Mark’s blog

Cristen

nobody@vox.com(Mark) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:00:06 -0500

One of my favorite people in the world (that I actually know well) has a VOX now. You can listen to her songs there if you like. This is good.

http://cristen.vox.com

Here is her version of the Gypsy Kings' song, "La Montana".

Here is a very old picture of Cristen and me that we got done in a photo booth, I think. You could choose graphics to add to the photos.

Little devils

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M.I.A., Barack Obama, and John McCain ...

nobody@vox.com(Mark) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:30:00 -0500

M.I.A. posted a little mix she did (I think) of all her Kala songs. The mix is fun to listen to. Here it is ...

M.I.A. - Kala Mini Mix (from M.I.A.'s MySpace)

Kala Mini Mix

M.I.A.

The guy in the photo with M.I.A. is Benjamin Brewer who is in a band called The Exit. His dad is Chairman and CEO of Warner Music, Edgar Brofman Jr. M.I.A. is supposedly engaged to him. The photo came from Bonafide-Hustler.com.

Barack Obama will definitely be the Democrat nominee for the general election so that is very nice. Here is his speech from Tuesday night ...

Barack Obama's speech in St. Paul, MN

Here is a video of a very awkward speech John McCain gave on the same day. The video shows reactions from lots of news pundits that agree he was not at his best when it came to the delivery.

John McCain's awkward speech in Kenner, LA

Here's my link again for anyone who wants to donate to Barack Obama's (general election) campaign ...

http://my.barackobama.com/page/outreach/view/main/markinaustin

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Caetano Veloso

nobody@vox.com(Mark) — Sun, 11 May 2008 17:55:18 -0500

I talked to someone recently about Caetano Veloso, Brazilian music, Marisa Monte, and Spanish music (like Shakira, Juanes, and Julieta Venegas) so I thought I would post some Caetano Veloso songs from a CD of his that I have called Noites do Norte. I am sure there are better Veloso songs out there, but I don't know them all. If anyone wants to recommend a better song from his library, by all means go ahead in the comments section. Eu falo um pouco em portugues. ;)

Here are some from the Noites do Norte album ...

05 Rock'n'Raul

Caetano Veloso

06 Michelangelo Antonioni

Caetano Veloso

I love that the title of the above song is the name of a famous Italian director, whose movie, L'Avventura, I love.

Here is the first song on the CD ...

01 Zera A Reza

Caetano Veloso

Here is the second song from the album. I can't leave it out because it's very pretty. I used to play this song while driving back from lunch to my job, and I remember passing under the canopy of the trees while little bits of sunlight broke through the green leaves. It was a magical moment. Ha! I ususally don't talk like that. It's moments like those that make me want to travel more, but it's too damn expensive!

02 Noites Do Norte

Caetano Veloso

That's a very young Caetano above.

In other news it's inevitable (as Agent Smith said in numerous scenes of The Matrix Trilogy) that Barack Obama will be the Democratic candidate in the general election. Here is some news about him tying for the number of superdelegates with Hillary Clinton.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/11/campaign.wrap/index.html

Feel free to donate to his campaign here. ;)

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Jorge Moreno, Lost Odyssey, and The Cranberries

nobody@vox.com(Mark) — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 20:20:38 -0600

Aqui esta musica latina para las orejas. Ha, I am not going to try to type en espanol. I will just butcher it. Anyway, here are three songs by Jorge Moreno from his self-titled album way back in 2001. I decided to take the CD with me on my way to work this morning. I am not very good at discovering music (although, there is a lot of new music I like), but I am great at drudging up music from the past. I bought this CD way back when I would go into music stores and listen to entire albums on the headphones provided to you at one of those listening stations. We used to have a Tower Records in Austin, where you could do just that. The only place you can do it now is probably Borders, Barnes & Noble, and Waterloo Records. However, Tower was definitely my favorite record store to go to.

It is funny how parts of a song can be so strong, but the rest of the song is kind of weak. For example, my favorite song from Jorge Moreno's album is "Si Yo Fuera" because it starts off like an old James Bond song (I am probably thinking of "Goldfinger" by Shirley Bassey), and it stays strong for a while, but then it gets repetitive. I still really like it, though.

Jorge Moreno - Si Yo Fuera

05 Si Yo Fuera

Jorge Moreno

The first song on the album, "Reloj", is pretty good, but I think my favorite part is the ending that provides the segue into "Despertare". I wish artists would realize that the subtle parts of their songs are sometimes the best part, and they should incorporate more of that element into their music.

Jorge Moreno - Reloj

01 Reloj

Jorge Moreno

Jorge Moreno - Despertare

02 Despertare

Jorge Moreno

I did a search for Jorge Moreno's music videos, and here is what I found ...

