According to Slate, it “commandeers the heartache of Gotye’s megahit breakup anthem and make it about a different kind of heartbreak altogether—this time the sadness over the loss of the original Star Wars films.” Pretty heavy stuff:
More from Paste and the Hero Complex blog at the LA Times website.
More Star Wars stuff here.
I’m getting ready to leave the city for good, thinking about music that primed me for my time here in the Big Apple.
2. The Cult, “New York City”
And the Cult too.
3. Jay-Z, “Empire State of Mind”
On the radio during my last drive from Rochester to NYC Thursday.
A friend of mine from out of town, no particular fan of Gotham, once commented that as soon as her plane touched down in the big city, her blood pressure went up. My response: “Yeah; isn’t it great?”
4. John Lennon, “New York City”
A bad father with the best intentions: no wonder I can still relate to John Lennon. In junior high, I wanted to be him.
5. Van Heusen and Cahn, “Ring-A-Ding Ding” sung by Frank Sinatra
No one singer is more New York than Sinatra. When I was in high school, I played with a pianist who was absolutely nuts for the guy; he put this song on a jazz mix tape he made for me.
Back in 1999, the Rochester Academy of Medicine commissioned Lorenzo Palomo to write a piece commemorating its centennial. The result was Andalusian Divertimento, which Rebecca Pennys and herNew Arts Trio performed at the 2001 anniversary celebration:
Through this project, the Spanish composer met Sid Sobel, a Flower City oncologist with a particular passion for The Sneetches. They hit it off, and Sobel proposed another commission, this one to set his favorite Seuss story to music.
Tomorrow, the Oberlin Orchestra gives the world premiere of Palomo’s Dr. Seuss’ The Sneetches, fulfilling Sobel’s dream of using a new medium to convey the story’s message of tolerance, and showcasing Palomo’s flair for orchestral writing.
Unlike so much of Palomo’s other music, Sneetches has little of that characteristic (some might say stereotypical) Spanish sound; it does, however, have a strong enough rhythmic flow to move the story along, and lots of catchy melodic hooks to complement the recitation of the story (it’s a melodrama).
Sneetches makes its way to Rochester on May 5 and 6 when the RPO and Arild Remmereit perform it with John de Lancie. Everyone at work knows de Lancie as Q, but I’ll remember him as the air traffic controller on Breaking Bad. I really don’t like Star Trek.
It wasn’t until I heard Justin Vernon’s cover of “I Can’t Make You Love Me” that I became a Bon Iver fan:
There’s something about a really well done cover song that makes me smile, and no group out there now has put the energy and care into others’ songs like Bon Iver. Here’s a top-ten list, compiled by Stereogum. The breadth is pretty astonishing.
I don’t know, Matt; this might be the guy:
Back in 2001 Christian label Sparrow Records released an album with music by Mathes called Thomas Kinkade: Music of Light. I can’t find it on Kinkade’s website, but I’m sure it’s on iTunes, if you’re interested.
On Facebook, Matt Whittall says it’s Eric Whitacre: “pure commodity … predictable, safe and bland.”
And good looking too. Don’t forget good looking, Matt.
On an Overgrown Path recommends Edmund Rubbra‘s Sinfonia Sacra for your Easter listening:
If you’re short on time, Pliable recommends starting at the five-minute mark.
It’s a complement to St. Matthew Passion or Messiah, from the Good Friday before I was born, and the same year this happened.
You’ll see “Tubthumping” on many a worst-songs-ever list (here and here, for example)–which makes it the perfect song to cover, apparently.
Julia Nunes was able to avoid her RA long enough to record a version in her dorm room with a couple of pals:
Back in 2003, the Flaming Lips remixed the song:
And last fall, They Might Be Giants (typically) charmed the AV Club with this:
Well, it was definitely distinctive, and at least it was short:
Was the “internationally acclaimed” Fray’s national anthem at the NCAA men’s basketball championship game last night the worst ever, or just inappropriately oddball?
At least it wasn’t this:
Yes, TMZ, it did suck.
A couple of days after I moved up here, “YouTube’s Ukulele Queen” appeared on Conan:
Julia Nunes has no record label; what got her onto a national late-night talk show was her success raising well over $75,000 on Kickstarter to fund her new album, Settle Down. Buy it; you’ll like it. My favorite songs is “Odd.”
People have been excited about Nunes for a while. Back in 2008, after seeing her video cover of his song “Gone,” Ben Folds invited Nunes to open for him on tour. When she got his e-mail, Nunes “thought it was spam.”
Nunes is from Fairport, which is close enough to be Rochester, I guess. The Erie Canal runs through it, and it seems like a nice place:
I’ve never seen the Monty Python sketch that John Clare posted a month or so on ClassicallyHip, but one thing I know: lupins are poisonous. Never joke about lupins.
Handel premiered his Messiah and its oft-quoted Hallelujah Chorus in April 1742 in Dublin, and in the years following it was a perennial Easter favorite, not a Yuletide staple, as it is today.
Mark Likes Music 
You must be logged in to post a comment.