beancounters

Pentangle

I was just noodling around with the computer's audio player while I type in some data entry, and I found a radio interview with one of my all-time favorite bands, Pentangle. I recommend giving it a listen.

Fall '04: "Precious" is the new black

Noooooooo!

Somebody stop them!

Singer Celine Dion and celebrated baby photographer Anne Geddes are collaborating on a "Miracle" project which aims at capturing the unbreakable bond of love that exists between a mother and her baby.

The unholy duo of sacchrine cuteness comes together at long last. All they need is a solo by Kenny G., and the horror will be complete.

Hey - let's find a way to get hold of Anne's people, and suggest a photo for her October release:

The Polyphonic Spree - The Quest For The Rest

This is a fascinating promo site for a band, found via Milk and Cookies. It's a game - the object is to reunite the band members, I think. Budget yourself some time to do it properly.

The music itself reminds me of the 70's, watching all those Sid & Marty Kroft kids shows. Imagine "Yellow Submarine" with collaborative efforts by Jon Anderson and the Dead. Groovy!

Tho I did not rock for Death / He kindly rocked for me

Wow! This just in: time changes everything.

ST. LOUIS - Energizer Holdings Inc. is appealing to the rock 'n' roll sensibilities of baby boomers by enlisting 1980s rocker Pat Benatar to boost sales of hearing-aid batteries.

"Our generation has helped shape American culture, especially since we're the first to be raised on rock 'n' roll," Benatar says in a brochure for Energizer's new marketing campaign, "It's Hip to Hear."

No! Tell me she did not just say "It's Hip to Hear"!

"From Aerosmith to the Rolling Stones, our music defines us, but all those years of rockin' are beginning to take a toll," she says.

Wha - ? She makes it sound like that's a bad thing.

I beg your pardon, Pat - er, I mean, Ms. Benatar ma'am, but we didn't go to all the trouble to listen to rock songs and watch rock videos and go to rock concerts and emulate rock rebellion, only to have you rock singers go and change the message now.

Next thing you know, they'll buy the rights to Cake's lyrics, leech all the irony out of them, and use them to hawk Geritol.

Aging black leather and hospital bills / Tattoo removal and dozens of pills / Your liver pays dearly now for youthful magic moments / But rock on completely with some brand new components!

Maxim/Blender's 50 Worst Songs

The Good Reverend has meticulously posted (and annotated) Maxim/Blender's 50 Worst Songs. And Rev's comments are making my sides hurt from laughing.

6. "The Heart of Rock 'n' Roll" - Huey Lewis & the News - 1984 - I, too, thought the heart of rock 'n' roll was Tibetian for many years. Thank God for lyric web sites.

10. "Ebony and Ivory" - Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder - 1982 - This song, like all 1980's Paul McCartney duets, wears real thin after the first few listens. As Dave Barry once asked, "What happened to Paul? Did his brain get taken over by aliens from the planet Twinkie?" Damned good question, Dave.

29. "Breakfast at Tiffany's" - Deep Blue Something - 1995 - This song was the first sign that alternative music died when Kurt Cobain blew his head off.

Welk Shake

This is catchy - that irritating "Milkshake" song has been mixed with a Lawrence Welk arrangement! Feministe has an mp3 available for downloading.

I warn you: if you listen to it a dozen times in a row, like I did, the tune will stick in your head! Day-amn!

songs for dust mites

I am completely enchanted by the sample songs off of Steve Burns' album, here.

You can also hear an MP3 of another song here.

I have to have this!

Everybody, sing along:

We just ordered an album,
We just ordered an album,
We just ordered an album,
Wonder where it is?

O Fortuna With A Spoona

At Kel's site, I found AdTunes, the place that faithfully chronicles where and when popular tunes show up in advertisements.

I note where Carmina Burana's opening number has been busy hawking everything from Pringle's to beer. And I think if the site's search function were properly attuned, I could prove "O Fortuna" has made its way into many film soundtracks too. It is, in point of fact, a highly marketable piece of music. Plus, take my word for it, the rest of "Carmina Burana" rocks, too.

So. Since the work is so popular, and since it has something of a storyline which is full of sex, religion, sex, drinking, sex, and violence (against a goose about to be cooked for dinner), can a screenplay of "Carmina Burana" be far away?

