Saturday, May 31, 2008

another music thing

since I've been combing through the ipod today.... I've seen a few people list ten songs that come up in shuffle, so here goes.

1. La Terza riposta: La mia vittoria - Turandot
2. Cool Blue - Eurythmics
3. Church of Trees - Liz Story
4. Space Moth - Stereolab
5. A Wedding Interrupted - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
6. Ah me...Ah me... Come in - Previn: A Streetcar Named Desire
7. Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix - Samson et Dalila (Saint-Saens) - Marilyn Horne
8. The Beverly Hillbillies (The Ballad of Jed Clampett) - Paul Henning
9. Twiggy Twiggy (Twiggy vs. James Bond) - Pizzicato Five
10. Ich komme - Kiri Te Kanawa (looked it up, it's from Richard Strauss' Daphne)

The thing seems to really like Streetcar Named Desire cause I think it always pulls something from it. It's like the shuffle always liked the B-52's (how many times did it play Channel Z? too many!) Anyhoo, it also gets entertaining because RTO has some random things, such as all the TV theme songs, he added to the drive.

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music thing from Carin

She posted about this so, I thought I would try it.

1. choose 19 of the songs you like best, regardless of artist or genre.
2. put them all together in a CD.
3. make 5 other copies.
4. post your playlist on your blog.
5. choose 5 people and send them a copy of your CD each. send the first copy you made to the one who tagged you.


Like Carin, I won't tag anyone with it, but if you'd like to trade a cd, let me know.


1. Tre sbirri, una carrozza - Tosca
2. Nothing is Good Enough - Aimee Mann
3. Myung theme (Cello version)- Macross Plus
4. Paper Bag - Fiona Apple
5. Garden in the Rain - Diana Krall
6. So Danco Samba (Jazz n Samba) - Wanda De Sah
7. Maria Lando - Susana Baca
8. Pheli War - Bally Jagpai
9. Opera Singer - Cake
10. A Shot in the Arm - Wilco
11. Retroviseur - Paris Combo
12. Lilly - Pink Martini
13. Twilight World - Swing out Sister
14. Roma - Pizzicato Five
15. Inquisition Symphony - Apocalyptica
16. Can't Change Me - Chris Cornell
17. Les temps difficiles - Samia Farah
18. Digital Love - Daft Punk
19. Goodbye, Darlin' - Dreams Come True

of course I haven't looked to see if these will all fit on a cd yet... so, um, it may change. apparently I'm much more mellow than I thought. I really tried to not make it a downer, is that cheating? I mean, like I only have 19 "favorite" things out of over 9000? yeah. anyhoo. FLAME ON!!! ;D

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Friday, May 30, 2008

random song



actually, I've been listening to Diana Krall a bit lately (two dollar used cd's at Half Price Books!) and she does this one, was wondering where it might have come from. now I know. sorta.

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poser

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random flowers




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Tuesday, May 27, 2008

final records...

Peter Gunn - soundtrack: brief search confirms this is music from the show. (the cd has a couple extra tracks) and from Wikipedia (cause I'm lazy today):

The show's use of modern jazz music, at a time when most television shows used a generic, uninspired orchestra for the background, was another distinctive touch that set the standard for many years to come. Innovative jazz themes seemed to accompany every move Gunn made, ably rendered by Henry Mancini and his orchestra (which at that time included John Williams), lending the character even more of an air of suave sophistication. Most memorable of all was the show's opening (and closing) theme, composed and performed by Mancini. A hip, bluesy, brassy number with an insistent piano-and-bass line, the song became an instant hit for Mancini, earning him an Emmy Award and two Grammys, and became as associated with crime fiction as Monty Norman's theme to the James Bond films is associated with espionage.
yep.

and then I'm recording the mystery album, which, um, if I had to guess is Chinese and I think the first track translates as "I hate you deeply" (恨你入骨). I used this site to identify the kanji. and then copied, pasted and googled for a translation. (can't find the site that had this again, apparently it's a movie from 1969). the music is pretty guitar heavy pop and all but one or two tracks are sung by a female.

anyhoo, that's it. now it's on to "Phase 2" which will be cleaning up tracks if they need it and then transfering them into itunes. whee!

oh, final stats - 303 folders (each album or set is it's own folder), 3373 files, 11GB.

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Monday, May 26, 2008

back home

and with a couple of pictures...


after the funeral, mom gave us a guided tour of Carnegie. We saw houses of people we know, the schools she went to (including the football field where she first met dad) and some other local attractions. My sister asked to stop for a sno-cone, so we did. I thought it was a kind of amusing juxtaposition, so I took a snapshot with my phone.



