W♥M

W♥M Podcast #20: Home Taping is Killing Music

nobody@vox.com(W♥M) — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 18:59:36 -0500

08/24/2008 18:55:38 ♥ written by vu ()

WOW, another epic podcast, with co-hosts Derek & Soup. Although this episode is more topics-centric (RIAA, MP3s, and state of music), I think the next podcast will be half-topic and half casual.

Download this episode (41 min)

Some topics we touched on:

RIAA vs Muxtape, CDs are too expensive, music blogs, internet radio royalties going up twice as much as traditional radio, taping off the radio, whatever happened to recording hunting?, Taping Kills Music, concerts, what we're listening to...

Music used:

♥ David Yazbek - Introduction (davidyazbek.com)
♥ Weird Al - Don't Download This Song (weirdal.com)
♥ Hellsongs - Breaking the Law (hellsongs.com)
♥ Le Tigre - Get off the Internet (letigreworld.com)
♥ S*M*A*S*H - Take Your Breath Away ( myspace.com/llyc)
♥ Spin - Not In Love (spinrocks.com)
♥ Ladyscraper - Gangbanger (hellsongs.com)
♥ Ironlung - Liar (myspace.com/lifeironlungdeath)
♥ Jeff Hanson - I Don't Quite Remember (jeffhanson.net)
♥ P. Hux - Wear My Ring (parthenonhuxley.com)
♥ Elastica - Operate (live)
♥ AIDS Wolf - Down, Holy Ground (myspace.com/aidswolf)

If you want to join us on the podcast, send me an email - I will need your telephone number or Skype username.

Links: weheartmusic.com weheartmusic.mypodcast.com

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Top 7: Comedy

nobody@vox.com(W♥M) — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 00:15:28 -0600

Weird Al Yankovic - The Night Santa Went Crazy

Weird Al Yankovic - Christmas At Ground Zero

Weird Al Yankovic

http://weheartmus...

I've been friendly stalking* Veronica Belmont since 2005. You have to remember that back then, s...

Comedy Top 7 on W♥M in 2007! This is a special two-for-one Comedy and Christmas post, meaning funny-man Weird Al Yankovic is not only hilarious, but he's written a few original Christmas songs: "Christmas at Ground Zero" and "The Night Santa Went Crazy".

"Christmas at Ground Zero" is basically Christmas carol, whose title parodies Fishbone's "Party At Ground Zero". The second is a pretty dark song about how Santa went postal and killed everyone. Apparently there is an "Extra Gory" version on the single for Amish Paradise.

So, I was actually on his official website and he seems kind of bitter/funny. He received permission to recorded a parody "You're Beautiful" from James Blunt, but his record label, Atlantic Records, refused permission. So what does Weird Al do? He gives away the song:

But if you're so inclined, you can just download it for FREE! Go ahead, we won't tell anybody! Right-click (option-click for Mac) here, here, here, here, here, here, here, or here or here, not to mention here, or even here!

Wally Pleasant - Let's Play Life

http://weheartmus...

Milton Bradley commissioned Reuben Klamer to come up with an idea for their 100th anniversary, in...

Wally Pleasant - Let's Play Life

Issues / Think About It, Think Think About It

Flight of the Conchords

http://weheartmus...

Flight of Conchords are a duo from Wellington, New Zealand; Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie. Th...

Neil Hamburger - 7/11's Are All the Same

http://weheartmus...

Mark brought over his DVD, "The World's Funnyman" (2006), and we watched a little bit of this. Th...

Video: Seven Elevens

Buffy - I've Got A Theory/Bunnies/If We're Together

http://weheartmus...

So, today's entry is on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Although they've used good music soundtracks, s...

Razor Ramon HG - Young Man

http://weheartmus...

Some openly gays, lesbians, and hetereosexuals will say that HG is really offensive, because, as ...

Razor Ramon HG - Young Man

Jim Gaffigan - Hoooot Pocket!

Jim Gaffigan

http://weheartmus...

I saw Jim Gaffigan last night (Oct 13th) at the Orpheum Theater. He's really popular here in Min...

