LN Media → Music

Show Tunes and Musicals

Evan — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 11:16:27 -0400

All right, damn it, here it is.

And where else to start but the greatest musical of all time? Music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, dance and direction by Jerome Robbins. Jazzy, playful, lyrical, hip. And cool.

Speaking of Sondheim, here's Bernadette Peters' epic performance of "Rose's Turn," from Gypsy, at the Tony Awards. She was near total collapse from a viral infection, but The Show Must Go On.

And shifting gears a bit, here's Bob Fosse (yes, Mr. "Jazz Hands" himself) in the early days, dancing with Gwen Verdon in Damn Yankees.

Compare to Fosse in the 70s in The Little Prince. The music is mediocre, but check out the dancing (starting around 3:00).

Hope nobody steals those moves.

The Rap Thread Yo.

al gremlin — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 21:39:51 -0400

From Wu Tang mysticism to kabbalistic horrorcore, from braggadocio invocations to profound meditations on language, rap has an incredibly high instance of "occult" content - some is undoubtedly affected and there because, yknow, it sounds really cool, but equally there seems plenty that comes from an authentic engagement with something of substance. I'd love us to share our favourite beats and raps onna mystical tip.

One of the things I love about rap is the ability to impart a lot of information. Here's an example to kick this off.

(Basically a rundown of The Golden Bough in rhyme.)

Punk

Evan — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 18:49:42 -0400

With all of the music topics we have, none for punk?

Well, here it is, then.

And let's start with pre-punk in New York.

Start with the Stones, add glam and more heroin than you can possibly imagine, and you get The New York Dolls.

Start with Mick Jagger and add Rimbaud and you get Patti Smith.

As she sang "Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine" as a guest on Saturday Night Live, it turned midnight, and Easter morning.

Start with a Phil Spector girl group, move them to Queens, double the speed, and you get the Ramones.

Start with the Grateful Dead, subtract half the acid, double the intelligence, add Verlaine (Tom) and Brian Eno, and you get Television.

Filk and Parody - The music of geekery and fandom

EmberLeo — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:59:07 -0500

In addition to the folk music, celtic rock 'n' reel, show tunes, protest songs, and everyday radio rock, I grew up with a lot of filk and parody. This is because I grew up attending science fiction and fantasy conventions, and otherwise surrounded by geeks who liked to get creative with lyrics, and sometimes *gasp* original composition, in obscure referential ways.

Filk has a reputation for being cheesy, poorly performed, and poorly produced. It's the Fanfic of music - literally. And in the same way that there's actually well written fanfic and well-drawn fan art out there, there's actually well written and produced Filk as well.

I can't say her singing voice is beautiful, but Leslie Fish has put a lot of Rudyard Kipling's poetry to music, and that's some of my favorite material. Bob Kanefsky writes hilarious comedy filk.

But the two that have been running rampant through my mind for the last week, and thus prompting this thread, are:

Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves:

The song is by Seanan McGuire, sung here by Vixy and Tony. There are other vids that include Seanan's singing, but I think this one has better sound quality.

Mal's Song:

Proof I'm not the only one who gets frustrated when an opening theme song to a good show only has a chorus and no verses. ;p

-E-

That other musical genre

Evan — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 21:43:01 -0500

This is for everything that doesn't have its own musical topic. So we don't have to decide if The Waitresses, for example, are Punk, or New Wave, or something totally different.

So here they are:

And the equally uncategorizable Romeo Void.

And maybe a singer-songwriter.

Still kills me every time.

And here's another.

Beautiful.

And one more from the 70s.

And for a total change of pace, one of the most kick-ass theme songs of all time:

(Admittedly without having done a thorough survey of every theme song and objectively determining each one's kick-assedness.)

And another:

And yet another:

Music shares thread (No Vids - Links Only :])

wonderland — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 03:58:06 -0500

'K, my browser hates those threads with the vids that memory-grab. So here is a thread for folks to post up a little of what is taking their fancy right now in a musical inspiration way.

