Archive Category: Music

Jero, the First Black Enka Singer in Japan

Twenty six year old Jero looks like he’s trying to break into the music industry. With his decidedly urban, hip-hop look, you’d be forgiven if you think that he’s a wannabe rapper… That is, until he starts singing!

Jero, as you’ll see in the clip above, is going to be the first professional black enka [wiki] singer in Japan: Hit play or go to Link [YouTube]

Japan Probe has more info:

According to the biographical information on his JVC Music site, Jero’s Japanese grandmother exposed him to enka music, building a great love in him for traditional Japanese music. Jero hadn’t planned on becoming a musician, and had actually graduated from the University of Pittsburg as a computer engineer, but a chance runner-up victory in a karaoke contest led JVC Music to scout him. He’s been in Japan for two years for vocal training and he will be releasing his first CD later this month.

Link - Thanks Geekazoid!

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The Most Listened To Melody in the World

If you hit the “Play” button you can listen Peppe Giorri playing this beautiful Gran Vals para Guitarra a.k.a. Valse Grande… If you listen carefully, just after the 15-second mark you’ll probably recognize the so called Nokia Tune, which rings in more than 800,000 phones all over the world every day, making it the world’s most listened to melody. It is also repeated through out the whole vals.

The song is composed by Francisco Tárrega Eixea (1852, 1909) [wiki].

Listen the whole track, it’s wonderful.

Link [youtube video]

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Bollywood safe sex PSA

Dancing condoms! [eBaums]

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A Bride Named Amy

(Metacafe link)
When Brad and Amy got married, her friends and family put together an elaborate production number as a toast, totally without her knowledge.

We are not sure how this was kept secret by everyone involved but it was truly an incredible production. Check out Amy’s utter shock when people start springing up from the crowd to join in the fun in this heartwarming tribute to Amy and Brad on their special day…

And it was all captured on video. Link -Thanks, PAgent!

Update: Thanks to zondron for the Metacafe link!

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Shy Child plays Musical Chairs live

New York-based band Shy Child plays a game of musical chairs on-stage live with fashion models at the Fashion Rocks 2007 exhibition. Cool band, cool tune, cool video. YouTube.

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Barack Obama vs. Mike Gravel

I’m a fan of both Barack Obama AND Mike Gravel, but I don’t know quite what to make of this new video by my amigo “rx” of Dick is a Killer fame. Here’s his YouTube channel. Enjoy - or flame away!

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Tetris Theme on Bottles

(College Humor link)
Someone in the comments at Digg suggested that after this and the radio-controlled car doing the Mario theme, the next video should be the Halo theme done by cat yodeling. -via Digg

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James Brown and Luciano Pavarotti

I was fascinated by this collaborative performance of “Man’s World.” I guess I’m not the only one, because the YouTube video has 3+ million views on it. The performance must have been fairly recent, because both of them look like the reanimated dead. I waited in line for a day in 1988 to see Mao’s pickled corpse in Tiananmen Square and frankly he looked like he was in better shape after 12 years under glass than these two look under the stage lights. An electrifying performance, regardless! YouTube.

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Honesty is the best policy

I found this great R-rated video on the Runaway Box site responsible for the Ewok song/video in the previous Neatorama post. Don’t click if you don’t want to hear about some of the smoothest and most honest love-making to hit the net since R. Kelly. Runaway Box.

Update: Commenter “jodie” asks: “Is that the same guy who sings the ‘One Semester of Spanish - Spanish Love Song’? i don’t his name, but that’s a really good one too.” Good eye, Jodie! This does indeed appear to be “Spanish Mike” of the Spanish Love Song. Further update: Here’s “Spanish Mike” performing the Spanish Love Song on a Spanish-language Late Night show on Telemundo.

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In Praise of Ewoks

(YouTube link)
From Runaway Box, who brought you the One Semester of Spanish Love Song. Lyrics are available at the YouTube link. -via Digg

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Album Cover Bento Boxes

We’ve posted about spiffy Japanese bento lunch boxes before, but the ones made by the folks at Obacchi Jacket Lunch Box are special: they make album cover bento boxes! This one above is the Evil Empire album by Rage Against the Machine.

