Music has been used in American military prisons and on bases to induce sleep deprivation, "prolong capture shock," disorient detainees during interrogations—and also drown out screams. Based on a leaked interrogation log, news reports, and the accounts of soldiers and detainees, here are some of the songs that guards and interrogators chose.
posted on Feb 26, 2008 - View this thread

On the cusp of DEVO's first tour of Europe since 1990 , it's become clear that, though largely cast aside after their 1980 hit "Whip It", DEVO's influence is finally being felt on modern audiences, around the world. DEVO has inspired tribute bands, some traditional, some not. They've also spawned new bands, domestic [MySpace link], and Foreign like Japan's POLYSICS [YouTube], and Germany's Mutate Now [YouTube]. With musical inspiration like this, can't we forgive such missteps as Devo 2.0?
posted on Jun 15, 2007 - View this thread

Vibraphone Orchestra
posted on Apr 8, 2007 - View this thread

Jazz '71-'89 Dave Douglas posed the challenge: “Is there a writer who can take on the project of an unbiased overview of music since the end of the Vietnam War?” The Bad Plus answered (though not unbiased). The Guardian and NY Times weighed in. Suck it, haters. And ultimately, Behearer used a wiki to answer the call.
posted on Feb 15, 2007 - View this thread

Louis Moreau Gottschalk - an unjustly forgotten American composer of classical music
posted on Sep 9, 2006 - View this thread

The Nickel Under The Foot is one of the most important songs in the history of the American theatre. The back story.
posted on Aug 4, 2006 - View this thread

Sound Team didn't think much of the review that Pitchfork gave them and replied via YouTube. [via] (which also reports on the winner of the Moo & Oink contest).
posted on Jul 5, 2006 - View this thread

The verses no one dares to sing these days ... Till selfish gain No longer stain The banner of the free!
posted on Apr 28, 2006 - View this thread

Whitney Music Box [flash] from KrazyDad. You can read about and see examples of John Whitney's work on this extremely ugly website.
posted on Apr 25, 2006 - View this thread

Moon River from Breakfast at Tiffany's was one of those songs that I grew up with. It had few words and was especially written for Audrey Hepburn's limited range, making it easy to sing along to. Unfortunately the version I'd most like to hear, by Morrisey, doesn't seem to be working at the moment. Highlights of those I've listened to so far are Kid Koala and Nan Vernon (Japanese).
posted on Apr 20, 2006 - View this thread

Ry Cooder's Ry Cooder's new album Chávez Ravine captures the world of the vibrant Chicano community that was bulldozed in the 1950's to build Dodger Stadium. Don Normark's book Chavez Ravine: 1949 provides more background on the place that was once a "poor man’s Shangri-la." of "wild roses, tin roofs, and wandering goats" where life "was lived fully, openly, and joyfully" before it was destroyed.
posted on Aug 3, 2005 - View this thread

Building a Better Way: Music from the 1974 Chevrolet Announcement Film • "An interesting look at some of the musical trends from the early 70s. A little Isaac Hayes, a little John Denver, some Allman Brothers and a few sounds from that new-fangled instrument, the synthesizer."
posted on Jun 21, 2004 - View this thread

Joe Bussard is the self-proclaimed king of record collectors (pre-war 78s, of course). He'll even make you a tape. According to Bussard, jazz died in 1933. Were the '20s America's golden age? Great art, architecture, movies, and even coins.
posted on May 6, 2004 - View this thread

U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs. Privacy & Piracy: The Paradox of Illegal File Sharing on Peer-to-Peer Networks and the Impact of Technology on the Entertainment Industry. View the hearing of September 29. [Real Media].
posted on Oct 1, 2003 - View this thread

Is American "Roots Music" here to stay, or will it peter out like the "folk revival" of the 1960's? The recent PBS series, as well as re-issues of classic bluegrass sets, portend well for those of us who love bluegrass. But is it just a flash-in-the-pan? What was the magic behind O Brother, Where Art Thou? Does anyone remember the old masters like Doc Watson, Merle Travis, or Vassar Clements? (Not to mention the Queen of the genre, Mother Maybelle Carter.) Or maybe you prefer the newcomers like Alison Krauss/Union Station.
posted on Apr 9, 2002 - View this thread