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Pat “Sample Detective” Shannahan

This interview with sample clearance expert Pat Shannahan is worth a couple of minutes of your time. Pat is hired by musicians and record labels to clear samples used to make their music. Pat tracks down the original owners of the works being sampled and convinces them to OK the usage in a new original work.

While Pat has worked for a whole slew of notable artists (her first client was Prince Paul) it seems she is most proud of the work she has done clearing samples for both of The Avalanches albums (and rightfully so seeing as how their recent release had a sample that was directly approved by Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono).

The Avalanches have stuck very hard to the true art of sampling, which as I always understood it in the hip-hop community, the true art of sampling was to find these very obscure records and to sample them. They would all go to where the old records are and go to garage sales. They literally dig very deep into the recordings.
I always understood that that was the true way of sampling, not, you know, sampling the current hits that are out there. I guess I get the reputation for being “The Detective” because these records, it was so hard to find who owned them. Like I said, they were all put in the resale bin for $0.99 or whatever.

Farmer’s Toast

Before most of us sit down to gluttonously gorge on our Thanksgiving Day feasts, we should take a moment to thankfully reflect on all hard workers who plant, harvest, process, pack, transport, prepare, serve and sell our food.

Farmer’s Toast (Godspeed The Plow)

Come all jolly fellows that love to be mellow,
Attend unto me, and sit easy;
A pint when it’s quiet, come lads let us try it,
For thinking can drive a man crazy.

By plowing and sowing and reaping and mowing,
King Nature affords me a plenty;
I’ve a cellar well-stored, and a plentiful board,
And my garden provides every dainty.

I have lawns, I have bowers, I have fields, I have flowers,
And the lark is my morning alarmer.
So you jolly boys, now, here’s a health to the plow,
Long life and success to the Farmer.

Let the wealthy and great roll in splendour and state,
I envy them not, I declare it.
For I eat my own hams, my own chickens and lambs,
And I shear my own sheep and I wear it.

Were it not for my seeding you’d get but poor feeding,
I’m sure you would all starve without me.
I’m always content when I’ve paid my rent,
And I’m happy when friends are about me.

Draw near to my table, my lads if you’re able,
Let me hear not one word of complaining.
For the jingling of glasses all music surpasses,
And I love to see bottles a-draining.

For here I am king, I can laugh, drink, or sing,
And let no man appear as a stranger.
But show me the ass who refuses a glass,
And I’ll treat him to hay in the manger.

This song was originally published as a broadside in the early 19th century, the verses can be found on plates and mugs produced at the time. Nobody knows who wrote it, but he was probably not a farmer.

I’m About To Whip Somebody’s Ass

As far as I now, this song (right-click to download) comes from a man named Ray. Ray has a daughter who was stressed out about her job. So he wrote this song to cheer up his daughter and for the benefit of “all employees under stress”. Ray has shared it on the internet and I’m sharing it with you.

A bunch of Ze Frank minions have created a ton of remixes of the song to pay Ray back for the happiness he brought.

“Now you might not be able to sing that out loud, but you can hum it to yourself, and you know what the words are, and let it give you some strength to get through the next few moments on your job.”

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And That’s Just The Way It Is. Bobarino.

Pretty much only one person in my life will get this title. He doesn’t read this. But he might google that phrase some day. I sure hope so. Mr Jones, if you find this email me immediately.

The new job has been getting in the way of this blog. Thank God. So posting here has been light and will probably continue to be. Thank God. At least until I get a real handle on things and remember how to juggle this old thing along with a full time life.

So there is your quick personal update from hubs. Possibly the last fro a little while. Thank God.

Live Girl Show

Before Santa Fe had it’s recent little clean-up near the Hampden exit there was a place called the Adult Palace. The Adult Palace had been around since I was a young child. For as long as I can remember really. It was in a windowless, non-descript, squat, gray building with parking in the rear. On the front of the building was a large white sign that read in large, red, script, “ADULT PALACE – LIVE GIRL SHOW”.

photo courtesy of ewy.

Whenever the family drove past – whether it be on our way to our uncles, or perhaps to a movie at Cinderella City – somebody would make a comment about the “Live Girl” that worked their. We would all chuckle at the fact the Adult Palace bragged about the fact it contained a live girl. We were all relieved that the girl was alive, but shouldn’t she be nude, or at least topless? And why only one girl? We would all laugh a little laugh, and shake our heads. I’m sure my Father and Brother’s minds, much like mine, turned to what sort of naughtiness must be happening inside with the live girl. Mom mostly just crossed hers arms and looked straight ahead.

For years and years and years I would drive by the adult palace and say to myself, “Someday I’m just gonna pull over a see what’s going on in there”. Unfortunately I never did. And as of this summer, The Adult Palace on South Santa Fe is now gone. It’s now a Super Target. But the wonderful (and incredibly hilarious) Ewy has captured the essence of this building and its live girl, “Crystal Rayne,” in his photo essay. Go check out his blog while you’re at it.

Workin’ It!

These girls are WORKIN’ IT.

I created this video last night. The music is a song called “Zukunft” by the Estonian band Fuck Yuo I Am A Robot, which I also discovered while surfing around the web last night. Fuck Yuo I Am A Robot’s newest release “Compensator For The Accelerator” is available for download for free (as in beer) on their website, which, of course, is worth an additional 100 cool points. Their cover art states:

We praise the mp3 for giving the creative mind an opportunity to unleash itself from the established hierarchies of music distribution and bypass spoonfeeding by opinion leaders.

The website also contains a .pdf download of the cover and CD art that actually folds into a sleeve that will protectively hold your newly burnt disk. Anyways, cool music, nice design, and great attitude.

The video is of Gwen Verdon (Cacoon anyone?) shaking it to a dance choreographed by her husband, the talented Bob Fosse. The original dance was choreographed to a song called “Mexican Breakfast” by Pat Williams. As you can see Gwen really knew how to move and Fosse was way ahead of his time. Seriously, did Bob Fosse invent the bootyquake? Now go rent “All That Jazz” and “Caberet”, or just watch these videos.

As a bonus, here are three additional Fuck Yuo I Am A Robot songs:
Fuck Yuo I Am A Robot – Nina Robots That Shoot Laser Beams And Stuff
Fuck Yuo I Am A Robot – The Ride Ripoff
Fuck Yuo I Am A Robot – T.A.T.U. Remix

Raclette

The blizzard of oh-six has been more fun for me than hassle. We were finally able to get the cars dug out yesterday after three long days of being stuck and serious shoveling by both G and myself. The storm allowed me a few snow days from work that were rather lazily spent. On Wednesday night a few nearby friends braved the accumulating drifts and headed over to our house for Raclette. I had never had Raclette before and it’s wonderful, perfect for a cold snowy evening stuck indoors. How can you go wrong with cheese, sausage, potatoes, and onion? Yummmmm.

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MP3 Player

Oh man, I wanted one of these things so bad but they are sold out. Well, I’m on the mailing list for when the next ones are released.

If you are looking for an MP3 player that is a little different…. If you love PEZ… If you like the idea of a stay-at-home dad, working out of his basement, taking on the giants of Cupertino, Tokyo, and Seoul… If you love independent music, podcasts, blogs, maverick ideas, and doing it yourself… This is the MP3 player for you.

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