Normally, I'm not one for following the crowd, but in this case, I'm all for it. On Saturday, August 29, 2009, on what would have been Michael Jackson's 51st birthday, thousands of people came together in Mexico City to honor the King of Pop and attempt to break the record for the largest number of people simultaneously dancing to "Thriller" in one place. According to news reports, nearly 13,000 people turned out to participate. Check out the video below--it's impressive.
As reported
today, DJ AM, born Adam Goldstein, has passed away.He was 36 years old.
Goldstein was a
member of the band Crazy Town, known for their 2001 hit song, “Butterfly.”His work as a DJ appeared on albums by
Madonna, Will Smith, Papa Roach, Shifty, and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds.He spun at private celebrity events and Hollywood
hotspots, and was also known for his romances with reality TV star Nicole Richie and
actress-singer Mandy Moore.
Goldstein was also known for his collaboration with drummer Travis Barker of the punk band blink-182.The duo played several live DJ-and-drum sets, including one at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards.
In September 2008, Goldstein and Barker were involved in a
private plane crash in Columbia S.C.Though critically injured, both Goldstein and Barker survived.
Goldstein posted his last known public remarks on Twitter on
Tuesday, August 25, when he tweeted the following Grandmaster Flash lyrics: "New York, New York. Big city of dreams, but everything in New York
ain't always what it seems."
First, an apology—I was supposed to post this yesterday, but
time got away from me, and “World Music Wednesday” has become…“World Music
Thursday.”At least this week.
Anyway, I was perusing our free world music MP3
samplers yesterday evening, and the first one that I happened to download was Alula’s Celtic
Sampler Summer 2009.I was wary at first
(I’m picky about my celtic music!), but
it turned out to be a lovely collection, and I decided that I had to write about it.
I’ve always loved celtic music.I’ve had a thing for celtic
mythology ever since I was little, and traditional celtic tunes are full of stories.When I think of celtic music, I still have romantic
visions spring to mind—of wandering bards, mummers, and céilidhs.My love for celtic music deepened when I lived in France; I
would make regular jaunts over to Brittany, where I’d sit in dark pubs, soaking up live music over tangy cider brut
and a savory buckwheat galette.
So it’s no wonder that celtic music has remained lodged in
my psyche.Celtic music is difficult to define
accurately, since the term itself is extremely broad and general (kind of like “world
music.”)For the purposes of this post, I’ll
define celtic music as the music of the Celtic Nations (Ireland,
Scotland, the the Isle of Man, Wales, Cornwall (southwestern England), Brittany (western France), and Galicia (northwestern Spain).
In researching celtic music, I discovered that it’s far more
complex than I have space to describe here (sadly), so for the time being, I’ll
provide you with a brief synopsis of Irish music, since much of the music on
the Alula sampler is based on traditional Irish music.
Many Irish folk songs originated in rural areas and evolved
over time.The human voice is an
important component of Irish music, and one of the most prevalent styles of
traditional Irish vocal singing is known as sean-nós
(“old style.”)Sean-nós singers have marvelously flexible voices, and their vocals
normally soar and dip, creating a pure, haunting, and melodically rich listening
experience.
Instruments used in Irish music include the Irish harp, the bodhrán (a drum with a goatskin frame), uilleann
pipes, the tin whistle, the fiddle and the accordion.I’m partial to the fiddle and tin whistle, both of which feature in the
sampler.Download it free (for a limited time only), and
check out all the free samplers here.
--Bri Nguyen
August is an exciting month here at ChordStrike. We've put together our World Music Event and our editors’ picks for the 100 Greatest World Music Albums of All Time, and in honor of these internationally-themed
occasions (and frankly because I’ll use any excuse to blog about world
music), I’ve created a month-long miniseries of blog posts called
“World Music Wednesdays." Each Wednesday this month, I’ll highlight a
different genre of world music. Suggestions welcome!
