The Refractory
I created this blog in late 2007 to "write about music and how it affects my life, etc." Now it's early 2009, and I'm going to start anew. I hope to share some simple observations about the world that I live in, which is oftentimes best expressed through music, but not always exclusively so.
I listen to this song almost every morning on my way to work. Not unlike myself, it’s a bit morbid under its sunny exterior.
This song was later used for a musical revue that ran for a short time in LA. She planned for it to run on Broadway, but critics weren’t having it. I would kill to have seen this.
Beautiful song from forgotten German folk singer Sibylle Baier.
Wow. Can’t wait for Vessel. How ‘bout you?
Mourning the death of auto-tune. Thanks, Jigga!
Aww HELL YES! Summertime = Time for some Kells.
What remix is this?
R Kelly - “Felling On Your Booty”
Really, I have no words for how cool this video is. Annie Lennox is the best music video actress I’ve ever seen. Anyone wanna argue?
R.I.P., Koko. Honestly, I feel like I hardly knew ye. Other than a live cassette that I found in my brother’s collection as a kid, I never engaged myself with her music. What a voice. The Windy City will miss you, I’m sure.
ADDENDUM 6/4, 2:44 PM: And might I take this opportunity to express a sense of self-disgust. I never, ever listen to The Blues for the specific way that it makes me feel. You see, I have an association with The Blues that includes white people in medium-sized cities drinking Bud Light on waterfronts. This is very unfortunate. The Blues has things to teach us, but my tendency to avoid a certain type of audience leads me away from ever learning whatever lesson may lie within it. I’m not so sure if it’s a simple matter of white people bastardizing an entire genre, though that may be the case. But there’s just something so inherently LAME about the blues music that I’ve been exposed to. It goes so far that I cringe every time I listen to a certain type of chord progression. Immediately I’m taken to a humid Peoria riverfront, with a sea full of white people trying to get down. This is a place I don’t want to go in my mind.
But upon discovering Koko Taylor’s powerful instrument, I think I’m ready to disassociate.
I’m happy to report that Broadcast isn’t dead. They provided the live soundtrack to a film by one of their homies in London this March. Hopefully a new record really IS in the works, like they promised in 2007.
"What are they singing about...?"
Hear Camera Obscura talk about each song from their new record. Charming, informative.
