Sorry about the delay in posting last weeks show but has been a hectic week with uni and blackouts what not.... Here it is anyways...

1. Amy Winehouse - Tears Dry On Their Own (New Young Pony Club Remix)

2. Le Chansons - You Put The Moves In Me

3. Alan Parsons Project - Be Like You (The Twelves Re-edit)

4. Database - Ritchie Got Me Dancin'

5. Database - U-lala

6. Bo$$ In Drama - Who's The Boss

7. Database - Turn Your Love Around

8. Database - Fight The Power

9. Dizzee Rascal - Fix Up Look Sharp (Mick Matias Remix)

10. KillaQueenz - Sweaty/Wet

11. Tittsworth ft. Kid Sister & Paserock - WTF

12. Crookers v Clipse - When Da Last Time

13. Paul Woodford - Erotic Discourse (Audiojack Remix)

14. Bloc Pary - Mercury (Herve Remix)

Listen [audio http://www.zshare.net/audio/173225799a49c726]

or

Download the show....

Audio Response can be heard every Sunday Night at 10PM on Bay FM 99.9 (Northern NSW) or online at the same time....

Well it seems the electro boat has not only sailed but is slowly sinking out to sea and people are clinging on to disco for dear life as the 'next big thing'. I think it may be something a little housier like the US garage of the 90's and then there is no ignoring the urban influences creeping in, as producers like MSTRKRFT push that sound. Whatever it may be i am enjoying the disco and there is a lot of it popping up. Brazillian's Database have dropped a free EP of disco re-edits by them and some of their mates (Bo$$ In Drama & The Twelves) the best of which i have showcased in this weeks porgram . You can get the whole EP over on their myspace page. Herve gets a berth on the show 3 weeks running, making good on Bloc Party's terrible song Mercury. And if were talking about urban influences it doesn't get better than 'When Da Last Time' pretty sure its a bootleg but the crookers are on point once again.

Amy Winehouse - Tears Dry On Their Own (New Young Pony Club Remix)

Le Chansons - You Put The Moves In Me

Alan Parsons Project - Be Like You (The Twelves Re-edit)

Database - Ritchie Got Me Dancin'

Database - U-lala

Bo$$ In Drama - Who's The Boss

Database - Turn Your Love Around

Database - Fight The Power

Dizzee Rascal - Fix Up Look Sharp (Mick Matias Remix)

KillaQueenz - Sweaty/Wet

Tittsworth ft. Kid Sister & Paserock - WTF

Crookers v Clipse - When Da Last Time

Paul Woodford - Erotic Discourse (Audiojack Remix)

Bloc Pary - Mercury (Herve Remix)

Bakgrunnsinfo: Alan Parsons er for lydteknikere en slags guru, med et rulleblad av en annen verden. Han kan skilte med jobber som assisterende tekniker på Beatles' to siste skiver (Abbey Road og Let It Be) og hovedtekniker på Pink Floyd-eposet Dark Side of the Moon. Men han trengte noen som kunne peke på folk som trengte en produsent, og det var da Eric Woolfson kom inn i bildet. Woolfson var en av de hotteste låtskriverne i England på den tiden, og var sessionpianist på dagtid. Han hadde jobbet under Andrew Loog Oldham på 60-tallet, og skrevet låter for Marianne Faithfull, Tremeloes, Marmalade og Frank Ifield.

Sammen med Alan Parsons skulle de to danne The Alan Parsons Project, som bestod av at Woolfson skrev låter, spilte keyboard og fom. 1980 sang en god del av dem, mens Parsons produserte, skrudde lyd og bidro på tangenter med jevne mellomrom, vokalrollen var åpen for forskjellige talenter som John Miles, Colin Blunstone og Chris Rainbow, og resten av rollene var fylt av det britiske studiomusikerbandet Pilot, med Ian Bairnson på gitar, David Paton på bass og Stuart Tosh på trommer (tom. denne plata, hvorefter trommene trakteres av Stuart Elliot).

