This is cool, but a bit creepy too - just like the original, I suppose! French artist Francois Macre has created an entirely a cappella version of Michael Jackson's Thriller. He has recreated every drumbeat, synthesizer note and spoken word segment using 64 different tracks.
Posted in: music, videos on May 30, 2009 0 comments
If you're curious to see how The Barenaked Ladies sound without Steven Page, check out this free download: Live at Universal Studios from BNL.com. This will only be available until March 27th!
Thanks to Simply Frugal in Canada for the link!
Posted in: music on March 24, 2009 0 comments
This is the first post in a new series. It will be fun for me to share some of my favourite music with you, and hopefully you'll find some hidden gems!
I'm a bit of an oddity, never having lost my love of kid's music. I have quite a Disney collection, and probably know as many children's songs as most kindergarten teachers. But while I can sing "The Eensy Weensy Spider" with the best of 'em, I like to think that I have some standards.Posted in: kids, music, Music Makers: song recommendations, videos on August 12, 2008 2 comments
Looking at my blog stats, approximately 98% of the hits on my website for the last day have been from people Googling "most depressing songs you've ever heard."
Eeep.
Now listen people, I know things aren't all that great out there. There are wars, poverty, crime and loneliness. But for so many of you to be looking for depressing songs all at once? Yikes!! Sadly enough, it's the post I wrote that gets the most visitors!
(Update: wow, I just looked at Google and Yahoo, and I'm #3 for that search string. That's kind of creepy.)
For those of you wondering what I wrote about depressing songs, I'll link you to the post in question, a blurb I wrote in 2006 about a book called: I Hate Myself and Want to Die: The 52 Most Depressing Songs You've Ever Heard.
On a related note, this winter I was listening to As It Happens on CBC Radio, and the hosts were asking people to call in with their votes for the most depressing song. Interestingly enough, the song that received the most calls is not even on the top 25 list in the book mentioned above!
The winner: Gloomy Sunday.
Frankly, I like the song. It's gloomy, obviously, but I guess I didn't pay enough attention to the lyrics. Reading them now, it is rather creepy! The song has even garnered a reputation as the "Hungarian suicide song", due to reports (or urban legends) of high rates of suicide after listening to the song.
For your listening pleasure (posted with a warning), I bring you 2 versions of the song:
The incomparable Billie Holiday:
and a personal favourite, Sarah McLachlan.
Posted in: funny, music, videos on August 02, 2008 3 comments
Show your support for the troops and the families of the men and women of the Canadian Forces.Posted in: music, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, war on January 12, 2007 0 comments
This morning I heard a song on the radio about a Christmas turkey. It was so cute, and I'd like to get a copy of it, but I can't find out anything about it!
In the song the turkey talks about how he's so happy that a family is having him (over, or so he thinks) for dinner. He figures it must be really nice at their house, because none of the other turkeys who went have come back (hee hee).
Does anyone know the artist or title? The only Christmas turkey song I've found so far is by the Arrogant Worms, and it's not the same one.
Technorati tags: Christmas turkey, song, music, funny
Posted in: holidays, music on December 20, 2006 1 comments
Here's an interesting music meme that I haven't seen before, borrowed from the blog Thinking About.... Google the top 100 songs from the year you graduated from high school, bold the ones you loved (then, anyways!), strikeout the ones you hated, and leave the others plain.
Wow... 1997 was a REALLY crappy year for music!! I've highlighted even the embarassing songs that I liked, so you can all have a chuckle at my expense (are you brave enough to own up to your favourites?!). It's weird though, I worked in a record store, so I'm pretty familiar with music from that time, but there are some songs on this list that I don't remember! Most of them I'm just really indifferent about.
