You can see a video of it in action here, also in which is explained some of the interesting points about the instrument. I must say I wasn't terribly impressed by the video; he spent too much of his 3 1/2 minutes just jacking around with it and not enough time seriously playing it. Some of the honks that he produced made me flinch. Still, I'd be interested in seeing/hearing a serious performance with it. It must be very difficult to play.
Several years ago, at a previous job, a co-worker came in one day with a box of CDs that he no longer wanted and was selling for a dollar each. I eagerly went through the box and as soon as I saw this one, I knew I had to have it. I had never heard of them before, but my instincts told me that this was going to be a good one.
I can't think of anything more to say about it, except that it has some really great, interesting stuff and it quickly became one of my favorite albums. Some members of the group have been connected with tragedy and violence, and you can read all about it if you want at Wikipedia, and learn more about them at the Yothu Yindi website.
Jesse Nickerson, Shayne Greene and Mike Harvey formed Amber Dust in April of 2005. For the next several months, the band rehearsed and worked on bits of songs, in hopes of understanding the direction that was to be taken.More country than most (cough) "country," but with influences coming from all directions. Ryan Adams, Wilco, J. Tillman, Fleet Foxes, Richard Buckner, Damien Jurado, Sun Kil Moon, Nick Drake, Red House Painters, The Tea Party, Tom Waits, Danzig, Depeche Mode, Bonnie Prince Billy, South San Gabriel, Chris Bathgate, David Bazan/Headphones, Iron & Wine, Jeff Buckley, Josh Ritter, M. Ward are all listed as influences on their MySpace page.
The recording sessions for what would later become "Without Windows" began in December of 2005. Due to the fact that there were only 3 members of Amber Dust, rehearsing the songs with all instruments was completely impossible. Most of the songs only contained a handful of ideas before they were put to tape. It was only through multiple overdubs that most of the tracks began to take shape. Recording continued until late October of 2006. In all, about 18 tracks were recorded.
"Without Windows" was released on November 30th, 2006. Since the release, the album was voted #33 in the Altcountrytab.ca Gambler Awards. The album received an "A-" rating from Hippo Press album review columnist Eric Saeger. Amber Dust took December and most of January to relax and regroup. During this time, due to a change in location almost 2 hours away, Mike Harvey felt it was best to leave the band. There were no hard feelings, and he is still very much involved with Amber Dust behind the scenes. The rest of the band decided to stick to two members and leave the primary piano spot open, should Mike ever decide to return at a later date.
Work on the follow up to “Without Windows” began in March of 2007. After working on new songs, it became apparent that the EP “Good Things, Bad Timing” would be the first release to come from the recording sessions. In early 2008, the band handpicked 7 songs out of the many that were recorded, and on April 15th, 2008, the EP was released. The decision to work towards a somewhat traditional alt-country EP came after a guest musician A.J Piga recorded several pedal steel tracks for the songs. The band was so thrilled with the results, that the songs for the EP were picked based on the direction that things seemed to be going.
A river worms through the heart of the city. The city fathers have gone to great expense to make it look pretty and authentic, authentic meaning that restaurants and shops selling food and goods typical (so they say) of the area can trap plenty of tourists and make plenty of taxable dollars. Wide sidewalks line both banks, curving in tune with the water and wrapping around downtown like a broken horseshoe. In the daytime, visitors from far-away lands wander the paths to marvel and remark on the natural beauty of a river in the middle of a big city. In the nighttime, all the lost and lonely souls who have nothing better to do wander it as well; some of them more lost than others, and hungry for the blood of those who are only lonely.I decided if I was going to write something, I should just start writing and worry about making it good later. I have even managed to work a quick mention of a water meter vault into this one.
YOKO ONO was the reason Paul McCartney and John Lennon never reunited to make music again.
The two Beatles had planned to reform the band in 1974 until Yoko once again came on the scene, according to a new book.
Writer Peter Ames Carlin said McCartney really missed working with his legendary songwriting partner so he flew to New York to see him.
In his book, Paul McCartney: A Life, Carlin says that he made a surprise midnight visit to the Burbank studio where a coke-fueled Lennon was recording.
John reportedly said: "Someone give me an E. Or a snort."
The book claims that along with Stevie Wonder on electric piano, Lennon and McCartney jammed until the small hours that night in the Spring of 1974.
The session went so well that Lennon invited McCartney and wife Linda to join him and then-girlfriend May Pang at his rented home in Malibu.
Pang told Carlin she heard Lennon talk about getting "the guys back together" for a concert.
But the reunion dream died as soon as Lennon confided to McCartney that he had recently met his estranged wife Yoko and that she wanted to see him.
The book claims that that conversation led to Lennon getting back with Yoko - and the concert that fans around the world would have dreamed of never happening.
Garbage. Total, unremitting, irredeemable garbage.The group, originally called "The Knowbody Else", was formed in 1965 in Black Oak, Arkansas, by Jim "Dandy" Mangrum (vocals), Rickie Reynolds (guitar), Stanley Knight (guitar), Harvey Jett (guitar), Pat Daugherty (bass), and Wayne Evans (drums). Their first PA system was stolen from a local high school. Members of the group were subsequently charged in absentia with grand larceny and sentenced to 26 years at the Tucker Prison Farm (this sentence was later suspended). This led to their retreat to the hills of rural northeast Arkansas where they lived off the land and refined their musical style. Some of their influences during this time were The Beatles and The Byrds.You have got to be kidding. I don’t know if this is serious or satire. “Refined their musical style…”? Eastern spritualism? "Ignored by the populace"? (Who writes like that?) I hardly know how or where to begin.
The Knowbody Else moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 1969 and signed a record deal with Stax Records. Their self-titled debut album, and their only album with Stax, was largely ignored by the populace. During this time the band became interested in psychedelia and Eastern spiritualism which, combined with their Southern Baptist upbringing, contributed to their sound.
I must admit first that I have not heard every Heart album, but from the ones I have heard, their first is still their best. This is the album that produced two of their biggest hits, which are still mainstays of classic rock radio: "Magic Man" and "Crazy On You." Those are two of the harder-rocking tracks on the record, but they are not typical of the entire record. The songs span the range of rock, soft and hard, with even maybe a subtle hint of country here and there. My own personal favorite is "(Love Me Like Music) I'll Be Your Song."
