Archive for the ‘Listening’ Category

It's about time for a new Weird Al song, and he doesn't disappoint. Already available at various online outlets like  iTunes and Rhapsody, but I favor Amazon since there's no DRM on it. You can also buy the video you just saw.

This drove me nuts trying to identify the specific Doors song he's doing, but it's actually one of the style parodies he does sometimes, aided by original Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek. Nicely done, sir. Just how much hootch did you have to suck down to get the mannerisms right?

Remember this, from the end of the classic rockumentary This is Spinal Tap?

Derek Smalls: Remember at Luton Palace we were talking about writing a rock musical based on the life of Jack the Ripper.
David St. Hubbins: Yeah!
[singing]
David St. Hubbins: You're a naughty one…
Derek Smalls, David St. Hubbins: Saucy Jack…
David St. Hubbins: You're a haughty one, saucy Jack.

Now, only 25 years later, the title track "Saucy Jack" from that fateful, unproduced rock musical by the world's greatest fake* heavy metal band has finally been released as a free download to help celebrate (and, obviously, promote out the wazoo) Spinal Tap's 25th Anniversary CD, "Back from the Dead", which comes out June 16th.

And they're going all out for the CD:

Back From The Dead is a deluxe CD/DVD package containing 19 original Spinal Tap songs, a one-hour DVD and unique pop-up diorama package that unveils three 12-inch action figures (courtesy of Sideshow Collectibles) of the band along with a proportionally sized Stonehenge. Back From The Dead is destined to be a collector's item, especially among collectors.

* If they've released a documentary, go on tour, and release three albums, are they still a fake band? They've already outlasted Big Country, Twisted Sister and Flock of Seagulls.

Just announced at weirdal.com (and on Al's Twitter feed):

INTERNET LEAKS
…is NOT the name of the next Weird Al album (we have no idea yet when that’s coming out)… but Al will be “leaking” new tracks to the Internet over the summer, and for bookkeeping reasons we had to call them SOMETHING, so “Internet Leaks” it is! Al’s T.I. parody “Whatever You Like” retroactively becomes the first song in the collection, and there will be 4 new original songs released digitally over the next few months. The first new song (and video!) will be out on June 16, and will be available wherever mp3s are sold or stolen.

Usually his albums come out every 2 years or so, but these days amateur parodists are whipping out new joke songs on YouTube before the echos of the original event have faded, so he's speeding things up. His last song, "Whatever You Like," was released directly to iTunes last year (get it at iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, Napster, Zune, and Walmart).

Donations for blues master Sonny Rhodes, the vocalist in the Firefly theme song, have helped a lot,  but he's still in a bad place, physically and financially. From Brian Wiser:

The donations and supportive emails did make a big difference in a variety of ways and Sonny continues to be very grateful. He's still not in good shape with health or finances, and continues to perform as much as he can to raise money.

Some of the donated money has been used for medical tests. From what I was told, most of the needed surgeries have not yet happened. When I saw him a few weeks ago on the set of Browncoats Redemption, he looked a little weak and naturally wasn't moving around too well, but made a beautiful performance for the film and realized a dream of his to be in a movie. This experience made him quite happy

Because donations have slowed a lot, they have disabled PayPal donations to save on fees, and the physical address for donations will remain. Sonny's MySpace page receives periodic updates.

The address is:

SONNY RHODES
2974 Delta Fair Blvd
324
Antioch, CA 94509

If you can help, please do so. The folks who met him during the Browncoat Cruise can attest that he's a wonderful and generous person as well as being an amazing artist. You can see updates and send him messages through his MySpace page.

Can't Stop the Serenity 2009 is now in full swing, and local groups are already getting ready for this year's movie theater blitz.

