Paul vs. Technology

Tonight's round features Pandora on the Roku, armed with nothing but Crazy Frog

The setup:

I'm an Apple fanboy...and have been ever since I had my first Apple IIc computer. If Apple has the product and I have the need for the area it serves, I'll buy it.

Last year I bought the new AppleTV... I love it, use it regularly and would recommend it to anyone. It's great for playing your iTunes library, streaming movies, watching baseball and much more.

But...

I was jealous. I had my eye on Hulu. I liked Hulu on my Mac, loved it on my iPad but was annoyed that AppleTV didn't feature it. It was a glaring omission in an otherwise perfect product.

Then I discovered Roku. Roku is basically an AppleTV knockoff with more content including Hulu, Pandora and much more. The interface isn't as smooth as AppleTV, nor does it have the ability to stream your iTunes, but with a Roku and an AppleTV connected to your TV, you could almost not have to deal with cable.

With Roku, I rediscovered Pandora. When I was living in Singapore, my good friend James Murray clued me in to Pandora as a great way to listen to music. Unfortunately, licensing laws put the lid on Pandora streaming music outside of the US and I quickly forgot about it.

Now that I'm using Pandora again, I wanted to flex its muscles and see what it was capable of.

Tonight's ground rules

Arm a new Pandora station with a crappy song and see if we can get Pandora to get us somewhere good, or at least entertaining...and see how long it it takes to get there. An added experiment is to see if I can "train" Pandora to get to somewhere remotely near my actual music tastes from one bad song.

And we're off!!!!

Crazy Frog's Axel F: Yep, this is the most annoying song I could think of. And it holds up. For the sake of the experiment, I give it a thumb up. By the way, I have to give props to the people behind Crazy Frog for taking a song as annoying as the theme from Beverly Hills Cop and making it even more annoying. By the way, if you're curious, there are 46 Crazy Frog songs available in iTunes.

Gummibar's Funny DJ: In 1996, I could have walked into any bar in Singapore and heard a song like this, with a deeper vocal. This is like Crazy Frog meets Aqua. Not a good combo. Verdict: Thumbs down

Crazy Frog's We Like To Party: Now, when I was thinking of this experiment, I knew this song would come on, but I honestly thought the Vengaboys' original version would be the one we'd hear. Having Crazy Frog's version come up was an added bonus. Maybe I should rethink my covers blog entry from the other day. Verdict: An ironic thumbs up

Reel 2 Real's I Like To Move It: Fits well with what's been played so far, but...no, I can't stomach listening to it. Verdict: Thumbs down

Haddaway's What Is Love: Okay, because of Crazy Frog, Pandora thinks I'm big into the late '90s cheesy dance music. If I were Haddaway, I'd be mortified that I'm being lumped with Crazy Frog. I wonder if Pandora has a complaints section that deals with disgruntled artists. By the way, I can't listen to this song without thinking of the film Night at the Roxbury, which is a better movie than one would be led to believe. Verdict: I end up listening to the whole thing, because I couldn't go all the way to thumbing it down.

Crazy Frog's Crazy Frog Sounds: Wow, this is nothing but Crazy Frog making a series of really annoying noises, which I know could be used to describe any Crazy Frog song, but wow, the level of annoyance goes to 11. Verdict: Thumbs down

Los Del Rio's Macarena: Yes, it's as bad as you remember, and 15 years later (yes, it's really 15 years old) it's still an earworm. Verdict: Thumbs down

Scooter's The Logical Song: This is the first time I've ever heard this, which is basically a souped up, Crazy Frogged version of Supertramp's song by the same name. It's horrible. Verdict: Thumbs down

Queen's We Will Rock You: I gotta say, I didn't see this one coming. Queen's got no business being in the middle of this dreck, but it's a welcome appearance. Verdict: Thumbs up

Taio Cruz Break Your Heart (Featuring Ludacris): I'm pleasantly surprised that we've moved away from the late-90s technocrap, but this isn't exactly what I had in mind. Verdict: Thumbs down

Vengaboys' We Like to Party Now: It's good to see Pandora is delivering both the cover and the original song within nine songs. Now, I'll admit this song grates on me as much as any others, but I can tolerate it. And I know I'm getting dangerously close to Pandora's "you're not allowed to skip for an hour" rule, so I chose to give the song a green light. Verdict: A less ironic than I'd like to admit "thumbs up"

Alvin & the Chipmunks' Funkytown: Funkytown is a great song, and I can even tolerate Pseudo Echo's cover of it, but I'll be damned if I'm going to listen to the Chipmunks mess with this. Verdict: Thumbs down.

OH NO!!!! I've hit the skip limit! I have to keep listening to Alvin asking me to take him to Funkytown. I think this may be Dante's fourth level of hell.

Queen's We Are the Champions: I'm dying to know the connection between Crazy Frog and Queen. Does this mean Vanilla Ice will come up soon? Verdict: Thumbs up

Alvin & the Chipmunks' Three Little Birds: No one gains from having the Chipmunks cover what might be, in my opinion, Bob Marley's most beautiful song. And to add insult to injury, Pandora won't let me skip it. Verdict: Thumbs down

Gummibar's I Am Gummy Bear (The Gummy Bear Song): I love how the title has in parentheses "The Gummy Bear Song", in case you had any doubt that Gummibar's song called I Am Gummy Bear isn't about gummy bears. And why do the Gummibars have a record contract? This is painful. Verdict: Thumbs down

It's about gummy bears, by the way.

Black Eyes Peas' Boom Boom Pow: You know what, the Black Eyed Peas fit perfectly in this mix. Take that however you want. Verdict: Thumbs down

I'm still banned from skipping.

George Thorogood's Bad to the Bone: So, have we transitioned from cheesy 90s dance tracks to songs overused in kids movies? Or are those two oeuvres one in the same? Verdict: I played it through, since George Thorogood and I went to the same high school.

Sean Kingston's Fire Burning: In my best Charles Barkley voice, "Oh, this is turr-uh-bull!" Verdict: Thumbs down (and skipping is still not permitted)

Black Eyed Peas' I Got A Feelin (DJ Clubplay Mix): As of right now, the Black Eyed Peas are only one song behind Crazy Song in plays on this little journey. This makes Haddaway look like Lou Reed. Verdict: Thumbs down

Survivor's Eye of the Tiger: Hmmm...didn't expect this one to show up. I'm not even sure how I feel about it being here...or why it's here. Verdict: Thumbs up...just to see if it moves us away from the Black Eyed Peas.

