SuperGenius is born in a moment of blinding beauty and then propagated in flashes of inspiration from one mind to another.
When those sparks ignite in a rapid-fire movement, a REM-like sleep flutters across a community of open minds, a new standard is set, a fresh meme is forever created, and the originator of the beauty becomes immortal.
I am a big fan of American Idol, but I cannot get over the fact that so few of the contestants that make it to Hollywood can carry a tune and how so many contestants — and fans! — are tone deaf.
Continue reading → American Idol Tune Dropping and Tone Deafness
Ah, another year, another list of things that I really liked. I’m sorry to say but you won’t find any of these things under your chair once you have finished reading this article – I’m not quite Oprah, alas.
I met up with Jake Stratton, the lead singer and songwriter from the band Blöödhag, to discuss the band, the state of music in general, and of course, singing “Rhinestone Cowboy”.
Kids Today Don’t Know What A 7″ Is
Gordon Davidescu: So, how are you doing?
Jake Stratton: I’m doing alright. I don’t often come out to West Seattle… so yeah, I missed the bus. I ended up taking a cab out here. Blöödhag’s in a weird spot right now because Jeff (the guitar player) is having surgery coming up so we’re having to rig our schedule around him and fortunately, he’s actually a little more mobile than we thought but that’s only because he’s doped up and shot up on Cortizone. It’s going to be a serious deal and I think once he has the back surgery, I don’t know if he’s going to be – I’m worried that the recovery is going to be worse than he thinks it’s going to be.
GD: Well, you know, if Jerry Garcia can endure – what was it, a heart attack? Diabetes, and all that? He played right up until he died, didn’t he?
JS: Well, Jeff’s the driver of the band – rather, he likes to drive… I don’t know if he can switch to passenger that well. We’ll see.
The other day I watched an incredible documentary, Made in Sheffield, that brought back many of the musical memes and memories of my reckoning youth. What I call “The Sheffield Sound” was a movement in the UK in the ’70’s and ’80’s that changed the music world with the introduction of “synthetic sounds.”
Carrie Underwood is a big star and she exploded as one of the winners of American Idol.
I find Ms. Underwood to be rather boring and without an invigorating personality, but the fact that her debut country album sold over 6 million copies says something about my taste in music or what country music fans find valuable in the promotional package that is Ms. Underwood’s carefully crafted good-girl facade made of peaches-and-cream and lots of virtuosity in the name of God and His only son.
Continue reading → Is Carrie Underwood a Jesus Invoker or a Vigilante?
I love the Beatles. Their songs have informed the joys and the sorrows across the arc of my life.
One of the best Beatles songs is “Hey Jude” — written for Julian Lennon by Paul McCartney upon the dissolution of John Lennon’s first marriage — and I have always wondered about the meaning of a particular bit of lyric in that song.
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