Last night, somehow the topic of the Yip Yip’s from Sesame Street came up while Scott, Natalie and I were having dinner. Naturally, this led to us watching several Yip Yip skits. Next was Bert and Ernie. Then came Statler and Waldorf. Following this, I came across some commercials from the 60’s that Henson created.
What you get is a seemingly early incarnation of Kermit inflicting some seriously over-the-top violence upon a pear-shaped muppet that sounds similar to Rowlf. I’m amazed at the level of violence that Henson was able to get away with, even if they were only muppets.
Naturally, the commercials were a huge success. Henson himself theorized, “Till then, [advertising] agencies believed that the hard sell was the only way to get their message over on television. We took a very different approach. We tried to sell things by making people laugh.” And it worked.
So just last week Greg asked if I had anything in the works for “Stuck on Repeat.” I confessed to him that, while I had been listening to music quite regularly due to my new job allowing for plenty of ipod time, there was nothing getting repeated play. Then this week, while listening to NPR’s “All Songs Considered” at said job, this song came up. When it was finished, as you might guess, I proceeded to listen to it several times more.
Grizzly Bear is a pretty hot-shit band right now. Many people would throw “indie” in there, but I think when you’re new album, Veckatimest, debuts at #8 on the Billboard charts, you kind of lose that adjective. Sorry dudes.
Anyway, it’s the perfect track to pull me out of this musical funk. I love that it’s such a simple song. Essentially propelled by a constant plinking of a few piano/Rhodes notes and countered by a stuttering rhythm section that has to wait until the choruses to fully join in. I’m somewhat surprised this hasn’t become a summer hit. I believe it’s light, breezy and sing-along-enough to break big. But what do I know.
Oh, and since I don’t even own this album, I can only share the video with you, which is definitely in the running for most unsettling video of the year. But who are we kidding, we all know that DM’s “Wrong” is going to win by a mile!
As most everyone has probably heard by now, John Hughes died yesterday morning of heart attack. I was listening to NPR while driving home from work yesterday and they were discussing the films of John Hughes. I found this strange as Hughes as he had been, though occasionally screenwriting, essentially under the radar. Hoping this meant he might be getting back into directing, I found out at the end of the piece instead of his death. Now, by now means would I say that I’m a huge Hughes fan. In fact, I have probably only seen half of his stuff, but what I have seen, I have enjoyed. Still, having heard his death, I found myself feeling slightly sad. Perhaps sad doesn’t quite describe it, but wistful. And I always find myself with this feeling when artists/musicans/creative-types pass away. Not so much because they’re dead and gone, but more because they will never create anything again. For example, with Michael Jackson even though “Invincible” was terrible and news of recent collaborations with will.i.am and akon would probably be even worse, I still get a little sad that he’ll never produce anything again. And I’ve always been like that. People that I’m a fan of, but haven’t put out anything “good” in quite some time, I still hold out hope that their next project will be good. I realize how naive that sounds, but it’s true. Perhaps part of this is that it’s a reminder for me, not of my own mortality, but more of the limited window I have to be creative.
Anyway, I came across this eulogy for John Hughes that is unique in that it’s from woman whom was penpals with Hughes for several years while she was a teenager. Definitely worth the read.
It just occurred to me the other day that I know more than several people personally who have their own blogs. And while we have a “blog roll” to the right, I have my doubts if very many people actually pay attention to it. So here are some blogs/websites run by some good friends of mine…and if I forgot you and your blog, forgiveness please!
This an off-shoot blog for the Sunday night DJ fest (of the same name) that occurs at the Lift in Des Moines, Ia. They usually, nay, always spin a good mix of stuff and this blog reflects that. They upload tracks straight (and only) from their personal vinyl collection and usually have a few wise words to share on the songs. I like to think of it as a cousin to Greg’s Singles Club feature. WR is made up of John Solarz, Adam Ferry, both of design duo Flatform, Alex Brown, who is the guitarist from influential 80’s hardcore band Gorilla Biscuits, Aaron Omlie, and Nick Lambert. At one time there were rumors that former drummer for Pavement, Bob Nastanovich, might join the crew (no joke!), but so far nothing has become of that.
Beat blog for former producer/programer/dj of Cleo’s Apartment, Jeff Blanchard aka Jazzcop aka The Handsome Prince aka Manned Missles. He just started it up, but he’s already making some headway so it’s definitely something to keep your eye on. Oh yeah, the gent also did an ill remix of “Girl Friday,” which will be included on Quid Pro Quo.