Jorge Moreno - Despertare

Jorge Moreno - Si Yo Fuera (set to soccer footage)

Jorge Moreno was on Madonna's record label, Maverick (home to Alanis Morissette and Goo Goo Dolls, among others), but I think he was later dropped. I couldn't find a good website for him (well, I found this one, but it needs more work). Musicians/artists/celebrities should always have their own independent websites so fans can link to it and stay updated.

In other news, "Lost Odyssey", the game I am completely addicted to right now, got a good review from CNN here. The game is everything I have been waiting for since it is like the Final Fantasy series and has wonderful graphics and music. It makes buying an XBOX 360 totally worth it.

I have been listening to The Cranberries' album, "Bury The Hatchet", a lot lately. I first heard the song, "Promises", while staying at a Hampton or La Quinta in Costa Rica (Santa Ana or San Jose, I can't remember which, but they are right next to each other). I had gone to Costa Rica to learn more Spanish, and I was supposed to be there for four weeks, but I only lasted one week since I got so homesick. I had never traveled to another country before, and I also never traveled by myself before so the experience was really new for me. I was also dating a really cool guy back in Austin so it was weird to just up and leave everything behind. Costa Rica was really cool, and I got to go horseback riding, which I love more than anything so I really regret that I left so quickly. The night I was staying in the hotel was my last night before I went back to Texas, and I just felt like a complete failure for leaving early. I also kind of knew that the relationship with the guy in Austin was not going to last for many reasons. The song, "Promises", came on the MTV channel that they show in Costa Rica. The song seemed to sum up everything I was feeling, and I can still listen to the song today and think of every regret I felt at that time. Ugh! Anyway, here is the song ...

The Cranberries - Promises

03 Promises

The Cranberries

Here are two of the other songs on the album that I like ...

The Cranberries - Animal Instinct

01 Animal Instinct

The Cranberries

The Cranberries - Shattered

06 Shattered

The Cranberries

I bought the mp3 album of Dolores O' Riordan's solo effort, "Are You Listening?" I haven't gotten a chance to really listen to it, yet, but what I've heard so far sounded pretty good and very Cranberries-ish. I will post some of the songs here if they are good. It came out in May of 2007.

My final piece of blogging is a question I have asked other places on the internet, but I never get an answer ... Who is this woman in the "Yes, we can" music video? ,,,

She kind of sings the "Ohhh" part of the song. You can watch the video here if you need to.

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Radiohead's new "In Rainbows" album - pay what you want for it

nobody@vox.com(Mark) — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 18:42:53 -0500

(edit ... here is a link to the website for the album)

I think Radiohead is brave and awesome for selling their new album, "In Rainbows", directly to their fans all by themselves. I signed up to receive the album about a week or more ago. The site asked me how much I wanted to pay for it, and I think I paid about $10 just to be supportive because I love the idea of an artist ignoring the big record companies who allow the RIAA to sue people who download music (read about that atrocity here).

I think the decision to fine that woman in Minnesota hundreds of thousands of dollars is insane. Let the fine be something like $1000. That would be more sensible. I guess they made the fine so large to deter other people from downloading music without paying for it. However, bands like Radiohead (and there are many other bands who have let their fans download their albums for free) are saying you can exist without charging for your music, or you can at least sell DRM-free music to fans at a low, low price.

Bands like Radiohead know that they are going to make most of their money touring. Tori Amos and M.I.A. know that, too. There is a good article about this in TIME magazine. You can read it here ...

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1668161,00.html

Here is the email I got from Radiohead's website today ...

THANK YOU FOR ORDERING IN RAINBOWS. THIS IS AN UPDATE.

YOUR UNIQUE ACTIVATION CODE(S) WILL BE SENT OUT TOMORROW MORNING (UK TIME). THIS WILL TAKE YOU STRAIGHT TO THE DOWNLOAD AREA.

HERE IS SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE DOWNLOAD:

THE ALBUM WILL COME AS A 48.4MB ZIP FILE CONTAINING 10 X 160KBPS DRM FREE MP3s.

MOST COMPUTERS NOW HAVE ZIP SOFTWARE AS PART OF THE OPERATING SYSTEM; IF YOUR COMPUTER DOES NOT, YOU NEED TO GET WINZIP OR ZIPIT INSTALLED PRIOR.

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THEM HERE:

PC: http://www.winzip.com/
MAC: http://www.maczipit.com/

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR PROBLEMS DOWNLOADING YOUR FILE, PLEASE CONTACT OUR DOWNLOAD CUSTOMER SERVICE TEAM AT
downloadinrainbows@waste.uk.com

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Keen Keane

nobody@vox.com(Mark) — Tue, 15 May 2007 21:29:10 -0500

So my sister calls me three times today(2 times went to voicemail), and she wanted me to help her figure out the name of a song. She thought it was by a British group, but it could be by one guy. She had either heard it on Saturday Night Live, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Regis and Kelly, and the list goes on. We had talked about this song before, and I told her that I thought she heard it when The Shins were on Saturday Night Live with Jake Gyllenhaal. I told her it could be The Arcade Fire or The Decemberists since all of these bands seem to blend together in my mind. She told me she had heard the song on Live with Regis and Kelly during a segment where a couple went on a helicopter ride. We both did searches online for Regis+Kelly+helicopter. The search results did not help(but I bet they will after I post this!).

