Morning Chill

For the past week or two, I've been playing a mix that I showed to my cohort and she said "ooh, I like that," so we both decided it should be a show. I made it for opening at work and it seems to work quite well in keeping the store pretty chill for at least an hour. I even played it opening up the morning after the hurricane.

The Mingus that ends it was originally intended for one of those shows that never was. I don't know why it's called "Alice's Wonderland," but I was immediately drawn to it when I first learned it existed. It's from a live album called "Mingus in Wonderland" (and a couple other things too.) Something tells me that it's something I should research more.

1. Miles Davis - So What
2. Ray Charles - Birth of the Blues
3. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - If Six Was Nine
4. Jimmy Smith - Stay Loose
5. D.J.Shadow - The Number Song
6. Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five
7. Röyksopp - Röyksopp's Night Out
8. Badly drawn boy - River, Sea, Ocean
9. Doors - Ghost Song
10. Porcupine Tree - Intermediate Jesus
11. Charles Mingus - Alice's Wonderland

Part One: http://box.net/public/themadterran/files/587895.html
Part Two: http://box.net/public/themadterran/files/587896.html
Part Three: http://box.net/public/themadterran/files/587897.html

I've Got Power, I've Got DSL, and I Know How To Use It

After fighting with hurricanes, and work, I've finally been able to get back online and post these two shows up. One I kept trying to make during the hurricane itself, but I was interrupted by a couple power outages. It was intended to be a nice, kiss off to Hurricane Katrina as it moved through my area. Right now though, I'd like to wish everyone in New Orleans well and offer them some hope that it will all come out okay. The Miami area got it as a newly minted one, they're getting it as a strong, category five.

The first mix I'm putting up today, however, was one made by Dellessa, one of our readers. Frankly, it's really damn good, so we thought we'd put it up here. I played it at work, and it got better reviews than my own companion mix.

Here's the mix:
Part One: http://box.net/public/themadterran/files/572566.html
Patt Two: http://box.net/public/themadterran/files/572567.html
Part Three: http://box.net/public/themadterran/files/572568.html

And the playlist:

1. Gary Jules - Mad World
2. artist - Darling Violetta-Ophelia
3. Rasputina - The Quitter
4. Rickie Lee Jones - Sailor Song
5. Damien Rice - Silent Night (Hidden Track from "O")
6. Johnny Cash - Hurt
7. Rasputina - Our Lies
8. Josephine-Tori Amos
9. The Smashing Pumpkins - Disarm
10. Coldplay - The Scientist
11. Arcade Fire - Crown of Love
12. Jakalope - Nothing Nowhere
13. Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence
14. Silent Hill OST - Room of Angels
15. Rasputina - Wish You Were Here

The second is my attempt blow off to Katrina. I'm afraid that the first couple times I worked on it, I lost power, otherwise I'd have been finished and posted sometime during the storm. In hindsight, it probably works quite well now. I was pleased that I was able to get the recordings of the Hurricane information from an old record I obtained that came from a radio station. It says it's property of the US government, but I doubt anyone is looking. I don't know how old the record is, but based upon a lot of the other stuff i obtained in that little deal, it seems to be from the fifties or sixties. Also, the final track isn't from the famous Seattle band, but from a moderately famous English group from the late sixties. "Rainbow Chaser" was one of their few "hits."

Part One: http://box.net/public/themadterran/files/570924.html
Part Two: http://box.net/public/themadterran/files/570925.html
Part Three: http://box.net/public/themadterran/files/570926.html
Part Four: http://box.net/public/themadterran/files/570927.html

And the playlist:

1. Astrud Gilberto - Here's That Rainy Day
2. National Weather Bureau - Hurricane Information 01
3. Scorpions - Rock You Like A Hurricane
4. Doors - Riders on the Storm
5. Muse - Butterflies & Hurricanes
6. National Weather Bureau - Hurricane Information Winds and Floods
7. Led Zeppelin - Fool In The Rain
8. Placebo - English Summer Rain
9. National Weather Bureau - Hurricane Information Eye of the Storm
10. Willie Nelson - Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain
11. Neil Young - Like A Hurricane
12. National Weather Bureau - Watches and Warnings
13. Uriah Heep - Rainbow Demon
14. The Beta Band - Dry The Rain
15. Nirvana - Rainbow Chaser

Finally, we've also been doing some housekeeping on our server, so some of the earlier shows have been taken down. We've still got them tucked away safely on our harddrives. If anyone would like one of the old ones, email us and we'll see what we can do.