Yeah, I’ve mentioned John’s blog sometime earlier, BUT he pulled up stakes and moved on over to tumblr, so I thought I could redirect you all there. Plus, he hasn’t updated in a few weeks, so I figured this might be the kick in pants needed to post something new.
Good pal Katie has this blog dedicated to all things that inspire here for her own fashion design. This can range from people, places, music, movies, current styles, etc. And you can check out her Etsy account, where all of these influences and inspirations come together. She makes a pretty mean guitar strap.
If you know Patrick Tape Flemming (guitarist/frontman for Poison Control Center, co-owner of the now defunct indie pop label, BiFi, all-around gentlemen), then you pretty much know what you’re getting into with this blog. All sorts of ramblings about pop music, pop culture, and Woody Allen. Much like the man himself, always entertaining and worth a read.
Guided By Voices is a band I should have spent my entire high school career listening to. However, as usual, it wasn’t until my mid-twenties when I finally got into them.
Oh well.
The two tracks that I have been listening to repeatedly are one of the last six tracks on the album. I mention this because those six tracks nearly didn’t make the cut. The big wigs at Matador didn’t care for them, so gave them the ax. Then, they supposedly saw the error of their ways and asked for them to be put back on. So they aren’t listed on the back of the cds. Or so the story goes. Yet, I think most of those six songs are some of the best on Under the Bushes Under the Stars.
Big Boring Wedding is not your typical GBV song. At 3:43, it slowly unfolds (especially when you consider that prior to this album, many GBV songs clocked in under two minutes, and sometimes under one minute). And, as opposed to Pollard’s usual abstract ramblings, he seems to be a little more straight ahead. However, still an ill song.
Sheet Kickers is a little more obvious. Engineered/produced by Steve Albini. So it’s got that Albini drum sound that I love. And the song itself sort of reminds me of early Frank Black. So, in short, you have Sufer Rosa production with Teenager of the Year songwriting. Hooray!
“Your New Twin Sized Bed” by Death Cab for Cutie taken from Narrow Stairs (2008 – Atlantic)
This track randomly came up while listening to my iPod last week while driving either to or from Iowa City (after your fourth or fifth trip in one week, you sort of lose track). Neither this song nor album had I given many listens. But at that moment while cruising along I-80 my ears perked it. Maybe it’s the almost-looped quality of the song. Or the meloncollie synth counter-melody that comes in the 2nd verse. Or maybe how Gibbard nails down what is sometimes the worst part of being single. Regardless, I ended up listening to the track repeatedly on the way from/to Des Moines.
With the introduction of Greg’s second regular feature, ” 70 Aspects of Batman,” it suddenly occurred to me that I was rapidly becoming the least productive member of Beati Paoli on this blog. Lord knows that’s one title I do not want, so I have quickly produced this new column from out of nowhere. I call it “Stuck on Repeat.” It’s a fairly simple concept. I post a song that has recently been getting repeated play on my ipod/itunes/whatever and then I briefly write about it. Easy peasy.
“Loss of God” by Wolves in the Attic, taken from Electronic Hearts (2009 – Mission Freak)
[Full disclosure: I've been practicing a bit with these guys as I will be a fill-in bassist for a few weeks this summer.] “Loss of God,” encompasses everything that I dig about the band and I suppose solid rock music . Plenty of fuzz, riffs/lead lines shooting off in every direciton, and group HEY!’s. Oh yeah and check out the ol’ stop-short (one of my favorite moves in song writing) at the 2:10 mark which nicely sets the stage for everything to come back in and eventually leads to the previously mentioned fuzz, riffs, and HEY!’s. Ryan
Okay, so I just realized earlier this week that April 1st was the 1st birthday for The Noising Machine blog. HOORAY! We’ve made it an entire year. Well, obviously, I missed that date. So instead, I thought I’d post on the one year birthday of my first post. Impressive, ne?
I thought it would be nice to post a brand-new Austria vs. Japan all about the Josef Fritzl trial which wrapped up just a few weeks back. However, after I realized that the entire post I had typed up was deleted, I scraped that idea. Sorry.
Instead, I present you with another blog I started a few months back entitled I’ve Got an 8-Track Mind. It’s just a place I’ve started posting various demos I’ve written. Some new, some old. Some good, some bad. If anything, it’s a way to catalog the stuff I’ve actually recorded and share it with other members of BP for possible induction into the band. Anyway, thought I’d share it. Enjoy.
And Greg, Cecil and I will be on Tony Tarbox’s “Afterschool Special” on 105.1 Channel Q around 4pm today to talk about the show, as well as other things. If radio isn’ t your thing, you can stream it online here.
Ryan
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