The Future is Made of Vibraphones

Play Rock Band With Vodka-Powered Robots

nobody@vox.com(mikepop) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 10:10:45 -0500

[this is cross-posted from my robot stuff blog, Grok Robots, because it was a lot of fun and I thought people here would like to try it out!]

How much would you pay to see a performance where the liner notes include "robotic cannon?" Well, you, the cannon (which fires rubber balls at a marimba), robotic fingers making haunting noises on some wineglasses and some percussion elelments can all jam while you (and the Internets) watch via a series of webcams.Created by Dan Paluska and Jeff Lieberman for Absolut Machines, a project the vodka company is using to explore how machines can be creative (even though they don't drink the product).

Once your session is complete, they'll mail you a video of your performance. Here's mine:

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Xmas Mix Tape

nobody@vox.com(mikepop) — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 23:40:02 -0500

Xmixtape

I have less Christmas photos than last year, but here is a baker's dozen of songs for your 2007 Christmas Mix Tape:

Riu Chiu - The Monkees
You wouldn't expect the Monkees to be aware of many sixteenth-century Spanich villancicos, yet they do a nice job recording this one. translation of lyrics

Christmas is Here - Richard Popovic
If there is someone else on Vox as influenced by the Monkees as I was, it is my brother Rich. Plus he actually learned to play guitar and write songs and stuff.

Ice - Shellyan Orphan
Some of the guitar notes of this song sound as if they were plinked out on an icicle xylophone. Very haunting.

The Christians and the Pagans - Dar Williams
You don't find many solstice holiday songs out there. From my good friend Dar. ok, I just had dinner with her the one time

Christmas Song - Dan Bern
Speaking of pagans, Dan works hard to offend as many religions as possible in this song. I was at this performance, recorded in a church in Berkeley.

A Christmas Carol - Tom Lehrer
We go back in time several decades to continue the somewhat cynical view of Christmas.

All I Want For Christmas - Timbuk 3
Star Wars and Thundercats in the same Christmas song? How has this song lived below the Christmas radar for so long?

B-B-Blue Christmas - ???
Speaking of under the radar, I have no idea who does this song or where it came from, but it always makes me laugh.

Space Christmas - Shonen Knife
A nice beat and I can dance to it. I give it a 7.

What's This - Danny Elfman
A different perspective on Christmas (assuming you are not undead).

Christmas in Killarney - The Chieftans
For the drinking portion of your holidays.

The Peace Carol - John Denver and the Muppets
Speaking as someone who never knew John Denver worked with other bands besides the Muppets, this song brings back a lot of pleasant memories. If you manage to steal a few quiet moments on Christmas, hum this softly to yourself. You might also be interested in these old Muppet Christmas cards from Jim Henson.
Secret Bonus Track To Drive You (Or Someone You Love) Insane: Jingle Rock Bell - http://quasistoic.org/PinkStainlessTail%20-%20jinglerockbell.mp3

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St. Patrick's Day Music/Video

nobody@vox.com(mikepop) — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 21:50:30 -0400

My brother's band appeared on a network morning show for St. Patrick's Day. If you happened to miss it, check out the video!

The-law

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QotD: Musical Horoscope

nobody@vox.com(mikepop) — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 20:18:44 -0500

What's your musical horoscope? (Put your player on shuffle and write down the first 10 songs that come up.)
Inspired by Stephanie.

One Thing Real - Dan Bern
Silence Now - Martin Sexton
Get Back - The Beatles
That I Would Be Good - Alanis Morissette
Blue Christmas - Martin Sexton
A Get Together To Tear It Apart - The Hives
Roam - The B-52's
I Know What Kind Of Love This Is - Cry Cry Cry
Hurry Up And Wait - Stereophonics
Fiddles And Tin Whistles - Shilelagh Law
Whiskey You're The Devil - Shilelagh Law

I've got to fiddle with iTunes so I don't get Christmas songs and other odd things into my shuffling. The last two are from my brother's band.

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QotD: Heartbreaker

nobody@vox.com(mikepop) — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 22:26:41 -0500

I am reaching way, way back into the QotD vault for this one:

What's your favorite heartbreak song?

When I read the question, two songs immediately came to mind, but only now do I have them both available for upload.

The first is by Martin Sexton. It's a favorite because once it gets going it really wails like a heartbreak song should:

06 Where Did I Go Wrong

You can practically hear the rending of garments.

The second is by Christine Lavin, because I alwasy found it extremely, well, heartbreaking:

The Kind Of Love You Never Recover From

(If you want an album of generally heartbreaking songs, get On A Winter's Night)

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3 Very Different Christmas Tunes

nobody@vox.com(mikepop) — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 22:50:34 -0500

Time for some nostalgia, bah humbug and ... weirdness. Something for everyone!

I watched a lot of The Monkees at an impressionable age with no lasting effects, aside from having to wear a ski hat when playing guitar. But one memory that always stuck with me was of a haunting chant-like song they did in one of their Christmas episodes. I realized it was probably online by now and here it is:

The Monkees Riu Chiu

Then I realized I could finally look up a translation of the lyrics, so now I know what they were actually singing about.

A thousand singing herons I saw passing,
Flying overhead, sounding a thousand voices,
Exhulting, "Glory be in the heavens, and peace on Earth, for Jesus has been born."

It flows a bit better in the original.

If you are firmly in the "bah humbug" camp at this time of year, here is a song you can sing when gathered around the family piano this weekend:

some sample lyrics:

Kill the turkeys, ducks and chickens;
Mix the punch; drag out the Dickens
Even though the prospect sickens,
Brother, here we go again

Finally, there is this...song....which is one of the oddest Chirstmas cover tunes you'll ever come across:

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The 25 Pictures Of Xmas: #14

nobody@vox.com(mikepop) — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 22:46:00 -0500

This is the fourteenth picture in the 25 Pictures of Xmas series:

glowing angel

This angel (and her twin) herald the arrivals to a hotel in Portland, Maine. It was an unseasonably warm night to be out and about, and the city was crawling with wine-drinking shoppers for Merry Madness, where the shops stay open late for your shopping pleasure.

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Recursive Music Video

nobody@vox.com(mikepop) — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 22:32:00 -0500

plus a catchy tune

M. Ward Chinese Translation

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Music Lessons with The Ramones

nobody@vox.com(mikepop) — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 00:25:03 -0400

I Wanna Be Sedated

Just came across this sound clip from a few years ago. Zoe was about 1.5 to 2 years old, and had heard this in the car. A few days later she was trying to sing it/tell us she wanted to hear it again. It took us a bit, but we figured it out :)

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