Deres første plate sammen ble utgitt i 1976 og het Tales of Mystery and Imagination, en plate forfatteren i skrivende stund har på handlelista. Basert på Edgar Allan Poes verker, men kanskje for lite "goth" for de fleste. Plata hadde ingen umiddelbar suksess, men Prosjektet fikk en liten tilhengerskare. De fulgte opp Tales... året etter, nå med plateselskapet Arista i ryggen og en ambisjon om å lage noe basert på en Isaac Asimov-bok. Asimov hadde solgt rettighetene til et filmselskap (noe Woolfson fikk ham til å angre på etter en prat om konseptet) men APP endret bare tekstene og visket vekk et komma, og presto: I Robot.

Førsteinntrykk:

Coveret er rett ut av Hipgnosis' etter hvert så store portfolio, og er i all hovedsak et artig tittelspill. Som de fleste Project-skivene er det ikke på noen måte spektakulært, men passende og mildt iøyenfallende. Fra mitt platecover-geek-perspektiv kan jeg dog nevne at dette er et noe uvanlig Hipgnosis-cover i det at roboten er tegnet/malt, en teknikk Storm Thorgerson (Hipgnosis' de facto-sjef) stort sett unngikk. De fleste coverne hans er stort sett rene fotomanipulasjoner. Jeg er så heldig at jeg har denne skiva på vinyl, hvor du får den i hendig gatefold-format. Gromt!

1. I Robot
Tittelsporet starter som noe ut av et B-filmsoundtrack fra 70-tallet, før en syntharpeggio kicker inn og avløser det smått sære arrangementet. Gradvis kommer resten av bandet inn, og vi blir utsatt for noe som høres ut som en Starsky & Hutch-reprise. For de uopplyste - vi snakker sent 70-talls "white funk" på sitt mest selvparodiske. Men det er catchy, og gudene skal vite at hvis noen noensinne har vært i nærheten av å produsere noe funky uten rette kvalifikasjoner (les: etnisk bakgrunn) så er dette nettopp det. Selv når koret returnerer litt under halvveis gjennom låta.

2. I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You
Og funken glir sømløst over i ...mer funk?! Jadda. Denne gangen i singelformat, etter alle kunstens regler - Rhodes-piano? Check. Jazzakkorder? M-hm. Erketypisk funk-rytmegitar med tilhørende sleazeball-solo? Oh yeah! Nervøs nesten-robot shuffle i slagverk-avdelingen? Selvsagt. Lenny Zakatek på vokal? Stopp en halv strømpe... hvem faen er Lenny Zakatek? Som de fleste APP-vokalistene har Zakatek ubønnhørlig gått i glemmeboka, men det betyr på ingen måte at han var dårlig! Snarere tvert imot - denne låta funker ikke med noen andre på vokal. Ferdig arbeid. I løpet av 3:23 er låta over, og vi har blitt revet med av Prosjektets mest diskovennlige og dansbare låt.

3. Some Other Time
Den første APP-låta jeg noensinne hørte, og den rev meg med umiddelbart. Med kombinasjonen flygel, 12-strengers gitar og strykere er du garantert en av de minste, men likefullt en av de vakreste, prog-juvelene i verden. Låta besitter en fantastisk liten melodi som er usedvanlig genial og fengende - først framført på samplet fløyte (takket være noe Parsons kalte en Projectron, noe som høres ut som en glorifisert Mellotron) og senere med valthorn - det absolutt tøffeste instrumentet i et orkester. Peter Strakers gjesterolle som leadvokalist er strålende, og selv om låtas tema er noe obskurt (Overvåkning? Tankelesning? Robot-invasjon?) så er teksten ren poesi: "Could it be that somebody else is looking into my mind / Some other place, somewhere, some other time..." Gripende.

4. Breakdown
Med en kvasi-mekanisk beat (til akustisk trommesett å være) og spenstig bass drar dette mini-eposet i gang. Som med "Some Other Time" har Parsons sett litt utenfor de vanlige vokalistene og brakt inn Hollies-vokalist Allan Clarke, som her tar steget fra lettbent sekstitallspop til søttitallsproggens vide verden. Og du verden for en stemme! Det tar et par gjennomlytninger før du venner deg til hans nasale utbasuneringer, men for en garvet Rush-fantast er dette barnemat. Og da du trodde vannet var trygt, kommer symfonikoret for fulle seil: "Freedom, freedom, we will not obey / Freedom, freedom, take the wall away..." og Clarke demonstrerer hvordan stemmen hans angivelig kan skjære gjennom betong. Etter flere år med prog-studium bak meg har jeg aldri opplevd noe så episk innen rockegenren festet til plate.