Basshunter's Russia Privjet: Uh-oh...this feels like we're moving back toward Crazy Frog territory, but with a deep Russian accent. Not good. Verdict: Thumbs down...and we can skip again

Europe's The Final Countdown: GOB's theme!!!! I guess this is what you get for up thumbing Eye of the Tiger. Are the Scorpion's Winds of Change far off? Verdict: A cornballin' ironic thumbs up

Survivor's Burning Heart: Oh no, clearly I screwed up by encouraging more Survivor. This is, I think, the theme from Rocky IV. It's like a bad carbon copy of Eye of the Tiger. I hope I can nip this sort of thing in the bud. Verdict: Thumbs down

Lynyrd Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama: Did you think we'd get from Crazy Frog to Lynyrd Skynyrd in 24 steps? I thought at best we'd get to Milli Vanilli in that amout of time. Verdict: Thumbs up

Guns N' Roses' Sweet Child O' Mine: I'm genuinely perplexed now. I mean, I've got to give Pandora credit for getting me somewhere I don't mind. I like GNR, but I just don't understand how I got here. Verdict: Thumbs up

Bon Jovi's Runaway: I may have given Pandora too much credit. Clearly the Survivor endorsement has clouded this feed. Bon Jovi at his cheesiest? Yikes! Verdict: Thumbs down

Bob Seger's Old Time Rock and Roll: Now, I know I'm a bit of a 80s nut when it comes to music, but not this version of the 80s. As far as I can tell, Pandora now thinks I like cliched 80s soundtrack songs, 90s techogarbage and anything by Survivor. This is a worry. Verdict: Thumbs down

AC/DC's Highway to Hell: Unexpected. At this point, I have no idea what to do. If I 'thumbs up' it, I run the risk of more metal, and I'm afraid it will send me down a dark miserable pseudo-hair metal era (although I do like a fair bit of AC/DC). If I 'thumbs down' it, it may take me back to either Barbie Girl or a, shudder, Survivor song. Verdict: Abstaining...letting Highway play out

We Will Rock You Cast's We Will Rock You: Just because I gave Queen the okay, Pandora, doesn't mean I want to hear this...ever. Verdict: Thumbs down

Lipps Inc's Funkytown: Maybe we're getting back on track. This may be the first track that I'm genuinely liking because I like it. Verdict: Thumbs up

Aerosmith's Sweet Emotion: Definitely back on track. This is Aerosmith's best song and I would be happy to have this in any mix I was playing. Verdict: Thumbs up

Def Leppard's Pour Some Sugar On Me: Dammit, another dilemma... I actually like this song, but I know what liking it will make Pandora do. Honesty is the best policy, yes? Well remember this when Winger comes on please. Verdict: Thumbs up

Van Halen's Jump: Yeah, this is what I was afraid of. I love David Lee Roth-era Van Halen, but this is my least favorite song of theirs. Let's see if we can move Pandora up the dial a little bit. Verdict: Thumbs down

War's Low Rider: We can't get any farther away from Crazy Frog with this one, can we? Unless there's a Crazy Frog version of Low Rider. Whew, just checked...there isn't. Verdict: Thumbs up

Creedence Clearwater Revival's Proud Mary: Okay...when I started this little project, I told myself that I'd go on until I thumbed up four consecutive songs or a Duran Duran song came up. But never in a million years did I think we'd get here...at Creedence? The Dude's favorite band? I'll abide...and keep the game going.

Buffalo Springfield's For What it's Worth: This is a classic. I'm impressed that Pandora got us there. Verdict: Thumbs up

Chic's Le Freak: Hey! We're getting closer to my actual taste in music. The last eight songs are actually in my music collection. Verdict: Thumbs up

So, what have we learned this evening? Pandora's smart enough to start with a lousy song and get you to something you like relatively quickly, with only a few stumbles. It may not get to the center of your music tastes, but it will get you to the edges faster than expected.

By the way, Pandora, we're not done experimenting... I have a few more tricks up my sleeve!

Postscript: As I was cleaning up this blogpost, I was still listening to my Pandora creation. Just now The Beatles Eleanor Rigby came on. I guess you can make a silk purse out of a frog's ear! Mind you Warrant's Cherry Pie came on as well. So there's that...

Underneath the Covers

Today the lovely @Audra_Smith sent me a great article about cover songs, which listed what the staff of Popdose thought were the 100 best cover songs.

These lists are always subjective, and open to interpretation, but their list was a good one...and after reading, I had to tip my hat to them - it was pretty thorough.

Of course I have some additional thoughts with their choices that I thought were worth sharing:

• 100: They start the article off with a bang: Did you know Heart's Alone was a cover? Me either!! And much better than the original.

