My top three are:
1. Radio Lab... The two hosts have a great sense of humor and are able to present science in a way that helps you understand how you fit into this world. It is an artful approach to science. They give new wonder to the world around us. Here is one of my favorites. http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2007/08/05 click on "listen to the whole show"
2. My next favorite podcast is 606 5 live call in show with Danny Baker. It has got to be the one with Danny Baker because Alan Green and Tim Lovejoy are both pratts, Spoony is alright, I guess. Okay, now stay with me. Usually this is your regular English football call in show where people windge about the refs. But on Tuesday night Mr. Baker turns it into story time. People call in to tell stories about topics like "what crazy object have you been hit with while attending a football match." or "where have you seen people wearing English football jerseys outside of England?" This link has an American calling in this is not the norm http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/programmes/606withdannyb/audio.shtml
3. The classic Tales podcast With BJ Harrison. This guy was in my old ward. He reads scripture very well. He can really project. The classic tails podcast is Bj reading from classic literature. I put this in as my third place pick because this podcast really lets me get taken away with the story. Just today I heard the story Rikki Tikki Tavi. I had forgotten how good that story is. Maybe I am a sucker for "a boy and his mongoose" stories. I couldn't find the rikki tikki tavi story but you can't go wrong with an O Henry story. http://cdn1.libsyn.com/classictales/CT_83_Thanksgiving_in_NY.mp3?nvb=20081129035054&nva=20081130040054&t=01d8acd5da7d0800d173d
Friday, November 28, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
My winter 09 mix
1 Red Yellow And Blue (White Williams Mix) ...Born Ruffians
2 Kettle Drum (I Left A Note) ... Pale Young Gentlemen
3 Undo... Björk
4 Voice in Headphones ... Mount Eerie with Julie Doiron and Fred Squire
5 Vänerhavet ...Detektivbyrån
6 Compass ... Absolutely Kosher Records
7 Royal Blood ...The Witchies
8 The Hundredth Time ...Gigi
9 All the Way Down ...Nik Freitas
10 Bloody Sunrise ...Neil Gaiman
11 Phantom Anthills Chad ...VanGaalen
12 Tonight ...Lykke Li
13 Track 01 ...Okay ??????????????
14 Diamond Rings 2007 ... Deer Tick
15 Be Kind To Me ... Michael Hurley
16 Rolling Sea ...Eliza Carthy
17 Blood Red Roses ...Sting
18 Bully In The Alley ...Three Pruned Men
19 Hog-Eye Man ...Martin Carthy & Family
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Bjork's "Undo"
I know because of my infrequent posting you hardly come to my blog. Its okay i don't blame you. I guess what i want to share with you is my re-admiration for Bjork. I really think she is great. For my english class i had to do a analysis of a work of art. i chose "Undo" of of the Vespertine album.
Andrea and I were just talking about how brilliant a thing can become if we invest time and focus to it. Undo was a pretty song. Now to me it is a masterpiece. Here is my analysis of Bjork's "Undo". And a live performance at the Royal Opera house in London.
This is an analysis of the song “Undo” by Bjork.
Bjork and I go way back to 1992. In high school I thought you pronounced the “j”, like an English “j”. Boy was I wrong. Now in college I know that foreign words with “j’s” have a “yu” sound.
This song has very simple lyrics. The arrangement of the music feels simple but when looked at closely one finds the progression of the song is unpredictable. It has many subtle layers. Sonically, the song matches perfectly with the lyrics and its total concept.
The main theme of the lyrics cover the fact that life is not supposed to be hard. “It’s not meant to be a struggle”, sings a chorus of angels. Bjork then gives you a soft loving pep talk. She wants you to see that life is good. “It’s warmer now”, as she kind of whispers to the listener. The lyrics are simple and profound. But the music of the song is the moving force. The message of the music is one of reality. What is real, and is reality all that great? The song answers these questions in combination with both the music and the lyrics. Its answer is, "It’s all real and yes, reality is so great."