This is the legendary Buster. he usually comes up in conversations about "monster" cats. um, he's lost some weight. We found out he had cheated death recently, been sick, been taken to the vet to be put to sleep, but instead was given antibiotics that it turned out he was allergic to. He's recovering now, but who knows if he'll ever reach his former over thirty pound self.

anyhoo, it's been a looooong weekend and it's nice to have a day to myself at home. RTO just started his two weeks of annual training with the Guard and hopefully I'll be caught up with everything by the time he gets home.

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Thursday, May 22, 2008

Grandma Z


1916 - 2008

Balden, Zelma E.



Zelma E. BaldenMarch 7, 1916 — May 22, 2008Zelma E. Balden, 92, of Duncan, passed away Thursday, May 22, 2008, in Duncan.Service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday in First Baptist Church, Carnegie, coordinated by Don Grantham Funeral Home in Duncan and Ray and Martha’s Funeral Home in Carnegie.Zelma was born March 7, 1916, near Boynton, the daughter of John T. and Susie Bowlin. She and Johnnie Balden were married Sept. 30, 1939, in Anadarko. “Her Johnnie” preceded her in death Oct. 8, 1972. Since that day, she has looked forward to spending eternity with him. Zelma is survived by three daughters: Carol and Kynn Wanzor of Duncan, Mary Sue and Paul Caldwell of Carnegie, and LaVada and Bob Randquist of Boca Raton, Fla. Six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren were also a treasure to her. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, designated to Alzheimer’s research.
Published in The Duncan Banner from 5/23/2008 - 5/25/2008.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Tuesday records

so close, but i'm not going to make it through today....

Bit of Sweden - Busk Margit Johnsson with Gunnar Hahn, Pianist: an interesting find and not at all what I expected from the cover, which was cheesy. so, Soprano and Piano performing twelve folk songs, mostly from the early 19th century. so a lot like German lieder. She sounds pleasant enough and the piano never overpowers her,but is sometimes hard to hear. though that may just be the recording.

The Riddle - Dave Brubeck Quartet: um, I wasn't really paying attention to this one and Brubeck's stuff is kinda complex. it features Bill Smith on the clarinet, though. so I heard lots o' clarinet. w007!

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plant identified?


in comments to the last post, Susan thinks it may be Magnolia, so I did some more googling and stumbled onto Gardenia. (somewhere mentioned they're two popular plants in the South.)



I think because of this.

update: for some perspective...

here's where it's growing, yeah, I let the rose bush go wild this year. seems I only get around to trimming it every other year.

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Monday, May 19, 2008

you'd think I've lived here long enough

that there wouldn't be anymore "surprise plants", but there are!



the large thorny bits are the rose bush, but the white flower and shiny green leaves are new. no idea what it is.



I think this is an Easter Lilly. just thought it was funny, because RTO's mom gives us one almost every year and usually they just die and are never seen again. This one's been knocked all over the backyard and neglected, but decided to grow anyway.



and then RTO moved it to the garden. we'll see if it makes it.

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Sunday, May 18, 2008

couple of news stories I found interesting...

Student's photos altered in Yearbook. and not in a good way:

Yearbook photos for 583 McKinney High School students were altered by a national photography company.

The yearbooks were delivered Monday.

Some girls' heads ended up on boys' bodies, and vice versa. Some necks were stretched, and some outfits were altered.



my favorite part is the quote from the yearbook people:

Officials from Lifetouch National School Studios Inc., the Minnesota-based photography company, said someone at the company made the alterations in an attempt to comply with the school's photo guidelines.

The school wanted student head sizes approximately the same and students' eyes at the same level in the photos.

"Unfortunately, we misinterpreted what those guidelines were," said Sara Thurin Rollin, a spokeswoman for Lifetouch.


talk about understatement.

and um, oops?

Dallas lawyer Brian Loncar hurt when Bentley, fire engine collide

11:56 PM CDT on Friday, May 16, 2008
By TANYA EISERER / The Dallas Morning News
teiserer@dallasnews.com

One of the state's most prominent personal injury attorneys was in critical condition Friday after being hurt when a fire engine struck his Bentley in Oak Lawn....

...Mr. Loncar's face is a familiar one around Texas, where he can often be seen saying in television ads, "When you're hurt in a car wreck, you need someone on your side." His commercials and his Web site advise people to call in the "Strong Arm" when a person has been injured "due to the negligence or misconduct of another person."