Do share: and tell a little about why you're liking it today, if you're so inclined?

'Links Only' is the rule -- please hyperlink with the cute button so nicely provided up there, the chain with three links and a green plus? Don't just drop vid links in. Otherwise I will beg the much-appreciated sweet and generous mods to back me up on this boundary and get your posts edited, fair warning.
[Editor: And we will oblige :D]

Country and Southern Rock

Evan — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 22:25:59 -0400

Because I like it, damn it. And I need a break from the Kabbalah.

Here's a start: Tennessee Ernie Ford. Perfect for these days of austerity.

And on the lighter side, one of my favorite songs of all time:

And forget Strawberry Switchblade -- this is genius.

And can't forget the Man in Black:

As for rock, Brits might recognize this one from Top Gear:

And while I think Neil Young got the better of the argument, and I'm as left-wing as they come, this is a damned good song. And my wife is from Alabama.

And yes, they really do use the term "kin."

And just for the hell of it, let's include Southern California:

Soul music thread

Gef — Tue, 17 May 2011 05:56:36 -0400

Hesitating about whether to designate this the 70s soul thread, leaving room for a separate 60s/Northern thread - oh well, we can alter this if the need arises.

Anyway, kicking things off is a 1972 tune by the fabulous Dramatics:

Wait till around 2:35 and it starts to get a little weird, psychedelic even...

Cover Songs!

freektemple — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 07:29:59 -0400

I love when someone breathes new life into an older song, and puts a spin of their own. Like Hendrix covering Dylan. Here's some that I like:

Reggae, dancehall, ska, bluebeat thread

Gef — Wed, 18 May 2011 06:39:44 -0400

'Chase Vampire', Sancho, 1987 or 1988.

"Run with the boy weh a work the Obeah..."

African and Latin music

genlob — Tue, 31 May 2011 12:34:09 -0400

No thread on African music would be right without the force of nature that is Fela Kuti

Jungle/DrumnBass thread

Gef — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 10:35:25 -0400

I don't know too much about what's happening in the world of drum n bass these days, I know it is still going cos I sometimes hear it on late night pirate radio! 20 years and counting, good show. I'm familiar with some of the old early 90s classics but would welcome an update on recent stuff from anyone In The Know

Found this today, love it, don't know if its contemporary or oldie;

Classy Michael Prophet 'Know The Right' sample: "If you hear some people talking about fallen angels / It's because they are underneath the wicked man's spell"

Jazz Club

Gef — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 14:02:23 -0400

(post your jazz faves here...niiiice)

What kind of nothing? A thread about the senses

Seth — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 13:30:14 -0400

In recent years, and particularly over the last twelve months, I’ve been drawn to silence, near silence and a broad realm of auditory phenomena that either normally passes unnoticed or exists in a manner inaccessible to the ear. It’s been so rewarding that I think it might support a decent discussion topic – perhaps broadened out to fine detail/’low volume’ experience in all the senses, although my posts will inevitably focus on the auditory. The way I listen to sound and music has been irrevocably changed, and is developing further and faster still, so I’ve got lots to share on that subject.

Some of this is a reaction to my work environment. I spend a lot of time at work listening to minute, barely audible details – trying to make out muffled accents, speech picked up by phone lines from another room, tell-tale signs of a person’s possible emotional state revealed in their voice. But phone lines are an ugly sound, tinny, compressed, distorted, subject to interference, and after a seventy hour working week I sometimes feel as assaulted by the poor quality of the audio as I do the frequently distressed context of the phone calls themselves. Which had made life difficult for me, as a musician and someone who values attention to detail in the auditory modality. Sometimes, I just didn’t want to listen to any bloody music after that kind of onslaught.

