Have you heard the one about the narcissistic scientist who was in love with his own clone? At karaoke he'd sing "When I Think About Me, I F*** Myself".
What?
I'm just trying to set things up so that you understand why I find this video about a Mega Man 2 ROM Hack so damned funny...
Okay, well that would've been what I was going to post if I hadn't flaked out and forgotten which video it was that I wanted to talk about it. But trust me, it was funny!
Actually, it is just as well that I can't find that video as it would fit in better with a discussion of Let's Plays that I had an idea for earlier today. We won't be talking about that, either, because I decided to read another LP rather than gather material for a post.
Fret not however, as I have a plan! Or at least, filler. I give you an epic My Little Pony AMV!
Yes. My Little Pony.
What? Did I stutter?
My.
Little.
Pony.
Because Friendship IS Magic, bitches.
Honestly, if after watching it you don't find that video even a little bit awesome, then you and I can't be friends.
This song came on a friend's iPod just a bare handful of minutes ago, and intrigued by what I heard I looked it up on Youtube. Musically, Big Pink has a keen grasp of what makes a great pop hook, but I regret that the lyricism of the track does not carry through on the promise of the music. So rather than be an incredible pop song, it has to settle for merely being a great pop song. And one that I just added to my collection.
However, that is all beside the point. The point, is drummer Akiko Matsuura. In addition to providing some killer percussion, she is also the source of the plaintive wail that underscores chorus of Dominos. And she looks great doing it!
Asian? Check. Beautiful? Check. Musician? Check. Member of four different bands, and obviously badass? Ch-check!
Have you ever heard one of those songs that sounds instantly familiar the first time you hear it? Something about the music calls to that dormant portion of your soul that remains hidden from your conscious mind, and the lyrics speak of age-dimmed events that you see only in the clarity of your dreams?
Yeah, poetic wanking aside, Shearwater's Castaways is one such song. I have been listening to it on repeat for the past fifteen minutes and I keep hearing something new in Jonathan Meigburg's vocals. I am not entirely sure that I appreciate the rest of their music the same way, but just based on this one song I know will be attending their show on May 2nd.
You can also download this song for free from the Matador website, here.
Oh man, what do I have to do to make you people read my blog?! Three visits in two days? I mean, come on! Okay, so "It's Good to Have Dreams" was rather weak, and I did skip out on yesterday, but "YiEMB - Re-Covered" was brilliant! So why aren't people beating down my blog to read my genius!
What? What do you mean I need to promote myself? Isn't that what you, my faithful readers are for- oh, right. I don't actually have any regular readers; this blog is the internet-enabled equivalent of talking to a wall.
Well, with that little ego-check out of the way, let's continue on! When I did the last YiEMB I forgot to mention that part of the inspiration came from an All Songs Considered blog post about the best covers of 2009. And there are some good ones in there! Despite my dislike of his personal religion I have to admit that Beck makes great music, and his cover of the Velvet Underground's "Sunday Morning" is really great. Also really good is Thom Yorke's cover of Miracle Legion's "All for the Best". The video alone is enough to break your heart, but reading the backstory will make you cry.
Shifting gears, I need to vent about something, and that would be people who will unwrap a new roll of toilet paper, but won't actually put it on the spindle. Really, folks? Are you really so f*@&ing lazy, or just so f#*@ing busy, that you can't take the extra fifteen seconds to pull the old roll off and replace it with the new one? No, you aren't. You're just idiots.
Uh, what else? What else? Really, uh ... crap. I got nothing else.
Yes, I know I did one of these last Saturday night. Originally this was going to be a once-a-week thing, but... My blog. My rules. YiEMB's whenever they strike my fancy.
In this case, I was doing research for post about how my one of my nicknames is "Uncle", and the different usages that word has in culture. A post I fully intend to still do, but while looking on Youtube for a good version of Vienna Teng's (much seems to lead back to her, doesn't it) 'Say Uncle", I came across her covering Sting's "Fields of Gold". That reminded me of the Pearl Jam cover of "Baba O'Riley" that my friend Robin had shown me, which then inspired this YiEMB. And since simply doing a competent knock-off of a popular item is rarely ever enough to ensure success, I I tried to include ones where the artist took the song and made it their own.