Dallas police Lt. Scott Bratcher said the accident remains under investigation. But he said it probably will be ruled Mr. Loncar's fault because he "failed to yield right of way to an emergency vehicle."



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Sunday records

we're getting close to the end... no really.

Destination Rome - The Monte Cristo Strings:
Recorded in Italy! anyhoo, they play all the hits in a pretty straight-forward manner, but it's still nice. good album for an afternoon I'm trying to stay cool.


Sacred Songs by the Northlanders of Sweden: um, yeah, a couple of guys singing sacred songs, most of which I've never heard. The big mystery is WHAT is the bushy eyebrowed one playing? I'm gonna have to get a picture of it, here in a bit. The other one plays accordion, which made for a very jaunty sounding Onward Christian Soldiers.

There ya go. It's got ten strings, six with fret and four off to the side from the top part of the neck. It looks like maybe some kind of Harp-Guitar, except for the body shape. so Harp/???

Tribute to Jerome Kern - Ping Pong Percussion: they're no Persuasive Percussion. I didn't figure out what they were doing until I was breaking it up into tracks. so, here's the formula... Start every track with random percussion sounds alternating between left and right channels and then have the orchestra come in with a really snoozy version of the song. honk-shoo.

Quiet Music - Various Artists: actually, this is Volume 4. I'm guessing I picked this up because it has In a Persian Market on it. Otherwise, it's a mix of pop and classical tunes, mostly orchestral. I did learn that the Entr'acte Gavotte from Mignon is fairly popular. I've heard it a lot before, just didn't know what it was.

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Saturday, May 17, 2008

Saturday records...

Alfred Apaka's Greatest Hits: Hawaiian album! okay, this wasn't so bad. I think because there was singing and he has a pleasant voice. a nice mellow baritone. and there were a few songs that haven't been done to death such as Hapa Haole Hula Girl which was short and sweet. and even though I've heard the Hawaiian Wedding Song what seems like five million times now, this one was nice, he had a soprano singing with him and it was a nice contrast. so I guess if I had to hear another Hawaiian album this was a good call.

My Maoriland - The Best of Maori Songs and Dances: um, some liner notes would have been nice. there's various groups of people singing Maori songs. The last song, Po Atarau sounded kind of familiar and then I noticed the English subtitle was Now is the Hour, which was on the last record as well as many others, it was a popular tune. so i went searching for some background and found this site for NZ Folk Song.

oh, hee hee, here's an old mini-review by Alan Armstrong:

MY MAORILAND

Viking VP204 12in 33 ⅓ LP

Viking, who believe in getting plenty of mileage out of groups which record for them, have brought out yet another collection of tracks from Maori groups who have featured on full-length recordings issued earlier by the company. It is a pleasant and varied selection except for an item which purports to be a Maori chant. Entitled Ba Nana it is sung by Isabel and Virginia Whatarau. It is a tasteless offering.

The items range from action song to haka, traditional chant, poi, stick game and love song. A medley type disc such as this is always good value for the casual buyer of Maori material since it gives a selection of different groups and thus differing styles of performance, and of course varying types of item. However, such buyers usually want to know a little bit more about the origin, meaning and significance of the time than just a bald ‘haka’, ‘chant’ and the like. Viking have missed the bus in this respect because most tourists in particular have a healthy curiosity about the indigenous people and music of countries they visit. This record could thus have been so much more by adding so little. A few cover notes would have made all the difference.



anyhoo, "Maori" starts to look really strange the more you type it.

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Friday, May 16, 2008

Friday recording....

The Sound of Music - Original Soundtrack Recording: It's been ages since I've seen the movie and grown to hate it. bwah ha ha haaaa. Julie Andrews isn't quite as annoying here as in other things I can remember. oh well, I never seem to remember Something Good, even after just having heard it, nope, drawing a blank here. but perhaps it's time to give the movie another shot, because as much as I love other Rodgers and Hammerstein shows, I'd think I'd like this too.

Exotica - Martin Denny: I was thinking I accidentally had two of these, but I haven't recorded it before, so maybe not. Anyhoo, It's the mother ship! and I found it for only 99 cents at a local thrift store, so of course, it's also really scratched up. Still, it was an interesting listen. The sound over all is very "live", not as polished at what would come later in this genre. most exciting.

Phases of the Moon - Traditional Chinese Music: exactly what it says it is. According to the liner notes most of these were recorded in 1980 by the Central Broadcasting Traditional Instruments Orchestra and he (Earl Price) threw in a couple of older things because he liked them. Anyhoo, I suppose it's an acquired taste, from what I can hear it sounds like they mostly use strings and woodwinds with some percussion. and they play in unison a lot.

