cooltunes

When the kids were old enough to trust in a bookstore without worrying about them racing up and down the aisles, we would sometimes visit the old Tower bookstore in Mountain View. For a time, the fellow in charge of the background music was our hero. ‘What’s that playing? What is that?’ We wondered to ourselves and to each other, and finally one night I went up to him and asked.

And that is how we were introduced to darkwave/neoclassical music ( Arcana, back in the day). In turn, our lone CD was loaned out to at least one other young man, who found it led to a whole new world of Gothic sounds.

Then there was the time we wandered into a store in North Beach selling various exotic artifacts. The music was primal, mysterious and wildly percussive. Mesmerizing. I was the official asker, and I did. And that is how I learned about X-Tribe. Best played in a dark, musty store full of masks, bones, skins and primitive but very sharp weapons. Excellent elsewhere too.

Back up a few years, the kids were small, and a piano recital was held in a parent’s home. Now as a rule, recitals were not something I looked forward to, being a fidgety person. But the second we walked into the house, I got into that zone of unknown but ravishing music in the background. What is that? Who wrote that? It was classical, and not the usual suspects, but so infused with holiday feeling that I was desperate to find out what it was. We didn’t know the parents well. As the evening wound up, there was the usual mayhem and excited confusion whenever a group of children congregate at Christmas time. And before I knew it, the opportunity was gone.

I never saw the parents again. I have never found that music.

Speaking of people stuck in a musical rut, a friend falls in the same category as the relative. The shuffle I got her is only a little bigger than my camera’s memory card. But she has a Mac, newer than mine even.

So I’ll put a bunch of music on CDs and let her son do the loading. Because she’s kinda fearful of computers, even Macs.

After learning recently that a relative has not been exposed to music much past the 60s, I decided to get him a nano 8g. He does not have internet access, and chooses not to sample music through headphones in a record store due to his fastidious nature.

Over the next few days, I will load up the nano with a wide variety of music, the likes of which he has never heard. He’ll probably hate a lot of it, but then there will be happy discoveries.

And because he doesn’t have a computer, I will also have to buy a wall charger.

This promises to be lots more fun than filling up a basket with various foods as I did last year.

Is it another working Saturday? Why, yes. But I have some excellent songs on the playlist.

SeeqPod - Playable Search

Images at their site are downright creepy, but this Finnish group has created a new art form.

Here they are singing their version of our national anthem:

About mid-morning, the crew brought out the boombox. I didn’t want to listen to it, so I cranked up my Blank & Jones collection, which can get me through most of the day in a productive haze. At some point, the painters turned down their stuff. After lunch maybe. Then they went to work on the beams, which meant they were close to where I was working. They got kinda quiet, although occasionally one would do the falsetto again, a melodic ballad that was nice.

They finished the whole house in a day. Very proud, they walked me around so I could see. As I was writing out the check, the lead guy said, ‘Nice music.’

Almost everyone, it seems, except musicians that the heartland holds dear.

When Chris, a blogger who infrequently contributes here, left to seek his fortune up north, he left behind some cacti. I came across this

and it’s definitely Chris.

I swore I’d never ever get another cat. But Nora here, kinda makes me want to get one someday. Far, far in the future.

Crystal Castles (remember She-Ra, He-Man’s twin sister?), Vampire Weekend, Hadouken!, My Morning Jacket, The Mars Volta, Gogol Bordello and Effi Briest, among others.

If you saw Mostly Martha, you’ll know it instantly, (not that the video has anything to do with the film) If you missed Mostly Martha, you should see it this weekend. It’s the German movie from which No Reservations was derived. Based on reviews read, the latter was a mere shadow of the former. Ci bum ci bum, du du du du du.

Click on any featured video. Go on, do it. (today only)

Via the Museum of Hoaxes. It’s a minefield out there today. Virgle, anyone? Wait, is that for real?

I’m not quite recovered from watching (in a weaker moment as relief from doing taxes) men who fish for Asian carp with bows, so the whole rickrolling thing was something of a surprise. I got my explanation from a son, but you can learn all about it here, in case you’ve been away from the intertubes.

Well, Hans Zimmer did anyway.

Lately, I’ve been catching up with episodes of the long-running British series, ‘Monarch of the Glen’, set in Scotland. (I alternate that with the latest DVD of MI-5, aka Spooks, another animal entirely.) Sometimes I struggle to keep up with the thick accents of some cast members. Today, I woke up with Groundskeeper Willie’s rantings in my head.

Nothing specific since I don’t recall many of his quotes, but there’s this vague gibberish in a Scottish burr in the background as I work. It should be annoying, but it’s very funny.

At her site, a poem called Souvenance.

She uses a Land 250, and the show will be at the Fondation Cartier in Paris. Here are some sample shots taken from an earlier exhibition.

A scholarly discussion (with tongue firmly in cheek) published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The site has a bit of a problem displaying text via Firefox on a Mac, your experience might be better.

The wrapping goes a lot faster, trust me.

Normally, I go the traditional route. By the time the presents are all stacked up in their boxes, I want to slow down, but this year, I’m a bit behind. Still got some cards to get out. Still got a few things to get. The fridge is waiting for the turkey and the roast.

Most years, I get to do the wrapping by myself, but this time, curious family members are popping in and out of the room (wow, that’s a big box), so the faster the process, the better.

I bet you didn’t know he could sing so well. Something to listen to while you’re waiting for the office party to start.

From Shonen Knife. It’s not a Christmas song, not sure if it’s about food either.