"There's a time in life for Hoagy Carmichael. There's a time in life for Claude Debussy. There's a time in life for Jerry Lee Lewis. There's a time in life for Destiny's Child. All these things have their moment." ~Elvis Costello
15 Apr 2012 Leave a comment
in General Posts Tags: congo, kinshasa, orchestra
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7404678n&tag=contentBody%3bstoryMediaBox
60 Minutes’ remarkable story of the Symphonic Orchestra Kimbanguiste, an orchestra unlike any you’ve seen.
Travelling on foot 90 minutes each way to rehearse six days a week on a salvaged instrument to prepare for an unpaid performance…these people feel the joy of music a little more than most of us. Inspiring stuff.
14 Apr 2012 Leave a comment
Last week Madonna’s latest album, MDNA, conquered the Billboard albums chart by selling 359,000 copies in its first week. Those sales figures were goosed quite a bit by CDs being bundled with concert tickets for Madonna’s upcoming tour, a practice that allowed Prince’s Musicology to go platinum back in 2004. About half of Madonna’s first-week sales, or 185,000 records, came from being sold as part of a ticket package.
As MDNA heads into its second week, the album appears headed for a major tumble, with Forbes reporting that sales dropped a whopping 88 percent, down to 46,000 copies. That’s the biggest second-week drop ever, a tumble that’s been attributed to the album’s lack of successful singles and Madonna’s limited promotion via TV appearances and live shows. [via Rolling Stone]
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Not a big fan of manipulating chart and sales performance with gimmicks such as bundling album sales with concert tickets. It muddies the waters forever after in terms of determining what was truly the most popular music of a given time. Madonna’s concert tickets are still a hot item, so there is still demand for her live performance. The precipitous drop of the second, unbundled week’s album sales, however, suggests fans are buying the tickets to see her perform older material, and the public have responded to her latest work with disinterest. As much as she tries to fight slipping into irrelevance (she seems, pathetically, to be going for a younger image with every new photo and video I see) she’s slowly becoming an oldies act. She ain’t the Beach Boys just yet, but neither is she any threat to Rihanna or Ke$ha at this point, either.
14 Apr 2012 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: buildings and mountains, republic tigers
The Republic Tigers: “Buildings & Mountains” (2008)
Kansas City indie band Republic Tigers are one to watch. Like the Shins they make atmospheric and melodic pop with fairly complex arrangements and interesting textures. Their melodies are consistently inventive enough to grow on you over repeated listens–this isn’t throwaway pop.
Their music has been featured on several prime time network TV series including Grey’s Anatomy. Their second full-length release is expected in 2012 and I expect a captivating listen.
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/04/12/songs-you-may-have-missed-389/
See also: Songs You May Have Missed #679 | Every Moment Has A Song (edcyphers.com)
14 Apr 2012 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: amy farris, anyway
Amy Farris: “Anyway” (2004)
A singer-songwriter/violinist who recorded her only solo album in 2004. She committed suicide in 2009 at age 40.
14 Apr 2012 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: cars and parties, edith frost
Edith Frost: “Cars and Parties” (2001)
Quoting Wikipedia: Edith Frost is an American singer-songwriter who describes her music as “pensive countrified psychedelia”.
And now, if you listen to “Cars and Parties” you’ll know as much about her as I do. Nice song, though.
13 Apr 2012 Leave a comment
How many of your favorite singers or bands passed on or broke up without giving you closure? How many chances have you had to see an artist knowing with certainty it would be for the last time?
I know performers can be pretty Brett Favre about these things. Ozzie did a farewell tour years ago, then returned almost immediately with the “Retirement Sucks Tour”.
But of all your favorite artists from the past, who would you most like to see again if they offered “The Goodbye Tour”?
I know I’ll be there May 20th, and will take along my father too, in spirit–to thank Glen Campbell for a lifetime of great songs and performances. Grateful for the chance to say goodbye.
