Beaker tries for YouTube fame. It’s not as easy as he thought! -via YesButNoButYes
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Although Carrie Underwood did a fine job singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl, this offering by Marvin Gaye at the 1983 NBA All-Star game will never be topped.
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Remember the I Love xkcd animated music video (inspired by the Discovery Channel promo I Love the World, drawn by animator Noam Raby and sung by Olga Nunes) posted previously on Neatorama?
Well, Olga Nunes and Elaine Doyle have teamed up to create the real life version of the song, titled We Love xkcd featuring the who’s who of the web, including Neil Gaiman, Wil Wheaton, Cory Doctorow, Lawrence Lessig, Bruce Schneier, Jason Kottke, Phil Plait … and perhaps the most famous, our very own Miss Cellania!
Boomdeyada indeed! Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] – via Boing Boing
Previously on Neatorama: I Love the World – Video Game Edition
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If you want to sing in a karaoke bar in the Philippines, be forewarned not to sing Frank Sinatra’s My Way … that tune by Ol’ Blue Eyes could just be your last …
“I used to like ‘My Way,’ but after all the trouble, I stopped singing it,” he said. “You can get killed.”
The authorities do not know exactly how many people have been killed warbling “My Way” in karaoke bars over the years in the Philippines, or how many fatal fights it has fueled. But the news media have recorded at least half a dozen victims in the past decade and includes them in a subcategory of crime dubbed the “My Way Killings.”
The killings have produced urban legends about the song and left Filipinos groping for answers. Are the killings the natural byproduct of the country’s culture of violence, drinking and machismo? Or is there something inherently sinister in the song?
Whatever the reason, many karaoke bars have removed the song from their playbooks. And the country’s many Sinatra lovers, like Mr. Gregorio here in this city in the southernmost Philippines, are practicing self-censorship out of perceived self-preservation.
Norimitsu Onishi of The New York Times has the fascinating story: Link (Photo: Jes Aznar/NY Times)
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SuperSeventies has a nice index of the top ten songs of each year in the decade I discovered music. That was mostly via radio, and that decade saw quite a shift in popular styles, as you can see at the link. Each song is linked to an informative bio, with links to other information.
I was surprised to learn that John Denver’s hit “Sunshine on My Shoulders” was conceived for a made-for-TV movie.
The feature was called Sunshine, and was a character study based on a real-life journal excerpted in the Los Angeles Times. It told the story of a terminal cancer case: a nonestablishment couple and the doctor who tried to save the young woman. CBS drew high ratings when they aired the film on November 9, 1973.
The soundtrack version was re-recorded in time for Denver’s greatest hits album, and became his first number one hit. For my money, his best song will always be “Rocky Mountain High.”
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This clever music video of the song “Bad Apple” peformed by Nomico consists of stop-motion animation. Each frame is printed, as you can see from the image file numbers ticking away.
via DudeCraft
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Music by Serge Chubinski-Orlov, with vocals by Linda Ganzin. The beautiful time lapse video is a collaboration between the Innerlife Project and TimeLapseHD. Link -via Nag on the Lake
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Lights, camera, disaster! Celebrities are like children, children with piles of cash and giant egos, and when you squeeze that many egos into one room during a highly televised music awards ceremony, something is bound to explode. From Kanye to Clay, check out these ceremonial bombs, with video evidence. Like the 2009 Tony Awards, when Brett Michaels was knocked flat off his feet.
In interviews before the show Michaels, the Poison front-man, couldn’t stop talking about how excited he was to be performing at the Tony Awards. He was definitely singing a different tune at the end of the night. At the end of his act on stage, Bret clotheslined himself on a giant prop while trying to get off stage. Michaels’ nose was fractured and he required three stitches in his lip. The Tony spokespeople claim that Michaels missed his mark, pretty much implying that it was all his fault. The Poison singer says that the production people hadn’t given him enough time to safely get off stage.
