MOG - taco's Posts

Change of pace...a classical post!

taco — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:48:32 GMT

Yesterday I was listening to my local NPR station and Korsakov's fantastic "Scheherazade" came on - it was my first time hearing it and I sat in the middle of my bedroom floor and listened to every minute of it - it was so moving, I couldn't tear away and it made me late for class. I wish I had caught what orchestra it was that performed it, but iTunes has a wonderful version by the Orchestra of the Kirov Opera that I suggest checking out. Here's the second movement - "The Story of the Calendar Prince."

Interesting fact: Korsakov had synesthesia - that is, sensory crossover. In his case, he enjoyed perceptions of bright colors while listening to music... Imagine composing not only in sound, but also in color. Trippy...

Softlightes MP3

taco — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:58:38 GMT

Here's Softlightes' "Heart Made of Sound," since I didn't add a song of theirs to the last post. They're growing on me.

Softlightes & Dengue Fever

taco — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 04:45:17 GMT

Caught all these folks at The Casbah in San Diego about three weeks ago. Softlightes is just a mellow four-piecer and though I wasn't initially stoked on their sound when I looked them up on iTunes, who isn't eventually won over by a cozy live show at a super sweet venue? (Those of you who've ever been to The Casbah, vouch for me here!)

Dengue Fever is a Cambodian pop rock band whose lead singer lyricizes mainly in Khmer - she really gets you going crazy! I guess they were featured on the soundtrack of Jarmusch's "Broken Flowers," and though I won't say that this film was good enough to warrant buying the soundtrack, Dengue Fever's compelling enough to at least briefly reconsider...

Both bands are on MySpace so I suggest going and taking a listen to more songs if you get a chance.

I'm Not There

taco — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 03:01:19 GMT

Thanks to Mogger indiepixie for the tip-off about "I'm Not There," the Todd Haynes film with six stars playing different facets of Bob Dylan's life. (Apparently Dartmouth's performing arts center is in the midst of showing a bunch of films from Telluride, and I happened to skip a free ticket at the last minute. Yay for free!)

For non-fans, the movie is sure to come across as a too-long series of insiders-only dialog (I mean, 2:15 is long for anybody, I don't care who you talk to), but I'll be the first to say that Cate Blanchett played skinny, scruffy, Wayfarer-wearing "Blonde on Blonde"-era Bob fantastically, and Christian Bale and Ben Whishaw also did an acceptable job. Questionable were Heath Ledger and Richard Gere...

A great visual/aural mash-up of real/fake aspects of his life - the line is thin, but if you're looking for a biography you're in the wrong place anyway.

It's going to be notably better if you're a mega-buff, but for the normal fans like myself, it's still very entertaining to watch. Definitely worth seeing if you're into Dylan and just want to get excited about some of his albums again - the soundtrack is great!

Mog-O-Matic help...

taco — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 13:08:52 GMT

If anyone has tips on how to get Mog-O-Matic to download properly onto my PowerBook, I'd be much obliged...apparently a "corrupt disk image" is preventing me from installing (regardless of what browser I use). Thanks!

One True Vine

taco — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 00:29:41 GMT

The newbie b-side from Sky Blue Sky. A nice listen.

GP&N

taco — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 00:23:10 GMT

Holy high roller! Grace Potter and her boys put on a good show. Waterfront Park in Burlington, VT was everything a good, classic rock concert should be. If you have yet to hear Ms. Potter's voice, do yourself a favor and listen to a few tracks off their most recent album, This is Somewhere (unfortunately I don't yet own it, but the show solidified my decision to get it ASAP). Very reminiscent of Bonnie Raitt with a hearty helping of Tina Turner wail. Grace and the Nocturnals put out soul and blues numbers like old pros.

Sky Blue Sky 2007

taco — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 03:40:33 GMT

Hello MOGiverse!

This is my first post so I figured a good bet would be to comment on Wilco's Sky Blue Sky tour. They made their way through Vermont last weekend and (all personal biases in their favor aside) it was an excellent show. A bit heavy on new material, but hey, they just put out an album, so that's the deal, right? On first listen, one could argue that SBS sounds a bit overproduced, but hear any of the tracks live and you know the tightness and cohesiveness are Wilco's musicianship speaking, not anything studio post-prod.

And PS: "Spiders (Kidsmoke)" was meant to be a live song from the get-go!