed important by her. I read up about them on Allmusic, and offer the list with my commentary in the following for anyone who wants to learn about emo music…
neurophilosophy | July 29, 2007 This week's New Yorker contains an article by Oliver Sacks about a condition called musicophilia, in which one feels sudden urges to listen to, or play, music follwing brain injury:
In 1994, when Tony Cicoria was forty-two, and a well-regarded orthopedic surgeon, he was struck by lightning. He had an out-of-body experience. "I saw my own body on the ground. I said to myself, 'Oh shit, I'm dead.' ...Then--slam! I was back." Soon after, he consulted a neurologist--he was feeling sluggish and having some difficulties with his memory. He had a thorough neurological exam, and nothing seemed…
oracknows | July 28, 2007Ya gotta love The Cramps. Their style of rockabilly is so bizarre that it's been dubbed by some as "psychobilly." And, if you happen to be unlucky enough to have to be hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital, I can't imagine a much better bit of therapy than to see The Cramps perform at your hospital.
Enjoy!
There's more:
And, while we're at it, here's a Cramps classic:
(Via Mt. Holly Major's Office and Boing-Boing.)
oracknows | July 21, 2007What do you get when you mix a bunch of octogenarians and nonagenarians with The Who?
You get this:
It's a band called The Zimmers. Members range in age from 69 to 99. I particularly like the mass instrument smashing at the end of the video. I have to admit, however, to the near irresistable urge to respond to the lyric "Hope I die before I get old" with "Too late!"
Even so, I hope I can still rock if I make it to my 80s or 90s.
oracknows | July 17, 2007
This time, it's from Colorado, and it's the King:
Rock collector LaDell Alexander, 60, has found a stone she swears has the face of the rock king Elvis Presley on it and has taken it home and plans to sell it on eBay in August, near the 30th anniversary of his death.
Alexander said "people are calling me the Elvis Rock Lady. Seven out of 10 people see Elvis (on the rock)."
Hmmm. I wonder what the other 3 out of 10 people see on the rock.
So is this a hunka hunka burnin' rock?
In all seriousness, though, if Ms. Alexander can use the Elvis Rock to separate some credulous fool from their money…
aardvarchaeology | July 15, 2007
Last night to Tantogården in Stockholm, an outdoor concert venue a stone's throw from the hospital where my son was born, to hear Pugh Rogefeldt. As the long-term Dear Reader may remember, Mr Rogefeldt released Ja dä ä dä, one of the first and still among the very best Swedish psychedelic rock albums ever, back in 1969 when he was 22. The evening promised not only songs from Ja dä ä dä, but those songs played by the same band as on the record, with Jojje Wadenius on solo guitar and Jan Carlsson on drums, with the addition of Ulf Jansson on bass. Pugh played rhythm guitar and sang.
With two…
goodmath | July 13, 2007 1. **Marillion, "If My Heart Were a Ball It Would Roll Downhill"**: Very neat track from
one of my favorite neo-progressive bands. Catchy, but with lots of layers.
2. **Mandelbrot Set, "Constellation of Rings"**: math-geek postrock. What's not to love?
3. **The Police, ;Every Breath You Take"**: I've always been a fan of the Police. But
what I like most about this song is how often it's been used by clueless people. I've
heard this at multiple weddings, where the couple thought it was a beautiful romantic
song. If you listen to it, it's anything but romantic. It'…
oracknows | July 13, 2007
Case in point: Soon to be Dr. Brian May of Queen. After 33 years, he's now going be an astrophysicist.
Rock on, Brian!
sb admin | July 12, 2007A music video, a crowdsourced homecast cultural expression ... Brain Tamer by Peter Johnson.
Brain Tamer
terrasig | July 7, 2007Destined for the annals of music history are the sole representatives of Antarctica during today's Live Earth concerts - Nunatak. Engineers and scientists who comprise the 22 members of the British Antarctic Survey rocked it today with one of their original compositions.
Nunatak is the British Antarctic Survey's Rothera Research Station's house band. The five person indie rock band is part of a science team investigating climate change and evolutional biology on the Antarctic Peninsula - a region where temperatures have risen by nearly 3°C during the last 50 years.
From April to October -…
oracknows | July 7, 2007Wow. That's all I can say.
The unreconstituted Led Zeppelin geek in me is amazed. That kid can really channel Jimmy Page.
oracknows | July 4, 2007It should come as no surprise that I'm a bit of a rock critic wannabe and have been for a long time. Indeed, very early on in my blogging, I did a "top ten" list for the best music of 2004. As far back as high school, I wrote a couple of music reviews that, in retrospect, weren't very good. Fast forward over 25 years later, and what makes me think I could do better now?
Nothing, really, but it's my blog and I feel like indulging my rock critic fantasies today. Besides, if I totally suck at it, you know that tomorrow I'll just go back to doing what I do best--until the next time the critic…
oracknows | June 30, 2007In keeping my (temporary), retreat from medical blogging for the weekend, I thought you might enjoy as much as I did this list of the 100 Worst Cover Songs.
I do have a few objections, though. For one thing, I kind of like Marilyn Manson's cover of Personal Jesus, which clocks in at #90. I don't know why; I just do. It's also just a travesty that the Lemonheads' cover of Mrs. Robinson and Ugly Kid Joe's cover of Cat's in the Cradle are on the list. And how on earth could they put William Shatner's cover or Rocket Man on the list? It was sheer genius! Just look:
I know I've posted this…
goodmath | June 29, 2007 1. **Thinking Plague: "The Aesthete"**: Thinking Plague is just plain *odd*. They're
a hard-to-classify group. It's got vocals, but instead of the vocals being the lead,
they treat voice as just another instrument. They're often atonal, and when they're
tonal, the chords are often very dissonant. They *sound* like they're very influenced
by Robert Fripp's guitar craft, and there's a persistent rumour that their guitarist
is a crafty, but after the last time they came up in a FRT, he showed up in the
comments to say that he wasn't. They're definitely not a group…