According to the band’s creative manifesto, it was formed as a response to mass culture and narrow-mindedness, “which in fact leads to [the] destruction of human dignity.”  Indeed, after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the expansion of the European Union to most of the former Warsaw Pact countries, Poland’s economy has grown dramatically, while at the same time ushering in investment by a number of multinational corporations, leading to concerns of globalism and loss of Poland’s cultural identity.

Notably, Warsaw Village Band have revived several musical traditions that were all but lost in Poland. The band use instruments rarely heard in modern music: frame drums, the hurdy-gurdy and the suka, a Polish folk fiddle stopped with the fingernails rather than the fingers, similar to the Bulgarian gadulka, the sarangi, or the rebec. The suka was practically unknown to the Polish people until member Sylwia Swiatkowska began to play it in the band’s concerts, and, later, on their albums. Additionally, many of the band’s vocals are sung in a loud and powerful style remakably like the “open-throated” singing styles in Bulgarian music, called bialy glos (white voice). This style of singing was used by shepherds in the Polish mountains to be heard for long distances.

Warsaw Village Band have also used modern elements in their music. Wykorzenienie contains scratching by the Polish hip hop artist DJ Feel-X, most likely as a nod to the phenomenal popularity of hip hop in Poland.

So cool…

A.

I’ll find one more really good one and then move on to the next obsession.

A.

Alvin

She was in a band in the south and he was in a band in the UK and they were sending tapes to each other.. here’s a quote from eMusic..”The bluesy punk duo the Kills consists of vocalist/guitarist VV, aka Alison Mosshart, formerly of the Florida punk band Discount, and drummer/guitarist/vocalist Hotel, aka Jamie Hince. After Discount ended in 2000, VV began exchanging tapes with the London-based Hotel through the mail, but both of them felt hindered by this method, so VV crossed the Atlantic so the duo could write faster.”

Alvin

if mr. coffee has been making coffee makers for 36 years, why have they not been able to make a carafe that doesn’t drip down the side? This question has bothered me for years.

Now in my mid-life as a coffee drinker since college, I would guess that I have owned 15 to 20 coffee-makers. Many manufacturers; Black & Decker, Bunn, ToastMaster, Gevalia (free) and of course Mr. Coffee.

I don’t understand. I never have a problem with the other brands’ coffee pots. Only Mr. Coffee coffee pots are guaranteed to dribble down the front, off the edge of the counter and onto your new kitchen rug. THe next time I forget and buy myself a Mr. Coffee, I will try to then stock up on brown kitchen rugs.

I don’t feel like writing anymore. I just got a new Mr. Coffee and I think about it every day. Maybe this will help me to let go until the next time.

Here’s the the Sponge Bob version…

Alvin

Alvin

Alvin

Here’s the Cole Mix

Alvin.

A.

I sent blamekojo a note and asked him/her to chat with me about what I’ve been noticing lately. If anyone else has some insight into this please contact me.

By the way the tune is Quagmire by FSOL.

Gregg

The entity that’s ruined the record business isn’t peer to peer it’s Amazon.com who lets everyone sell their used CDs online. Why buy a new CD when you can get the same quality sound from an old CD? Who cares about the tattered cover art? I buy a CD, rip it to my computer, throw the CD up in the attic where I’ll never see it again and I go out on the Internet and get a nice new shiny digital piece of cover art. Metallica should sue Amazon.com and Bob Rock. They did more damage to Metallica than any file-sharing fan ever did.

Gregg

Alvin is Gregg by the way.

Gregg

When I ran into this video this morning, I knew I had to post it.

Alvin (or is it?)

Or maybe he wants to share some serious news, like the black guy going around the country asking for change.

Maybe his name isn’t really even Alvin. Maybe it’s a more common name like Bob or Jeff. Stay tuned… All will soon be revealed. Maybe not all… Maybe not soon… Maybe.

Currently playing in iTunes: Don’t Be Afraid, You’re Already Dead by Akron/Family

The other song is by Angels & Airwaves, kind of a post-punk, emo supergroup (Blink-182, Box Car Racer, Over My Dead Body, Offspring, 30 Seconds to Mars) that seems to almost have turned themselves into an arena-rock band. I like the song and I think I’m about to get a chance to see the group live so we’ll see if it’s just production or if they’re making a transformation into pure commercialism. But I like what I like…

Alvin

What does this mean? What’s a white chick doing on this train? Why does she think she can just get up and start shaking her stuff in front of all these people she doesn’t even know? What’s going on here? Why won’t that guy look anyone in the eye?

*******

Now jump 40 years forward to 1997 and see how Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan collaborates with producer Michael Brook on the fusion album “Star Rise.” This rare work is surprisingly available at amazon.com’s new mp3 service.

I’ve just been feeding you videos for the last 3 posts so you need to go out and purchase this specialty! – Star Rise

PS: I do realize that I’m presenting 2 differing styles of eastern music here. One obviously secular in the video and one traditionally devotional with the twist of western fusion in the Ali Khan download. I’m not a total idiot. (but if you can tell me more about the secular style, I’m interested)

Alvin