Link | Original website [in Japanese]

Previously on Neatorama: The Best Bento Boxes EVAR: Mario and Homer Simpson | Cute Bento

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A 45-Year-Old Single Mother is Going After the RIAA

Meet Tanya Andersen, a 45-year-old single mother who was sued by the RIAA for music piracy, and won (her case was dismissed after RIAA’s own computer experts proved that she did not pirate any music).

Now, Tanya is taking the record industry to court under conspiracy laws, and she appears to be winning:

After being sued by the music industry for stealing songs and winning the case’s dismissal, Andersen is now taking the record industry to court. Her case is aimed at exposing investigative practices that are controversial and may be illegal, according to the lawsuit. One company hired by the record industry, she claims, snoops through people’s computers, uncovering private files and photos, even though it has no legal right to do so. A different industry-backed company uses tactics similar to those of debt collectors, pressuring people to pay thousands of dollars in settlements even before any wrongdoing is proven. In Andersen’s case, the industry’s Settlement Support Center said that unless she paid $4,000 to $5,000 immediately, it would "ruin her financially," the suit alleges.

Andersen is going after the recording industry under conspiracy laws. She argues the Recording Industry Association of America, the industry’s trade group, and its affiliates worked together on a broad campaign to intimidate people into making financial payoffs. The defendants "secretly met and conspired" to develop a "litigation enterprise" with the ultimate goal of preserving the major record companies’ control over the music business. Andersen is requesting class action status for her case, seeking at least $5 million in compensation for the class.

Here’s an interesting BusinessWeek article by Heather Green: Link - via reddit (Photo: Brian Smale)

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The Amen Break and the Golden Ratio

Mathematician Michael S. Schneider saw a wave form of the well-known drum sequence known as the Amen Break. It’s a drum 5.2 second sequence performed by Gregory Cylvester Coleman of The Winstons and has been sampled and used by countless artists since it was recorded in the 60s. Schneider, seeing the waveform through the eyes of a math professor, recognized a pattern, a relationship called the Golden Ratio. So he began to analyze the drum sequence and its deeper meaning.

For more exact visual analysis I examined the wave image in my computer, in which I have a palatte of geometric forms and proportions for quickly identifying an object’s ratios. Sure enough, Golden Ratio relationships were indicated among the different peaks. Am I seeing things? You decide. But the appearance of the Golden Ratio may help explain its popularity.

To appreciate this relationship between the Golden Ratio and sound, it’s worthwhile to consider some of the ideal, eternal, unchanging principles of Golden relationships which can only be approximated in nature, and byartists, architects and musicians.

Link -via the Presurfer

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Glad

(YouTube link)
Lex 10 created this joyful yet short video with the music of Cream.

I drive a 12 year old Pontiac convertible to my place of work, so I get quite the panoramic view. I was waiting for the light to change across from a storage complex, when I noticed how the end of Cream’s “Glad” matched so beautifully with the tube man on top of the storage complex’s roof as he waved his pneumatic arms and whipped his pneumatic head back in an unbridled expression of glee and air-filled pride.

Link -via Boing Boing

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Keyboard Recital

(YouTube link)
This girl is ten years old. My daughter will be eleven when her piano recital comes up next week. If I show her this video, she’ll never be able to perform her elementary piece. -via mental_floss

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Remote Control Super Mario Brothers Song

(Break.com link)
I can’t imagine how much time this took to set up and rehearse. This guy plays the Super Mario Brothers theme on bottles with a remote-control car! Just tuning the bottles would take me all day, then another day to work out the timing, then I’d probably break quite a few. -via Boing Boing

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Contrabass Saxophone is Really, Really Big

Here’s a YouTube clip of Marcel W. Helland playing one of the world’s rarest musical instruments (only 25 or so exists): the contrabass saxophone. As you can see, it’s quite large (about 6 foot 4 inches or 1.9 m tall) and heavy (45 lb. or 20 kg).

Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] - Thanks Christophe!

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Yoo Ye Eun - Blind Piano Prodigy

Five-year-old South Korean Yoo Ye Eun has been blind since birth but can play songs on the piano after listening to the tune just once. She is far from perfect, as she has never had a lesson, but her performance and personality touched everyone during the broadcast.

