Ok, I wanted that to be “It’s a nice day for a …white Christmas?” but of course someone took that. Mike in photo (I think he’s on AOL Music) came over to my desk yesterday and says “Wanna know what’s douche bag? Billy Idol did a Christmas album!” So yeah. That’s pretty much all I have to say. No album art yet, guess it’s not officially out.
What’s with this year’s lineup for making Christmas albums? Sarah McLachlan, Bette Midler, Lionel Richie? Why do we need that already-crappy song “From A Distance” in a Christmas version? And Lionel shoulda stopped when he wasn’t ahead back in the 80s. He still uses the same sounds of then, M and I created a cool dance making fun of it. Ok, I’ll stop ranting. Don’t let crappy marketing suck you in, go enjoy some old Christmas classics such as Andrew Sisters or Bing Crosby. Peace Love and uh, not The Gap. (Note: The Gap is ripping off another great artist, and this time it’s our friend Kate and her zipper flower pins. Boycott these assholes)
“Imagine a world where war is outdated, there is no shortage of resources, and every human being enjoys a high standard of living.” -JACQUE FRESCO
A genious in the design of future cities, societies, the natural world, transportation, etc. Below is one clip about humans taking responsibility instead of believing a deity or government should have the power to control what happens on earth. Very forward-thinking, perfectly states my own feelings, of course he’s much more thorough than I could ever be. Also check out: Future By Design: The Movie
Ahhh Thanksgiving. A time for family, a time for fun, a time for PING PONNNNNNNNG! BRING IT! MUAH HA HA HA! Ok, so yeah, a time-honored tradition in the fam since my cousin Mike and I started it probably 15 years ago in Long Island on a small folding table. Finally my dad cleaned off the table in our basement, only because UB (Uncle Bob) requested it. Nice to know he’ll do it for him and not the rest of us! HA! Well actually I think my mom did most of the cleaning. Typical!
Anyway, I coined this ‘Triptophandwich’ term today, speaking about the wonderful leftovers of Thanksgiving, with stuffing, cranberry sauce, and turkey. Ah tasty! Happy Thanksgiving! For kicks I’m including a pic of the model plane I’m building. I’ll put new ones up once it’s completed. Enjoy!
I had my iTunes on random shuffle today, and a song by none-other than The Who came on called ‘Pictures of Lily.’
The lyrics:
I used to wake up in the morning
I used to feel so bad
I got so sick of having sleepless nights
I went and told my dad
He said, ‘Son now here’s some little something’
And stuck them on my wall
And now my nights ain’t quite so lonely
In fact I, I don’t feel bad at all
Pictures of Lily made my life so wonderful
Pictures of Lily helped me sleep at night
Pitcures of Lily solved my childhood problems
Pictures of Lily helped me feel alright
Pictures of Lily
Lily, oh Lily
Lily, oh Lily
Pictures of Lily
And then one day things weren’t quite so fine
I fell in love with Lily
I asked my dad where Lily I could find
He said, ‘Son, now don’t be silly’
‘She’s been dead since 1929′
Oh, how I cried that night
If only I’d been born in Lily’s time
It would have been alright
Pictures of Lily made my life so wonderful
Pictures of Lily helped me sleep at night
For me and Lily are together in my dreams
And I ask you, ‘Hey mister, have you ever seen’
‘Pictures of Lily?’
This song was written by Pete Townshend, who has stated that it is primarily about masturbation, though this theme is expressed through double entendres rather than explicit lyrics. In the beginning of the song, the singer laments his insomnia. When his father gives him the pictures of the song’s title, his problems are solved. Soon, he becomes obsessed with “Lily”, seeking to meet her in real life. His father informs him however that “Lily” has, in fact, been dead since 1929. Initially, the singer laments, but before long turns back to his fantasy.
It is noted this song is about Lille Langtry, a little bit about her below:
Lille Langtry was, throughout her marriage, unfaithful, and throughout her lifetime promiscuous. She had many notable lovers, most of them prominent and well-connected men of the time. Langtry’s heyday as a society beauty and courtesan culminated in her becoming a semi-official mistress to the Prince of Wales, Queen Victoria’s son Albert Edward (”Bertie”), the future king Edward VII. Edward VII’s relationship with Lillie cooled down when at a party she consumed so much alcohol she became intoxicated, and slipped and fell after stepping on a piece of ice, which infuriated him. For some time he didn’t even see her. Nevertheless he continued being fond of her, and he spoke fondly of her as a theatre actress. He later (possibly to rid himself of the affair) encouraged Prince Louis of Battenberg to replace him as Lillie’s lover.
This part is hilarious :-D:
Prince Louis, the First Sea Lord, once complained to Lillie, “I’ve spent enough on you to build a battleship,” whereupon she tartly replied, “And you’ve spent enough in me to float one.” That quote is actually most commonly attributed to the Prince of Wales, and not Louis of Battenberg.
I know this is a bit devious, just thought it was quite funny, odd, and interesting. Rock on! The Who still rule, even CSI seem to think so!
all info grabbed from the Wiki site: Pictures of Lily
UMG’s CEO Doug Morris sure seems to have a lot to say about iPod owners, stereotyping them as out-right ‘thieves’ of music. Though I tend to buy MOST of my music, the occasional album does come from friends, just like it did on mix tapes, burned CDs, etc. etc. An iPod is just another device, and if I didn’t take the subway everyday I probably wouldn’t own one, but it’s a very useful product for many people. To generalize that we are all thieves is exactly why the music industry just doesn’t get it.