5. Don't Let It Show
Vemodig vakker ballade, med lett kirkeorgel og Dave Townsends sørgmodige tenor i sololøp, kun akkompagnert av et og annet trompetinnslag som grunnlaget for første del av låta før resten av bandet joiner for andre vers, med strykerne hakk i hæl. Dette er en pop-ballade helt etter boka - nesten så man kan si at det ikke kan gjøres mer i popmusikk etter dette. Men bare nesten. Det er jo tross alt erkeklisjéfylt hele opplegget, med unntak av avslutningen, som plutselig tar av i stil med resten av plata som om de første tre minuttene av låta var et forspill. Låta tar opp tempo, og lar vokalisten i stikken samtidig. Men balladedelen rører meg på en måte bare Kate Bush har gjort før, og derfor skal denne låta spilles i min begravelse.

På vinylen er det her første side fader ut, og noen må rusle bort til spiller'n og snu skiva.

6. The Voice
Fortsatt ingen TV-kanal. Og nei, dette er ikke Ultravox-låta i originalpakning heller, men snarere en låt som deler tittel med den. Vi tar enda et dypt dykk inn i "white funk"-søttitalls-detektimen-soundtrack-helvete her, med Cockney Rebel-vokalist Steve Harley på vokal og Alan Parsons eget bidrag via vocoder (For mer vocoder-moro, sjekk ut "The Raven" fra Tales...) over noe som høres ut som outtakes fra soundtracket til Charlie's Angels-serien eller de gamle Shaft-filmene. Wurlitzer med wah-wah, strykere à la Lalo Schifrin og lett og fin helhet i rytmeseksjonen hele veien, temposkifter midt i til tross.

7. Nucleus
Idet "The Voice" fader ut i noe som høres ut som politiradiostøy og morsekoder, blir vi plutselig utsatt for trip-hop hele to tiår før begrepet i det hele tatt blir oppfunnet. Jeg kødder ikke. Det eneste vi mangler er flere telefonsamtale-samples à la Portishead og en basslinje spilt av en fyr på store mengder pot. Kort og godt.

8. Day After Day (The Show Must Go On)
"Nucleus" er i praksis et forlenget forspill for denne låta her. Hva denne låta angår: Sier jeg "Us And Them" så sier dere "HØRT DET FØR!" Og det sa jeg og. Fin liten sak, men i likhet med resten av Floyd/Parsons-alliansen Dark Side of the Moon, så har det ikke all verdens lasting appeal. Fra og med 1980 og The Turn of a Friendly Card kan du vente deg mange av disse, men da er samtlige sunget av Woolfson selv. Denne vinner 'Oftest Skippet'-prisen på denne skiva.

9. Total Eclipse
Prosjektet hadde et tredje medlem i samme kapasitet som frontgutta Parsons/Woolfson, men som valgte å gjemme seg litt. Dette var Andrew Powell, mannen som året etter dette produserte Kate Bush's første skive, men som i Prosjektet var ansvarlig for å skrive arrangementer for orkester og kor. Og her slipper frontgutta Powell løs med hans eget stykke: "Total Eclipse". Powell sparker fra seg med et latterlig komplisert stykke for kor og orkester, med noen godt begravede synthatmosfærer inni alt sammen. Det høres ut som filmmusikk som spiser verkene til Howard Shore, Harry Gregson-Williams og Hans Zimmer til frokost. Men igjen, så leder det ene til det andre, og når synthene kicker inn og du hører et trommesett kjørt gjennom en ekkoboks, da hører du plutselig på...

