Wednesday, September 30, 2009

NEW RELEASE OF THE DAY! 9-30-09

In celebration of another Liam Hayes & Plush record existing in a form we the listeners can access and hear for ourselves (Plush's new record BRIGHT PENNY can be purchased now!), here is the new video for the equally new Liam Hayes and Plush song "White Telescope". The video was directed by Roman Coppola.... yes, THAT Roman Coppola.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

ODD PAIRING OF THE DAY! 9-29-09

The Jesus Lizard profiled on ABC News? I didn't see this coming....

Friday, September 25, 2009

LUDDITE OF THE DAY!! 9-25-09

Forget your precious Xerox machines, scanners, and capturing software. You must kick it old school. Duty now for the past!
(thanks to Sue for this link!)

Pictorial Webster's: Inspiration to Completion from John Carrera on Vimeo.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

ANIMATION OF THE DAY! 9-24-09

Artist Blu is at it again... amazing! I saw this on DRAWN! today. His MUTO animation was my first exposure to his work... totally great.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

EBAY OF THE DAY! 9-23-09

Here you have about the cleanest Clavioline I have ever seen. Either this thing has lived the past 50 years in a zip lock baggy untouched in the back of a closet or the seller used about a gallon of Armor-All cleaning it to like-new appearance. Either way, this is a must have! The Clavioline is a monophonic tube keyboard instrument that was created in the 50's as a way for piano players to 'solo'. The design was as such so that one would attached this instrument to the bottom of a piano keyboard with the keys part sticking out as an extra layer of keys to play. They came neatly house in the back of their own speaker cabinates.... so handy! I recently picked up a Solovox (Hammond's version) that came in a handmade hobo-box with girly pictures decorating the inside. Nice. These were widely used by folks such as Sun Ra, the Beatles, and perhaps most famously Del Shannon on "Runaway". So what are you waitng for? BUY IT NOW!!

Monday, September 21, 2009

VIEW OF THE DAY! 9-21-09

Here is one of many of these on YouTube... the SUSHI-EYE-VEIW... you can imagine YOU are the plate of tamago or unari circling the Sushi-Go-Round... eyeing all the hungry people that may at any moment grab you and eat you and throw your plate on their stack..

Saturday, September 19, 2009

BAND/DRUMMER/VIDEO/SONG OF THE DAY! 9-19-09

Deerhoof is a constant source of inspiration. From their idiosyncratic arrangements to their prog-tempered-with-pop tendencies to their obvious joy they all experience and exude when they play to their amazing drummer... I mean, these folks don't disappoint! Their live show will leave you full of warm and confused feelings... while you head for Craig's List to sell your drum set... It was hard to pick which song to present from their great appearance on Juan's Basement (from Pitchfork.com/tv), so here is the most fun.

Friday, September 18, 2009

LESSON OF THE DAY! 9-18-09

So you want to learn how dance, eh? Who better to teach you than Soul Brother #1, Mr. Dynomite, the amazing Mr. Please Please himself... The haaaardest working man in show-business.... ladies and gentlemen, the star of the show! James Brown!!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

EBAY FIND OF THE DAY! 9-16-09

Before iPhones, digital records, reel to reels, cassette recorders, record cutters, and those cute recordable birthday cards, if you wanted to record sound you used a wire recorder. As the name implies, magnetic steel wire was used as the recording medium rather than tape. Originally made around the turn of the century (no, no, that other one) these devices gained popularity in the '30's and '40's... until magnetic tape become the standard. These turn up from time to time on eBay... they all look amazing... often very deco looking like an old Buick... but here is one I have not ever seen before.... a pocket sized wire recorder! Wow! Look at the tiny little spools on top! Crazy! BUY IT NOW!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

VIDEO OF THE DAY! 9-15-09

The Peddlers were a british band playing in the mid-60's... Their sound fell somewhere between Cream and Tom Jones.... ok, ok, throw a little Blood, Sweet, and Tears in too... Here is their version of Elmer Bernstein & Hal David's 'Walk on the Wild Side', the title song for the 1962 movie... what a performance!

