Ramblings

April 29, 2008

"Pick it up!"

Use ska to teach your kids to clean their room! This song is from the show Yo Gabba Gabba (which I've never seen) and features Alex Desert of Hepcat.



(via Battle of the Midwestern Housewives)

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April 16, 2008

2:42

While some friends have made fun of me in the past for my preference for short songs -- I've always thought "If you can't sing it in 3 minutes, don't bother" -- somebody apparently agrees with me. Joshua Allen did a little "research" to determine that 2 minutes and 42 seconds is the ideal song length.

I know it's not a serious piece, but he does bring up one of the best pop songs ever written, one that I continue to enjoy and marvel at the more I hear it: "There She Goes" by The La's:
The song is "There She Goes," and is so flawless that it instantly made everything else the band did pointless. This ditty is two minutes and 42 seconds, and is all about songwriting economy...

The main riff acts as the intro. The verses are the chorus. The solo is 100 percent fat-free and leads right into a tidy bridge. And then we’re back where we started. It's like some ingenious IKEA futon or Japanese love hotel where every component is doing double-duty. When "There She Goes" is over, I guarantee absolutely no one in the room goes: "Jesus, finally."
(via kottke)

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April 8, 2008

New Site for Sinko

I have a new site for my music podcast Sinko: same URL, different look.

I was originally using Apple's iWeb because it was simple and worked well with Garageband (which I use to create each podcast) but uploading was another story: with each new episode iWeb recreated the entire site (which had to be uploaded), and it doesn't share common images used on the site. The new site is not only easier for me to update, but also has better archive browsing (including viewing podcasts by music genre) and the ability for you to leave comments.

The one change that may affect you (if you're a subscriber) is the RSS feed. The new URL is sinko.kieranchapman.net/rss.xml, so update your iTunes and other feeds as needed.

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April 7, 2008

By-Tor and the Red Sox

Following a series sweep at the hands of the Blue Jays this weekend, Surviving Grady breaks out an ancient Rush reference to help explain what went wrong:
Geddy Lee of Rush was in the house... With the guy who wrote "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" rooting against us, there was little we could hope to accomplish.

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March 12, 2008

Album Cover Meme

Jeff pointed out an album cover meme that's pretty fun: Just follow these rules to create the cover. The results can be pretty bizarre, but sometimes things oddly work out, like my cover (which, if I had to guess, would probably have a 70's folk-rock sound to it):

Joe Lee Dunn album cover

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January 27, 2008

Jill Meets Duran Duran

Last Friday Jill went into Boston to try to get a glimpse of Duran Duran, who were recording at WGBH's studios (where her sister works). She not only got the glimpse she was after, but got to watch them perform as well as bump into each of them. She snapped some photos while there, too.

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January 4, 2008

Greatest Hip Hop Drum Break Samples

Awesome page of The 30 Greatest Hip Hop Drum Breaks & Samples of All Time, with samples of each. A great list, with the only glaring omission being James Brown's "Funky Drummer" (how was that one overlooked?). If you're into rap (especially late 80s/early 90s stuff) you should recognize most of 'em.

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December 30, 2007

2007 Soundtrack

Another year, another soundtrack. And this year I actually chose a different Samiam song (I didn't realize that chose the exact same song for 2005 and 2006...I must really like it). Anyway, here's a summary of my musical tastes for 2007:
  1. Beatles: "Strawberry Fields Forever"
  2. The Alarm: "Up for Murder"
  3. The La’s: "Timeless Melody"
  4. The Shins: "Phantom Limb"
  5. Guided By Voices: "Chasing Heather Crazy"
  6. Luminous Orange: "How High"
  7. Daikaiju: "Attack of the Crab Women"
  8. Art Brut: "Direct Hit"
  9. Joe Jackson: "One More Time"
  10. XTC: "Don’t Lose Your Temper"
  11. The Upsetters: "Medical Operation"
  12. Wire: "No Romans"
  13. Samiam: "Full On"
  14. Minutemen: "Fanatics"
  15. Black Flag: "Nervous Breakdown"
  16. Roland Alphonso: "Lover Boy"
  17. Man Or Astro-man?: "Like A Giant Microwave"
  18. Beck: "Elevator Music"
  19. Giant Panda: "With It"
  20. Nice & Smooth: "Dope On A Rope"
  21. Thes One: "Hy-Vee"
  22. The Bad Plus: "Dirty Blonde"
  23. Prince Jammy: "Shaolin Temple"

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November 29, 2007

Sinko Widget for Mac

I was playing around with Dashcode and made a version 0.1 Sinko Music Podcast Dashboard widget. If you have a Mac and want to try it out, you can download it here. (Requires Mac OS 10.4.3.)