12/23/2007 00:05:50 vu my♥posts www.weheartmusic.com

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Veronica Belmont - Harvey the Wonder Hamster

nobody@vox.com(W♥M) — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 16:20:39 -0500

Veronica Belmont - Harvey the Wonder Hamster

Veronica Belmont

I've been friendly stalking* Veronica Belmont since 2005. You have to remember that back then, she didn't really participate in the Buzz Out Loud podcast, she was just a producer that sometimes laugh at the dialogue between Tom Merritt and Molly Wood.

Currently, the podcast is usually just between Tom & Veronica, because Molly spends most of her time at home with her baby.

Well anyway, in today's 06/13/07 - How to get an iPhone , you can hear Veronica singing "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Harvey the Wonder Hamster".

oh, harvey, harvey
harvey the wonder hamster
he doesn't bite and he doesn't squeal
he just runs around on his hamster wheel
harvey, harvey
harvey the wonder hamster
hey, harvey!

The song appeared on Alapalooza (1993), but originally was used in his television show, AL TV (broadcasted on MTV and MuchMusic).

*friendly stalking is a vu-word.
"Handsome Veronica" is a drawing I made in November 2005.

vu | email: Links: reviews.cnet.com | veronicabelmont.com

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"Weird Al" Yankovic - Ode to a Superhero

nobody@vox.com(W♥M) — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 20:49:39 -0500

Emo Philips on UHF

This entry is in response to Jason's Emo Philips entry. Emo made a guest appearance on "Weird Al" Yankovic's film UHF (1989). I am including the video clip - enjoy the blood!

Plus, this Weird Al song is fitting for anticipation of the new Spider-Man movie and that whole "Ode to..." thing. The song is a reconstruction of "Piano Man" by Billy Joel, which I'm sure you've all heard. But in case you haven't, here's a direct link to Billy Joel - Piano Man (I had to give you the direct link because it requires you have to login to listen to it - but you can get around this by disabling scripts).

I've been listening to Weird Al since Dare to Be Stupid and I can tell you that Weird Al writes two kind of songs: the parody and tribute songs. I like his tribute stuff, which is almost all original music and idea. For instance, "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota" is kind of a rip off of Harry Chapin's 30,000 Pounds of Bananas.

Weird Al's other style is, which is what he's best known for, are the parodies of popular songs. The only thing that's smiliar are the music, everything else is pretty much original. This "Ode to a Superhero", "The Saga Begins" ("American Pie") and "Amish Paradise" ("Gangsta Paradise") are some of my favorites.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Ode to a Superhero

Weird Al Yankovic

So, anyway, trivia time: Weird Al changed his trademark looks of mustache and glasses around 2000. He got LASIK eye surgery and shaved his mustache so now he looks pretty normal. He actually looks creepily strange because I'm too used to his geek look.

Weird Al is also one of the few artists that understand and have adopted to the series of tubes that is called the internets. He released a song called "Don't Download this Song" (which is legally available for download) which poked fun at the RIAA... but also brings up the trouble of the digital era.

I leave you with this Q&A with Al for June 28, 2006:

Tim Sloane of Ijamsville, MD asks: Al, which of these purchasing methods should I use in order to make sure the most profit gets to you: Buying one of your albums on CD, or buying one of your albums on iTunes?
I am extremely grateful for your support, no matter which format you choose to legally obtain my music in, so you should do whatever makes the most sense for you personally. But since you ASKED… I actually do get significantly more money from CD sales, as opposed to downloads. This is the one thing about my renegotiated record contract that never made much sense to me. It costs the label NOTHING for somebody to download an album (no manufacturing costs, shipping, or really any overhead of any kind) and yet the artist (me) winds up making less from it. Go figure.

DISCOGRAPHY

[1983] "Weird Al" Yankovic	[1984] "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D	[1985] Dare to Be Stupid	[1986] Polka Party!	[1988] Even Worse	[1988] "Weird Al" Yankovic's Greatest Hits	[1989] UHF	[1992] Off the Deep End	[1993] The Food Album
[1993] Alapalooza	[1994] Permanent Record: Al In The Box	[1994] Greatest Hits Volume II	[1995] The TV Album	[1996] Bad Hair Day	[1999] Running With Scissors	[2003] Poodle Hat	[2006] Straight Outta Lynwood

discography courtesy of wikipedia.org

vu Links: www.weirdal.com | www.dontdownloadthissong.com

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