1. Candle In The Wind 1997, Elton John
2. Foolish Games / You Were Meant For Me, Jewel
3. I'll Be Missing You, Puff Daddy and Faith Evans
4. Un-Break My Heart, Toni Braxton
5. Can't Nobody Hold Me Down, Puff Daddy
6. I Believe I Can Fly, R. Kelly
7. Don't Let Go (Love), En Vogue
8. Return Of The Mack, Mark Morrison
9. How Do I Live, LeAnn Rimes
10. Wannabe, Spice Girls
11. Quit Playing Games (With My Heart), Backstreet Boys
12. MMMBop, Hanson
13. For You I Will, Monica
14. You Make Me Wanna..., Usher
15. Bitch, Meredith Brooks
16. Nobody, Keith Sweat
17. Semi-Charmed Life, Third Eye Blind
18. Barely Breathing, Duncan Sheik
19. Hard To Say I'm Sorry, Az Yet Featuring Peter Cetera
20. Mo Money Mo Problems, Notorious B.I.G.
21. The Freshmen, Verve Pipe
22. I Want You, Savage Garden
23. No Diggity, BLACKstreet Featuring Dr. Dre
24. I Belong To You (Every Time I See Your Face), Rome
25. Hypnotize, Notorious B.I.G.
26. Every Time I Close My Eyes, Babyface
27. In My Bed, Dru Hill
28. Say You'll Be There, Spice Girls
29. Do You Know (What It Takes), Robyn
30. 4 Seasons Of Loneliness, Boyz II Men
31. G.H.E.T.T.O.U.T., Changing Faces
32. Honey, Mariah Carey
33. I Believe In You And Me, Whitney Houston
34. Da' Dip, Freaknasty
35. 2 Become 1, Spice Girls
36. All For You, Sister Hazel
37. Cupid, 112
38. Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?, Paula Cole
39. Sunny Came Home, Shawn Colvin
40. It's Your Love, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill
41. Ooh Aah... Just A Little Bit, Gina G
42. Mouth, Merril Bainbridge
43. All Cried Out, Allure Featuring 112
44. I'm Still In Love With You, New Edition
45. Invisible Man, 98 Degrees
46. Not Tonight, Lil' Kim
47. Look Into My Eyes, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
48. Get It Together, 702
49. All By Myself, Celine Dion
50. It's All Coming Back To Me Now, Celine Dion
51. My Love Is The Shhh!, Somethin' For The People
52. Where Do You Go, No Mercy
53. I Finally Found Someon, Barbra Streisand and Bryan Adams
54. I'll Be, Foxy Brown Featuring Jay-Z
55. If It Makes You Happy , Sheryl Crow
56. Never Make A Promise, Dru Hill
57. When You Love A Woman, Journey
58. Up Jumps Da Boogie, Magoo And Timbaland
59. I Don't Want To / I Love Me Some Him, Toni Braxton
60. Everyday Is A Winding Road, Sheryl Crow
61. Cold Rock A Party, Mc Lyte
62. Pony, Ginuwine
63. Building A Mystery, Sarah McLachlan
64. I Love You Always Forever, Donna Lewis
65. Your Woman, White Town
66. C U When U Get There, Coolio
67. Change The World, Eric Clapton
68. My Baby Daddy, B-Rock and The Bizz
69. Tubthumping, Chumbawamba
70. Gotham City, R. Kelly
71. Last Night, Az Yet
72. ESPN Presents The Jock Jam, Various Artists
73. Big Daddy, Heavy D
74. What About Us, Total
75. Smile, Scarface
76. What's On Tonight, Montell Jordan
77. Secret Garden, Bruce Springsteen
78. The One I Gave My Heart, w Aaliyah
79. Fly Like An Eagle, Seal
80. No Time, Lil' Kim
81. Naked Eye, Luscious Jackson
82. Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix), Los Del Rio (although I still remember the dance and can be convinced to do it at weddings, now!)
83. On and On, Erykah Badu
84. Don't Wanna Be A Player, Joe
85. I Shot The Sheriff, Warren G
86. You Should Be Mine (Don't Waste Your Time), Brian McKnight Featuring Mase
87. Don't Cry For Me Argentina, Madonna
88. Someone, SWV
89. Go The Distance, Michael Bolton
90. One More Time, Real McCoy
91. Butta Love, Next
92. Coco Jamboo, Mr. President
93. Twisted, Keith Sweat
94. Barbie Girl, Aqua
95. When You're Gone / Free To Decide, Cranberries
96. Let Me Clear My Throat, DJ Kool
97. I Like It, Blackout Allstars
98. You're Makin' Me High / Let It Flow, Toni Braxton
99. You Must Love Me, Madonna
100. Let It Go, Ray J
Posted in: meme, music on November 28, 2006 4 comments
Weird Al Yankovic has a new song out: Canadian Idiot, a parody of Green Day's American Idiot. It's actually pretty funny, talking/singing about Canadians from the point of view of an American who believes all of the silly stereotypes.