Herbie, Boston, Purgation and a little Brubeck

Recently, I was listening to the Herbie: Fully Loaded Soundtrack at work. I'm sure you're wondering why we play something like that regularly at the store since it is filled with all things that are essentially "crap," but it works for staying awake during a long, dull day of music retail. On the album, there's a cover of Boston's "More than a Feeling" by Ingram Hill that isn't particuarly special, other than it's a cover by a fairly popular band on a Disney soundtrack. But in listening to the fairly by-the-numbers cover, it got me thinking about the original and songs like it.

For the moment, I'll speak about a few mid-seventies/eighties hard rock songs. These are the songs that are more or less fairly popular, but also have a deeply personal impact upon the listener. "Comfortably Numb" or "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd come to mind, as do quite a few others. They are songs that seem to soar, and when they are over, they've purged the listener of whatever it was bothering them. Three Dog Night's "Old Fashioned Love Song" or "Maggie Mae" by Rod Stewart have this affect too. They are songs that tell a story, convey some personal meaning and usually have hit it big.

What's a shame is when songs like this hit the airwaves, then find themselves so popular that they've become so a part of of the modern culture that they seem to take on vein of cliche. They're still great songs, however.

"More Than Feeling" starts out quiet with this almost church bell guitar work, it also begins with sunrise. The brief guitar solo sounds like it is in the process of excising demons from the soloist, especially how he slides down the neck. You almost don't need the lyrics to really capture the effect of the song, the musicianship does that on it's own. But, like I did when preparing for this post, you beign to listen, and the lyrics begin to work on you. You hear the bit of hopefilled sorrow in them. The whole image of watching your lover walk away in the morning while you do anything you can to avoid the emotionality of it.

Songs like this can be like a long, slow, cheep beer drank from the bottle after a night full of them. When everything has settled down and you're left to your memories. Songs like this bring up those universal memories of love and loss that are also so intensly personal that there's nothing you can do about it. After all, haven't we all known a Marriane?

And the Song: http://box.net/public/themadterran/files/510942.html

Also, something I'd like everyone to check out. This is a version of "Take Five" done by The Dave Brubeck Quartet in the seventies. It's a whole hell of a lot of fun. It also was the first time Brubeck played with Paul Desmond, which was not long before his death.

Take Five was one of those songs with a strange creativity that's become pervasive in Western culture. What I find interesting is how the song doesn't seem to have much of a core to it, like the players are rolling around a bassline that's not quite there. When you listen carefully, you realize that the real experimentation is within the rhythm section. For something that's so iconic, it's rather brilliant.

Of course, the more I've read, and the more I've talked to Meera about it, the more I've learned that that was just the idea they had back in 1959 when they cut the record to begin with. She was also the one to send me this version. So sit back, take about sixteen minutes out of your day and enjoy.

http://box.net/public/themadterran/files/572695.html

Mini-show, number 2

Second mini-show

This is a second mini-show, (and the second attempt at the this post). Play it after the last "mini-show" the one that began with Imogen Heep's "Hide and Seek." I tried to go fun and relaxed with this one where the songs were a bit wild. The song by Kinky has been a bit of a personal anthem of mine where I could easily relate to it from the first time I heard it. It also finds its way onto a lot of my personal mixes I've done since I got the album.

It's about 20 minutes, so enjoy.

