Monday, March 29, 2010

Video Game Reminiscent

I've had Vampire Weekend's "Horchata"---off their most recent album, Contra---stuck in my head since yesterday.  After verse 1, however, I completely lose the tune to the subconscious takeover of Super Mario 3's Underground theme.  Listen to "Horchata," and at 0:21 you'll see why.  Now I'm working in Garageband to produce a mashup.  Having never used the program before, it's taking a lot longer than I'd like, but I'll get through it.  I'm always mashing up songs in my head, or with my roomie (we have completely different repertoires, so when one of us starts singing a tune, the other will join in with a similar but completely different song).  I hope to produce a great number of mashups for FoP posting in the future, so I figure this is a good time to start.

There's another song that takes me back to my days of Super Nintendo funtimes, and that's Omarion's "Ice Box."  Have a quick listen to the intro:



Sound familiar?  Try this on for size (it gets really obvious at 0:59):



Yes, that's Donkey Kong Country's Underwater theme, "Aquatic Ambience," by David Wise & Robin Beanland.

Please post comments if you have more!

Friday, March 12, 2010

Snack Your Eyes 2

Romantic dreams via stop-motion genius:



Oren Lavie's "Her Morning Elegance"

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Snack Your Eyes

I stumbled across this video on an art blog, and I fell in love.  The band, Hold Your Horses, is one I hadn't heard of before, so I can't comment on their repertoire quite yet.  This song, "70 Million," has nothing spectacularly new in the sound.  Still, it is upbeat & enjoyable, as is the video.  Vibrant with color, and humorous in its portrayals of these known pieces, the video, by L'Ogre Productions, is wonderful eye-candy:



If you need help placing some of the pieces featured in the video, see here!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Spring is Coming 2!

Louis follow up:



Say Israel Kamakawiwo'ole 3 times fast.  It's too much fun.  As is this song.  Kamakawiwo'ole has an equally heart-warming, sunshiny sound to put a rainbow in the sky and a smile on your face.  And there is ukelele.

Spring is coming!

And I say to myself...



Louis Armstrong is the greatest.  Ey Satchmo!  Get in my pocket.  The man warms my soul through my eardrums.  I'm really saying "I love you."

Monday, March 1, 2010

Perkins on Tour Again!



Elvis perkins in Dearland made me nervous at their Music Hall of Williamsburg show in December when Perkins said it was their last show of the tour, and they weren't sure when they'd be going on tour again.  It was a major relief when I received an email with a handful of Spring dates.  Perkins (sans Dearland) is joining Norah Jones on tour!   The man is shooting upward at an alarming pace that concerns my wallet.  Last summer I saw him with Dearland for $3.  Last year the band went for ~$15.  Soon tickets with Perkins' name on it will be going for $30-40.  I'm calling it, so keep an eye out.  You'll be able to tell how far they've come by the increase of stage size and location next time they play Bonnaroo or the Newport Folk Fest, etc.

The rest of Perkins' spring dates WILL include his Dearland mates (whose instrumentation and general energy adds a great epic-osity to Perkins' already mind-blowing goodness).  In addition to two NYC dates for the entirety that is EPID, the band will also be playing the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival weekend.  The festival's lineup is comprised of an insanely massive list of great talent that includes Simon & Garfunkel.... Enough said. 

Mar 20 Chicago Theatre w/Norah Jones Chicago, IL (Elvis solo)
April 23 Bell House w/Dawn Landes Brooklyn, NY
April 24 Bell House w/TBD Brooklyn, NY
April 30 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival NO, LA
Ticket Link: http://www.nojazzfest.com/tickets/
May 06 Saenger Theatre w/Norah Jones Mobile, AL (Elvis solo)
May 08 Orpheum Theatre w/Norah Jones Memphis, TN (Elvis solo)
May 09 Alabama Theatre w/Norah Jones Birmingham, AL (Elvis solo)
May 11 Thomas Wolfe Aud w/Norah Jones Asheville, NC (Elvis solo)
May 12 Ovens Auditorium w/Norah Jones Charlotte, NC (Elvis solo)

Wildbirds & Peacedrums LIVE



I saw the Swedish duo live Friday night at the intimate Bowery venue, Mercury Lounge.

The show was opened by the Loom, an enjoyable crew that sounded like a mix between the night's headliner and Beirut (at least when it comes to the trumpet's definition in their tuneage). I can see how their stuff could be really great, altho the sound levels were poorly mixed at the show, and there appeared an occasional dissonance from some of the instrumentation as well. Regardless, they're definitely worth a listen.

As for the main attraction: Mariam Wallentin's voice does things that Mariah Carey probably wished she could do when she was at her vocal best (you may think I exaggerate, or you may think "apples and oranges," but I certainly prefer one to the other). Her sometimes smoky, sometimes smooth, always incredibly-ranged voice-box jumps around like an absurdly graceful jackrabbit, simultaneously sabotaging you emotionally with unexpectedly long and wonderfully placed pauses. Same goes for Wallentin's husband and drummer bandmate, Andreas Werliin. His rhythms violated all kinds of expectations, calming at one moment, and exploding the next, suddenly changing tempo while the audience wonders how the couple could collaborate on such avante-gardely timed music. Their internal clocks must have been linked like those interactive Tamagotchi Connection pets, reading the sheet music in the other's souls, following some soundless metronome connecting their hearts. Ok, too much, I know. But I couldn't get over it. How did they know when to play off of each other in such a destructured song? Miriam probably just told Andreas to wait a long time in silence before coming back in, but I like the tamagotchi idea better (for a number of reasons, including my romantic soul as well as my "you know you grew up in the 90s when..." nostalgia. It's Aaaaaaall Thaaat!).

And I must mention the instrumentation. Other than Miriam's vocals & the vocal fx put on it, the harmonica is the only non-percussive instrument on the stage, making a single appearance the entire night. Granted there are some pre-recorded backing tracks, but there is an unbelievable excellence in the barely-melodic (when at all) instrumentation of this music still refreshing your soul, sending out calming energy. What a paradox: the stage being wholly comprised of percussion, and the breaks and changes in tempo promising theorists that the music will be incapable of being followed. It should induce anxiety, but instead the notes of the steel drum pair with the brushing of the snare to take you to a dreamy rainforest in which you can hear the music of giant raindrops softly bursting on leaves and branches, high and low, washing away your troubles and revealing the beauty of the world in its most natural state. Both heavy and uplifting, it washes away any negative auras as a heavy rain, theoretically bleak, washes away the dirt and disgust, leaving rainbows and fresh smells and the sparkle of morning dew.

Ok, enough romanticism. I know this post got a little out of hand, but now that I've calmed down, please take me seriously when I say it really would benefit you to catch them live.