by: Randi M.

The celebration of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary will be airing on HBO this Sunday, Nov. 29th, at 8pm. The show will be the anniversary concert that took place back on Oct. 29th & 30th at Madison Square Garden. The 2 day concert included Stevie Wonder, U2, Simon & Garfunkel, Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, Metallica, and more.

Click image for source.

Click image for source.

Click image for source.

A is for Alexi Murdoch- loving the voice
B is for the Bob’s- Marley, Dylan, Seger legends- with a song for every mood
C is for Creedence Clearwater Revival- the oldies are still the best
D is for John Denver- a great poet even if he isn’t considered cool
E is for The Eagles- who doesn’t love Hotel California
F is for Foo Fighters- Dave Grohl’s done good
G is for The Gaslight Anthem- the best new band around (and my other love- The Goo Goo Dolls)
H is for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers- a recent discovery
I is for Iggy Pop- he may have sold out doing the insurance ads but still an original punk rock pioneer
J is for James, Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Eat World- same name very different music
K is for Kiss- grown men in facepaint hell yeah
L is for Lynyrd Skynyrd- touring next year- I’m so there
M is for Mika- yeah right- Michael Jackson- the king of pop- enough said
N is for Neil Young- oh to have been there first time round
O is for Oasis- You either love them or hate them
P is for Pink Floyd- one of a kind
Q is for Queen- sing-a-long anthems that never get old
R is for Ray Lamontagne, Rod Stewart (a guilty pleasure), Rolling Stones and Ryan Adams- I couldn’t pick just one
S is for Simon & Garfunkel- love, love, love
T is for Tracy Chapman- heartfelt lyrics at their best
U is for The Undertones- Teenage Kicks is a classic
V is for The Verve- It’s a bittersweet symphony, that’s life
W is for The Who- Baba O’Reilly what a tune
X is for… I have no idea
Y is for Yusuf Islam aka Cat Stevens- sound track to your life
Z is for Led Zeppelin- still the best after all this time

Here’s the latest batch of Music Musings and Miscellany’s unapologetically subjective selection of the twentieth century’s best 1000 singles.

THE BYRDS – So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star / Everybody’s Been Burned (Columbia 43987 1967)
They had a bit of a nerve poking fun at the Monkees when just a couple of years earlier only McGuinn played on their own debut single. Still it’s a fun piece of satire. The flip is one of the best things the Byrds ever did, a dark but hopeful Crosby ballad.

BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE – Soldier Blue / Moratorium (RCA 2081 1971)
Ralph Nelson’s 1970 western Soldier Blue was unlike any other before it. Shockingly violent and, for once, the good guys were definitely not the US Cavalry. Based on a true massacre that happened in 1864, it was also as much about Mai Lai and the Vietnam War. Buffy Sainte-Marie, a Cree herself, invested the song with both anger and bitter sorrow and yet it is just as much a celebration of the natural wonders of a country and her own ancestry.

DUKE ELLINGTON & HIS ORCHESTRA – Solitude / Mood Indigo (Columbia 35427 1940)
Ivie Anderson is one of the most underrated jazz vocalists, and she shines on these two Ellington ballads, both of which have become standards crooned by virtually every nightclub and torch singer since.

PETER GABRIEL – Solsbury Hill / Moribund the Burgemeister (Charisma 301 1977)
Fresh out of Genesis, Peter Gabriel launched his solo career with this, still one of his most poignant songs. Solsbury Hill itself overlooks Bath in Somerset, and the song captures that very special pleasure of sitting somewhere still and peaceful and watching the lights and bustle of the city night below.

JESUS & MARY CHAIN – Some Candy Talking / Psychocandy / Hit (Blanco Y Negro 19 1986)
By 1986 the screech of feedback had largely been excised from the Mary Chain’s records, replaced by cavernous echo. With it went a lot of the vigour and excitement, but that didn’t matter so much on songs as good as this, with its booming Spectorish sound.

