And while I’m here, Lifehacker recently pointed me to RainyMood.com. On a whim I pushed play and then, after about an hour of interneting, realized it was still on. Super job of drowning out ambient noise.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This has been a woolie posting.

Puter Piano and Outside Rain

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This has been a woolie posting.

Four Dollars of Elvis

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This has been a woolie posting.

Silent Night by House of Heroes

A couple months back, I came across Dewey (via Waxy, Feb 2, 2009). It offers a new, web-two-ohee method of navigating the music available at Archive.org. I wanted something to listen to at work and so started looking for some familiar names. I eventually stumbled on some Guster shows.

All my knowledge of Guster consists of two songs: Amsterdam and I’ve Got To Be Clean. Amsterdam got decent airplay however long ago that was, but the only reason I noticed that was because of I’ve Got To Be Clean. This was, by far, my favorite song on the first For the Kids CD that came out in 2002. I listened to it a lot. My daughter and I have listened to it a lot. When you listen to that CD, it’s just impossible not to gravitate to that song as the funnest, catchiest tune on there. And so I always had “Guster” stuck in my head as a band I needed to check out. Amsterdam hit my radar later, but it didn’t catch my interest and so Guster slipped away.

Back at my Dewey browsing, I somewhat randomly decided to download a 2007 Boston show. And It Is Awesome. I have listened to it on my crappy laptop speakers at work many, many times. It’s just been addictive.

So of course now I have to get some of their albums. I think once a month (gotta budget!) I’m going to download one. Last week I downloaded Ganging Up On The Sun from Amazon. And It Is Awesome.

Next month will be Keep It Together, mainly because it has both Diane and Come Downstairs And Say Hello, two of my favorites from the show I downloaded. (Here’s a Seeqpod link to Diane, give it a listen. It Is Awesome.).

All that to say, I really can’t believe it’s only now that I’m enjoying their music.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This has been a woolie posting.

I Missed the Guster Boat

The epic Sea Lion was intended to be a world music album, but reverb and psychedelic pop crept in to create a unique mixture of exotic sounds, accomplished with an impressive array of instruments—from steel-string ukulele to djembe drums to pots and pans, all set upon a cozy cushion of synths and cassette samples.

I can’t wait to listen to some of these songs with my daughter during the morning ride to school. Did you listen to “Tane Mahuta”?! How’s that for starting your day!

I just remembered how I found this, so for posterity:

Waxy Links for September 25, 2008 —> Shrub —> Shrub Example

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This has been a woolie posting.

The Ruby Suns

Snowboarding is one of my absolute favorite things to do (living in the deep south, though, makes it an extreme rarity). The music is groovy with a french flavor. The sound of the boards slicing through the powder is soothing. The occasional name display is a nice touch as well. And clocking in at just over a minute makes it the perfect quick pick-me-up.

Happy August Everyone!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This has been a woolie posting.

Your Daily Random Snowboarder Stranger

Where’s My Jetpack? has a novel approach: Google News.

Just scan the headlines and pick that which rocks the hardest. Looks like if you need some cover art, Jetpacks might be able to whip something up right nice too.

Here’s some great names I came up with using my locally filtered news:

• Summer Reading Program
• Tough Times For Tow Trucks
• Baked Peaches with Raspberries
• Salute to an urban general

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This has been a woolie posting.

Band Name Book

You are the only thing in any room you’re ever in

Guy Garvey is a fantastic lyricist. The above is from Elbow’s most recent release, The Seldom Seen Kid. The song is Starlings, and its the first on the CD.

If I had to pick one for you to listen to, though, it would be One Day Like This. Listen to it and tell me it doesn’t force your senses to perk up.

‘Cause holy cow I love your eyes. And only now I see the light. Lying with you half awake. Stumbling over what to say. Well anyway, it’s looking like a beautiful day. So throw those curtains wide. One day like this a year would see me right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This has been a woolie posting.

Recent Elbow

one at at SubPop (content)

and one at Stereogum (content)

Update: I’ve since purchased the CD, and it’s awesome. Highly recommend. Twice now its served as the “house music” playing in the background of an early summer evening dinner chez moi and the family.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This has been a woolie posting.

White Winter Hymnal by Fleet Foxes

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This has been a woolie posting.

Thom Yorke on All Songs Considered

An Auburn alumn commissioned two prominent songwriters out of New York, Robert Allen and Al Stillman, to create the song. From Auburn’s school paper:

Allen began writing music in 1952. It was two years after that prominent Auburn alumnus Roy B. Sewell sought out what he considered the best of the big-city songwriters — Allen and Stillman — and commissioned them to write a song “to express the spirit which has sparked the Tigers’ amazing football comeback.”

Sewell, who called it “a peach of song,” presented it as a gift to the Auburn Alumni Association.

Of course, Sewell assumed that having paid for the song, it belonged to him. And I would guess by giving it as a gift, further assumed it would belong to the university. From the Marketplace story:

In fact, the songwriters retained the rights. They then sold the rights on to a music publisher. Fifty years later, Carlin America bought them.

Here’s the Carlin America site. For some reason, “War Eagle” doesn’t show up in their search or in their list of all songs owned. Which is odd since the collection of fight songs they purchased makes them $100,000 a year. But I don’t feel too bad for Auburn:

The school makes more than $2 million a year licensing everything from barbecues to Christmas ornaments.

