(Video link here.) A very clever guy named Mennyi or possibly Mátyás Wettl (we’re unclear who) made a video in which he performs “Ode to Joy” by kicking broken plates around under an overpass. One of our favorite pieces of music…Lovely…Wonder what we could play on the porcelain Ted Muehling cup we broke a few weeks ago… via…
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Wednesday would have been the late avant-garde composer John Cage‘s 100 birthday, and he’s had SUCH an big influence in our lives, we wanted to commemorate the day. To describe his work is practically impossible, since it broke down definitions of “music” like crazy and was really performance of endlessly varied kinds – involving chance…
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(Video link here.) Dig this video made by composer Diego Stocco in conjunction with Burt’s Bees. Stocco creates a great beat, simply by shaking tree branches, flicking orange peels, banging on coconuts, mashing his hands through cooked rice, and sifting his hands through almonds – all amplified. Even the buzz of bees make an appearance. Just…
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(Video link here.) Frank ‘Sugar Chile’ Robinson was eight years old when he performed Caldonia in the 1946 MGM Film No Leave No Love. His pure boogie-woogie is notable not only because he is so young, but because of his unique playing style, where he uses fists and slams to create his fabulous sound. Neither of his parents…
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Nina Saltman sent us an email in response to our post about John Cage: “Regarding the ‘what if’ to music. You must look at this video! Jarbas Agnelli, a Brazilian musician and film director saw these birds on electric wires that reminded him of the music staff, and wrote a song based on their configuration.…
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This short clip is from a film called Medicine Fiddle, about a unique hybrid music and dance form created by the convergence of French, Scotch and Irish fur traders and trappers, with Native American tribes in Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana and Canada in the 1700 and 1800’s. These mixed-blood people are often called Metis. Their music is rural American…
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