Sunday, July 28, 2013

Your favorite song was recorded in Van Nuys

Fleetwood Mac. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Pat Benatar's Hit Me With Your Best Shot. Rick Springfield's Jessie's Girl. Nirvana's  Nevermind. Cheap Trick, Ratt, Guns n' Roses, REO Speedwagon, Neil Young, Carl Perkins, Barry Manilow, Johnny Cash, Dio, Rage Against The Machine...the list goes on and on. What do these artists and songs have in common? The recording studio called Sound City, in Van Nuys, CA., the subject of Dave Grohl's (of Nirvana and Foo Fighters fame) documentary Sound City. I  remember as a kid looking at the back cover of Rick Springfield's Working Class Dog album and wondering why he had said, "God Bless Van Nuys", and why so many albums seem to have been recorded there in the 1980's. I remember thinking, "What is it about this Van Nuys place, and why does everyone record their albums there?" Now I know why!


Thursday, July 25, 2013

Talking To Girls About Duran Duran

"Growing up in the 1980's, you were surrounded by mysteries." This one of my favorite quotes from Rob Sheffield"s memoir "Talking To Girls About Duran Duran". A hilarious, endearing and relatable memoir about being a teenager in the 80's. It is a follow up to his previous memoir "Love Is A Mixtape." The other favorite quote is "When Michael Jackson, John Hughes, and Patrick Swayze all died, it should have been declared a national day of mourning." The book is a fun assortment of nostalgia. Especially for those who came of age during this time. Read on for a brief description.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Sia Her Everywhere

The first time I heard Sia's voice was during the phenomenal ending scene to HBO's Six Feet Under. To avoid spoilers I will avoid discussing the scene, but this final montage matched perfectly with Sia's "Breathe Me," a song of loneliness and love so pure I consider it her masterpiece. This exposure gained Sia (Australian-born Sia Furler) a ton of deserved attention. At a soldout 2008 concert at Hotel Congress, I stood enchanted with a sold-out audience as Sia performed. And when she performed "Breathe Me" for the final song...wow. The energy of the crowd felt heavy in the air. Besides her megahit, Sia performed a wide array of fun, upbeat numbers, including one song where she wore a neon smiley face costume! Her audience interactions and constant beaming smile showed me that Sia was someone who loved her art! Now if only more people knew about this pixie-sized marvel...



But luckily, you cannot turn on the radio these days without hearing Sia's unique voice. Pop stars, electronic DJs, and music lovers around the world are addicted to her unique sound. From David Guetta's #1 singles "Titanium" and "She Wolf" to Flo Rida's "Wild Ones," Sia is part of a megahit barrage this past year.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Vision and Sound Combined

My last post focused of video game music so I thought I would take a moment to talk about film soundtracks and our collection.

Music and film have always shared a close relationship. While the on-screen action and dialogue provide crucial information on the content of a film, accompanying music can set the tone of a scene and in certain cases provide a narrative without a single spoken word.
In the silent film era movie theaters would hire piano players to help provide audiences with auditory clues about the action on-screen. It seems only natural that the first full length film that was produced with sound was the Jazz Singer, a film about a talented Jazz musician whose ambitions are in conflict with his upbringing.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Friendship and Music

The last time I blogged, I wrote about how I was going to the Psychedelic Furs concert for nostalgic reasons. Now I am going to two shows in one week, not because I am a big fan of the performers, but because I want to spend time with my friends.

Monday, July 1, 2013

Stevie Wonder and Jack Black

Here's cause to offer a sigh of relief: PCPL has in it's catalog the four most important albums Stevie Wonder ever released!  Well, OK, that's "most important" in my opinion, and humility has been left by the wayside....  If you've ever wondered just what Mr. Wonder did back in the 1970s (after "Little" Stevie grew up but before he "Just Called To Say I Love You"), well, the library's got the answer to a question Jack Black poses in the film High Fidelity: Can one bad song invalidate all of an artist's prior genius?