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The American TV musical show Glee was just released in Japan. This video is a commercial for it, featuring the Hawaiian-born sumo wrestler Akebono Taro singing Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
via Topless Robot
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Sound engineer Henry Dagg built an enormous pin barrel harp with 11,520 holes that can be selected for different compositions. He calls it the “Sharpsicord.” Here is his performance of Paul McCartney’s “The Long and Winding Road.”
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In the country where “Jedi” appears as a category on the census (and there are 390,000 adherents), heavy metal music might likewise become a recognized religion. British fans have mounted a political campaign for official status:
Rock magazine Metal Hammer launched its campaign last week and has already attracted nearly 10,000 followers to a Facebook group.
It has even gained the backing of a metal figurehead, Saxon frontman Biff Byford, whom the magazine says will become the proposed faith’s ”world metal peace ambassador” if the campaign proves successful.
Link | Photo: PA
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Charting The Beatles is a project by graphic designer Michael Deal to express the history of that band through quantitative infographics. Pictured above is one describing their working activities, divided into touring, filming, and recording. Deal invites anyone to participate by contributing their own infographics to a flickr set.
Link via J-Walk Blog | flickr set
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French artist Céleste Boursier-Mougenot recorded the sounds and images of birds lured to land on and pluck at the strings of an electric guitar left outside:
His installation for The Curve will take the form of a walk-though aviary for a flock of zebra finches, furnished with electric guitars and other instruments and objects. As the birds go about their routine activities, perching on or feeding from the various pieces of equipment, they create a captivating, live soundscape.
His resulting sound installation is on display at the Barbican Art Gallery in London starting on February 27.
via Make
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In reference to the book Cranioklepty by Colin Dickey, Keith Thomson writes at The Huffington Post about the hobby of skull collecting. Among the most famous skulls held in collections might be that of the composer Ludwig Von Beethoven:
The seller is California businessman Paul Kaufmann, who first became aware that his family possessed the item in 1990. While searching among his late mother’s possessions, he happened on an ancient, pear-shaped box labeled “Beethoven.”
Years of investigation by historians and scientists make a compelling case that the box was labeled accurately. Exhibit A: Kaufmann’s great-great uncle was a physician closely involved in the 1863 exhumation of Beethoven (and Franz Schubert) largely for scientific study; according to several accounts, the physician kept Beethoven’s skull. Exhibit B: Tests of existing strands of the composer’s hair point to a DNA match. For Exhibits C through Z, see Dickey’s book.
The owner hopes to earn at least $100,000 for the skull. At the link, you can read about other famous collectible skulls.
Link via Digg | Photo: Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies
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I had no idea Megadeth song titles could be confused for Lifetime channel movie titles, but that’s the challenge of today’s Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss. I am an expert on neither, so I only scored 60%. You will do better! Link
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Another of the many ways Queen’s classic Bohemian Rhapsody is performed, this time by Hayseed Dixie, from their new album Killer Grass. Link -via Arbroath
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| YouTube Doubler |
Those who love to spend their time creating mashups now have another tool in their box, and those that haven’t ever dabbled in the medium have profound access to it now, thanks to YouTube doubler. As someone already discovered, it’s a great way to imbibe in some Gestalt. Above, cockatiel that likes to bang on can with bird picture, mashed up with previously-mixed death metal rooster. Instant band.
Link (via BoingBoing)
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The Hendrix Estate has announced that March 9th will be the release date for a new album of studio recordings from the late guitar maestro, Jimi Hendrix. The tapes of sessions, in which the plan was to create a new concept sound, have been stored in a vault for 40 years.
Called Valleys of Neptune, it was remastered by Eddie Kramer, the same engineer who was there to record the (likely) bluesy, churning songs that are typical of Jimi’s style at the time.
Kramer says he spent a year remastering the old analog tapes, using state-of-the-art digital technology to clean up the sound. But not too clean: Kramer says he was trying to bring out the essence of Jimi Hendrix.
