Andrew Bird on NPR

I've mentioned Andrew Bird several times and posted his videos on this site as well because I think he is the most important working musician. I've been finding out that I am not alone. His fan base is relatively small but they are the most dedicated I've ever come across. They don't idolize him as a figure - by that I mean they look at him as a regular guy who just happens to be a musical genius and there is no obsession in the Hollywood kind of way.

I found a piece that NPR did with him that is long, but it was an hour long segment featuring never before released (at the time) songs and its laced with an interview. There was also a live chat which you can find at NPR. I haven't listened to it yet, but I plan on it when I'm in the mood for good music. I think I'm going to get moderately high and sip a bottle of wine with my head phones on. Here it is, incase you are interested too.

Where did everyone go?

Songs for Haiti

In case you wanted to personally donate to Haiti, instead of just donating via our federal government there is a project musicians have put forth called Songs for Haiti. With your donation you get a bunch of donated songs including Andrew Bird's (current obsession of mine) "Depression Pasillo."

I want to donate because there are several unreleased songs out of the 250 songs that come with it, because I'm selfish. However, one of the three charities is Wyclef's and that has been in the news a lot lately. I'm going to look into seeing if they have removed that charity. I'm not going to buy these songs and have my money go to Wyclef's personal account.

Earthquake

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/02/quake-like-tremors-reported-in-western-suburbs.html

We had another earthquake. It was centered in Sycamore and was only a 3.8 this time and I didn't even feel it. It was brought up to me when my friends fiance woke up and asked if I had slammed the door when I came over. It's strange because this isn't the first earthquake we've had recently. We aren't supposed to have earthquakes. This one was closer to Wisconsin than it was to me, so Lisa you might know some people who felt it. That makes 4 that have shaken the area that I live in, in just over 10 years. About 2 years ago there was one in eastern/central illinois that was like 5.5 that scared the shit out of everyone but I was sleeping in my condo. That is what the video below is from.

USAF vs. White Stripes

The Air Force used the song "Fell in Love with a Girl" from the White Stripes in a commercial during the Super Bowl without permission and they are furious. This might be the absolute worst way to fuck someone over that I have ever seen in my life. Jack White is a huge critic of government, war, and corporatism that my generation has probably produced yet and his work was just used to try and convince kids to go and die or murder people...

I'm kind of speechless and can only imagine how much his blood is boiling. Usually matters like this always seem to be about money, at least from my interpretation, but I'm sure he doesn't want a red cent. I really feel bad for him. Here is the ad http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/09/air-force-super-bowl-ad-v_n_456158.html

Here is the actual song. It is directed by Michael Gondry, who I spoke about when writing the Fantastic Mr. Fox review. In case the quality is terrible (I've not watched this particular clip) it's done with Legos.

This is the official response to the ad from The White Stripes at their homepage:
http://www.whitestripes.com/

Retardedgate

I'm sure you're aware that Palin jumped down Rahms throat about calling progressives retards and said the word should be used like that. That is until Rush called progressives retards and she then said it was ok for him to say it in jest. Then she called progressives retards. Colbert decided to join the party last night with this:

Music on the Brain

I've been bad with posts lately because I've been reading a lot lately and this economic depression is starting to really hit me right now. I have run across a lot of really cool articles lately and I've been feeling a little guilty that I haven't been posting them. The link on this post is about 7 ways music affects your body.

I can speak from experience about music and its affect on your memory. When I go to sleep I listen to a playlist I've made of songs that are slow and that I really love. Most of it is lyrically kind of advanced and features an orchestra along with a few Mozart pieces (my favorite composer). When I'm lying in the dark with my headphones on for an hour I swear my nerves start to twitch in a funny way through out my body, my breathing gets heavy, and I start to recall memories that had been forgotten. If I fall asleep before I pull my headphones off I have really vivid dreams too. I don't doubt any of these things at all.

Too bad the medical industry is set up the way it is, because if they can't make a profit off of it they won't study it much. I would also link to the Musical Therapy documentary I uploaded on YouTube too, but it was taken down by the BBC or PBS. If you can find it, it is about the latest book from the guy who wrote and inspired "Awakenings" with Robin Williams. I'm not sure if we've talked about this already or not. Anyhow, if you're interested in this subject, then you'll likely appreciate this link. Do you have any stories to share about music in this sense? I'd love to here them.

http://www.cracked.com/article_18405_7-insane-ways-music-affects-body-according-to-science.html

"In The Living Years"

Here's a song that was originally released years ago by Mike and the Mechanics. I haven't heard it for years but for some reason it flashed into my mind today. Please listen well to the lyrics - in some ways I consider this a message through the generations to both you Joe and Kerry from me as one from the "hippie/flower child" era.

My generation was captive of the memories of our parents who were the World War II era soldiers and parents and as a child of that generation we did our best to change the world for the better. Perhaps that is the deeper message of all of this. I hope you enjoy this - it still brings tears to my eyes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGDA0Hecw1k

Beauty