The change I’m undergoing is much more than just my listening habits when it comes to buying records. It feels as though my entire way of hearing is changing. It’s happened for a number of reasons; wanting to get away from noise and overly processed sounds because of my work situation; having enough money to buy good entry-level recording equipment to capture sounds outside of the home, the use of which has tuned my ear to details I might otherwise miss; growing tired of hearing music with compressed, flattened dynamics at high volumes for extended durations; and becoming less interested in processing sound than a hands on approach to manipulating actual sounding objects in real time.

Magical Music or Music that gets you in the zone

Core — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:15:28 -0400

Hi there.

This thread is for all the tunes that get you into a magical mood, music that you listen to before a ritual, music that you hear as a banishing, music as a synchronicity, music that reminds you of a ritual, sigil, whatever.

I'll go first.

For a long time, every time I cast a sigil, I listened to AC/DC's Highway to Hell as a banishing. It worked perfectly as a gray area to forget about it, never figured out why.
Lately, Queens of the Stone Age's Rated R album and Mirrored, from Battles, gets me into rituals a lot. What about you?

Liminal Band, take 2.

Grotto of Nolte — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 09:36:58 -0400

BUMPITY BUMP!

So, I've been meaning to get back into music for a while after all the fun we had last year. And lo and behold, just a few days ago one of my good friends came over to lend me her acoustic guitar. Not just out of the goodness of her heart, rather so that I can practice for my musical duties at her upcoming wedding.

Any which way, this reminded me that we kinda got started on talking about the next Liminal Band working. So here's a thread for that. I'll try and past over some of the chat from the previous thread, so that we can refer back without crossing threads all the time.

But first of all I'd like an informal show of hands. I'm in, WHO'S WITH ME?

Stop this nonsense AT ONCE! (a music discussion)

grant — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 10:42:43 -0400

“I dreamed,” said Lady Mary, “that I went yestermorn to your castle,
and I found it in the woods, with high walls, and a deep moat, and
over the gateway was written:

Be Bold, Be Bold.

“But it is not so, nor it was not so,” said Mr. Fox.

“And when I came to the doorway over it was written:

Be Bold, Be Bold, But Not Too Bold.

“It is not so, nor it was not so,” said Mr. Fox.

“And then I went upstairs, and came to a gallery, at the end of which
was a door, on which was written:

Be Bold, Be Bold, But Not Too Bold, Lest That Your Heart’s
Blood Should Run Cold.

“It is not so, nor it was not so,” said Mr. Fox.

-----

Conversely, EXODUS:

Iambic lambs. Lammas am eye data.

Folk music. Music for and by folks.

Grotto of Nolte — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 16:35:00 -0400

Lateshift segued into talk about a folk music thread, so here goes! I'll start with a couple of songs from Norway. The first one is a typical traditional mouth harp solo number:

Next up a solo song, of a variety called a bånsulle:

Last up, a remarkable violinist called Annbjørg Lien plays an old wedding melody:

Have at it! Easy on the psych-folk, please. You know who I'm talking about.

Mashups

Seth — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 10:17:00 -0500

I'm not often taken with mashup mixes beyond an the initial thrill of novelty, but this is really rather lovely. It also seems to be a little interactive when it's embedded - you can play with the levels, or with pausing one or the other.

It's Aphex Twin's Avril 14th, matched against itself slowed down 1000% via PaulStretch... very pretty indeed:


YouTube Doubler

Over to you - any mashups floating your boat right now?

Gamelan and Balinese music

entity — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:10:27 -0500

A close friend is working on this project and I feel personally invested in seeing it succeed.

Pak Terip, a gamelan teacher of (I'm told; I don't have much context for comparison) incredible skill, is having produced a professional CD of his gamelan troupe's music for the first time. My friend, a student of his, is helping get the word out—they're trying to pre-sell CDs to cover costs of production. Please also listen to these SoundCloud tracks to get more of an idea of the style of music. And if you feel inspired, please spread the word.

Thanks! Anyone else interested in Balinese music, or want to talk about it? I honestly know nothing other than what my friend has told me.