This is an album of Beatles songs done in a bluegrass style. I had it when I was young and I'm sure that I thought it was an actual Beatles record when I asked my folks to buy it for me. I probably hated it when I found out it wasn't. I'll bet it's not half bad.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
Last.fm
I mentioned Last.fm a couple of days ago, announcing the Bambo Syndicate's artist page and proclaiming it to be my favorite music website. And so it is, and so it will remain until something better comes along...and to be honest, there aren't too many things that might could be done to improve it, IMO.First off, their music database is incredibly huge. I have added an incredibly large number of artists to my library and have yet to search for ANY performer/band that didn't turn up there (with several "RIYL"s to boot).
The best way to utilize Last.fm, I've found, is to turn it into your own personal radio station, programming only the artists you like and leaving the song selection to them. If, like me, you are more of a "band" fan than a "song", fan you will fall in love with your "Library Station".
You can also listen to a station that plays recommendations based on the artists that are in your library. I haven't listened to my "Reccomdendation Station" much because, for one thing, I'm too enamored of my own station. But also because the site automatically adds a reccomended artists to your library if you listen to one of their tracks in it's entirety. This is one aspect of Last.fm that is a huge disappointment and will keep me from listening to that station too often. Of course, you can always go back through the list of "recently played tracks" and delete them individually, but come on. There's not even a "mass delete" option. Why would I want to do that when I can go to Pandora to hear new artists?
Not that you can't find cool new stuff on Last.fm. It's easy enough to do on your own without the "Reccomended station". Just check out the "similar artists" of the artist you like and navigate to their pages where you can usually hear at least 5 songs from them. Most are full tracks, but some are only 30 second clips...still, you can get a pretty good idea of whether you'll like a band or not with a few of these half minute samples. If you think you might like 'em, go ahead and put them in your library to add a little variety to your usual. You can always delete them later.
I mentioned Pandora. I've used Pandora and I think it's an excellent service. However, it does have it's limitations. For one thing, you can only skip 3 songs in a limited space of time, so if they're throwing duds at you there's not much you can do other than change the channel. And a LOT of duds will be thrown your way, depending upon how well you know the genre of music or the style of the artist you're wanting to hear. I am not familiar enough with how they decide what makes an artist similar to another, but it matters not...it's a lousy system.
I'm sure I'll continue to use Pandora, but only because I'm too lazy to delete all those artists I don't want in my Last.fm library. I worked too hard on that library for interlopers to find their way into it. And trust me, my library is MAMMOTH. I've tried to represent every genre of music I like. I've got a couple dozen artists that I'm not familiar with thrown in (though I am quite familiar with the type of music they play). But the majority is made up of artists I have known of and enjoyed over the course of the last 35+ years. And there are many that I enjoy, appreciate and respect but did not want to include at this time, for whatever reason (burned out on their music or just didn't want to hear in this mix).
I would reccomend Last.fm to just about anybody who likes music, but especially to those who have "been around the block, musically", so to speak. Those who have already explored many genres and styles and who know what/who they like within them.
One more thing about the music on Last.fm. And THIS is something I REALLY like. Many times they will play alternate versions of songs instead of the ones you're familiar with. I don't know where they get them, but they are a very nice surprise when they pop up. For instance, they play a live version of Joy Division's "Transmission", the lineage of which I am uncertain. I've heard alternate versions from artists as varied as the Rolling Stones to Sun Kil Moon/Mark Kozelek. A couple of Sigur Ros live tracks from who-knows-where. Most of their playlist is the original takes, but it is a welcome change of pace when one of these unique gems pops into the mix.
If you're reading this and your speakers are turned on you are hearing my Artist Station right now. I've got it embedded in the sidebar. This is what I like. It's a good part of what I've listened to all my life.
Go on...make one of your own. You know you want to.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
I spend my Thanksgivings alone. I have done so for many years. My wife takes my son to visit her family and I stay home.
I wouldn't have it any other way.
I know that most folks would say, "Why would you want to be alone on a holiday? Isn't that what Thanksgiving is all about, spending time with friends and family, gathering together for food and fellowship?" I know it is. "Do you have a problem with your family, then?" No. No problem with any of 'em. "Are you anti-social or something?" I wouldn't call it being "anti-social".
I don't know if I could explain why I don't want to be around groups of people. Not even family. It's gotten worse over time, though it has been a long time since I visited relatives. I can't explain that, either. No doubt it has something to do with bipolar. My wife, though it took several years, accepts it and doesn't get upset with me. There was a time when she got a little miffed at me for not wanting to go with her. I don't know if she understands or empathize with me on this, but she doesn't try to change me (and for that I am grateful).
