Art is the music we make from the bewildered cry of being alive. ~Maria Popova
14 Aug 2021 Leave a comment
in Video of the Week Tags: daydream believer, john stewart, the monkees
14 Aug 2021 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: ghost, life eternal
Ghost: “Life Eternal” (2018)
Sweden’s Ghost inhabit–haunt, really–a world of their own on the musical landscape. Inspired by Alice Cooper’s sense of the theatrical, Opeth’s dark vibe, Dio and BOC’s riffs, and ABBA’s songwriting, Ghost create their own uniquely creepy stew of something I want to call Halloween Rock.
The final track of 2018’s Prequelle LP is a ballad, and stands alone as such, even if a listen to what precedes it–a bombastic metal conceptual album revolving around Europe’s black plague–lends it some dark undertones.
The bell tolls and pipe organ don’t hurt, either.
Ghost’s best work is dark, twisted and creepy. But also beautiful, inspired and thrilling.
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2019/11/23/songs-you-may-have-missed-644/
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2025/12/24/songs-you-may-have-missed-809/
13 Aug 2021 Leave a comment
in General Posts Tags: the midnight special
(Via Culture Sonar) by John Visconti
Before MTV, VH1, or, for that matter, YouTube and Vevo, chances to watch footage of your favorite musicians in action were fairly rare. Sure, bands would occasionally pop up on The Dean Martin Show and Sonny & Cher or lip sync on American Bandstand or Soul Train, but one of the only showcases for live rock was NBC’s weekly late-night series The Midnight Special (1973-81). While there are DVD compilations from the show, frustratingly no easy streaming of the entire series exists. Below are six videos — from the “Legendary Performances” DVD set — suggesting that someone needs to stream these shows in their entirety pronto. Who owns a DVD player nowadays?
Read more: https://www.culturesonar.com/midnight-special/?mc_cid=630faa8ece&mc_eid=754259b4e6
12 Aug 2021 Leave a comment
in General Posts Tags: michael jackson
Photograph: Rex Features
At the 2014 “debut” of the new/old Michael Jackson song “Love Never Felt So Good”, most people heard the Jackson/Paul Anka composition for the first time.
The re-worked 1983 demo then appeared on Jackson’s poshumously-released Xscape album.
But the song had seen previous release. After Jackson failed to make a finished version of the song in ’83, Anka re-worked the lyrics and sent it to Johnny Mathis, who included it on his 1984 A Special Part of Me album.
The 1984 production of the song bears a strong relemblance to Japanese singer Junko Ohashi’s “I Love You So”, also released that year.
Compare the intros of the two songs.
12 Aug 2021 Leave a comment
in Video of the Week Tags: frank zappa, genius in france, weird al yankovic
This fan-made video made to accompany “Weird Al’ Yankovic’s “Genius in France” only sharpens one’s view of the incredible genius of our greatest and most ambitious song parodist.
His roughly nine-minute Zappa parody hits the bullseye again and again as the veteran comic rocker (with a little help from Dweezil Zappa, who plays the opening guitar solo) nails one idiosynchratic Zappa musical and vocal moment after another.
The second-most amazing thing–after the fact that anyone would bother writing a nine-minute Zappa parody–is that vocally Yankovic singlehandidly parodies the parts of Zappa and various lead and backup singers. Male and Female.
Some speculate that the premise of the song references (allegedly) comic actor Jerry Lewis, whose lowbrow comedic acting was better received in France than in his home country of America. Definitely the type of thing Zappa would have written a song about.
If you’re a fan of Zappa’s work, every ridiculous note of this will prove what a Mother of Invention “Weird Al” Yankovic is.
Genius indeed.
12 Aug 2021 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: alice cooper, hollywood vampires, i got a line on you
Hollywood Vampires: “I Got a Line On You” (2015)
Fittingly, Alice Cooper-fronted supergroup/side project Hollywood Vampires mostly covered dead rockers on their 2015 debut release.
Cooper, guitarist Joe Perry and Johnny Depp form the core of the band, with Cooper’s old pal Bob Ezrin producing and a stupifying list of guest stars dropping by throughout.
Guest vampires include Dave Grohl, Perry Farrell, Sir Paul McCartney, Slash, Joe Walsh, Robbie Krieger, Zak Starkey, Brian Johnson and Kip Winger.
The result is one raucous party of a record, with MC Alice bringing all his multiple vocal personalities to the mic as required to revive the spirits of legends such as Jim Morrison, T.Rex, John Lennon, Harry Nilsson, Badfinger and, on this burner of a track, Spirit’s Randy California.
Sacrilegious as it might sound, this supergroup’s performances might just out-do some of the originals.
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2019/08/24/songs-you-may-have-missed-642/
Every Moment Has A Song 