• 96: Sometimes, magic happens when an artist who has no business covering a rap song covers a rap song. The poster child for this is a song I've highlighted in this blog before...The Gourds covering Gin and Juice (which is a glaring omission from Popdose's list). Popdose did, however uncover this gem: Luka Bloom covering LL Cool J at his twee-est... I Need Love. Speaking of bands who have no business covering rap songs, I'll give you fair warning: This will be a rare Duran Duran-free blog post. You know I love Duran Duran, but in the covers department, the less said, the better.
• 95: Did you know that the only way you can buy Love Spit Love's cover of The Smiths How Soon is Now is by purchasing the full Charmed soundtrack album?!?! That reason alone should knock it out of the top 100. Forced album buying makes Musicule grumble!
• 94: I disagree with this one, Tori Amos' cover of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit. I laughed the first time I heard this, and I still giggle when it comes on. It's definitely a different take on the song, but not in a good way.
• 84: Is Tom Jones' version of Kiss better than Prince's? I don't think so, but I love both of them...Tom's for the sheer vocal bombast and Prince's for the glimpse of his humor in the music video (by the way, good luck finding this video on YouTube with the music!) 
• 83: Full disclosure time... for a while, David Lee Roth's Just a Gigolo was my go-to karaoke song. Mind you, if I went to a karaoke bar tonight, it might still be.
• 72: Okay, here's where things take a strange turn in the top 100. At 72, they make the first of two mentions of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah...this one by Rufus Wainwright. I'm fine with that. But they also list at #4 Jeff Buckley's version. I wouldn't argue with that ranking if it was in the "Top Ten Overrated Covers" list. Rufus gets the gold star for this song. (I have eight different versions of this song in my iTunes music collection...I know of what I speak).
• 70: Love the shoutout to Siouxsie's cover of Iggy Pop's Passenger. Well deserved.
• 61: For a lousy movie, 9 1/2 Weeks did a great job of putting together a kickass soundtrack that almost redeemed the film...almost. It did a perfect job of matching the music with the visuals. Honestly, the movie was one long music video. Nowhere was this more apparent than during Joe Cocker's take on Randy Newman's You Can Leave Your Hat On (although I like Randy's version as well)
• 48: The English Beat's Tears of a Clown may be one of my favorite "unexpected takes on a classic". Smokey's version was never danceable, but The Beat's version has you bouncing like a crazy person.
• 47: I will say this to anyone who listens...repeatedly: I hate, hate UB40s version of Red, Red Wine. Hated it the second it came out and have despised it for nearly 30 years. Hated it so much that I only heard Neil Diamond's original recording for the first time a few months ago. It's far more bearable. I can't repeat this enough...UB40's version may be the worst song ever.
• 46: "...you take a piece of meat with youuuuuuu." I had forgotten how truly scary Paul Young's hair was at the the time:

• 44: Manfred Mann's cover of Blinded By the Light is a perfect example of converting a song to something transcendent. If you listen to Springsteen's version, you would never hear the song's potential. Despite that, both have the forever misheard "racked up like a douche" line.
• 33: Remember what I said about #47? The Fugees do a pretty good job of U-B-Fortying Killing Me Softly. And that's hard to do.
• 32: I never knew George Harrison's I've Got My Mind Set On You was a cover. Mind you, it's not a song worth taking credit for. Weird Al, of all people, sums it up best.
• 21: I'm embarrassed that I didn't know Superman wasn't an original R.E.M. song. You learn something new every day.
• 15: I remember the day, many years ago, when I found a rare copy of Gloria Jones singing Tainted Love. Amazing how MP3s have all but eliminated musical rarities (there's one exception for me...once upon a time I heard The Motels perform the original demo for what became Berlin's Take My Breath Away...I haven't been able to get an MP3 of it. I'm still looking). I love the original and Soft Cell's long version.

Like I said...I don't have any overarching issues with their choices. It was well thought out. And of their 100, I own 87 of the originals and/or covers.

Not one to end on a high note, props to Popdose for putting Sinéad O'Connor's take on Prince's Nothing Compares 2U. Wanna hear a bad original? Give a listen to the original by Prince's creation, The Family. 

Actually...you know what, I can't end on that. Here's a more recent cover that I really like - Katy Perry covering The Outfield's Your Love.

Musicule's Desert Island Discs

Last week, Jeff Pollack wrote a great piece on Huffington Post about his desert island discs. While not an original concept, it was one of those rare occasions where I read someone's list of desert island discs (or DIDs) and respected the rationale behind the thought and agreed with many of his choices. I wouldn't have picked any of his DIDs for my island, but I understood and respected why he'd bring those.

After reading the article I quickly fired off a bunch of tweets listing my 10, which appear below, with my rationale. A word of clarification. Here are the two rules (at least my rules...expanded from Mr. Pollack):

• No greatest hits compilations
• An band or singer can only be represented once. However, you could conceivably have a Sting album and a Police album...that's fair.

With the technicalities out of the way, here are my 10 DIDs (in the order they popped into my head):

Rio, by Duran Duran: To anyone who knows me or has ever poked their head onto this website, the appearance of this album on my DID list is no surprise. I know my limitations in the bias department, and I know a ton of people would disagree with me on this pick, but this is the perfect album from beginning to end. If I had to pick one album that I would have to listen to over and over, Rio would be it. Why do I think this? Blame 12-year-old me. Once I got this album in my head, it never left. Released in 1982, 29 years later it holds up: nine songs, one instrumental and the album that, for better or worse, defined what Duran Duran is/was/could be capable of. From the opening swoosh of Rio to the jangling of keys at the end of The Chauffeur, Duran Duran's second album is what lightning in a bottle sounds like. That sound is what bands strive for: and few actually achieve this certain zeitgeist (Nirvana with Nevermind, Prince with Purple Rain, Peter Gabriel with So, Peter Frampton with Frampton Comes Alive, etc.)

Bachelor No. 2, by Aimee Mann: Aimee Mann is one of the most amazing songwriters of our time. It's a crime that she hasn't sold more albums or garnered more praise. This album is one of the best examples of a great album with an even better background story: By 2000, Aimee had no record contract and had to sell this CD on her website (I'm proud to say that's where I got my copy); Paul Thomas Anderson loved the songs enough to build a whole movie around them (Magnolia) AND the soundtrack got nominated for an Oscar, only to lose to Phil Collins that year (BOO!). Driving Sideways is one of those dark songs that you just want to belt out when it comes on.

Aladdin Sane, by David Bowie: Trying to pick my one favorite Bowie album is a tough decision. Despite the lousy pun in the title, this is the one Bowie album that I keep coming back to. It didn't have the most number of radio friendly hits, nor was it his most popular album. But, again, I have to go with cohesion. This album sets a mood and sticks with it, and in terms of Bowie's accomplishments, I would put any track on here against any of his best: Panic in Detroit brings the Ziggy swagger and Drive in Saturday Night brings the epic, almost Queen-like bombast. I have to confess that I was most torn between putting this on the DID list or Diamond Dogs. The only drawback to this album is an atrocious version of Let's Spend the Night Together. By the way, if I could specify which version of Aladdin Sane I would take with me, I'd go with the Rykodisc reissue: they did an amazing, respectable job of reissuing Bowie's catalog in the early 1990s.

Kick, by INXS: In 1987, my parents bought me my first CD player. Later that afternoon, I went to Bert's Record and Tapes in Wilmington, Delaware to buy my first batch of CDs. The addiction began right there, and Kick was in that first batch of six (if memory serves included The Cure's Staring at the Sea, Duran Duran's Seven and the Ragged Tiger, Sgt. Pepper, Sting's Dream of the Blue Turtles and George Michael's Faith). I had already owned this album on cassette, and for my freshman year at Syracuse, it served as the soundtrack to my life at the time, thanks to my yellow Sony Walkman. What's interesting is that I wouldn't characterize this as INXS' best, but again, it goes back to capturing a zeitgeist and with this album, INXS had their lightning in a bottle.

