More sad news this week, as another American legend passes away.

One thing's for sure, the Heavenly Host are singing with more rhythm and soul tonight.

Posted by: JohnL at 10:19 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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A few months back, I linked to a trio of Lileks' Trek tunes (Lileks keeps these and other original tunes here).

Recent commenter Stiiv points me to his own collection of ALL ORIGINAL Trek music.

I like Legal Lizard and Acts of War.

Posted by: JohnL at 08:30 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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LeeAnn at the cheese stands alone posted a challenge the other day: "for each letter of the alphabet, list a band you truly like," in her words. Here goes:

Aerosmith
Booker T and the MGs; Bowie, David
Cream; Cure, The
Deep Purple; Doors, The; Dream Theater
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer
Folds, Ben; Foo Fighters
Genesis; Gabriel, Peter
Hendrix, Jimi
INXS; Iris, Donnie
Jackson, Joe
Kinks, The
Led Zeppelin
Monkees
Numan, Gary
Orbison, Roy
Pink Floyd
Queen
Rush
Styx; Seal; Santana; Steppenwolf; Supertramp
Triumph; Traffic
Ultravox
Van Halen; Vangelis
Who, The; Winwood, Steve
X, Planet (OK, that's kind of cheating)
Yes
ZZ Top

Feel free to leave your list in comments, or post it and trackback to here or LeeAnn.

Posted by: JohnL at 08:53 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I've enjoyed taking my new dog on nightly walks. The neighborhood is even prettier and more peaceful than usual. A chorus of thousands of toads is raising its voice from the creek. Birds are settling down for the night. Venus and a few stars peek through the veil of dusk.

The moon was one of my regular walking companions for the first couple of weeks that we had Jake. But it disappeared a couple of weeks ago, coming out later and later. Tonight, it reappeared, low in the West -- a waxing crescent. Reflected Earthlight illuminated the night-side of the moon.

One of my favorite sights, and one that is evocatively captured in the lyrics of the Rush song Earthshine.

(Lyrics in extended entry). more...

Posted by: JohnL at 09:52 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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This is interesting news.

Rush, which has never been known for covering other artists' material (although their very first single was a cover of Buddy Holly's Not Fade Away), is now releasing a new album to commemorate their 30 years together consisting of eight cover songs representing their earliest musical influences:

• Summertime Blues (Blue Cheer/Eddie Cochran)


• Heart Full of Soul (Yardbirds)


• Shapes of Things (Yardbirds)


• The Seeker (The Who)


• For What It's Worth (Buffalo Springfield)


• Mr. Soul (Buffalo Springfield)


• Seven and Seven Is (Love)


• Crossroads (Robert Johnson/Cream)

More in the extended entry. . .

more...

Posted by: JohnL at 11:45 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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I'll be sprinkling more and more Rush into my posts in the coming month-and-a-half until the big concert on June 23.

Given today's headlines, I decided to post the lyrics from their take on the "Religion of Peace," written post-9/11 (from the 2002 album, Vapor Trails):

Peaceable Kingdom

A wave toward the clearing sky

All this time we're talking and sharing our Rational View
A billion other voices are spreading other news
All this time we're living and trying to understand
Why a billion other choices are making their demands

Talk of a Peaceable Kingdom
Talk of a time without fear
The ones we wish would listen
Are never going to hear

Justice against The Hanged Man
Knight of Wands against the hour
Swords against the kingdom
Time against The Tower

All this time we're shuffling and laying out all our cards
While a billion other dealers are slipping past our guards
All this time we're hoping and praying we all might learn
While a billion other teachers are teaching them how to burn

Dream of a Peaceable Kingdom
Dream of a time without war
The ones we wish would hear us
Have heard it all before

A wave toward the clearing sky
A wave toward the clearing sky

The Hermit against The Lovers
Or the Devil against the Fool
Swords against the kingdom
The Wheel against the rules

All this time we're burning like bonfires in the dark
A billion other blazes are shooting off their sparks
Every spark a drifting ember of desire
To fall upon the earth and spark another fire

A homeward angel on the fly
A wave toward the clearing sky

Posted by: JohnL at 08:25 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I was happy to see Rush back in the news today, with a generally positive preview of their upcoming 30th-anniversary world tour and an interesting interview of all three band members.

