Thriller (short version) - Michael Jackson

Dirty Diana - Michael Jackson

Film Composer John Barry Dies At 77

Five-time Oscar winning film composer John Barry has died at the age of 77. Here's a few of my favorites from his lengthy filmography.

Pogo - Wishery

Pogo is the 21 year-old video artist from Perth, Australia formerly known as Fagottron. Now that he's officially working for Pixar, he's going by Pogo. (His real name is Nick Bertke.) Many of his tracks are available for free download at LastFM. Here's his take on Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs.

The Rent Is Too Damn Funky

Rent Is Too Damn High Party candidate Jimmy McMillan, whose now-famous rant at the New York gubernatorial debate landed him the highest honor for whackadoodles everywhere, an SNL Weekend Update parody, is releasing an album of original songs. The New York Times has posted the first single, What Is This?, which actually isn't terrible. Below are other snippets from the album, which actually are.

Free Trent Reznor Downloads

Trent Reznor is offering a free download of a five-track EP from his coming soundtrack to The Social Network, which will be released on September 28th. The download is live for the next 24 hours only.

20% Of Teens Have Some Hearing Loss

The incidence of partial hearing loss among teenagers is soaring, according to a just-released study out of Massachusetts. And experts are naturally pointing to the iPod and similar devices.

The study of thousands of 12 to 19-year-olds found the number of them suffering from partial hearing loss jumped by 30 per cent between the early 1990 s and 2005-06. The prevalence of partial hearing loss rose from 14.9 per cent to 19.5 per cent - a relative jump of almost a third, found the authors of the study, led by Dr Josef Shargorodsky, of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. The incidence of slight hearing loss jumped by 77 per cent. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), also found that boys were more likely to experience hearing loss than girls. Emma Harrison, director of public engagement at the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), said: "This study highlights the widespread concern felt over the risks personal music players, together with loud music at gigs and clubs, pose to hearing." She said two-thirds of people who used iPods and other in-ear audio players, had used them to listen to music at louder than 85 decibels "which according to the World Health Organisation, can cause permanent hearing damage over time".

I haven't had my own hearing checked in years, but I often wonder what damage I may have done over 30 years on the dance floor.

Iran Bans Music

A month after banning the ownership of pet dogs, Iran's Exalted Glorious Supreme Islamic Leader has banned the teaching or playing of music, saying it is "not compatible" with Islamic values.

In some of the most extreme comments by a senior regime figure since the 1979 revolution, Khamenei said: "Although music is halal, promoting and teaching it is not compatible with the highest values of the sacred regime of the Islamic Republic." Khamenei's comments came in response to a request for a ruling by a 21-year-old follower of his, who was thinking of starting music lessons, but wanted to know if they were acceptable according to Islam, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. "It's better that our dear youth spend their valuable time in learning science and essential and useful skills and fill their time with sport and healthy recreations instead of music," he said. Unlike other clerics in Iran, whose religious rulings are practised by their own followers, Khamenei's views are interpreted as administrative orders for the whole country, which must be obeyed by the government. Last month Khamenei issued a controversial fatwa in which he likened his leadership to that of the Prophet Muhammad and obliged all Iranians to obey his orders.

Mitch Miller Dies At 99

Music and television pioneer Mitch Miller died in NYC this weekend at the age of 99. Miller's Sing Along With Mitch album series and television show essentially created the concept of karaoke.

Mr. Miller, a Rochester native who was born on the Fourth of July, had been an accomplished oboist and was still a force in the recording industry when he came up with the idea of recording old standards with a chorus of some two dozen male voices and printing the lyrics on album covers. The “Sing Along With Mitch” album series, which began in 1958, was an immense success, finding an eager audience among older listeners looking for an alternative to rock ’n’ roll. Mitch Miller and the Gang serenaded them with chestnuts like “Home on the Range,” “That Old Gang of Mine,” “I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen” and “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary.” When the concept was adapted for television in 1961, with the lyrics appearing at the bottom of the screen, Mr. Miller, with his beaming smile and neatly trimmed mustache and goatee, became a national celebrity.

When I was a toddler, my grandmother once got hysterical because she thought I had already picked up my father's famously filthy mouth. But I wasn't saying "son of a bitch," I was pointing at the TV and saying "Sing along with Mitch!" My mom still tells that story. See if you can spot the future superstar in the below clip around 2:50.

One-Man Pokemon Acappella Band

Danny Fong, a 21 year-old from Saskatchewan, makes acappella tracks using his voice to create the instruments as well. Very cool stuff.

Michael Jackson's Billion Dollar Year

Michael Jackson died a year ago today, but his empire rolls on.

In the final years of his life, Jackson's finances were widely reported to be in chaos, with the singer facing foreclosure on his famed Neverland Ranch and struggling with debts of roughly $US500 million. However in the 12 months since Jackson's death on June 25 last year, the King of Pop's empire has witnessed a money-spinning resurgence, generating revenues estimated at more than $US1 billion. Jackson's estate has paid off more than half of the singer's debts and is likely to put his affairs back into the black in the coming year. The financial bonanza began almost immediately, with Jackson selling nearly 4 million records in the six weeks after his death. By June 2010, total album sales had swollen to 9 million in the United States alone, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan. Internationally, Jackson has sold 24 million albums.

Jackson's This Is It has grossed more than $300M worldwide, making it the most successful concert movie in history. Even though there was no audience at those concerts.

Phillip Spooner, The Chorale

Last fall 86 year old WWII veteran Phillip Spooner delivered the below stirring speech against the ultimately successful campaign to repeal marriage equality in Maine. His inspiring speech was posted on this and many other blogs.

Today Jeremy Hooper at Good As You tips us to a choral version of Spooner's testimony.

Melissa Dunphy's new composition "What do you think I fought for at Omaha Beach?" was selected as the winning work for the 2010 Simon Carrington Chamber Singers Composition Competition. The Philadelphia-based composer's choral work sets excerpts of public testimony given by a WWII veteran before the Maine Senate in a hearing to discuss the Marriage Equality Bill. "What do you think I fought for at Omaha Beach?" was performed on May 29, 2010, at Grace and Holy Trinity in Kansas City, MO and First Presbyterian Church in Lawrence, KS. This video is taken from initial footage of the recording session on May 30, 2010, at Blessed Sacrament Church in Kansas City, KS.

Portable Turntable

$150 with a USB port for analog to digital recording. Get one here (when they become available.)

TRAILER: I Need That Record

Here's the trailer for the upcoming DVD release of the documentary about the demise of music retail, I Need That Record.

Featuring discussion and commentary by THURSTON MOORE of Sonic Youth, IAN MACKAYE of Dischord Records Fugazi/Minor Threat, activist/author NOAM CHOMSKY, MIKE WATT of the Minutemen, LENNY KAYEguitarist of the Patti Smith Group, CHRIS FRANTZ of the Talking Heads/Tom Tom Club, guitar composer GLENN BRANCA, PATTERSON HOOD of Drive-By Truckers, PAT CARNEY of the Black Keys, punk author LEGS MCNEIL, rock photographer BOB GRUEN, BP HELIUM guitarist from Of Montreal, and many indie record stores across the United States.

Music retail, what little remains anyway, has largely been returned to the place where it was born, in the corner of department stores that sell machines to play it.