Sunday, September 2, 2007
California Stars
A good friend and I are live music fiends. Back in the not-too-distant past (when I wasn't an impoverished graduate student) we'd make a point of going to shows whenever we could. Wilco has always been one of my favorite live bands. They do a fine job of exploring a lot of musical territory, and aren't afraid to venture into feedback-driven experimentation, either.
I found the above video on YouTube, and thought it provided a good example of a potential new literacy. The author has videotaped himself doing an interesting marker drawing, and he's synched it up to a Wilco song called California Stars. The video has an accelerated frame rate, so the picture is finished at the exact moment the song closes. As a nerdy side-note, the song is from an album called Mermaid Avenue, an album that Wilco collaborated on with Billy Bragg, a British folk singer. The album was "commissioned" by descendants of Woody Guthrie, who apparently left behind over a thousand sets of completed lyrics that hadn't had any music placed with them yet. The collaboration between Bragg and Wilco created a pretty solid album that gave Guthrie a renewed voice that may not have otherwise been heard.
Sorry. I have a tendency to wax nerdily when it comes to rock and roll. Hope that you enjoy the video!
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2 comments:
The video is really interesting, I like the music, and I didn't realize that about the Guthrie lyrics. Thanks for all the new information!
That is such a good song. I had no idea about the Woody Guthrie info. I was surprised when he lit the tree on fire, but the final result was very interesting. I wonder why the artist chose that particular painting with that song.
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