Sadly, the audio on VT's cover of "Fields of Gold" was borderline awful, so it did not get included in this list. However, the late, and much lamented, Eva Cassidy did a brilliant cover and that is what starts us off today. Rather than turn this into an Eva Cassidy tribute YiEMB, I will merely suggest you go listen to her covers of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "Time After Time"; truly haunting stuff.
Since her version of "Fields of Gold" didn't make the list I had to find something by VT that I could include, and much to my joy, I found a video of her cover of Damien Rice's "Cannonball". I think I've heard Rice's version once, and I have to say that much prefer VT's rendition as I find Rice's voice to be annoying to no end.
I saw Pearl jam perform "Baba O'Riley" in the late summer of '92 when the Lalapalooza Festival stopped in Orlando that year. To this day it stands out in my mind a perfect example of great cover! However, that isn't the song I decided to include here. It is, in fact, their cover of Pete Townsend's "Let My Love Open the Door" that I mentioned earlier.
So why didn't I include Pearl Jam's cover of Baba O'Riley on this list? Because I came across the Blue Man Group's version first, and just had to include it. I would love to see this live. Oh, and that is Tracy Bonham on vocals. You might remember her from this song, or this one. Ah, Angry Women of the 90's, where did you all go? Hm, maybe that should be my next YiEMB; a then-and-now look into Tracy Bonham, Alanis MoreUpset, Joan Osborne, and others.
Finally, there is this gem by Pain - a cover of a little known ELO (to any but us ELO fanatics) song called "Here is the News". Compare Pain's version to the original, and you can hear how faithful it is while also being it's own beast. Where Jeff Lynne's vocals are weary and suspicious of the future to come, Pain's are full of cynicism and bitterness of the future that has arrived.
I have this awesome idea for a video for this song. All I need is a helmet cam; my skis; an ability to ski powder; an avi shovel; a probe; a beacon; first tracks on Flagstaff, Main Chute, Highboy, Patsy Marley, Suicide Chute, and Superior; a helicopter for ariel footage; video editing software; a sweet MacBook Pro to run it on; and the actual skill to use the software. Once I have all that, I'll be good to go.
Crap, I really thought I'd have something more to talk about tonight, but as of this moment I do not. I will say that I am pretty pleased with my progress in this venture. As of now, I am at 16 posts in fifteen days (this will be #17), not counting my introductory post. Of course, half won is only half done and all that rot, and the halfway point is generally where motivation starts to flag and attention wanders.
Heh. Dar Williams is classified as Country. Just thought that was funny. By the way, her live album, Live at Bearsville Theater is quite good.
Oh bloody hell! I had a follow-on from Dar Williams that would have segued right into something else about music, but after fruitlessly cursing at my wireless connection for five minutes I have forgotten it. And it was a good one, too.
Oh well, instead have a live version of one of my favorite Dave Alvin songs, Fourth of July.
I first heard this song in college when a friend's band played it. The song stuck with me after college, but it wasn't until I heard King of California on Live at the World Cafe years later and went looking for it that I realized they were by the same man, and indeed, on the same album.
I love his voice. It has a rich, vibrant warmth that really brings to life his songs, and reminds me of my all-time favorite musician, Stan Rogers. Man, i could do an entire post on Stan Rogers and what his music means to me. But you know, that would require... effort.
I know I've used Vienna Teng in other YiEMB's (include the previous one), but fuck it, I saw her this evening in Park City and she is more than worth a YiEMB all to herself. Now, Youtube is ful of fan-made videos for her songs, but I wanted to feature Vienna Teng, and not some little wanker's Naruto AMV set to one of her songs. As such all but the first video are from VT's official Youtube Channel and are of her performing live. The first video? Well, that is a beautifully done professional video that features a lushly beautiful VT in a starkly beautiful locale. How could I not include it?