The Rise & Fall, by Madness: Have you ever misjudged a band by one song? Well, millions and millions of people have done that with Madness. On this side of the Atlantic Ocean, most people know Madness for their one hit (which appeared on this album in the UK initially, but a different album altogether in the US), Our House, which isn't indicative of their work. Rise and Fall, it's worth noting, also isn't indicative of most of their work, but it captures the band at their most creative and most interesting. For someone only familiar with the "nutty Madness sound", this will be an eye-opener. Not that anyone asks, but if anyone came to me and said, "If there's one album that I've never heard of that I should buy...what would it be?", I would suggest this one. It's also worth noting that this album takes the award for "Best Album Not Available on U.S. iTunes". 

Purple Rain, by Prince and the Revolution: In the fall of 1984, I began my short, but rewarding journalism career as a music critic at my high school's newspaper, The Brandywine Line, with a a review of Purple Rain. I gave the album a Spinal Tap-ian "11 out of 10". So much for managing expectations as a critic. This taught me a few lessons:

- Don't throw out your rating scale on the first album you review

- I didn't realize it at the time, but I recognized a classic when I heard it

- I'd still give it an "11"

My only complaint about the album was that it wasn't a soundtrack to the film. Imagine what rating I would have given this record if Sex Shooter and some Morris Day and the Time tracks were on this album!

Rhapsody in Blue, by George Gershwin: My girlfriend calls "bullshit" on this one...and understandably so, since I didn't have this in my iTunes music collection. An explanation of Dos Equis Guy level of proportions is in order: I don't regularly listen to classical music, but when I do, it's Gershwin. 

Particularly Rhapsody in Blue (known to many...sigh... as "The United Airlines Song":

And if I'm going to be stuck on a deserted island with only 10 albums, I'm going to want some Gershwin with me.

The Beatles for Sale: Picking my favorite Beatles album is probably one of the toughest music choices for me. It changes. I love Sgt. Pepper, I've gone weeks where the only thing I would play would be The White Album and there have been occasions where I would argue that side 2 of Abbey Road is the best seamless piece of music The Beatles ever recorded. However, for me, there's one album that marks the turning point for The Beatles, and it's on this record. Somewhere while recording this, The Fab Four matured, They outgrew pop as they knew it, they outgrew their fame and they outgrew their personas. One look at the cover tells you that these aren't the four boys from Liverpool you're looking for. They're battle weary, and they're ready to make the music they want to make. This is the transition album that took The Beatles to the creative stratosphere. And if you want to take one Beatles album, take one that has both early pop and the seeds of experimentation. That's For Sale.

Secrets of the Beehive, by David Sylvian: In college, you had to have a "mood record": one that reflected that you were reflective, moody and insightful. You played it when you were studying, you played in when you had people in your room and wanted to seem sophisticated or poignant and you played it when you needed to concentrate. This album fit that bill for me. It helped that I enjoyed it immensely. The whole album is simply beautiful, but two tracks stand out: Forbidden Colours and Let the Happiness In. If you don't own it, buy it and let David Sylvian's velvety baritone float you away.

So Red the Rose, by Arcadia: Let's just agree from the get-go that I'm not fooling anyone by having this album on here. It's a Duran album...you know it, I know it, but I will justify having it because it's only two-fifths of Duran Duran and it's under the title of another band name. Regardless, I'm taking it with me to my deserted island, and it deserves to be there. This came out during the "Great Duran Duran Chasm of 1985" when Duran Duran split up to form two side projects: Arcadia and The Power Station. So Red the Rose was what Simon and Nick came up with and was a moodier, synthier, darker sound than Duran ever came up with. I've always maintained that Simon and Nick were the heart and soul of Duran Duran, and this album proves it do me. As an aside, I've never been much of a protestor, but when Capital Records neglected to reissue this as a CD in the late 80s, I undertook a one-man letter writing protest campaign against the head of Capital Records, vowing not to buy another Capital Records CD until the company issued this album on CD. My protest must have worked!

There's my list.... I'd love to see your lists. Please share below or via Twitter!

Commenting on "The Daily Duranie: Fan Criticism"

The Daily Duranie: Fan Criticism: "I love Duran Duran. This isn't a secret. At this point in my life, my love for them is almost unconditional as I have loved them for decad..."

A great post from an excellent Duran Duran fan site. A 'must read' for any Duran Duran fan, and an interesting read for the casual fan.

Anyway, they raise a good question: Is it okay to criticize one's favorite band? Of course it is. It's no surprise to my readers that I'm a huge Duran fan...I own every track they ever put out, I've bought Rio on more formats than I care to think (off the top of my head: vinyl, 8-track, cassette, CD (at least four times), digital, etc.) and I've seen them live nearly 40 times. I'm sure I've put at least one Taylor, Rhodes and/or Le Bon child through college.

And I don't regret any of this.

Does that mean the band's immune to criticism by me? Of course not.

Off the top of my head I can think of the following missteps during their long and mostly wonderful career:

- 1985 was an annus horribilis for the band (despite it being the year Arcadia's So Red the Rose came out, one of my favorite Duran-related albums), with the departure of Andy and Roger, Simon's boat crash, the disappointing Live Aid set, etc.

- While Red Carpet Massacre was a welcome arrival at the time, it's not a true-Duran Duran album (and considering how recent it is, it has not aged well): Timbaland's heavy thumbprints are all over it and it sounds like a band trying too hard to be relevant to it's non-core fan base.

That's just two. Some others can fall into the "bad timing" category: Duran Duran is a band that fails to (through it's own efforts, or just plain bad luck) capitalize on momentum. A smattering of examples:

- 1985: At their career peak, they decide to for two side projects: Arcadia and The Power Station. This proved to be the catalyst for a career stall that lasted nearly ten years.

- 1995: After 1993's Wedding Album, loaded with two hits (Ordinary World and Come Undone), how do they fail to capitalize on this momentum? Releasing the miserably received covers album, Thank You. It single-handedly killed whatever momentum their career had at the time.