LEE HAZLEWOOD & NANCY SINATRA – Some Velvet Morning / Oh Lonesome Me (Reprise 651 1968)
How trippy is this? Essentially it sounds like a verse taken from two completely different songs intercut. Hazlewood’s bit is dark and rumbling like Johnny Cash meets Link Wray while Sinatra’s is hippy-dippy flower child stuff, well away with the faeries. It’s like a cocktail of quaaludes and acid.

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE – Somebody to Love / She Has Funny Cars (RCA 9140 1967)
When Grace Slick joined the Jefferson Airplane she brought this song along from her previous band the Great Society, written by her brother-in-law Darby Slick. The Airplane version is tighter and punchier with a chorus so strident it’s almost accusatory.

EDDIE COCHRAN – Somethin’ Else / Boll Weevil Song (Liberty 55203 1959)
STANDELLS – Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White / Why Don’t You Hurt Me? (Tower 257 1966)
By 1959, most of the first generation rock and rollers seemed to be mired in gloopy ballads and sounding little different to the pre-rock generation of singers like Johhny Ray and Frankie Vaughan. Eddie Cochran, on the other hand, still had a raw spirit about him: still sounded like someone a teenaged girl would think twice about introducing to her mother. That’s why he was so popular with the punks nearly two decades later, along with his friend Gene Vincent. The Standells, too, had that snotty fuck you attitude. But as they say in the song “You think those guys in the white collars are better than I am baby? / Then flake off!” True blue-collar working class pride…from a bunch of LA rich kids. Oh, well.

BLUR – Song 2 / Get out of the Cities (Food 93 1997)
The indignation this caused from my Pavement loving underground rock friends always made me laugh. It’s noisy and fun. What’s not to like?

LEFTFIELD – Song of Life / mixes (Hard Hands 002 1992)
A nine minute progressive house monster that pretty much defined the genre and still stands as one of the best tracks of its kind.

THIS MORTAL COIL – Song to the Siren / 16 Days (4AD 310 1983)
Originally This Mortal Coil were convened as a one-off project for this single, but its success was such that they ran to three albums, each with a constantly changing cast of performers. Liz Fraser hadn’t really tackled a proper lyrical song before, her voice more used as another instrument in the Cocteau Twins. But she gives Tim Buckley’s classic song a ghostly innocence that is absolutely captivating. The backing is so subtle that she’s almost on her own, but there’s no sign of nerves – she’s absolutely lost in the song. An amazing performance.

JOSEF K – Sorry For Laughing / Revelation (Postcard 814 1981)
Famously a band who seemed happier the flatter their records sounded; a band who scrapped their first album because it sounded too warm and produced and instead put out something tinny and stark. Paul Haig’s bored drone of a voice isn’t the most appealing instrument, but it gives this song a dry sarcasm. And it’s pretty much the touchstone record for the C86 generation.

LAVERN BAKER – Soul on Fire / How Can You Leave (Atlantic 1004 1953)
She’s better known for appealing, but ultimately disposable pop ditties like “Tweedle Dee” and “Jim Dandy”, but Lavern Baker was happiest singing the blues. If anything, though, “Soul on Fire” is deep southern soul a decade too early.

DAVID BOWIE – Sound and Vision / A New Career in a New Town (RCA 905 1977)
A long long way from Ziggy in just four years. “Sound and Vision” was the introduction to Bowie’s leftfield masterpiece Low and about as traditionally pop as the album got. Which isn’t very.

SIMON & GARFUNKEL – The Sound of Silence / We’ve Got a Groovy Thing Goin’ On (Columbia 43396 1965)
Dylan had gone electric, the Byrds were having big hits doing jangly folk-rock. It made sense for Simon & Garfunkel to add drums and rock arrangements. Unfortunately they weren’t working together at the time, and Paul Simon was touring folk clubs in Europe armed only with his trusty acoustic. Producer Tom Wilson stepped in anyway, gave the track a new “with it” backing and Columbia watched another of their folk acts have a huge hit. Simon might not have liked it, but he could hardly complain at the new levels of exposure, and the duo quickly reconvened.

