San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

You are here: Home / Archives for Culture / Music

Mad World – There Are No Answers, Only Mysteries | Video Worth Watching

by

It’s a “Mad World”. Yes it is. If only it were so, simply for the reasons presented in this quirky little video directed by Michel Gondry, rather than for the actual tragic and frightening events of the last few days. Well, we can dream … and this video conjures up a poignant dreamscape.

Some of you may recognize this Gary Jules and Michael Andrews cover of the Tears for Fears song as the musical leitmotif from the movie “Donnie Darko” (an underappreciated cult indy movie which, if you haven’t seen yet, consider doing now). This video treatment, though, is completely unrelated to the movie, creating its own atmosphere and sense of time. The overhead views of the schoolchildren creating animated tableaux pan away to distant vistas, to the singer, then return to the children, still constructing the dynamic scenes which can only be appreciated from on high. There are no answers, only mysteries …   [Read more…]

A Song for the Sea Pig – Featuring the Kronos Quartet | Video Worth Watching

by

Unusual Creatures is a PBS Digital Studios series. This particular episode reveals some fascinating facts about the Sea Pig (Scotoplanes globosa), a critter that inhabits a world on the deep ocean floor that most of us will never directly experience. These little pink blobs survive by hoovering up “marine snow”, basically eating and pooping. That doesn’t inhibit the show’s host Michael Hearst from collaborating with the San Francisco string group Kronos Quartet to create a musical tribute to this peculiar denizen of the deep.   [Read more…]

Édith Piaf’s ‘Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien’ (as translated by Bec Hill) | Video Worth Watching

by

Let it not be said that the San Diego Free Press lacks culture. Herewith is a classic of the French cabaret genre by one of its exemplars, Édith “The Little Sparrow” Piaf of Paris (not to be confused with Edie “The Little Pigeon” Pilaf, of New York). For those of of us not conversant in French, we include an English translation, courtesy of Bec Hill, provided not only as captioned text, but animated graphics. Enjoy!
(h/t AGD)   [Read more…]

If You’re Relieved By the Defeat of the ‘Skinny Repeal’ Then ‘Raise Your Hand’! | Video Worth Watching

by

Feeling a sense of relief that the ACA has survived another onslaught and for the present, at least, is still the law of the land? Then testify, and as Janis Joplin and Tom Jones urge, Raise Your Hand! With trippy colors, driving music and ecstatic dancing, what’s not to love?!?   [Read more…]

Angélique Kidjo featuring Branford Marsalis – “Lonlon (Ravel’s Bolero)” | Video Worth Watching

by

When Maurice Ravel originally composed his Boléro in 1928 it was written to accompany ballet and there was no libretto. The work’s popularity has generated many arrangements and scorings, though, and now I’m thrilled to discover it inspired Angélique Kidjo to create a version where her voice is an essential element joining the more traditional instruments. This performance for a 2011 WGBH special, “Spirit Rising”, also features Branford Marsalis.   [Read more…]

Video Worth Watching | Summertime – Miles Davis & Gil Evans (2 takes)

by

The weather this weekend is what set the tone for me. There was something about the mix of humidity and heat that just rippled out summertime. And to double your pleasure of the sultry delivery of that mood by Miles Davis & Gil Evans here are two takes from the same August 4th, 1958 recording session.

And while there may not be any motion to watch in this video, the creator did add a subtly changing visual element.   [Read more…]

Video Worth Watching | Scissor Sisters – Let’s Have A Kiki – Instructional Video

by

Scissor Sisters – Let’s Have A Kiki – Instructional Video [Warning: explicit language]

Can’t make the Pride events this weekend? Make your own party! Let’s have a Kiki!   [Read more…]

Video Worth Watching – In Honor of Bastille Day

by

Bastille Day is a French national holiday, celebrated on the 14th of July. It commemorates the anniversary of the storming of the fortress-prison in 1789, a turning point of the French Revolution, as well as the Fête de la Fédération, celebrating the unity of the French people in 1790.

