Pocket Universe

Just a few weeks ago, through a somewhat random circumstance, I heard about an event that floored me: a one-night-only Bourgeois Tagg reunion concert. For those of you not into pop music between 1984 and 1989, Bourgeois Tagg had two albums during that period, and their most successful single, “I Don’t Mind At All,” peaked at number 38 on the Billboard charts. Back in the ’80s, my friend Wayne and I were really into Bourgeois Tagg, after Wayne picked up their first album (on cassette) because he liked the cover art. I loved that album and listened to it all the time. And I still remember the night before an a-ha concert, when Wayne called and excited told me that Bourgeois Tagg would be the opening band. So while they were moderately successful in the ’80s, Bourgeois Tagg hold a special place in my heart, and I never, ever would have expected the chance to see them again.

As I found out later, the reunion concert also included Uncle Rainbow, a popular Bay Area band during the ’70s, whose members included Brent Bourgeois and Larry Tagg. The concert was a benefit for former Uncle Rainbow singer Richard Oates, who needs money for a liver transplant. So with a once-in-a-lifetime event ahead of me, I decided to hitch up my little red wagon and make the drive up to Sacramento.

Despite the unfortunate circumstances that brought everyone together, the concert ended up being a tremendously fun event. Apparently some of these band members had not seen each other for twenty years or more, but they seemed to fall right back into their old groove. (I was told by a reliable source that they only had two rehearsals, but you couldn’t tell.) Two of the members of Bourgeois Tagg, Lyle Workman and Michael Urbano, have been regular studio and touring musicians since the breakup, so their musical chops were finely honed. (Keyboardist Scott Moon has apparently been busy with other pursuits in the interim.) There was plenty of time during the set for improvisation and solo, and some of the songs sounded even better than the originals. They even had a string quartet for “I Don’t Mind At All.” The bands were joined by many of their musical friends, and it was especially fun to see twenty-year-old Adrian Bourgeois, who seems ready to follow in his father’s footsteps. In all, it was a tremendous show, and a lot of fun to see the musicians clearly having such a good time onstage together.

For those who would like to play at home, here is the Bourgeois Tagg setlist from the show:

Now that I’ve talked about my participation in the Jonathan Coulton concert, I’ll take a step back and discuss the concert and DVD shoot in general.

Again, for those of you unfamiliar with Jonathan Coulton, there is an excellent primer on his website, along with an excellent list of suggestions to get you started: most popular songs, funny songs, sad songs, songs that are both funny and sad, geeky songs, and sweet songs. My personal favorite is The Future Soon, an autobiographical tale of a lovelorn schoolboy who dreams of a better future. Take some time, look around, listen to some music, and read about a genuine self-made internet phenomenon.

As for the concert itself, the venue was set up with multiple cameras, including one mounted on a large boom that threatened to brain a few viewers as it passed within six inches of audience members’ heads. Because it was being filmed, the audience was also well lit (by lights, if not alcohol), so the mood was a little different from a normal concert. The audience was buzzing as we waited for the show to start, and several people were dressed for the occasion in full zombie makeup.

The opening band were Paul and Storm, who, not coincidentally, opened with their song, “Opening Band.” They played a generally truncated set, leaving plenty of room for possible reshoots during Jonathan’s set, in case he made a mistake or two. Their music is a perfect counterpoint to the headliner, being more laugh-out-loud funny, which nicely balances out Coulton’s music, which is equal parts funny, sweet, and melancholy.

The Jonathan Coulton set was brilliant, as always. For much of the time, he accompanied himself on the guitar, although some songs included Paul and Storm on backup vocals and miscellaneous percussion. He was also joined by Kristen Shirts, winner of the Code Monkey remix contest and accomplished ukulele player, for Code Monkey, Tom Cruise Crazy, Creepy Doll (where she completely stole the spotlight), and Still Alive, the song which Jonathan wrote for the closing credits of Portal.

