Smokey Maverick

A destination for smokey musings, turning it up to 11 and the too-hip-for-it’s-own-good crowd.

Smokey Maverick♠ - It's like, how much more black could this be? and the answer is none. None more black.

Musical Joy+Passion

July 14th, 2011

I’ve found myself watching 2 great musical clips over the last few days – both from this past year’s Grammys.

The first is the superb performance by Mumford & Sons, the Avett Brothers and Dylan. Not a huge Dylan fan, but I get the cultural and social significance of him ending this set – and he seemed to be into the performance as much as he could be. What really moves me is the passion with which Mumford and Avett Bros perform their respective pieces. Lead singer for Mumford also is a bit reminiscent of a young JR Cash with the way he holds his acoustic guitar.

J Lo is the only person who appears miserable for some unknown reason.

I really don’t imbibe in award shows – just might have them on in the background sometimes. Thus I missed the above live performance when it happened. But I did have it on in the background when Best Album was announced. I was a bit surprised and very happy to see Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs nominated. And when they won, I was just as surprised as they were (very apparent in the clip). Their “Thank You” speech was all of 20 seconds long followed by an excellent impromptu performance (“We’re gonna go play another song – because we like music.”). Just pure musical joy pouring out of them.

“And the Grammy goes to …. The … SSSssssssssuburbs”

And that’s when music is at it’s most beautiful – when folks pour their passion and joy into it – and these two clips embody that concept to it’s core.

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Social Network Soundtrack tres bien – Thanks Trent

November 2nd, 2010

I am not a Facebook fan. I used to be – “back in the day.” Back when it was fresh and helped me keep in touch with my college peers. But then I graduated college and grew apart from my hundreds of virtual “friends,” then Facebook exploded, which meant it lost the ‘exclusivity’ angle. And lastly, the recent well covered gaffes over privacy haven’t help much. So when a movie came out about Facebook and it’s creation, I wasn’t the least bit excited.

But driving home the Friday the movie came out, that week’s NPR Tech Podcast gave the movie a great review. After checking the always reliable, Rotten Tomatoes site, I noticed that the Social Network clocked in around a 97%. Those two factors sold me, so Liz and I meet up with another couple and took in the flick in the Manor Theatre. RT has yet to fail me – it was a great flick.

I really enjoyed the music – and it didn’t hurt that I’ve been a Trent Reznor fanboy since my High School days. When I saw the soundtrack on sale for only $5 at Amazon, I decided to give it a try – and just like the movie, it did not disappoint.

Not much of a music critic, so I’ll just list a few of the words that are invoked when I listen to this soundtrack: brooding, lurking, ominous, Michael Myers, X-COM: UFO Defense – when consumed as a total product, it’s just great ambient music. Use of piano weaved throughout the songs is spectacular. So if you’re looking for some good background music, give this album a spin.

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Worth your time: Black Keys new album Brothers

September 3rd, 2010

A friend told me to check out the Black Keys new album, entitled Brothers, last weekend. Some great cuts on the album – plus, how sweet is the album ‘art’?? For a quick try, spin Sinister Kid or Tighten Up to see how you like it.

ps – In other news, if you haven’t done so already, do yourself a favor and check out the Arcade Fires interactive music video: The Wilderness Downtown

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