I saw a blog post about ‘boycotting’ UMG for a week, I couldn’t help but want to ban them for a hell of a lot longer than that. And now anytime I want a UMG album, I guess I’ll have to Limewire it! (YUP I said it. Me who likes buying CDs, and supports most of my fave bands). I suggest to any band out there looking to be signed or are already signed by UMG to rethink. These money-hungry fellas don’t deserve your talent. I know no one’s reading this but friends, but still I feel the need to put it out there.
Here’s a listing of UMG Labels:
Geffen Records
Interscope Geffen A&M
Island Def Jam Music Group
Lost Highway Records
MCA Nashville
Mercury Nashville
Motown Records
UNI Records
Universal Music Classics Group
Universal Records
Universal Music Enterprises
Universal Music Latino
Universal South
Verve Music Group
Classics & Jazz (Germany)
Decca Music Group
Def Jam (UK)
Deutsche Grammophon Records
Island Records Group (UK)
Jazz Echo (Germany)
Jazz Land Records (Norway)
Mercury (UK)
Polydor (UK)
Stockholm Records (Sweden)
UMTV (UK)
Universal Music Australia
Universal Music Brazil
Universal Music Canada
Universal Music Colombia
Universal Music Czech Rep
Universal Music Finland
Universal Music France
Universal Music Germany
Universal Music Hong Kong
Universal Music Hungary
Universal Music India
Universal Music Italy
Universal Music Japan
Universal Music Mexico
Universal Music Netherlands
Universal Music Norway
Universal Music Poland
Universal Music Portugal
Universal Music Publishing Group
Universal Music Russia
Universal Music Spain
Universal Music Sweden
Universal Music Switzerland
Universal Music UK
Universal Pop (Germany)
Urban (Germany)
And a nice little side note about our next governor:
In May 2006, an investigation led by New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer concluded with a determination that Universal bribed radio stations to play songs from Ashlee Simpson, Brian McKnight, Big Tymers, Lindsay Lohan and other performers working for Universal labels. The company paid $12 million to the state in settlement.
“Hot” male musicians or great female vocalist concerts suck: screaming 19 year old girls. Don’t get me wrong, it won’t stop me from an exceptional show put on by some amazing musicians, in both recent cases that being Imogen Heap (last night) and Regina Spektor, both amazing female vocalists, but both offer SO much more than that. As for “Hot” male musicians, I guess maybe NIN’s frontman Trent Reznor is in that category, but thankfully most teenage girls are over him (he’s a little older these days).
So Webster Hall, standing in the rain for like a half hour waiting to get inside, looking at many many young people taking pictures of themselves, wearing the same boots together, oogling the college boys throwing footballs, talking about drinking, music, weed, sex, etc (ok, I think some of them were anyway). Oh and standing behind smokers. It all makes you feel young again, or maybe that’s what I wanted to think, but really the ‘crotchity old guy’ side was coming out a little more. Oh well, we endured it, and got in!
First went on this guy, Levi, who played some straight up guitar songs, then played some looping effects created by the guitar, bows, melodica, etc. He did a pretty cool rendition of a Radiohead song (name escapes me, off of Kid A). But he was a bit full of himself. Oh well.
NEXT came Kid Beyond! If I had any hope in making a big career out of beatboxing on stage… and I did… this guy dashed that all to bits. Alas. He was insane! Any sound, noise, bleep, scratch, sample, synth, drums, harmonica, etc. was ALL done proudly by his very own human lips, tongue, vocals, and at times odd hand jestures. He even threw in some of NIN’s ‘Closer’! Truly incredible. He went on to loop himself with rich bass lines, drums, trance lines, echo-y vocals, etc. He really stole the show.
Just when you were so overwhelmed by great talent, or your feet and legs were about to collapse as Margaux’s and mine were, Imogen comes out. This woman not only is truly talented in every sense of the word, but is amazingly graceful and has a very friendly attitude towards her audience. She had a whole setup on stage, a clear ‘piano’ that housed her electronic gear like her electric piano, computer screen (connected to a Mac running Abelton Live and Pro Tools), a drum machine, a smaller keyboard, and a mixer. To the right of her was another setup that included a keytar, a Korg controller, a loop machine, and some other gadgetry I couldn’t see.
She came out with the Korg controller strapped around her, dressed in 1700s garb all pink, with feathers in her hair. I heard someone before the concert say how tall she was, but in real life ‘tall’ didn’t do it justice. She was massive! And her hair went well above her head with all the feathers! Very pretty as well. After the first song or so she introduced all her instruments (which is why I knew most of what she had, I figured out the rest).
She started bursting into songs of the new album, and brought up the band who included a upright bassist and percussionist, Kid Beyond, and that other act Levi. Kid Beyond seriously kicked out all the beats to her songs, nearly complete replicas of the album tracks. It was an amazing performance overall. I was breathlessly giddy at times, holding Margaux and thinking back to times of ’skipping’ work to stay one more day upstate, and see my love even if for just a few hours. Seriously wonderful.
Despite all the screams in the middle of pared down songs, some oddball yelling ‘God save the Queen’ (wish someone woulda saved us from him), and many other annoyances including nowhere to sit, and many people running into us or talking on their cell phones (I think we ARE getting old!); I would say overall a splendid performance that did not let us down. It’s amazing seeing this girl run around on stage to play something different at every turn, having her band looking at her for every move, and pull off some downright beautiful vocals. She demands your attention in a loving way, and when she ’screws up’ at the beginning with the wrong loop or sound, you can’t help but to forgive thinking “Fuck, there ain’t no one here tonight that can pull off that act. Period.” Cheers Immi!
Ok, I’ll stop ranting. Don’t let crappy marketing suck you in, go enjoy some old Christmas classics such as Andrew Sisters or Bing Crosby. Peace Love and uh, not The Gap. (Note: The Gap is ripping off another great artist, and this time it’s our friend Kate and her zipper flower pins. Boycott these assholes)
Also check out: 
