… is currently what I believe to be the Best Song EverTM. Excerpt:
And I bet she likes dogs and would never hurt a creature
She’d snowboard so high that I almost couldn’t reach her
She’d never tell a lie and she’d leave her friends to be with me
Posts Tagged ‘Music’
“She Looks Like” by Ten Foot Pole
Monday, July 2nd, 2007Mark Knopfler Mondegreen
Friday, June 29th, 2007A mondegreen is a misheard phrase; the canonical example is probably “‘Scuse me while I kiss this guy”, a mishearing of “‘Scuse me while I kiss the sky” from Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze.”
Anyway, my boss Jess thought that in the Mark Knopfler song “Hill Farmer’s Blues” (from The Ragpicker’s Dream), the narrator proclaims “I’m goin’ into town, LOL.” The actual lyric, apparently, is “I’m goin’ into Tow law.” But I think the mondegreen is better.
Back From the Bo-Zone / inside
Wednesday, January 17th, 2007Just got back from Bozeman a few hours ago. Jesse, AJo, Andy, Cullen and I went there to check out how their ResNet program compares to our DirectConnect program. It was informative, despite the fact that we spent twice as long traveling (eight hours) as we did doing what we came there to do (four hours). They’ve got complete control of their network (we don’t), so they can do stuff like VLAN switching and bandwidth control much easier than we can. Their web-based tools aren’t as pretty as ours, however. This is a result of my design-first, code-second philosophy.
We stayed at the Western Heritage Inn, which sounds like a front for a white power group (“Free racist mint on every pillow!”). We all played Mario Kart 64 until the wee hours of the morn; this includes my boss Jesse, which pretty much makes him the coolest boss ever.
On an altogether unrelated note, last weekend I finished vocals for inside, the new record that I’ve been working on for two years. Tracks:
- I Miss You – slow, moody homesickness song.
- This Could Be Any Day – uptempo piano pop with strings.
- Fret – a worried dirge.
- Temperamental – frenetic song about changing moods at the drop of a hat.
- Mary’s Plea – A synth-folk number about abortion.
- Jenny Lewis Will Never Go Out With You – The name says it all. Power pop.
- Here There Be Monsters – A riff-heavy song with horns and strings.
- Let’s Get Away – Lolling folk about hitting the road, Jack.
- Written Off – An angry folk song about cowardly homophobes.
- Soap – A peppy song about a shower (more philosophical than prurient)
- Torn – A synthy yet rocky song with beats.
- Polarize – Quasi-raggae horn-infused polemic.
- Glut of Food – Synthy
- The Highway – Folk-rock about Interstate 90.
It sounds pretty good. I’ll probably have CDPrintExpress run up copies again, considering the fantastic job they did on Pick Your Poison. I also have plans in the works for an EP by Page Fault, my hardcore pet project. It’s an EP called Two Minute Hate.
But first, I plan to record some B-side vocals over the weekend while I’m visiting my parents. A country song about finding god (“Lifted Up”) is first on my list. I haven’t really found him (perhaps he’s hiding under the covers), but I find songs like it beautiful. I would also like to re-record the vocals for “Synth Pop” (not its final title), a former album cut for inside but now relegated to B-side status. I might also do a ‘stripped’ version of “Written Off”, with just vocals and acoustic guitar.
Nightmare Before Christmas Special Edition – Danny Elfman et al
Tuesday, October 24th, 2006Nightmare Before Christmas – Four and a Half Stars
Bonus Material – One and a Half Stars
I was eagerly awaiting this record, because The Nightmare Before Christmas is my favorite animated movie, and its soundtrack is one of my favorites, too. I’m a big fan of both Danny Elfman and Tim Burton. Plus its release date seemed perfect: a week before Halloween, a week to get me psyched.
What a letdown. Now don’t get me wrong — I absolutely love the first disc, which is just the soundtrack from the original movie (which I already own). I’m talking about the special material. Another reason I was anticipating this album so fervently was that it had rock bands doing covers of some of its songs, as well as demo versions of songs sung by Danny Elfman. The demos are illuminating and entertaining. Most of the songs from the rock bands, however, are not. With the exception of Marilyn Manson’s and Fiona Apple’s contributions, those are the worst songs on the disc. Since there are so few of them, I’ll go over them one-by-one.
Marilyn Manson – “This is Halloween”
Manson’s cover of “Blitzkrieg Bop” on the We’re a Happy Family Ramones compilation totally mangled the song. He doesn’t do that here, although I think his touch would have been more appropriate on this song, as opposed to the Ramones classic. Basically, manson took his horrortronica and wrapped it around the movie’s opening song. It works, although Manson’s attempts to ‘do the voices’ kind of sucks.
