Friday Random Ten

Perpetuating the meme, what comes up on iTunes as I'm working here . . .


1. Jim Jackson - "Old Dog Blue" - Anthology of American Folk Music 2A: Social Music
2. Fläskkvartetten - "Fading Like a Dream" - Vita Droppar (1987-1998)
3. unknown artist - "St. James Infirmary" - Tease! The Beat of Burlesque
4. Camper Van Beethoven - "My Path Belated" - Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart
5. PJ Harvey - "Seagulls" - Uh Huh Her
6. Hoven Droven - "Brekken" - Nordic Roots 2
7. Jonathan Richman - "I Like Gumby" - Gumby: The Green Album
8. Giorgio - "How Much Longer Must I Wait, Wait" - More Rare Bubblegum vol. 5
9. The Residents - "Honey Bear" - Demons Dance Alone
10. Les Chats Sauvages - "Laisser-Nous Twister" - Les Chats Sauvages vol. 3


A pleasant group for a relaxing break in the afternoon, following some extreme dental work this morning, and going back to work in my mother's garage preparing for a tag sale tomorrow morning.


Though I may have to talk to Berit about #5 -- I think she just entered all her PJ Harvey albums in their entirety into iTunes, and I kept waiting for the song to start, eventually discovering that the track is indeed 1:11 of the sound of seagulls. On the other hand, that's pretty short, and quite relaxing.

Friday Imaginary Concept Album

Yesterday, Berit was chuckling to herself, and said she had got the sonic image (gotta be a better way to phrase that, "sonic image"??) in her head of Elmer Fudd singing "Speak Low":


Spe-e-e-ak woah . . .
When you speak wuuuuv . . .


Which led in fairly rapid succession to:


Looney Tunes Sing Unlooney Tunes: Termite Terrace Meets Kurt Weill


from Hal Willner, producer of the noted Alternative Kurt Weill compilations Lost in the Stars and September Songs and The Carl Stalling Project CDs, comes this new interpretation of Weill's standards as you've never heard them before!


Here's what you get . . .


1. "The Ballad of Mac the Knife" performed (in English and German) by Daffy Duck with The Fowler Brothers
2. "Alabama Song" - Yosemite Sam with The Mekons
3. "Speak Low" - Elmer Fudd with Charlie Haden
4. "The Cannon Song" - (duet) Sylvester the Cat and Foghorn Leghorn with Van Dyke Parks
5. "Youkali Tango" - Speedy Gonzalez with Astor Piazzolla
6. "Bilbao Song" - Pepe LePew with Bobby Previte
7. "Pirate Jenny" - Tweety Bird with The Brodsky Quartet
8. "Themes from Mahagonny (instrumental medley)" - The Road-Runner, soloist, with Newband on the instruments of Harry Partch
9. "What Keeps Mankind Alive?" - Marvin the Martian with John Zorn
10. "O Heavenly Salvation" - The Goofy Gophers with Marc Ribot and Greg Cohen (Wile E. Coyote, alto saxophone solo)
11. "The Ballad of the Soldier's Wife" - Michigan J. Frog with Henry Threadgill
12. "Surabaya Johnny" - Witch Hazel with Carla Bley
13. "September Song" - Porky Pig with Todd Rundgren
14. "Lost in the Stars" - Bugs Bunny (and all above artists) with The Ensemble Moderne


mix, engineering, and mastering (at Gateway Studios) by The Tazmanian Devil

*****
(I suppose this is only funny if you know the songs and can hear them in these voices/arrangements, huh?)

Friday Cat Blogging

Hey, everyone's doing it, and I want to imitate the popular kids . . .


The only really unpleasant thing about spending time in Maine is being away from our wonderful cats, Hooker and Simone. Thank goodness for kitty-loving friends in NYC who take care of them (yes, thanks, Bryan & Christiaan!).


But at least while we're here in Portland, we have a "loaner" cat, Bappers:





Bappers is friendly, but not as loving as our two cats. Takes the edge off our cat withdrawal a bit, though. Bappers is 13 years old, but doesn't seem it -- very active, very agile, in great shape, and still alive despite being an outdoor cat her whole life (most outdoor cats don't live this long). She has occasionally vanished for weeks at a time before returning -- she always seems to get food somehow. And she looks best in black and white (which accurately depicts her coloring anyway):





Some actual theatre content later tonight or tomorrow -- some steps ahead on Temptation have happened.