Jonathan returned with his Zendrum version of Mr. Fancy Pants, complete with an extended remix in the middle. I also never truly appreciated Skullcrusher Mountain until this show, when the audience took over singing the final chorus. But the two most amazing moments came during I’m Your Moon, a love song from Charon to Pluto lamenting Pluto’s planetary declassification, and I Crush Everything, a song about a self-hating giant squid who is in love with a sailboat. Both of those songs were so profoundly beautiful and sad that the audience sat in perfect silence, entranced by the performance and unable to think of anything else. I have seen very few genuine moments where an entire crowd was so completely focused on a performer. It was something that still sticks with me today.

Then, after the audience favorite Re: Your Brains, and a rousing sing-along of First of May, Jonathan walked up on stage, pulled down a projection screen, and proceeded to introduce his special guests: Leo Laporte (host of The Screen Savers from way back in the TechTV days, and über–podcast host today), Merlin Mann (founder of 43 Folders and many other things), and Veronica Belmont (former CNet host, and current host and producer of the Mahalo Daily podcast), each carrying their respective Rock Band instruments. (Personal geek trivia: I first met Merlin about a year ago, at my first Jonathan Coulton concert.) The four of them went on to perform Still Alive, which will soon be a downloadable song in Rock Band. Leo went out twice and Merlin went out once, but Veronica saved them each time, but Leo’s third failure sang the band right at the end, and they failed with 99% complete. However, as Jonathan pointed out, 99% is still an “A.”

So that’s the show in a very large nutshell. At the moment, I can’t imagine a more satisfying nexus of geekdom. I mean, having Jonathan and Merlin perform the song from the end of Portal, in Rock Band? I’m tempted to draw a Venn diagram just to show how many of my disparate interests intersect there (including my love of Venn diagrams!). And as a bonus, I got to talk to Jonathan and Paul and Storm afterwards, as well as two fine gentlemen from Harmonix (makers of Frequency, Amplitude, Guitar Hero and Rock Band), whom I followed around and heaped with fanboy praise for quite a while. And once the DVD comes out, you can experience just a taste of what a wonderful night it was.

The best live coverage of Apple’s “The Beat Goes On” special event can be seen at Engadget. So far they have announced 99 cent ringtones, new Shuffle colors, and a new iPod Nano.

Update: Other announcements were the renamed iPod Classic in 80GB ($249) and 160GB ($349) models; the iPod Touch, which is basically an iPhone without the phone, with 8GB ($299) and 16GB ($399) models; and an iPhone price drop from $599 to $399.

Three hundred and ninety nine. Dollars.

They’re going to sell a million of these things. Excuse me…ANOTHER million.

Okay, right off the bat, let me assure you that Paul McCartney is not dead. While researching another urban legend that was recently verified as true, I stumbled upon a page which explains the whole “Paul is Dead” urban legend in excruciating detail. (For those who don‘t know, Paul McCartney supposedly died in the middle of the Beatles’ career, and they tried to cover it up, but put various clues in songs and album covers that came out at the time. (For those who don’t know, album covers are the artwork that record albums used to come in. (For those who don’t know, record albums are…ah, forget it.))) In any case, it is an interesting read, especially for people like me who thought the controversy began and ended with the Abbey Road album cover, with a barefoot Paul and a “28 IF” license plate. Apparently the controversy went much deeper than that, although it is unclear how much was coincidence and how much was the Beatles feeding the rumors.

On something of a side note…in a deleted scene from Pulp Fiction, Mia Wallace says that there two types of people in the world: Elvis fans, and Beatles fans. Sure, Elvis fans can like the Beatles, and Beatles fans can like Elvis, but no one likes them both equally. Personally, not only am I an Elvis man, but I have a confession to make: I have never puchased a single Beatles album, CD, cassette, or 8-track tape. In fact, I can say with some confidence that I have never listened to an entire Beatles album the whole way through. Shameful, I know.

However, I will say this: When (or if) the entire Beatles collection is available on iTunes, I will buy every album, in order, and listen to each one for…oh, let’s say a month, before getting the next one. I will attempt, in my own limited way, to mimic the experience of a new Beatles fan. I always thought it was interesting how one band went from “Can’t Buy Me Love” to “Let It Be.” I look forward to hearing the progression myself. Someday.

