Impolite Company

California Stars

I may have posted this tune before but I absolutely love it.  It's Wilco's version of a Woody Guthrie song that they originally recorded with Billy Bragg on their first Mermaid Avenue album.  While I think the version on the album is a little bit better, I much prefer this live video to the one with scrolling fancy lyrics and stock photos (if you can look away, follow the Youtube link in the video below and play the video for the song with the couple sitting in a field of some sort of grain leaning into each other):

Meltdown at Madame Tussaud's

Get your gun....
Yo, it's a samurai showdown, samurai showdown
(Aight,A.T.M)How dare you challenge me?
You will die from the tip of my sword today
huh, the trenches, we must remain calm
Right,prepare to die

Listening to NPR's Sound Opinions this morning as I woke up, for their Halloween show they played Samurai Showdown (Raise Your Swords) from Jim Jarmusch's Ghost Dog and I thought that would make a perfect Halloween video to post.  Alas, the videos were less than visually appealing and so the Dog will be relegated to the other side of the fold.  However, it did get me on Youtube and I'd been thinking of this tune from Steve Taylor for some time, so I went ahead and gave it a gander.  Totally dated but I do like this song from one of the few very creative voices in Christian music from back in the day:

Worms!

Nice little animation for the Pogues' tune, Worms:

Sneaks Back in with Some Tunes

Greetings and salutations.  I know I've been gone for several weeks now--after over a year of posting voluminously every day I woke up one morning and realized I needed to step away from the blog.  So I did.  I think I got tired of forcing myself to have an opinion on everything that happened in the world and I've been digging a lot of dirt, planting a lot of plants and reading a lot since then.  And biking.  And swimming.  And teaching karate and stuff.  I'm just sneaking in to post a couple of songs--one was mentioned by a friend of a friend in a recent blog post (quoted actually, not quite mentioned) and the second is one of the few other John Prine songs that I know and love (...got more balls than big brass monkey!).  So here's Prine's Spanish Pipedream (3:10):

And on the other side of the break you'll find "In Spite of Ourselves"--the song doesn't start until about the 1:30 mark:

Unexpected Gem from Reality TV

A friend pointed out that the earlier title was a poor choice and in retrospect I agree and have changed it.

I don't generally do the viral video thing and I even less frequently give any of those talent competitions on TV the time of day.  But for some reason this morning I had a vulnerable moment when I saw someone somewhere (Cheeky Monkey at the Chronic:  Habitually Updated Buzz) recommend people check out a video from "Britain's Got Talent" of a 48-year old Scotswoman singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables.  Super secret confession--Les Mis is one of the few musicals I can stomach and I actually kind of love it.  I've seen it performed twice and have owned the London and American cast versions of the CD's in the past (though now I only have the London version, which I think is much the better of the two). 

So Susan Boyle's performance:  "It's a tearjerker," they said.  "You'll go all weepy," they said.  And it really is lovely, a surprise that totally goes againt expectations (well, not anymore) as this woman who's probably just sung to her cats and her budgie in the past sings live on TV.  I'm linking to the longer version that gives you a little more of her backstory:  Susan Boyle:  Britain's Got Talent.

Leonard Cohen on Fresh Air

A friend of mine crowed earlier today about hearing Leonard Cohen Wednesday night here in Austin and a few moments ago, when I turned on the radio, Terry Gross was interviewing Cohen on Fresh Air.  Well, she interviewed him back in 2006 and they're rebroadcasting it today, but it's the same thing, right?   Anyhoo, it's an interesting interview and if you're interested you can hear it (without the blatant begging for money you'll hear on the annual Spring Shakedown) via this link:  Zen and the Art of Songwriting.

And how 'bout a little Cohen--a friend of mine made me a mix CD about nine years ago that had this on it, my first introduction to him, Chelsea Hotel:

 

Buena Vista Social Club

I haven't gotten a chance to watch it yet but I'm so excited to see that Buena Vista Social Club is now available via Hulu.com.  I love the music from this band and have always meant to watch the movie but have never gotten around to it--I'm even more enthusiastic now that I realize the documentary is by Wim Wenders, the man behind Wings of Desire:

In Bloom--Nirvana (ukulele)

Cobain may be dead but by God, we've still got Eric Bradford from Sweden on the ukulele.  Hell yeah! to Robin for posting this (4:25):

More music on the other side...

