Every Pirate Wants to be an Admiral

Olbermann on Maher: Wrestling is Fake?

Breaking Bad (unofficisl) OST

The folks over at !! Buono !! Brutto !! Cattivo idioto blogspot have been working hard assembling the unofficial Breaking Bad bootleg OST for seasons 1-4 ... (on going). Great show with equally great soundtracks.

Musical Theater Returns: Moon and Moon

This is not the stuff that singles are made of, nor plays well as a 30 second soundbite. What this might be described as is an epic performance art which requires the listener to surrender themself into the whole story and evolve with it. The themes accurately reflect common struggles that still exist within many of us. I've been listening to it a lot lately.


Moon and Moon are an independent, Brooklyn based band and VII Acts of an Iron King is their debut release. 

'Features contributions by members of An Albatross, Lewis & Clarke, Barkus Born, and Stephonik Youth, and guest appearances by Devendra Banhart, Gibby Haynes, and Bat for Lashes.'

Not bad for their first release.

"Reflections of timeless struggle, self-fulfilling prophecy, and age-old triumph, with flashes of modern affectation. A fluid and evolving seven-act performance; an epic tale of angst, hunger, tragedy, failure, and ultimately, hope. The dramatic opening of this musical/avant-theatre piece begins with the young voice of our seven year old narrator. She describes in 2 short lines what we are about to witness: seven perspectives of one king's war with himself. Moon & Moon provides the framework of a journey through an eternal human battle, borrowing from religious heritage and a colorful quilt of belief that draws upon the root myth of our collective humanity. Our story re-creates an archetypal battle that is not only historical fiction, but our own contemporary fact which exemplifies our self-destructive nature. Through the journey of witnessing a different character's perspective in each act, our king comes to the realisation that he is not only the walls which he has built, but the walls that have been destroyed by his own hand and command." (from the liner)

You can print out the full booklet here. The driving force behind Moon and Moon is William Lemon, who is featured in a worhwhile interview by Nate Daley at Alarm Press.

Enjoy!

Moon and Moon; VII Acts of an Iron King (2008)

Act I (into the dust)

Act II (hands of a man)
Act III (we are the lights)
Act IV (come down like a man)
Act V (there can be only one)
Act VI (this is our celebration)
Act VII (together alone, we jump we rise)

Act II

For What It's Worth ...

Sometimes a particular song sticks in my head - usually related to some recent event like the manufactured debt ceiling "crisis" and the no-compromise deal reached.

However the way a vocalist or band can take a classic song, like the Stephen Stills song, "For What It's Worth" and make it their own never ceases to amaze me. This song seemed particularly varied and timely to me. I think one thing it highlights is the large disconnection between the average person and the deals made in Congress. The wealthy minority rules.

Of course this playlist is not exhaustive since there are 1000's of versions of this song. It's just the best and the widest variations I'm aware of to be interesting. I hope you enjoy it, no matter what you think of the bad debt ceiling deal.

BTW: I have gotten several DCMA complaints from dead musicians over their out-of-print albums. Most links should still be active but I've questioned continuing the blog. And life has been busy.

VA: For What It's Worth ...

1. Afrika Bambaataa And The Soulsonic...

2. Aynsley Dunbar

3. Berlin

4. Buffalo Springfield

5. Cher

6. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

7. Crystal Bowersox

8. Girl In A Coma

9. Klone Orchestra

10. Link 80

11. The Litter

12. Lucinda Williams

13. The Magnets

14. Mavis Staples

15. New York Public Library

16. Ozzy Osbourne

17. Paul Brown

18. Queensryche

19. Rhythms Del Mundo feat. OneRepublic...

20. Rush

21. Sir Ivan

22. The Staple Singers

23. Techs & The Roadies

24. Willie Nelson

Here's a version I missed ...

It's That Time of Year: SXSW

Yup. It's that time of year when the indie bands and films (meaning without a major label/studio and not genre) take the stages in Austin Tx for what has become the biggest yearly entertainment festival in the U.S. It certainly is the one to watch. I don't know any sources for films other than SXSW's YouTube channel which offers trailers, but there are several sources for an mp3 of participating musicians: The Unofficial Torrent (warning it's over 6.5GB).

If you would like some filtering and direct downloading:

iTunes offers a free download

NPR offers a few of their favorites

Spinner has the whopper downloads (4 of them)

AOL and Amazon usually have free SXSW related downloads too and I'm sure there are more. Enjoy!