If you like Heroes, and you like Jonathan Coulton, then you’ll enjoy this video for his song “Someone Is Crazy”, set to scenes of Nikki (and Jessica) from the show. Listening to it, you would think the song was written for the show.

Okay, the birthday hoopla can wait: This news is too big to wait.

Contrary to what some people may have thought, the unthinkable has occurred: Apple has reached a new agreement with Apple Corps over the use of the “Apple” name. Specifically (and surprisingly), Apple Inc. (formerly Apple Computer Inc.) will own all trademarks related to “Apple,” and will license (or “licence”) certain of those trademarks back to Apple Corps. Additionally, each party will bear its own legal costs.

To be fair, some may have predicted this turn of events, and the question of legal costs may in fact have spurred negotiation talks. But in any case, a long legal battle has come to an end, and I think everyone is better off because of it.

Now to get the rights to the Beatles back catalog….

Today Apple announced three revolutionary products: a widescreen video iPod with a touch screen, a phone, and a revolutionary internet communication device. The twist is, all of these are the same device: the iPhone. I’ll let you read all about it on the site, but basically it’s a small device running Mac OS X that has full iPod capabilities (including a CoverFlow view), a phone with a great user interface that syncs with your contacts on you computer, and a Safari web browser, Google Maps, email, and other widgets like stocks and weather. Oh, and it has a two megapixel camera built in.

It looks really, really nice, and as someone who has always been unhappy with my cell-phone user interface, I am excited about getting a device that actually has a good interface for making and receiving calls. It also fades the music automatically when a call comes in, lets you conference multiple callers together, provides non-linear access to voicemail, and gives you full access to Google Maps, including satellite views and direct dialing of found locations. (During the keynote, Steve found the nearest Starbucks, then called them and ordered 4000 lattés to go.) Add to that a full web browser, and I think I may need to switch carriers. I wonder if I can get out of my contract early.

What’s the best part of any “Weird Al” Yankovic album? It’s the polka medley! He was the first artist to satisfy that untapped need, that little place inside of us that says, “This is a great song, but it would be even better as a polka!” If you have an extra ten dollars lying around, you can pick up Weird Al’s (or would that be “Weird Al”’s?) latest album Straight Outta Lynwood, released today. Or if you are simply an aficionado of the sublime grace of the polka, you can spend those shekels on an iMix of all ten of Al’s polka medleys, culled from his twelve studio albums. Either way, it’s money well spent.

Even though a set list is not yet available, it has been announced that Guitar Hero II will be released in November, with at least 55 playable. No word yet on whether they will all be hit songs, or whether some of those will be from independent artists, like in the current Guitar Hero, which has 30 classic tracks, and some number of additional no-name tracks.

One of the fantastic additions to Guitar Hero II will be expanded multiplayer. In the current game, if two people play together, they either alternate playing the lead, or play it simultaneously. In the second game, there will be an additional music track for each song. For some, it will be rhythm guitar, and for some, it will be bass. You can then choose ahead of time which person will be playing lead, and which will be playing backup. I sent an email requesting a Bass Hero game a while back, so it sounds like somebody listened to me!

Oh, and I heard elsewhere that they are expecting to release five or six Guitar Hero games between now and next year, including the possibility of themed games, á la Karaoke Revolution Country. For my money (literally!), the more games, the better.

You can read the entire interview with the game�s creators for more information.

Thanks to Mike for sending this one: It�s a conceptual video that asks the question, �What if Microsoft designed the iPod package?”

Rhythm games like Dance Dance Revolution have been around for quite a while now. While a few can use the standard console controller, such as the fantastic Amplitude, most of them require a specialized peripheral to complete the experience: a dance pad for Dance Dance Revolution, a miniature Japanese drum for Taiko Drum Master, or bongo drums for Donkey Konga. The problem with these peripherals is that they can sometimes seem gimmicky or unnatural to use, or even somewhat unnecessary. Maybe they take some skill to learn, but more often than not, they are only good for a laugh at a party, as you watch someone jump around on a dance pad or bang on some goofy plastic drums.

