George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue"

This is one of my favorite compositions and I'd like to share it with you in Fantasia 2000 form.

Rhapsody in Blue
by -Chapo-

Here's another shorter version for a United Airlines commercial. The animation is really spectacular. It's called "Sea Orchestra" and it was done by Shy The Sun, the production company made up of some of the members of The Blackheart Gang, where I first saw this video. It speaks to the little girl in me who watched The Little Mermaid every day for seven weeks and used to pretend to be Ursula in the bathtub, sinking ships and shooting lasers at a plastic Prince Eric.

Listening In: Noisettes and Mayer Hawthorne

Here's some more lovely music that I've found to quell my addiction to '60s revival.

First there's the Noisettes (above). Their supermodel of a front woman and bassist, Shingai Shoniwa, used to work with a burlesque revue and studied to be a circus performer. Drummer Jamie Morrison says he used to practice drums 18 hours a day as a kid on his own accord. That's just the start of how interesting and talented this British band is. Not all of their music is in the throwback style of the song "Never Forget You" (video below), but it's all good.

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Then there's Mayer Hawthorne (below) with his stylish geekdom and vinyl-lovin' cool.


Mayer Hawthorne has a pedigree that schooled him in Motown (he grew up outside of Detroit) and breakbeat (he now lives in Los Angeles). He plays pretty much all the instruments on his tracks, which impresses me since I can play none. M.H. recently toured as the opening act for Peanut Butter Wolf, who is also his record label exec and signed him after hearing only two songs. That's always a vote of confidence when the boss like's you enough to take you on the road with him. "Maybe So, Maybe No" is probably my favorite track, but I'm also pleased with "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out" (video below). I can't wait for the full-length album to start its heavy rotation in my iTunes. It just has to be made and released first.

Salute to Michael Jackson

You probably already heard, but the King of Pop suffered a fatal heart attack today and passed away.

RIP, you crazy SOB.

I choose to remember you like the photos below, even though by the time I was old enough count to ten you were halfway to looking like an alien.


My mom and I used to bump this jam from "Off The Wall" in our basement and dance around when I was little. And also presently.


I had to add this Pepsi commercial below because, in addition to MJ, it prominently features the young Carlton Banks from Fresh Prince. PYT.

Splish Splash

How do you think The Transparent Canoe Kayak would fare in Lake of the Isles?

If I got too disturbed by what I saw below I could just stroll along the beach wearing these Metal Detecting Sandals or get the kids together for a spirited game of King of the Floating Planet (below).

Dishonest Cabbies Need Love Too

This Best of Craigslist post reminds me of the time a cab driver in Argentina gave me change in counterfeit bills and then asked me out.

Animal Minds

I read this story, "Animal Minds," by Virginia Morell, in an old National Geographic Magazine at my boyfriend's parent's house. It is from the March 2008 issue and it was incredibly interesting.

Highlights:

• Alex the parrot asks to go to his tree and gets sassy with the other birds when they can't pronounce words correctly.
  
• Betsy the dog (pictured above) knows 340 words and learns new ones at the same rate as a toddler. I am so getting a shepherding dog when the time comes...
  
• Betty the crow makes and uses tools to get food.
• Dolphins are just crafty as hell.
  

Listening In: Sissy Wish

This is just the thing to get me off my Phoenix kick.

The girl behind the stage name, Siri Wålberg, and a couple of bandmates make up the nut and bolts of Norway's Sissy Wish. A cash flow problem made pairing down the band a necessity when Sissy Wish wanted to tour in America with their acoustic pop music in tow a few years ago. Not surprisingly, using lots of electronics to make up for the lack of beating hearts on stage changed everything and her modern sound was born. Bye-bye banjos and hello synthesizer.

Full of toy pianos and woolly guitar, Sissy Wish's style is kinda like that other Scandinavian ingenue Lykke Li---but Sissy is so much more accessible. For me, Lykke Li's small catalog is hit-or-miss and 2008's "Youth Novels," didn't sound like a fully actualized album. It's catchy and New Wave-y one minute (think "I'm Good, I'm Gone" and "Little Bit") and the next thing you know you are wading through an all-too-experimental mess. I genuinely like her but I think she needs a "You are no Björk, my dear" reality check.