Prisoners in the Bastille were held on the basis lettres de cachet, arbitrary royal indictments that could not be appealed and did not indicate the reason for the imprisonment.    [Read more…]

Twenty Minutes with Reggae Legend Don Carlos at Belly Up Tavern

by

With his signature sweet voice and a successful career spanning over four decades, Don Carlos is unquestionably a legendary figure in reggae music. The worldwide appeal of Carlos’ unique style of conscious roots reggae music is well-documented; an often-cited example well-worth watching on YouTube is from a concert Carlos gave in 2010 in Nairobi, Kenya; a massive crowd of an estimated 150,000 joyous fans turned out despite a sweltering African sun to dance, to praise Jah, and to listen to Don Carlos sing.

On April 8, 2017, I interviewed Don Carlos for approximately twenty minutes after he and his band Dub Vision performed before just a few hundred lucky fans at the Belly Up Tavern in San Diego, California. The many topics we discussed included: the controversy involving non-conscious dance hall music; new music he has released; a relatively new family-owned recording studio called Jus Time Records in Portmore, Jamaica; the importance of having a good sound engineer; the Jamaican government’s failure to properly invest in Jamaican music; and the influence that reggae stars Dennis Brown and Gregory Isaacs had on his career. What follows is a transcription of the interview modified only slightly for clarity.   [Read more…]

Fortunate Youth: Twenty Minutes with Frontman Dan Kelly

by

Fortunate Youth is a six-piece reggae band with roots in Hermosa Beach, California. Since 2009 it has toured heavily in the United States and overseas and its albums and individual songs consistently top the Billboard and iTunes Reggae charts. The band just opened up a nationwide tour to promote its newly released eponymous album; they’ll play 50 shows over 70 days hitting as many states as possible.

On March 18, just hours before the band played to a sold-out crowd at The Regent Theater in Los Angeles, I was blessed to meet with Fortunate Youth’s frontman, lead vocalist Dan Kelly, for about twenty minutes. We discussed the band’s new album, its maturation over the years, the stigma facing “white reggae bands”, respect for Jamaica and Jamaican culture, and finally, some of the obstacles in the music business.   [Read more…]

Music as Self-Expression: Hershey Felder in ‘Our Great Tchaikovsky’

by

By Yuko Kurahashi

The world-premiere of Hershey Felder’s Our Great Tchaikovsky (directed by Trevor Hay and dramaturged by Meghan Maiya) at the San Diego Repertory Theatre’s Lyceum Stage portrays Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s life (1840-1893) and music.

During the show’s run (January 12-February 12), the Repertory Theatre is also exhibiting the work of Boris Malkin (1908-1973) in its newly renovated gallery. A Belarusian (formerly Soviet Union) artist, Malkin created hundreds of works ranging from oil paintings, watercolors, drawings to wood sculpture and scenic design. The exhibition serves as a wonderful preshow.   [Read more…]

Patti Smith Sings For Dylan At Nobel Ceremony

by

By Abby Zimet / Common Dreams

At a Stockholm ceremony this weekend, rocker and longtime colleague Patti Smith accepted Bob Dylan’s Nobel in Literature by offering up to the glittering audience a searing, timely rendition of “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.” Evidently rattled by the grand proceedings, Smith faltered on the second stanza, put her hands to her face and apologized to the audience – murmuring “I’m so nervous” in a lovely human moment – before gathering her strength and delivering a scorching, powerhouse performance.

Smith’s appearance in lieu of Dylan capped months of sometimes clamorous debate about whether the blue-eyed son’s decades of ineffable poetry are or are not literature – and, later, if his delay in responding and his failure to appear was or was not arrogance. The uproar was best laid to rest by one Committee member who serenely noted, “He is who he is.”   [Read more…]

©2010-2017 SanDiegoFreePress.org

Code is Poetry