Favorites from So You Think You Can Dance

As a former dancer/choreographer, I listen to music and often wonder, “What would I do with this if given the opportunity?” And although I’m not currently working in the dance community, it’s always exciting to think of the possible marriages between music and movement. This is why I love the show So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) and think it’s such an important showcase for both choreographers and musicians.

Over the past few years that SYTYCD has been on the air, I’ve discovered and rediscovered some amazing artists, both old and new, whose music has appeared in pieces on the show.  Today’s “Two for Tuesday” selections come from two very different artists and two vastly different dance pieces.

Download #1: “Koop Island Blues” by Koop featuring Ane Brun. Anyone who watches the show will remember Mia Michaels’ infamous “butt dance.” This song makes me feel like I’m in a speakeasy in Paris and gives me an extra dose of sass as I walk through the village to work.

Download #2: “Your Ex-Lover is Dead” by Stars. Travis Wall choreographed a gorgeous contemporary piece last week about lovers who were reunited after a ten-year period apart. It was incredibly moving and expertly danced but it was the song that stayed with me. I downloaded it immediately and have had it on a steady rotation all week long. The lyrics are chillingly familiar but the cello will warm you all over.

Here’s to a most inspired Tuesday!

Não to de mau humor não! É que as vezes não dá!! Vira e mexe eu ouço que a música está em decadência, tudo é pop e que não sai “coisa nova boa” ultimamente. Pra mim isso tem um nome: PREGUIÇA! Claro que se depender das rádios (como vimos no post anterior) estamos ferrados e teremos que apelar pros CDs dos nossos pais ou, até mesmo, pros protetores de ouvidos, mas não precisa! Há muita música boa, ou melhor, música de primeiríssima qualidade por aí. Basta o quê?? Procurar!! eeeeeeee! Pra quem não conhece, existe uma ferramenta chamada internet e nunca foi tão fácil ter acesso à absolutamente TUDO, desde jazz sueco até eletrônico árabe. Olha que eu poderia me utilizar dessa fadiga de todos e falar que o único lugar decente pra conhecer música que restou é o TAOcast, mas não! Tudo pelo bem da música! Inclusive aqui vai alguns dos principais sites dos quais eu pesquiso sons novos. http://drownedinsound.com/ e http://pitchfork.com/. Para jazz, além da internet, recomendo muito a revista DownBeat. Pode parecer cansativo toda essa busca.. Mas o tesouro é mais que satisfatório: Infinita música de primeira.

Here’s my 3rd show, that  looked at the work of dub/ambient/world music pioneer and ex-Public Image Limited bass player, Jah Wobble.

Picture: courtesy 30Hertzrecords

The show is called “From the Other Side of the Mirror” and will be broadcast every Monday at 3pm. You can find KOOP radio at 91.7 Fm in the Austin area, or stream it online at www.koop.org

The idea behind the show is pretty simple. Each week the show will focus on a song, producer, label, musician(s), venue, etc. that has a major influence on music, their fingerprints are everywhere, but are forgotten or under most people’s radar. I will help listeners connect the musical dots. Like a documentary for your ears if you will. I will tell their story and showcase the various music they have created or been involved with.

Subject was Jah Wobble. Playlist is below;

1. Swan Lake – Public Image Limited/2nd Edition
2. Invaders from the Heart – Jah Wobble/The Early Years
3. What Will you Say – Jah Wobble/Without Judgement
4. Visions of You – Jah Wobble/Rising Above Bedlam
5. Hit Me – Jah Wobble/Heaven and Earth
6. Solitude – Jah Wobble/Chinese Dub

So I’ve been neglecting this little blog for about 9 months now… and no it was not due to pregnancy.

Anyway I’m writing to inform that I will be updating at least once per week. Because I was feeling inspired by the bloggers over at largeheartedboy.com I’ve decided to start reading 52 Books in 52 Weeks. Every Sunday I will write a brief amateur review of the book and recommend it… or not recommend it.

As a brief preview for tomorrow, I am currently engrossed in Flowers For Algernon – which I’m almost positive I will recommend, unless the last 30 or so pages I’ve yet to read completely change my mind (which is highly unlikely).

[Insert awkward segue here.]

