Archive for the ‘video’ Category

Bob Dylan Wins Nobel Prize in Literature

Thursday, October 13th, 2016

Not a headline from The Onion. A real headline from the world of 2016:

Bob Dylan, the brilliant, iconoclastic musician who has for decades defied people’s expectations, was announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize in literature on Thursday morning.

Dylan was awarded the prize “for having created new poetic expressions within the American song tradition.”

One of the most prominent musicians of the last half-century, Dylan had long been rumored to be considered for the prize, but literary watchers considered his name among those in the running a novelty. He is the first American to win the prize since Toni Morrison in 1993.

The room of watchers at the Swedish Academy seemed shocked by the announcement, one calling the decision “radical” when asking Sara Danils, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, about the choice.

She compared Dylan to the poet Sappho, and then suggested the interviewer begin with Dylan’s record “Blonde on Blonde.”

Blink.

Blink.

I never put any stock in the Nobel Prize in Literature (or Peace, for that matter) and can conceive of worse choices. But I was unaware that Jack Black’s character from High Fidelity was on the Nobel Prize committee.

So here’s the opening track of Blonde on Blonde:

Perhaps the lyrics offer a glimpse at how the committee came to its decision…

File under: 2016. This year…

Holy Fark: They’re Making a TV Series of Candle Cove

Tuesday, October 11th, 2016

That was my reaction upon reading this.

In fact, making is probably the wrong word, since it evidently premiered on SyFy tonight. (I’ve been busy.)

If you hadn’t heard of it before, it’s a Creepy Pasta about a obscure kid’s TV marionette show, except most kid’s shows don’t have characters like “The Skintaker.” And naturally, kid’s remember how creepy it was, but parents only remember them watching static.

Here’s a trailer:

And here’s someone’s interpretation of the imaginary show’s imaginary theme music:

Shoegazer Sunday: All in the Golden Afternoon’s “The Long Goodbye”

Sunday, October 9th, 2016

Hope you like drone rock with a repeating riff played for an extended period of time, because that’s what Austin’s own All in the Golden Afternoon is laying down in “The Long Goodbye,” which reminds me of Talking Heads’ “The Overload.” The ubiquitous Ulrich Schnauss was evidently involved in this as well.

All in the Golden Afternoon is one of six bands that will be appearing at Lucious Heaven, a night of shoegaze bands at Cheer Up Charlie’s on October 15, 2016, which is a mere $5.

Halloween: Betty Boop’s Snow White

Monday, October 3rd, 2016

It’s October already, so time to start putting up some Halloween posts, so here’s Betty Boop’s version of Snow White. Really digging those crazy background images during the Cab Calloway song…

Ping Pong Ball Trick Shots

Tuesday, September 20th, 2016

Not usually my thing, but this one is pretty amusing.

Shoegazer Sunday: Thrushes’ “Salt and Stone”

Sunday, September 18th, 2016

Been a while since I featured Thrushes for the Sunday Dose of Shoegaze, so here they are with “Salt and Stone” and a video that seems to borrow more than a little from Kill Bill Volume 2.

Shoegazer Sunday: Vet Trip’s “Finland”

Sunday, September 11th, 2016

Hey look, it’s another Austin shoegaze band! Vet Trip is a four-piece that sounds a little bit like Thrushes by way of Seasurfer.

Six Degrees of Marty Feldman

Saturday, September 10th, 2016

Probably because I was searching for various clips following Gene Wilder’s death, this video about Marty Feldman’s life came up on YouTube. I thought I’d see a few minutes of it and actually ended up watching the whole thing.

Here in the U.S. Feldman is probably know mainly for appearing in Young Frankenstein, but in the UK he was revered as a radio and TV comic writing and performing genius who held his own working with many of the people who would later form Monty Python. Indeed, Feldman co-wrote the famous “Four Yorkshiremen” skit Python would later adopt as their own, and when Python first went on the air, Feldman was staring in his own Marty show on the BBC.

It’s worth a watch.

Gene Wilder RIP

Monday, August 29th, 2016

Gene Wilder has died at age 83 of Alzheimer’s.

He was one of his generation’s great comic actors, with a natural gift for underplaying a straight man and perfect deadpan delivery, and was in some of the greatest comedies of the 1970s.

Blazing Saddles, of course:

Young Frankenstein:

And who can forget the freaky boat ride from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory:

And here’s an animated overview of his life in his own words:

Shoegazer Sunday: Lazy Legs’ “Crush”

Sunday, August 21st, 2016

Lazy legs is a Chicago-based trio that just released Visiondeath, their debut album. And here’s “Crush.” Because: Doggies!

(Hat tip: Primal Music Blog.)