MEMBERS – Sound of the Suburbs / Handling the Big Jets (Virgin 242 1979)
They came from around ten miles away from me, and lyrically this song captured perfectly the tedium of North Surrey / East Berkshire Sundays. Nothing else to do but kick a football around with your mates. Nothing on telly, nothing on the radio (except David Rodigan’s Sunday show on Radio London) and school next day.

More soon

Ikväll gråter mitt hjärta! Det finns saker som har gjort och gör mej ledsen idag. Så är det bara. Jag känner mej inte bra från förkylningen. Jag skulle varit på Färjan. Jag orkade inte prata tillräckligt med en nära vän. Jag har blivit sårad idag. Har säkert sårat några jag också. (FÖRLÅT)! Det finns saker som tynger mej mycket just nu!

Ibland är livet tufft, men det funkar..

Jag ska be till Gud ett tag nu, det brukar hjälpa!

Jag undrar varför det är så ont om kommentarer? Vad tycker ni om min blogg? Jag skriver till er!

Hej så länge….

Denna sång brukar trösta mej….

Quite a few years ago Iread a fascinating book called Media Sexploitation by someone named Wilson Bryan Key (1921 – 2008). The book was published in 1976 and the subject was the use of subliminal cues in various media to manipulate consumer behaviour. This was a time when farfetched ’scientific’ books like Chariots of the Gods and Seth Speaks were highly popular. However, Dr. Key’s book contains some startling information about subliminals. A subliminal is any signal, visual or aural that flashes by too quickly to conciously notice but is percieved by the subconscious. Subliminals can be used to subtly affect a viewer’s emotions. Subliminal messages  can be used to create a strong visceral reaction, negative or positive. At the time the book was published use of subliminals in advertising was illegal in Europe and Canada but allowed in America and as far as I know it is still legal. I have frequently found subliminals in print media, including images of skulls embedded in an ad for life insurance. Subliminals have also been used widely in entertainment. One famous example, which Key uses and which is no secret, is William Friedkin’s classic horror movie The Exorcist. Friedkin intercut Satanic images into scenes of possessed child Linda Blair. He also used audio footage of swarming bees imperceptibly mixed into the soundtrack to create a hightened atmosphere of terror (human beings instinctively find this sound disturbing). More recently, Peter Jackson used shots of a demonic puppet to enhance a particularly startling scene in Fellowship of the Ring (watch The Appendices on the Extended Edition DVD). All this is genuinely fascinating and somewhat disturbing information. Unfortunately, the book fouders when Key attacks rock lyrics. Again, this being 1976 and there were still people alive who thought rock’n'roll was Satan’s music. Key believed that popular music contained encoded messages encouraging the nations youth to do very bad things like smoke weed and have sex at an early age. I have to hand it to him, Revolution 9 does contain the backwards spooling words “turn me on dead man” – I checked that one out for myself and it’s really there and clear as day. It’s also true that many rock songs did contain exhortations to experiment with drugs, although many of those messages were somewhat less than subliminal and more like a bunch of really high people eager to promote their favorite pasttime. However, the whole concept collapses into high hilarity when the author makes the argument that Simon & Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water is an ode to the joys of shooting heroin. For one thing, you couldn’t find two rock stars more square than Paul and Artie. Certainly neither one of them was shooting up and writing songs about it. The main basis for this theory is the line “sail on silver girl, sail on by… I’m sailing right behind”  – evidently ’silver girl’ means needle and ’sailing’ is what you do when you’re high on heroin. The line “[when] pain is all around…I will ease your mind” refers to heroin’s intended purpose as a pain killer, obviously. “I will lay me down” – well, when one is high on heroin, one tends to pass out, nod off and otherwise lie down. And here was I thinking, naively, that the lyrics were about, oh I don’t know … friendship, maybe. Even the most innocent things can be misinterpreted in the most creative ways if you’re really dedicated to reinforcing your own beliefs.

When you’re weary
Feeling small
When tears are in your eyes
I will dry them all

I’m on your side
When times get rough
And friends just can’t be found
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down

When you’re down and out
When you’re on the street
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you

I’ll take your part
When darkness comes
And pain is all around
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down

Sail on Silver Girl,
Sail on by
Your time has come to shine
All your dreams are on their way

See how they shine
If you need a friend
I’m sailing right behind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind

Well, I never!

