It’s been over a month since I last hit iTunes for new music, which is a long time for me. I’m going to be going on a mini buying spree tonight, so I have a simple question for my musically inclined readers: What albums from the last couple of months should I be getting at… Continue reading Pimp Me New Music
Category: Music
Buffalo Tom, LarkFest 2007
One of my favorite underappreciated bands of the mid-90’s is the Boston-based three-piece Buffalo Tom. They got a little bit of play with songs like “Sodajerk” and “Treehouse” (both of which have turned up in commercials, and the former apparently figured prominently in an epsidoe of “My So-Called Life”), but they had a string of… Continue reading Buffalo Tom, LarkFest 2007
Arithmetic and Music
Taking a break from all this physics, I thought I’d talk a little about music and some related mathematical coincidences. One of the fundamental concepts of music is that of consonance and dissonance. Consonant things sound nice when played together and dissonant things do not. For example, if you play two Cs together on a… Continue reading Arithmetic and Music
Pimp Me Some Live Tunes
Since I have control over this blog for a little while (and where is my co-guest blogger anyways?), I figure I ought to use it in my own self-interest. Towards that end, the Austin City Limits music festival is coming up soon, and, as usual, I only recognize a small portion of the bands playing.… Continue reading Pimp Me Some Live Tunes
Jonathan Coulton, Eat Your Heart Out
“Baby Got Back,” Gilbert and Sullivan style: Via bassfingers.
Wave Your Lighters in the Air Like You Truly, Deeply Care
Blogging will continue to be relatively light for the next few weeks, as I’m currently in a sort of Vacation Interregnum– as you can tell from the picture posts, we just got back from the Virgin Islands, and at the end of next week, we’re heading to Japan for three weeks of tourism and Worldcon.… Continue reading Wave Your Lighters in the Air Like You Truly, Deeply Care
Idle Dylan Question
The random pla feature on my iPod coughed up Warren Zevon’s cover of “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” this morning, which got me wondering. I own at least four different versions of that song (Dylan, Clapton, Zevon, G’n’R), and iTunes offers over a hundred different versions (not counting the twenty-odd different takes by Dylan himself). There… Continue reading Idle Dylan Question
Science Rock
“Darkmatter,” Andrew Bird “21st Century (Digital Boy),” Bad Religion “Some Fantastic,” Barenaked Ladies “Desolation Row,” Bob Dylan “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” Bonnie Tyler “Gravity Fails,” the Bottle Rockets “Protons, Neutrons, Electrons,” The Cat Empire “Alien,” Chris Whitley “Under the Milky Way,” the Church “White Russian Galaxy,” the Crimea “Ziggy Stardust,” David Bowie “Monkey to… Continue reading Science Rock
Remake Poll 2: Covering Collins
Another pop-culture question for the audience: Jason Hare, in the course of recapping a Top Ten from 1985 makes a shrewd observation: “Sussudio” was a damn catchy song in 1985 and while nobody will admit to liking it now, I guarantee you that once an indie band covers it, Stereogum will lose their shit. So,… Continue reading Remake Poll 2: Covering Collins
Why Go to Concerts?
An insane audiophile of my acquaintance recently remarked (in a locked LiveJournal, otherwise I’d link to it) that while live classical music is clearly superior to recorded classical music, it’s crazy to go to a live performance of pop music because “you’re not hearing actual instruments/voices, you’re hearing them miked and amplified through speakers just… Continue reading Why Go to Concerts?