They are just a band
This music video from Dan Le Sac VS Scroobius Pip for the song “Thou Shalt always Kill” struck me as being catchy and thoughtful. It is a guide to life in modern day England for the music hipster. I love the litany of bands at the 1:30 mark.
The Beatles 3000
Sometimes history adds perspective, and sometimes it adds Scottie Pippen.
Weird Al Helps Explain Auto-Tune
Rocketboom continues their series of Know Your Meme with special guest Weird Al, explaining the tired musical trend using a software treatment called auto-tune, which corrects a singer’s pitch and makes them sound like a robot. From Wired.
Girls Rock North Carolina
Last week Grace attended Girls Rock NC. The girls were put in bands at the beginning of the week, and they chose a band name, wrote a song, made posters, t-shirts, learned instruments, practiced their song, and made rock zines. She had a great time. This is a tremendously empowering experience for these young girls. Below is the video of Grace’s band in an extra performance. Tonight she performs at Cat’s Cradle, a well-known indie rock club in Carrboro.
Here are photos from the last day of camp rehearsal and here are photos from the Pittsboro show.
Musical Protection
There is something infectious about this song that makes me want to listen to it over and over. I am not normally a fan of dance music, but I really dig the beat. I am also not a big fan of the message, either, and I can chalk that up to being a parent, or maybe just leading a relatively boring life. But there is one redeeming feature that is actually a product placement. Trojan condoms took the unusual step and paid to be included in this video by Cobra Starship, featuring Gossip Girl, Leighton Meester.
According to an article in the NY Daily News, “even though Trojan is a regular advertiser on cable channels such as MTV, Comedy Central and Spike, Jim Daniels, vice president of marketing for the brand, said he is frustrated with restrictions the major broadcast networks continue to place on condom ads. ‘We have these media barriers, and so we are looking for ways to broaden our reach,’ Daniels said. ‘If this is effective, we will look at doing more of it.’ ”
This is one more instance of the blurring of entertainment and advertising due to the fragmentation and dissolution of mass media. Bands can’t get their music heard, so they license it to advertisers for use in commercials, and now brands are paying musicians to feature products in their videos so they can reach the band’s audience.
(Hat tip to Brand Freak)
Wilco Will Love You Baby
Photo by Spencer Tweedy
This week the new Wilco album came out and as a fan of the band for many years, I figured one post to compile lots of information and links would be required. The above photo was taken by Jeff Tweedy’s 14 year old son, while the family was on vacation in Los Angeles. They were there of course because Wilco was playing 3 sold out shows and his family travels whenever possible.
Also while in LA, the band appeared on the Conan O’Brien show. The day after the show, a clip was available on line. It has since been removed. People actually found my post when Wilco appeared on Conan from 3 years ago while searching for the new clip. Alas, that clip has been removed from YouTube as well.
I like the new album, but I need to listen to it more. I’m not going to break it down song by song, as I don’t do CD reviews. Plenty of others do that, and the reviews are easy to find (I have linked to one below). Not only did I not pre-order the CD from the band as I usually do, but I did not even purchase a CD. I bought the MP3s from Amazon on the day of release. It just doesn’t make sense to buy a piece of plastic for one time use (copy the songs to my hard drive).
Some links:
Album review from Aquarium Drunkard music blog (takes it’s name from Wilco lyric)
New York Times article about Jeff and the band where Jeff Tweedy reveals he wishes he was like David Lee Roth.
Some Questions for Jeff Tweedy from New York Times Magazine where he calls out Barack Obama for ipodgate.
Interview with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy on WBEZ Chicago
Weird Al Sings about Craigslist
Weird Al has managed to stay relevant for nearly 30 years. The above song is a classic example of his talent. He captures both the essence of Craigslist and all its silliness with the over the top performance style of Jim Morrison of the Doors. The song features original Doors member Ray Manzarek on keyboards, adding that distinct organ sound to the song.
The Bain Project
The Bain Project was a site specific artwork created in the deserted and decommissioned waterworks plant south of downtown Raleigh. In the late 1930s, as Raleigh was growing, the city built a new plant to handle the water needs of the area. Here’s a link to historic information about the Bain Waterworks. This artwork project combined found objects in the plant, organic materials like branches and grass with a deteriorating industrial building. I was more interested in photographing the aging machinery and peeling paint than in the artwork, but some it made interesting photographs.
Here are the rest of my photos on Flickr and here are photos from other local photographers.
One of the most creative endeavors was a musical piece played by creating sounds on the building itself. A plant buzzer sounded, and a corps of white-coated employees marched down the main aisle and took their positions in the water holding tanks. They proceeded to shake, shudder and pound out the sounds of a working plant. Here’s some video of the piece.
The Tarantino Mixtape
The Tarantino Mixtape from Eclectic Method on Vimeo.
If you are a fan of Quentin Tarantino’s film, this video is a classic mixtape of songs from his movies, but the visuals mix the movies up with split screens, jump cuts and sliding boxes to highlight similar themes and shots from the director of Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs.
TMBG’s Ana Ng
Ana Ng Typographic video from Jason Yates on Vimeo.
Here’s a cool video with animated lyrics of the They Might Be Giants song Ana Ng. Hat tip to Stef in Raleigh for posting it on her blog.