Just wanted to give a shout out for Carsie Blanton and her "Jazz Is for Everybody" project on Kickstarter. She has one of the most fabulous voices I know and will be making her "dream" album of her favorite Jazz tunes. Take a listen and help her make the stretch goal if you like it!
Apparently, events in which one performs a song with the original artist -- such as "JoCo Live Band Karaoke" -- are becoming a trend. Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth, who originated the role of Glinda in "Wicked," has taken to calling up audience members to perform the duet "For Good" with her. And last Friday, at a show with the LA Philharmonic, there were pyrotechnics when Kristin just happened -- perhaps for no other reason than that the latter was dressed in green -- to pick a vocal coach who teaches musical theater:
(See this page for the audience member's account of what happened.)
This is... counting mentally here... TMBG's third or fourth song involving being on fire. Maybe they should change their name to "They Might Be On Fire?" ;-)
The Danny Kaye remark lit a slow-burning fuse in my mind. The fuse just crossed the Mason Williams mark, reminding me of Mason's 1968-vintage prelude to JoCo's "Mr. Fancy Pants": "The Prince's Panties."
I didn't have any particular expectations when I clicked @srdownie's link, and I certainly didn't expect what I got. I agree, JoCo should cover that, with a Zendrum.
Yes, back in their DVN days, @paulandstorm did perform some parodies/filks. But for some reason, when they began performing as a duo, they swore off parodies. Not sure of the motivation for that decision (it'd be interesting to ask them). As has been discussed elsewhere on this board, the creator of a parody actually has more rights in the finished product than someone who does a cover.
Just a quick plug for some kickstarter news I recieved from one of my favorite bands: Adam Ezra Group. One of his buddy's is making a film called Folk Hero & Funny Guy -"A road trip buddy comedy about a struggling stand-up who goes on tour to open for his successful singer-songwriter best friend"-and Adam is creating the soundtrack for the movie. It looks like an awesome project and I hope some of you find it intriguing and worthwhile to back!
Okay, so a while back JoCo was part of the Humble Music Bundle, which was well worth the money I paid. Along with some greatest hits by Coulton and MC Frontalot came a couple of songs from Stereo Alchemy's album God of Love (link). I purchased that whole album because I liked it, especially the haunting vocals. Digging into the voices behind the vocals, I came across a now-defunct band called Splashdown. Now they're part of my regular rotation of work/writing music.
Apparently the band have allowed/encouraged the sharing of their music (FAQ 3), which can be found here. If nothing else, you should grab the song The Archer and give it a listen. It's great stuff.
If you're liking Splashdown, check out Symbion Project. It's Kasson Crooker's solo project. He was the synth player for Splashdown, and Melissa Kaplan, the singer from Splashdown, does vocals on a few of the albums. Also check out Universal Hall Pass. It's Melissa's solo project with cameos from Kasson.
ETA: I am in the habit of buying extra CDs from groups I like to give out to folks. If anybody is interested in hearing Symbion Project or UHP, I can bring my extras on the boat.
We've been enjoying Reuben and the Dark, a group from Calgary, since we saw them as one of the NYC openers for The Long Winters last year. They do splendid harmonies (often four-part). They released their first album, Funeral Sky, about a month ago. It's worth a listen.
I recently made a fanvid for the Attention Deficit Recorder EP by Buffalo NY musician, Hussalonia (yeah, I've mentioned him recently). The EP is a collection of twenty short songs (think TMBG's Fingertips) and the visuals come from the 1956 retro-futuristic short film, Design for Dreaming (which was famously mocked on MST3K).
I've also posted the video to Vimeo, in case you get a "Video not available to watch in your country due to copyright laws blah blah blah" type message. Apparently the film I used is owned by a company in Germany, though it could also be a mistake by YouTube's bots.
Here's an interesting interview with Hussalonia on the Stereo Hysteria podcast. He seems to have a lot more in common with JoCo than you might think (and his songs are played throughout the interview).
Comments
(See this page for the audience member's account of what happened.)
The latest music video from They Might Be Giants (for the song You're On Fire) is also one of their best:
ETA: I am in the habit of buying extra CDs from groups I like to give out to folks. If anybody is interested in hearing Symbion Project or UHP, I can bring my extras on the boat.
My other reason for posting about Hussalonia is that he has an album devoted to singing robots, and you can stream his catalog on Bandcamp and Archive.org. I highly recommend The Public Domain EP.