Month: May 2010

You’ll see the sun come shining through

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I feel like I’ve mentioned this song so many times, but what can I say, I love it and so many of my favorite artists have covered it. I was (very) pleasantly surprised to find a version of the Chaplin song “Smile” performed by the Brazilian bloco afro Olodum, complete with tight beats and cheesy synth strings! Check it:

I’ve really been hyping the Brazilian stuff lately. It’s just so fun to play, and listen to. And I love when two of my favorite things are combined. :)

A couple of other things:
-One of the many upcoming things that I cannot wait for: a George Harrison documentary produced by Martin Scorsese? Win.

-I just found out that Dennis Hopper has passed away. :( So long to one of the 60s’ greatest icons…

Can you dig it? I knew that you could.

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Last night Alex and I saw Metropolis at the Royal down on Santa Monica. It was pretty fantastic, especially on the big screen. Sometimes I forget how wonderfully artistic – and dramatic – silent movies can be. In case you are unfamiliar, Metropolis is a 1927 sci-fi movie about a futuristic city run by workers (“the hands”) and inhabited by the planners (“the mind”). Eventually the workers begin to be convinced that they are living unjustly, and things start getting crazy.

The movie was just recently restored with 30 minutes of extra footage thought to have been lost, making it just over 2 and a half hours long. It was also one of the most expensive film productions of all time, and had over 37,000 extras. All I can say is: epic.

Virtual Choir

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We watched this in my Music Tech class today and I found it fascinating. Each individual person recorded their own part and they were all overdubbed to create a virtual choir from around the world. We were trying to figure out how they got rid of all the extra noise that surely must have existed from all those different recordings. Nevertheless, it’s really really cool:

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Also, the reissue of “Exile on Main Street” comes out today! This is a big deal because – if you did not already know – Exile is my favorite album EVER. It’s just so gritty and raw (recorded mostly in the basement of Keith Richards’ French estate) and would accompany a Deep South roadtrip perfectly.

Some of my favorite songs:
Loving Cup
Ventilator Blues
Torn & Frayed

Also, the remaster has 10 new tracks which, from what I’ve heard, are no less legit and awesome than those chosen for the original cut.
New song: Plundered My Soul

I want to add more but have to go to tabla now. So just enjoy this Stonesy pic instead:

Dancing to zydeco

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Et toi!

In case you weren’t aware, Simon and Garfunkel are scheduled for another tour this year! And in case you weren’t aware (I certainly am), the tour dates got postponed from May to July, due to poor Garfunkel’s vocal cords. Sad day! But they still performed at the New Orleans Jazz Fest last month, which produced some great videos (Paul Simon dance party ftw!). One of my favorites is “That Was Your Mother” from Paul’s solo set:

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Man, he loves to dance. I especially love the air-accordion, haha.