Persons attempting to find a "text" in this [story] will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a "subtext" in it will be banished; persons attempting to explain, interpret, explicate, analyze, deconstruct, or otherwise "understand" it will be exiled to a desert island in the company only of other explainers.
BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR - Wendell Berry's introduction to Jayber Crow.
Here’s something I didn’t plan on finding today: a senior adult church hip-hop choir called Funky Fresh Seniors. They don’t seem too engaged at the beginning with Eminem’s lyrical work, but they definitely warm up nicely to Nelly at the end.
Bonus: they’re available for weddings, private parties, and bar mitzvahs! I only have one question: what church approves of their elders singing “It’s getting hot in here, let’s take off all our robes”? This is highly disturbing on multiple levels.
Who knew what musical treasures would be our reward when we agreed to a new roof and siding? Unfortunately, I had to experience this one second-hand. Mandy has more: My heart will go on.
Radiohead gave permission to NPR to record their live show at the Santa Barbara Bowl on August 28th, 2008. NPR now has it available for download through their All Songs Considered podcast.
Here’s an eclectic brew of The Delano Orchestra, Coldplay, a Salsa Orchestra at the Buena Vista Social Club in Havana, Radiohead, and Louis Armstrong from Streetkiss Music. What an unexpectedly pleasing mix.
Saw Prince Caspian last night with Mandy and was pleasantly surprised by the closing song, sung by Regina Spektor, called The Call. The style differs markedly from the full majestic orchestral phrases that were common throughout most of the movie, but the lyrics and the modern folk melody seemed to correspond well with the closing geo-time-travel from Narnia to England.
Digable Planets - Rebirth Of Slick. I still love these guys (Butterfly, Doodlebug, Ladybug Mecca, Silkworm).
We be to rap what key be to lock.
Created as a high-school class project with some friends, my cousin Alex Benson (the floppy-haired head-banger in red pantaloons), rips a stadium-worthy solo at 2:23 in their Paramore Music Video (Misery Business). How can you not love this?
I’ve been listening to Bon Iver (pronounced: bohn eevair; French for “good winter” and spelled wrong on purpose) recently (thanks EA). This album is deeply contemplative, which I deeply appreciate. Justin Vernon:
Herbie Hancock’s River: The Joni Letters, just won album of the year. Still, one of my favorite albums of all time is H.H.’s tribute to Gershwin.
Great news from East London:
As of today, you can play full-length tracks and entire albums for free on Last.fm.
Also, independent artists can upload their own music and, depending on a song’s popularity, share in the profits.
Using passive amplification alone, designer Tristan Zimmermann came up with the Phonofone II, which transforms a personal music player into a sort of mini victrola.
From Science & Sons:
[…] Without the use of external power or batteries, the Phonofone […] exploits the virtues of horn acoustics to boost the audio output of standard earphones to up to 55 decibels* (or roughly the maximum volume of laptop speakers)
This would fit nicely on top of my full-size victrola at home. (Via Veer.)