So when peripheral maker Red Octane set out to make a guitar game, it is fair to be a little skeptical, thinking they would just want to whip out a quick game to sell their goofy plastic guitar. But then they selected Harmonix to develop the actual software…Harmonix, who created the aforementioned Amplitude, as well as Karaoke Revolution series. As a company, their stated purpose is “to create new ways for non-musicians to experience the unique joy that comes from making music.” So with one company making the hardware, and another working on the software, the question remained of whether Guitar Hero would end up as merely a gimmick, or as a satisfying music experience.

I’m just catching up on my musical interests from the last ten years or so, and one of the songs that stuck in my head from 1996 was “Mother Mother” by Tracy Bonham. Her hit single nabbed her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, and the album, The Burdens of Being Upright, was nominated for Best Alternative Music Performance. The single itself seems very reminiscent of Alanis Morissette: lots of angry, angsty lyrics, the screaming chorus, and the crunchy guitar sound. It would be pretty easy to dismiss Bonham as a musician with a great single, but little else to offer the serious listener.

But there was something else that stuck in my mind: another single by Tracy Bonham, from the same album. “The One” is equally catchy, and has some nice distorted guitar work. But this song isn’t nearly as angry, and there’s something else…is that a violin I hear? Now that I think about it, I seem to remember her playing the violin in the video. The single seemed different enough that I got that old feeling I used to have, where I knew that if I bought the entire album, I wouldn’t be disappointed.

In short, I have been tremendously impressed by the album. It turns out that besides singing, she is also an accomplished violinist. (I am always impressed by a singer who is also a classically-trained musician.) But in spite of the fine instrumentation, the real outstanding element is her beautiful voice, which is alternately melodious and sensual. Tracy Bonham has the passion of Alanis Morissette (without the bitterness), the introspection of Aimee Mann, and the sultriness of Fiona Apple. It’s hard to do justice in a song-by-song review, especially in this era of iTunes’ 30-second previews. Besides the two singles already mentioned, you have other catchy, driving songs like Navy Bean or Bulldog. But you also get the mesmerizing, lyrical tracks like Tell It to the Sky or 30 Seconds or Sharks Can’t Sleep, with their slightly odd chord progressions and haunting harmonies. I’ll have to listen to the whole album a few more times to get a real feel for it, but so far, it holds together extremely well.

This may seem like overkill for an artist whose last hit single is almost ten years old. As it turns out, my purchase was a little more timely than I had previously thought: Following her 1996 release, she had another album in 2000, Down Here, and just released her third full album in June of 2005, Blink the Brightest. (She even has a couple of songs with the Blue Man Group, if you’re in the mood for a little electronica.) Apparently I just missed her appearances on The Tonight Show and The Late, Late Show. And wouldn’t you know it, she also has a blog! It’s nice to get into an artist from a while back, and find out that she’s still making music, albeit slightly below the radar. At this point, I’m really looking forward to delving into her subsequent albums.

Update: If you want more than a 30-second sample, you can download full-length MP3s of some songs at her official site. These are low-bitrate versions, but you should be able to get a feel for her musical style. Listen to “Mother Mother” at the very least.

In my previous entry, an unnamed person was singing along with an unidentified song. Well, thanks to some detective work, I now know what the song is: Mai Ai Hee (Dragostea Din Tei) [Original Romanian Version], by O-Zone. Click the link to hear a sample at the iTunes Music Store.iTunes Music Store

Ars Technica has a wonderful review of Delicious Library, the wonderful Mac OS X program for cataloging DVDs, CDs, video games, and books. Along with a thorough review of the application, its target market (read: collectors) and its potential, there is some discussion about the Macintosh experience of installing and using new software.

If you don�t have a Mac and don�t want to wade through the multi-page review, just jump directly to page 4 and look at the screenshots, particularly the close-ups at the bottom of the page. The attention to detail is amazing. This is an application that caters to the person who wants to organize and display his collection, and you can tell that the developers worked to make something that is both easy to use and looks nice.