I’d like to take a moment to explain my current page banner. It is a screen shot from an anime short film called 5 cm per Second. It’s a tale of young love and how that romance eventually fades through the path to adulthood. It’s a really great way to spend a half hour, in my opinion. The animation is top notch, especially since it’s nearly all animated by one man in his independent studio.

Here’s a fan-made music video of the film set to Awakening by Mae :

After seeing Little Dragon the other night it inspired me to put together my dream concert ( if i had money to put it on) here in chicago. It would consist of 3 different parts.

it would be incredible

here’s part 1 of the concert, in play list form

Koop Island Blues- Koop Ft. Ane Brun

Summer Sun- Koop Ft Yukimi Nagano

Cuerpo Y Alma (Body & Soul)

You Keep Me Hangin’ On- Hugh Masekela

La ritournelle- Sebastien Tellier

Sebastien Tellier – Fingers of Steel (Hypnolove Remix)

MSTKRFT- Heartbreaker ft. John Legend

Private- My Secret Lover (Diplo Remix)

A Tribe Called Quest – Bonita Applebum

Until the Next Time
Remember”
GoWithTheFlow

]]> http://fromtheothersideofthemirror.com/2009/11/16/2-koop-radio-show-nov-16-2009/ Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:16:08 +0000 john http://fromtheothersideofthemirror.com/2009/11/16/2-koop-radio-show-nov-16-2009/

Here’s my 2nd show, which was also Part 2 of my look at the life and work of Brian Eno

The show is called “From the Other Side of the Mirror” and will be broadcast every Monday at 3pm. You can find KOOP radio at 91.7 Fm in the Austin area, or stream it online at www.koop.org

The idea behind the show is pretty simple. Each week the show will focus on a song, producer, label, musician(s), venue, etc. that has a major influence on music, their fingerprints are everywhere, but are forgotten or under most people’s radar. I will help listeners connect the musical dots. Like a documentary for your ears if you will. I will tell their story and showcase the various music they have created or been involved with.

Subject was again the inimitable Brian Eno. Playlist is below;

1. Sloppy – Devo
2. i-Zimbra – Talking Heads
3. Cross-Eyed & Painless” – Talking Heads
4. America is Waiting – David Byrne & Brian Eno
5. The Puppet Motel – Laurie Anderson
6. Miss Sarajevo – Passengers
7. Life is Long – David Byrne & Brian Eno

Ok, I know you know this song, it’s not an old one, and it’s a top hit. BUT I have to put it in this blog, since it’s one of the songs I’ve been singing all day long when I first heard it. I love this song.  Compared to their last success Waltz for Koop, Koop Islands combines inspiration by 1930’s swing with an exotic Caribbean touch.

Koop is an electronic jazz duo from Sweden, consisting of Magnus Zingmark and Oscar Simonsson. Koop won a Swedish Grammy Award in 2003, and received a Gold certification for sales of their most recent album, Koop Islands. Their acclaimed, orchestrated sound is achieved by slowly putting together thousands of small clips from records until the songs are ready, which helps explain the long time it takes to make a Koop album. Vocals have been provided by singers such as Cecilia Stalin, Ane Brun, Yukimi Nagano, Hilde Louise Asbjornsen, Rob Gallagher and Mikael Sundin.

Yukimi Nagano

The Swedish music collective, Little Dragon, makes music that is an experimentation in soul, electronica, and jazz. Their sound has the discipline found in a jazz quartet, the heart and emotion of a classic soul singer, and the 21st Century cool of ambient electronic music harken to Esthero’s “Breath From Another” (Listen to LD’s “Place to Belong”). Their music also brings a feeling of liveliness and corkiness. A listen to the track, “Test”, you find yourself bouncing to a whimsical beat that feels like the essence of childhood. Then following “Test”, is an aggressive synth banger called “Wink” about the power of woman’s wink to a fellow trouble by the “day to day”.

The lead vocalist, Yukimi Nagano, is formally of the group Koop and ventured off with her high-school friends Erik Bodin (drums), Fredrik Källgren Wallin (bass), and Håkan Wirenstrand (keyboards) to form Little Dragon. Here’s a new track from their up and coming sophomore project entitled Machine Dreams on Peacefrog Records.