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September 8, 2007

The Return of Sinko

I decided to start doing Sinko again: a weekly podcast that's basically a 5-song "mix tape" based on a theme or artist. Check it out if you're interested, and you can subscribe here.

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April 12, 2007

Pearls Before Breakfast

Pearls Before Breakfast is a fantastic article that touches on much more than just "will people in a subway station stop to listen to a great musician?" (via kottke)
Each passerby had a quick choice to make, one familiar to commuters in any urban area where the occasional street performer is part of the cityscape: Do you stop and listen? Do you hurry past with a blend of guilt and irritation, aware of your cupidity but annoyed by the unbidden demand on your time and your wallet? Do you throw in a buck, just to be polite? Does your decision change if he's really bad? What if he's really good? Do you have time for beauty? Shouldn't you? What's the moral mathematics of the moment?

[T]hose private questions would be answered in an unusually public way. No one knew it, but the fiddler standing against a bare wall outside the Metro in an indoor arcade at the top of the escalators was one of the finest classical musicians in the world, playing some of the most elegant music ever written on one of the most valuable violins ever made. His performance was arranged by The Washington Post as an experiment in context, perception and priorities -- as well as an unblinking assessment of public taste: In a banal setting at an inconvenient time, would beauty transcend?

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January 14, 2007

Sinko Podcast Update

After over a month of ignoring it (busy with the holidays, etc.) I finally got around to adding a new "mix tape" podcast to Sinko. I actually did a few episodes last night, so I'll update the site regularly in the upcoming weeks.

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December 27, 2006

2006 Soundtrack

Last year was the first year of my annual soundtrack project. Here's this year's CD:
  1. Pixies: "Where Is My Mind?"
  2. People Under The Stairs: "The Dig"
  3. Gnarls Barkley: "Crazy"
  4. Devo: "Turn Around"
  5. They Might Be Giants: "I Should Be Allowed To Think"
  6. Belle & Sebastian: "White Collar Boy"
  7. The Dubliners: "Irish Rover"
  8. Simple Minds: "The American"
  9. The Smiths: "What Difference Does It Make?"
  10. Man...or Astro-man?: "Lo batt"
  11. The Ventures: "Pedal Pusher"
  12. The Romantics: "When I Look in Your Eyes"
  13. The Alias Brothers: "Seven"
  14. Dangerdoom: "Old School"
  15. Beck: "Hell Yes"
  16. Bad Brains: "Big Takeover"
  17. Goodbye Harry: "They"
  18. Bad Religion: "American Jesus"
  19. Green Day: "Scattered"
  20. NOFX: "It’s My Job To Keep Punk Rock Elite"
  21. Samiam: "Sunshine"
  22. Smashing Pumpkins: "Bodies"
  23. Rush: "Tom Sawyer"
  24. The Bad Plus: "And Here We Test Our Powers Of Observation"

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October 26, 2006

Amazing Royal Crowns, Video Game Version

If you're a fan of Providence rockabilly and rhythm-based video games (who isn't?) then you'll be interested to hear this: Guitar Hero II has a bunch of b-side songs you can play along with. So in addition to songs by Van Halen, Rush, Nirvana, Spinal Tap (!), and Dick Dale, you can also play along with "Mr. Fix-It" by The Amazing Royal Crowns.

(Oh, and for you Homestar Runner fans, you can also play Strong Bad's "Trogdor the Burninator".)

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October 24, 2006

Billy Corgan Infects Drummer

Pumpkins drummer says truth prevails on new album
Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin has broken his silence about the reunited band's new album... In a posting attributed to Chamberlin on the Pumpkins' Myspace.com page, the drummer said "As some of you know we are indeed creating music again -- music that comes from a place so pure it will burn the lies off the very souls of those who try to discount it."
Well, I guess we now know that Billy Corgan's pretentiousness clearly is contageous.

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August 5, 2006

Sinko Podcast #5

Just re-promoting my music podcast, Sinko, here: the fifth episode is available, and as long as I have the time I'll be doing it weekly instead of every two weeks (subscribe for free here).

