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Volume 2-2012

RARADIO

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New Releases on RARadio: "Last Call" by Jay; "Darkness" by Leonard Cohen; "Sweetbread" by Simian Mobile Disco and "Keep You" from Actress off the Chronicle movie soundtrack; "Goodbye to Love" from October Dawn; Trouble in Mind 2011 label sampler; Black Box Revelation Live on Minnesota Public Radio; Apteka "Striking Violet"; Mikal Cronin's "Apathy" and "Get Along"; Dana deChaby's progressive rock

Why Bach Matters

Why Johann Sebastian Bach Would Be Living on Food Stamps Today

The piece below - one educated man's point of view on why Bach remains an important composer today, and why modern pop music hardly lasts more than a few weeks - won't satisfy any academic's standards in explaining what is so classical about classical musical. It does, however, put into context something about what is wrong with music today; that is if there is anything wrong with music today. Not to give away the ending, but the fellow in the video below is going to say that pop music is of low value because it is one dimensional, a riff on a single emotion (for instance), as opposed to the work of Bach, who toured listeners through a range of exquisite emotion that taken altogether added up to a thematic statement. Correct he is, in this viewer's opinion, but thanks be to Bach's lucky stars to have worked in the early 18th Century, before the advent of radio and the information chunking age. We don't really do big themes, anymore, not only because we don't do long form music, as they did in Bach's time, but because we modern listeners just aren't that smart. We need little bits of information at a time, because there is this attention span deficit that vexes. And besides, knuckleheads like Bach and his "songs" that go on forever are just too much to remember. Today, A&R people would suggest that Bach read some books on music marketing and focus his melodies more; stop the rambling about, establish a hook, and build to a big chorus. Just judging by his looks , I suspect that Bach may have replied with something like "Fuck yourself, you idiot moron", because his were less politically correct times, though I would hope instead that he might have gotten ironic with it and said something like, "So you want me to be more like Bruno Mars? Or Jason Mraz?" Or perhaps simply become curious as to direction and asked today's music directors - "Where, exactly, are we going with this?"

 

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Cali Kids

World's Coolest Kids Making Skate Vids

The local high school kids of Benicia, California have got it going on in all kinds of ways, including skate culture and creative music and video production that seems to have become an integrated creative expression, like a homegrown joint (Spike Lee style). Add skate fashion, too, because local designers outfit these kids, sponsoring them like live display models for their street-ware.  Check out their latest, and you can find tons of others here on YouTube. The kids are way alright.

 

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Viral Covers

"We Are Young" Done by Pentatonix. Who knew this song was so clever?

Chris Ethridge (1946-2012)

Flying Burrito Brothers at Altamont

Musician Chris Ethridge passed away recently, an event that brought renewed focus on his career and attention to a bunch of videos of Ethridge in his performing days. The one below is from the ill-fated Altamont concert in 1969, which became notorious for its shoddy execution, including the use of the Hells Angels motorcycle club for security. Mayhem ensued, including a murder just in front of the stage. The video below captures part of the event, with Ethridge on stage with seminal Country-Rock band the Flying Burrito Brothers. You don't get much of a look at the Burrito Brothers (which included Gram Parsons, Chris Hillman, and Sneaky Pete Kleinow, though there is a nice few seconds showing drummer Michael Clarke, an old friend of this site, who came to fame in the precursor band to the Burrito Brothers, The Byrds.

 

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Miniature Tigers

Cool Tune, Good Video Idea

One of the first bands to surface from exposure on MySpace was the Miniature Tigers, a Phoenix, Arizona contingent since transplanted to Brooklyn, New York. In 2006, Rolling Stone listed them as one of the best bands on MySpace. "I shot this video March 21, 2010 in McAllen TX at FUNDAY with my Nikon D300s. I added in the actual song to the video because the audio was horrible. I did my best to have Charlie in sync with the actual song, but a live performance is never the same like on an actual recording, it is off a little." - Charlie Brand, MT guitarist, songwriter and vocalist.

 

 

 

 

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And then some other roots...real deal stuff