Archive for the 'Music' Category

Presidential Pop Culture

Published
by
Alfina the Vague
on August 10, 2008
in Music and TV
. 4 Comments

Well, readers, it’s finally happened! Obama and McCain have quit nattering on about their energy polcies (yawn) and other inconsequential blather only of interest to themselves and the ever-multiplying infestation of political pundits, and have finally started talking about something real: pop culture!

In this article at Reuters, each nominee discusses his taste in music, movies, television, superheroes, and fictional presidents. Obama’s taste in music could have come straight off my own iPod, with Bob Dylan and John Coltrane on the list, while McCain picked such snooze artists as Linda Ronstadt and ABBA (and while I may have exhibited a weakness for ABBA in the past, my heart is permanently steeled against them after having suffered through the horrors of the unforgivable Mamma Mia!).

Their taste in television reversed the score, though: Obama picked M*A*S*H and The Dick Van Dyke Show, both of which are before my time (although classics, I’ll allow), while McCain picked straight off my favorites list with Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Dexter (though I think we can all agree that a president inspired by Dexter, great as the show is, might not be such a good idea).

Now if only we could get an interview where they both comment on the noir influences visible in Veronica Mars, or perhaps engage in a Spike vs Angel debate, we could get some more interesting answers!

Oh, who am I kidding? I could never vote for a candidate who listed ABBA and Linda Ronstadt as his favorite musicians. Obama FTW!

More Musical Gadgets for You to Enjoy!

Published
by
Alfina the Vague
on July 22, 2008
in Meta-Blogular and Music
. 1 Comment

That’s right, there’s more free music for you to listen to. You may have noticed my list of recently played tracks there in the sidebar — it magically knows what I’ve been playing on my computer, iPod, or phone — courtesy of last.fm, a great site for anyone obsessed with music and self documentation, like, say, me. It will occasionally allow you to play the tracks I’ve been listening to, provided they host full versions of the songs. Sometimes, though, all you get is a 30-second clip. How disappointing, right?

Well, be disappointed no more! I added a little widget below my recent tracks that plays my so-called “radio station”: you’ll get a random assortment of my tracks, and all are full versions. You can skip the ones you don’t like, and, for the ones you do like, you can click the little link to have last.fm play you more similar stuff. It’s a great way to find new music. Go on and check it out!

P.S. Since my profile over at last.fm is not anonymous, I disabled all the links to it, so those elements of the widgets don’t work. Everything else should be functional, though.

P.P.S. These only show up on the main page, not the individual post pages.

Film Reviews for Ladies: Once (and Again and Again)

Published
by
Alfina the Vague
on July 11, 2008
in Film, Film Drama, Film Reviews for Ladies, Indie and Music
. 1 Comment

When I saw the Oscars last year, I hadn’t yet seen the movie Once, but I fell a little bit in love with Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova watching them perform and then win the award for their nominated song, “Falling Slowly.”

When I finally got the chance to see the movie a few months ago, my love was absolutely cemented. Today, I saw it again (after buying the DVD for a mere $5, hello awesomness!) and rekindled my affections.

While I am on the record as loathing musicals in general, this is one exception to that rule: the music in this film is not only ridiculously good, but it also fits into the film in a seamless, organic way: it never tries to be clever or theatrical or spectacular; it just lives there.

If you’ve already seen this film, you’ve no doubt fallen in love with it yourself — it’s just that irresistible. If you haven’t yet, may I recommend you do so posthaste! It will tickle all of the romantic and creative nerves you have, making you nostalgic for the days of exchanging mix tapes and having impromptu jam sessions with your friends all nestled in a circle in your living room.

When you watch the scene where they go into the recording studio for the first time, and the snarky, cynical manager hears them perform “When Your Mind’s Made Up,” you might just get a tear (or several) in your eye. If that doesn’t do it for you, try the ending shot where the camera goes out from her apartment window and looks over the street below. And if THAT doesn’t do it for you, then I can’t help. You may want to go see the doctor and find out if your HEART HAS GONE MISSING, you cold bitch!

I am sure I do not need to mention the adorable sexiness of Glen Hansard with his red hair and close-cropped beard and Irish accent and blazer-scarf combo, do I? Well then consider it mentioned. The dude is charming and talented and you will find yourself imagining him perched on the edge of your couch with his worn out guitar and smile lines.

There’s just one important caveat: you absolutely must ignore any knowledge of the fact that he and Marketa Irglova are a real-life couple, and how much older he is than she is, and how young she was when they met. That might kind of skeeve you out a bit, so just forget I said anything about it.