10. Genesis Ch.1 V.32
Før du løper etter Bibelen: Skapelsen 1-32 finnes ikke. Parsons/Woolfson tar over igjen etter Powell's ekstravagante solonummer og gir oss et passende futuristisk nummer, som i tråd med konseptet sier at en ny del av skapelsen har kommet med roboten... ooooh, sci-fi! Men herregud, så sinnsykt kult det låter! Akkordprogresjonen og den enigmatiske Rhodes-arpeggioen er prototypisk "Sirius" (Eye in the Sky, 1982), mens gitarriffet er like seigt som trommerytmen, som går med gigantiske monsterskritt à la Godzilla. Legg merke til koret. Powell er vel så viktig som de to sjefene i Prosjektet, og du merker det på denne låta her. Storartet finish!

Dommen:
Så langt (jeg mangler debutskiva, Ammonia Avenue, Vulture Culture og Gaudi for å ha alt) mener jeg at I Robot er Prosjektets desidert beste skive. Den er ambisiøs, men til tider radiovennlig, og den tilfredsstiller alle andre krav til god musikk. Egentlig hadde jeg håpet å slippe å kalle dette favorittplata mi av APP, så jeg formulerer det litt annerledes: Jevnt over er dette deres sterkeste plate. Favorittskiva varierer (akkurat nå prøver jeg å venne meg til Pyramid, som blir neste innlegg), men dette er Prosjektets Moving Pictures. Sånn rent bortsett fra at skiva er litt tungt fordøyelig med mindre du har prog-erfaring. Takler du låter uten vokal? Liker du noen klassiske stykker? Er det greit med låter som bruker to minutter på å starte ordentlig? Og digger du band som tar'n helt ut i studio? Svarte du "ja" på alt dette, så er dette plata du kan begynne med.
Det eneste jeg har å utsette på I Robot er det noe oppløste robot-temaet. Du merker ikke noe særlig til det med mindre du pirker godt i tekstenes betydning og gjør noen liberalt store tankesprang. Og "Day After Day" er grisedøll. Grei i bakgrunnen, men et gjesp ved aktiv lytting.

Unn deg selv I Robot hvis du er ute etter noe spesielt. Samma hva du betaler for den, så er den verdt det.

Hace un tiempo escribí sobre las primeras escuchas de esas canciones que quedan grabadas en nuestra mente mas allá de la trascendencia comercial y la siempre excesiva rotación radial. Y lógicamente todas esas canciones están asociadas a diferentes espacios. Barrios, plazas o calles sirvieron de locación para que esas melodías se presenten en nuestras vidas.
Un ejemplo en mi vida es la Avenida Cabildo, especialmente el perímetro que va desde la calle Echeverría hasta Monroe, en 5 calles transcurrió una gran parte de mi vida adolescente. Era lugar de encuentro, de formación cultural, de vanguardia, de amores y catástrofes, básicamente todo aquello que suele ser nuestro único interés cuando se empieza a vivir.
Esta avenida para mi es The Cure, Ramones, Madness, U2, Tears For fears, Echo and the Bunnymen, Simple Minds, New Order y solo son algunos ejemplos representativos. No puedo escuchar canciones de estos grupos sin relacionarlas con La galería Churba, la discoteca Star Light y el olor de la pizzería Burgio, un lugar al que jamas se atrevió a entrar un inspector de bromatología.
Otro lugar inolvidable es la casa donde vivía mi amigo Camilo con sus tías en el barrio de Nuñez , era un templo donde cualquier noche de la semana uno era bien recibido, allí escuchábamos a los Doors hasta el agotamiento, la literatura se combinaba con hamburguesas de Rojo y Negro y partidas de Black Jack con Javier, nuestro tahúr particular. Para mi Jim Morrison no es Sunset Strip ni Venice Beach en Los Angeles, es Libertador a la altura del estadio Obras Sanitarias.
Otro recuerdo que tengo grabado en mi memoria es mi casa natal en el barrio de Palermo viejo, cuando la calle Armenia se llamaba Acevedo. Allí el rey durante mi infancia fue el vinilo, recuerdo que ponía el disco “I Robot” de Alan Parsons Project, me recostaba en el suelo de madera y me colocaba bestialmente los altavoces pegados a mis oídos intentando que la música entre profundamente a mi cerebro. Creo que esas fueron mis primeras experiencias psicotrópicas involuntarias…
Y hoy día no podría imaginar la sala de edición de MobuzzTV sin música de fondo, ya existen clásicos de ese espacio, allí sonaron mas de mil veces canciones como “Los olvidados” de Sidonie, “Sunny” en la tremenda versión de James Brown, “Good Vibrations” de Brian Wilson o “Por Mi tripa” de los Pereza. Y mas de una vez, cuando el cansancio, el hartazgo, las malas noticias o la adversidad se hicieron presentes en ese lugar, cualquiera de los allí trabajamos supimos poner la canción adecuada en el momento exacto, y este es un recuerdo que me quiero guardar para siempre.