I woke up this morning only to be misinformed about something very important: the release date of a piece of music history. I receive a daily email that has an interesting fact and a so-called inspirational quote in it. I usually really love reading them first thing in the morning as it starts my day off on a positive note. My positive note went flat when I realized (after very little research) that this morning’s fact was wrong!

According to this email (and the people who write it, I suppose), The Sounds of Silence was released in 1965, which is not true at all! It was actually released on January 17th, 1966. When I discovered this discrepancy I thought, “Well, that’s not such a big fudge-up, I suppose; but it would make a great Fact-Fueled Friday blog!” (That’s me, right? Always looking on the bright side.)

In the meantime, it did remind me that Simon & Garfunkel (which should always be written with an ampersand, as far as I’m concerned), are always better together. You know, like wine & cheese, or Coke & chips, or Sunday afternoon & a good book: one is just made better by the other. What’s that expression, again? Oh yes, their whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

I remember actually studying two songs from this record as poems in school: “I am a Rock” and “The Sounds of Silence” both were stamped upon my impressionable brain in the classroom, the former in Grade 8 (and possibly again in Grade 10, though I’m not sure if I’m remembering that correctly), and the latter in my Grade 12 Literary Heritage class.

“I have my books and poetry to protect me” … gee, does that remind you of anyone? Or perhaps yourself.

I particularly love “The Sounds of Silence”. Art Garfunkel’s little introduction to it in this video is perfect, really.

“The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls.”

Peace,Love&GoodVibes
SnowDove,ArmsUp

p.s. Come to the show tonight 9:30 at Louis’

Here's Dad as Smokey thanks to the Section 20 site.

Tonight I’ll be hitting I-94 and driving to Bismarck, ND.  I’m going there to be with my family and I’ll be working from my parents’ house which always a nice challenge.  When I stage whisper to my Dad “I’m on a call!” what he hears is actually “speak a little louder, Dad.  This is by far your best story ever!”  And since I’m my father’s daughter I know that when I’m out in the world I’m just as bad.  For example, I think it’s fair to tell you that I routinely stop total strangers with the sole purpose of making them feel awkward.  For example, some poor soul made The Mister and I tater tots (because we ordered and paid for them, I don’t think that there is a door-to-door Tot Fairy though that would be fabulous!).  When we were done eating these I felt it necessary walk up and tell the guy that his tater tots were sublime.  They were truly outstanding.  And I’m not saying they weren’t but if anyone has ever told you that you have sublime tots I’m sure that you would react like this guy did and say “cool.  Thanks.”  Then you would likely avoid all eye contact until I had left which is pretty much what I should have expected.

My dad told me that he recently covered one wall of his garage with record covers.  I’m looking forward to seeing that quite a bit.  Then there’s my wheels to show him.  This is, of course, my first big road trip with Dotty and I’m excited to see if we make it there and back.  Cross your fingers!

This week’s songs are all ones that I remember from road trips with my dad.  He was the first guy I knew that had installed a car stereo.  We took road trips in a Pontiac Firebird.  My dad was not Chevy Chase in National Lampoon’s Vacation with his station wagon.  He was the Bandit (which is funny because he was also a trooper, so I guess he was Smokey, too).

1. “Bridge Over Troubled Water” – Simon & Garfunkel  -  We listened to this very loud on the way to a funeral when I was a teenager.  We were driving a used car up to a dealership and then returned home in a different car as a favor to my dad’s friend.  My dad thoroughly tested those car speakers.
2. “Night Moves” – Bog Seger  – This song was on a mix tape my dad made for a very long road trip to California.
3. “California Dreaming” – The Mamas & The Papas  -  This was another song from that long road trip to California.  My sister and I sang along and reminded my parents why they wanted kids in the first place, so that they could sing along, off-key, to their favorite songs.
4. “Stayin’ Alive” – The Bee Gees  -  My dad had an 8 track of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack though we didn’t have an 8 track player.  The conversion vans he had for work very much did and were our favorite perk of his job.
5. “Pancho & Lefty” – Willie Nelson  -  Don’t tell Dad but this is not my favorite song but I love how much he enjoys it.  He likes to quote the line “all the Federales say, we could have had him any day we only let him go so far.  Out of kindness, I suppose.”  He also likes to point out the line in Gordon Lightfoot’s “Canadian Railroad Trilogy” where Gord says that they built the mines, the mills and the factories “for the good of us all”.  Dad loves to see a songwriter winking at him from afar.  He can hear them saying “get it?” between the lyrics.

