Category: Music

Lou Reed: Two songs

Lou Reed died two days ago. A giant has passed. I grew up in an era when musicians were directly influenced by Lou Reed and Velvet Underground. In fact, it’s been said that those who listened to them during that time went out and formed a band, many of which went on to become successes themselves. But his music — and Velvet Underground’s — is not easy to like. It requires a certain mood and outlook to get into it. They’re not really songs per se, but more like novels. As I grew older though, I finally got his music. I guess it requires a certain maturity and some living to finally get into that place where I “get” him.

Here, two songs that, while not exactly the ones that made him and his band famous, showcase his range as a musician, traveling from the dark melodies he trafficked in to almost sunny ditties that are at once melodic and melancholic. (And somewhere in Long Piddleton, Melrose Plant, Earl of Caverness and Lou Reed aficionado, must be raising a glass of Guinness to toast his fallen hero.)

 

PS: Neil Gaiman wrote a really touching tribute to the man: Neil Gaiman on Lou Reed. If not for Reed, Sandman would not exist. My universe just shifted.

 

Because it’s a Friday and we need something fun and funky yet chill

 

 

Here’s Go West with “King of Wishful Thinking” and “What You Won’t Do for Love” (I love the intro of this song!). Cue the weekend!

BTW, posting this just proves my theory that our music preferences are formed when we were teenagers — which of course, completely dates me!

And now for some Velvet Underground…

Not the original vid, but pretty good arrangement and phrasing — and perfect for a lazy, yes, Sunday morning.

Sunday Morning
(Lou Reed, John Davies Cale, David Lang)

Sunday morning, praise the dawning
It’s just a restless feeling by my side
Early dawning, Sunday morning
It’s just the wasted years so close behind

Watch out, the world’s behind you
There’s always someone around you who will call
It’s nothing at all

Sunday morning and I’m falling
I’ve got a feeling I don’t want to know
Early dawning, Sunday morning
It’s all the streets you crossed, not so long ago

Watch out, the world’s behind you
There’s always someone around you who will call
It’s nothing at all

Watch out, the world’s behind you
There’s always someone around you who will call
It’s nothing at all

Sunday morning
Sunday morning
Sunday morning

So what’s on your Sunday playlist?

Goodbye, Bunheads!

Continuing with my farewell kick, here’s the cast of Bunheads, in their “Farewell Dance”. Bunheads is the ABC TV series about a group of teen ballet dancers in a small California town, whose teachers are the awesome Sutton Foster (the original Millie in “Thoroughly Modern Millie” to theater geeks) and the even awesomer Kelly Bishop (Lorelei Gilmore’s mom to Gilmore Girls fans, the original Sheila in “A Chorus Line” to theater geeks).

Barebones synopsis of the series: Sutton plays Michelle, a Vegas showgirl, who dreams of making it big in Broadway. She marries a man on a whim (Alan Ruck — Cameron to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off fans), moves to a small town in California with him. He dies in an accident, leaving her and her mother-in-law, Fanny (Bishop), who runs a ballet school to get to know each other. Drama and (dance) hijinks ensue.

It’s a fun show and not just because of the dancing. It’s from Amy Sherman-Palladino, creator of the Gilmore Girls, so it has that same aesthetic and sensibility. I had thought that it would actually take off, given the likeable cast and the network-friendly premise and storyline. Alas, it didn’t.

So, here’s the farewell dance. This would have been perfect if Sutton Foster and Kelly Bishop also performed. But as it is, it’s great. Goodbye, Bunheads, I’ll miss you! It was fun playing in your sandbox!

Choreographer: Marguerite Derricks
Music: “Blues for Baby and Me” by Elton John
Performers: The cast of Bunheads sans Kaitlyn Jenkins (who plays the sweet Boo).

Geekery: The Pixar Theory

Geekery: The Pixar Theory

pixar.com

Saw this while I was surfing the internets yesterday and it’s geeky and strange enough to capture my interest, which is why I’m linking it here. Basically, if you click on the link above, Jon Negroni’s theory posits that all Pixar movies are interconnected in terms of timelines, storylines, motivations, etc… It’s actually pretty compelling. Now I want to watch all the Pixar movies in order of the theory, haha!

For a capsule version of the theory, here’s the timeline: The Pixar Theory timeline. But do read the whole theory. It’s interesting, promise!

[image borrowed from http://www.jonnegroni.com

Let’s start the weekend with Rod Stewart

Got inspired by a friend (hello, Mari!), who posted a Rod Stewart song on Facebook, so… because it’s been a crazy stress-filled week and we all need something mellow and yet kinda cool, and because Rod Stewart feels like a dude everyone can grab a drink and shoot the breeze with, here’s nearly an hour’s worth of his hits. Oh, and bonus, Ronnie Wood — how cool is that?!

Here’s the playlist:
1. Hot Legs
2. Tonight’s The Night
3. Handbags And Gladrags
4. Cut Across Shorty
5. Every Picture Tells A Story
6. Maggie May ( FILE MISSING )
7. Reason To Believe
8. People Get Ready
9. Have I Told You Lately
10. Tom Traubert’s Blues (Waltzing Matilda)
11. The First Cut Is The Deepest
12. Mandolin Wind
13. Highgate Shuffle
14. Stay With Me ( FILE MISSING )
15. Having A Party

Happy Friday and have a restful weekend, people!