Nostalgia The unforgettable songs of Italy's Carlo Buti: yep, interesting voice, I'll let Wikipedia explain a bit:

His unique warm and melodic "tenorino" style of high quasi-falsetto phrasing sung in the "mezza voce" made him an international success.

so, Italian pop tunes, or more correctly, pop tunes in Italian (La Vie en Rose, for one). here you can hear a clip of Vivere, which was on this album, on YouTube. I wouldn't mind hearing some more of his work.

Ferrante and Teicher play Tonight and other favorites: I think mom and dad are working on this arrangement of Tonight. without the orchestra, of course. I could have done without the singing too. It was high cheese. like two pianos aren't enough, guys? RTO asks, "How many versions of Moon River does one person need" as many as it takes, RTO, as many as it takes.

Hawaii Calls: Favorite Instrumentals of the Islands with Al Kealoha Perry: eeeeeeee! I hope this is the last Hawaiian album, really, it was fun at first, but, I'm done.

I Love Paris - Michel Legrand and his Orchestra: Apparently, this was his first album. He'd go on to win awards for all kinds of stuff. (Yentl!) Anyhoo, it's a pleasant enough album with lots of songs about Paris all crammed in and bookended with I Love Paris (in the springtime....) I was slightly annoyed that they all run together, but whatever, I'll get over it. at least he changes up the instrumentation throughout.

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happy kitty dreams

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Thursday, May 15, 2008

kitty nightmares....

not sure what they're about, but a couple times now in the last week or so, Carlos will jerk awake with a snort and hiss. He did it tonight and we laughed and laughed. RTO said he looked like Toonces just about to go over the cliff. heh.

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Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Tuesday records

counted the other night and there are only 19 left to go! RTO doesn't believe me. whatevs.

Love Story - Andy Williams: he's sounding a little worn here and made some poor choices in songs. I think I Love You? no. just, no. My Sweet Lord was really entertaining once the very proper sounding choir came in. Old people should sing old people music. unless they're being funny on purpose.

It's Up to Us - Anadarko High School Mellotones: heh.

Bobby Randquist said, "The Mellotones will never die in the hearts of those who were in the group. We hope we also provided some pleasant moments for those who heard us sing."



yes you did, but I can't decide if it was South Wind, Banana Boat Song or To Sir with Love that was more pleasant. ;D

p.s. you're easy to pick out of the basses.

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weekend drama

True to form, the appliances heard we may have some extra funds this month and decided to break. The new fridge died Sunday. by the time RTO figured it out most of the stuff in the freezer had thawed. so we tried plugging ole' greenie in (yes it was still here) but it decided that, no, it really was dead too. fortunately, RTO found someone to come out and fix it yesterday. They were an interesting couple of dudes. anyway I thought it was funny when they walked in and one of em was like, "oooooh, haven't seen one of those in a while. Though the green one's the better box" ha ha. well, so I had to take Roxie to the vet while they were still working (and that's another story in itself) long story short, I get home and the new fridge is working and these guys took the old fridge with them. yay! I have a dining room again. not that I use it, but it's the principle of the thing. ;D

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Sunday, May 11, 2008

Sunday records

Before the Last Teardrop Falls - Freddy Fender: RTO said you probably are wondering, "what were you thinking?" I'm wondering what my grandparents were thinking. I'm pretty sure that's where this one came from. anyhoo, um, he's okay. I liked I Love My Rancho Grande and wish more of this album had been in that style (not sure what the correct term for it is). oh well.

Alice Babs: I'll let the album blurb cover this one:

Alice Babs is one of Scandinavia's most popular recording stars. She became the favorite of all Sweden, when as a teen-ager she made a hit in the film "Swing it, Professor!", a musical production in a lighter vein. Her recordings of popular hit tunes have found their way all over the world, and even in the U.S. disc jockeys have taken to her records, so musically convincing in whatever language she performs, whether it be English, German, or Swedish. She has a versatile range as romantic chanteuse, ballad singer, jodler, sailor girl and lyrically sentimental interpreter. Her motion pictures have been successes, not least because of her freshness and unaffected style.... - Gerhard T. Rooth, Editor of The Swedish North Star


jodling! actually, was a fun album and they overdub so she's singin harmony bits with herself. There are a couple lines of English (something about "Miss-souri river")and a Swedish version of When Irish Eyes are Smiling. jodling!