This is a nice contrast to the recent negative headlines surrounding the extraordinarily-out-of-character behavior of guitarist Alex Zivojinovich (Lifeson) on New Year's Eve. (Over 30 years, none of these guys has ever had any kind of run-ins with the law).

Lifeson's court date is set for May 17, just a week or so before their world tour starts on May 26. This makes me think that the defense either has iron-clad video evidence substantiating Lifeson's version of events, or they have a plea arrangement worked out in advance and are waiting to formalize it in court. This is rank speculation, of course, as I am neither a criminal defense attorney nor licensed to practice in Florida.

I sure hope they've got something worked out that doesn't involve deportation proceedings or jail time, since I've already got three tickets (for my two sons and me) for the June 23 appearance in Dallas. At ages 7 and 9, this will be the boys' first rock concert.

Rush exerted a huge influence on my intellectual and musical development, turning me on to Ayn Rand, libertarianism, synthesizers, and odd time signatures. If you've never seen or heard Rush, this DVD and its accompanying live CD are good places to start.

Posted by: JohnL at 10:43 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Here's a DVD I'll be looking forward to later this year.

Bob Moog's synthesizers defined the sound of much of the popular music of the 1970s and early 1980s: from progressive rock to heavy metal, pop to disco, country to new wave. My favorite groups, Rush, Yes, and ELP, all gave Moog instruments a leading role in their recordings and performances.

Then, "digital" synthesizers appeared and pushed the warm, user-friendly analog instruments to the sidelines for more than a decade.

But in the last few years, analog synthesizers in general (and Bob Moog's instruments in particular) have been making something of a comeback.

This is a real synthesizer.

And this is the anti-Moog.

Posted by: JohnL at 12:58 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I haven't done nearly enough musical blogging recently. Thanks to my recent addition to Lynn's blogroll at Reflections in d minor, I have been inspired to share some of my musical background.

I play keyboards: piano, organ, and synthesizers. I also know a little bass guitar and can sing passably. I am trying to teach myself drums, but I don't practice consistently enough (I only have a practice pad) to be making much progress.

more...

Posted by: JohnL at 10:18 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Got this Canonical List of Musician Jokes from the Larry Niven listserv (subscribe here).

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If you're not a regular reader of the Volokh Conspiracy, you should be. Lots of smart commentary on matters of law, policy, and culture with a libertarian bent.

This year, Juan Non-Volokh has been posting a different song's lyrics each Sunday. His musical tastes seem to be as eclectic as mine. This week's selection is Prelude to a Kiss, by Duke Ellington. Go read the lyrics. If you can avoid having any sappy thoughts about someone you love or have loved as you read them, then you are hopeless.

Posted by: JohnL at 10:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Details here.

(As you can see, the real headline is much funnier, but this is a family blog).

Looks like I just found a "news" site to go along with the Onion.

Posted by: JohnL at 12:21 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Following Vodkapundit's implementation of a suggestion by John Scalzi (who cribbed the idea from Neil Gaiman), here are the first ten tunes that pop up when I shuffle iTunes:
1. Neil Diamond - America
2. TV Theme: Star Trek TOS Main Title
3. Boston - Foreplay/Long Time
4. Movie Theme: James Bond Theme
5. Weird Al Yankovich - Yoda
6. ACDC - Hell's Bells
7. Moby - Bodyrock
8. Nine Inch Nails - Eraser
9. Genesis - Cinema Show
10. Roy Orbison - Pretty Woman

Not too embarassing, but not completely representative, either. I do have to admit that I have not ripped many of my CDs to my hard drive; most of these are just songs that I don't have elsewhere on CD, but want to include in homemade compilations. Here are the next 10, out of curiosity:

1. Snap - Dark Side of the Moog
2. Gary Numan - Are Friends Electric
3. Fear Factory w/ Gary Numan - "Cars" Remix
4. TV Theme: Logan's Run
5. Ultravox - Reap The Wild Wind
6. Human League - Keep Feelin' Fascination
7. Peter Gabriel/Thomas Dolby - Little Light of Love
8. Moby - James Bond Theme
9. Kiss - Star Spangled Banner (Hendrix cover)
10. David Bowie - See Emily Play (Pink Floyd cover)

For comparison's sake, here are the musical selections played by the Mars Rover teams (I like Opportunity's music better, but both sets are pretty decent).

