In comes life that I must feel

I've long thought that your typical string quartet is a bit of a waste of time. The instruments are fantastic and what can be done with them is clearly magical. But the compositions for string quartets are usually dark and muddled, they're largely dour, uninteresting affairs. These big string intruments are built for speed, I've always thought. Thank goodness Apocalyptica came along and proved me right! (Here they've trimmed back to a trio with the 4th playing conventional rock drums)

Apocalyptica -- Grieg's 'Hall of the Mountain King'

I tried to introduce an acquiantance of mine recently to Apocalyptica's unique interpretations of Metallica and he said that he loved the fact these guys were putting crazy distortion effects on a cello. No, I said, there aren't any effects on there, that's what a fucking cello sound like! I don't think he believed me. Too bad for him because even after being introduced to it he still doesn't get it. This is what a cello sounds like! (Incidentally, for my money, this isn't one of their finer performances, but have no fear, mediocre Apocalyptica goes a long way)

Apocalyptica -- 'One'

I'll talk but you won't listen to me

I always found Sinead to be at her best when she was putting all the energy into her breathy vocals. Not that she didn't have cool rockin' tunes or rump-shakers, but she's pure power when she takes it down a notch. This is probably my favorite Sinead song and this is a terrific performance. (Yo! What's with the crazy moon language when the electric guitar comes in?)

Sinead O'connor -- 'The Last Day of Our Acquaintance'

Is there anyone that knows? Is there anyone that cares?

Bob Dylan in his youth was a totally captivating performer and here's a rare clip from the early days. The times were soon to be a-changin' and Dylan morphed from folk dude into cool-ass rock star. He jumped from being a mega fish in a minuscule pond to become another legend in the murky waters of corporate celebrity nonsense. Oh well. He still puts out good records, actually, and over the years his stuff was generally better than average. Was it worth it? Have the last 40 years been something akin to the last half hour of Last Temptation of Christ? (Hard to imagine Harvey Keitel as a scornful Pete 'Judas' Seeger but give it a try)

Bob Dylan -- 'The Ballad of Hollis Brown'

All I ever wanted was to be your spine

This is one of the all-time great alternative rock tunes. Man, these guys used to be so cool. Unfortunately, they went on to become the great cautionary tale of their time: their indie records were all good, their big label albums all sucked. Ah, such a waste! Still a great song.

Archers of Loaf -- 'Web in Front'

How many Pulitzer Prize winners can blow minds?

Not a lot. Ornette Coleman is for big kids, his music is complicated, sometimes rudely dissonant and just generally tough to get your hands around. This clip right here begins as tuneful as I've ever heard a Coleman jam sound, but have no fear, the melodiousness dissipates quickly. But, hey man, innovation isn't always easy or beautiful, sometimes its hard and its charms aren't immediately apparent. Coleman picked up a Pulitzer Prize the other day for his album Sound Grammar, so congratulations are due to one of the all time greats.

Ornette Coleman in Rome, 1974

'Make sure my money's still here, dude!'

Checking out card tricks on the internet is a bit like listening to a tap dancer on the radio: with two cameras and an editing bay you can make anything look like anything. But I'm giving Ice Cube the benefit of the doubt that he was truly taking aback by a master magic man (because well, honestly, he's not that good of an actor). A friend of mine in school used to do a trick like this and it always flipped my shit, so I'm feeling the Cube.

Criss Angel blowing Ice Cube's mind

It's a little too heavy

Emmanuel is a seasoned throwdown acoustic player from Australia. He plays the guitar the way a vet handles a sick animal: his hands go where they need to and nowhere else. Hard to cut loose a solo when you've got no accompaniment but he pulls it off as well as anyone around. Here he kicks back with some classic Merle Travis and it’s a meal of a performance.

Tommy Emmanuel -- 'Nine Pound Hammer'

'No, its about the money'

That Master Shake--irrepressible! When he enlists Zakk Wylde to re-invent the Happy Birthday song, it all goes wrong and leads to hijinks and bloodshed. The ATHF leap from the small screen to the big screen opens today and I want to be there to suck in some of the vibe.