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July 10, 2006

Sinko Music Podcast

Just for fun, I've started a music podcast called Sinko. You can listen and/or subscribe to it at sinko.kieranchapman.net, and I'll probably be updating it every two weeks from now on. (You can subscribe to it here.)

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February 3, 2006

Lil' Crap

Here's a quick but foolproof rule of thumb when determining if a rapper is good or not: If they have "Lil" in their name, they're bad (not to mention unoriginal in selecting a stage name). Proof: Lil' Jon, Lil' Kim, Lil' Flip, Lil' Bow Wow, Lil' Wayne, Lil' Troy, Lil' Mo, Lil' Romeo, Lil' Scrappy...

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January 25, 2006

Devo 2.0

I spent much of my commute this morning listening to Devo's Freedom of Choice, so I found it a weird coincidence that today I learn that they've re-formed (sorta) as Devo 2.0:
New Wave cult icons Devo are bringing their devolution to a new generation with a just-for-kids CD/DVD collection. On Devo 2.0 all five original members of the band have re-recorded some of their classic '80s hits with a quintet of kid singers.
Pitchfork Media writes that "Devo 2.0 will either be beautiful, heinous, or effing kitsch-tastic." After hearing some audio clips from the official Devo 2.0 site, I'm leaning towards "heinous."

(Of course, truth be told, I think I'd rather have my kids want to listen to Devo 2.0 over almost any other "kid's music.")

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December 29, 2005

2005 Soundtrack

This year I finally started an annual project I've been wanted to do for years: at the end of each year, I'll create a CD with the music that most accurately reflects my year in music (not necessarily music released that year).

Selections could be artists I discovered, rediscovered, or just listened to a lot; it could be a particular song that I couldn't stop listening to; or it could be a song that represents a particular genre or type of song (such as covers, mash-ups, etc.). No real rules, other than it has to fit on a standard audio CD. My brother & friend also joined me in this music project, and I think it'll be interesting to see how our tastes change -- or not change -- over the years.

With that, here's my soundtrack for 2005 (in order of track listing):
  1. Radiohead: "Everything In Its Right Place"
  2. The Bad Plus: "Flim"
  3. Aimee Mann: "How Am I Different"
  4. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists: "The One Who Got Us Out"
  5. The Clash: "Clampdown"
  6. Jawbreaker: "Into You Like A Train"
  7. Sinkhole: "Burning, Itching, Irritation"
  8. Dick Dale: "Hava Nagila"
  9. The Futureheads: "Decent Days And Nights"
  10. The English Beat: "Twist And Crawl"
  11. Franz Ferdinand: "The Fallen"
  12. People Under The Stairs: "The Joyride"
  13. Kanye West: "Gold Digger"
  14. Beck: "E-Pro"
  15. Bad Religion: "Incomplete"
  16. Samiam: "Sunshine"
  17. Pixies: "Wave Of Mutilation"
  18. Hieroglyphics: "Oakland Blackouts"
  19. Mr. Lif: "Heavy Artillery"
  20. Man Or Astro-man?: "Theme From Eeviac"
  21. DJ Danger Mouse: "Encore"
  22. The Beatles: "You Never Give Me Your Money"
  23. Dave Brubeck: "Stompin' For Mili"

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October 18, 2005

No more CDs?

Rip and Goodbye (@ What Do I Know?)
I started working on a new project this past weekend...the complete dissolution of my library of compact discs.
I've been wanting to do this for a while now, and especially since we moved this year: What's the point of carting around and storing my wall of CDs when I never listen to them? Put everything in iTunes, keep a limited number of CDs, and maybe get Airport Express to share music throughout the house. Perhaps this would be a good winter project...

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September 30, 2005

Sweet Caroline Redux

Neil Diamond...not reallyAs I mentioned before, Lou Piniella and I are sick of hearing "Sweet Caroline" at Fenway. But more than that, I wondered how that tradition even got started in the first place. Today, my sister-in-law pointed me to the origin:

NPR Morning Edition: The Mystery of 'Sweet Caroline' and the Red Sox

(As annoying as it is, though, I'll take Neil Diamond over "Cotton Eyed Joe" at Yankee Stadium!)

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September 29, 2005

World's Favorite Song

'We Are The Champions' voted world's fave song
A million flies can't be wrong — eat at Joe's
Anyone who believes that increasing cultural globalisation will inevitably lead to a dumbing down of consumers' critical faculties has been proved right on the button by a Sony Ericsson poll of 700,000 "music lovers" in 66 countries which has voted Queen's "We Are The Champions" the world's favourite song.