- 2001-2003: Duran Duran reunite with all five original members. And while it marked the unceremonious dumping of Warren Cuccurullo, the reunion created the ferver that maintains excitement about Duran Duran today. However... failure to capitalize on momentum again curses the band. While the reunion tour of 2003/2004 garners some amazing media exposure for the band, they don't make the most of it by not putting out the album that would be come Astronaut until the end of 2004... and by then, the Duran Duran reunion was old news.

- Flash forward to today: All You Need Is Now receives some of the best reviews the band has ever garnered, yet missteps continue. I'm not sure drip-feeding the album on iTunes then releasing a physical version months later did them any justice. And of course, while it's not the band's fault, Simon's vocal problems and subsequent recovered stymied any momentum the band was picking up on tour.

Anyway, you get this idea....criticism abounds from me, but the fact of the matter is that I love their music, will continue to support them as a fan and enjoy most of what they do...that doesn't mean I don't have an opinion. Believe me, I do!

Fandom is a funny thing, especially in the age of the internet: flame wars have been fought over the silliest of issues especially when it involves two or more rabid fans. Sometimes it's best to stand back and watch it play out.

On the Road: Today's Songs

The songs on my iPod represent a double-edge sword. All of my music is on the iPod I keep in the car, which is set to random. This means, I'm at the fickle mercy of whatever it chooses to spit out. Since it's all music I've added to my collection, you'd think I'd like all of it, but the reality is that I have a lot of garbage in my collection that I'm only in the mood to hear at certain times. I tend to drive with one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the "next" button on the stereo.

Today was a good commute to work...sometimes the iPod knows just what to pick. Some highlights of today's selection:

Human League's Night People - When a band makes a comeback after a long time away, do you want to hear a band that's evolved over the years, one with a modern sound or do you prefer a band to sound like they just walked out of a block of frozen carbonite? It's a tough one to answer - in some cases you want to hear an evolution. Take Blondie: A few years ago, Maria sounded like a refreshed and updated Blondie...and then you have something like Starship: While a direct descendant of the band that crafted White Rabbit, no one would dare recognize We Built this City as a part of the same pedigree. With The Human League's Night People, this song sounds like it was snatched right up from the Don't You Want Me? recording sessions. And you know what? Good for them for doing that. The song doesn't sound derivative: it sounds fresh and it sounds like what you think a good Human League song should sound like:

The Breeders' Flipside - This is a great instrumental from a era and genre where decent instrumentals didn't usually find their way. Mix a splash of surf punch with a classic Pixies sound and you get this crisp, driven, song. It's even fun to watch being performed live:

Duran Duran's Crime and Passion - Much has been made of this year's return to form for Duran Duran. And as with the case of the Human League, they came out with an album of tunes that could stand beside the Rio songbook and hold its own. In fact, All You Need is Now producer Mark Ronson has been quoted several places as saying that he went into this recording session with the intent to produce the "lost follow-up to Rio", even though the actual follow-up to Rio, Seven and the Ragged Tiger did pretty okay as a follow up. Crime and Passion came from this album and holds up pretty well...it's the sound of a band fraying at the edges a bit, but the members bringing each of their skill sets to the show: John's driving bass, Roger's tight drumming, Nick's synth experiments, Andy's rock guitar sound and Simon's fascinating obscure lyrics. It's one of their darker songs of the era, but gives an early peek into the diverging tastes of each member of Duran Duran and their pet projects Arcadia and Power Station.

KT Tunstall's Push that Knot Away - I really wanted to like this album (Tiger Suit) when it came out. KT is a breath of fresh air in music today...she's creative, funny and great live. This album never gelled for me. However, this song is great:

Snoop Dogg's Boom (featuring T-Pain) - A sample of Yazoo's Situation underneath Snoop rapping? From an album titled Doggumentary? With a video like this?!?!



How can you not love this? Try these out for your next commute...boom, indeed!

Gearing up for Summer: Surveying the Mountain Winery 2011 Concert Schedule

In the 3+ years I've lived in California, there has been one day each year that gets my blood pumping for the months ahead almost as much as the phrase "pitchers and catchers reporting for Spring Training"...and that's the day the Mountain Winery in Saratoga announces their Summer Concert Lineup.

If you've never been, the Mountain Winery is a great place to see a concert. Here's a pic from when I saw Duran Duran there two years ago:

It's a great venue, and each summer, it's concert lineup meets or exceeds in several of the following criteria:

• It makes old folks feel younger: Each year, the lineup features acts heavy from 20-30 years ago, providing concert-goers in their late-30s/early 40s to feel like they're "rockin' out". If the band performing was once a band that appealed to teens 20 years go, attendees will glam up like it was the old days. Expect to see a lot fortysomething women with lots of hairspray, makeup and age inappropriate clothing and a lot of fortysomething men trying to look cooler than their khakis and polo shirts will today allow.
• The young'uns wouldn't be caught dead there: This is a win-win for both those attending the concerts and the young adults who stay away in droves. The grown-ups have a kid-free evening of music they love, while the teenagers have a three-hour window of their parents being gone to get up to whatever mischief passes for fun today.
• There are seats: Here's the thing, once you get over the age of 35, you feel less compelled to stand up for a concert...and I mean any part of the concert. The Mountain Winery is a sit down crowd, for the most part, and the seats are adequate, plentiful and comfortable.
• Plenty of alcohol: I mentioned that this is a winery, right? It's a former Paul Masson winery, so we're not talking top shelf vino, but it's good enough to get you through a concert.
• Makes the acts feel relevant: Just as the fans are rocketed back to their heyday, The Mountain Winery creates a safe environment for artists to feel loved. No one other than a diehard fan is going to schlep up the side of a mountain to swill Paul Masson wine and see a show. These are dedicated, supportive, "I know every lyric from your second and third albums (and your tenth)" fans. They love you, you love them and they're likely to buy a t-shirt on their way back from the chardonnay stand.
• There's something for everyone: As we're about to see, the melange of acts is impressively staggering...you've got your summer tour stalwarts like Hall and Oates and the Beach Boys, plus some relative newcomers to the game like Grace Potter and the Nocturnals and Neko Case.