Femmes for All Occasions

It's Gonna Rain (4:11):

Grunge

I love onomatopoetic words and I'm pretty sure that "grunge" is one of them.  Doesn't it just sound like frayed jeans and flannel?  Some time during the day yesterday on the radio, someone was talking about the music trend of there being a reunion nostalgia tour twenty years after a musical trend was popular.  So I did the math and thought, well hell pell-mell, grunge is about due for their time in the nostalgia sunlight.  And, as if the Newsweek Gods were listening to my silent prayer, they've got a little retrospective look at ten of the big guns from the grunge world today, Grunge Bands:  Where are they Now?

Torn jeans. Long underwear worn under cargo shorts with combat boots. Remember the early '90s? OK, so maybe it wasn't the best time of our lives fashionwise, but musically, it rocked. Yes, we're talking about the heyday of grunge, when a rainy city in the Pacific Northwest became the center of the musical universe, unkempt hair and clothing were the uniform of choice and angst reigned. With Pearl Jam re-releasing "Ten," one of the albums that helped to define the movement, here's a look back at the six biggest Seattle grunge bands and what they've been up to since flannel faded.

Of course, this article was enough to remind me how totally mainstream my musical taste is!

A Taste of SX

(I'm not sure if the title is an acceptable contraction or not.  In spoken terms, we refer to South by Southwest as "south by" and so it makes perfect sense to me to shorten it to SX.  Plus, it has the titillating advantage of being so visually close to "a taste of sex"!)

As noted previously in these parts, I don't really do SXSW.  I've gone to five or six film events but I can't remember any music events that I've gone to.  I don't say this as a point of pride, more of an explanation why the blog hasn't turned wall to wall music and film.  I don't really care for crowds, in fact I actively dislike them and so slogging from one crowd to another would be one version of my own personal hell.  Which is a shame, really, because some cool acts come through town and SX really does have a lot to offer on both the film and music side.

I just read a post by Spike Gillespie over on Austinist that really captures the why I stay away and the what I'm missing out on, I Am So Popular:  I Am A Strong Black Woman:

So Day One of SXSW was, for me, more shitty than not. I ventured out to catch some daytime music. There were a couple of bright spots, like watching my kid play on a big stage. But, as I detailed over at my blog, this being a town of minus six degrees of separation on a regular day, SXSW unfortunately boosts the typical glut of negative opportunities to run into known assholes better avoided.

Something Green with Potatoes

Note:  this post is not about Shane MacGowan's teeth.  I'm just sayin'.

I ran across a recipe for Green Mashed Potatoes via Mark Bitten, who writes a food column at The Times a few weeks ago and thought to myself that it sounded interesting.  So last week, I had a bunch of collards and kale sitting around looking bored so I ran out and bought a couple of russets and decided to give it a try.  It turned out very well, though I did make some changes to the recipe along the way. 

I didn't trust mashed potatoes without more fat in them (I inexplicably failed to use the proper amount of olive oil and so they were pretty dry) and so I added in a cup of chicken stock.  I also find it very difficult to imagine eating greens without plenty of garlic and then, of course, how can you have garlic without onions, so I sauteed a half a yellow onion I had on hand and added in some green onions for good measure.  And nothing goes with greens quite so well as crumbled bacon, so I cooked up a couple of slices and crumbled it up and added it to the recipe.  Plus, I had some Monterrey Jack cheese sitting around and so I added five or six ounces of shredded Jack to the potatoes.

Despite the possible Italian provenance of the recipe, it seemed quite appropriate for St. Patrick's day.

Speaking of MacGowan and The Pogues:

Add It Up

A friend of mine is putting together an 80's playlist for a celebration of her church's 25th anniversary(?) and, though it was clear that my suggestions were out of bounds for their party, someone's got to represent for the Femmes.  Even though I didn't listen to them back in the 80's (I was very sadly retarded in discovering the really cool bands from the eighties), I think they're great and if I was ever to go to a church party I would try to stipulate before showing up that they had to play some Violent Femmes (Thanks, T--6:41):

Millions of Peaches, Peaches for Me

Why the hell not?

