As long as I’m mentioning John Oswald, this is a good excuse to link to an article I wrote on the old The Pop View site back in 1999 about the legendary “Lessons” records by Double Dee and Steinski. As a bonus, here is an archived version of an article Robert Christgau wrote on the [...]
Chuck me in the shallow water before I get too deep
Panopticist had a posting this week on Akufen, the Quebec producer known for his technique of microsampling (Take a look at the post here, which includes an MP3). I found it interesting and immediately thought of another Canadian cut-and-paste artiste, John Oswald. I don’t know if Oswald was the very first person to take music [...]
Whatever I found lying around
Following up on yesterday’s post, here’s another example. Björk‘s “Hyper-ballad” is just that — a huge overblown love song. The most dramatic expression of love possible, complete with the throwing of one’s self off a cliff. (Okay, it’s also a very funny song.) The first version below (which isn’t even the original version) is with [...]
The Songer, not the Sing
I’m a big believer in the notion that it’s the performance and the arrangement that makes the song. This is to say, I can take a song and present it to you in one way and it will fall dead and then I can present it in another fashion and you will clasp it to [...]
Run Baby Run
What would summer be without a slam-bang Michael Bay action movie? Especially a really derivative one? (Or is there any other kind?) I thought The Island was just a Logan’s Run clone, but it’s so much more. It rips-off other movies too! I love this quote: Drugged, enslaved, shaven-headed humans inhabit George Lucas’ antiseptic underground [...]
I like Candy when it’s wrapped in a sweater
In honor of the opening today of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I present two musical tributes to a pair of characters from the book/movie/re-make. First up is Veruca Salt. She’s probably the most vivid child character in the original Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory: “Daddy, I want a Golden Ticket!” Small wonder that [...]
In the tikitikitikitiki tiki room…
What can I say? I’m a big huge freakin’ Tiki fan. Maybe it’s because my father once managed a Tiki joint back in the Sixties. But love ‘em, I do. Which is why one of my favorite attractions at Disneyland was always the Enchanted Tiki Room. In honor of Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary, Disney has been [...]
What’s my line again? Oh, right. I love you!
Mrs. TPV, at least, knows how much I’ve been enjoying the tremendously amusing sight of Tom Cruise In Love. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. Here‘s the latest installment. “I’m learning to celebrate my own spirit, my own being,” [Katie Holmes] says. During the W interview, the actress wouldn’t part from Jessica Rodriguez, who [...]
Was ist laughs?
Comedy is such a subtle thing. One person’s huge belly laugh is another’s screaming outrage, for one thing. And comedy in pop music is a rare and endangered bird. I remember very clearly the first time I heard “Du Hast” by Rammstein, I laughed and laughed. It seemed like the ultimate metal parody song. You [...]
You know, wholesome in that Nabakovian way
Last night, Larry King did a program on the hit show Dancing with the Stars. At one point, Dancing‘s host Tom Bergeron chimed in to reveal the secret to the program’s popularity: it was because the show – which features women in revealing costumes, often grinding with their male partners, all glistening with sweat – [...]