Wonderduck's Pond

December 17, 2017

Music to "Live" By

The car is still in the shop, the costs are mounting, I don't care, let's have some live music!

Public Service Broadcasting - Gagarin (live)

PSB is an incredibly clever band, but in many ways a rather serious one too. I mean, their most recent CD is *Every Valley*, about Welsh coal miners... not exactly the most commonly used fodder for pop music, y'know? But "Gagarin", from *The Race For Space*, is a fun way to spend a few minutes with them. I've discovered recently that NPR loves these guys... they've done a Tiny Desk Concert, and at least one other short concert of indeterminate origin has gotten on their airwaves too.

Caravan Palace - Clash (live)

I used to believe that live versions of songs were inherently inferior to the studio track... after all, the song wouldn't have left the studio unless the band and producers thought it was perfect. Then over time, I came to feel that live versions were, by definition, better than the studio because of the energy inherent in the performance, and if there are mistakes involved, oh well, that's live music for ya... it lends it flavor! But what happens when you get a performance like this one which is as tight, as perfect, as flawless as a studio performance, but still has all that live energy? Does the track collapse into itself, forming an event horizon that no other versions of the song can emerge from?

Rubber Duckie - It Is Not (live)

Maybe a year ago I was looking for a particular "duck song"... you stop rolling your eyes at me... on youtube. It was a call-and-response thing between a little duck and a cat that was, apparently, from a Hungarian children's show back in the '80s. Yeah, don't ask how THAT came into my life, but it's one of the oldest mp3s in my collection. I don't have a real name on it, just "Qua Qua Qua". I'm pretty sure it was Hungarian, though.. I remember finding info on it once. Anyway, as I searched I stumbled upon a TV show about the rock music scene in South Korea featuring a band calling themselves "Rubber Duckie." One of the songs they featured just blew me away, but it had a narrator telling the band's story overtop of it. At the time, I couldn't find a clean copy anywhere. Until a few days ago. This is that song. Enjoy, don't you?

Bonus: Aya Hirano/ENOZ - Lost My Music

I've been listening to some tracks from the Haruhi Suzumiya OSTs and it continually amazes me just how good the songs from the "Live Alive" episode are. After listening to Aya Hirano try to sing them live, however... well. She did a better job in the studio is all I'm gonna say. But it wasn't a lost search, because I stumbled upon this gem. We all know how over-the-top the Japanese are with their pachinko machines... that's the entire history of Rio Rainbow Gate! after all. But I had no idea that there was a Haruhi-themed pachinko machine, or that KyoAni did 707 frames of animation for an advertising campaign for it, or that they were individually scattered across Japan via smartphone, billboard, konbini, and magazine. Whenever someone "found" a frame, they were to upload it to a website and eventually the entire video would be revealed. And lo, it was... a short music video of the cast in their "Extravaganza" costumes. Kinda cool, that!

That's enough, I'm going to bed now.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 10:44 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 I'm still happily in the "can't get enough" stage with PSB. It's a good thing.

Caravan Palace: Not merely an artifact of modern studio technology. Wowza.

Oh, nice catch finding that Rubber Duckie live cut!

It's amazing how "over" the whole Haruhi thing I am. I don't hate it, it's more like it doesn't spark any kind of reaction in me at all anymore. That's kinda weird, actually.

Posted by: GreyDuck at December 18, 2017 11:09 AM (rKFiU)

2 Pretty sure you were the one who first introduced me to Caravan Palace a couple or four years back. Thanks, Wonderduck.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at December 18, 2017 06:44 PM (2yngH)

3 GD, I find that the Haruhi Suzumiya series has aged remarkably well... oh, it's not the Greatest Anime Ever, like so many people thought, but it's still a highly entertaining and occasionally thought provoking work. Which is saying something, because I don't much think anymore. One thing though, is that the movie is probably the best part of the franchise. Considering the story of Disappearance, that may be considered telling.
Pixy, I think I found CP in a round-about way via something Brickmuppet sent me. He linked me to the Puppini Sisters, and that led me to the whole Technoswing thing, via this video. That led me to THIS song, which reminded me of THIS classic track, and from there I found Caravan Palace. But Muppet got it started.

Posted by: Wonderduck at December 18, 2017 07:03 PM (EVb8m)

4 I'm still a big fan of the Haruhi series. (Still haven't watched the movie; it will be watched this Christmas!) I tried reading translations of the light novels, and that put me off the story a bit. It's likely the translation, but I found them to be quite boring, especially the later entries. But, I still get quite a bit of joy out of the KyoAni series', both the original and Endless 8/Making the Student Film.

Posted by: Ben at December 18, 2017 07:52 PM (ee6LA)

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