Via Arbroath

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Mathematicious

(YouTube link)
Mathematicious is a parody of the song “Fergalicious” by Fergie. I find this more interesting. Lyrics are available at the YouTube link. -via Viral Video Chart

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Combined Ages of The Rolling Stones: 254 Years Old

Stop and think about this for a moment: the combined ages of The Rolling Stones (current) member is: 254 years old.

Mick Jagger (born July 26, 1943) is 64 years old as of today, Keith Richards (December 18, 1943) is 64,
Charlie Watts (June 2, 1941) is 66, and Ronnie Wood (June 1, 1947): 60.

Hm… that’s it. Carry on.

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Guitars from Old, Busted Video Game Consoles

TechEBlog has a neat compilation of functional guitars made from video game consoles (Nintendo FamiCom, NES, Sega Dreamcast and Genesis). Them are geeky musicians!

This one is the MegaDriver, made from a broken SEGA Genesis console.

Link - Thanks Alex_B!

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That’s what friends are for

http://view.break.com/479183 - Watch more free videos
September 4, 1993. The scene: Seth’s Bar Mitzvah. It was great to see Seth’s loving family come together for a rousing karaoke rendition of “That’s what friends are for.” Fortunately for you, internet video technology allows YOU to join in with the event as if you were really there! Enjoy.

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10 Neat Facts About … Rick Astley!

Photo: krisez [Flickr]

All right, ‘fess up: how many of you were Rickrolled yesterday on April Fools’ Day?

With all the Rickrolling goin’ on these past few months, most of us don’t really know much about Rick Astley, the singer who enjoyed a resurgence in fame and unwittingly become the new face of Interweb prankery (is that a word? No? It should be!)

If you don’t know much about Rick, here are some fun facts regarding the man behind the phenomenon (no Rickrolling, we promise, because Neatorama will never give you up and never let you down!):

1. Rick Astley was born Richard Paul Astley on February 6, 1966. It was a Sunday. Rick shares his birthday with Axl Rose (born Feb 6, 1962), Bob Marley (1945), Ronald Reagan (1911) and Babe Ruth (1895). No wonder he was destined for stardom!

2. Rick left school at the age of 16. He drove a delivery van for his family’s business, a garden store.

3. If you think Rick is clean cut (okay, he did have long hair in Cry For Help … ), that’s because he is: heck, the guy was choir boy at his local church.

Oh, don’t believe me? Here’s a snippet from a 1988 Smash Hit interview:

Have you ever thought about getting your ear pierced?

"I haven’t no. Never once. It used to be trendy and fashionable, but you see, when anything becomes trendy and fashionable, I don’t like it. It’s not because I want to be different, it’s just that I don’t want to be mega-fashionable. I never really fancied a hole in me ear anyway." (source)

4. Rick was a drummer for a local band called FBI. When the lead singer left, Rick volunteered to take on the role - it was a lucky stroke because pop mogul Pete Waterman of Stock, Aitken & Waterman saw him perform. Waterman made him (but not the band) an offer, but Rick turned him down out of loyalty to his friends.

The band FBI in 1984, from left to right: Kevin Needham, Rick Astley, Will Hopper, Peter Dale and Greg Smee. (Photo: Rick Astley’s official website)

A year later, his bandmates felt guilty that they were holding Rick back and let him go to London to pursue his career …

5. … as a gofer for PWL Studios, Pete Waterman’s production company. There, he learned the recording process and the record industry business before he resumed singing.

[Okay, this is only tangentially related: Pete Waterman is a phenomenally rich man. He bought 18 Ferraris at one go, was the first man to purchase the privatized British Rail, and once owned the legendary locomotive The Flying Scotsman (source). Don't know who he is? If you're in the UK, just check out Pop Idol - he's one of the judges]

6. Rick’s first song was a duet titled "When You Gonna", with singer Lisa Carter. It was released under the simple name of "Rick & Lisa" and was a flop. Here’s the YouTube clip (Pwnage at 1:25, 3:28 and 3:45!):

7. Two months after When You Gonna, Rick cut his first solo "Never Gonna Give You Up". The second time using "Gonna" did it for Rick - the song was a big hit. It stayed at number one for five weeks in the UK and was the best selling single of the year. Worldwide, it sold 15.2 million copies. It was 1987 and Rick was 21.