If you're organizing a local event, and you've always wanted a Bard around the place, why not bid on Cedric? He's half of the Bedlam Bards, filkers extraordinaire and creators of such Browncoat hits as "The Ballad of Joss," "Big Damn Trilogy," and the "on the Drift" CD of verse-inspired music. Or, as he puts it:

A multi-instrumentalist, James "Cedric" Hazlerig, of the legendary renfaire/filk group the Bedlam Bards, comes to performances armed with two fiddles, a mandola, and a strong, manly voice. His philosophy of music stresses passion before perfection, death before dishonor, and whiskey before breakfast. For over ten years, Cedric has been performing at renaissance festivals and science-fiction conventions from coast-to-coast, including the Oklahoma Renaissance Festival, Dragon*Con, and the Browncoat Backup Bash. His music has elicited compliments from Nathan Fillion, Ben Edlund, Greg Edmonson, and Sonny Rhodes, in addition to causing Joss Whedon to grin from ear-to-ear. After releasing their third album, entitled On the Drift: Music Inspired by Firefly and Serenity, the Bedlam Bards have become the premier bards of the Browncoat movement. Several of Cedric's songs were featured in the documentary Done the Impossible. Besides appearing at the Browncoat Ball and the Browncoat Cruise, Cedric led fans in song as they picketed in support of the Writers Guild of America strike in front of Fox Studios in Los Angeles.

Win the auction and Cedric will come perform at your Can't Stop the Serenity event. Also, you'll win a heap of amazing stuff, such as Browncoat flags, patches,  a "Tragic Space Dementia" T-shirt, a Companion fan, some prop replicas, a QMx money pack, a
Kaylee Maquette, the "Done the Impossible" DVD,  an autographed photo of Felicia Day (not versy but cool), a Jayne Hat (of course),  "something shiny autographed by Joss Whedon", and more.

Well worth the bidding, and proceeds go toward the CSTS screening of your choice. Bid him high, people!

It's National Kazoo Day!

Please plan your activities accordingly, especially if you're planning anything formal tonight. Remember, kazoos fit nicely into even the smallest purse or tux pocket, and nothing finishes off a romantic evening better (or more completely) than a kazoo.

This is also as good a time as any to mention the movement at kazooamerica.org to make the kazoo America's National Instrument. This plucky music maker is an ideal choice for our national musical mascot. After all, it's so democratic: anyone can play a kazoo successfully (for a given definition of "successfully").

The movement has already made great strides with appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Fox and Friends, CBS Sunday Morning News, Martha Stewart, and has won approval from bemused and often bewildered politicians across the country.

So join the hordes of buzzing musicians and help us fight to honor this lowly instrumentby raising it to the level of national recognition. Wouldn't you love to see President Obama playing the kazoo, possibly leading Congress into a rousing rendition of "America the Beautiful"? Some days, I can think of little else.

Reposted from Brian on Whedonesque:

Sonny Rhodes, our favorite Firefly theme song blues musician, is in need of a hand up. He is a very proud man, but circumstances related to medical conditions are preventing him from working, and he's trying to keep a roof over his head.

Sonny's wife Ann called me with these details and hoped the Browncoats could help. Sonny hasn't performed since October 2008, except for once or twice against his doctor's wishes when he had to keep the power from being shut off and pay rent, and doing that made his condition worse. He just had an emergency hernia operation and needs to have two hip operations as soon as possible. Ann said he'll likely be out of work for a few more months and, besides being in a lot of pain, is naturally quite worried about paying medical and rent bills. Sonny has vowed to be there for the Browncoats in the future and would appreciate any financial assistance that may be possible via the PayPal Donate link on his MySpace page.

If you can do anything, please consider it. Quite a few friends were privileged to spend some time with him at the last Browncoats Cruise and found him to be a wonderful man who was still amazed at the attention he was getting for performing Joss's song. I just wish he got a buck everytime someone starts singing it at a con…

UPDATE: Brian has contacted Mr. Rhodes' wife and manager Annie about getting a PO Box for people uncomfortable with PayPal, and that address should be up on his MySpace page soon. In the meantime, check out his latest post:

Today the color brown is looking pretty bright. Thank you my friends.  The Browncoats have sent me so many notes that my grand daughter has run out of her printing ink and will have to get some more today. I am slowly reading every note and she and my Annie are helping me with this myspace. I am getting the idea behind it. I am also enjoy seeing some of my friends I haven't seen for awhile. This myspace is okay.

