Displaying post 1 to 50 of 255
Ever heard a
chitravina? It's a 21-stringed musical instrument from India, similar in appearance to the more widely-known
veena, but with a sonic character all its own, due in large part to the fact that it's fretless, and
it's played with a slide. Here's an
NPR feature on the instrument's prime exponent,
N. Ravikiran.
[NOTE: embedded audio on that last link]
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 7:21 AM on July 23, 2008
(9 comments)
Help me find songs that use THE SAME WORD to make a "rhyme".
posted to Ask Metafilter by flapjax at midnite
at 10:31 PM on July 20, 2008
(62 comments)
Flying derbys! Revolving revolvers! Ladders to nowhere! It's Hans Richter's wonderful
Vormittagsspuk (or,
Ghosts Before Breakfast), certainly one of the most playful and entertaining of all the Dada film experiments of the 1920s. Presented here with a nicely done soundtrack by
Donald Sosin.
.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 8:18 AM on July 20, 2008
(9 comments)
Like penguins? Hey, who doesn't, right? So, head over to
PenguinScience for all your penguin needs. Recommended: their "Webisode" documentary on
Blondie, the rare "blonde" penguin, which also features footage of another thoroughly adorable genetic mutation: an
all black penguin.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 11:42 PM on July 16, 2008
(21 comments)
In the little town of Enterprise, Alabama, there stands a
bizarre statue that would make any card-carrying surrealist proud: an archetypical
Greek goddess raises her arms toward heaven and holds high above her head... an enormous
insect. Of course, it's the
boll weevil. That cotton-eatin' critter inspired not only the world's only monument to an agricultural pest, but
some great tunes as well, from a
wide range of artists.
[note: see hoverovers for link descriptions]
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 4:49 AM on July 15, 2008
(35 comments)
Can we get an «
Older posts button for the new Music Talk section over at MeFi Music? Seeing as how there's only room for five posts at a time (I suppose), it seems like a feature folks will want.
posted to MetaTalk by flapjax at midnite
at 1:26 AM on July 9, 2008
(16 comments)
For the first time in nearly a decade China is issuing new banknotes
without the image of Chairman Mao. Instead there's a picture of, you guessed it, their shiny new Olympic stadium. And a discus thrower
on the back.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 7:19 AM on July 7, 2008
(46 comments)
For this month's LYRIC Challenge. It has a very simple backing track, consisting of three elements: a drone (from my trusty Juno 60 analog synth), little wooden bells (from the 100 yen shop!), and my daughter's plastic ukulele, which has a picture of Maisy Mouse on it.
posted to MeFi Music by flapjax at midnite
at 5:58 AM on July 6, 2008
(9 comments)
Can anyone give me any firsthand (or reliable secondhand) impressions of US (Amtrak) rail travel these days?
posted to Ask Metafilter by flapjax at midnite
at 5:09 PM on July 5, 2008
(46 comments)
This is utterly delightful: Tara Busch sings the first line from "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"
backwards. Of course, you'll wanna check out how well she did it by watching it, um,
forwards. Yep, she nailed it. I think I'm in love.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 8:01 AM on July 3, 2008
(107 comments)
Howdy y'all, and welcome to the new Music Talk page! The mods have come through big time for us here, and I'm just pleased as goddam PUNCH! Big thanks to all!
So, let me start with a question for you MeFi Musicians (and non-musicians, should there actually be one or two that stop by here). It's a 2-part
invention question, actually: What do you think, so far, has been the BEST thing about MeFi Music, and what, up to now, has been the WORST thing about it? And, as a coda, feel free to add your suggestions about how to make it better and better from here on out.
posted to MeFi Music by flapjax at midnite
at 5:56 AM on July 2, 2008
(78 comments)
I loved
baby_balrog and his band's
rollicking original of this tune. For this cover, I figured I'd take the train down another track: slowed
way down (down on the ground),
stripped way down (just vocal and strumstick), and with a little different shade of blue for the engineer's hat.
posted to MeFi Music by flapjax at midnite
at 7:49 PM on June 29, 2008
(4 comments)
Thinking of Joe Cocker's great cover of the Beatles'
"With a Little Help From My Friends", I started wondering: what other cover versions have actually changed the
time signature of the original?