Al Franken was an opening speaker at SXSW and he took the opportunity to encourage activism for net neutrality. He makes some valid points, including the misleading (lies) made by content owners and providers. We've also recently seen in the middle east what the internet can do for democracy.

Another comment Al Franken made was that independent bands and film makers would have a hard time getting an audience without having equal internet access and encouraged their activism. Just look at what "pay for play" did for radio.

His full speech can be easily found online (28 minutes), along with a variety of interviews and the bill he's introducing on the subject. This will be a "real" grassroot's battle, that will depend on "real" people, making a "real" stink (thank you Wisconsin!). If your reading this, then your enjoying net neutrality and need to say so. (I'll find a better clip later.)

Nuclear Boy

This is how the Japanese are explaining the Fukushima nuclear plant problem to kids (from Laughing Squid). The video avoids explaining "explosion" or mentioning "radiation". Besides, where's the anime?

I can't criticize. I have no idea what the U.S. would do if something similar happened in California (as an example since they have reactors of the same design). At least the Japanese have universal health care.

Boosh Music

"Come with us now, on a journey through time and space, to the world of The Mighty Boosh!"

The Mighty Boosh is a show I discovered through their music - specifically the "Eels Song". It only ran 3 seasons (2004-2007) which was crazy since it was a hillarious and popular. Adult SWIM ran the series in the U.S. This is the soundtrack from the TV series (which I highly reccomend if you've never seen it). The "Spirit of Jazz" is one of their classic episodes - among many spoofing various music styles and icons including Funk, Hendrix, Mods, Punk...

The Might Boosh: Boosh Music OST

01 Mod Wolves
02 Ape of Death
03 The Shamen
04 The Tundra Rap
05 Mutants
06 Charlie
07 Electro
08 The Hitcher
09 Yeti Magic
10 Searching for the New Sound
11 Rudy's Quest
12 Spider Lovin'
13 El Sondio Nuevo
14 Nanageddon
15 The Chosen One
16 Soup Song
17 Love Games
18 Sea Funk
19 Isolation
20 Milkie Joe & the Coconuts
21 Eels
22 I Did a Shit on Your Mum
23 Future Sailors
24 Looking Backwards
25 The Crimp
26 A Higher Place
27 Bouncey Bouncey
28 Sammy the Crab
29 It's What's Inside That Counts

And for the context and fun of it, here's the whole "Eel's" episode speeded up to fit on YouTube. Enjoy!

Domain Seizures & Due Process

Torrent Freak, "Several other commentators have pointed out that judges signed off on the affidavits despite numerous factual and technical errors." The judge even used a rubber stamp for her signature.

Can you imagine being one of the 84,000 legitimate websites taken down, replaced with a U.S. government banner saying your company was involved with child pornography?

Notice that Ms. Espinel was also targeting web sites with mp3 downloads, not cargo shipping containers of Gucci goods, Coach bags, or Nike sportswear. Entertainment trade organizations (RIAA, MPAA) have successfully side stepped all public debate with trade agreements by spending more on congress than even major label designers can. Explain how Congress can't notice the shift away from major studios with the results from this year's Grammys?

But now that Rove-Koch "tea partiers" have proved that stupidity can make money even more valuable, I guess anything can happen..

Gov. Walker admitting to fake Koch brother they considered "planting troublemakers" into peaceful protest (video) and lays out his strategy.

Can it get worse? "You betcha'".

While attention has been diverted, Michigan passes a bill that allows a corporate financial manager to take over cities and towns in financial disaster - which they can declare - and giving local elected officials the pink slip. Isn't that why you vote? The short tittle could be; "Gov. Can Now Auction Off Cities To Corporations", with the subtittle, "after corporate tax cuts that create financial disaster". The saddest part is this is not a parody. It's true.

Nah, corporations wouldn't take advantage of a situation like that, would they? Just consider how banks, servicers, and insurance companies have helped out homeowners with refinancing ...

I'm sorry folks, but the news is grim. The best part has been the population of Wisconsin that have already collected over half the signatures needed for a recall vote (hmmm, maybe that's why voting was eliminated in Michigan's bill).

P.S. There was also a post of emails from Bank of America involving forced-insurance for MUCH higher premiums, with kickbacks for loan servicers, which seems clearly illegal made by Anonymous today (their website keeps going down).

I find it sad that organizations like Wikileaks and Anonymous are needed to do the job the press used to do.