And so, since this IS Thanksgiving, I suppose I should take a moment and express my gratitude to the Powers That Be for a few things.
First, I am grateful for my wife and son. Stacie has seen me through a LOT of hard times and has stood by me. I'm not the easiest person to get along with but she has been forgiving of my less endearing qualities. I'm sure I take for granted a lot of things she does and I don't say "I love you" nearly enough. And Bryan always gives me so much to be proud of. The two of them have made my life worth living the last 15 years.
Next, it's good to know where my daughter is and that she is doing well, married to a good, loving man and raising two children...my grandchildren...and though I've never met them it still makes me happy to think that I am a grandfather. I don't feel that old, but I guess I am.
I am thankful that our dog is alive and kicking. He wasn't doing to well at all earlier this year. The vet didn't think he would live...we didn't think he would. But he surprised us all.
This has been a good year for me. My Social Security Disability benefits finally kicked in. I was able to buy some things we needed. I can contribute, even if only a little bit, to our living expenses.
Stacie graduated from college earlier this year, too, and got a promotion (and raise) at her job. As a result we are better off financially than we've ever been. Not that we're going to rise up to a tax bracket much higher than the one we're in now, but now we can put some money back for one thing or another. We can go out and do stuff that we couldn't do before because we were always close to broke. So I have to say I'm grateful for that.
Moving into the house I grew up in is another big thing I am glad of. Being here is good for me. I'm convinced that living in this house helps me feel more "grounded". I've been so "nomadic" in the years since I left here (in 1980) and have wanted to settle down for some time. I'd hoped we'd be able to do that in the house we were going to buy, but it didn't work out as planned. In a way I'm actually glad it didn't because I love living here, in this house. Our improved resources should make it possible for us to stay here as long as we can (by which I mean that if we leave it will be none of our doing...who knows what our landlord will do, right?).
I am thankful that I seem to have found the right combination of medications to control my bipolar. I am thankful that my depression has been kept relatively at bay since I started taking the drugs.
I got to see Sigur Ros in June! I'm thankful to Stacie for making that possible and thankful that the theater didn't get swept away by the tornadoes that blew through during the concert! I'm grateful that the years of loud music have not made me totally deaf and that I can still listen to music every single day.
The little things...Internet time wasters like StumbleUpon, LastFM, Garageband...making music using the Acid program...downloading Sigur Ros concerts from the Victory Rose blog...another year of XM radio...new albums by Sun Kil Moon, Autechre and Sigur Ros...my VAIO...the new Mexican restaurant that opened in town several months back (some of the best Mexican food I've eaten, I can't believe it's here in this podunk little town!)...Sonic Happy Hour...the election of Barack Obama...moving out of belief systems and into belief...
All this and much more...it reassures me that things are never as bad as I may think they are at the time.
I wouldn't have it any other way.
I know that most folks would say, "Why would you want to be alone on a holiday? Isn't that what Thanksgiving is all about, spending time with friends and family, gathering together for food and fellowship?" I know it is. "Do you have a problem with your family, then?" No. No problem with any of 'em. "Are you anti-social or something?" I wouldn't call it being "anti-social".
I don't know if I could explain why I don't want to be around groups of people. Not even family. It's gotten worse over time, though it has been a long time since I visited relatives. I can't explain that, either. No doubt it has something to do with bipolar. My wife, though it took several years, accepts it and doesn't get upset with me. There was a time when she got a little miffed at me for not wanting to go with her. I don't know if she understands or empathize with me on this, but she doesn't try to change me (and for that I am grateful).
And so, since this IS Thanksgiving, I suppose I should take a moment and express my gratitude to the Powers That Be for a few things.
First, I am grateful for my wife and son. Stacie has seen me through a LOT of hard times and has stood by me. I'm not the easiest person to get along with but she has been forgiving of my less endearing qualities. I'm sure I take for granted a lot of things she does and I don't say "I love you" nearly enough. And Bryan always gives me so much to be proud of. The two of them have made my life worth living the last 15 years.
Next, it's good to know where my daughter is and that she is doing well, married to a good, loving man and raising two children...my grandchildren...and though I've never met them it still makes me happy to think that I am a grandfather. I don't feel that old, but I guess I am.
I am thankful that our dog is alive and kicking. He wasn't doing to well at all earlier this year. The vet didn't think he would live...we didn't think he would. But he surprised us all.