Boogie Down Productions'
legendary rapper KRS-One has never been afraid to get on his pedestal
and preach, in his lyrics or in interviews. Now he's gone even further
than ever before: he's written a 600 word book, called it The Gospel of
Hip-Hop, and declared it to be the start of "a new religion on the
earth." In an interview with AllHipHop.com to promote the new book, the
man known as The Teacha said: "It explores the spirituality of Hip-Hop,
the divinity of Hip-Hop... I think I have the authority to approach God
directly, I don’t have to go through any religion [or] train of
thought. I can approach God directly myself and so I wrote a book
called The Gospel of Hip Hop to free from all this nonsense garbage
right now. I respect the Christianity, the Islam, the Judaism, but
their time is up.” The book is structured like the Christian Bible and
offers practical advice about life, as well as philosophical
discussions on morality and spirituality. "I’m willing to go beyond my
born culture to create a whole new civilization," KRS continued, "[I]
happen to be one of the first citizens of this new culture, new
civilization called Hip-Hop. In a hundred years, everything that I’m
saying to you will be common knowledge and people will be like, 'Why
did he have to explain this? Wasn’t it obvious?'" The book is due to be
published in the fall, but here's The Teacha's "Outta Here" in the meantime...
SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and
quirky stories which catch the eye. We'll be posting a selection of
these news stories on Chordstrike every week; for much, much more,
visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon.
The 'Net's been buzzing this month with the release of Modest Mouse's music video for "King Rat," off their recent EP, No One's First and You're Next. This video was conceived by late actor Heath Ledger, who received a director's credit. It's a somewhat creepy animated vid--Ledger made it to protest the illegal commercial whale hunts that take place off the coast of Australia. In an eerie turning-of-the-tables, the vid depicts a crew of whales hunting humans in order to make pet food. It makes my skin crawl, but it's sobering, not to mention effective. Check it out.
I am, quite frankly, surprised by this. "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feeling" are good songs, but really? Number 1? Record-breaking?
Don't get me wrong--I like the Black Eyed Peas' music. I just don't get why these songs have such broad appeal. Yes, they're good party songs, and they're fun to dance to. Is this why people like them so much?
I personally prefer the Peas' more socially-conscious early work, like their debut album, Behind the Front and their sophomore title, Bridging the Gap. I like music that explores social and cultural themes, that touches me in some way, that makes me think. But I admit that too much thinking can get old. Maybe, when it comes down to it, most people just want to forget everything and dance--hence the Peas' most recent success on the charts.
Mono, stereo, or both? Or, to put it simply: how do you want to listen to your Beatles?
If you're a Beatles fan, chances are you know what I mean. I'm referring to the Beatles remasters, which are slated for worldwide release on 09/09/09. Along with the individual albums, there will be two box sets released: a mono box set and a stereo box set. Ever since this news hit the 'Net, our Beatles discussion forums have been buzzing with activity. Most people want to know the following: how will the remasters sound, what exactly went into the remastering process, and what are the key differences between the mono and stereo versions?
We were wondering the same thing, so our resident sound expert and Beatles aficionado Hugo Munday sat down with Abbey Road engineers Allan Rouse and Paul Hicks to learn more about the remasters and how they were produced. Check out the interview below--it's a pretty cool listen for any Beatles fan.
What's cheaper than travel and almost as good a way to get your cosmopolitan bona fides up to snuff? Try 29 free world music samplers. As part of our World Music Festival, we're offering free music downloads from more than two dozen labels and artists, including a few personal favorites (pictured below, click to download) from Soweto Gospel Choir, JDub (Israel), Tuff Gong (RIYL Bob Marley), Luaka Bop (RIYL David Byrne), ESL (RIYL Thievery Corporation):
Download any or all of the free samplers (totaling hundreds of free song downloads) from here. Bon voyage...
This week’s installment of World Music Wednesdays comes courtesy of my fellow ChordStriker Alan Wiley, who came across the video below while burning the midnight oil earlier this week. He sent it to me, and I was so intrigued that I immediately scrapped what I'd been planning to write about in favor of this vid. It’s amazingly cool.