The presidents of the united states of america - peaches

The Book of Longing

I got an email a few weeks back, a mass marketing tool from a friend who was trying to find a taker for a ticket to The Book of Longing, Philip Glass’s composition based on the poetry of Leonard Cohen (for a more of a review of the music and the show, check out Cohen, Glass Collaboration Explores Multiple Art Forms I haven’t read any real reviews yet because I don’t want to taint this).  I was curious from the get-go and sent her a tentative reply that I’d be willing to be her fallback—while I don’t listen to Glass’s music very often, I do like a number of Cohen’s songs and thought it would be a good stretching experience.   Time passed, she didn’t get any other takers and so I made it a plan. 

I had a gift certificate to Eastside Cafe that had been burning a hole in my pocket since November of 2007 (very slow-burning certificate) and decided to make it a night.  I worked at Eastside for a couple of years and even though I don’t get up there all that often, I like popping in occasionally to see how things are going.  I’d also read a bit lately about one of the owners taking over the garden and I’ve wanted to see what changes she’s made ever since.  As I only had one ticket for the show, I tucked my copy of Invisible Man under my arm and set out for Eastside Saturday evening.

Lego My Bad Music, Shatner!

Yes, it still happens--the magical "random" music shuffle at dominoes night played more Shatner last night out of the thousands of songs on the hard drive.  It's odd, it's like the computer KNOWS how much of a kick I get out of it.  Last night, we heard Shatner's version of Common People.  And since this is a lego post, it seemed appropriate to quote from Wiki people:

In 2004, Ben Folds produced a cover version of "Common People" for William Shatner's album "Has Been" which featured a hard-driven, dramatic indie rock style in stark contrast to the Eurodisco style of the original version, and highly emotive vocals by Joe Jackson.

This video is actually kinda cool (and yes, I kinda like the song too--shhhhh!) featuring stop motion animation of legos--Laura, I hope you're watching this:

The 80's Prince Pop Factory

Only Prince could pen the words, "blood races to your private spots" and make it sound lyrical, right?  Wikipedia says it's true and so it must be.  Prince wrote it, Sheena Easton sang it, and I made the allusion to it in a comment a few minutes ago and so I have no choice but to post Sugar Walls:

Leonard Nimoy Sings "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins"

William Shatner wasn't the only cast member from the original Star Trek to record an album, Leonard Nimoy was similarly misguided (his photography is much more interesting)  This song is more evil than Sauron because at least with Sauron you can eventually defeat him but this song gets in your head and will never go away.  I am tainted forever and I don't want to suffer alone (1:37):

Snoop. Sigh.

I'm not even a music-reviewing kind of guy and yet I was able to tell this was a horrible idea--Snoop Dogg redid Johnny Cash.  I'll let a professional do the talking, Sitting Here Speechless:

Snoop Dogg first showed his allegiance to “main man” Johnny Cash on last year’s “My Medicine,” but his most recent project may have taken this seemingly hollow fascination of the Man in Black to a new low. Teaming with John Carter Cash, Johnny and June’s only child, Snoopaloop presents Johnny Cash Remixed, a thirteen-track pile of crap that would stink up the whole Grand Ole Opry faster than you can say “I Heard That Lonesome Whistle Blow.”

Let Me Get Some Action From the Back Section

I am troubled.  I can't find the video for the Beastie Boys' song "Body Movin'"--the one we're stuck with is actually the video for "Sabotage" with the music from Body Movin'.  It works well enough, I guess, so I'll just have to deal.  Anyhoo, was listening to this on a mix when I was running today and felt like the rest of the world should be reminded of it.  It was either that or Prince's Sexy Motherfucker and since that has apparently been scrubbed off of Youtube by the purple-clad one, it's best I decided to go with the Beastie Boys.  I think that I felt the need to do this in order to balance out the folk music from earlier in the day (3 minutes):