My nephew had iTunes up so my sister got him to play the 30 second clips of all the bands/songs I was naming. I even went on Billboard.com to tell her what was popular on the modern rock singles chart. We tried songs by Linkin Park and The Bravery, but nothing sounded right to her.

Finally, she remembered how part of the song went. She sang it to me, and I told her that Blake Lewis had sung that song on American Idol. I quickly went to YouTube and looked for that performance. I knew it was more at the beginning of American Idol. Before I found it, I remembered the name of the band who sang the song ... Keane! I also liked the song, and I thought Blake's performance was pretty good.

Therefore, the song is "Somewhere Only We Know" by Keane, and if anyone ever searches for the song that was being played while a couple of people rode in a helicopter on Live With Regis and Kelly, then I hope that person will find this post. ;)

American Idol 6 - Blake Lewis - Somewhere Only We Know

Keane - Somewhere Only We Know

01 Somewhere Only We Know

Keane

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Mirwais

nobody@vox.com(Mark) — Sun, 13 May 2007 10:15:18 -0500

CD Cover of Mirwais' "Production"

Mirwais Ahmadzai is the producer behind a lot of cool Madonna songs, such as Music and Die Another Day. I think he produced the entire American Life album for Madonna. However, he also put out his own album a long time ago, called Production, and it is pretty cool. I think there are a lot of people who have not heard it, though. Here are the three best songs from the album (in my opinion) ...

Disco Science

Mirwais

Naive Song

Mirwais

V.I.(The Last Words She Said Before Leaving)

Mirwais

Speaking of Madonna, I was always confused why she put out an alternate version of her video for "American Life". The original was not really pushing the envelope that much. Here is the original version of the video ...

American Life (original video)

Actually the version above is incomplete. The original version ended with George Bush picking up the grenade and using it to light his cigar. Here is a lower quality version that includes the ending ...

Madona - American Life (with complete ending)

And here is the alternate, censored version ...

American Life (censored version)

This alternate version, which is now the official version (I think) is terribly boring and simple. The original has so much more in it, and it makes Madonna and the song seem more interesting. The censored version is a joke!

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Two extremely random songs that have a connection ...

nobody@vox.com(Mark) — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 18:56:47 -0500

I used to download songs all the time ... well, I still do, but I used to do it at a much more frequent rate. Anyway, I was looking for Shakira or Tarkan one time(I think those were the two artists I was searching for ... maybe I was just searching for Shakira remixes and I discovered Tarkan ... I am not sure), and I found the two songs below. "Rich Girl" or "If I Was A Rich Girl" originated from the the musical, "Fiddler On The Roof", where an old man sang "If I Were A Rich Man". The latter song used the past subjunctive correctly, but "Rich Girl" does not use it correctly. "If I was a rich girl" has become an acceptable statement to make, but I think it is correct to say "were" in that sentence, and not "was". That is beside the point, though, because the music is what counts. Also, Gwen Stefani and Eve's version of "Rich Girl" sounds a lot like the following one. Some people think that the song below is by Lady Saw, but I think that is just common misconception. Here is Louchie Lou and Michie One's version of "Rich Girl"(it seems to be part of a mix that I did not get the rest of, but the reggae rapper ending is great with the cheesy sound effect that comes in every once in a while) ...

02 Rich Girl (Reggae Mix)

Louchie Lou and Michie One

The second song is like a combination of Eastern sounding music. I don't know if the music is from India or the Middle East, but it's kind of cool sounding. Whoever put the music together did kind of a cheesy job, though. The song from 2:10 to 2:34 is great, though, and it is followed by some music that sounds like "Rich Girl" in a way.

09 Eastern music remixes

DJ ?

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Andytrons' 2005 Holiday Mix

nobody@vox.com(Mark) — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 11:54:08 -0600

Andytron is kind of an amateur DJ, I guess, but he sent me a link to this great mix over a year ago. I still listen to it when I get ready in the morning. It has one of my favorite artists, M.I.A., on it, but it has also has lots of cool songs blended together perfectly. I want to know how to do that! =)

Anyway, you can listen to the songs on here or you can download them. Enjoy!

You can also download each song from my 4shared.com account (the links should not expire) ...

You can also download the entire album as a WinRAR archive here ...

http://www.zshare.net/download/andytron-holiday-mix-2005-rar.html

Andytron holiday mix 2005

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