I wasn’t able to find much background info on the video, but I did discover this much: it was made by French ethnomusicologist Hugo Zemp in Malaita (one of the Solomon Islands.) The people in the video are from the 'Are 'are ethnic group, which is known for complex panpipe music. Originally, the ‘Are ’are produced music by striking hollow bamboo sticks of varying sizes on coconut shells, but this method has evolved over time (in the video, the players strike bamboo sticks on rocks, and my research has revealed that the 'Are 'are also play panpipes by blowing into them.) This method of music-making might seem simple, but it’s really quite complex; as you can see in the video, players harmonize with one another, and single players can grip multiple bamboo pipes with their fingers and toes in order to produce multiple notes at once.
If you like world music or watching videos on the web, chances are you’ve heard a sampling of music from Malaita before. Electronic/new age duo Deep Forest used a vocal sample from a recording made by Zemp in their 1992-93 hit, “Sweet Lullaby.” Zemp’s original recording features a woman named Afunakwa singing a traditional lullaby called “Rorogwela.” “Sweet Lullaby” was popularized in 2005 when it was used as the background music for two viral videos made by Matt Harding (of Where the Hell is Matt? fame.) Check out one of Matt’s awesome dancing vids below. Yes, they've been around for a few years, but I still love watching them. They somehow exemplify what world music means to me--discovery, joy, celebration...I could go on and on.
--Bri Nguyen
August is an exciting month here at ChordStrike. We've put together our World Music Event and our editors’ picks for the 100 Greatest World Music Albums of All Time, and in honor of these internationally-themed
occasions (and frankly because I’ll use any excuse to blog about world
music), I’ve created a month-long miniseries of blog posts called
“World Music Wednesdays." Each Wednesday this month, I’ll highlight a
different genre of world music. Suggestions welcome!
"World music" is an exceptionally wide-ranging term. Does world music
mean music that’s not in English? Does a world music artist have to
create music from his/her own particular country or ethnic background?
What about "big name" world artists (like Enya, Celtic Woman, Bob
Marley) who have had mainstream Top 40 hits? In the end, we came up
with the following criteria:
• Broadly speaking, world music is not traditionally Western. We’ve
chosen albums featuring music from a particular region, culture, or
heritage.
• Albums can include lyrics in English and/or Top 40 hits, as long as
the music itself draws from non-western rhythms, instruments, or
melodies.
• One album per artist
• No EPs or singles—this list is about albums
• No greatest hits collections or compilations except in cases where no
actual album was available, or where the collection acts as a proper
album. Bob Marley’s Legend, being a greatest hits compilation album, did not make our list, but Catch a Fire did.
Of course, our editors exercise their judgment regarding quality and/or
historical significance. If you disagree with our choices (and there's
a good chance you will), let us know in the comments below, or on the customer discussion on our list landing page.
This list is MP3s, but if you prefer CDs, you can find the list here.
The wide availability of free and cheap music on the internet means
that, these days, it isn't enough for musicians to just make music -
they have to give fans something else if they're going to sell any
records. It used to be posters and specially written liner notes and
"multimedia content"; now it seems to be entry into a wacky
personalized competition. Earlier this year, Nine Inch Nails drummer Josh Freese
offered personal phone calls, a taste of his wife's lasagna and the
keys to his car to fans willing to stump up big bucks for his solo
album Since 1972. Now cult LA-based noise-rockers HEALTH have hidden 66 colored tokens in physical copies of their new album Get Color.
Prizes include T-shirts, phone calls, bouquets of flowers, "a lock of a
band member's hair," and even an "LP test pressing autographed in our
blood." First prize, for finding the golden ticket, is three days of
fun with the band in Los Angeles, airfares included. "You are staying
with us," they promise the winner, "We will take you to Magic Mountain.
We will take you to the zoo. We will bring you breakfast in bed. We
will love each other." Now there's a prize you might want to think
carefully about claiming.
