Music Update!

Last Wednesday was the start of an eleven-day period at the end of which I will have seen in concert, all for the first time:

Dolly Parton (described by Bryan as "the funnest show I have ever seen!" despite the fact that he fell asleep during "9 to 5"). She just turned 70 but you wouldn't know it. More corn than an ethanol plant but a great show from an immensely talented artist and her longtime band.

Bare Naked Ladies

Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark

Howard Jones

(The above three are in a triple bill this Wednesday that I call the "One of These Things is Not Like the Others Tour".)

THE CURE AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN WOOOO!

I'm kind of excited about that last one.

Phil Chevron 1957-2013

Phil Chevron, the longtime guitarist for the Pogues, has died after a recurrence of cancer. His best-known composition is this gem from "If I Should Fall from Grace with God":



Mixed with sorrow at his passing is wonder that Shane McGowan survived him.

R.I.P.

Strings Attached

Apparently this has been out there for a while, but I only just heard it after seeing this piece in the Onion's AV Club, which I recommend highly both for its writing on music, film and TV, as well as for its lively comment threads featuring a pitch-perfect Cookie Monster and the wonderfully-named Ayatollah Colm Meaney.

Without further ado, "Psycho Killer" with a touch of Bernard Herrman:

Potpourri - Now with 50% More Smeagol!

I used to be concerned that no one, not even myself, was blogging here but as long as fine readers like Powaquattsi keep sending me these Silmaril-quality gems I'm fine with that:



I think my favorite part, aside from the sketchbook, is the inability of the performers to keep it together during an ostensibly dramatic section, although Gollum, 500-year-old pro that he is, recovers.

If a Xylophone Plays in the Forest...

...Turns out it makes a lovely sound.



Am I the only one that thinks "xylophone" just looks misspelled? Don't answer that.

The Social Security Checks, They Are Arrivin'

Happy 70th birthday to Bob Dylan, whom JJV has never forgiven for going electric at Newport.

Entirely by coincidence, he was born on the same day Bismarck sank HMS Hood.

Make of that what you will. Folk rock is hell.

Composed This Way

Lady Gaga has been described as a Madonna reboot, but a Facebook friend of mine indicates the roots of her style may run even deeper:



Can "Poker Fugue" be far behind?

Solo, So Low

Tennessee Ernie Ford via the Red Army Choir (no, really):



H/t Lawyers, Guns and Money

Turn Your Head and Complain

In the wake of the passage of Health Care Reform I thought I'd give you an idea of the alternatives for the next steps.

We could adopt a Scandinavian style process:



Or perhaps something modeled along the UK's National Health Service:



As long as vacation time for radiologists is sharply curtailed I could go either way on this.

Is Next, Music

Note the time you bailed out of this in comments.

H/t Russian Navy Blog

Ukelele Explosion

After seeing this post Laura investigated further and found the MySpace page for the ukelele/finger piano duo.

Come for the a-ha, stay for the Johnny Cash:

Appalled O' Creed

Slate paraphrases Gordon Gekko, declaring that Creed is Good. No, I don't buy it either. (No no no, not that Creed - he's awesome in his own way.) It doesn't help that the author draws parallels with Journey's Don't Stop Believin', a truly awful song that resonates with a certain demographic. It's true, I just checked with a mirror.



What better time to revisit Creed than with this Literal Video:



Bonus track!

RIP Les Paul

Read the words.

Check out the music.





Right arm set at 90 degrees after an accident, only two working fingers on his left hand from arthritis, but he played twice a week at a New York jazz club until earlier this year.

Why There Are No Squirrels in Finland

Frequent contributor JWT comes through again with a link to an avant-garde Finnish accordionist. Now, most of you are saying, "OK, Dave, you had me at 'accordionist'" but check out the money quote:

Pohjonen would often climb on top of amplifiers or jump around the stage with his instrument. He has been called "the Hendrix of the accordion" by Finnish musical press due to his stage presence and use of electronic effects such as the wah-wah pedal."

As I noted in an acknowledgment to JWT, I would almost pay money to see a wah-wah pedal used in conjunction with an accordion. But not quite.

Update: JWT helpfully (?) provided the following. I did not listen as it is late and Laura is asleep, but the visuals are compelling. Warning: contains almost 7 minutes of sound.

In Bat-Memoriam

Let us bow our cowled heads to mark the passing of the Batman theme's composer. According to the article it took over a month to compose, most of which time I would guess was spent on the convoluted lyrics.