Meine TopTitel im Oktober 2009:

1. Danny & The Juniors – At the Hop (1958)
2. Simon & Garfunkel – At the Zoo (1968)
3. Adriano Celentano – Azzuro (1968)
4. Elvis Presley – Any Day Now (1969)
5. Karat – Auf den Meeren (1979)
6. City – Aus der Ferne (1979)
7. Blondie – Atomic (1980)
8. Bruce Springsteen – Atlantic City (1982)
9. Boytronic – At Last (1983)
10. Harold Faltermeyer – Axel F. (1984)
11. Joy Division – Atmosphere (1987)
12. Phillip Boa & The Voodooclub – Atlantic Claire (1994)
13. Marusha – Audio Space (1994)
14. Dune – Around the World (1996)
15. Marilyn Manson – Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes (1999)
16. Puhlman – Artfoundry (1999)
17. Faith No More – Ashes to Ashes (1999)
18. Keane – Atlantic (2006)
19. Muse – Assassin (2006)
20. Mother and The Addicts – Are Others (2007)

Strange day today. I woke up this morning and the house was deserted. So I took a round around the house ensuring that my brother had gotten up and off to school, and that the parents had managed to get out of the house and not having left bags or purse or wallet or passports behind. And then I went back to bed. Most definitely more valuable than that English lesson I should have been in. But then I kept on waking up, and those two hours of school which I was not attending,  were filled with bad dreams.

I did get some work done after a while. But not even close to as much as I’d hoped. And now I’m doing this, rather than researching stuff on my EE. Photography, I know most of the stuff, I just need sources.

Wikipedia must have messed up somewhere, I simply cannot comprehend what half of their examples of Art Nouveau had to do with the movement.

So, my sleeping pattern’s gotten all messed up. I shall tidy my room ever so slightly and then go to sleep.

A paradox exists: It seems to be the case that the same things that make me feel happy, also make me feel sad.

It’s easiest for me to explain this in terms of music.

I grew up listening to “Oldies” music – Ben E. King, The Beatles, Harry Nilsson, Jimmy Gilmer, Simon & Garfunkel, etc. At some point when I was a teenager, I started really listening to Simon & Garfunkel. I realized that Paul Simon was in my head. That is, I realized that he was singing what I was feeling. Even though he was singing about loneliness and isolation, I felt less alone listening to Paul Simon sing the sweet words of “I Am A Rock” or “Flowers Never Bend With The Rainfall.” I knew that someone felt the way I felt and could put it into words and melodies that were beyond me.

So, sad songs make me happy, because they make me feel less isolated in my feeling sad.

It doesn’t end there. Another layer to the paradox exists.

I write. I write a lot. I write everyday. When I listen to Simon & Garfunkel, or when I listen to The Cure, as another example, I do feel a happy kinship with Paul Simon and Robert Smith in our celebrated melancholy. At the same time, I realize that they have already all the important things I’ve ever wanted to say.  I am not a songwriter, but I cannot imagine putting together a better string of words to describe my stagnancy than “Close To Me.” So, even though I’m glad these artists have expressed themselves so beautifully, using words I relate to, it makes me wonder why I even bother writing my thoughts at all.

Really, what I should be writing is this:  “Go listen to Simon & Garfunkel and The Cure.”

As a wannabe writer, the thought that I have no new ideas to share is somewhat disheartening. Even though at the same time, I’m damn glad that Paul Simon and Robert Smith exist and have shared their thoughts with the world.

