“If you strip away the myth from the frog”: Exploring Muppet Christ Superstar

Posted on April 19, 2014 by wellsdc

Via correliebre.tumblr.com

This is the weekend that I tend to get songs from Jesus Christ Superstar stuck in my head, so the idea of doing the show with Muppets struck me as both deranged and inspired:

Here’s a question we never thought to ask: how would Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera about the life of Jesus play with the Muppets? Now we know, thanks to the Muppet Christ Superstar album, with Kermit as Jesus, Gonzo as Judas, Miss Piggy as Mary Magdalene, and a chorus of clucking proto-Christian chickens.

Mind you, this is extremely unofficial.

Christo Graham recorded the unauthorized Muppet Christ Superstar, with the singers doing their best imitations of the Muppets. As weird as the concept is, it’s actually pretty fantastic in places, especially with the Electric Mayhem as Jesus’ followers—and Beaker meeping his way through “Simon Zealotes.” In other places, though, the voices are a bit off, particularly in the more emotional moments. Give it a listen.

Muppet Christ Superstar by Christo Graham

<a href="http://christophergraham.bandcamp.com/album/muppet-christ-superstar">Muppet Christ Superstar by Christo Graham</a>

Photo credit: Via correliebre.tumblr.com.

Does Coachella Actually Have Music Anymore?

Posted on April 11, 2014 by wellsdc

License to Boot [CC BY 2.0], via Flickr Seriously, no one ever even mentions music at Coachella. It’s all about fashion, trends that everyone will look back on in embarrassment, and unforgivable neologisms like “Coachella diet” and “smuicing.” (I promise I will never use that word again, ever.)

Even the fashion aspects, to judge from the pictures, make it look like Coachella consists entirely of skinny hipster chicks without sweat glands standing in the middle of remarkably empty and green fields. Oh yeah, and white people in headdresses, because fuck history.

It wouldn’t surprise me at this point to learn that the whole thing is just staged by New York fashion designers. I mean, I don’t think I know anyone who’s been to Coachella, so how do I know it actually exists???

I’m not even sure why I wrote this post. Now get off my lawn. Continue reading →

Lest We Forget a Great Performance

Posted on March 22, 2014 by wellsdc

I haven’t seen Frozen, but I am intrigued by the Frozen/Watchmen-comic mashup (h/t Marc) that notes the similarities between the character of Elsa in Frozen and Dr. Manhattan.

Click to embiggen.

Some people have wondered aloud whether Elsa’s “Let It Go” scene was a direct homage to Dr. Manhattan’s trip to Mars. Others are quite convinced that it is not. I’ll reserve judgment, possibly forever because meh.

While this analysis, not to mention the various memes poking fun at John Travovo’s now-classic mispronouncement, are fun and all, it also offers a chance to remind the world that Idina Menzel turned in a freaking awesome performance of that song:

The Irony-Free ’80s

Posted on October 22, 2013 by wellsdc

Say what you will about ’80s hair metal, but you have to give them this: they did not give a flying fuck what you thought about their clothes or their hair. Maybe it was all the hipster music I heard at the Austin City Limits Festival a few weeks ago, but there’s something sort of liberating about music that is utterly devoid of irony. Your mileage may vary, and that’s cool.

Here’s a bit of ’80s metal. If I recall correctly, this was the first track on Skid Row’s self-titled debut album, meaning that you could listen to it as soon as you got the tape into the deck, without even having to fast-forward.

Here’s a lesser-known bit of ’80s rock, from Shark Island:

Good Music, Strange Name

Posted on May 26, 2013 by wellsdc

(The following is part of my series of posts that I started writing in mid-2012 but didn’t publish until now, with some edits to bring it up to date.)

I first heard this band a few weeks ago [sometime in May 2012 – ed.] at the coffee place down the street from my house [where I no longer live – ed.] (I think the song was “Two-Headed Boy” [it was – ed.]). Since I could tell that the song would be stuck in my head for a while [more than a year so far – ed.], I asked the barista about it when I went to get a coffee refill. The conversation went roughly like this:

Me:	“Who does this song?”
Barista:	“Neutral Milk Hotel.”
Me:	(slightly bemused) “I’m sorry?”
Barista:	“Neutral Milk Hotel.”
Me:	“……….one more time?”
Barista:	“Neutral. Milk. Hotel. Here’s your coffee.”

I immediately went to Google because (a) I wanted to learn more about the band that created the song that was still boring its way into my skull, and (b) I wanted reassurance that I had not just received a coffee refill from a madman. Turns out the band was active in the late ’90s, during that period of acoustic post-grunge rock epitomized by bands like Neutral Milk Hotel.

Other strange band names: Olivia Tremor Control, gorky’s zygotic mynci, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin.

My Ultimate Geek Fail, Dead Milkmen Edition

Posted on October 25, 2012 by wellsdc

You might find this surprising, but I’m kind of a geek.

