So Tell Me What To Do Now / When I Want You Back

52 reasons boy bands were better in the 90s.

They really were, weren't they?

via buzzfeed.

Bum Dadada Bum Bum / Two Bits

And now for something totally mindless. Ha(i)rebrained, would you say?

A Visual Compendium of Notable Haircuts in Popular Music


(roll your cursor over the poster for the zoom)
(via notcot)

But Today / I Have The Opportunity To Choose

Speaking of technology as a compositional tool...
(some of us were, I promise.)

How about this guy? Neil Cicierega uses youtube to make a MUSICAL create-your-own-adventure.



(via metafilter)

You're Wondering Now

Could someone please tell me why when I type "Eggebrecht AMS" into the youtube search box, it returns nothing but Amy Winehouse videos?

Really. Why?

It Can Happen To You / If You're Young At Heart

Justin Bieber (age 16) released a memoir on October 12, 2010. (It's called First Step 2 Forever. Really.)

Gordon Pinset (age 80) enacts a dramatic reading from Justin Bieber's memoir. (It's better than the real thing. Truly.)



(via neatorama)

*update: the link is fixed!

I Always Wanted A Schtick / This Is My Accordion

Oh, there are approximately a thousand things you could say about this video/concept. A small sampling of topics: the perceived high/low divide in art, "updating" classical music, virtuosity, the presentation of women as soloists, accordions are awesome, oops those leather pants, etc.

If Language Were Liquid / It Would Be Rushing In

(via metafilter)

Who Can Say Where The Road Goes?

This guy has so much time on his hands.



(So many videos: MysteryGuitarMan)
(via boingboing)

Drop It Like It's Hot

What's in a name? Women's Division.

Pat Benatar - Patricia Andrejewski
Dido - Florian Cloud De Bounevialle Armstrong
Macy Gray - Natalie Renee McIntyre
Wynonna Judd - Christina Claire Ciminella
Chaka Khan - Carole Yvette Marie Stevens
Peggy Lee - Norma Deloris Egstrom
Mama Cass Elliot - Ellen Naomi Cohen
Joni Mitchell - Roberta Joan Anderson
Cat Power - Charlyn Marie Marshall
Joss Stone - Joscelyn Eve Stocker
Donna Summer - LaDonna Adrian Gaines
Tina Turner - Annie Mae Bullock
Bonnie Tyler - Gaynor Hopkins


*I got these stage/original name-pairs from sources of questionable repute: who even KNOWS if they're true!
(shoutmouth and digitaldreamdoor)

Art Of Listening

I haven't been this entertained by a music video in a long time.

(Extra credit: Did you spot Alma Mahler?)

70 Million by Hold Your Horses ! from L'Ogre on Vimeo.

(via Neu Black)

Pardon Me Boys / Is That The Chattanooga Choo-Choo

You've got your Train Whistle Blues, your Train Whistle Boogie, some Different Trains, a Train Song, oooh a Train Song with Mr. Waits, the First Train Home, the Last Train Home, and I'm pretty sure we used to bet pennies on who could come closest to identifying whistle-chords as those trains rolled through Northfield during Music Theory II.

(Common train chords: A Major 6th; A7; and c# dim7. Check it out: Train Horn Chords.)

Rubber Ducky / You're The One

And HOT OFF THE PRESS:



Update: Turns out Katy and her Perries never got air time thanks to some disgruntled parents. Even so: IT HAPPENED.


(So comprehensive: squidoo)

There's No Point To This Profession / Without The Occaional Obsession

Here I am on a Saturday morning: sitting on my couch, drinking Lady Grey tea with heavy cream (because I'm out of milk, but not heavy cream. Turns out that's not so unusual.), and giggling like a five year old girl. WHY?

John Moe's Pop Song Correspondences

Featuring:
A Retort to Carly Simon Regarding Her Charges of Vanity ("First of all, that party took place on a yacht. So the way I walked in was perfectly appropriate.")
A Letter to Elvis Presley From His Hound Dog ("I admit it: I do cry all the time. I think a doctor would call it severe clinical depression, if you ever took me to a doctor, like a responsible owner would.")
Marvin Gaye Explains What He Heard Through the Grapevine ("It all started about six months ago when I bought a sack of grapes from an old man on La Cienega.")

The complete series is comprised of twenty episodes.



(I also giggle when people fall down in movies.)

You're A Shining Star

The thing is: it's not as though opera STAR Renée Fleming is in want of an audience. And yet her newest cd is a collection of indie covers (Arcade Fire, The Mars Volta, Tears for Fears) - songs she had never heard before the producers handed her a mixtape. Adventurous, okay!, but the problem I have with this album is the pretty clear "this-is-slumming-it" attitude in the interviews - maybe a touch more condescension than would be ideal ("I was heartened by the social involvement of these young artists and I was really thrilled to know there's a generation of young people coming up who care" - well, yes, non-classical musicians can care too). I would be so curious to know who exactly is listening to this album...

Honestly? There are some just-fine covers on this cd (and the novelty of Renée Fleming singing Death Cab for Cutie is going to take a few more listens to wear off), but there's a reason every critic panned this one. Crossover albums are funny things.

Summer Lovin'

Billboard.com has a new summer playlist every week. This is the equivalent of eating cheesecake for breakfast.

Here We Go Loop-De-Loo

In which: Zoe Keating compares her live-looped cello music to information architecture.



ZK has played with Rasputina / Amanda Palmer / Imogen Heap, but I like her solo stuff best. Most of her music is her own; also check out her looped Beethoven.

Do A Little Dance / Make A Little Love

Although most of my Berlin music wanderings up to this point have been classical or experimental-art based, I would be remiss if I didn't post this contribution from none other than my younger sibling. Plus, it makes for a nice Sunday video, jawohl?



(special thanks to J, who deemed it necessary to get this video to me PRONTO)

And That's The Way It Is

Celine Dion is a crazy? Pop-history.



(via Jezebel)

Tied You To A Kitchen Chair / She Broke Your Throne She Cut Your Hair

Cookin' with Coolio. These things happen.



(via flavorwire)

Someday We'll Find It / The Rainbow Connection

The music world is notoriously small. Which is why EchoNest has created a 6-Degrees style database devoted to tracking relationships between musical figures/groups/songs. Ch-ch-check it out:

Philip Glass
-who collaborated on Philip Glass and Foday Musa Suso
-who was a member of Mandingo
-that has member Bill Laswell
-who was a member of Praxis
-that has member Bryan "Brain" Mantia
-who was a member of Cobra Strike
-that has member DJ Disk
-who was a member of Invisibl Skratch Piklz
-that has member Mix Master Mike
-who was a member of Beastie Boys

Success! Another, you say?

Bob Dylan
-who created the track Huck's Tune that was performed by Tony Garnier
-who was member of The Million Dollar Bashers
-that has member Nels Cline
-who was a member of Wilco
-that created the track You and I that has vocal performed by Feist
-that is a performance name for the person Leslie Feist
-who was member of Broken Social Scene
-that has member Emily Haines
-who was a member of Metric

(Find your own: 6 Degrees of Black Sabbath; via metafilter)