Posted by: JohnL at 09:33 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The Moon Base Clavius site logo (see post immediately below) reminded me of the cover of this classic record.

Groove to the following hits, as realized on a [then] ultra-modern Moog modular synthesizer:
"Na Na Hey Hey," "Nights in White Satin," "Sugar Sugar," "Raindrops
Keep Falling on My Head," and many more songs closely contemporaneous
with my 1968 birth year.

I actually bought a copy of this record off eBay about 2 years ago. I'm thinking about arranging some modern pop tunes using this very slick software emulation of a Moog system (free download).

Posted by: JohnL at 09:37 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Interesting compilation of music containing biblical or religious references, from Billy Joel to Iron Maiden, the Indigo Girls to Simon and Garfunkel (and many many more). (Hat tip: Instapundit).

While you're there, be sure to check out the rest of Father Tucker's site. He has some interesting posts on the music and liturgy of post-Islamic Christians in Spain, brain fingerprinting, Mel Gibson's Passion, and the Jesuits, among others.

Go check the whole thing out. Despite the irritating light-text-on-a-dark-background style, I'm adding it to my permanent links on the left.

Posted by: JohnL at 10:33 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Is the name of Lileks' latest Trek musical offering. (Mr. Scott is the MC).

Posted by: JohnL at 11:21 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I picked up the Rush in Rio DVD today and have watched the first half of disc one.

I will be watching the rest tonight, so no more posts. (Thanks to some alphabetical serendipity, I picked this DVD up today, too!)

I see that Alan K. Henderson is in the spirit of the day.

Posted by: JohnL at 10:44 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Since music and science fiction are among my strongest passions, I would be remiss if I did not point out this site. (Link via Hobbyspace).

You will find there recordings of soundtracks inspired by science fiction. I am currently listening to the nine billion names of god, based on the story by Arthur C. Clarke.

Give it a listen.

Posted by: JohnL at 11:17 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I always suffer a moment of cognitive dissonance when I hear people talking about Rush on the radio.

You see, when I grew up, Rush was almost never on the radio, (except for that summer of 1981 when they played Limelight and Tom Sawyer from this album all the time).

But now you hear about Rush on the radio all the time.

Rush is all over the news. But alas, the real news about Rush is not being widely broadcast.

My advice to Rush? Listen to Rush. Maybe Passage to Bangkok.

Oh, and Rush? Can't do the time? Don't do the crime.

Posted by: JohnL at 11:15 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Virginia Postrel had a couple of interesting posts recently about the visual aesthetics of musical instruments.

I play pipe organ (solo) as well as Hammond Organ and electronic keyboards (in a band), so I have some direct experience with these matters. While I am an amateur organist, I did study four years with a great professor (Frank Speller) on one of the best and most beautiful instruments in North America at UT-Austin.

Pipe organs are each truly unique, and exist at an interesting intersection of music, architecture, interior design, history, and geography. There is no "standard" organ in the sense that there is a standard grand piano (88 keys) or acoustic guitar (6 strings). There has been a long-running debate going on in the pipe organ community about the aesthetics of a major new organ being built by Glatter-Goetz/Rosales going into the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney concert hall in Los Angeles. Gehry himself has described the organ facade he helped design as a "box of french fries."

In the context of the building, the organ design seems perfectly suited to its environment. But many organists have their drawers in a bunch because of the perceived lack
of "dignity." They have already passed judgment on it as an atrocity. Mind you, no one has yet even heard a note played on the instrument, which is likely to be on a par with other great modern concert hall organs (at the Meyerson, the Benaroya, etc.)

I just hope the sound of the organ is as bold as its visual design.

Posted by: JohnL at 11:21 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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