(Just between you and me, the music editor, I don't quite know who is supposed to go see this movie. I know the show has its ravenous fans, I'm one of them. But the show rarely develops much of a plot in its normal 15 minute running time, what on earth are they going to do for an hour and a half? The critics are going to absolutely savage this film and those who don't know about the brilliance of ATHF will not be convinced to plunk down 8 bucks. I suppose it'll be boffo on video and the budget shouldn't be higher than 5 or 6 episodes of the show, so its got a shot at re-couping but I'm dubious. I'm gonna check it out but I'd suggest you check out the episodes before you go to the movie film.)

Zakk Wylde on Aqua Teen Hunger Force

The influence of Mario

I'm not sure how I came across these but I found a treasure trove of variations on the Mario Brothers theme song. The chorus is inventive and visually fun with many clever left turns. The beatboxing flute is interesting--but, dude, there are several flute versions available at You Tube! Who knew the Mario Brothers theme is like the 'Stairway to Heaven' for flute? The many-stringed bass was an interesting interpretation, that guy can throw down. And this was my favorite of the many, many, many guitar versions. The finger picking style seemed more organic than the many shredding chord players. This music has permeated our culture and now its getting thrown back at us. Enjoy.

The Mario Theme -- Vocal
The Mario Theme -- Flute w/ beatboxing (Greg Patillo)
The Mario Theme -- 11-string electric bass (Jean Baudin)
The Mario Theme -- Acoustic guitar

Faith, trust and pixie dust

I love homemade videos--maybe someday artists will completely give up on spending a million bucks on a video and they'll simply encourage their fans to make their own. Here's one cut to clips from Sprited Away, a film I totally loved (though I'm normally not a fan of Miyazaki).

Jonatha Brooke -- 'I'll Try'

I'll let you whip me if I misbehave

Normally not my cup of meat but I kinda dig this song, hypnotic in its way. The video is all faux intrigue but the kids nowadays like everything to be lingerie in slow-motion and pointless explosions. Pretend narrative becomes a Rorschach experience for whoever sees it: they're free to project onto it what they wish. Yeah, I guess that's what I liked when they made videos for me.

Justin Timberlake -- 'Sexy Back'

Who would put plants in hard to reach places?

Remember when bored kids had conversations about whether rap was really music? I always figured you buy it in a music store, you play it on a music player, you listen to it in the same places you listen to music--what more do you need? Well, if rap is 'music' then by my argument anyway, so is spoken word and the 'music' editor is pleased to expand his repertoire. 'I don't need another step between me and toast!'

Mitch Hedberg on Letterman

No singer, its the Songhai

I'm not sure what song this is but it is a sweet little tune, a collaboration between two big time badasses. Not sure when this clip is from but I assume it is after their legendary Songhai days.

Toumani Diabate with Danny Thompson

Brahms, anyone?

Good video here, watching a philharmonic at work is rarely this visually rewarding. This clip is from 1996.

Berlin Philharmonic (Claudio Abbado, conductor) -- Brahm's Hungarian Dance #5

You win some, you lose some

Interesting little curio for the late '70's, when Waits was in full effect. This is basically a video for the song 'The One That Got Away'. It’s a cool song, it’s a cool video.

John Lamb's 'Tom Waits for No One'

All the prestige and the glory

This is from the early '80's, where the Pretenders were at their peak. (Think about that: how many other bands were at their peak in the early '80's? Not a lot) Chrissie Hynde is a throwdown superstar in this clip and I dig the guitar nuttiness they get up to as well. New Wave fun. This is a good clip.

The Pretenders -- 'Tattooed Love Boys'

I ain't coming easy

Lemmy Killmeister riding off with your daughter is every father's nightmare--and most daughters aren't exactly dreaming of that either!

Motorhead -- 'Killed By Death'

The traffic wrote the words

She's in classic form here, early on, still got that youthful vibe. She's in total command and what she's doing ain't easy.

Joni Mitchell -- 'Chelsea Morning'