1. Queen - Fat Bottomed Girls
2. Doors - Love Me Two Times
3. Kaiser Chiefs - Every Day I Love You Less And Less
4. Green Day - American Idiot
5. The Human Beinz - Nobody But Me
6. Kinky - The Headphonist

PS: I plan to have DSL quite soon, so these mixes will be going up faster. I'm also looking to stream a show or two live for everyone. We'll see how that works though.

Rush and some bootlegs.

Recently, I was sent along this. It's a nice, long list to more than a few websites for Roio's of quite a few bands. It really ranges from Mars Volta to Donna Summer to Keller Williams. Give it a look if you're into it. There's a few broken links, but nothing like that will ever be perfect. Right now, I'm working on downloading something from one of the Floyd sites listed. I'm hopeful, I really am. I'll probably hit the Mars Volta and the Radiohead at some point before I'm done. Unfortunately, I'm still stuck on the 56k, so this two disc set could take a couple days. Alas, I'm not too worried.

Secondly, I seem to have come into the motherload of RUSH albums on LP. One of my usual places had tons for sale. I think I wound up picking ten different albums, though not "2112" which I was surprised not too find. WHat surprises me most is that the records themselves are in really good condition. Right now, I'm working my way through the album "Signals" and I listened to the first side of "Moving Pictures" earlier. Aside from the couple albums I have on CD, as well as the few songs that really get radio play in Miami, I'm amazed at how good a lot of their lesser known stuff was. Then again, the complaint most people have with Rush really has to do with Geddy Lee's wail of a voice rather than their talents as musicians. Alex Lifeson and Neil Pert can really play their asses off when it comes down to it.

Still no sign of Pink Floyd LPs, I think I'll be stuck to ordering them from other degenerate addicts like myself online.

The Test Show (redux)

Back when I first was investigating this idea, I made a quick, three song show that I uploaded and let people listen too. To be frank, it sounded worse than things currently do. I really hadn't learned how to copy and paste properly and I was still figuring out how to record my own voice. (Which is something I am still working on, but I won't have down until I've got my own studio and professional recording equipment.)

And since I've decided to start the thing with the mini-shows as a long running mix that will go on as long as I can make it, I decided it was best to redo the mini show. Also, "Whiter Shade of Pale" should never sound as bad as it did originally, nor should "Wish You Were Here."

So here it is:

Test Show

1.Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
2.The Mad Terran - A Hello
3. Malcolm McLaren - About Her
4. Procol Harum - Whiter Shade of Pale

The High Strung, Deviants, a 14 Year Old Boy and Other Tales from the Front

I was listening to the This American Life on NPR this morning and they had a story about a few libraries in the midwest where they started holding rock concerts. The concept was pretty cool, they had a regular band who was coming in and performing, then holding Question and Answer sessions with the kids. All of this was designed to change the image of the libraries from being fussy places where you go when you've got a paper due the next day, to being a miraculous place where you can learn and discover new things.

During the story, they featured some clips from the band who has been heavily involved in the project: The High Strung. I was pretty impressed with this litle band from what I heard, then I went to seek them out on the net. They've got a couple mp3's up for downloading, and an album I'll probably try to get once it comes out in September.

They remind me of this strasnge mix between the Flaming Lips, the B52's and Placebo. The lead singer kind of sounds like Placebo's and lyrically, they sound like they could have a couple things in common, such as "A Real Meal Ticket." They've also got that real homemade, guitar, drums, bass sound that the Lips had in their early days and the B52's never really got rid of. They sound like they are really having fun playing these songs. (That was also evident from live snippets they had on This American Life).

The more and more I listen to them; the more and more I want their CD to be out now and in my player.

Moving on, I should probably dig into the other portions of my subject line.

As we all know, I work in an unnamed music store in Miami. So a lot of strange things will come up. This first story isn't quite music related, but I think it should be shared. I was cleaning up some video games and this kid comes up to me with one of the soft porn DVDs. He asked if he could buy it. I looked at him, shaking my head, saying "no" in disbelief. Then I looked at him a little more and finally asked his age. "Fourteen," he said. I looked at him, ready to smack him upside the head. He walked away and I shared the story. Then we got close to he and his friend, making their trip through the story difficult. If they can't buy it, they might want to steal it instead is the logic. Also, we like kicking out kids who do stupid stuff like that.