Little Dragon – Blinking Pigs

YouTube Playlist – Little Dragon

Finally made my debut and had my inaugural radio show today on KOOP radio.

The show is called “From the Other Side of the Mirror” and will be broadcast every Monday at 3pm. You can find KOOP radio at 91.7 Fm in the Austin area, or stream it online at www.koop.org

The idea behind the show is pretty simple. Each week the show will focus on a song, producer, label, musician(s), venue, etc. that has a major influence on music, their fingerprints are everywhere, but are forgotten or under most people’s radar. I will help listeners connect the musical dots. Like a documentary for your ears if you will. I will tell their story and showcase the various music they have created or been involved with.

Here’s my debut show, early warts an’ all.

Subject was the inimitable Brian Eno. Set list is below;

1. Virginia Plain – Roxy Music
2. Do the Stand – Roxy Music
3. Third Uncle – Eno
4. Sky Saw – Eno
5. Kings Lead Hat – Eno
6. Boy’s Keep Swinging – David Bowie
7. M386 – Eno

Yukimi Nagano is one if my favorite obsessions. Yukimi is great because of her consistently smooth voice and because of the music she made with progressive Swedish band Koop. I got into Koop after Koop Islands was released in ‘06. It had Jazz, Electronica, and Bossanova influences and was perfectly constructed, I was floored immediately. But there was this female voice all over the album that I couldn’t get out of my head. I found out later that it was the half-Japanese/half-Swedish Yukimi Nagano. A Year later she formed Little Dragon, which has since become one of my top 5 favorite bands.

All the songs here are from Koop
If you want Little Dragon songs
click here

Koop Island Blues Ft. Ane Brun

Wherever there is you

I See a different You

Summer Son

Strange Love

Until the Next Time
Remember”
GoWithTheFlow

]]> http://fromtheothersideofthemirror.com/2009/11/07/my-new-radio-show-begins-monday-nov-9-3pm-on-koop/ Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:58:42 +0000 john http://fromtheothersideofthemirror.com/2009/11/07/my-new-radio-show-begins-monday-nov-9-3pm-on-koop/

Very happy to announce that my new radio show will start in the new winter season on KOOP community radio.

The show is called “From the Other Side of the Mirror” and will be broadcast every Monday at 3pm. You can find KOOP radio at 91.7 Fm in the Austin area, or stream it online at www.koop.org

The idea behind the show is pretty simple. Each week the show will focus on a song, producer, label, musician(s), venue, etc. that has a major influence on music, their fingerprints are everywhere, but are forgotten or under most people’s radar. I will help listeners connect the musical dots. Like a documentary for your ears if you will. I will tell their story and showcase the various music they have created or been involved with.

The first show will showcase one Brian Eno, a man who’s fingerprints are all over some of the most imaginative music in the past 35 years. I hope you will join me.

But wait…there’s more. I’ll also be broadcasting the 1st Sunday of every month between 4 – 5.30pm hosting a show called Up on the Download.

Hope you can tune in one way or the other, and thanks to everyone for your encouragement and support. I know who you are….

After some down time, I was honored to be invited back  to continue  The Tenuous Canadian Connection with the fabulous and laconic Doug G on his show, This Great White North.

This weeks Tenuous Canadian Connection had a regal theme.  Let me know what you think!

Previous Tenuous Canadian Connections can be heard here;

July 31 Show

July 24 Show

July 17 Show

Kurz vor dem Ende des Tages wollen wir euch noch eine neue Rubrik vorstellen; den Minigame-Mittwoch. Hier werden wir euch wöchentlich neue bzw. eigentlich eher alte Spiele präsentieren, die aufgrund ihres Kultstatus’ bereits eine kostenlose Online- oder Download-Auflage bekommen haben.

Den Anfang macht heute Contra, ein Arcade-Shooter aus dem Jahre 1987. Bis 2004 sind schon schon 10 Titel dieser Serie erschienen, allesamt von Konami publiziert und größtenteils auch von ihnen entwickelt. Wer mit dem Namen Contra nichts anfangen kann, wird vielleicht dennoch Probotector kennen. Es hat generell genau das Gleiche zu bieten, aber aufgrund von drohenden Indizierungen wurden die menschlichen Charaktere durch Roboter ersetzt. Contra wird als Vorreiter der seitwärts scrollenden Shooter bezeichnet und läutete somit die allseits bekannte Run ‘n Gun-Zeit ein.