Let's dive into some of the highlights:

The Moody Blues (May 27): Is there a better way to kick off a concert season than with a band that used to have their own theme park ride?!?! This is a band that's been around since 1965, and as sure as the sun rising in the East, you can be safe in investing in a ticket for this show knowing that you will hear Nights in White Satin and Your Wildest Dreams. 

Mary Chapin Carpenter with special guest Marc Cohn (June 21): Full disclosure: I'm a Marc Cohn hater. My ears bleed whenever I hear Walking in Memphis, but here's the thing: I respect his ability to sidle up to another artist during the summer concert season. Two years ago Aimee Mann performed at the Mountain Winery with special guest Marc Cohn! I think even he knows that Walking in Memphis is one of those love/hate songs that, on it's own, won't drive a crowd to a show, but if he sidles up with someone like Mary Chapin Carpenter or Aimee Mann, he'll make a couple of bucks.

The Monkees featuring Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork (July 10): I am not the least bit embarrassed to say that I'm going to this show. I'm going, I know it's going to suck, but I'm going. They're billing this at the 45th anniversary tour, even though only three of the four Monkees are touring. For whatever reason (his mom invented Liquid Paper, he has plenty of his own money, he has more integrity than the other three Monkees combined, he's "too old for this shit", etc.), Michael Nesmith is sitting this one out. Make no mistake, this is purely nostalgia...no one's expecting a great show, but I bet it'll be a fun night of sing-along.

An Evening with Sarah McLachlan and Friends (July 17): Why this isn't called "Lilith Fair 2: Electric Boogaloo" is beyond me, but I have to give her credit for creating what looks like might be an interesting evening of songs from Felicity (from the Mountain Winery website):

The “Sarah And Friends” tour will be one unlike any other, with shows consisting of two sets: one set with Sarah sitting in on songs by her guest performers, and a second set of songs from Sarah's current hit record Laws of Illusion, as well as other favorites. “Sarah And Friends” will also have an interactive element as Sarah answers audience questions intermittently throughout the performance. Fans will have the opportunity to submit questions upon their arrival, which Sarah will then choose randomly from the stage. 

INXS with special guest Berlin (July 19): I'm all over this show. We know this would have been an amazing show in, say, 1986, so it's fair to wonder how it will be 25 years later. I can personally vouch for seeing an amazing INXS show in 2006 with the same lineup that's currently touring, so I'm fairly confident they'll sound great. As for Berlin, I'm not too worried, as Terri Nunn is a serious road warrior. She's toured with a several incarnations of Berlin over the years and has a super strong voice. See this clip from last year:

And if that isn't enough incentive, where else can you see a person who auditioned for the role of Princess Leia in Star Wars perform live that night?!?!?:

Matthew Morrison (July 21): Who? Yes, exactly, which is why they bill the evening as "Matthew Morrison from Glee". This concert could be the exception to the "all adults, few kiddies" formula. Having said that, I've watched my fair share of Glee the last couple of years and I'm not sure what the demand for him performing live is. 

Aimee Mann (August 18): Big venue or small venue, she's worth seeing live.

Kenny G/Michael Bolton (August 28): For whatever reason, these two are entwined in the minds of many as representing the worst of music in the late '80s/early 90s, and the fact that they're performing together seems just. Leave the cheese at home that night, they will be plenty on stage to go around.

The B-52s, Human League and Men without Hats (September 8) - One of the things I love about summer tours is the odd pairings. Sometimes the pairings are so odd, they just seem to make sense. This is one of those cases. Any one who would go to a solo show by one of these acts, I'm sure wouldn't mind seeing the others. I've seen the B-52s live...you know what you're getting with them: a fun live show. Add Human League and Men Without Hats and you get an added curiosity factor plus The Safety Dance! I'm not sure this crowd will be able to handle The Safety Dance and Love Shack played at the same concert...there just may be some butts out of seats. And be honest, you want to go just to what the hell other songs Men Without Hats will play!

Billy Idol (October 8): Is there a better way to wind up the summer concert series? The guy brings a solid arsenal of hits, a great stage persona and enough tongue in cheek antics to end on a high note.

These aren't all of the acts coming through the Winery this summer...I've only touched on a few. You can see (and snark on) the full list here.

I'm a big fan of this venue, so forgive the shameless plug. Tickets for most of these events go on sale as early as next week. See you there!

Number 10,000

I just realized tonight that I added my 10,000th song to my iTunes music library. As for what song it is, I should be embarrassed about this, but I'm not. Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you #10,000 - Lord Sitar's cover of the Monkees' Daydream Believer:



Now that we're beyond the 10K mark, let's look at what else I've downloaded so far this year:

David Sylvian's Sleepwalkers:  I'm not sure if you can call this a collection of past work or a reworking of past collections or a restrospective of lost tracks. Maybe it's all three, but it all not only sounds fresh, it also sounds like it was lifted out of one of (I think) best periods. I'm an unabashed fan of Sylvian's Secrets of the Beehive, and this album hearkens back to that.

Japan's Oil on Canvas: When Mick Karn passed away in January, it motivated me to go back to listen to some old Japan (which was also David Sylvian's old band), and in looking back, I realized I never transferred by copy of this CD to iTunes all those years ago. This has always been one of my favorite Japan albums...don't let the "live" tag on this album fool you...it's not really a live album. I think there are a couple of live tracks the the audience noise is canned and piped in only between tracks. If you've never listened to Japan, this is a good place to start. Here's a video of one of the tracks on this album:



Jellybean's (Who are we kidding, it's a Madonna song) Sidewalk Talk: Sometimes there are songs that you totally forget about. This is one of them. Madonna was on a meteoric rise when this song featuring her came out, and you couldn't escape it on the radio in 1984. Between then and now, I had totally forgotten about it, and then last month Audra made a joke about it to me, and I think I heard the song two or three other times that week. It was a sign for me to download it. It doesn't take much.

David Bowie's Let's Dance: Here's another one from the "I can't believe I didn't convert this album over to iTunes" pile. I was motivated to revisit this album after reading Nile Rodgers' amazing blog chronicling his cancer fight. I had forgotten that he produced this album, and while everyone remembers the huge hits Bowie had from this album, there are some solid tunes on here. It's easy to dismiss Bowie's mid-80s contributions to music as aiming for a more mainstream audience, but that would be short sighted. Cat People still holds its own today - in fact, it was wonderfully and anachronistically featured in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. Let's Dance only had eight tracks on it, and three of them were huge hits (China Girl, Modern Love and Let's Dance)...and as for as Bowie 80s albums, it has probably aged the best of the lot.