Here are a couple of my favorite songs from the film, the first of which won the Oscar. Go ahead and listen to them at least once:

Falling Slowly


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When Your Mind’s Made Up


<br /> <bgsound src="http://media.zemblangrammar.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/mindsmadeup.mp3"><br />

What I’m Listening to Tonight: Thriller

Published
by
Alfina the Vague
on June 7, 2008
in Dance Shows, Listening Tonight, Music, Pop, Reality and TV
. 2 Comments

Obviously, you need no introduction to The King of Pop. What you may not know, though, if you don’t watch all of the dance shows I do, is that this year is the 25th anniversary of Thriller, one of the greatest albums of our time. Oh yes, indeed.

Dance shows have been capitalizing on the excellence of Thriller, making contestants do Thriller-related routines as part of the competitions. Rightfully so! MJ’s awesomely funky beats will make anything and everything better, even if that anything is a badly produced and badly edited dance crew competition show that should have been replete with extreme awesomeness and, disappointingly, was not. Randy Jackson Presents America’s Best Dance Crew, I am looking at you.

The reason Michael Jackson makes everything better is that when listening to his music it is completely impossible not to jump up off of your butt and start shaking your thang. This is as true today as it was 25 years ago. When the album came out, I was in kindergarten. I listened to it day in and day out, until my stupid mother got so sick of it (and so sick of the awesome dace routine I was choreographing to it, which necessitated a lot of couch jumping and, possibly, some crashing around into other furniture) that she took the cassette tape away. Luckily I am an adult now with my own furniture to jump on and my own very loud stereo. Well, what are you gonna do NOW, MOTHER? MWA HA HA HA HA.

Now that that’s out of my system, let’s listen to some tracks:

Billie Jean


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Beat It


<br /> <bgsound src="http://media.zemblangrammar.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/beatit.mp3"><br />

Thriller


<br /> <bgsound src="http://media.zemblangrammar.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/thriller.mp3"><br />

What I’m Listening to Tonight: Death Cab for Cutie’s Narrow Stairs

Published
by
Alfina the Vague
on May 7, 2008
in Country, Indie, Listening Tonight and Music
. 5 Comments

Death Cab for Cutie is absolutely one of my favorite bands — and I say this after having been ridiculed for that fact just the other day. My friend S., upon checking out what I had put on the iPod in the car, gave me a brutal Nelson Munz impersonation: “HAH hah. YOU like Death Cab for CUTIE!” I was all, “OH YES I DO AND YOU HAD BETTER BELIEVE IT ETCETERA!”

I honestly fail to see what is ridiculous about liking Death Cab for Cutie. Yes, they are one of those Sensitive Guy Bands, à la Iron and Wine or Ryan Adams, but hey, those are artists I also love. Death Cab for Cutie I love with a fucking passion. I had always liked them and listened to them frequently and with great pleasure, but Plans, their first major-label album, really sealed the deal for me. I get that hard-core fans who have all the early stuff on cassette tape may quibble with me on that one, but I wholeheartedly believe Plans is a brilliant fucking album. Furthermore, it was released at the absolutely perfect time for it to weave its way seamlessly into my consciousness — the songs on that album seemed like they had been written specifically for that year of my life, and I kept the album on repeat for a good 12-18 months. For real.

It would be a lie to tell you that I did not await the release of the new album, Narrow Stairs, with literally bated breath. I really, literally, held my breath while it was downloading; I was that excited. In fact, I couldn’t really wait for the real release date, so I managed to obtain it early and through questionable means (but means encouraged by the band, so).

The album is really fucking great. It’s a bit louder and grittier and darker, over all, than what they have done before, which I love. It’s complex and exhilarating and completely addictive. Go get it now (or wait until May 13th if you’re all law abidin’ and a total prude, whatever), and just try to turn it off, I dare you.

Here are a few tracks I am liking best so far, the last one being my favorite of the day.

Bixby Canyon Bridge


<br /> <bgsound src="http://media.zemblangrammar.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/Bixby.mp3"><br />

Your New Twin Sized Bed


<br /> <bgsound src="http://media.zemblangrammar.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/Twin_Bed.mp3"><br />

Talking Bird


<br /> <bgsound src="http://media.zemblangrammar.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/Talking_Bird.mp3"><br />

Long Division


<br /> <bgsound src="http://media.zemblangrammar.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/Long_Division.mp3"><br />