Wie diese Bezeichnung schon vermuten lässt, stellt das Spiel eine Mischung aus Jump ‘n’ Run und Shoot ‘em up dar. Das Prinzip ist dabei natürlich ähnlich stumpf wie motivierend: man steuert seine Spielfigur (laut Cover wohl Arnold Schwarzenegger bzw. Sylvester Stallone alias John Rambo) durch – mit 2D-Hintergründen gestalteten – Levels, die sogar teilweise interaktive Möglichkeiten bieten wie beispielsweise das Zerschießen von Gegenständen. Ziel ist es natürlich währenddessen den massigen Gegnerscharen zu trotzen und dessen Geschossen auszuweichen, um keines der wertvollen (drei) Leben zu verlieren. Man muss also auf mehr achten, als man zuerst denken mag und dadurch erschwert sich das Spiel unheimlich – es ist also in zweierlei Hinsicht kein Kinderspiel.

Besonders aufregend und speziell gestalten sich die Begegnungen mit den Endgegnern, welche wirklich eindrucksvoll dargestellt sind und die es in mehreren Etappen zu besiegen gilt. Aufgrund des teilweise recht hohen Schwierigkeitsgrades empfiehlt es sich natürlich, das Spiel zu zweit im Koop-Modus zu bewältigen – damals wurde auf solche Modi nämlich noch wesentlich mehr Wert gelegt als heute!

Wer sich der Herausforderung stellen will, kann das mittlerweile online tun (allerdings wird dafür das kostenlose Java benötigt):

Contra alias Probotector online spielen!

Wenn eventuell gerade keine Lust auf einen Shooter besteht oder ihr einfach nicht weiterkommt, könnt ihr euch hier noch einen beeindruckenden Speedrun anschauen:

The truth is we were much too young

Now I’m not looking for someone like you

(primero escuche la canción, luego lea el post)

Koop island blues es posiblmente una de mis canciones favoritas; “posiblemente” porque no estoy del todo seguro si tengo UNA canción que escuche por mucho tiempo. Sin embargo, por alguna razón siempre vuelvo a Koop; puede pasar un tiempo en que me harte y lo deje de lado, pero siempre, de alguna manera, ahí está, como esperando para ser escuchado. La canción es una mezcla perfecta de jazz, swing y sampleos. La voz es de Ane Brun, de quien no he escuchado nada pero pronto resolveré eso.

Luego, una conexión que no había visto: Farewell. Vuelvo a los escritos de juventud de Neruda, mucho antes de Isla Negra. Ahí está, también, esperando, siempre esperando por ser leído.

Yo me voy. Estoy triste: pero siempre estoy triste.
Vengo desde tus brazos. No sé hacia dónde voy.

…Desde tu corazón me dice adiós un niño.
Y yo le digo adiós.

Bye Bye

Farewell

დავდივარ და მონოტონურად ეს სიმღერა ჩამესმის.

ზამთრის აკვიატებები დაიწყო.

მშვიდობიანო მოქალაქენო, მეომრებო, მასწავლებლებო, მოსწავლეებო, მატყუარებო, პატიოსნებო, ქუჩის ბიჭებო, დამწყებო დედებო, სტაჟიანო მწეველებო და არამწეველებო, ნაყინის გამყიდველებო, მძღოლებო, გზების გადამთხრელებო, პრეზიდენტებო და ტელეფონების ხელოსნებო

ზამთრის თამაშები დაიწყო!

იმაზე უფრო საზიზღრად ვიდრე წარმომედგინა.

ჰო, ამ დილას თითქოს შუშის ათასი წვრილი ნაფშვენი ჩამოიშალაო ისეთი ხმა დამესიზმრა. მერე მიხვდი, რომ მართლა იყო, გავბორიალდი და აღმოჩნდა, რომ სადღაა ჩემი აკვარიუმი.

დედამ აკვარიუმი გამიტეხა მესაწყააააააააალს.

დამშვიდდით, ოქროს თევზი ნერვულობას არ გადაყოლია და ცოცხალია ჯერაც : ))