So please, enjoy...
"Gravity" is off of Vienna's first album Waking Hour, and is about two people who cannot seem to leave each other despite what is best for them.
Next up is "In Another Life" off of her newest album, Inland Territory. Really, the title says all.
Then we have a very early recording of her performing one my favorite tracks of hers, "My Medea", of off her second album, Warm Strangers. A dark song, but one that doesn't drag you down into the the shade along with it.
Batting fourth in the line-up is "Whatever You Want", from Vienna's third album. Inspired by Enron and AIG, it is a cautionary tale to those who would be kings of commerce.
Fifth and final is a song about fidelity, "Love Turns Forty", also from Dreaming Through the Noise.
Truly, if you ever have the opportunity to see Vienna Teng perform live, you should not hesitate and take it. She is a consummate artist and perform. Warm and funny, she puts her all into her art, and it shows.
Ouch. I got all of 2 hits yesterday, but only one of them was from that last article. And I was so certain that it was genius, too! I mean "gratuitous pantry shots"? C'mon, that was worth a least a chuckle, wasn't it? A titter? A weak smile?
Feh. Fine, so once more my genius goes unrecognized by the rest of the world. I'd like to say that I had something on tap for today that would blow your mind and make up for the disaster from yesterday, but I don't. All I have is a strong desire to go to sleep, a new video game, and new snow tires. Oh, and a deep, deep loathing for commercial radio.
Only those last two are actually related.
See, I needed to get some snowshoes for my little Mountain Hare, and I had been putting off getting them because I needed a specific adapter for four of my lug nuts that I did not have. Why did my brand new car not come with it? I can only speculate, but I have been fortunate in that I did not suffer a flat in the last year. I was also fortunate in that I didn't slide off the road last winter due to not having snow tires.
Well, today I decided to finally do something about both the adapter and the tires, and so I went to the nearest dealership to purchase the part I needed. After the Parts Manager dug through my car to verify that it was indeed missing, he went to his computer to order the part. And this is what he said to me, and I quote this line verbatim;
"Oh, you're not going to like this."
No, I didn't much like it, at least, not right away. See the manufacturer of my car had realized how @#^ing stupid it was to have locking lug nuts on a modern car, so they have been phasing them out of all new cars, and the particular adapter I needed was no longer being sold. However, he told me, I could order a $65 kit that came with four NEW locking lug nuts, and a brand new adapter!...but I would still need to have the Service Department use their master key to take out my old lug nuts and replace them with new ones.
So what does this have to do with my newfound appreciation of Hell? Well, my displeasure was evident in both my face and tone as I whined about needing to get snow tires on the next day, and that is when the Parts Manager pointed out that they carried snow tires. When he showed them to me I realized that they were selling a set of 4 General Altimax (rated by Consumer Reports as being second only to the Michelin X-Ice for Winter Driving Conditions), for about $50-$70 less than I had been quoted by the place where I usually get my tires. Plus, the Service Manager told me that they would pull the locking lugs and replace them with standard lugs at no cost! So, I agreed then and there to purchase the tires and have them mounted and balanced. Taking my laptop bag in hand, I went up to the "Business Lounge" and took advantage of the free wireless while I waited for my car to be ready.
And that is when I entered into Hell.
For you see, the dealership - a bright, brittle, manufactured image of idealized commercial convenience that is anathema to sane humans to begin with - had a large stereo sound system on the upper floor where I was seated, and it was playing 97.1KZHT Salt Lake's Home for all the Hit Music! Apparently "Hit Music" means "we Autotuned the shite of it!", because I don't think I heard one song that hadn't been tainted by that by-blow of the digital mixing revolution.
Now, I've suffered through listening to this tripe before, but this time was different. This time I couldn't get up and walk away. I couldn't leave; change the station; or assault random people until they turned it off. And it is only now, as I type this, that I realize I had my headphones in my laptop bag, and could have very easily used them and not have had to suffer through Miley Cyrus aborting her newest song into my eardrums.