There isn't an official video out yet, but the YouTube player below has the song, and to help you follow along, I've pasted the lyrics below. Enjoy!
Posted in: funny, music on November 23, 2006 3 comments
Most of us have so much music, but we tend to get into ruts; phases of listening to the same stuff over and over. My current phase is female singer songwriters (Patty Griffin, Joni Mitchell, Maren Ord, etc.). LLD at What It Do NB? posted her iPod shuffle, and came up with some old gems that she had forgotten about.
Here are the random 10 that came up in my (iPod-less) music shuffle:
Steve Earle - Copperhead RoadWhat are yours?
Cake - I Will Survive
Jim Carey - I am the Walrus
Dixie Chicks - Long Time Gone
Edwin - Alive
Kilt - Come on Eileen
Christina Aguilera - The Voice Within
The Champs - Tequila
Runrig - Big Sky
Ian Tyson - Alberta's Child
Posted in: meme, music on November 10, 2006 3 comments
A few Halloween classics on this spooky day...
My favourite Halloween clip! Donald Duck faces off with a witch. Guess who wins?! (Link)
Disney - The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Link)
Disney - Sweet Dreams (Link)
Michael Jackson's Thriller (Link)
Disney - Lonesome Ghosts (Link)
Garfield - Scaredy Cat (Link)
Disney - Monster Mash (Link)
Happy Halloween!
Technorati tags: Halloween, cartoons, music, Disney, Garfield, Michael Jackson, witch, Thriller, ghosts, Halloween music
Posted in: Disney, holidays, music, videos on October 31, 2006 0 comments
I've written about eMusic a couple of times before, but here's the summary:
It's a music subscription service, similar to PureTracks or iTunes, but much cheaper, and you get MP3s unhindered by restrictions on how you can use them. I'm signed up for a package where I get 40 songs a month for $9.99 ($0.25 each), and I never have any trouble finding 40 to download. In fact, my 'Save for later' list has about 30 CDs I still want to download tracks from!
They cover all genres, from classical to punk, children's music to country. You can try it out and get 25 free downloads (and no, I don't make any money for promoting it, I just think it's a great site, and I've discovered some great music through it).
Technorati tags: music, MP3, download, digital music, eMusic, iTunes, PureTracks, Sarah McLachlan, DRM
Posted in: music on October 18, 2006 0 comments
Aruna has a clear, beautiful voice, and falls into the Michelle Branch / Vanessa Carlton vein of music. You can check out her official site for some sound clips.
If you have some time to kill, check out the Star Tomorrow website to watch a clip of her performance, and vote (if you get the country singer, Aruna's competitor, click the 'group 1' button under the video to watch Aruna). Check out the other musicians while you're there!
Posted in: music on September 11, 2006 0 comments
Check out some of my favourite finds on eMusic (which I wrote about here).
It's so hard to narrow it down to just 1 or 2 songs each! If you like the songs I listed, check out the full albums. Click on the links and listen to a preview. If you like them, consider subscribing to eMusic! (It's cheap; $9.99 for 40 songs, and is legal and DRM-free!)
Posted in: music on August 09, 2006 2 comments
Helmut has posted some interesting links recently:
First up: Naughty America. It's like The Sims! But with sex!
And if you have a lot of time to spend browsing YouTube, check out Pitchfork's list of 100 awesome music videos.
Also, for your G-rated viewing pleasure, Apartment Girl posted a link to a blog with ooodles of Sesame Street video clips! "Heeeeeeeeere fishy fishy fishy!!!"
Posted in: for adults, kids, music, videos on July 18, 2006 0 comments
No, I don't mean shorts as in clothing, although I'm really wishing I wore shorts today - it's soooo humid!!
BoingBoing recently posted a link to the National Film Board, which is showing some of its classic short films online. My personal favourite: The Sweater. Too bad they don't have The Logdriver though; I used to love that one when I was little!