Whether you'd want to claim the prize or not, here's a YouTube video featuring the slightly insane second single from Get Color, "We Are Water":
SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and
quirky stories which catch the eye. We'll be posting a selection of
these news stories on Chordstrike every week; for much, much more,
visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon.
It was muddy, organic, idyllic, and iconic. From August 15 - 18, 1969, thousands of blissed-out hippies, bohemians, workers, artists, students, and music lovers congregated on Max Yasgur's 600 acre dairy farm in Bethel, NY for three days (and then some) of peace and music. Here at ChordStrike, we celebrate the 40th anniversary of one of rock and roll's most pivotal events with our Woodstock Store. Visit the store to watch videos, listen to music, discuss Woodstock with other fans, and relive a truly defining moment in musical history.
Instrumentalist, entertainer, and inventor of the guitar model that bears his name, Les Paul passed away today in White Plains, New York, at the age of 94.
Born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on June 9, 1915, Paul began performing in public as a "honky-tonk" guitarist at the age of 13. In the 1930s and '40s, he played with bandleader Fred Waring and many popular singers, including Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and The Andrews Sisters. It was Crosby that gave Paul an early tape recorder that he began to modify, allowing him to pioneer the art of multi-track recording.
An electronics enthusiast since his youth, Les Paul began experimenting with new guitar designs in the ‘30s. As ensemble sound levels were growing with amplification, his goal was to improve tone and sustain, while minimizing feedback, so he designed an instrument with a solid body, reducing vibration in the frame and concentrating it in the string.
His initial design was given the unflattering name "The Log" because of the solid construction. It was 10 years before a manufacturer picked up a refinement of this design, and the first Les Paul was produced by Gibson in 1952. Since that date the "Les Paul" has gone on to be one of the most recognizable sounds in rock, famed for its dominance and versatility of tone.
In 2008, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame paid tribute to Les Paul in a week-long celebration of his life, which culminated with a live performance by Paul himself. He is the only individual to share membership of the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the National Inventors Hall of Fame, and the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Until recently he continued to perform two weekly New York shows with the Les Paul Trio, at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City. -- Hugo Munday
Because I harbor a secret desire to be a flamenco dancer, and because I have an ardent love of Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca (a celebrator and composer of flamenco music himself), I’ve decided to write about flamenco for this week’s installment of World Music Wednesdays.
I’ve attended a couple of local flamenco performances in the past few months, and each time I’ve found myself wholly captivated by the fiery passion of the music and dance. I come away from every performance with images flashing in my mind’s eye—the guitarists’ nimble fingers, the dancers’ swirling skirts and seductive eyes, the staccato sound of stomping reverberating in my ears. Flamenco is, to me, an enticing dichotomy—an explosion of energy channeled into precise steps and elegant movements, a whirling, stylized maelstrom of mystery and drama. I love flamenco, but it frustrates me; watching it makes me feel like I’m witnessing some sort of wild force that’s being tamed and controlled and held in check--but just barely. It keeps me on the edge of my seat, and yet I'm constantly on the verge of leaping up and letting loose.
Flamenco is said to have developed out of the Gypsy (Gitano) culture of Andalusia (a region in southern Spain) in the 16th century, although it was most likely shaped by Arabic, Jewish, Christian, and Andalusian folk musical traditions as well. Over the next few centuries, however, flamenco became almost exclusively associated with the Gypsies, and was largely overlooked by the wealthy upper class. During its “golden age” (1869 – 1910) however, flamenco thrived as an art form. Musicians and dancers honed their craft by performing in “music cafes” (cafés cantantes), and flamenco guitar became a celebrated genre in its own right.
Flamenco in its basic form consists of three primary elements: el cante (the song), el baile (the dance), and la guitarra (the guitar, popularized worldwide by such virtuosos as Paco de Lucía.) The interplay between a flamenco guitarist, singer, and dancer is a fascinating study in communication, with the guitarist using his/her fingers, the dancer his/her body (stomping feet and languid, twirling hand movements), and the singer his/her voice. Check out some of flamenco performance clips below , and stay tuned for next Wednesday’s post.