The Black Keys' Brothers: Yeah, I finally jumped on this bandwagon. Actually, I had one foot on the bandwagon when I started watching Hung on HBO (they performed the theme song). What iced liking the Black Keys for me was when they appeared on the Colbert Report prior to the Grammys:

                   

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
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KT Tunstall's Live at the Wiltern: One thing that's great about KT is she's usually very productive and doesn't let too much time pass between projects. Right now she's touring her latest album Tiger Suit, yet she found time to put out this mini live EP as well that has some excellent live version of a collection of her songs.

The Raconteurs Steady As She Goes: Did you ever have a version of a song that wasn't the same version that most people know or have? That's how I was with this song. Somehow, the version I had in my collection of this song was some live/demo version which was much slower...but still as good...just different. Once I heard the real version of the song, I was just as hooked.

Jeremy Little's If I Only Had a Brain: This is a great little cover of the Wizard of Oz Scarecrow classic (I'm a sucker for covers from Wizard of Oz...I don't know why... I once gave a street performer a huge tip for a beautiful version of Over the Rainbow). How did I stumble upon this version? Well, Musicule's partner in crime, Audra, asked me to Shazam this as it was being played on an episode of Fringe. Music comes from the strangest places...

Ultravox's Quartet: I game to this album a little late in the game...oh, by about 29 years. It came out in 1982 and with the exception of Reap the Wild Wind, didn't know any of the tracks until I downloaded it and listened to the whole thing. The first time Ultravox came around, I was late for the party as well. Their Lament album was my first exposure of to Ultravox (which I just bought again off of iTunes because, lo and behold, I didn't possess it), which I loved...but apparently not enough to buy any other records of theirs. It's worth a listen...some people can't stomach Midge Ure's vocals...I'm not in that camp. As an aside, Midge Ure does a great version of Tom Rush's No Regrets...so much so that I thought it was Midge who originally sang it! In hindsight, that might not have been one of my brightest insights. Here's the video (and visual proof why mustaches weren't big in the 80s):



Lady Antebellum's Need You Now: I'm willing to admit that I can jump on a bandwagon as well as anyone. And following Lady's big Grammy win last week, I figured this is as good a bandwagon to jump on as any...Need You Now it's a catchy tune, although it is this close from being a bit to Grey's Anatomy-ish (and if you need an explanation of what I define as a Grey's Anatomy song, close your eyes and picture the kind of song you'd hear featured on that show...or Ally McBeal or Felicity. Does that help?), but that's not their fault.

Finally...speaking of bandwagons, I'm fighting myself on Mumford & Sons. Dammit they have catchy songs, but I really hate the idea of a band having non-ironic banjo and accordion players. I may have to take the hit on this one. Good songs trump über-hipsterness.

                  

Celebrating and rediscovering a legend online: Nile Rodgers

Over the past few months, I've had the pleasure of following, and sharing an exchange or two on Twitter with Nile Rodgers (@nilerodgers on Twitter). Reading what he tweets about and who he tweets to is like reading a who's who of music from the past 40 years. If most of you know him from his Chic days, you're only scratching the surface.

His tweets have been fascinating, containing musical observations, great photos and some amazing concert videos:



Last week, Nile's tweets revealed more than was expected. He told the world about his current struggle with cancer.

Cancer is one of those things that not only affects those who have it...it hits loved ones around that person like nothing else. Nile is taking a fascinating approach with his battle...using Twitter to reach out to fans, collaborators and anyone else who follows him.

One look at his Twitter feed reveals a man with connections, close friends and an international support network. It's an immediate reminder of the impact he's had on music. Look at your music collection...take a good look at your music collection. Chances are you have music in your collection that Nile Rodgers played a part in that you don't even know about. Sure you may have Chic's Good Times in there. Nile's all over that one, you knew that, but did you know about these?

We Are Family - This song, which put Sister Sledge on the map, was co-written by Nile. Listen to him talk about it:



I'm Coming Out - This Diana Ross song put her career back on track in the early 80s... and Nile wrote it with Bernard Edwards. And let's not forget that P Diddy would be nowhere without sampling this song.



Let's Dance (Album) - One of David Bowie's most commercially popular album was produced by Nile Rodgers and to see Nile tweet about it, put Nile back on the map.

Bowie's support for Nile can be found here: http://www.davidbowie.com/news/newsContent.php?id=20110114

The Reflex/Wild Boys/Notorious - Duran Duran's career got a huge boost in the US thanks to Nile's work on Seven and the Ragged Tiger, Arena and Notorious. Duran Duran initally boasted that they aspired to be "Chic meets Roxy Music". Nile helped them achieve that goal.




Like A Virgin - Nile produced Madonna's second album, the one that clearly marked her as a superstar.

Route 66 - This cover by Depeche Mode showed that they were more than a synth band. Nile produced this, showing the world that Depeche Mode had a whole other dimension that would drive their music into future decades.


Original Sin - By 1984, INXS was already well known in their native Australia. With Original Sin, Nile helped INXS' sound reach the US and UK. As an added bit of trivia, Darryl Hall (the "Hall" in Hall and Oates) sang backup vocals on this track.



Cosmic Thing - One wouldn't naturally put Nile Rodgers and the B-52s together, but Nile brought some magic to this album, giving Fred and Co. one of their most memorable albums.

Coming to America - In the 90s and 2000s, much of Nile's production and songwriting work was on soundtracks. Without Nile, we wouldn't have this gem:



Nile, let your soul shine through and keep up the fight!

Something New: The Daily Dose

"Why the hell do you know that?"

I get asked this question a lot.

My gift for trivia is both a blessing and a curse...I tend to view it as a blessing. Sure, my knowledge of all things trivial takes up brain space that might be better used for something else, but I take pride in the nuggets of information I'm able to impart at random moments. What good is knowing that Jerry Reed wrote songs for Elvis and was buddies with Burt Reynolds unless you can share it?