For he goes whirling down and down the white water
That's where the Logdriver learns to step lightly
Yes whirling down and down the white water
Logdriver's waltz pleases girls completely
Posted in: music, videos on July 17, 2006 3 comments
I'm excited! Bruce Guthro has a new album out, and I ordered a copy yesterday. I have his two other CDs, and one by his band Runrig, and I just love them. Too bad he doesn't get more airplay in Canada.
In Newfoundland music news, Avondale Music has a bunch of new releases out this summer, including Homebrew 7 and a new Punters album.
There are so many CDs on my Amazon wish list right now that I'll never be able to afford them all, but I've been downloading some great music from eMusic (only $9.99 a month for 40 DRM-free, completely legal MP3s!). My latest downloads are a bunch of tunes from Fisher, and Charlotte Martin.
And now for a random 10 from my music folder (which is, admittedly, much smaller than my CD collection):
Lyle Lovett - What'd I Say
Heather Hedley - Represent, Cuba
Hanson - Crazy Beautiful
Beatles - Good Day Sunshine
Kylie Minogue - Locomotion
Aimee Mann - That's Just What You Are
Live - Shit Town
The Weepies - Take It From Me
Marty Robbins - El Paso
Soul Decision - Kiss The Walls
Posted in: music on June 20, 2006 0 comments
Watch this video clip. Seriously, we ALL need a laugh on Mondays.
Link (in case the player doesn't work for you)
(via Grrrl Meets World)
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Additional Monday morning musings...
Posted in: music, videos on June 05, 2006 2 comments
If you'd like to check out some new music, listen to these songs by Hey Rosetta (more songs here) and Adam Harnett (links via Cove Blogger and John Gushue).
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Also on the subject of MP3s... if you haven't heard of eMusic yet, check it out.
It's a music subscription service, similar to PureTracks or iTunes, but much cheaper, and you get MP3s unhindered by restrictions on how you can use them. I've been using it for the past couple of months, and I love it!
They don't have most of the big-name artists, but they have some, and they have a ton of lesser known artists, indie artists, and artists on labels such as Nettwerk, Koch, Sun, Rykodisc and Matador. They also have a good jazz back-catalogue, and for those who like classical, eMusic has almost the entire Naxos catalogue. I've found some great artists on there through their 'similar artists' lists and member recommendations.
It's legal, DRM free, and eMusic pays the artists royalties. In my opinion, the best part is that once you've downloaded a song, you can download it again, anytime, without having to pay for it again - particularly helpful if your computer crashes.
You can sign up for a free trial, and keep the MP3s even if you cancel your trial subscription (they're offering 25 free MP3s right now). I signed up for the free trial, and liked it so much that I signed up for a month-to-month plan - $9.99 a month for 40 songs (25 cents a song!).
Some of the artists I've downloaded so far:
And for Newfoundland tunes, check out Avondale Music for some of the province's best traditional music. Avondale is the company behind the Homebrew and Downhomer Presents... CD series, as well as The Christmas Wish, Singalongs and Shanties and Our Songs compilations. Avondale also produces and/or distributes albums by tons of Newfoundland music groups including Shanneyganock, The Punters, The Celtic Connection, Great Big Sea, The Ennis Sisters, Ryan's Fancy, and many more.Posted in: music on June 04, 2006 2 comments
Yay!!
After a letter-writing campaign initiated by the grassroots organization Dads & Daughters, toymaking company Hasbro has reversed its decision to make and market 'Pussycat Dolls' dolls.
Dads & Daughters started the campaign after it learned that Hasbro would be making dolls in the image of the racy music group, and planned to market them to girls as young as six years old. In case you've never seen the group, this is one of their promotional photos:
and this was what the dolls were to look like:
Hasbro released this statement:
“Hasbro and Interscope [record label] have jointly agreed that Hasbro will not move forward with the line of dolls based on the recording group, The Pussycat Dolls. Interscope’s current creative direction and images for the recording group are focused on a much older target than we had anticipated at the time of our original discussions, thereby making a doll line inappropriate for Hasbro.”
Posted in: body image, fashion and beauty, kids, music on May 31, 2006 1 comments
Oh goodness....
The paranoia is just... sad.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the national media are biased against him so he will avoid them from now on. (Canadian Press)
My personal choice for Stephen Harper's theme song:
They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!
(music clip on Amazon.ca / lyrics)
Posted in: music, politics on May 24, 2006 2 comments