As anticipated, Apple just announced the new iPod U2 Special Edition. From the site:

Like no other, iPod U2 Special Edition stands out. Jet black, it bears a prominent red Apple Click Wheel and, on the flip side, the autographs of each U2 band member. Available for just $349, it comes with an exclusive U2 poster and, of course, the signature white iPod earbuds. As an extra special treat, it includes an iTunes Music Store coupon you can use to get $50 off your purchase of The Complete U2.” As unique as the iPod itself, this digital boxed set brings together an amazing 400 U2 tracks. Songs span the bands celebrated career. From Boy” to War” to The Joshua Tree” to Zooropa” to the soon-to-be-released How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb,” it includes every U2 album and brings us over 25 rare and unreleased tracks. Look for it on the iTunes Music Store at the end of November.

The rumors are flying about today�s 10am press event that Apple is holding at the California Theater in San Jose. Special guests are Bono and The Edge from U2. I�ll let you read the rumors, and I�ll be back for commentary after the announcement.

Some of you may know that HP is shipping their own branded version of the Apple iPod. However, one twist that HP is providing is user-printable tattoos (HP…always gotta work printers in there somehow!) so that users can customize the look of their iPod to match their moods. I have to admit, it�s an intriguing idea. Look for images of Flame and other tattoo ideas at the official website, and you can find images of pre-made tattoos at HP�s website and the Mac Observer. You can even try out a flash demo of the new tattoos! I actually think this is a pretty cool idea. Personally, I�d walk around with a 90125 iPod, or maybe a Vapor Trails iPod.

In the tradition of sudden and unexpected announcements (at least, unexpected to some of you), Apple today announced the latest iPod. This one is notable for several things: First of all, it features the elegant Click Wheel, first seen in the iPod Mini. If you haven�t seen one, the Click Wheel (patent pending) is a touch-sensitive scroll wheel that can also be clicked to go to the menu, go forward or backward one track, or play and pause. It is much better than the previous iPod, which used touch-sensitive buttons. While they looked nice, they were a little too sensitive and lacked any tactile feedback, so users would often themselves accidentally skipping tracks when they picked up the iPod or brushed it accidentally. The new Click Wheel should take care of that problem through Apple�s traditional elegance in design.

Other features include a new Shuffle Songs top-level menu item, 12 hours of battery life, a slightly thinner body than the previous generation (the new one is 0.69 inches), and a new $399 price point, which is $100 cheaper than the previous 40GB model. That new price point is a little misleading, however, since the new 40GB model no longer includes a dock or the remote and headphones, each of which runs another $39. I commend unbundling those items from the new iPod though, just because many people might have a dock from a previous iPod, or a set of perfectly good headphones, and they shouldn�t have to pay more for something they won�t use.

The concert ended at 11:00, and now we're stuck in the parking lot. While we're driving, here's the set list from the second half:

Tom Sawyer
Dreamline
Secret Touch
Between the Wheels
Mystic Rhythms
Afterimage
Drum Solo
Resist (acoustic)
Heart Full of Soul (acoustic)
2112 (Overture, Temples of Syrinx, Grand Finale)
La Villa Strangiato
By-Tor and the Snow Dog
Xanadu
Working Man (last verse in reggae)
(encore)
Summertime Blues
Crossroads
Limelight

In all, a nice set, with a few surprises. (Before playing Between the Wheels, Geddy noted that they tried to pull out some of their favorite songs that they hadn't played in a while.) I did miss The Big Money though, but I guess you can't have everything. Another fantastic concert, but honestly, did you expect anything less?

Edit (7/10/04): A few more notes from the second half: During the last chorus of The Temples of Syrinx, Geddy sang the following lyrics (approximately):

Arrrr, we are the pirates,
Of the Temples, of Syrinx,
Our pirate treasure,
is buried within our hold,
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

And then in the mddle of La Villa Strangiato, there was a quiet part where Alex played the guitar and started singing along, but he just started making weird noises like, Err err err ee ooh ooh wah wah ree rah doo doo doo….” Then he went into a little pirate monologue which I will try to approximate here:

Its tough being a pirate captain,
because you have to make sandwiches for all the other pirates.
Whatll you guys have?
Four pastramis on rye,
two BLTs,
and maybe we can get a cup of grog to go along with that.
Well blow me down!”

