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All the music samples here are original arrangements by Mike Hood.
For a full repitoire download the PDF of the Hoppin' John book. It contains a current and extensive list of over 200 songs. 56k
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The Beat Makes Us Smarter
Picks, pans, rants and raves
by Mike Hood
18 March 2008 | An antidote?
Antiseptic samples and collages? Over wrenched acoustic guitar playing singer-songwriters? Guttural singing with no pitch to speed metal tracks? It seems these are the sounds that predominate on my teenager's ipods these days. As it's part of my day job to open their ears to other things and I sort of have them trapped in my class, I do my best to introduce them to a wider world of Music. But what are the rest of us to do? Well...
Might I humbly suggest one might take advantage of the proliferation of music and musicians afforded by the blessing/curse we know as the Internet? I would imagine you all have ventured out there in search of new sounds to a greater or lesser degree. Keep searching! There is still a lot of treasure out there! It will of course be up to your good aural and emotional judgment to separate the wheat from the chaff (A LOT of chaff), but it's a task worth undertaking. Many sites now have semi-intelligent codes written that will find something similar to any musician or ensemble/group you enter in. Like Etta James? Perhaps they'll direct you to Big Mama Thornton or Nina Simone. Like the Mars Volta? Perhaps they'll send you to Gentle Giant or Umphrey's McGhee. ( iTunes and Pandora are two places who do this.)
These new smart engines sort of in a way take the place of that hipster friend or older sibling who always seemed to be plugged into great music you never heard of....but after you did, you don't remember ever not loving it. Now, they won't hang out with you and share their doobs and Doritos...or ask to borrow money, or give them a ride somewhere so for those of you like me, who always saw those things as a sort of payment for services and a part of the deal, it'll be a melancholy transaction but it still worth the time.
We all know the power good music has over us; books and doctoral theses have been written about it; its a part of all our lives to a greater or lesser degree. Take the time to search out new great stuff; it'll change your mood for sure if not your day, week or life!
Here is my heavy rotation for this week:
(probably figures that if you like Hoppin' John, you'll dig the following too!)
Brick Fleagle's tunes on the H.R.S. records box set from Mosaic
http://www.mosaicrecords.com/
The Revolutionary Snake Ensemble
http://fieldk.home.att.net/rse/
Sex Mob/Millennial Territory Orchestra
http://www.stevenbernstein.net/sexmobmain/
http://www.stevenbernstein.net/home/
Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen "Alligator Lips and Dirty Rice"
http://www.joncleary.com
The Stolen Sweets
http://www.stolensweets.com/index.ph_
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
http://www.daptonerecords.com/sharonjonesandthedapkings.html
More next time!
SAMPLE HJO SOUNDS
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ON MUSIC
The Beat Makes Us Smarter
Picks, pans, rants and raves.
- Mike Hood
550 Feet
Altissimo and the swing of Ryan Howard.
- Tony Gairo
I write the songs that make the whole world fidgit
Lyrics and really dirty jokes.
- John Conahan
Ham handed heady goodness
The plunger solo as pillow talk.
- Dave Champion
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