Earlier in the day, I had a woman so concerned about the music that had could possibly be explicit. I had to dance around the whole issue that it was Aerosmith and that typically, you don't find Aerosmith releases with Parental Advisory stickers. Eventually, she didn't buy anything. I hate stupid parents.

And finally, the Pimp. If you visit out main page, you'll see a link for Prints by Dellessa. Other than being a wonderful girlfriend and booster for this little project of Meera's and mine, she's one hell of a photographer. She also has begun to offer some of her prints for sale, so if you're looking for wall art and like cats and flowers and things, check out her gallery.

A couple things

I was in such a hurry a bit ago to post that I forgot a couple things. First, the final track was made by me when I editted a couple clips off the Wall, a little of "Personal Jesus" and something from the Silent Hill Sountrack. I had fun, and apparently, it scares my girlfriend.

Secondly, this Mini-show may not be for the feint of heart, so we'll see. It does make me wonder where we're going next.

And finally, the playlist:

1. Imogen Heap - Hide And Seek
2. MadTerran Music - Message from the Mad Terran
3. Type O Negative - Machine Screw
4. Norah Jones - Turn Me On
5. Tool - Prison Sex
6. Placebo - Special K
7. Jimi Hendrix - Hey Joe
8. The Mad Terran - Reaching Numb Hill

Mini Show

Well, this is the first Mini-show for Madterran Music. Meera dared me to do a mix with Norah Jones and Tool in it, switching between the two in one move. I took it up.

I also decided it would be fun to do a few of these and have them mix into each other. In the end, I hope for them to transfer slowly into one, long mix for everyone to enjoy. Soon, I'll have a redone version of our original test show. That wone will be the beginning of this voyage, so keep an eye and an ear out.

In the meantime, I am enjoying "Meddle" by Pink Floyd, since the copies of that album and "Animals" arrived today.

Well, that's all for tonight. Back top "Echoes"

Cover Versions and Books.

Over the years I've heard, many, many astounding covers of songs originally made famous by mediocre talents. One usually thinks of most covers of Dylan songs, since Bob Dylan really wasn't that much of a singer. Or even the covers of “Hallelujah” originally written by Leonard Cohen around the time he seemed to have gained that gravely, grating voice and lost all sense of production that was eventually covered so beautifully by Jeff Buckley and then later by Rufus Wainright.

More recently, I think more about some of the covers that the Flaming Lips have done, such as their bizarre send off “Can't Get You Out of My Head” by Kylie on one of the EP's released in conjunction with Yoshimi. (Though, when I get around to make a mix, I'll probably chose their cover of “What a Wonderful World” Priest Driven Ambulance). As much as I love their original material, I do enjoy some of their covers. They've also got a version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" that they've recently covered that I want to hear the full version of. If anyone knows how to obtain it, feel free to email me.

What really got me thinking about this lately was Snow Patrol's recent cover of Beyonce's “Crazy in Love.” Frankly, the give the song what it needed. They kept her vocals, not quite to the point of mocking her, but they give it an intensity that Beyonce can't seem to grasp. They also gave it something I seem to be quite partial too, guitars. It really is a testament to what guitars, drums, and someone who knows how to play a bass rather than program a drum machine can do. They manage to turn a mediocre club song into a really sexy, rock song. It also shows an ability to rock out that doesn't seem to be on their self titled release from a couple years back. I hope that this version they did for the BBC is a hint at a new, musical direction for a future release. I've got to admit, I've got a weakness for a serious band that can find a groove and stick with it until you're moving along with them.

For your listening pleasure: Snow Patrol, "Crazy In Love"

Finally, I'd also like to mention project a friend of ours is doing on another blogspot she's basically doing a book review blog for books you wouldn't normally think of. Basically, whatever that crosses her desk that she enjoys.