Besides "Why the hell do you know that?", I'm also often asked, "Where the hell did you find that?". My natural response is "It found me", but I know that isn't always an acceptable response. With that, I'm creating something new on Musicule called The Daily Dose. Here, I'll put down the links to some of the random items that caught my eye on a particular day. These are likely to be items you already know about, or they may be something new. Regardless, for whatever reason, I found them fascinating enough to click on or ponder upon today:

• Large SF Quakes on Twitter: Thanks to @andrewwoodward, I stumbled upon this gem today, a Twitter account that tracks, in real time, big earthquakes in the Bay Area. I consider it a 'nice to know' feature. Mind you, if the quake is big enough, I'll feel it in real time naturally, but I'll take any heads up I can get!
• The Hall of Very Good: I'm a big baseball fan, but I'm even more fascinated by baseball history, particularly the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. I fell upon this site today when reading an article about the likelihood of Gary Sheffield retiring. Even less than a week after the Hall announcing it's inductees, it's nice to find a place for more information about possible HOFers and almost rans.
• Food Truck Friday in Napa: On Friday, I had the opportunity with @Audra_Smith in tow, to visit the Oxbow Market's Food Truck Friday...which had about ten food trucks and tables set up. It's worth visiting, particularly if the weather's nice...however, the buzz at our table was concerning a notable lack of salt being used by the Karma food truck. I'm all for low sodium dining, but when one orders a chicken tikka masala that is lacking in flavor, something's wrong. Thanks to Three Twins Ice Cream, which has a stall in the nearby market, flavor was restored.
• Speaking of food. Have a read of Paula Deen's extensive recipe for English Peas. Better yet, read the comments below the recipe. You'll never look at butter and peas the same way again.
• Back to music...did you ever wonder why a CD holds 74 minutes of music. Thanks to Gizmodo, we know.
• The Worst of Soul Train: While not a link I stumbled upon today, it is one I looked up. SNL has had a great run this season. This past week's Jim Carrey-hosted episode wasn't one of their best this year, but this sketch made me laugh. And if the product actually existed, I'd buy it.
• Finally...I feel bad leaving you with a clearly lacking, two ingredient recipe on my website. As an alternative, have a look at this one. I made it last week and it came out perfect.

Wilke's Travel Rules

I know this is off the beaten Musicule music path, but I thought it worth sharing. Three years ago, I boarded a plane for San Francisco from Singapore. To celebrate the anniversary of my move back to the US, by coincidence, I took a plane back to Singapore. Before and between these flights, I've traveled a ton...enough to share my top ten travel rules. They're ten now, but subject to change and outside contribution. I'd you have any you'd like to add, email them to me and we'll keep adding to the list. In no particular order:

(Note: These rules began as a series of preflight tweets at pwilke that I have since expanded upon below)

Rule #1: You can never have too many sets of headphones on you. Normally I carry about three sets. This rule is more related to my own phobia that came out of a trip to rural India, where I accidentally left my only pair of headphones on the plane. You haven't lived until you've gone headphone hunting in a town that didn't have too many iPods back in the day. Bottom line: headphones don't take up a lot of room, and they're easy to lose. Pack a spare pair.

Rule #2: The toiletry you need on the plane is the one you didn't put in your carry-on. This should be fairly self-explanatory, but if it's dental floss you need? It's in the bag you checked. Cut your finger? The Band-Aids are in the bag below, but you can bet your ass you have your Blistex and deodorant in your backback (and won't need them mid-flight).

Rule #3: The longer the layover, the less interesting the airport. This is just a slight variation of Murphy's Law. I once had the misfortune of having airport wait in iPoh, Malaysia for eight hours once. And this was in the days pre-dating iPods...and it was the last time I ever flew without being armed with reading material. Ipoh is why I carry batteries, magazines, food, water and cyanide tablets in my carry-on bag.

Rule #4: Follow your gut, senses and any kind of profiling you prefer when deciding who to stand behind at immigration and security...just know that whatever system you use will probably be wrong. When I was living in Singapore, I used to always say, never get behind an American ordering coffee at Starbucks. Same sort of rule applies to immigration and security. You know who's going to be difficult in this situation...look before you commit, but just be prepared to be unpleasantly surprised.


Rule #5: The longer the flight, the stickier the food or liquid you'll spill on yourself. For years you could set your watch to the fact that if SQ was serving satay on a flight, in minutes I'd spill peanut sauce on my clothing. Orange juice is another guaranteed spill culprit while flying. If it's a short flight, I'll likely spill water on myself, anything longer than an hour, I might as well just dump a jar of Fluff on my head, since whatever I spill on myself at that point will have the same effect.

Rule #6: Business class lounges prove that, yes, you can make a filling meal of Bloody Mary mix, saltines and Milano cookies. Business class lounges around the world are like snowflakes...each one is different, but they do share a common bond...each has an array of food you might not eat elsewhere. I've snacked on gummi bears and pretzels care of the Frankfurt business class lounge, Milano cookies in LAX, Pringles in Madrid and, well you get the idea. The food you want isn't always going to be the food you'll find in airline lounges, so you make due with what's there. And does anyone really eat the little nondescript sandwiches they serve?

Rule #7: Always have 2 magazines in your carry-on. One for takeoff, one for landing & the remainder of each for when your iPod batteries die. See rule #3...and never underestimate how long the time between the plane door's closing and the "ok to use electronics" all clear is sounded takes. And realize that the inflight magazine and SkyMall catalog just isn't going to cut it for takeoff and landing.

Rule #8: If they're offering you water on the plane, take it...you never know when they'll offer it again.

Rule #9: Skip in-flight breakfast. It never lives up to what you want it to be. Eggs and sausages lose something at 30,000 feet...namely flavor. Skip it. Although...on my flight the other day, Singapore Airlines handed out Krispy Kreme donuts - a step in the right direction.

Rule #10: Be kind the to the flight attendants...their job is harder than you can imagine. No one particularly likes what flying has become with added security checks, fewer luxuries and increased rules and regulations...as hard as flying has become for you, imagine how much difficult it is for them. While you're relaxing mid-flight, they're working their tails off. They're trained more than to just find you a pillow...they're the conduit to saving your life in case something happens...and that covers a lot of ground. Be polite, considerate and let them know you appreciate what they do.

Finally, and this was originally a rule, but I realized it more a mantra: No matter the destination, you're traveling...make the most of the adventure!

Location:Orchard Blvd,,Singapore