Monday, April 29, 2013

Children's Music That Won't Make Adults Go Insane



While I've been a life-long music fanatic, a collector of too many LPs, CDs and now mp3 files, it has been something of a challenge to find music my five year-old child enjoys that doesn't drive me out of the room.  Seeking common ground, I tried to get my kid into Larry Levan's disco remix of "C is for Cookie"... but it didn't take.  However, I've been lucky enough to find a few CDs which me and my child enjoy, and some of the best of these are available through the Pima County Public Library.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Dropkick Murphys

The makers of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups may tell you that peanut butter and chocolate is the perfect combination, but really, the perfect combination is when you mix a little punk with your Celtic music.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Roadhouse Blues: a visit with The Doors

This edition is about one of my favorite bands of all time, the Doors. Formed in 1965 out of Los Angeles with four musicians, this band was unlike anything to come out of the 1960s. Dark, moody, and unpredictable, the Doors broke all kinds of molds- they had no bassist, instead option for a keyboard, and lead singer Jim Morrison was a volatile poet who often caused as much trouble on stage as he did off. 

The name of the band comes from a William Blake poem: "If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite." (The Marriage of Heaven and Hell).

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Fela!

I was at the matinee performance of the Broadway musical Fela! at Centennial Hall on Saturday.  I had been looking forward to the performance since Christmas, when I received tickets as a very thoughtful present from my sister.  Even after eagerly anticipating the show for months, the performance did not disappoint me at all.  The music and dance, inspired by the larger-than-life life of Nigerian musician and social activist Fela Kuti, was wonderfully engaging and compelling.  Read on to hear more about the performance and the dynamic life of the creator of Afrobeat music, Fela Kuti.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Jeff Bridges: The Dude Sings

I'm just going to come right out and say I've sort of had a thing for Jeff Bridges since I was a kid, and I'm not really sure why.  I don't remember seeing any of his movies when I was a kid.  I'm pretty sure the first movie of his I ever saw was The Big Lebowski.

I still remember the first time I saw The Big Lebowski (1998).  I had seen the trailer for it on TV and thought it looked funny.  For some reason I found the scene where Jeff Bridges' character, The Dude, crashes his car into a mailbox while Credence Clearwater Revival is blasting from his stereo hilarious.  I also found his bowling buddies (among them Jeff Goodman in a fabulous performance) reminiscent of guys I had gone to school with.  I'll put it this way:  If my guy friends hadn't gotten their act together I think some of them would be sitting in a bowling alley today discussing conspiracy theories. What does this have to do with music? Ummm, nothing...let's move on to music and Jeff Bridges actually singing....!

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Of Monsters And Men

I have been fond of this band ever since I watched them perform "Little Talks" on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. Soon after I began to hear the song on constant radio airplay. I caught the music video recently and fell even more in love with this band.
Read on to find out a little more about this incredible band.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Parov Stelar: Groovy Electro Cat

In a moment of serendipity, I discovered the Parov Stelar Band a few weeks before their scheduled show at the Rialto Theatre on April 19th. Usually it works the other way around: I will discover a new artist and think, "I wonder if they are coming to town soon...oh, Tucson is listed on their concert calendar...for last Thursday..." But not this time, fate! This time I am ahead of the game.

One of the reasons I love electronic music is the eagerness of artists to throw genres into a cauldron and create wonderful magic from the ingredients. Consider Parov Stelar, a producer whose music I would label as "electro-swing." Stelar (real name Marcus Füreder of Austria) mixes samples of old-time jazz and swing that have my feet tapping away as I write this post. Blaring horns, groovy sax, soulful lyrics...this is music distilled to its purest form!