Fiona Apple – “Sally’s Song”
This is definately the song for Fiona Apple to cover, and not because it’s the only female lead vocal in the musical. The reason she’s perfect for it is that it fits her stage personality — brooding, lonely, and longing. It’s a simple piano, drums, bass, and vocals numbers, and it works. I think I even like this version better than Catherine O’Hara’s. Definately the best of the covers.
Fall Out Boy – “What’s This”
Fall Out Boy deserves credit for trying. This version is probably the most altered of all the covers. There are actual electric guitars here, and they do fit into Fall Out Boy’s usual style of music. But it’s not altered enough. I foresaw this version of the song to be, well, a romp, with more energy than the film’s. It comes close. I think I hear a synthesizer in the background — whatsamatter, Fall Out Boy, jealous of Panic! At the Disco?
She Wants Revenge – “Kidnap the Sandy Claws”
What a piece of shit. Elfman’s boistrous melody and tempo are transformed into this steaming, staggering electronic afterbirth of a song. I’m fairly certain the singer hits the same note throughout the whole song. And it goes on for five minutes. I think they may have been trying to convey the ominous danger that Lock, Shock, and Barrel will present to Santa, but that’s not the point of the song. It’s funny because they’re singing so merrily about beating Santa Claus to death. When it’s performed as a psycho techno death jam, it just sucks. This is either the fault of the composer or the interpreter, and I’m pretty certain I know which one it is. Way to ruin my favorite song from the movie, assholes.
Panic! At the Disco – “This is Halloween”
This version is too much like the film’s, down to the voices and instrumentation. These songs are supposed to be covers from rock bands, right? I’d love to hear either a synthesizer, ‘phat beat’, or electric guitar, guys.
The demos, on the other hand, are some of the best material on the bonus disc. They’re not simple voice-and-piano demos (like on the Little Shop of Horrors revival soundtrack), they’re fully fleshed out. There are alternate verses and extra bits that didn’t make it to the film. Some of the songs (like “Making Christmas”) go on a bit too long, but the point of a demo is to find out what works and what doesn’t, and to cut where appropriate.
To add insult to injury, I had to buy the entire record off of iTunes; I couldn’t get just the new material. I wouldn’t feel so slighted if I had only paid for the new stuff. So I can’t even recommend just getting the demos and the covers from Apple and Manson. I guess you can always rip or BitTorrent, however…
oooooooOOOOOOOOOO….
Sunday, October 22nd, 2006
In case you were wondering, like Doctor Girlfriend, whether Klaus Nomi was from the future or what, here he is in his plastic tuxedo (“All but ze bow-tie!”).
Missoula Sold Its Soul (For Adult Contemporary)
Friday, October 6th, 2006Well, the Rolling Stones are finally gone, having sucked the life out of our great city Wednesday night. They turned our quiet little campus into a madhouse of 40-somethings looking to recapture that ineffable feeling of youth and 18-somethings screaming “I can’t get no sa-tis-fac-shun!” out of their dorm rooms and reminding those 40-somethings that, hey, it’s okay to be old. Everybody was grabbing for a piece of the pie, and nobody’s hands were greedier than our very own University. It’s not enough to wash our credibility down the drain by signing an exclusive contract with ‘Killer’ Coke, they now sell our campus down the drain, too, just so some geriatric old fucks can waltz in here, play a few songs they penned 40 years ago, and make off with all our money and most of our pride, to boot.
From what I can tell from the reviews I’ve read, the Stones managed to do what everyone expected — they played a lot of hits, one or two new songs to remind us that yes, they’re still making records, and fire off a lot of fireworks to distract us. From what? From the maddening realization that the Stones hadn’t written a song that was actually relevent in two score years. It was all part of the show, the six story stage, the roaring spotlights, the old chestnuts, not new to anybody’s ears in decades, and we all suspended disbelief. Where the hell was the emotion? Somehow, these dangerous boys, who had the gall to declare their Sympathy for the Devil, were nothing short of… familiar. It’s hard to seem dangerous when half your audience is made up of people who have to be up at 7:30 A.M. so they can drop their kids off at school.
The emotion died a long time ago, along with the danger. It’s been replaced with glitz, with 70 tractor trailers and a six-story stage. It’s been replaced with 20,000 screaming fans, not screaming because they might share a moment with Mick or Keef, but screaming for the sake of… screaming. Real rock ‘n roll died a long time ago, certainly before I was born, and even the fringes — punk rock and death metal, for example — are gasping for air. It’s not rebellious anymore. It’s packaged. It’s merchandised. It’s $80 tickets. It’s 70 tractor trailers. It’s withered old farts, appealing to something they helped create, but not letting sleeping dogs lie, making a joke of the very thing they helped to create.
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