Britney's "Toxic" crooned into second spot, beating child-friendly Jacko into third place with "Billie Jean." Next up comes the timelessly abominable "Hotel California"...

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September 2, 2005

Sweet Caroline

After witnessing Boston's four-game sweep, Tampa Bay manager Lou Piniella said, "Thank God we don't come in here anymore. I've heard enough 'Sweet Caroline.'"
Gotta agree with Lou on that one: I don't know how "Sweet Caroline" became a Fenway staple, but I could really do without it...

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June 28, 2005

Nike Campaign "Borrows" Album Art

Nike Campaign "Borrows" Album Art
Classic cover art of Minor Threat's self-titled 1984 compilation vs. Nike Skateboarding's poster image for its "Major Threat" 2005 East Coast Tour.
"[Nike] stole it and we're not happy about it. Nike is a giant corporation which is attempting to manipulate the alternative skate culture to create an even wider demand for their already ubiquitous brand. Nike represents just about the antithesis of what Dischord stands for and it makes me sick to my stomach to think they are using this explicit imagery to fool kids into thinking that the general ethos of this label, and Minor Threat in particular, can somehow be linked to Nike's mission. It's disgusting." --Dischord representative

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April 29, 2005

Strange Reaction

I recently discovered Strange Reaction, a site that posts MP3s of rare and old out-of-print punk songs. There's some pretty good stuff there (I liked the recent Wire covers post). Plus, if you've ever wondered why Bad Religion hasn't made their old keyboard/prog-rock nightmare album "Into the Unknown" easy to get, you can find out why...

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April 11, 2005

Did we learn nothing from Hammer?

OutKast Rapper Buying Space for 17 Cars
OutKast member Antwan "Big Boi" Patton has a problem: He's got 17 cars but only has space for six in his Atlanta area home. "I'm in the process now of building another house," he said, lamenting he's currently forced to store 11 of his prized possessions in different locations.

And while the crown jewel of his collection is a $300,000-plus Rolls-Royce Phantom, which he loves, he's passionate about his vintage Chevrolet Impalas. He's got five of them -- 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963 and 1964.
I smell a Hammer-esque "Behind the Music" in the making...

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March 3, 2005

Museum of bad album covers

Well, this is some good fun: the museum of bad album covers. There are some I've seen before -- The Many Facets of Roger, Man-O-War, and of course Devastatin' Dave the Turntable Slave. But there are plenty more. Browse them all -- or, if you're in a hurry, just check out the top (bottom?) 10.

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December 7, 2004

Five Mistakes Band & Label Sites Make

Five Mistakes Band & Label Sites Make

I rarely visit band sites, and it's not for lack of interest. It's mainly for the reasons outlined in this article: they often take too long to load, don't make it easy to find information, and are too clever for their own good.

A Whole Lotta Nothing has a short list of band sites that do get it right.

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December 2, 2004

Pixies

Many thanks to the Quinns for taking us to last night's Pixies show. Great band, bad traffic. And I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Mission of Burma would be opening -- two Boston alt-rock giants in one reunion show!

The Pixies are also having every show recorded, so you can buy a CD of a particular show, which I think is pretty cool.

Frank Black of the Pixies (Boston Globe photo)

As an aside, does anyone else think that Frank Black looks like he could join Tenacious D if this whole Pixies reuinion doesn't work out?

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August 26, 2004

Live Jawbreaker MP3s

cover artAbout 10 years ago Brian Tunney gave me a tape of a live Jawbreaker show. Years later, I burned them to a CD and made MP3s of the songs. I also used to host them on eWire to download, but they kinda got lost over the years.

I noticed that some people are still searching for them, so I decided to make the show available again. So if you dig on Jawbreaker, get the live MP3s here...

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July 1, 2004

This summer's best and worst album covers

Every picture tells a story -- even on an album cover
This summer's best and worst album covers. Of course, why does an article about album cover art have such tiny pictures of them? With no link to view a larger version? It almost defeats the purpose of including them at all...

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June 24, 2004

Do The Shuffle

Do The Shuffle
Turn your MP3 player on random and list the first 15 tracks it plays (regardless of how embarrassing they may be).