The music has an otherworld feeling to it. But the lyrics let you know darn well she is talking about earth. The instrument that best gives an otherworld sound is the synthesizer. The synthesizer at once has a feeling of alienation and familiarity. The sound is generated with perfection yet we know it is not real some how. The title of the song “Undo” is linked closely to the synthesizer or the computer. Undo is familiar to us in this computer age as a “do over”. To “undo” is to right a wrong. There is a strong duality of technology and biology in this song and I find it clever that both are used to create this song. The first sounds you her are a sort of piano sound but maybe you are using ears that have water in them. Bjorks voice comes right in at the beginning but it has all sorts of vocal effects like an echoing delay, her inhales seem exaggerated, and there are two vocal tracks running at different times, this makes an echoing refrain in the beginning. A rich life filled texture is created with her inhales and exhales. These sounds are so familiar to us. We breathe all our lives. Sonically different sounds are weaving into and around each other. The music moves slightly closer to earth with a recognizable instrument. The sound of the harp flutters into the song letting you know it is not outer space you are hearing but heaven. Then comes the biology technology. Sound effects are creaking, shaking, there are biggish sounds, and rustling. A count or two later the beat comes in. The beat gives an important toehold to the listener who is used to the Pop music aesthetic. It should also be mentioned that at the time this song was made, beat driven music had a strong presence in America that had recently come across the Atlantic. The beat is not straightforward, but it gives the listener something familiar. Maybe it is a recording of a heartbeat of someone with three hearts, a mother with twins or maybe a celestial being from another galaxy. As the beat begins there is a floating feeling to the song. The chorus and all the sounds float with us for a few minutes, there is a calm euphoria, and then one by one the layers of sounds go away. The volume of the chorus comes down. The stringed instruments begin to fade away. Our ears are left with a lower toned harp sound and Bjork’s soft positive affirmations. The beat stops and the song winds' down. The sound becomes distorted and fuzzy, not in an analog way but in a digital way. The sounds are not dissonant. They are strangely comfortable. And then you are left with silence that sounds good not because you are glad the song is over but because everything is magic and everything is more real even the silence.
Andrea and I were just talking about how brilliant a thing can become if we invest time and focus to it. Undo was a pretty song. Now to me it is a masterpiece. Here is my analysis of Bjork's "Undo". And a live performance at the Royal Opera house in London.
This is an analysis of the song “Undo” by Bjork.
Bjork and I go way back to 1992. In high school I thought you pronounced the “j”, like an English “j”. Boy was I wrong. Now in college I know that foreign words with “j’s” have a “yu” sound.
This song has very simple lyrics. The arrangement of the music feels simple but when looked at closely one finds the progression of the song is unpredictable. It has many subtle layers. Sonically, the song matches perfectly with the lyrics and its total concept.
The main theme of the lyrics cover the fact that life is not supposed to be hard. “It’s not meant to be a struggle”, sings a chorus of angels. Bjork then gives you a soft loving pep talk. She wants you to see that life is good. “It’s warmer now”, as she kind of whispers to the listener. The lyrics are simple and profound. But the music of the song is the moving force. The message of the music is one of reality. What is real, and is reality all that great? The song answers these questions in combination with both the music and the lyrics. Its answer is, "It’s all real and yes, reality is so great."
The music has an otherworld feeling to it. But the lyrics let you know darn well she is talking about earth. The instrument that best gives an otherworld sound is the synthesizer. The synthesizer at once has a feeling of alienation and familiarity. The sound is generated with perfection yet we know it is not real some how. The title of the song “Undo” is linked closely to the synthesizer or the computer. Undo is familiar to us in this computer age as a “do over”. To “undo” is to right a wrong. There is a strong duality of technology and biology in this song and I find it clever that both are used to create this song. The first sounds you her are a sort of piano sound but maybe you are using ears that have water in them. Bjorks voice comes right in at the beginning but it has all sorts of vocal effects like an echoing delay, her inhales seem exaggerated, and there are two vocal tracks running at different times, this makes an echoing refrain in the beginning. A rich life filled texture is created with her inhales and exhales. These sounds are so familiar to us. We breathe all our lives. Sonically different sounds are weaving into and around each other. The music moves slightly closer to earth with a recognizable instrument. The sound of the harp flutters into the song letting you know it is not outer space you are hearing but heaven. Then comes the biology technology. Sound effects are creaking, shaking, there are biggish sounds, and rustling. A count or two later the beat comes in. The beat gives an important toehold to the listener who is used to the Pop music aesthetic. It should also be mentioned that at the time this song was made, beat driven music had a strong presence in America that had recently come across the Atlantic. The beat is not straightforward, but it gives the listener something familiar. Maybe it is a recording of a heartbeat of someone with three hearts, a mother with twins or maybe a celestial being from another galaxy. As the beat begins there is a floating feeling to the song. The chorus and all the sounds float with us for a few minutes, there is a calm euphoria, and then one by one the layers of sounds go away. The volume of the chorus comes down. The stringed instruments begin to fade away. Our ears are left with a lower toned harp sound and Bjork’s soft positive affirmations. The beat stops and the song winds' down. The sound becomes distorted and fuzzy, not in an analog way but in a digital way. The sounds are not dissonant. They are strangely comfortable. And then you are left with silence that sounds good not because you are glad the song is over but because everything is magic and everything is more real even the silence.
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