flickering pictures

After an impromptu beatboxing lesson from a pro, Paul MacInnes, the Guardian’s slightly disheveled entertainment editor, takes the stage and delivers a valiant if somewhat silly-looking live performance. I gotta say: it’s good to see a reporter who doesn’t take himself too seriously.
“They’ve got a special bit for me in the second half,” he […]

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In case you didn’t catch this back in December, an apparently homeless man named “Mustard” recorded a pretty damn fantastic cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” on the sometimes controversial Opie and Anthony show, broadcast on XM Radio and Sirius Satellite.
Little-known fact: “Creep,” now one of Radiohead’s biggest hits, sold just 6,000 copies as a single in […]

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This has been one of my favourite YouTube videos for ages now — six drummers wait until an elderly couple leaves their apartment to walk the dog, then breaks in and proceeds to turn each of their rooms into a distinct and remarkable musical instrument. Truly odd and wonderful, and I never did figure […]

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A new addictive toy from Andre Michelle’s aM laboratory lets you visually create complex, surprisingly catchy tunes in a simple matrix, including bass lines, multiple harmonies and other yummy musical goodness. I could play with this for hours. But then, I’m simple.
On a sidenote, as a Web communications guy, I can really appreciate […]

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If Joe Higgs’s “There’s a Reward” doesn’t send shivers up your spine, you don’t have one.
Widely regarded as the father of reggae, Higgs grew up in Kingston’s famous Trenchtown ghetto and was a major influence on a generation of reggae musicians, including some guy named Bob Marley. He died of cancer in December 1999 […]

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This year marks the 40th anniversary of the six-second drum loop that forever changed the face of modern music. Plucked from the middle of “Amen Brother,” a 1969 B-side version of the Winstons’ Grammy-winning “Color Him Father,” those six seconds shaped drum and bass, hip hop, jungle, and a huge chunk of the music […]

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This is apparently an authentic ad for Microsoft’s Songsmith song-writing program, which I guess is supposed to compete with Apple’s less seizure-inducing GarageBand. If there’s a commercial out there that makes you want to incoherently spew obscenities more than this one, I haven’t seen it.
Microsoft says:

Songsmith generates musical accompaniment to match a singer’s voice. […]

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Born on January 8, 1935, Elvis Presley would have been 74 years old today. Other notable events on this day:

1835: For the only time in U.S. history, the national debt is exactly zero dollars. Today’s debt is just over $10.6 trillion, or about $35,000 for every man, woman and child in the country.

1867: […]

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Eva Cassidy was born in Maryland in 1963 and worked the Washington, D.C. club circuit in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Her takes on classics like “People Get Ready” (above) and “Fields of Gold” blew away audiences and put her on the local map, and her one-of-a-kind voice led to work with Chuck […]

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Following the post on impromptu jam sessions in the backs of London’s black cabs, here’s a much, much better version of Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love,” for those of you who love his music as much as I do.
Many thanks to Gen for the link.

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