Monday, September 14, 2009

VIDEO OF THE DAY! 9-14-09

Ah! One of my favorites covering one of my other favorites! Here is Azita (Drag City) on a little home-made video owning her own version of Neil Young's "Don't Let it Bring You Down" from his After the Gold Rush LP. Her newest record "How Will You?" is available from Drag City... you should buy it if you haven't already.

Friday, September 11, 2009

SHREDS OF THE DAY! 9-11-09

StSanders is the original 'shreds' guy on YouTube.... his art is taking videos (mostly of inflated rock bands) and re-dubbing with his own somewhat believable yet completely hilarious new soundtracks. There is one that is Slash taking a solo at a live show... so good! Then there was the Yo-Yo Ma string quartet playing free and out at the Inauguration... priceless! Kiss whistling over their hard rock ho-down... brings tears to my eyes! Here, though might be his crowning achievement... The Stones' START ME UP! Empty your bladder before viewing... (some of the embeddings were disabled so just follow the links to each)

Thursday, September 10, 2009

INSTRUMENT OF THE DAY! 9-10-09

The amazing SONOVOX would amplify music into one's mouth then come out as you moved your mouth to talk.... This devise predated the talkbox and vocoder by decades. Here is a great video from the 1940 film "You'll Find Out" which shows some musical uses of the Sonovox. The instrument was used a lot with classic radio jingles and IDs too... the most famous creators being PAMS ("W-L-S... music radio.... CHICAGO!") in Dallas Texas who created station IDs for stations nation wide from the 1950's all the way thru the 1970's. Another classic Sonovox use worth seeking out is the 1947 Capital record Sparky's Magic Piano, a children's record where the Sonovox becomes the scary, spooky voice of a haunted piano.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

EBAY ITEM OF THE DAY! 9-9-09

From one of my favorite eBay sellers comes this amazing STANDUP ACCORDION! I know, what in the world would have led to the manufacturing of such a thing? I have no ideas. All I know is it is beautiful. BUY IT NOW!

CORRECTION: This auction is for the stand only... the actual standup accordion is long gone... Oh well... it was still great to see it and know it exists.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

INSTRUMENTAL TRACK OF THE DAY! 9-5-09

Nashville's answer to burning, cohesive studio bands like LA's Wrecking Crew and Detroit's Funk Brothers and Memphis' Mar-Keys was Area Code 615 (name taken from Nashville's actual areacode). This was a group of studio musicians that were Nashville's cream of the crop...first chair... the A team. They played on thousands of recordings by as many artists... most famously with Bob Dylan (Nashville Skyline, Blonde on Blonde). Drummer Kenny Buttrey went on to also play in the Stray Gators, Neil Young's band on Harvest and later Harvest Moon as well as playing with George Harrison, Donavan, and on Dylan's John Wesley Harding record.

Here is their most well know track of their own (they put out two LPs in between sessions under the name Area Code 615) called "Stone Fox Chase" which was used as the theme music for the British music show The Old Grey Whistle Test.

Friday, September 4, 2009

YOUTUBER OF THE DAY! 9-4-09

The break-up of the fine fine Chicago band the M's (Polyvinyl) has thankfully given birth to even more music to love and cherish. Here is a link to the YouTube page for 123 Clap, a project that involves three or four M's along with other temporary co-conspirators. The plan is they all bring their laptops with webcams... and they all meet up without knowing the song they will be recording that night. After quickly working up that night's song, they press record while all the cams are capturing the live, one shot recording. THEN they mix the track and edit between all the webcams for these great, homespun videos. Fresh. Immediate. Spontaneous. I love it! The name 123 Clap refers to how they sync up all cameras with the recording.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

VIDEO OF THE DAY! 9-2-09

This one comes from Workshop composer Ethan Stoller... It's Socalled's video for "You Are Never Alone". Holy crap! Totally mindbending. SEE THE VIDEO HERE (they disabled the embedding video function for this video for some reason...).