posted to Ask Metafilter by flapjax at midnite
at 9:54 PM on June 21, 2008
(47 comments)
Did you happen to see those "
making-popcorn-pop-with-a-cellphone" clips that showed up at the end of last month on the toobs? Well,
WIRED wrote about it, and a kajillion copycat clips showed up in about the time it'd take to, you know, make some popcorn. Turns out it was a viral, natch, as a cursory search will reveal. But just today a clip appeared that
explains how the actual stunt was pulled off. Well, anyway, as you've probably guessed by now, this is all just an excuse to link to
Popcorn. Yep,
Popcorn.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 6:01 PM on June 20, 2008
(42 comments)
Oops! Swiss national broadcaster SRG turned back time on Monday when, while broadcasting an Austria/Germany soccer match, it offered subtitles accompanying Germany's national anthem that mistakenly included the "Deutschland, Deutschland ueber alles" lyrics, a verse popular under Nazi rule but ignored since the fall of the Third Reich. The melody,
Das Deutschlandlied, comes courtesy of Joseph Haydn, who penned the ditty in 1797.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 7:20 AM on June 18, 2008
(36 comments)
For this month's LYRIC Challenge. Jessamyn's
comment was the spark that got this song going. This was also a chance to do a little strummin' on my new Strumstick. I've been having fun with it.
posted to MeFi Music by flapjax at midnite
at 6:29 PM on June 13, 2008
(8 comments)
You'd be forgiven for thinking that the iconic American folk song
The Wabash Cannonball was written as a tribute to an actual train, but in fact, in an interesting case of life-imitates-art, the actual train name was inspired by the song. The Lake Erie, Wabash, and St. Louis Railroad Company was formed in 1852, but there was no train called the “Cannonball” when the song was first sung late in the 19th century. There
have been
many,
many,
many wonderful versions through the years, but I think
Roy Acuff pretty much
owns it, wouldn't you say?
[NOTE: See hoverovers for link descriptions]
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 6:49 AM on June 7, 2008
(20 comments)
For this month's WILDCARD Challenge, all sounds made using only my body: cheek tapping, belly slapping, finger snapping and vocal utterances. Clocks in at a crisp 1:29, and takes its inspiration in roughly equal parts from
eefing and
katajjaq.
posted to MeFi Music by flapjax at midnite
at 10:31 PM on June 4, 2008
(9 comments)
OK, I got yer muhfuggin Single Link You Tube post
right here. That's right. Now you tell me that's not
amazing.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 7:47 AM on June 4, 2008
(88 comments)
The year was 1957: the Soviet Union had launched the
cutest little sattelite ever. And it didn't just
look good, it
sounded good, too! As sweet a sound as any
avant garde composer of the 1950's might dream up! Of course, the US would have to get a little metal ball of its
own into space, but things
didn't go so well. They did manage to get one up there in
1958, but nobody knows if it sounded as good as ol' Sputnik. But anyway, most folks weren't listening to satellites 50 years ago, they were listening to, well, lessee, there was...
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 7:35 AM on June 2, 2008
(16 comments)
The
MetaFilter Music Challenge is back,
(*cue triumphant fanfare, followed by sound of jubilant, cheering throng*) and suggestions for the monthly Challenge themes are open to all MeFiers. This means YOU! You are hereby encouraged, month by month, to offer suggestions, and if yours is chosen, not only will your name go up in lights at the Music page, but you'll also be the spark that ignites the creative genius of some MeFi Musician. A chance at a little slice of immortality!
posted to MetaTalk by flapjax at midnite
at 6:36 PM on June 1, 2008
(31 comments)
Overlooked or ignored for far too long by the medical establishment,
twisty balloon dog anatomy and
gummi bear anatomy are just two of the crucial areas that
Moist Production's
Jason Freeny is working to bring wider attention to. He's also to be commended for his tireless efforts in raising awareness of Disney character suicide and death by unexplainable circumstance. And there's free downloadable desktops, kids!