(Sony no me deja poner el video original, lo siento)

El principal problema de los genios es que cuando se sabe públicamente que lo eres, la gente espera demasiado o sobrevalua tu trabajo. Alan Parsons es uno de esos casos, y este tema es un gran ejemplo. Un pop magníficamente ejecutado que deja con muchas preguntas o muchas especulaciones respecto al trabajo de este gran compositor, músico y productor. Una de las mentes más brillantes de la industria que ha sufrido del estigma de genio y lo ha marginado de públicos más amplios. La canción por demás es magnifica para los caminos de cualquier punto.

Avedrio

Those who love good instrumentals, good synchronisation and rhythm are sure to fall in love with this band big time! Their songs are mainly conceptual - every album's lyrics are based on a theme. 'The turn of a friendly card', for example, is based on gambling.

Make sure you have good strong bass speakers before you try this group out. ;) :)

What to look out for:

The Project is actually famous for their strong bass sound, which not many other groups were able to produce. So with good bass speakers / headphones, you're sure to experience the magic! ;)

Not to mention, the thoughtful, extended intros!

Songs I recommend :

For newcomers

1. Eye in the sky - The group's most famous song ever. The song has everything going right for it, the intro, the lines and as I said before, the distinctive bass sound.

2.Prime time - A song very similar in arrangement to the previous one. But highly addictive, mind you. ;)

3.Freudiana ( Instrumental ) - A personal favourite. The song really gives you a fair idea of how good their music is.

4.Freudiana - Again, strongly bass- oriented sound, great vocals with a marked difference from the instrumental version.

5.Standing on higher ground - The song really pumps you up! Nice energetic number, with the trademark base sound which is a given with The Project.

6.Old and wise - Alan Parson fans would really kill me if I don't mention this one! A classic. With lyrics that run deep.

7. May be a price to pay - Another one of my favourite numbers. The intro is what's so addictive! :)

8. The raven - Terrific arrangement! Once you get a feel of the arrangement, you get hooked to the song!

9.Don't answer me - Distinctly different acoustic guitar based song with awesome rhythm going for it!

10.In the lap of gods - I hate to place it at 10, but such is the quality of the group. A fantastic instrumental.

Some other great songs :

1. So far away

2.La Sagrada Familia

3.Pipeline ( For those who love instrumentals)

4.Snake eyes

5.Let's talk about me

6.Stereotomy ( although the arrangement is almost the same as 'standing on higher ground' )

7.Silence and I (terrific crescendo in between)

8.Dancing on a highwire

Enjoy... :)

For more information on the band:

http://www.the-alan-parsons-project.com/

And of course the mother of all sources: ;)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Parson%27s_Project

P.S : Their last album" A Valid Path " has some unbelievable songs  in it. " You can run", "Chomolungma" and " Return to tunguska" are some of them. Fantastic stuff! ;)

So, for my slowly growing readership's pleasure (I hope), I'll post another music video. I think I'll make this a weekly occurrence, unless someone complains or I decide otherwise. This one is from the 80's by The Alan Parsons Project. It's called "Don't Answer Me". Great song, and even better video. Enjoy!

NOTE: I have a new contact email address. You can find it on the About Me page, near the end.