Welcome to My World - Dean Martin: still don't like him. probably because of the lazy, furry sound and scooping. there ya go. Honestly, the title track was passable, but the more up-tempo things were annoying.

It Was Almost Like a Song - Ronnie Milsap: um, I was all ready for some cheesy 70's country and it was actually not offensive. I particularly like The Future is Not What It Used to Be, he brings some good emotion through his voice. also, the one tune I could associate with him was on here, What a Difference You've Made in My Life, and I would say it wasn't the strongest tune on here for him as it's on the lower side of his range. anyhoo, surprisingly pleasant.

Melodies for Romance - The Melachrino Strings: very orchestral arrangements of some show tunes and operetta. Three of them from New Moon, which I'm not familiar with. anyway, it was hiding in a cover for Romantic Rendezvous, so I was a little confused at first.

Somethin' Stupid - The Lennon Sisters: I've been told that siblings usually have voices that blend very well (such as me and my sister), and they do. It's kinda strange really, they get the same kind of sound as Alice Babs but probably in much less time. Anyhoo, some interesting tunes here, the title track and My Cup Runneth Over and Georgy Girl. I finally know what the title is for A Lover's Concerto. it's always getting stuck in my head, but I never knew what they called the pop version of that thing.

Magic Moods - Roger Williams/Bert Kaempfert: eh. not a collaboration, but a side each of these guys. seems they decided to go with boring Williams here. and the Kaempfert side wasn't breaking any new ground either, though I hadn't heard Trumpet Fiesta before and it was interesting if short. Otherwise it was mostly, let's have some females oooh along to songs. yay!

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kitty series....

yes, we're sweet


uh, guys, what's that behind you?


Roxie!!


the horror... the horror...



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Friday, May 09, 2008

translation bleg

I call this the mystery album. I started to record it, but then realized I have no idea what to call it. other than mystery album. Any tips would be appreciated, thanks.


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Musical Friday....

Camelot: I've never seen this show, but I've heard a lot of the tunes. This is the movie soundtrack and like most movies of the time the singing is kinda anemic. about half of the first side was useless since there was something on it (paint? someone sneezed on it? I dunno) still managed to get Camelot and I loved you Once in Silence and If Ever I Would Leave You though so I guess I'm happy.

Fiddler on the Roof - Original Broadway Cast: I'm more familiar with the movie soundtrack for this one, so maybe I'm biased, but this was *ahem* "different" than what I'm used to. (RTO's comment, "Why is he singing Tevye all wrong?") Zero Mostel played it much more broad than I think an audience would accept/like nowadays and the women were all on the heavily nasal side. Do you Love Me? almost had me stabbing a pen in my ears to make the pain stop.

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(thursday) huh

just recorded an album by him Sunday and today, Eddy Arnold died.

it was Toni Tennille's birthday today too.

God seems to be trying to tell me something about ergot. (Dr. Baden mentioned it on last night's Red Eye, something to do with Salem witches) (also, h/t Dan at pw for the Cracked link) but really, twice in one day? what are the chances?

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Thursday, May 08, 2008

early morning conversation....

MK: um, I think maybe we should feed the cats more.

RTO: huh?

MK: the kitties. I think they would like more food.

RTO:

MK:

RTO:

MK:
it's just... Carlos is in here licking the soap.

(it was the oatmeal portion of the Peppermint Patch soap, so I guess not too bad for him. he's still alive, but it won't last as long if he starts snacking on it regularly.)

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Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Ed Ames trivia...

apparently I didn't do enough *cough*any*cough* research on Mr. Ames.... dad told me I should go look for this.


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Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Tuesady night RTO's at work again records....

(um, yes I changed the title as I now know what day it is...)actually, it's a set I've been working through for a couple days....

Admiral bull horn Portable Stereo Masterpiece Stereo Library: say that five times fast. I've tried to find a picture or something of the Admiral bull horn Portable Stereo, but haven't had any luck. anyhoo, this appears to be a set of five albums put together by Capitol Records for Admiral, three of them titled "The Best of the(fill in the blank)" we've got Great Motion Picture Themes, Easy Sounds-In a Mellow Mood and Great Song Stylists. and then the other two are Favorites with a Foreign Accent and The New Exotic Sound. Whoever compiled it seemed to like The Lettermen and Glen Campbell and Al Martino, since they all had more than one appearance. of course my favorite was The New Exotic Sound, it had a lot of things I knew the tunes for, but some different arrangements, for instance a kind of stripped down Quiet Village. also the Great Motion Picture Themes took a couple of epic themes and gave them lighter orchestrations, such as Ben-Hur and Lawrence of Arabia. Anyway, I found the packaging the most intriguing part of this one, all the albums still have the shrink wrap on them and they're in a black faux leather folio.