And don’t forget bottle openers!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This has been a woolie posting.

Fight Songs

The most prominent example is Imogen Heap, someone who I, at least, had not heard of since a cassingle was mailed to me in 1998. But Heap’s song “Hide and Seek” soundtracked the final moments of the OC’s second season, the slot occupied a year before by a full rendition of Buckey’s “Hallelujah.” This pairing was so successful that, for the finale of season three, the final moments were accompanied, once again, by Heap, this time covering –and, to be clear, I am not shitting you–”Hallelujah.” This is the point where the OC consumes itself whole, and it is a sickeningly gorgeous thing to watch.

(And by the way, if you’ve never watched it but plan to start, there’s a nice spoiler buried about ten paragraphs into the “Afterward”).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This has been a woolie posting.

History of Hallelujah

Of course, DRM sticks itself out like a big red flag, and you know what that mean! Its time to head over to BoingBoing to see what Cory Doctorow has to say about all this (which I’m sure will be very interesting). So, free and legal PtoP music? I’m sorta excited.

UDATE: whoops!

Qtrax touted in a press release Sunday morning that it was the first Internet file-swapping service to be “fully embraced by the music industry,” and boasted it would carry up to 30 million tracks from “all the major labels.”

New York-based Warner Music undermined that claim, declaring in a statement that it “has not authorized the use of our content on Qtrax’s recently announced service.”

Universal Music Group and EMI Group PLC later confirmed they did not have licensing deals in place with Qtrax, noting discussions were still ongoing. A call to Sony BMG Music Entertainment was not immediately returned.

Looks like it was just a PR stunt to show just how many page hits it could generate (presumably as evidence to the labels).

[Qtrax] released a statement Monday touting all the attention the stunt has garnered, and claiming that the labels continue to support it in some sort of general, unmentionable way.

The statement mentions 61,000 unique visitors per hour. So I guess it worked? Of course, once you’ve attracted all those people with what amounts to a big, fat lie, you might want to have some songs ready:

A quick test Monday revealed that the songs listed in Qtrax’s slick, Songbird-based interface cannot be downloaded, putting the service in more or less the same holding pattern it’s been in for four and a half years: waiting for label approval.

Isn’t there a truth in advertising law that covers this type of thing? Maybe a press release doesn’t count. Does making the announcement in France make a difference? I would guess it would only matter where their headquarters are located (i.e. to whom to they pay their taxes). Oh well. I have to admit that if they do manage to strike a deal with all (or most) of the labels, I’d still give the service a shot. I’m also much more likely to try any competitors that show-up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This has been a woolie posting.

Now Available on the Free and Legal Menu

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This has been a woolie posting.

TMBG 123s

Many musicians have understood that all they need to make a (very good) living is to have 10,000 fans. 10,000 people who look forward to the next record, who are willing to trek out to the next concert. Add 7 fans a day and you’re done in 5 years. Set for life. A life making music for your fans, not finding fans for your music.
[emphasis mine]

Lesson number four from Seth Godin’s “Music Lessons”.

That last bit is something beautiful I tell you. It’s such a minor detail that means so much.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This has been a woolie posting.

For my 10,000 fans

It wasn’t too long before I owned a couple of their CDs (A Night at the Opera and Innuendo). I really don’t remember how long that love lasted, but eventually (as all things new and musical) the listenings dwindled to “few and far between”. However, through a confluence of recent events, they are back on my playlist. I’ve really got to find my other two Queen CDs,

There is an unbelievably fun song by Mika named Grace Kelly (#2). For the first couple months of the current school year, while driving my oldest daughter to first grade, we would listen to it at least once (often twice), singing along with extreme enthusiasm. There is a line in the song referencing Freddie Mercury:

I try to be like Grace Kelly
But all her looks were too sad
So I try a little Freddie
I’ve gone identity mad!

(from lyricsdir.com)

Following the word “Freddie” he gives a little “MmmMmm”. He also belts out a very Freddie-esque “Hey!”. Well, I tried explaining to my daughter about this reference but, you know, that kind of thing isn’t really seven year-old type of information. More recently though, she heard We Will Rock You (not sure where) and loved it. So one night I looked up some Queen songs on Seeqpod (which, by the way, is how I’m embedding the song references below) and we listened to a bunch and had a great time. I reminded her of the Mika song and its Freddie reference and I think maybe she got it. My wife witnessed much of the partying to the music and so, on Christmas morning, guess what she gave me? Queen Greatest Hits I & II (a double CD of I and II).

It’s the first CD to make it to my car’s player in a long while, replacing (however temporarily) the now standard NPR programs and local sports talk. I am now remembering how cool their music was, and am realizing just how many great, well-known songs they had. Disc II has a few songs that wouldn’t personally make my top list, but there are just so many great others that it’s still worth getting, even if you have to hit skip a few times.

Now I really need to find my other two Queen CDs, especially A Night at the Opera. Have you ever heard ‘39(#3) or Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon(#4)? You should. Listen below.

Songs:
1. Bohemian Rhapsody(back up)

  

2. Grace Kelly(back up)

  

3. ‘39(back up)

  

4. Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon(back up)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This has been a woolie posting.

Queen Comeback