[1 or 2 of the pages at Moist maybe NSFW]
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 4:46 PM on May 29, 2008
(7 comments)
... you strive to be elsewhere, but you already are, you know ...
posted to MeFi Music by flapjax at midnite
at 5:32 AM on May 28, 2008
(10 comments)
The opening shots of 1920s New York City are wonderful, then you get a zany high-speed Harold Lloyd blazing down the avenues, and that's fun to watch, but the real killer is the horse-drawn trolley absolutely
tearing-ass through lower Manhattan, full gallop. Ends badly. Then it's over to San Francisco for one last bit of homicidal vehicular activity with a bus. Well, they sure don't drive
like they used to!
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 6:53 PM on May 25, 2008
(37 comments)
One fine old day in old LA, in the year of nineteen and sixty, one Frederick Usher met
Eddie "One String" Jones, heard him lay down some deep blues on his
diddley bow, and was so taken with Jones'
monochord masterpieces that he ran home, grabbed his tape recorder and recorded Jones in the alley. One other recording session ensued soon thereafter, which was
released as an LP in 1964. By that time, however, the mysterious Eddie Jones (if that was even his real name) was long gone, and was never heard from again.
[NOTE: see hoverovers for link descriptions]
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 12:09 AM on May 24, 2008
(22 comments)
Well, young folk, there was a time, y'know, when bands would put their band name on the kick drum head, so the audience could see the name of the band, y'see? Why, best as I can recall, the
The Yardbirds did it, and
The Zombies, too. And
The Hollies. Oh, and did I mention
The Yardbirds? Well, my memory's not what it used to be... oh, and there was those boys from Liverpool, used to sing about
Kansas Cty so well, why, you'd think they'd actually
been there! Now, there was this one band called themselves the
Spencer Davis Group, but I never could figure out why, cause it was that little Winwood fella just outta knee pants who was the star of
that show!
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 8:08 AM on May 17, 2008
(20 comments)
With a pickup mounted on the body of the instrument just below the strings,
Revathy Krishna,
KP Sarada and Sivanandam and
Jayanthi Kumaresh get an unexpectedly fat sound out of their
veena. Rocking! The instrument is more often amplified with a microphone, in which case it sounds more like this performance by
D. Balakrishna, who, as you'll hear, ain't no slouch, neither. And here
Pichumani gets his
groove on, no doubt about it. So, hey, two more raags for the road, courtesy of
Rajeswari Padmanabhan. The second tune on her clip, by the way, has got some
deep blues in it, so I'm thinking maybe Rajeswari might've been down to the crossroads at midnight...
[NOTE: see hoverovers for link descriptions]
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 1:24 AM on May 16, 2008
(28 comments)
British artist
Lucian Freud's painting of a rather...
portly slumbering nude just set an art world record. Someone laid down a nice, fat
33.6 million dollars for it: the most money ever paid for any work by a living artist.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 6:35 AM on May 14, 2008
(48 comments)
ANNOUNCING: The reinstatement of the
MetaFilter Music Challenge!
(*cue applause*) REQUESTING: Your ideas on Challenge categories and structure.
posted to MetaTalk by flapjax at midnite
at 5:16 PM on May 12, 2008
(97 comments)
If you can make it through the glacially paced intro and can put up with the typically clunky, often laughable and jingoistic fifties-style narration, this 1958 film from Chevrolet,
The American Look is worth viewing. Chock full of futuristic telephones, toasters, blenders, office machines, architecture and more, it's a mid-century design lover's dream. The film is visually striking and elegant, and presented in widescreen format. Here's part
2 and part
3. Or see it here in its
entirety.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 2:56 AM on May 12, 2008
(15 comments)
This is my little ode to that most
absurdly beautiful and unlikely of Italian cities. This tune, once again, features the mouth bow (otherwise known as the poor man's wah-wah) plus lots of percussion and whatnot. The mix could probably use a bit of tweaking here and there, but I think it's basically presentable...
posted to MeFi Music by flapjax at midnite
at 9:32 PM on May 9, 2008
(13 comments)
Here's a small representation of some of the culture that many Tibetan protesters hope to save from eradication in Tibet:
Heart Sutra, by Geshe Kunkhen.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 6:18 AM on May 8, 2008
(18 comments)