Sissy Wish, however, is everything I wanted Lykke Li to be and more. She delivers that similarly airy soprano that borders on transparent but without the obvious gimmicks. Sissy's pop is made of sugar rather than saccharine. She's not trying to be cute or offbeat---she just is.

Her album, "Beauties Never Die" was released in Europe already but doesn't come out in the U.S. until September 22, 2009---we can all listen online though. The whole thing is a testament to the art of digitally driven music. I love "DWTS" for its robotic dance percussion and contagious chorus. It looks to be the first single and the title stands for "Do What They Say," no matter how much I wish it stood for "Dancing With The Stars." The title track, "Beauties Never Die" reminds me a little of the jangly '60s pop of Dusty Springfield, for which I can never deny my love. Other standouts are "Elqat," "Yayaya" and the soft and sweet "Milk." It is hard for me to pick a favorite but as of the present moment I am partial to "Table 44," which uses perfectly engineered bridges that betray the previous incarnation's folk ties even over all the electronic toys.

Through the whole album, Sissy Wish effortlessly exudes cool-kid vibes with eccentric lyrics and inventive melodies that reflect exactly what electronic pop in the aughts (i.e. the '00s) should be. Plus, she's got ties here in Minneapolis as she is represented in the U.S. by the Twin Cities label Afternoon Records.

Afternoon Records recently invited everyone to listen to Sissy Wish's entire album from their website for free. Take heed and stream away.

Too much Phoenix?

"I want my life to be a little bit more like this. Can we make that happen this summer?" - Evan C. ("Lisztomania" video courtesy of him digging around on the web)

Outnumbered

I don't watch a lot of TV (Why do I always feel compelled to tell people that?? Ugh... I'm one of them... half of one, at least) but I am head over heels for this show. Outnumbered is a BBC show that combines Kid's Say the Darndest Things with a dry British witticism, which is some of the best kind of witticism around, if you ask me... which you never do but I always answer anyway. Unlike most of the other shows I've enjoyed recently, this one hasn't been canceled yet! They have recorded a pilot for an American version but haven't set an air date yet. It's probably going to tank like most American remakes of good foreign shows (see: Coupling, Kath & Kim, those strange Japanese game shows) but maybe, just maybe, it will be another double-hit like The Office for both mummy (England) and child (America).

Here's another clip.

Midwest Vintage Sale: June 26

Here ye, here ye.

June 26, you are invited (by me, even though I'm not hosting it and have no affiliation with it) to the Midwest Vintage Sale at the MN State Fairgrounds.

I was not going to suggest this because I wanted all that adorable olden times crap to myself but I should only have to contend with my three loyal readers, four tops. I'm confident I can fight you off if we should get into it over a 1940s dress or a Victorian feathered hat. Step off, girlies...step OFF.

Listening In... Phoenix

It has come to my attention that not enough of my friends know about one of my favorite bands. Friends, meet Phoenix.

Exhibit A: Their new video for "1901," courtesy of MTV and Mixtapes| Heartbreaks

Phoenix - New Music - More Music Videos

Exhibit B: My preview for their upcoming show at the Varsity Theater on June 23 (via Metromix)

Why are Americans always hating on France? We can't begin to investigate that international mystery, but we can hypothesize that it's because we secretly covet their musicians. Phoenix is one such band we want.

To the untrained ear, Phoenix's perfected pop rock could be from Chicago, Los Angeles or even Minneapolis-St. Paul. However Yankee they may sound, it just isn't so. In reality, Phoenix was grown in the rich Parisian suburb of Versailles (you might have heard of it). An unlikely musical hot spot, Versailles also launched the careers of Air and Daft Punk, who have collaborated in different ways with Phoenix over their careers—guitarist Laurent Brancowitz was even in a short-lived band called Darlin' with the guys from Daft Punk once upon a time.

Phoenix is buoyant pop rock of the highest caliber, seemingly untainted by other influences but actually very encompassing. The friendly blips of electronic disco make appearances next to starry-eyed, college rock guitar strumming, all wrapped up in a loveably lo-fi package by four fun-loving Frenchmen. Phoenix is like the poppier first-born son of T. Rex (baby mama, unknown—we don't want to gossip but T. Rex gets around), and the cool, penny loafer-clad dad of Vampire Weekend and MGMT. —Annie D'Souza, Metromix