I don’t think this paradox ends with the type of music I relate to. I also don’t really know what this all means.

I guess the line between happiness and sadness is as blurred as the line between pain and pleasure.

Maybe everything is exactly the same.

Wasn’t planning on blogging, so I’ll make this short. Went to Kurt Schwitters’ exhibition today. That was kind of interesting. I went with my mother, whom I remember used to have the bad habit of pinning up our childhood drawings upside down. Even after my sister and I matured enough to make perfectly legible drawings she’d make the same mistake. And so I figured she must be practically blind when it comes to anything 2D. Hearing her interpretations of many of the pieces was interesting, as she did actually interpret the art, something which I didn’t expect. And so I consider it a very successful exhibition as it even made us discuss one of the pieces for quite a while.

I played Guitar Hero, which was a disappointment. Last time I played it I sort of felt like at least I was exercising my left hand, but honestly, it just made me miss my guitar waiting patiently in my room.

I did quite a bit of work in my sketch book, and I now have 90 pages! We were required to have at least 50 a week ago. ^_^ There is one huge load of stuff I didn’t get around to doing though, which will fly around in my head when I’ve gone to bed tonight and keep me from falling asleep. I’ll do at least one task now.  At least kind of. Starting it. Just briefly looking into it. Researching. Googling it.

I love the hum of my speakers when they’re not making any noise.

I love late nights on my own.

I love the clutter on my desk. It sums me up.

I love lighting old dusted down candles. They smell nice and crackle, like an isolated fire on my desk.

I love riddles, especially in daily life.There aren’t enough of them.

And I do like dropping my hints.

It Was a Good Day: Ice Cube
America: Simon & Garfunkel

It Was a Good Day: Ice Cube
America: Simon & Garfunkel

Acaban de pasar las celebraciones del día de muertos, en algunas partes se celebra de alguna forma, en algunas otras partes se celebra de otra manera, en algunos lugares se celebra Hallowen, hace un año en nippix lo celebramos con una semana temática, este año simplemente no nos organizamos, síndrome de tiempos complicados… más allá de haber caído en este lapsus melodramático, la idea de hacer este post me vino precisamente pensando en que canciones son mis preferidas para cuando llegue el momento de rendir cuentas con el altísimo (cualquiera que sea su concepción del mismo) llegue.

Si hubiera un fin del mundo tipo “War of worlds”, “Independence day” o “Evangelion” y mientras este montado en un mecha gigante matando marcianos esta es la rola que me gustaría escuchar:

la canción se llama Where do you go to my lovely y es tocada por el indú Peter Sarstedt, sin más razón porque en mi cabeza ese escenario encuentra esta canción como la canción perfecta.

Otra canción es la de Jackie, que originalmente es de la artista irlandesa Sinéad O’Connor, pero que Placebo la toca con especial sentimiento:

and I remember the day
that the young man came
said your jackie’s gone
he’s lost in the rain
and i ran to the beach… and lay me down

En un tono más alegre, otra canción que habla acerca de la muerte es “The Golden path” de los Chemical Brothers, el video es bastante alegre a pesar de que si analizamos la letra, esta no lo es tanto:

Vera Lynn, canta “We’ll meet again” que Stanley Kubrick utiliza al final de la película “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb”, habla de dos personas que se volverán a ver, sin saber donde ni cuando, pero cuando se vuelvan a ver será en un día soleado y habrá felicidad. Mucho de como nos pintan la vida, después de pasar.. el túnel de luz.

Johnny Cash en su disco “American IV The: man comes around” es una apología de canciones que bien podrían haber sido su epitafio, poco tiempo despues de haberlo publicado, el cantante de Country murío, este disco fue un regalo póstumo de este autor.

Con una fuerza melodramática, Cash interpretó un cover a NIN: Hurt, el video esta plagado de imagenes extraídas de su vida, combinadas con un Johnny Cash añejo, listo para lo que venga.

Simon & Garfunkel tienen varias canciones que han salido en varias películas, una de ellas es, precisamente, una de las mejores películas que se estrenaron en México este año: Watchmen.

