what a day that was: 2007.12

From NPR.org: A mostly-holiday mix from All Songs Considered.

A couple interesting inclusions in this odd selection of tunes. I guess that's why it's called All Songs Considered.

Around 1:28-1:38 Bing has a couple of "What the fuck am I doing?" moments, but puts all his reservations aside and slays the perennial holiday classic with the Thin White Duke himself. By slay I mean that no one ever needs to do this song again. Ever. "What about a band who wants to liven up a show during the holiday season with a cover?" Stand there and put the CD on. Don't say anything, don't play anything. Just stand there and shut up. Probably the only Xmas song I can hear more than once during the season and not feel like smashing the speakers to bits.

Links:

Saw this for the first time: Bowie sings ""Heroes"" on the same holiday special. He puts his mime training to good use here, by making love to himself in-between his own face(s). This would be cooler if it wasn't basically a rip off of the promotional video for the single.

Spoof of Bowie & Bing from This Hour Has 22 Minutes

Presidential rocks!

From boingboing:

George W. Bush sings R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"

George H.W. Bush sings Queen's "We Will Rock You"

The actors change, but the play is the same. It's stunning to think about how little things have actually changed in the past 15-20 years, despite the obvious technological advancements.

It's freaky, but I like it

Justin Timberlake - Lovestoned (Justice Remix) [Hype Machine]

2007-12-21

Born to pun

Reborn to run [Eye Weekly]

Helps explain the recent resurgence of The Boss.

2007-12-20

Neon lights a Nobel prize

Well played, CBC: Rock Band shortages sure to anger gamers.

"...disappointed and angry rock-star wannabes..."
"...bungle..."
"...total crap shoot..."
"...French-packaging requirements..."

The Bret Michaels Band is a bonus track. There were definitely a few people laughing when they signed off on this game. The inclusion of the Stone Roses almost makes it not-so-laughable. Almost.

Society continues to set record lows:
"The newest trend in nightclubs: guitaraoke" [CBC In Depth]

Real Guitar Hero chasers:

Some 200 Greatest Rock Guitar Albums
Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced? [audio CD, Toronto Public Library]
Neil Young - Decade [audio CD, Toronto Public Library]
Led Zeppelin - II [audio CD, Toronto Public Library]

2007-12-17

Our tracks are better than your tracks

It's that time of the year. The time where we take a moment or two to reflect on the year that was, the good times that were had, and all the life-changing songs we missed. But, thanks to the modern marriage of pop journalism and the web, you'll never miss a hip track again in your life. Or else.

Any 'best of' list you read this year will be best enjoyed with Hype Machine open in another tab.

Top 50 tracks of '07 [Pitchfork]
Top 50 tracks of '07 [Stylus]

Don't forget about the always hilarious Metacritic. Their 'Top Albums' list is of the organic sort. It could be different next week.

2007-12-16

Capitalist Hippie Complex

Always entertaining, and one of the best 'year-end' articles published in the music biz:
The A.V. Club's Worst Band Names of '07

2007-12-07

Ten days of perfect tunes

The Knife - Heartbeats - Live

See also: José González version

Winter is officially here... and that means it's the season in which the music of The Knife is best enjoyed. José González is a Swedish singer-songwriter who made a name for himself covering the original "Heartbeats" by The Knife. Whether consciously or not, the band's live rendition takes the song in a similar direction. The album cut, from Deep Cuts, carries the dark introspection of the lyrics upon an electro-pop cloud to the heavens.
González's cover version reached #9 on the UK chart, while the only chart the Knife's version cracked was the Swedish chart - peaking at #54.

Links:

The Knife [official site]
The Knife [myspace]

File under: O, Orwell

From boingboing.net:

This is the best chance we will ever have to make our feelings known about the Canadian DMCA.

I, on the other hand, am looking forward to the coming Draconian copyright laws, and welcome our new ~~evil~~ American-owned music corpoglomerate conquerors with open arms.

2007-12-06

The Harder They Come

Jimmy Cliff plays Ivanhoe Martin, the original gun-toting, drug-dealing, revenge-extracting, desperately destructive -- and self destructive -- musician/gangster (or gangster/musician). The Harder They Come is a tragic opera, a story of crime and street life in 70s' Kingston, Jamaica. The template for every wannabe -- and otherwise -- gangster/musician (or gangster/musician) since.

While the musical soundtrack is excellent, the audio restoration leaves something to be desired. The ADR is laughably sloppy in places, and the foley & other re-created sounds should have been left alone. Certainly the film didn't have a high budget, but there's so much nostalgia in all the blips, pops, crackles, and electrical hum that make up the rich aural tapestry of the source tape. Damn you, Criterion Collection. Damn you.

Things to watch for: Cliff with perpetually bloodshot eyes, and a couple other things. I'm not a spoiler.

Links:

The Harder They Come [imdb.com]
The Harder They Come (audio CD) [Toronto Public Library]
The Harder They Come (DVD) [Toronto Public Library]

Also:
Midnight Movies - From the Margin to the Mainstream [Wikipedia]