“This is Jimi, when he plays the guitar, and it jumps out of the track. The hair on the back of my neck just stands up,” he says. “It’s so raw and in your face.”
“He was the greatest guitarist I ever had the privilege of working with,” he says.
If it’s anything like his 1994 album, :Blues, it should be amazing.
Link. (Photo: Creative Commons)
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Illustrator Cliff Chiang took remixed classic 12" album covers into their comic superhero counterparts. The Breakfast Club? Meet the Teen Titans (obviously!). Check out how he turned Prince into Batgirl and Flashdance into Elekra: Link
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German percussionist Michael Vorfeld creates sound installations by turning different light bulbs on and off. The popping bulbs and flashing lights create a uniquely rhythmic experience for his live audiences. The above video is from a performance last February in Brussels.
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If you’ve ever sung a lullaby to your baby, you’ve just mimicked an orangutan: turns out orangutan moms sing to make their babies happy.
Eyes closed, hand on heart, this orang-utan mother appears to be belting out a ballad to her beautiful orange baby – perhaps I Will Always Love You-oo-oo?
Her offspring certainly seems impressed and screeches with delight while swinging among the trees in the wilds of Borneo.
Quick, someone call Simian Camel of Jungle Idols! The Daily Mail has the photo that will surely make you smile today: Link
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As one of millions of people who like the new Batman franchise, and can’t wait for Christopher Nolan to make part III, I must admit this song makes some valid criticisms regarding The Dark Knight. (via io9).
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Starbucks launched their campaign against AIDS in Africa by putting together singers from 156 countries in one video performing The Beatles’ song All You Need is Love. Link -via Buzzfeed
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Jared Lyon is engaged in an ongoing project to find innovative ways of using falling dominoes. The project is called “Dominoes Everywhere”, and for the Christmas holidays, he performed the “Carol of the Bells” by placing bells at particular intervals between falling dominoes.
via Ace of Spades HQ | Lyon’s Blog
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By the Bowen Beer Bottle Band. Link -via Metafilter
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If you are a fan of Benny Hill, or more accurately, of the song Yakety Sax by Boots Randolph, you’ll enjoy listening to a collection of Jamaican dancehall remixes. Some add interesting dance beats, some add lyrics, and some are just plain silly. If you are like me, any of these will make you think of sped-up chase scenes. Link -via Metafilter
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Shorewood High School made a lip dub video to Hall and Oates’ song “You Make My Dreams Come True”. That’s quite an accomplishment in itself, and might remind you of the “I Gotta Feeling” video (seen here) …but wait, there’s something not quite right about this video. It won’t take you long to figure it out! -via reddit
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Photo: Futurestar Entertainment Group
Mask Changing (or Face Changing) is an ancient Chinese tradition in theater, used to indicate a character’s shift in mood and demeanor. Accompanied by fan flourishes and other methods of obscuring the actor’s face, masks are changed with lightning speed. He Hongqing is considered one of the best. Check out the video at BBC.
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Well I’m a polar bear and my name is Bjorn
and I’ve been a polar bear since the day I was born.
Welcome to my kingdom and the world that I roam
the circumpolar arctic, the place that I call home.
Written by science teacher Tom Rugg. Complete lyrics are available at the YouTube link. This video is part of the BBC Wales’ series Green Season. Link -via Arbroath
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The decade that spawned MTV saw a serious shift in music from the previous one. Much of what was popular were new, untested bands that either had actual talent and thrived (Prince), or catchy one hit wonders (Harold Faltermeyer). The best of both of these worlds that pinned a song on a movie during the 1980’s are rounded up, with videos, at ChicagoNow.
For its exciting, educational montage of tournament action in The Karate Kid, the movie features this song by Joe Esposito, “You’re The Best Around.” This isn’t a music video; this was an actual scene in the movie, and it was pretty much the standard practice for musical interludes.
Link to The 12 Songs That Define 80’s Cinema.
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