2. Group – if you have to explain that the small ensemble of people you have on stage with you is called a “group,” then your fans aren’t very smart and neither are you. Example: Michael Schenker Group

3. Experience – Only Jimi Hendrix is badass enough to use this, sorry. Once somebody that good takes on a descriptive name like that, nobody else should even think of ‘borrowing’ it.
Example: Jimi Hendrix Experience

4. Band – As in, “The Joe Smith Band,” and so on. If you’re good enough to put your name on the band, just pitch it as a solo act and let the other guys be your backing band without having to explain that you are a band. Example: The Dave Matthews Band

5. Having a person’s name when that person isn’t in the band – If I go see the Joe Smith band, there better be a guy named Joe Smith in the band. If there isn’t, whoever the lead singer is will forever be referred to as Joe Smith anyway, regardless of his real name. See Darius Rucker, who’s forever getting referred to as, “Hootie.” Example: Marshall Tucker Band, Freddy Jones Band

6. Numbers – It was Bob Seger who sang, “Feel Like a Number,” but there are too many bands with only numerals for names, and even more that use numbers in part of their names. If you can’t think of a good enough sequence of words to name yourselves, throwing in a number seems like a good idea, I guess. Examples: 112, Sum 41, Matchbox 20

7. Geographical destinations – If you name your band after a continent, country, state, or city, chances are you suck. One look at the track record is all you need. Examples: Asia, Atlanta, Boston, Europe, etc.

8. Sentences – not the word “sentences,” but a name that is actually a sentence. This is most common in the irony-riddled world of indie rock. Save the prose for your songs, not the clear, concise front that you want people to remember after the gig. Example: When People Were Shorter and Lived Near The Water, This Bike is a Pipe Bomb, …And They Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead.

9. Crew – Unless you’re in a rowboat or on a naval vessel, you and your garage band are not a “Crew.” Usually this is used by rappers, however, not rock bands. Example: The Rocksteady Crew, 2 Live Crew.

10. Any Color – Like numbers, colors can be used as a crutch to make the band sound more interesting than they are—it’s also a conceit that’s been used way too much over the years. This one’s tougher to judge, but about half the time if there’s a color in the name, the band sucks. Examples: Blue Murder, Green Day, etc.

Classic.

The Alan Parsons Project - Pyramid

Voyager instrumental (2:24)
What Goes Up... vocal: David Paton (3:31)
The Eagle Will Rise Again vocal: Colin Blunstone (4:38
One More River vocal: Lenny Zakatek (4:18
Can't Take It With You vocal: Dean Ford (backing vocal: Eric Woolfson, David Paton, Stuart Tosh) (5:05)
In The Lap of Gods instrumental (5:29)
Pyramania vocal: Jack Harris (2:45)
Hyper-Gamma Spacesinstrumental (4:19)
Shadow of a Lonely Man vocal: John Miles (5:39)

Descargar

The Alan Parsons Project - I Robot

I Robot instrumental (6:02)
I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You vocal: Lenny Zakatek (3:22)
Some Other Time vocal: Peter Straker and Jaki Whitren (4:06)
Breakdown vocal: Allan Clarke (3:50)
Don't Let It Show vocal: Dave Townsend (4:24)
The Voice vocal: Steve Harley (5:24)
Nucleus instrumental (3:31)
Day After Day (The Show Must Go On) vocal: Jack Harris (3:49)
Total Eclipse instrumenal (3:09)
Genesis Ch. 1 v. 32 instrumental 3:28

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- El vinilo reproduce en un surco la forma original de la onda de sonido, es un formato analógico, por lo tanto, el sonido no sufre distorsión en este aspecto, se guarda tal y como se grabó en el estudio.
- Reproduce todo el espectro musical, desde las frecuencias más bajas hasta las más altas que el oído no puede captar directamente, pero permite que el sonido se mantenga repleto de armónicos (aquello que a grosso modo nos permite diferenciar el maullido de un gato del sonido de un violín).

Pero mas allá de esta importantisíma razón técnica mi motivo es otro, y básicamente se trata de la nostalgia, así de simple.
Es el deseo de volver a valorar el arte de tapa de un disco, sus secretos, su diseño. El concepto de lado A y B. Los discos antes se pensaban de otra manera y la importancia del track que ocupaba la canción era fundamental. The Wall de Pink Floyd se disfruta mucho mas en 4 caras que en 2 cd.
Entrando en el plano domestico mi chica me quiere regalar un plato (bandeja) para nuestro aniversario de bodas, yo le vengo dando vueltas,pero no porque no lo desee, sino porque se que voy a volver a obsesionarme, y que en cada ciudad que vayamos me voy a pasar horas en las tiendas de vinilos y en los rastrillos buscando aquella perla perdida que jamás llego al cd o simplemente comprando de nuevo algún clásico solo por el placer de llegar al hogar y poder escuchar esa bella y sutil lluvia que precede al encuentro con la música en los vinilos. Y de esta manera sentir que me encuentro mas cerca del artista y de la inocencia de aquellos tiempos pasados que no fueron mejores, simplemente fueron encantadores.