The sound of silence, aunque no es una canción que hable acerca de muerte, la visión que se lee en las líricas es de un ambiente onírico, surrealista e hiperrealista, se dice que el sueño es como morir un poco, por lo que los terrenos del sueño, no le son extraños al tanatos.

Por último, una canción del grupo inglés Radiohead: “last flowers”, desde el título la imagen nos remite a las últimas flores que alguien reciba, dentro de la canción el coro final dice:

it’s too much, too bright, too powerful
too much, too bright, too powerful

Lo que se relacióna directamente con el tunel de luz que algunas personas que han regresado de la muerte, afirman haber visto, sin más que decir…

Como diría el poeta tabasqueño Carlos Pellicer en su “Discurso por las flores“:

El pueblo mexicano tiene dos obsesiones:
el gusto por la muerte y el amor a las flores.

DEBASTEITOR... SMASH!!!!

Sung to the tune of “Mrs. Robinson”:

And here’s to you, Mrs. Munchausen
Experts have a name for how you roll (Wo, wo, wo)
God bless you please, Mrs. Munchausen
The hospital’s the place where you play
(Hey, hey, hey…hey, hey, hey)

And here’s to you, Mrs. Munchausen

You simulate diseases just for show (Wo, wo, wo)
God bless you please, Mrs. Munchausen
Seeks medical attention every day
(Hey, hey, hey…hey, hey, hey)

First you have infection, joint pain then it becomes AIDS
All your kids have abnormal symptoms too
It’s your little secret, just a family disease
Most of all, you’ve got to hide the used syringe

Coo, coo, ca-choo, Mrs Munchausen
Insurance companies want you to know (Wo, wo, wo)
God bless you please, Mrs. Munchausen
They’ll no longer pay for you to fake
(Hey, hey, hey…hey, hey, hey)

Sitting on a doctor’s table in your exam gown
Getting the attention you deserve
Laugh about it, shout about it
When you’ve got them fooled
Ev’ry time they look at it, you bruise

Where have you gone, fibromyalgia
A patient feigns her symptoms to get through (Woo, woo, woo)
What’s that you say, Mrs. Munchausen
Cancelled policy ruined your day
(Hey, hey, hey…hey, hey, hey)

The content herein is Copyright to the author, All Rights Reserved.

1. A Story of Boy Meets Girl – Mychael Danna and Rob Simonsen
2. Us – Regina Spektor
3. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out – The Smiths
4. Bad Kids – Black Lips
5. Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want – The Smiths
6. There Goes The Fear – Doves
7. You Make My Dreams – Hall & Oates
8. Sweet Disposition – The Temper Trap
9. Quelqu’un M’a Dit – Carla Bruni
10. Mushaboom – Feist
11. Hero – Regina Spektor
12. Bookends – Simon & Garfunkel
13. Vagabond – Wolfmother
14. She’s Got You High – Mumm-Ra
15. Here Comes Your Man – Meaghan Smith
16. Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want – She & Him

http://rapidshare.com/files/256080248/OST.500.DayS.Of.SuMMer.rar

October saw the release of the above which is perhaps the  first truely definitive Davy Graham compilation.

“When Davy Graham died last December, the British folk scene lost one of its most extraordinary and influential guitarists, for he was years ahead of his time. He was fascinated by traditional music, but also by blues, north African, Middle Eastern and Indian styles, and classical music.

It was impossible to guess what he would turn to next, and he brought a new experimental approach to the folk scene that persists today.

This new two-CD set concentrates on his most creative period, the 60s, and much comes from the Decca catalogue. It starts with the original 1963 version of his best-known guitar piece, Angi (later rerecorded as Anji).

