10 reasons why I love Amanda Palmer

It's been about two weeks since I first saw Amanda Palmer on You Tube singing Creep (see below). I have since bought the Dresden Dolls, "Yes, Virgina" and listened to it 1000 times. Why I love her:

1. She is strong. I have always been attracted to women with strengh.
2. She has a sense of humor.
3. She dresses like a cast member from Cabaret which I always thought was sexy.
4. She meditates and likes Yoga, which actually she doesn't do. She does something called Noga, which is "planning" to do yoga, but finding something else to do instead. Thus "Noga" for No-Yoga.
5. She is a genius.
6. She looks to be that crazy weird girl you met in high school that was always making paper dolls- You kind of wanted to ask her out on a date, but you were afraid she would whip out the 7inch knife and hack you to pieces in the car after the grindhouse triple feature.
7. She makes amazing music- best album I have heard to date.
8. She isn't afraid to kick your ass.
9. She looks like she would be fun to hang out with- in a crazy NYC kind of way.
10. She "paints" her eyebrows on- I wish I could do that!

EDIT: When I first wrote that last one- I found out later that she paints her eyebrows on. It took someone almost a month (some anon) to figure out I was wrong (see below). I knew it was inaccurate, however I pretty much went on with my life. I have corrected it- however I am cancelling my membership to the dresden doll fan club- mostly because I am not worthy.

The Ditty Bops

What a perfect summer theme song...(too bad it's about global warming). I am in love with both these voices!

Psapp

Just bought two of their albums- Quirky, cat obessed and squeaky toy music- really no other way to describe them. Here is a video of Kittens vs Robots fighting over the fate of the world. Enjoy.



Meow!

True Love Waits

Google has this thing that alerts you to blogs and websites with keywords that you are interested in- It's kind of cool and kind of annoying at the same time.

Every day I get about ten emails from Google on Radiohead subjects- Most are garbage, sites for freedown loads that are niether free or easily downloadable, and a lot of blogs- One blog caught my eye because it mentioned lyrics from one of the truly saddest songs that the "R" band ever produced. Its from a post grad called Wind-Up-Bird in NY. I guess she has been offically "tagged" by me:

http://metwee.blogspot.com/

It's a song called True Love Waits- and unlike a lot of Radiohead songs, with the exception of "Spinning Plates" (the Rwandan Genocide)- the lyrics are from a news story that Thom Yorke read in the paper. Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, The Clash (Charlie Don't Surf), Pearl Jam (Jeremy), just to name a few examples have all made songs from news stories (or movies), but Radiohead has always been more internal than external in their observations. They look at how they feel about something and then make the observation through that filter.

Not to say that True Love Waits doesn't share that same obscure point of view- The beginning of the song mentions "dressing like your niece" and "washing swollen feet" which make little or no sense to anyone but Thom Yorke, the singer and songwriter.

But like most "R" songs it circles the campfire like a wolf, then goes in for the kill towards the end.

It starts out with a common turn or phrase, turned on it's end: I'm not living, I'm just killing time. Which is how we all feel some days. We are slogging from one place to the next- not really living our lives- and with a unspoken hopelessness that all we are doing is killing time, waiting for it all to end.

Then a refrain of the chorus, Just don't leave, Don't leave which isn't really a chorus- in Thom Yorkes voice, it's a wail of longing and desperation. Then the kicker-

And true love waits,

In haunted attics,

And true love lives,

On lollipops and crisps,

Which at first glimpse you read as, big deal? Haunted attic's- what is he on about? Lollipops and Crisps? Is this a snack food jingle???

But like most of the "R" songs, they have a much deeper meaning. You have to work a little to get it, they are always like a small puzzle- which is the "fun" part of their music.

From GreenPlastic.com- The best Radiohead site on the planet:

According to Thom, the line "On lollipops and crisps" is from an article he read: "I read an article about a child who was between 5-8 yrs old who was left on his/her own for a week in a house when his parents left on hoilday and he lived on lollipops on crisps. True"

Then it hits you like a ton of bricks- He is singing from the perspective of a young child- That no matter how abandoned you feel as an adult, there is still a part of you that loves so much, the child inside of you- you will go through anything, even starvation- waiting for that love to be reciprocated.

When he sings the chorus again, you understand that feeling so much more. The wail becomes a lament. Is it for lost love, abandonment? You never really know-

You may know what true love is- After listening to this song, you know where true love comes from and how delicate it is-

The Muses

Don't you love it when you find music on your own? I mean the music that you don't find in the bins at Best Buy- Music that some marketing guy in the Record Industry hasn't put a demographic on and spent a gazillion dollars to make sure that you buy this CD.

I am finding that there is a lot of great music lately, special finds- stuff that is eclectic and non-mainstream . For years, my wife and I have bought music from artists directly- at art fairs and at dances. Lately, through Google alerts and now through Blogging I am finding more "unheard music" that is rich, exciting and layered. I found Union of Knives (Glasgow) and Supercar (Japan) through Google alerts. Now I found The Muses through blogging.

The Muses are a acapella group that hails from Asheville NC. I have only heard some samples of their work, and all I can tell you is that these ladies are amazing. I have posted a link to their website. I encourage you to go listen to them. Its a mixture of world, modern, folk, celtic and choral chamber music. It's the lind of the stuff you put on when you have had a long day at work and need to relax and slide into the weekend.

So what are your favorite "found" music groups?