Bandwagon

When considering what to post today, I remembered a video I found a couple of months ago that I found strange and fascinating. It was a how-to video on the creation of a piece of broccoli that became a whistle.  Instead of finding this video, I found this site.

flutenveg.com

…and there are no words to describe how very strange this discovery is. It’s a group of people who go around and perform by playing fruit and vegetables! It’s funny and kind of cool at the same time. There’s a clip on the website, under festivals and corporate which a person can click on and hear what musical vegetable sound like. And the strangest part is that it’s actually pretty good!

I do have to admit, however, that these people look a little crazy. They’re wearing fruit of their heads!

I also stumbled upon the Carrot Museum, a website devoted to all the people who have done something musically-cool with carrots. Seriously strange, strangely cool.

Oh, and if you didn’t know…there seems to be a vegetable playing orchestra as well!

And I can’t resist…here’s a video of the orchestra playing.

I thought in light of the recent AMAs that I’d publish a little something about one of the more extreme events that took place that night. I’ve been a fan of Adam Lamberts voice since I fell into the last 3 episodes of American Idol last season, but I wasn’t happy when I found out he decided to play the pop music track vs. the Muse / Queen version I had in my head of his potential genre. I thought his voice was wasted with words he didn’t write, and music made to be catchy and played over the radio.

But that’s where I was wrong — Lambert really did choose the right genre. His personality, which someone interested in his career be clued into after reading his “public coming out” article in Rolling Stone would have been clued onto, is just that. Like his song title, For Your Entertainment, he’s about making a scene, making a point, and doing it with flare. I shouldn’t have just assumed that because he covered such alternative songs during his rise through Idol, that this would be his genre.

When we found out about his public makeout photos flickering around the internet, it should have been a clue that he likes to perform, and publicly at that. Therefore, anything but the pop inspired mainstream music he’s now cranking out just wouldn’t be up to par for him.

So in reaction to the public makeout on the AMAs and the groping of the various parts of his male and female dancers anatomy? No surprise. In fact, I laughed out loud because really, this is what we should learn to expect from Lambert: a show.

And I’m sure it helps that he’s easy on the eyes.

Here are a few tripped out music-themed houses for your entertainment…

Creeping on facebook walls lately has led me to this line of thought:  people really like the show Glee.

While I’m not a big fan of musicals, I find myself watching Glee and enjoying it. Seriously, it surprises me as much as the next person. However, there is something so dynamic about this show. It could be because these kids have wonderful voices and can harmonize so well, or it could be because of growing resurgence for musicals.

If anyone else has noticed, more and more people (at least the ones I’m around) seem to be buying musical based soundtracks, and playing them as they cook, clean and drive. Musicals are becoming much more accepted and loved than I ever realized. Perhaps they’ve always been this popular, but it seems that when mainstream television makes a show based on musicals that there is a huge increase in popularity.

My theory of what’s popular right now: vampires, high class society, alternative music, handwritten movies/advertisements and…. musicals. They’re here, and they’re proud.

…and we’re growing proud to declare our love. Or at the very least, admit a grudging like.

Here’s a song from Glee that people really seem to be enjoying: Lean on Me

For anyone who is not passionate about musicals, here is a musical you actually may actually enjoy: Avenue Q

This is something really cool that I found a little while ago that I really enjoy. I’m going to keep trying to find more interesting music related videos — there are some awesome ones out there that I think people would really enjoy.

What I love the most is the idea: that music links everyone around the world. While we all share different languages, different customs, values, morals, and environments, we still share some things in common. One of them is music. The best part? It transcends everything.

If anyone remembers the old movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), music was the linking factor between the visitors and humans. Communication was only able to occur using the scale of sounds, because words weren’t possible.

It’s cheesy but heartwarming to know that despite any differences, we all have music to link us together. You may like rap and I may like alternative while someone else likes country, but in essence we all understand the love and joy that comes with it.

Just found this, and I must say, while I’m not on the T-Swift fanwagon, I have to respect the girl. She rises fast, and has millions of swooning fans tracking her every move.

It’s nice to see the nice girl make it big, and still get all the guys for a change. And I have to give props to anyone who can one-up Kanye.

I was looking around for topics to post about, and I  stumbled upon this one from the Washington Post called Music Wins Applause for Addressing Autism.

While it doesn’t cure autism, it seems to help, according to this article. The repetitive nature of the lyrics is easier for autistic kids to understand basic instructions, and can help auditory sensitive kids ease into groups better.

So medicine isn’t the only way to solve all the problems we humans face; music is its own type of cure.

It’s a fad, but it’s also a bit of a music nerd thing: pandora, and other music radio stations like this, are becoming as popular as MP3 players (note MP3 vs. Ipod).  There are several reason I think are responsible for this:

The first, of course, is money. Like music piracy, people want to experience what they love, or want a very good sample of something new before they choose to invest in it, and they want to pay as little as possible for it, Music radio takes advantage of that by catering to a music stream that sounds like one particular song or artist you like, and lets you listen for 40 hours a month for free.

The particular thing about this, is it used to be unlimited hours — however the music piracy suits have artists on edge, and Pandora got reprimanded for copyright infringement in some aspect.

Further, I think it’s so popular because music radio is perfect for the music snobs and the mainstreamers: you can choose Lil Wayne or you can choose Andrew Bird…and it’s free! It’s a winning situation, able to discriminate and yet bring two opposing groups together.

However, I’d hazard to say we music snobs will soon find music radio, despite the fact it lets us find new music, too mainstream soon and will be forced to move on to something newer, more urban, and unique.

I wonder what’s up next for this ongoing stream of enhancements? I’m thinking social chatting — talking about music, while you’re listening to it! Woah, let’s not get too crazy now…

Want some alternative examples? Try Last FM, MySpace Music, AOL Music, or Purevolume. And then there’s always the artists websites in you’re interested in one particular artist.

Oh snap, it’s been brought up: the mainstream.

And then comes the phrase that we, the “respectable music discerning folk (read: snob)” cringe at….

“Oh yeah, I just listen to whatever’s on the radio.”

The horror! There are people out there who have better things to do than to just serf myspace for up-and-coming bands, or haunt concert venues until something decent comes along. They have…oh get this, the horror! They have other interests.

It’s a fairly equal relationship: the snobs don’t understand why the mainstream doesn’t care, and the mainstream just doesn’t understand why the snobs do. While the categories are extrememly broad, they are as competitve as state vs. university football. Sometimes they’re as violent.

The mainstream is the majority. It’s taboo in the alternative community because by default to fall into that category makes a person generic. And generic equals boring.

However, there are a few minor problems with this. The first being that America has been shaped around the ideal of the middle class. And by definition, the middle class would be generic, everyday, and common. Another pressing problem is that without people who think alike, no one would get along. There needs to be people who follow others, because in a world of “leaders,” there would be very little cooperation. We wouldn’t have a society in fact, because there would be no trends, no music…no anything.

So hoorah mainstream, you keep it up! You watch MTV and listen to that radio, and you like those bands! Props to you lemmings, you’re going to be A+ cubicle office workers working 40 hours a week to only marginal benefits one day. As for you snobs…enjoy working at that “alternative cafe” because you’re going to be making significantly less money than the mainstreamers.