There are also tracks from his influential 1965 album, Folk, Blues & Beyond,

which includes everything from Mingus to Dylan, and from the experimental Folk Roots, New Routes, recorded with singer Shirley Collins. Then there’s his treatment of a Bulgarian dance piece, a Purcell harpsichord work, and the extraordinary She Moved Thru’ the Bizarre, which switches from English folk song to a raga, and then back again. The man was a genius.”

www.guardian.co.uk

“I Can’t Keep From Crying Sometimes” – Davy Graham

Graham was born in Hinckley, Leicestershire, England, to a Guyanese mother and a Scottish father. Although he never had any formal music lessons, he learnt to play the piano and harmonica as a child and then took up the guitar at the age of 12.

As a teenager, he was strongly influenced by the folk guitar player Steve Benbow, who had travelled widely with the army and played a guitar style influenced by Moroccan music.

At the age of 19, Graham wrote what was probably his most famous piece, at least for aspiring guitarists: the acoustic solo tune “Anji”. Colin Harper credits Graham with single-handledly inventing the concept of the folk guitar instrumental (whilst acknowledging that John Fahey was making a similar invention, simultaneously, in the U.S.).

Graham’s acoustic guitar solo “Angie”, named after his then girlfriend, appeared on his debut EP 3/4 AD in April 1962. The tune spread like wildfire through a generation of aspiring guitarists, changing its spelling as it went. Before the record was released, Bert Jansch had learnt it from a tape which Graham had lent to his half-sister, Jill Doyle, who was a friend of Jansch. Jansch included it on his 1965 debut album as “Angie”. But the spelling Anji became the most popular after it appeared in this way on Simon & Garfunkel’s 1966 album Sounds of Silence, and it was as “Anji” that Chicken Shack recorded it for their 1969 100 Ton Chicken album.

“Anji” – Simon & Garfunkel

One way that Graham came to the attention of guitarists was through his appearance in a 1959 TV film produced by Ken Russell, entitled Hound Dogs and Bach Addicts: The Guitar Craze, in which he played an acoustic instrumental version of Cry Me a River.This was broadcast as part of the BBC TV arts series Monitor.

Graham introduced the DADGAD guitar tuning to British guitarists, though it is not clear if it originated with him. Its main attraction was that it allowed the guitarist more freedom to improvise in the treble while maintaining a solid underlying harmony and rhythm in the bass. While ‘non-standard’, or ‘non-classical’ tunings were widely practiced by guitarists before this (Open E and Open G tunings were in common use by blues and slide guitar players) his use of DADGAD introduced a second standard tuning to guitarists.

To buy the music of Davy Graham click HERE

To buy the music of Simon & Garfunkel click HERE

In honor of our 25th Anniversary, the (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) Foundation will host two very special benefit concerts at Madison Square Garden on October 29th and 30th, 2009. Each night will highlight different artists that will not only celebrate their music, but invite musical guests to join them onstage for what will be two unforgettable evenings with unique collaborations.

So reads the official announcement from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame regarding this week’s huge anniversary concerts.

And, indeed the events in New York could very well be unforgettable for those fortunate enough to be in attendance over the next two nights.

As Joel Peresman, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation’s president and chief executive told Glenn Gamboa in his Newsday feature, “There’s not too many shows where you can see Aretha Franklin and Metallica on the same stage.”

Peresman, Jann Wenner (co-founder of the rock hall and publisher of Rolling Stone magazine), and U2’s Bono are all quoted in Geoff Boucher’s preview of the shows in the Los Angeles Times. 

Boucher refers to this moment as “a tricky time for rock and for the rock hall itself,” but all associated with the show provide their thoughts on why the music (and the hall) will endure.

Among the artists expected to perform include the aforementioned Aretha Franklin, Metallica, and U2, along with Bruce Springsteen, Simon & Garfunkel, Stevie Wonder, Crosby, Stills & Nash, and a boatload of special collaborators. 

And for the 99.9% of the population that won’t be in attendance (including previously announced Eric Clapton, sidelined by gallstone surgery), HBO will condense the two nights into a 4-hour special scheduled to air on Sunday, November 29th.

Tonight is the 25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame concert at Madison Square Garden and we just so happen to be  going. This is really cool for us because we are stopping at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Museum when we get to Cleveland, Ohio. The line up includes  Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Simon & Garfunkel and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Friends– can’t really go wrong.