Autumn Leaves-1965 - Roger Williams: huh, apparently I didn't like the last Roger Williams thing I recorded. This was much better, bordering on "early Peter Nero" style of cleanliness. maybe it's the engineering of it? I doubt it. here, he doesn't rely much on the sustain pedal and there are some nice riffs. Tico-Tico started out at a good clip and then he double timed the coda. I never know quite how I feel about Chim Chim Cher-ee as a "standard". I think I have the Disco Mickey Mouse (Mickey Mouse Disco?)version seared into my brain. That's hard to overcome.

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Sunday, May 04, 2008

sunday records

The Best of Eddy Arnold: could have used more yodeling. maybe that's just me, but my ears didn't perk up until Cattle Call, and that was the last track. also I was wondering if he was considered a country singer and according to Wikipedia he was. it was hard to tell because he doesn't have a nasal sound and the arrangements were kinda heavy on light orchestra sounds. huh.

The Best of the 50's - Various artists: not sure who decided these were the "best". The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane by the Ames Brothers? Rock and Roll Waltz by Kay Starr? oh well, there were a few other things I'd heard before such as The Loveliest Night of the Year by Mario Lanza and Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White by Perez Prado (though I think this was a Herb Alpert fave...) and it was nice to hear Eartha Kitt singing something other than Santa Baby (C'est si bon)

Captain and Tennille's Greatest Hits: too bad RTO wasn't here for this one. anyhoo, I took the shrinkwrap off of this one so I could see the pictures of them in hawaiian shirts on the beach. I still don't get Muskrat Love. but I do like Tennille's voice, was thinking she'd made an appearance in the area recently, but I can't find it, so maybe I'm smokin' crack on that one. They did, however release a Christmas Album this last year. anyway, I can't add much on this. fun stuff.

The Singles 1969 - 1973 - The Carpenters: I had to do some checking because there was another Carpenters album stuffed in here.... listening to it now. Anyhoo, it's the Carpenters! and even though it's singles a couple of the tracks ran together, I had to leave Rainy Days and Mondays and Goodbye to Love together as one track. reading the liner notes I found out about their connection to Burt Bacharach. I guess that explains a lot. that and the overdubbing.

The Carpenters: um, why did they let Richard sing anything but backups? heh, only on a couple tracks here, but still, what were they thinking? his tracks (Saturday and Druscilla Penny) also stood out for being different stylistically, trying to sound old-timey with honky-tonk piano and harpsichord riffs. whatevs. Couple of hits on here, Rainy Days and Mondays and Superstar and um, maybe For All We Know. and then there's the Bacharach/David Medley, kinda dissapointing, they speed through one verse and chorus of six songs in five and a half minutes and there aren't always smooth segues, it's like, "oh crap it's time of a new song! go! go!" kinda like watching Greg Gutfeld on Red Eye. NEXT!

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Saturday, May 03, 2008

late saturday record

RTO's out of town, my sleeping is off thanks to the dead thing in my sinuses...

Time, Time - Ed Ames:
had to check the date on this when I saw that the Beatles' Michelle was on here. 1967. anyhoo, looks like an Ed Ames fest tonight (we'll see if I make it through the next one) he's pretty straight forward really, never foofs anything up much and he's very much about the solid technique to my ears. mmmmm, legato.

Opening Night with Ed Ames: show tunes! including a few that I've never heard of. who remember the musical Jennie? There's two selections from it here, Before I Kiss the World Goodbye and Where You Are. a couple things from The Fantasticks and he wraps up with As Long as (S)he Needs Me. (okay, I added the parentheses, just so's you know that's totally not the original version. ever.)

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kitty dreams


he just looked so happy.

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maggie katzen: lazy soprano?

I occasionally joke about how I'm going to start drinking and smoking and become a mezzo-soprano. anyhoo, I ordered this from amazon today. I think my teacher didn't feel like butchering Dove Sono again today, so we read through some Vaccai exercises and were really impressed with how those sounded and kinda not like most sopranos would in that part of their voices. (although the book says for Sops and Tenors the things generally don't go above the staff) so, um, we're going to do some exploring and it's a bit freaking me out. mostly cause I just haven't paid attention to mezzo music. OTOH, it explains a lot of recent frustrations.

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