…to be able to do this:
God that’s good. I love the look to camera at the end 🙂 Here is the original song from Queen II.
I’m at the very early stages of learning chords and stuff on piano. IF I ever get to the stage where I can play Nevermore like this guy I’ll be as happy as a big happy thing!
Queen made a lot of videos. I still like the one for Somebody to Love the most I think. It’s simply the 4 of them in a studio, inter-cut with concert footage. So the most important thing, i.e. the music itself, doesn’t have to compete with over ambitious visuals or story. You can watch a 30 second clip at the iTMS or buy the video in its 5 minute splendour there as well.
Click picture for larger view
Yeah!. New artist. New Music. Mika is going to be huge. Dodgy Holiday is very good. The performance of the song Grace Kelly on Later with Jools Holland is very good as well. Available as a QuickTime file at the Mika MySpace Music site.
He has a very broad vocal range. The control is better than most and he uses it really well. Inevitably there is comparison to Freddie Mercury and Marc Bolan et al. Sounds a bit like Scissor Sisters and The Darkness from a vocal perspective (but better). He doesn’t need the comparisons to other vocalists. He can stand alone as a very good singer and musician. Looking forward to the album.
[Thanks to Brian May’s Soapbox for the pointer]
I suggest you read this. Do yourself a favour and look at the alternatives to Zune first if you don’t want an iPod. Then do yourself a big favour and buy an iPod anyway.
Brian May (of Queen fame) has a new book coming out in October. It’s Co-authored with Patrick Moore and Chris Lintott. The book is called “Bang – The Complete History of the Universe“. Some of you may know that May was a PhD astronomy student in the early days of Queen. He completed his thesis and a paper on the dust that causes zodiac light in the Solar System was published in Nature. His supervisor (IIRC, it may have been the viva voce board) asked for changes to the thesis. Twice. Queen was just hitting the big time at the time and the result is history.
Interestingly May is now updating the thesis for resubmission under the supervision of his supervisor when he did work on one of the telescopes in Tenerife. Apparently he wrote the riff for Tie Your Mother Down whilst sitting outside the telescope one night. One of my favourite songs.
My copy of the book is on order. Update: you can preview the book here.
I tried out the Nike+ iPod Sports Kit on a timed exercise session yesterday. I set it for 45 minutes. Worked perfectly. Every 5 minutes the music fades out and the voiceover tells you how many minutes are gone, or if after the halfway point, how many minutes are left. At the halfway point it cuts in and tells you that as well. For the last 5 minutes it counts down on the minute which is good. This think this is definitely going to help me exercise more. Here is a screen shot of the 45 minute walk as graphed on the Nike+ website.
Click Picture for larder view
It was uphill then a downhill section towards the end. Hence the speed increase. I also triggered my Power Song with a few minutes to go just to test it. Marvellous 🙂
I’ve also been doing a bit on my exercise bike. See side bar on right for totals. The miles listed are as reported by the bike. I usually do an hour per session and it reports about 13 miles in that time. The calories used is a combination of the number burnt according to the Nike+ and the bike. Probably not very accurate. The bike is good as you can read at the same time!
I noticed today that the play count for the Kate Bush song Sunset has hit 100 in iTunes on my Macintosh! I said I was listening to it a lot. This includes iPod and desktop plays but not the plays via CD in the car. Here’s a picture of my top 10 in iTunes by play count (click picture for a larger view).
The Hot Puppies are good. You can listen to some tracks and watch some videos at their website. The live Shoot Em in the Head video is good. Their debut album is on iTMS as well, although it’s not officially out until later in July. They have an excellent crisp sound. You can hear the vocals really well as they are not drowned out by the instruments. Good stuff. Early Queen recordings made a point of making sure the vocal mix was “crystal”. It’s something all bands should try to do. Well assuming they can actually sing, of course.
Another blast from the past. The Hot Space album from Queen. I love this album (except for Under Pressure which will surprise most people). I’ve loved it since it came out and has been my favourite Queen album since 1982. Most people hated it at the time. Even my Queen loving friends. Funnily enough most, if not all of them now love it as well. The 3 tracks at the start of Side A – Staying Power, Dancer and Back Chat are brilliant when played together like a single long track.
This album has provided me with many hours of pleasure since it was released 24 years ago. Including another hour earlier today.
I was at the Milton Keynes Bowl concert in 1982 that was part of the tour that promoted this album. This was recorded for The Tube on Channel 4 television and has since been released as Queen on Fire – Live at the Bowl. I was right at the front on the right hand side of the stage.
I first read this book when it came out years ago. I lost my copy a few years ago when I lent it to a mate and never got it back (Brian – you own me a pint!). I bought a new copy from Amazon UK recently as the release of the remake of the Omen film gave me the urge to read it again. It’s brilliant. It tells the story of the antichrist growing up on Earth after there is a mix up at the maternity clinic. Rather than being raised as the son of an American diplomat, he ends up in Lower Tadfield in middle England. He therefore doesn’t get the required demonic education…
There are several strands to the book that are expertly tied together at the end. Good stuff. It also contains a very interesting insight in the music of Queen and car stereos!