The Grande Mothers featuring Nappy Brock and Don Preston finished touring Britain last Thursday. Is it just me, or does Napoleon look a lot more relaxed here than he ever did during his two-year ZPZ stint?
Author: Barry's Imaginary Publisher
Mix-Tape Master
… is what I am, I is! 117 out of 180:
You are a music evangelist. (…) You understand the art of the segue, how the key to the best mix-tape isn’t just the songs you pick, but how they interlock with each other. You also know who the up-and-coming acts are and are quick to recognise where their influences lie and whether they will make it big. You work hard at the pursuit of this knowledge, scouring music blogs, magazines and record stores.
Well that was fun. How about you?
(via)
The Seeding Of Summer Lawns
Bless Andy Baio:
These are the unreleased demos from Joni Mitchell’s The Hissing of Summer Lawns, one of my favorite albums ever. Unlike the lush arrangements found on the album, these early versions are stripped down to only piano, and acoustic guitar.
He found this rare recording at Big O Magazine which has a bunch of other interesting things up for download (oh look: Loggins & Messina!). Just try to ignore the Japanese girl with the bouncing boobs to the right, and focus on the left part of the page…
The Cher Effect
You may think you don’t know it, but you most certainly do.
Hometracked has the skinny:
When used noticeably, an auto-tuner produces what most call “The Cher Effect“, named for her trademark sound in the song Believe. (In essence, we named the effect like scientists naming a new disease after its first victim.) Treated this heavily, a vocal track sounds synthetic, and obviously processed.
Could You Speak Up A Little?
This remarkable device was invented by Frenchman Jean Auscher as an acoustic navigation device in case of radar failure on small vessels. Shown at the 1960 Brussels Inventor’s Fair, and, one suspects, nowhere else ever again.
Want one! More fun at the Amplifier Institute’s page of failed projects.
Harvest
So, say your typical big-mouthed Dutch guy yells “play the banjo!”
What do you think Old Neil’s going to do next?
Neil Young, live in Amsterdam, February 18, 2008. Wish I’d been there.
New Sins
Meanwhile, here’s what Pope “Look into my eyes, look into the center of my eyes” Benny and his crazy boys over at the Apostolic Penitentiary have been up to:
Thou shall not pollute the Earth. Thou shall beware genetic manipulation. Modern times bring with them modern sins. So the Vatican has told the faithful that they should be aware of “new” sins such as causing environmental blight.
Catholics. Italians. Waste management.
Which reminds me we’ve been holding a Sopranos marathon at Barry Towers, late to the party as ever. Pure brilliance! Aah, the inimitable James Gandolfini — although this guy gets pretty close…
Hello Again World
Not dead yet — told you so!
I could go into minute detail about how, when and why we set this new blog up. I could get all bitter and resentful while at it. I won’t.
This is the new KUR — for better or for worse. It’s good to see you again.
Hope you like it!