Category Archives: Music

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Typing Karaoke

Try to keep up as the lyrics for popular songs go by. The only one I could do was Creep by Radiohead.

Yet another reason to like Radiohead

What do you do if you’re the lead singer of a huge rock band at a huge rock concert, and you notice an audience member has lost consciousness? Some people would say, “The show must go on.” But Thom Yorke of Radiohead clearly believes that caring for people that need it is more important than the sanctity of the show.

In the clip1 below from 2003, Radiohead is playing a concert in Toronto when Yorke notices an audience member has passed out. He stops the band mid-song (considered a huge no-no by many in the music business), instructs security to take care of the man, then deftly starts the band back up, picking up mid-song.

Doing the right thing rocks.

(via sandpaper suit)

  1. The embedded video is actually an hour long, but this clip picks up at the 27:26 mark, just before the incident begins. ↩

Jason Clarke playing bass

Recordings, old and new

You know how they say playing music is like riding a bike? Well, it is and it isn’t.

I’d like to say it’s been years since I played bass with any regularity, but the truth is that somehow it’s been years since I played it virtually at all. Even so, this morning I took my “vintage” (okay, just old – I got it 20 years ago!) Ibanez student model electric bass with me to work today, and spent lunch recording a couple of bass tracks for my friend Glen. He’s already posted one of the songs online, and though I’d like another shot at my part, I think it turned out quite nicely. It’s the one titled 2 Minute Ditty, currently at the top of this page. Continue reading →

Kenny G, accurately described

But when Kenny G decided that it was appropriate for him to defile the music of the man who is probably the greatest jazz musician that has ever lived by spewing his lame-ass, jive, pseudo bluesy, out-of-tune, noodling, wimped out, fucked up playing all over one of the great Louis’s tracks (even one of his lesser ones), he did something that I would not have imagined possible. He, in one move, through his unbelievably pretentious and calloused musical decision to embark on this most cynical of musical paths, shit all over the graves of all the musicians past and present who have risked their lives by going out there on the road for years and years developing their own music inspired by the standards of grace that Louis Armstrong brought to every single note he played over an amazing lifetime as a musician.

– Pat Metheny, jazz guitar legend

The above quote is from an essay Pat Metheny wrote when asked about Kenny G’s music. It’s a number of years old, but new to me.

I’ve always intensely disliked Kenny G’s music, so I have to say that discovering Metheny’s incredibly well thought out and reasoned take on the man’s music was a delight. I’ve quoted the climax of the essay here, but it’s worth reading through from the beginning to truly understand where he’s coming from, particularly for anyone who doesn’t mind or even likes Kenny G’s music.

I don’t begrudge anyone liking Kenny G (or anything I don’t like, for that matter), but it’s important to understand that to like Kenny G’s music is to like musical garbage. And that’s not subjective; read the article and you’ll see what I mean.

(via kottke.org)

chillout song :: zefrank.com

A year or two back Ze Frank did a little online project to write a song for a woman that was feeling overwhelmed. The resulting song, Chillout, is fantastic.

I first heard about the song because my friend Glen recorded some tracks for it. In fact, if you listen to the song, you’ll notice a solo by a little girl right at the beginning. That’s Glen’s daughter. I remember listening to the recording of her in his office the day after he recorded it to send in to Ze. Anyway, the point is you should go and listen to this song. It’s less than 2 minutes long, but might give you a bit of a lift, particularly if you’re feeling down.