And it went on like that for a while. On the video screen, they showed a split-screen shot of Alex on the left side, and Neil on the right side, where Neil was trying not to laugh during the obviously improvised monologue. It was a nice touch. The acoustic songs were great too, with Neil coming in in the middle of Heart Full of Soul. And as I also noted above, they played and sang the last verse of Working Man in a reggae beat. I didnt even mention the cool video introduction and closing, or the retrospective parts during or in between the songs, but I guess youll have to see the show yourself if you want to find out about those!

Okay, let's see what I can remember from the first half:

Overture 2004 (instrumental from the first 6 albums)
The Spirit of Radio
Force Ten
Animate
Subdivisions
Earthshine
Red Barchetta
Roll the Bones
Bravado
YYZ
The Trees
The Seeker
One Little Victory

I think I might have forgotten something, but that's a pretty close approximation. The first instrumental was pretty amazing...they played part of Finding My Way, Anthem, Bastille Day, A Passage to Bangkok, Cygnus X-1, and Hemispheres, then rolled into The Spirit of Radio. And don't worry: I'm handling the drumming duties for our section.

Well, they'll be back soon, so I'd better sign off! I'll have a final report after the show!

Edit (7/10/04): Yeah, I did forget a few things. I went back and added the following to the set list: Overture 2004 title, Earthshine, moved Bravado from before Red Barchetta to after Roll the Bones, and added YYZ (how could I have forgotten that one??). Another part I remembered, they started playing some of Day Tripper at the end of The Trees. So I think that�s it for my notes from the first half; now to add a few things to my notes from the second half.

Well, here I am at the show! It was supposed to start fifteen minutes ago; I don't know how they get by with such slipshod planning. (Oh, and in case you're curious, I'm posting this from my friend Robert's HipTop. I have got to get one of these!) Oops, show starting! Gotta go!

In case you need to reach me tonight, Ill be seeing these guys in concert for their 30th-anniversary tour (not to be confused with these guys, who just finished their 35th-anniversary tour (which I also attended)). And shock of shocks, when I looked up the RUSH website, I found out that they have a new album which just came out last week! Okay, so its only an EP of early cover songs, but still! What kind of a world do we live in where a new RUSH album comes out and I dont know about it? I guess I really am getting old. I guess Ill have to pick it up at the show, along with Neil Pearts latest book. So much RUSH to experience, and so little time!

I go away for a few days, and suddenly Apple has a bunch of new announcements! There are the new speed-bumped G5s (the top-of-the-line machine is now a dual 2.5GHz for only $2999!), but that’s not the big news. The big news is something that is so simple, yet so groundbreaking, that it’s amazing that no one has thought of it before.

I’m talking of course about the new Airport Express, which is simply a cheap Airport Extreme (802.11g, for you PC users) wireless base station that plugs directly into the wall. Instead of buying a $250 base station, you can buy this $129 device that does most of what the base station does. It can be used to extend the range of your current wireless network, or you can pack it along and have wireless access in a hotel room or at a friend’s house. And it also has a USB port, so you could wirelessly share a printer between multiple computers.

Not revolutionary enough? Well here’s the best part: It has an audio jack. So you plug it into the wall behind your stereo system, run the audio jack to the stereo, and you have an instant wireless network for streaming music from your computer to your stereo. Or plug one in to a socket in the kitchen, add a pair of powered speakers, and you have you entire music collection in the kitchen. It’s such a simple idea, but at the same time so revolutionary. Take your entire music collection, and just play it wherever you want, anywhere in the house, simply and easily. It’s brilliant, which is the kind of thing that Apple does best.

Once again, Apple manages to coalesce all of my geeky interests into one! Their latest coup is a deal with Disney to put their library of music exclusively on iTunes until September 30. You can read the whole press release at Apple and Walt Disney Records Team up to Deliver Exclusive Soundtracks on iTunes.