[Ben Folds pic by deovolenti]
Through a chain of circumstances too complicated to recount, I discovered a Paper Cuts Blog playlist by Nick Hornby, perpetual resident on my “reliable favorite authors” shortlist, in which he alluded to collaborating with a favorite musician of mine: Ben Folds:
4) Jen and Justin, Ben Folds. You can’t hear [...]

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  [art by mikem1115]
This is a late update; I finished the “Sirens” section of Ulysses almost three weeks ago and have finished two more section since. As a result, I have only my marginal notes and poor memory to work from and what sticks in my mind most is the style and structure.
In “Sirens” [...]

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[photo by abbyladybug]
While browsing Brian’s trove of links, a pointer to an Esquire article caught my eye. It tells the story of the discovery, attempt at authentication, and subsequent wrangling over the ownership and authenticity of what might be a new photo of Robert Johnson. It’s a fascinating article that not only prompted me [...]

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A single that might be on Ben Folds’ new album, due out at the end of the month: “You Don’t Know Me At All”

While not necessarily a track I’d recommend as representative to someone who’s never heard Ben Folds before (he is one of the few artists who can, in the space of a [...]

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I discover music at my own pace, relying mostly on the serendipity of social connections and recommendations… which means I’m usually late, but not as often disappointed.
So, I was surprised to learn that Panic! at the Disco is now just Panic at the Disco and, after enjoying their “new” album Pretty. Odd., I was also [...]

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Rarely, lyrics are interesting enough that they can stand on their own… but with the Internet Tubes they don’t have to. I’m quite taken by these:

Deep in the belly of a whale I found her
Down with a deep blue jail around her
Running her hands through the ribs of the dark
Florence and Calamity and Joan of [...]

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Talk of the Coen brothers films last week reminded me of the Gipsy Kings version of "Hotel California" (featured in The Big Lebowski) and, as usual, YouTube provides. Bear in mind that I consider "Hotel California" — despite being played to death– one of the greatest rock songs of the era and the lyrical solo [...]

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OK, so this is just awesome– William Shatner, Ben Folds and Joe Jackson perform “Common People” live…

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From the Pop!Tech conference archive of audio and video Pop!Casts comes this amazing performance by Zoë Keating. Their description is as good as any:
Canadian-born cellist Zoë Keating layers the sounds of her cello with live electronic sampling, as if she were an entire string ensemble condensed into one woman. Watch and listen to her [...]

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A sequence from today’s shuffle, with excerpts:
“Young Shields” - Casiotone for the Painfully Alone

there’s a shield around us
tell me how is it you’ve found us
cause we hide our tracks & watch the ground
our footfalls they don’t make a sound
we’ve cursed the names [...]

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One of my favorite songs with one of my favorite guitar solos… too bad these guys didn’t do the whole song!

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I’ll admit it– I heart Regina Spektor. Not only do I dig her lyrics (and to her most poppy song!), but she’s got the whole Slavic cheekbones and Russian baby blue eyes combination… a concoction that was very nearly the death of me once before.

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Another browsing in MySpace find, Kalai is the real deal. I like the descriptions of “acid blues” and “urban vintage.” How have I not heard of him until now? He has appearances on The Jimmy Kimmel Show and Extra! among other national credits…

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Have to admit I really enjoy this cover by Matt Weddle, even if the video is just annoying:

The full band version (Weddle is the singer/guitarist for Obadiah Parker) can be heard on their MySpace page.

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This is so strange that I’m still not completely sure it’s a joke, but When Pigs Fly features some of the strangest, non-satirical cover songs I’ve heard for a long time. Jackie Chan and Ani DiFranco, Don Ho covers “Shock the Monkey,” Leslie Gore (of “It’s My Party” and other 50s and 60s teen songs) [...]

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Sorry, but it was barely clever the first time around, all those years ago… there is nothing profound about it today. It’s essentially the stuff of the philosophy or literature graduate student who has nothing to say, but they of course say it at length anyway.

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There is something profoundly disturbing about this video featuring a gorilla and the classic– now completely cheesy– Phil Collins song that was actually cool back when Miami Vice was cool… back when I went to prom with a white suit and pastel pink tie over a t-shirt.

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There’s something interesting and disturbing about this video of prisoners in the Phillipines performing a full-length version of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller ” music video. Apparently the dance routines are part upgrade to their exercise periods, conceived of and lead by an inmate.

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I’m not quite sure I believe this:
Journey were actually making punchy pop-rock designed to get across quickly. In a weird way, it wasn’t that different from punk.
But Journey has long been a guilty pleasure of mine. Frontiers, in particular, is unfairly maligned even if Quiet Riot’s Metal Health displaced it rather abruptly when I was [...]

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What could have been… Lem Winchester was a great vibraphonist who had just quit his job as a policeman to play music full time when he accidentally killed himself demonstrating a trick with a loaded pistol. Lem’s Beat is my favorite Winchester album, though in truth it’s as much Oliver Nelson’s date as Lem’s…

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