So erging es mir heute mit diesem 80'er Jahre Klassiker...

The Alan Parsons Project - Don't Answer Me

Don't Answer Me - Alan Parson's Project

I think the cheesy pulp comic feel to this video is great. And, as you may have noticed, lyrics involving isolation from the rest of the world (Such as Mad World or Psycho Killer) tend to attract me. Probably because I've always been the type of person who stays away from the crowd, doing his own thing, with a few close friends...

Three Little Birds - Bob Marley

Here's one of these classic feel good songs. Reminds me of "Don't Worry, Be Happy" in a way. A nice uplifting song. Seems like the video ends a bit abruptly, though.(The one that didn't had embedding disabled) Still, nice happy reggae song by Bob Marley.

We Don't Need Another Hero - Tina Turner

Here we have Tina Turner's "We Don't Need Another Hero", to clips from the movie series it came from, "Mad Max". This song always appealed to me, partially due to it appealing to the strong individualist streak in me.

Of course, it also makes me think back to watching those movies with my dad, so good associations all around. And I thought the mix of video clips was well done. I do tend to like post-apocalyptic movies. And games; loved Fallout 1 and 2, and I've been curious about 3.

I am the maker of rules, dealing with fools; I could cheat you blind.

A glimpse back to my childhood thanks to Jonatha Brooke.

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• Yeni Exciter şarkısı internette yayınlandı

My fellow Americans, the nice people at Big News over in Hollywood have been very kind to allow me to address it's readership regarding this big elephant in the room we have. Now I know what you're thinking: there's no elephant in the room. Or maybe you're not thinking that; maybe you work in the circus and there is in fact an elephant. The elephant to which I'm referring is a figurative elephant, the proverbial elephant. Of course I'm talking about my religion, the Mormon Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Now many of you might be thinking: "What is that?" "Is that some sort of cult?" "Was your Dad a polygamist?" "How long were you member during the time until 1978 when African Americans weren't allowed to be priests or marry in the temple?" "What is a tabernacle?"
These are all interesting questions but the most important question you should be asking your candidates:
"Do you accept religions other than your own and why?"
The answer is yes. Why? I believe in ruling this land of ours under one almighty God, the God that looks down at us from the sky no matter if we're Jewish, Muslim, Wiccan, Catholic, Tributaries of the Dark Forces of Bloodhammer.
It doesn't matter if you read the bible, the Talmud, the golden coins of Neptune, magic eight balls, it's all the same God. He is the eye in the sky, looking at you. He can read your mind. He is the maker of rules. Dealing with fools. I won't cheat you blind. And I don't need to see any more. To know that I can read your mind, I can read your mind. Thank you and Vote Romney in '08.

Through most of my childhood the only audio equipment of my family was a portable mono radio and compact cassete recorder. Then, when I was 15, a revolution happened: my father bought a portable stereo compact cassette recorder and, around the same time, a friend of mine, Carlos Luís, bought a proper stereo equipment, with a record player and cassette recorder.

We didn't have much money to buy original recordings -- or even the musical knowledge to know what to buy -- but he had a neighbour that lent us some of his records, which we copied into audio cassettes and listened to over and over, until we knew them by heart. That was the age FeO and CrO2 and I still remember it with some nostalgia.

What this means is that when every other kid of our age was into the post-punk or new wave movements, we were listening to some of the 70's symphonic rock bands, to the taste of my friends' neighbour, that rapidly became our own taste. Below is a sample of my late teens' soundtrack:

Supertramp -- School:

Toto -- Africa:

Barclay James Harvest -- Hymn:

The Alan Parsons Project -- Eye in the Sky:

By the way, I still have a lot of vinyl records, but haven't got a good record player, like the one on the Alan Parsons Project video above. So, and because of the season, I would accept a turntable (even a second hand one) as a Christmas gift this year.

