Art is the music we make from the bewildered cry of being alive. ~Maria Popova
29 May 2012 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: brett dennen, make you crazy
Brett Dennen: “Make You Crazy” (2008)
Brett Dennen’s 2008 album, Hope For the Hopeless got him on Rolling Stone magazine’s Artists to Watch list that year. “Make You Crazy” is pretty indicative of his formula: a unique voice, an appealing, listenable vibe and a message in the music. Dennen would probably appeal to about 87% of Jack Johnson’s fans.
29 May 2012 4 Comments
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: the beatles, yes it is
The Beatles: “Yes It Is” (1965)
“Yes It Is” never appeared on a regular Beatles LP. Issued as the B-side of their #1 “Ticket to Ride” single, the song itself peaked at #46. Only when the Past Masters collections gathered stray tracks which never before had appeared on LP in the U.S. did “Yes It Is” make it on to a long player.
It’s just one more Beatles song that would have been a career highlight for many lesser bands, but was destined for relative obscurity due to the remarkable output of the band both in terms of quality and quantity. Considering their A-sides of 1965 alone (“Eight Days a Week”, “Ticket to Ride”, “Help!”, “Yesterday”, and the double A-sided “We Can Work It Out”/”Day Tripper”) you can’t really make an argument that “Yes It Is” should have supplanted any of them. But it’s a great song nevertheless, featuring wonderful harmonies and one of Lennon’s most plaintive performances in the solo sections.
If you aren’t fifty-something or a Beatles completest, this one may have escaped your attention. But let it serve notice that, Past Masters 1 and 2 included, there really is no such thing as a non-essential Beatles album–with the exception, perhaps, of Yellow Submarine.
28 May 2012 Leave a comment
in General Posts, On a Lighter Note
27 May 2012 3 Comments
in General Posts Tags: cee lo green, daryl hall, i can't go for that, live from daryl's house
Cee Lo Green appeared on a recent webisode of Daryl Hall’s highly recommended Live From Daryl’s House show, performing some of his best songs with Hall’s band as well as a sweet version of Hall’s “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)”.
Check it out here:
27 May 2012 3 Comments
in General Posts Tags: jack white, white stripes
(reprinted from Rolling Stone)
Jack White vented his frustrations with the Guinness Book of World Records in the latest issue of Interview, telling interviewer Buzz Aldrin – yes, the astronaut – that their ruling body rejected his submission of a White Stripes concert in 2007 consisting of only one note as the shortest gig in history.
“There’s nothing scientific about what they do. They just have an office full of people who decide what is a record and what isn’t,” says White. “Most of the records in there – who has the biggest collection of salt-and-pepper shakers or whatever – are just whatever they want them to be. So with something like the shortest concert of all time, they didn’t think whatever we did was interesting enough to make it a record.”
Officials at the Guinness Book explained their case to the NME, saying that while they acknowledged the White Stripes in the 2009 edition, it resulted in an onslaught of applications from other bands, which made them realize that “the nature of competing to make something the ‘shortest’ by its very nature triviali[z]es the activity being carried out.”
White isn’t giving up on the Guinness Book. In a statement released last night, the rocker announced plans to attempt to break the world record for most metaphors in a single concert on his tour in support of his new solo album Blunderbuss. The language of White’s press release is very snippy, noting that “White and Third Man Records are certain that the extremely scientific and intricate analysis of the metaphors that occur will be examined in accordance with Guinness‘ usually very thorough methods probably, or at the very least if somebody answers the phone at the pub.
“Third Man Records encourages all attendees of said concerts to please not interfere or interject with any metaphors that they witness occur during the show as to not disqualify or worse yet, trivialize the metaphor in question,” the statement continues. “In addition all concert attendees are encouraged to entice as many metaphors to occur during the show that they possibly can as long as they don’t endanger themselves or Mr. White.”
27 May 2012 2 Comments
Talk about leaving ’em wanting more. The White Stripes played this concert, consisting of a single note, in 2007 and left the crowd chanting, “one more note!”
Jack White was upset when the Guinness Book of World Records failed to recognize it as the shortest concert of all time, leading to another attempt at establishing a record (see story above).
Every Moment Has A Song 