Mark Feburary 17th

So how important is open internet? Although not directly related, open access to the internet has proved itself essential through several global events recently. Some people believe blogs should refrain from politics, but access to blogs has become policy and political. Mainly no one is representing the average user in US trade agreements and commissions (telecoms and major industries are invited).

But here's your chance to add your voice; the FCC has requested comments on Feb 17th from the public, one day after a hearing to repeal FCC's authority to regulate the internet including net neutrality.

"Make no mistake: this will be a decisive vote. This is the only time that Congress will vote "yes or no" on Net Neutrality, so it's crucial that they vote the right way. Help us send a clear message to Congress: a vote for the repeal act is a vote against Internet users."

The US is currently in a race to the bottom with broadband and wireless speeds. Who cares how fast any service is with ridiculous caps that allow (maybe) one Netflix movie per week. Can it get worse? Companies want the government to pay for upgrades rather than loose profit margins, i.e. "The wall street lesson".

I pay $60/mth for premiere internet that doesn't stream video (but it should). I have a choice of one carrier in the 5th largest city in the US. I have no choice but to pay whatever they ask. I get phone calls from Cox asking what I'm using for TV - but when I ask about rates that include TV, I need to be transferred to marketing. So what department was calling? That's when my internet speed slowed down so that video can't be streamed. Lovely. My new Macbook Pro didn't help either.

No matter what you think or if you think you can make a difference, you just might. The place to start is HERE.

I'm sure a few other interested sites will have something to say as well; ARS Technica, EFF, Wired, TechDirt, etc. I admit I'm being reactionary by not looking up references first. Another organization I've been watching more is Anonymous.

If you're cruising music or movie blogs, you are political. Art is freedom of expression and should be heard. This is our culture and it belongs to everyone. Copyrights were an exception for new works. They were not intended for generations to get rich on forever. The parties interested in protecting copyrights are trade organizations, not law enforcement, and don't represent the public or creative artists. The bands would make more money if people sent $1 directly to them for every download. Art can not be created in a vaccum. That's like reinventing the wheel over again (and could be why newer music is so limited and shitty). But you've heard all that from me before.

And to be a pest, I'll post the Wikileaks archive (read more about Manning).

Supreme Beings of Leisure

"Addictive and Classy" was how one Amazon reviewer described them. Out of trip-hop, rap roots comes retro-pop, James Bond-like, electronica smooth duo called the Supreme Beings of Leisure. If that doesn't sound like something your interested in, you might want to think again. They've been used for the addictive themes behind Johnnie Walker ads, PBS Frontline and a ton of other commercial work. It's just hard not to like SBL. Every song on this album could be a single.

Supreme Beings of Leisure (2000)

Ain't Got Nothin'
Golddigger
Last Girl on Earth
Never the Same
Nothin' Like Tomorrow
Strangelove Addiction
Sublime
Truth from Fiction
Under the Gun
What's the Deal
You're Always the Sun

Pink Panther Punk

If you like oddities, then Pink Panther Punk should peak your curiosity. I found it over at Way Out Junk blogspot. It was a real toss up between posting the punk album or the Child's Introduction to Disco (which includes explaining the lyrics), along with old soundtracks, regional children's shows, Tupperware records and more. But Pink Panther performing Pink Floyd's, "Another Brick in the Wall" was the winner. A lot of the albums haven't aged well, at least not as they were originally intended anyway. They are hilarious and some are just surreal.

New From The Residents ... well, maybe

It could be up to their fans. Read more here (offical site).

A documentary about The Residents - Trailer from Well Dang! Productions on Vimeo.

Old Girl Groups

Discovering the old girl groups was one of those things I would have never been exposed to without the wonders of the internet. One of the best blogs, Classic and Rare Soul Sisters, has ended it's short run, but their links are still active. So don't delay. It's a blog I'm really going to miss.

Lou Reed Turns Eno

This is not Lou Reed "walking on the wild side" but serious ambient meditation music he wrote to help himself with focus. Huh? For some reason, I wasn't expecting Lou Reed to listen to or enter the new age music genre. I'll try about anything to smooth out my fragmented, stressfull, multi-tasked and de-focused day. Do you think this will work in rush hour traffic too? Who knows, Lou Reed might even inspire me to give Chen Tai Chi a try...

Lou Reed: Hudson River Wind Meditations (2007)

01 Move Your Heart
02 Find Your Note
03 Hudson River Wind (Blend the Ambiance)
04 Wind Coda