I am such an idiot. I didn't have to suffer through nearly to hours of Autotuned ear-buggery. I didn't have to, but I did.
Well, my own stupidity aside, my suffering did provide a valuable insight to me that I wish to share. In the middle of bemoaning my anguish I realized that Autotune is in the same position that synthesizers were in during the the 80's. Both have received maulings form critics for propping up talentless wankers, but as synthesizers eventually matured and found their place in music, I predict so too shall Autotune. Once the novelty of making someone like Cher sound less like a robot (and someone like Miley Cyrus sound more like Cher), wears off, then we will see Autotune finally come into its own and be accepted as a legitimate tool for musicians.
There are already glimpses of what it can do, and how its dark power can be harnessed for Good of all Mankind. The best example that I can think of is Imogen Heap's "Hide & Seek". Her voice, already soulful and otherworldly, takes on a new edge with Autotune, and the song really manages to strike a deep chord, moreso because of the electronic manipulation.
Sometimes, the things scientists do are just so cool that they make me laugh out loud. This web-based appfrom JAXA (Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency) uses the topological data collected by their Kayuga Lunar Orbiter to create music, much the same way a record player reads the ridges on a LP.
I was just going through the Youtube playlists I've put together for YiEMB, and it is heartbreaking to see how many videos have been pulled down because the copyright owners have such a dim view of free advertising. Well, I wonder how long it will be until the three videos featured today are made to vanish!
The first song is "Ghosts" by newcomer Laura Marling, a young musician whose vocals and lyrics jumped out at me while listening to the SXSW wrap-up show. Following her is Bat for Lashes performing her single "Sleep Alone" live on Later...with Jools Holland. Eerie and beautiful, Bat for Lashes (real name Natasha Khan) has a voice whose ethereal quality lends itself vocalizing the dark fantasies in everyone's souls. Lastly there is Somalia-born rapper K'naan with his ode to his homeland, "Soobax". I just downloaded his album "The Dusty Foot Philosopher" from eMusic, and man, is it good!
While I am not much of a fan of Hulu for a variety of inconsequential reasons (not the least of which is that there is shite to watch on TV anway), and I certainly do not foresee great things coming of Jimmy Fallon's ascension to late night talk show stardom, I have to say that this clip of Paul Simon backed by Late Night's house band The Roots, with Antibalas on horns, performing "Late in the Evening", justifies the existence of both.
How long until this beautiful thing is destroyed by small-minded people too concerned with the illusion of control and money? Seeqpod is a multimedia search engine that focuses solely on music, and uses some heavy-duty algorithms to seek connections between disparate items. What this means is that Seeqpod catalogs what music is posted to which websites, and then lists those links for you to listen to in Seeqpod's player.
That isn't really important though. What is important is that using Seeqpod allows you to search out music from across the web, compile it into a playlist, and embed the player in a blog post to share it with a friend! The downside is that should any of those websites get told to pull the music by a short-sighted copyright holder (*cough*Sony/BMG*cough* *cough*Universal Music*coughcough*), those links will die, and the playlist will become broken.
That is a risk I am willing to take, though. So here it is, the first Bureaucracy of One Seeqpod playlist, featuring four songs by folk legend Stan Rogers.
Some 19 year old genius in Australia took sound bites from the Alice in Wonderland movie and remixed them into a trancy-trippy little song that is just mesmerizing! I already downloaded the mp3, and am listening to the other tracks on Last.fm.
I am not repairing. My loss is irreparable. I am not replacing. What I lost is irreplaceable. I am not rebuilding. All that is left is ash and smoke.
No, I am Living, and this blog will document my Life.
But enough pretentious bullshit! I went to see Charlotte Martin last night, and I have pictures! And damn, such a big voice from such a tiny
woman! Reminds me of when I got to see Heather Nova in 2002. There is
another woman whose tiny size belies her beautiful voice.