This one’s not the rickroll video that most of you have seen before: it’s a live performance in 1988. Well, you can consider it being rickrolled live!

In the (now famous again) music video, Rick sang in his trademark trenchcoat. Tech writer Mathew Ingram wrote in his column in The Globe and Mail, "In the video, he does his best to strike pop singer poses in a trenchcoat, but only succeeds in looking like a teenager performing in a high-school musical." But I think Mathew is just being jealous.

8. Rick Astley is listed in the Guiness Book of World Records for being the first male solo artist to have his first 8 singles reach the Top 10 in the UK. This feat has never been repeated since.

9. Tired of being hounded by the press and wanting to prove that "there was more to him than being merely a singer" (source) - though some say he developed a fear of flying and didn’t want to tour anymore - Rick left Stock, Aitken & Waterman.

For much of the 1990s and early 2000s, Rick remained largely out of the spotlight, preferring to focus on his family life (Rick’s parents divorced when he was four, and he feared that his career would wreck his family life).

Pete Waterman said this about Rick’s retirement: "Rick walked away right at the height. People look at other artists like Simply Red and say they were big, but he out-sold them two to one." (source)

10. No, he’s not gay. Rick lives with his Danish girlfriend Lene Bausager and their daughter Emilie. Actually, that’s not the only popular misconception about Rick - when he was starting out, a lot of people assumed that Rick was a black man (because of his deep voice). Even after he made appearances, many people still thought that the skinny white guy was lip-synching to a song made by a black guy!

Links: Rick Astley’s official website | MySpace Page

If you’re still reading, my little confession: I actually like Rick Astley! Most of the time I got Rickrolled, I actually listened to the entire track. Why? I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling. Gotta make you understand …

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The Best Song EVAR: The Elephant Song by Eric Herman

If you have young children, or if you’re young at heart, this is the song for you: The Elephant Song by Eric Herman (video created by Eric’s wife Roseann with the help of their 3-year-old daughter Becca. The little girl in the song is Meghan, who was 6 at the time).

Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] - Thanks Christophe! | Don’t forget to check out Eric’s webstore: Link

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Beamz Lets You Play Music With Laser

It’s like the theremin of the 21st century: behold, the beamz Music Performance System:

Breaking the laser beams with your hands automatically generates pre-authored pulses, streams, riffs or loops of musical notes or sounds from a variety of instruments — all kinds of strings, keyboards, winds, percussion. Sophisticated high-fidelity sounds seem to pour off your fingertips like
magic!

Link - via GeekAlerts

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Groovy Korean Drummer

A Korean drummer steals the show. Unfortunately, there is no information about the name of the band. Maybe someone else knows?

Link [YouTube] - via Videofeber

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Design Coding

(YouTube link)
The Poetic Prophet, aka The SEO Rapper has a nerdcore rap about properly coding your html to optimize your website. Now can someone explain to me why strong is better than bold? -via Viral Video Chart

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We Will Rock You

(YouTube link)
There is no information on this clip, other than it’s from a Japanese TV show. Maybe someone who reads Japanese can translate the screen text. I thoroughly enjoyed it. -via Metafilter

Update: Thanks to Kaz@MA, who pointed out this is the same band, Ooedo No Hikeshi, who did Smoke on the Water.

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Kitty Cat Dance

You may have seen this before (it’s from way back in 2005), but it was new to me: the famous Kitty Cat Dance. Why? Why not (plus it’s better than being rickrolled - kittyrolled!)

Hit play or go to Link [YouTube]

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Rick Astley Talks About Rickrolling

Been rickrolled? (Who hasn’t?) Here’s what Rick Astley, the guy whose song "Never Gonna Give You Up" is immortalized as a web meme/annoyance (thanks 4channers!) think about the whole thing:

Over the last year or so, Astley has watched with puzzled amazement as “Never Gonna Give You Up” has been mocked, celebrated, remixed and reprised, its original music video viewed millions of times on YouTube, all by a generation that could barely swallow its Gerber carrots when the song first topped the pop charts.

“I think it’s just one of those odd things where something gets picked up and people run with it,” Astley said. “But that’s what brilliant about the Internet.”

Link (Photo: TD Promotions)

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