Sure, why not? Most of my friends already know about my musical secrets, so they shouldn't be shocked to see Rush floating in my iTunes library:

1. "Holding Sand" by Rival Schools
2. "Rise" by Public Image, Ltd.
3. "All Aboard The Soul Funky Train" by The J.B.'s
4. "The Big Money" by Rush
5. "Well You Needn't" by Miles Davis
6. "Ghost Band" by Rancid
7. "Automatic Freestyle" by bis
8. "Garageland" by The Clash
9. "Freedom Of Choice" by Devo
10. "Bring The Noise" by Public Enemy
11. "NYC" by Interpol
12. "I Know You Got Soul" by Eric B. & Rakim
13. "One Life One Love" by Hieroglyphics
14. "180 Degrees" by NOFX
15. "Small Man, Big Mouth" by Minor Threat

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June 23, 2004

Jonesy's Jukebox

A friend of mine pointed me to this article about Jonesy's Jukebox, the radio show by ex-Sex Pistol Steve Jones:

Sex Pistol wows America's airwaves (Independent.co.uk)
The station in question is Indie 103.1, a straightforward outfit that drip-feeds Ramones and Strokes records to an audience of punk junkies... American radio is a firestorm of big hits, old classics, in-your-face advertising and endless promotions for multi-lettered channels. Amid this sonic chaos comes Jonesy's Jukebox, broadcasting softly spoken witticisms, laughter and superb music every weekday lunchtime for two hours.


I've mentioned it before and I'll plug it again: Jonesy's Jukebox is quite an entertaining show. It's on at 3PM EST/12PM PST (do the math to figure out the time for your time zone) -- give it a listen.

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June 21, 2004

Reagan's Punk Rock

I've been somewhat confused about the coverage of Ronald Reagan's death. I realize he was a president that many people admired (and many others despised), but the treatment of his "legacy" seemed over the top. But a friend sent me this different take on some of the media coverage...

Reagan's Punk Rock (The New Republic)
But for a large portion of those under the age of 30, their portrait of Reagan emerged through another of Reagan's gifts to the country -- one that went almost completely ignored throughout last week's memorials. They could tell Limbaugh that no accounting of Reagan's cultural legacy is complete without noting a simple truth: Ronald Reagan is responsible for some of the best punk rock ever recorded.

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May 20, 2004

Rakim predicts the future

While listening to shuffle play on iTunes, "Casualties of War" by Eric B. & Rakim came on. The song is from 1992 and is about George H. W. Bush's 'Desert Storm' attack on Iraq. I never really paid close attention to the lyrics, but some of them are eerie in hindsight...
The war is over, for now at least
Just because they lost it don't mean it's peace
It's a long way home, it's a lot to think about
Whole generation, left in doubt
Innocent families killed in the midst
It'll be more dead people after this

...

'Cause it ain't no way I'm going back to war
when I don't know who or what I'm fighting for
So I wait for terrorists to attack
Every time a truck backfires I fire back
I look for shelter when a plane is over me
Remember Pearl Harbor? New York could be over, G
Kamikaze, strapped with bombs
No peace in the East, they want revenge for Saddam

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May 19, 2004

Jonesy's Juke Box

Oddly enough, Bambino's Curse (a Red Sox website) tipped me off to this one: Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols hosts his own radio show, "Jonesy's Juke Box," on 103.1 FM (in LA). Luckily for us on the east coast, they broadcast on the web. The show runs from 3-4PM EST and plays some great olde timey punk rock (plus whatever else he wants to), so if it's 3:00 right now, give it a listen!

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October 31, 2001

WonderboyTenacious D is interviewed on the Onion AV Club, where they give very short answers.

Also, if you haven't see the D's Spike Jonze-directed video for "Wonderboy" or their Letterman appearance you can see them here.

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April 29, 2001

Been downloading from TMBG Unlimited on eMusic.com, and it reminded me of the old Onion article:

They Might Be Giants Behind The Music Episode Lacks Sex, Drugs

The new They Might Be Giants episode of VH1's Behind The Music is devoid of sex and drugs, sources reported Monday. "Man, we haven't had that much trouble finding something juicy since the 'Weird Al' episode," VH1 senior vice-president Bill Flanagan said. "We can almost always hit paydirt with a band's groupies, but in They Might Be Giants' case, they're all 31-year-old computer programmers." The They Might Be Giants episode largely focused on keyboardist/accordionist John Linnell's harrowing early-'90s addiction to Tetris.

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April 25, 2001

The Onion A.V. Club has a very interesting interview with KRS-One: "I make intelligence cool."

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