Some mashups, don’t quite work. With others, you’re just amazed you didn’t think of it yourself… this one is sublime – Eminem, Benny Hill, a perfect match!
Thanks to Mike @ Moot for the link… :o)
not really one for the U2 obsessives…
Here’s a clip from Ross Noble’s Randomist DVD – without doubt two of the funniest hours of comedy I’ve ever seen, and the bit in this clip where he starts going on about Bono made me cry the first time I heard it. Mike Radcliffe, you’re really not going to like this… ;o)
The end of the hippie dream
Altamont – just the name carries so much resonance. The place where the dreams of flower power and the 60s summer of love, woodstock and hippies all went to shit because The Rolling Stones didn’t realise that – unlike in England where ‘Hell’s Angel’ just meant ‘biker with a beard and a personal hygiene problem’ – American Hell’s Angels were largely racist outlaws, who took great delight in stabbing a black dude to death at the gig.
Anyway, that was a completely different Altamont, given that it was in California, and we’re in Illinois. However, there must be some sort of spiritual link between the two, as the shitty motel we’re in definitely feels like the kind of place where a nasty murder could take place…
Still, cheer yourself up by watching this YouTube vid of me playing at the house concert we did in Dallas – Brian who organised the gig owns a Rick Turner Model 1 bass, which I HAD to play… the improv in question is a variation on the ii-V funk guitar thing that I used for the loop demo vid on YouTube, with a bit of the melody from Chameleon by Herbie Hancock in the middle of it, and lots of gratuitous shredding, but it’s a great sounding bass!
Duke Special video for 'Freewheel'
here’s the video to ‘Freewheel’ by Duke Special – Duke Special, AKA Pete Wilson, is a genius. Pure and simple. I’ve known him for years, been listening to him play since he was in dreadful bands he’s rather forget ever existed, and now he’s on the brink of a major breakthrough. Go and buy the single, or download it from iTunes or wherever. He’s great. Go on, do it!
and yet another youtube video!!
this time, Scott Peck, with a long spoken intro to the tune… (played on a borrowed Modulus fretted bass, which was lovely). Enjoy
Another YouTube video…
Here’s another youtube video – this one’s recorded at Bass and Beyond in Sacramento – it’s another version of Grace and Gratitude. Enjoy!
New Video of me playing at NAMM…
just found these two YouTube Videos of me doing the Looperlative thang at NAMM, uploaded by the lovely and talented Kim Flint. Enjoy –
The Guardian's top 100 websites..
Found via a link on Jonny Baker’s blog – The Guardian’s top 100 most useful websites – not many surprises there (Google, Flickr, MySpace, YouTube all get a mention) but a couple of useful looking things I’d not seen before. Definitely one for all you cuddly geeks out there.
x
rescuing great songs…
So, clearly The Cheat is on the same tip as me just now, and just sent me this Youtube link, to Brett Anderson (ex-Suede) doing ‘Beautiful’ – as made famous by Christina Aguillera… another great song… Christina’s version is rather nice too, certainly not in the same doleful performance league as Celine slaughtering ‘My Heart Will Go On’, but it’s another one that benefits from the acoustic treatment. Enjoy…
David Ford gig at Bush Hall
One of the guests at Duke Special’s gig last week was David Ford – fantastic singer/songwriter, and from the two minutes I spent talking to him, a seemingly v. nice bloke. He mentioned at that gig that he had a show coming up at Bush Hall, but it was sold out, and apologised for not being able to invite me to even buy a ticket and go… Fear not, for where bands can’t get tickets for their own shows, the mighty Catster can employ the dark forces of the evil empire to procure tickets to just about anything (if I was planning on having Christmas dinner at Bono’s house with his family, and I’m sure Catster could sort out a guestlist place… :o)
So, Catster, The Cheat and I all went to the gig, after a lovely curry at the Ajanta (scene of many many a curry with Jez when he was living in Shepherd’s Bush – come home, you fool – Canada is clearly not the place for you, I haven’t done a wedding gig since you left!)
The gig was an annual charity show that David does, with special guests, to raise money for different projects – this year’s was a YMCA project that took kids from problem situations and put them on a scheme for a few months that apparently helps them look at self-esteem and lifestyle issues before sending them off to Durban in South Africa to work on an HIB/AIDS project out there. Amazing stuff, gotta love the YMCA.
And the gig was amazing. David’s own songs are big emotional singer/songwriter affairs, like a more angry Damian Rice, and the choice of crazy covers for the night was briliant. Fran Healy from Travis did a fab version of Dancing Queen, then a completely acoustic version of Driftwood, stood on top of a grand piano played by David – that’s almost certainly on YouTube by now; if not I’ll upload my video of it, cos it was great.
David then picked songs at random out of a ‘number one hits of the last 30 years’ book, and played a blinding version of ‘My Heart Will Go On’ – how clever is Celine that she managed to make me hate what is now clearly a very very beautiful song? That takes quite a skill, a sort of reverse alchemy… Anyway, David played it fairly straight to start with, then went all uptempo and spoilt it, but still, it proved that with just a guitar and a voice, it’s an incredible song. He also did Like A Prayer with big audience sing-along, which worked brilliantly too, and Ashes to Ashes, but couldn’t remember the melody on the middle. Same for ‘If You’re Not The One’ by Daniel Beddingfield, another song I’ve loved since I first heard it (see Catster, I’m not ashamed to admit it!), which David again hinted at doing a beautiful version of before giving up… He could SO do an incredible covers album of tunes like that. maybe he will one day.
Anyway, all in a great night – extra kudos to his drummer, who was tops. The rest of the band were fun but a bit shambolic – great for a night like this, but not what you’d want on a proper gig. The drummer though was v. funky. Great player.
So now I need to catch a normal David Ford gig some time, to see what he does then. I’ll be the one down the front asking for ‘My Heart Will Go On’.