music

Article

The Late Movies: "Dust in the Wind" Covers

"Dust in the Wind" was released way back in 1977. Written and performed by the band Kansas, it was their biggest hit, despite (or perhaps because of) its prominent viola melody -- not something you'd expect in a hit pop song. Since 1977 it has popped up all over the place, from a Will Ferrell performance in Old School to a brief mention in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. Below, I've rounded up some covers of the classic tune. Enjoy! Beaker the Muppet Beaker is incapable of intelligible... READ ON

Article

How to Rock Out, Even if You Don't Play an Instrument

"All the sounds are the actual audio from the original video tape. No alterations has [sic] been made other than basic timeline editing. I can neither play drums nor the piano." So ends Lasse Gjertsen's YouTube masterpiece "Amateur," a music video in which he creates a genuinely good song out of individual drum beats, cymbal hits, vocal hoots, and piano notes. I got this from the excellent Word Surgery blog, where animator/videographer Torrey Meeks points out all sorts of awesome stuff (much of it... READ ON

Article

The Late Movies: The Day the Music Died

"A long, long time ago...I can still remember how that music used to make me smile." So begins Don McLean's "American Pie," a 1972 song about the death of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, J.P. Richardson ("The Big Bopper"), and pilot Roger Peterson in a tragic plane crash. If you don't know the full story, check out Miss Cellania's excellent post about the day the music died. Below, check out McLean's song, and some performances by the artists who died fifty-one years ago today. "American Pie" - Don... READ ON

Article

The Late Movies: Covers of Morrissey & The Smiths

I'm a longtime Morrissey fan. From the first time I heard The Queen is Dead by Morrissey's band The Smiths in the 80's, I was hooked. Morrissey's music is generally very maudlin (if not straight-up depressing), but somehow it's also hopeful and sweet. Below I have collected some terrific covers of songs by Morrissey and Smiths for your mope-rock enjoyment. "There Is a Light..." -Neil Finn & Johnny Marr Neil Finn of Crowded House is joined by Johnny Marr (of The Smiths and lately of Modest Mouse)... READ ON

Article

The Largest Record Collection in the World, Still for Sale

In December, I came across The Last Living American Veteran of WWI, an interview with Frank Buckles, the eponymous veteran. The same filmmaker (Sean Dunne) also profiled Paul Mawhinney, who owns the world's largest record collection. And the collection is for sale. No one's buying. In Dunne's film The Archive, we meet Mawhinney and get an inside look at his collection. For years, Mawhinney ran the awesome record shop Record-Rama in Pittsburgh. I visited Record-Rama in the 90's, and bought an Uncle... READ ON

Article

Symphony of Science: "The Unbroken Thread" (Attenborough, Goodall, Sagan)

Get ready for another awesome Symphony of Science video! Yes, that's right, more auto-tuned scientists with cool music and video. (See previous videos: A Glorious Dawn, Our Place in the Cosmos, and We Are All Connected.) In this installment, it's primarily David Attenborough and Carl Sagan, though about two-thirds of the way in, Jane Goodall makes a splendid appearance. Goodall is an awesome speaker -- if you ever have a chance to see her in person, please do so. I saw her at the United Nations in... READ ON

Article

Get Happy: "The Rainbow Connection"

Here's a sweet song to end a long week. In 1979, Jim Henson (as Kermit the Frog) performed "The Rainbow Connection" in The Muppet Movie. The song reached #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1979, and remained in the Top 40 for seven weeks -- not too bad for a song sung by a puppet. (Sorry: muppet.) Writers Kenny Ascher and Paul Williams were nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for the song, but lost both to rival song "It Goes Like It Goes" from the movie Norma Rae. Remember Norma Rae? Me... READ ON

Article

Sesame Street + Philip Glass = Crazy Brain Explosion

In 1979, Philip Glass composed some music for Sesame Street; the music was used to back geometric animations showing how a simple circle could be subdivided and repeated to make more complex shapes and patterns (in much the same way that Glass's music uses patterns, repetition, and subtle alteration to create melody and complexity). It's hard to find the resulting work (entitled "Geometry of Circles") that was shown on Sesame Street three decades ago, though it has been re-aired a few times over the years... READ ON

Article

Documentaries I Like: Wesley Willis's Joy Rides - It's A Rock-You-Mentary

So yesterday I posted The Late Movies: Rock On, Wesley Willis, featuring some of Wesley Willis's bizarre-but-awesome music. But the real treat comes today, when you can watch an entire documentary about Wesley Willis online -- this week only. (Later, you'll have to buy the DVD.) The new documentary is called Wesley Willis's Joy Rides, and I think you should watch it. Surprise: Wesley Willis was a skilled visual artist. His drawings, featured in this film, have a powerful architectural style,... READ ON

Article

The Late Movies: Rock On, Wesley Willis

"I make music, I sing my ass off." With these words, Wesley Willis opens a short documentary shown below. Willis was a bizarre musician -- a chronic schizophrenic, his music was crude and thus considered "punk," but in a way no one had heard before. Willis's songs generally consisted of spoken-word poetry over a keyboard's built-in "demo" track, with (generally off-key) choruses sung every now and then. Because Willis was mentally ill, it was hard to be sure how to take him or his music -- was it... READ ON