That's all folks!

Halloween is just a week away, and our 12-year-old son is revved up about it as usual. Evan has assembled a costume, has a Halloween party tonight and has made his trick-or-treating plans for next week.

Good for him. Halloween is not my thing.

We always went trick-or-treating when we were kids, but we never had the cool costumes. Our parents raised three boys on a rather modest income, so we would get a mask -- usually a popular cartoon character -- and that would be about it. Just the way it was.

Masks meant a choice of the lesser of two evils: Wear my glasses under the mask and have the mask not fit properly, or go without my glasses and not see anything clearly. I remember going as Superman because it was easy enough to scare up a cape, and you didn't need a mask. (And you could take the glasses on and off as needed.)

On Halloween 1970, we were visiting my grandmother, so we had to go trick-or-treating in her town that Saturday night. Grandma lived in an old rental house in a rundown neighborhood hard by the railroad tracks in a small town in central Wisconsin. We were kids, so we never really noticed. It was just Grandma's neighborhood.

My brothers and I -- we were 13, 11 and 6 -- had covered a couple of blocks when we walked up to a low-slung one-story house with a flat roof and a bunch of junk in the yard. It faced the tracks. We rang the doorbell and shouted "Trick or treat!"

After a short while, the door creaked open and a disheveled middle-aged woman peered out. Startled, it took her a couple of moments to comprehend what we were doing there. I was only 13, but somehow, I knew what was going on. She wasn't expecting anyone.

The woman didn't say much -- maybe "Oh, my" -- and then walked away from the door. Through the screen door, we saw her rummaging around a table. She came back to the door and dropped a couple of pennies into each of our bags.

The woman who wasn't expecting anyone didn't have anything to give anyone, either.

I suppose we kept on trick-or treating that night, but that was it for me. Done. Forever.

I've always wondered whether the kids in that little town just knew -- or were told -- not to go down to that house. We were visitors, and kids, and didn't know any better.

Ever since, Halloween has not been my thing.

However, in the spirit of the season, I will confess ...

-- I greatly prefer "The Addams Family" over "The Munsters." Make of that what you will.

-- Horror movies? Also not my thing, though I watched enough of them late at night in the mid-'70s with a girlfriend who liked them more than she liked me. The ones I enjoyed most had Vincent Price in them. He was cool, as Andrew explains in one of his lovingly crafted Halloween countdown posts over at Armagideon Time.

-- I like "The Cask of Amontillado," an Edgar Allan Poe story in which a man is plied with wine, then sealed behind a brick wall and left to die. I discovered it in high school, then dug the episode of "Homicide: Life on the Streets" based on that story some 20 years later.

"The Cask of Amontillado" also is one of the cuts on the only album I associate with Halloween. It is, of course, "Tales of Mystery and Imagination," the first album by the Alan Parsons Project. It's a prog rock concept album based on Poe's stories.

In the mid-'70s, Parsons was highly regarded for his work as an engineer on albums by the Beatles, Paul McCartney, the Hollies and Pink Floyd. He then became a producer, then created "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" with Eric Woolfson, who pitched him the idea.

More than 200 musicians played on that 1976 album, which was arranged by Andrew Powell.

You know "The Raven" from that album. It wasn't the single -- that was "(The System of) Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" -- but it became more widely played, and rightly so.

So, for your Halloween listening pleasure ... two treats only. No tricks.

"The Cask of Amontillado" and "The Tell-Tale Heart," the Alan Parsons Project, from "Tales of Mystery and Imagination," 1976. (Arthur Brown does the wild vocals on the latter.)

My copy is the original vinyl. I haven't heard the late '80s CD version, to which Parsons added readings by Orson Welles and extra synthesizers.

One last note: In 2003, Woolfson -- who admits he's been fascinated by Poe for years -- put together a sequel of sorts, calling it "Poe: More Tales of Mystery and Imagination." I haven't heard it. The reviews are mixed.

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