Plenty more there about his current condition, what he's going through, and how much he misses being on the road playing music.

UPDATED UPDATE: Mrs. Rhodes has gotten a PO Box:

SONNY RHODES
2974 Delta Fair Blvd
324
Antioch, CA 94509

Here's part of the response I received from him:

I am a little overwhelmed by the outpouring of kind words and support. I am working on reading all the notes my granddaughter is printing up for me. I will get to each one. I knew I had many wonderful fans and friends around the world but when you see how many come to lend a hand up it is very hard to find words.
[...]
Today I had a good day of rest. I am healing from the Hernia surgery but I will be glad when the hips are not hurting anymore. Many people have told me it is going to be better.
Thank you for your help and support.
Peace
Sonny Rhodes

Marian Call's "Got to Fly" geek tribute CD, just premiered at Creation Entertainment's Salute to Firefly and Serenity convention last weekend, is now available directly from QMx.

There were only 1,000 CDs pressed and they're signed and numbered by Marian herself. After they're gone you'll be able to buy the songs electronically.

Just $15.95 for a fantastic collection of 'Verse and BSG-inspired tunes. You can find sample tracks here.

And don't forget to check out my interview with Marian from last week.

I like Marian Call. I like Marian Call a lot. And so should you.

Not only does she have an incredible singing voice, not only does she write haunting, intricate, and funny lyrics (yers, it's possible), not only is she a talented musician, but she's a geek, and a proud one.

You remember her from our "Sing a Song of Saffron" when she won, rightfully so, for her smoky song "It Was Good For You, Too." Since then she's been embracing her obsession and writing more geek-friendly songs, and now thanks to QMx she has a whole CD of them debuting just in time for her live performance coming up at Creation Entertainment's Tribute to Firefly and Serenity, November 22-23 in Burbank, CA. And I got to ask her questions!

============================

So what's a nice girl like you doing in a 'verse like this?

I never meant to be a fan of any show, ever — but enthusiasm sort of caught me by surprise and opened a wormhole in my personal solar system. On the other side was an awesome 'verse full of like-minded folks who were unafraid of enthusiasm and nerdiness.

When did you discover "Firefly"?

Exactly two years ago now, in November 2006. A despondent friend swore she had to watch it as therapy, and so I let her put it on at my house while I worked on my computer. But I gradually got drawn in, and at the end, sheepishly asked, "Can we watch another one?" When I finished watching "Objects in Space" for the first time, I wrote the song "Dark Dark Eyes" in about five minutes. When I watched it with Joss's commentary, something clicked, and I thought, "I can do this. I can be an artist." The next day I booked two weeks in a recording studio in Tacoma, and my first album, Vanilla, was born several months later. The only way I can describe what happened is to say that I finally got brave after watching the show and learning about how it was made.

How did family and friends react to you "coming out" as a geek?

They always knew. You can't fool people close to you — mostly you just fool yourself.

I always wanted to be "normal," so from the time I was very small I would pretend to be bad at reading and deliberately misspell words so that I would not stand out in school. That longing persisted through college, and I learned a certain regiment of self-suppression that never really worked. I feel a lot more free now. Though I still apologize when I bring sentences to a grinding halt by accidentally using phrases like "false yet pertinent dichotomies" in all seriousness. Read the rest of this entry »

I'm sorry I didn't notice this until now, but famed filker Tom Smith ("Waking Up Jedi," "Talk Like a Pirate Day", many many more) had an accident during a concert some time ago and had to have surgery. He's out and home now, but filkers don't generally have really good health insurance and every little bit helps.

Tom has been a regular presence at zillions of cons across the nation, he produces new and hilarious songs every week or so (when he's feeling better), and he even lets you have many of them for free at his site and in his weekly RSS feed. Such as, say, his song "I'm on Firefly."

So some of his friends and fans have put together a tribute CD of covers of his songs, which you can download for any donation at all. There's some great stuff here, not the least of which is Browncoat favorite Michelle Dockrey (and Tony Fabris) performing Tom's award-winning "Rich Fantasy Lives." I strongly urge you to send him anything you can and enjoy some great, funny, touching music.