This has been a good year for me. My Social Security Disability benefits finally kicked in. I was able to buy some things we needed. I can contribute, even if only a little bit, to our living expenses.
Stacie graduated from college earlier this year, too, and got a promotion (and raise) at her job. As a result we are better off financially than we've ever been. Not that we're going to rise up to a tax bracket much higher than the one we're in now, but now we can put some money back for one thing or another. We can go out and do stuff that we couldn't do before because we were always close to broke. So I have to say I'm grateful for that.
Moving into the house I grew up in is another big thing I am glad of. Being here is good for me. I'm convinced that living in this house helps me feel more "grounded". I've been so "nomadic" in the years since I left here (in 1980) and have wanted to settle down for some time. I'd hoped we'd be able to do that in the house we were going to buy, but it didn't work out as planned. In a way I'm actually glad it didn't because I love living here, in this house. Our improved resources should make it possible for us to stay here as long as we can (by which I mean that if we leave it will be none of our doing...who knows what our landlord will do, right?).
I am thankful that I seem to have found the right combination of medications to control my bipolar. I am thankful that my depression has been kept relatively at bay since I started taking the drugs.
I got to see Sigur Ros in June! I'm thankful to Stacie for making that possible and thankful that the theater didn't get swept away by the tornadoes that blew through during the concert! I'm grateful that the years of loud music have not made me totally deaf and that I can still listen to music every single day.
The little things...Internet time wasters like StumbleUpon, LastFM, Garageband...making music using the Acid program...downloading Sigur Ros concerts from the Victory Rose blog...another year of XM radio...new albums by Sun Kil Moon, Autechre and Sigur Ros...my VAIO...the new Mexican restaurant that opened in town several months back (some of the best Mexican food I've eaten, I can't believe it's here in this podunk little town!)...Sonic Happy Hour...the election of Barack Obama...moving out of belief systems and into belief...
All this and much more...it reassures me that things are never as bad as I may think they are at the time.
Sigur Ros: "Við spilum endalaust"
I'm not sure how long this video has been out. I just found it today. It's got to be fairly recent 'cuz I keep up with these things.
I really, really love this video. It's only the second that the band themselves have appeared in (if you don't count the cameos in "Hoppipolla"). The last one was just a hodgepodge of clips from concerts. It was nice to see the guys but one could not help but wonder why it wasn't an actual live performance instead of a collage. This time around we have more of a conceptual video and it's so much more interesting and entertaining (IMO).
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Bambo on LastFM
LastFM has become, hands down, my favorite general music website. I've spent quite a bit of time there, compiling my "library" and sampling tracks from artists I have heard about but never actually heard. If you haven't checked it out yet, by all means do so. I wish I had known how cool it is a long time ago...
All this just to let you know that the Bambo Syndicate now has an artist profile there. You can hear stuff and download it for free. Of course, you can do that at the Garageband site, but I like the LastFM set-up better. The only thing is that I haven't had a chance to upload very many songs there, yet. As of this post the only ones available are "Snow White Suite", "The Master Speaks" and "Wichita 35 (version 1)". But hell, a couple of those are pretty long. You could easily kill 30 minutes listening to all of them. I imagine I'll get a lot of other material uploaded in the near future because there's just something I like about being on LastFM.
Unfortunately the "Bambo Syndicate Radio" isn't working. It keeps saying "no content", so I'm not sure what the problem is. The "Music Manager" option, for those of us using the site to expose our music, is not easy to navigate. I'm still learning. Hopefully I'll get it figured out soon. It would be great to have that particular feature.
Anyway, here's the link:
All this just to let you know that the Bambo Syndicate now has an artist profile there. You can hear stuff and download it for free. Of course, you can do that at the Garageband site, but I like the LastFM set-up better. The only thing is that I haven't had a chance to upload very many songs there, yet. As of this post the only ones available are "Snow White Suite", "The Master Speaks" and "Wichita 35 (version 1)". But hell, a couple of those are pretty long. You could easily kill 30 minutes listening to all of them. I imagine I'll get a lot of other material uploaded in the near future because there's just something I like about being on LastFM.
Unfortunately the "Bambo Syndicate Radio" isn't working. It keeps saying "no content", so I'm not sure what the problem is. The "Music Manager" option, for those of us using the site to expose our music, is not easy to navigate. I'm still learning. Hopefully I'll get it figured out soon. It would be great to have that particular feature.
Anyway, here's the link:
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
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