Patsy darling, fire up that word processor!

The world's worst pop song?

Snowball says it's "Copacabana".

Rev. Spork may want to weigh in with "Hot Child in the City". Whups, no - he admits he likes it.

But my vote for worst pop song has to go to Neil Diamond - "Heartlight".

If anybody else has a vote, let's hear it! (The vote, not the song. Please.)

The "fat lady singing" is over!

-- or --

Does my aria look big in this?

[Via Anthony]

Associated Press - 9 March 2004

LONDON (AP) — The Royal Opera House in London canceled a performance by American star soprano Deborah Voigt because of her weight, a spokesman for the prestigious theater said Sunday [7 March].

Voigt had been scheduled to play the lead in a summer production of Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos, but casting director Peter Katona decided that a slimmer singer would be better for the part, spokesman Christopher Millard told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Katona [sic] had selected a black evening dress for the part and believed Voigt would not look right in it, Millard said.

"Normally Ariadne is presented on a stylized Greek island with the singers wearing toga-type clothes, but we wanted to present it in an elegant, modern evening dress," Katona was quoted as telling The Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

Anne Schwanewilms, a more slender but lesser-known soprano, is now to sing the part of Ariadne.

Now this is harsh. The last bastion of freedom from the tyrannies of weight-control is crumbling. Now even the opera world is choosing the waistline over a singer's talent or fame.

Are the days of the zaftig lead soprano over? What's next? Valkyries on the Atk1ns Diet?

PowerPoint art

David Byrne's PowerPoint Art
Musician Uses Business Program for Ironic Avant-Garde Art

Is it really art? I guess it's all in how you look at it. A corellary: it's all in how you present it to the public. If I, a humble civil servant, made a slide like this and inserted it into a normal presentation to industry reps, I assure you, their first reaction would not be to call the National Gallery. ::giggle snort::

My "star" will go on

Celine Dion receives the latest star on the "Hollywood Walk of Fame".

I'd make more disparaging remarks about the true relevence of this particular honor, but Anthony is such a huge fan of Celine's, I'd hate to offend him. :-)

State Worker Blues

This guy calls himself "The Cubicle Cowboy" (and a buncha other nicknames I wish I'd thought of first), and wrote "State Worker Blues" to perform at a charity gig. Pretty cute!

Note: In the lyrics, "Golden One" refers to our credit union. The rest should be clear.

Way to go, Bobby

She defends you to the press, she stands up in court with you, she holds your stash at airports ... so what do you do to repay her? Smack her around? Yeah, hooo-kay.

Goin' to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo

Dang, I've had that song in my head all day now. Drove everybody here nuts, because I only knew a verse and a half! So Goddess Bless The Internet: Here are the lyrics to "Goin' to the Zoo".

Thanks for the warning

From Accuradio, regarding their holiday offering, Accuholidays:

For extra holiday fun, we've also designed several "song-specfic" channels, including one called "Blue and White Christmas" that plays nothing but dozens and dozens of different versions of "Blue Christmas" (including Elvis's) and dozens and dozens of different versions of "White Christmas" (including Bing's)...

Dang, you'd have to really like "Blue Christmas" to tune in to an all-"Blue Christmas" station ... though the act of tuning in would soon cure you of your kindly regard.

I am a Lineman for the County, dammit

Glen Campbell arrested for "extreme drunkenness".

Would you believe this is the same face that sang those cheery country songs you grew up with? Yikes.

Michael Jackson's website

Well, this was considerate of him.

Michael Jackson (the Official Press Room)

For what it's worth, I honestly hope the charges are not true - especially for the sake of the kid involved.

Courtney Love, Mother of the Year

I'm depressed now. I just got an answer to my earlier question about Courtney and little Frances.

Love is battling for custody of Frances Bean in the wake of her Oct. 2 arrest on drug charges. Eight days later, the child was reportedly picked up at school and placed in the care of her grandmother. The paper reports that Frances Bean will move in with a nanny and that Love has been granted regular visits.

Ugh. What a mess. Child custody battles are bad enough when both parties are mature and sober. Throw in a drug-abusing idiot of a mother just for jollies!

Accuradio

If you are able to listen to Internet radio at your desk, I recommend Accuradio. Boffo music! Cool categories!