"Coldplay, currently on tour...." That statement will probably be accurate for the next few years,as the band seems to be on the road permanently. In the early stages of the Viva La Vida tour, after postponements for illness, permission for music etc., we got a slot to speak with the famed front man of the British mega-group.
I wondered how he'd be. There are topics you obviously steer away from with Mr. Martin, if you want your full ten minutes, so I stuck with the world of live performance and he turned out to be attentive and worthwhile (you'll let me know if you disagree. :) He probably did a score of similar length "phoners" before and after our time together that day, but I was struck by how well he chooses his words. -- Hugo Munday
Today the country music duo known as Brooks & Dunn announced that they will be splitting up as a band. Among several distinctions,
the duo has had 40 different Billboard hits, 20 of which reached number
one. They also won the Country Music Awards Vocal Duo of the Year award
every year since 1992 with one exception in 2000. A brief message on their website offered the following note:
"To Our Fans:
After 20 years of making music and riding this trail together, we have
agreed as a duo that it's time call it a day. This ride has been
everything and more than we could ever have dreamed.... We owe it all
to you, the fans. If you hear rumors, don't believe them, it's just
time.
We will release our #1's and then some" on September 8th and bid
you farewell one last time in 2010, with The Last Rodeo Tour...(dates to be
announced)."
Short and concise review: Neurosis took the stage, rocked my face off, then put it back on slightly askew. Heaven and Hell followed, and Dio cemented my face back on with dragon's blood, while Tony Iommi stitched it in place with what are still the most impeccable guitar riffs ever created. I'm healing nicely.
After 61 year old AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson announced his impending retirement, Lady Luck seems to be suggestively digging her elbow into various aging members of Aerosmith,
not least 61 year old frontman Steven Tyler, to think about following
suit. Tyler was airlifted to hospital on Wednesday night after
sustaining minor head, neck and shoulder injuries falling off-stage at
a concert in South Dakota. An onlooker told the Rapid City Journal
“I’ve never seen that happen before. But you could kind of see it
coming because he was dancing all over the stage.” It's the latest in a
long line of injuries and setbacks that have hit the band recently. In
May last year, Tyler checked into rehab to recover from an operation on
his foot. In February concerts were canceled when guitarist Joe Perry
required emergency surgery to deal with an infection in his knee. In
March Tyler contracted pneumonia, delaying plans to record a new album,
and last month more shows were canceled after Tyler injured his
hamstring on-stage. Guitarist Brad Whitford
missed several shows after he required surgery, reportedly due to
bumping his head really hard as he exited his Ferrari. Then, bassist Tom Hamilton
had to take time off to recover from some unspecified "non-invasive
surgery." Although Tyler's latest injuries are not serious, there's
only so many hits a man can take before he thinks about throwing in the
towel.
SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and
quirky stories which catch the eye. We'll be posting a selection of
these news stories on Chordstrike every week; for much, much more,
visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon.
I was just reading through No Depresssion, one the best online magazines (formerly in print) focused on americana music, and found their list of Five Best Living Songwriters to be an interesting read. It was also interesting to see that Bob Dylan made the number one spot, same as he did on our similar list of The 100 Greatest Singer-Songwriter Albums of All Time. It looks like all 5 of their artist picks made it somewhere onto our list as well.
I would love to know more about the author's apparently strong aversion to Nick Drake. It's also suspect to see the inclusion of Patty Griffin and Billy Joel (the guy wrote Uptown Girl after all) at the number 4 and 5 spots, which would not be my choice, but everyone's taste is their own. That's what's great about music.
Thanks, No Depression, for your best list. Any of you Chordstrike readers care to chime in with more of your passionate opinions and picks of the best songwriters out there? I'd especially love to hear about any under-the-radar artists that aren't the ubiquitous picks we normally see.