I mean this on several levels. On certain issues of pop culture or history, I have a peculiarly encyclopedic knowledge, while finding myself cripplingly hamstrung in other arenas. I also have a tendency towards pompous certainty when it comes to my particular areas of knowledge, although I have tried to reign it in during the past few years. History will decide if I succeeded or not.

It therefore came as an embarrassing shock to me to learn, via Justin Griffith at FreeThought Blogs, that a beloved ’80s anthem contained a glaring error. Specifically, the Dead Milkmen’s “Punk Rock Girl” name-checked the wrong band:

We went to the Phillie Pizza Company
And ordered some hot tea
The waitress said “Well no
We only have it iced”
So we jumped up on the table
And shouted “anarchy”
And someone played a Beach Boys song
On the jukebox
It was “California Dreamin'”
So we started screamin’
“On such a winter’s day”

(Emphasis added)

See the problem? “California Dreamin'” is not a Beach Boys song. It was the Mamas and the Papas (although to be fair, the Beach Boys did record a cover in 1986. It just wasn’t nearly as good.) The Dead Milkmen released “Punk Rock Girl” in 1988, i.e. twenty-four years ago, and I never noticed the discrepancy until just now.

I have failed you, Gods of Geekdom. I offer myself in atonement.

BONUS FEATURE: I also want to acknowledge two of my favorite rhymes in all of songwriting history, courtesy of “Punk Rock Girl”:

She took me to her parents
For a Sunday meal
Her father took one look at me
And he began to squeal

And

We got into a car
Away we started rollin’
I said “How much you pay for this?”
She said “Nothing man, it’s stolen”

Honorable mention goes to “If you don’t got Mojo Nixon then your store could use some fixin.'”

The Waits is with You. Always.

Posted on August 11, 2012 by wellsdc

Stepping out of the hipster bubble: My evening at a Tom Petty concert

Posted on May 12, 2012 by wellsdc

I rarely pass up an opportunity to make fun of hipsters. The problem is, I think I might actually be one.

Last Saturday, I fulfilled a childhood dream by seeing Tom Petty live in concert. He played at the Frank Erwin Center, the only large venue available in the city of Austin (unless you count the football stadium, which you shouldn’t.) Tom Petty has had a long, successful career, amassing a wide array of classic, beloved songs. His appeal is broad and his music is oddly timeless. As a result, he serves as an effective hipster repellant.

Part of my issue with hipsters en masse is that they defy description–in fact, defying categorization is a defining characteristic of the hipster. A hipster is largely defined by what he or she isn’t. Rather than contribute new ideas, fashions, or innovations, they tend to recycle old ones (often ones better left discarded.) Outdated fashions become the latest “ironic” trend, which drives me mad because of its abuse of the very concept of “irony.” Continue reading →

Finland will rock your face off, then kick your ass

Posted on May 2, 2012 by wellsdc

About twenty years ago I spent roughly 24 hours in Finland. Thanks to jet lag, I spent around fourteen of those hours sleeping. What time I did manage to spend conscious, I remember it being quite enjoyable. I mostly remember blondes and a total lack of any sunset.

I also have a poser-ish affinity for European metal bands, many of which hail from the Scandinavian region. I was therefore thrilled to learn that, according to a probably less-than-scientifically rigorous study, Finland has the most metal bands per capita of any country in the world.

It might be worth taking a look at the country, tucked away as it is so tidily up there, kind of out of the way. As it turns out (and I sort of already knew this, but damn), the Finns are kind of, well, epic bad-asses.

History

First off, the Finns didn’t half-ass their prehistory. According to Wikipedia, “prehistoric Finland” persisted all the way up to 1150 CE. While the Normans were conquering England and the Western Roman Empire was celebrating its seventh century of no longer existing, Finland was doing its own thing in such a bad-ass way, no one even bothered to write it down (which is what I assume “prehistoric” means.) People have actually lived there for at least ten thousand years, but as for what was going on before 1150, I guess we just shouldn’t worry our pretty little heads about it.

From 1150 until 1809, Finland was ruled by the Swedes, who as we all know, can slay dragons with the sheer power of rock.

Yngwie Malmsteen's "Triology" album [Fair use]

I think the Swedish National Anthem was chosen from this album

Sweden and Russia fought a war, apparently over Finland, between 1808 and 1809, which Russia won. Finland became a “Grand Duchy” under the rule of the Tsar. That lasted about a century, until the Finns told Russia to piss off near the end of World War I, when Russia really had bigger things to worry about anyway. Finland fought a civil warbetween communists and not-communists, which the not-communists won. Here’s where it gets interesting. Continue reading →

In honor of the “coming” of spring

Posted on May 1, 2012 by wellsdc

The weather is nice enough most places…

(SPOILER ALERT: I should mention the NSFW lyrics…)

Cryptic Philosopher

Intensify Forward Firepower!

Category Archives: Music