Where it's hot

Mondorchestra's vocalist, Rocco Pollina, is an original songwriter who sings his songs in Sicilian dialect. Mondorchestra's songs deal with the violence of war, jail and mafia but they are often full of irony as well. Some of Mondorchestra's songs belong to Pino Veneziano, a folk songwriter from Selinunte who died quite unknown some years ago. The band was born in Milan around 1997. The name Mondorchestra comes from the old name of the band, Mon Doh. The new name, Mondorchestra, can be read as a short name for Mondorchestra project.


Mediterranian cool

64 Free Seattle downloads

Last September's reverb fest in Seattle has one lingering benefit for cheap music lovers. This link will get you to this treasure trove of Rat City locals:

— The Bit (Emeralds, Guns & Rossetti, The Valkyries ...)

— Hattie's Hat (Ian Moore, Herman Jolly, Sweet Potatoes ...)

— Conor Byrne's (The Crying Shame, The Rainieros, Hazelwood Motel...)

— Salmon Bay Eagles Vol. 1, Vol. II (Panda & Angel, Black Wales, Boat ...)

— The Sunset Vol. 1, Vol. II (Sage, Team Gina, Thee Sgt. Major III ...)

— The Tractor Vol. 1, Vol. II, Vol. III (Zach Harjo, See Me River, Shim ...)

— Market Street Athlete Vol. 1, Vol. II (Wizdom, Knox Family, Ripynt ...)

— Mr. Spot's Chai House Vol. 1, Vol. II (Husbands Love Your Wives, Man Plus, Pufferfish ...)

— Lock and Keel Vol. I, Vol. II (The Little Penguins, Red Jacket Mine, Trombone Cake ...)

Fleet Foxes

I went to a focus group for musicians Sunday, part of a library science project for the UW's iSchool, and met a nice woman, Peggi Skjelset, who was one of the facilitators. We were talking about musical equipment, and she explained her son Skyler's band kept two sets of vintage instruments—one in the US and one in Europe. Whoa. That got my attention.

Who are they? Fleet Foxes. One of Sub Pop's latest gifts to the world, and definitely worth checking out if you haven't heard them yet. Their sound is tough to categorize, but Pitchfork did a pretty nice job: "Rather than revive a particular scene or re-create a lost sound, the Seattle quintet cherrypick their ideas from a broad spectrum of styles, pulling in Appalachian folk, classic rock, AM country, and SoCal pop to create a personal synthesis of the music of their peers, their parents, and even their grandparents.

If you want to hear a free sample, go to their Myspace. It's fresh and sounds like perfect holiday music to me.

Free music for kids

What I like about freekidsmusic.com is that there's so much DIY stuff there. Everything in fact. Nobody's making any money off the downloads, so while the quality is generally good, you won't find a single Big Name Artist there.

In fact, a fair percentage of the artists are kids themselves. Free. My favorite word. And easy to download. My only beef is that there isn't an easy way to do short previews of a large number of tunes quickly...but that's a very minor beef.

I think it's a great place to turn computer-aged kids loose to put together their own music collection.

And if you or your kid is feeling really creative, you can submit your own original work. Everything is reviewed by the site, and no cover tunes. All originals all the time.

Free New York Music

On the plane back from Pittsburgh I got stuck in a middle seat next to a big bear-type guy who was totally prepared for the flight. Three newspapers, personal DVD player, book, food, iPod. About the only thing he didn't have (at least I didn't see it) was one of those inflatable neck pillow deals.

I didn't have squat. Except for my iBook. And my battery's about shot, so I was really trying to make the most of the one hour of battery life I can still squeeze out of it.

He was reading the New York Post, a paper I haven't seen in a long time, but I immediately found it intriguing, in a trashy way. Like a National Enquirer, but with real news. That paper kept him busy all the way to Atlanta where we changed planes. Fortunately, he left it behind and I snagged it.

So...big discovery. BD. The New York Post has free music downloads! Just go to nypost.com, then music, then MPfrees.

I love free stuff. They have five or six tunes every week. The level of eclecticity (ecletibility? eclection? eclecapacity?) is off the charts. When I was flying, for instance, you could download Innerpartysystem, The Sammies—and Pete Seeger.

Pete Seeger. Yes—the 400-year old Pete Seeger. He literally wrote "We Shall Overcome"—I shit you not. And "If I had a Hammer." He was already a legend when Bob Dylan was getting squeezed out of his mommy.

Now, true, if I had a hammer I'd probably beat the shit out of anyone who was singing either one of those songs—but come on. The guy's got a new album out. It's called, without a trace of irony, At 89. And he's smiling. Hell, he's fully mobile. He looks good, even, in a skinny Santa sort of way. He's been married for 65 years. And his life's goal—seriously—is to get people to sing around the dinner table.

I love you, Pete Seeger. I didn't used to love you. But I love you now.

Different Star

I'm going to go out on a limb and bet that shortly after the presidential election there's going to be an announcement that life has been discovered on Mars. Of course, it will be something less than an ameoba. Probably something that's been dead for a billion years. Have to break it to us slowly, don't you know. Make it a huge anticlimax. Don't want to freak the poor Earthbound Sheeple out.

Still, it's a big deal. And not so much. You already know we're not alone, don't you?

I bet we're some of the best musicians in the universe. Maybe that's why the aliens come here. To check out the music.

A long while ago I did an album that never got released with my friend Norman Durkee. It meant a lot to me, because I was pretty down at the time. He had all these wonderful tracks that he sent me home with, and I came up with lyrics and melodies, and a few guitar and harmonica parts. Nothing ever came of it except the fun.

Lately, Durkee has been the musical director for Teatro Zinzanni in Seattle. He is truly one of a kind, with a musical history that's rich and deep. Here's a true story about him I just saw for the first time on the web. At least I think it's true. Bloggers don't lie, do they?

"We're in the studio recording "Taking Care of Business". In the next studio is a guy working with Steve Miller. He hears the song as he's walking back and forth getting coffee. He sticks his head in and says, "That needs piano! A real boogie-woogie piano would sound cool." The he leaves. We're looking around for him, asking, "Where's that piano guy?" So Buzz Richmond, the engineer, tells us that he's working next door and he'll go get him. So he comes back, and asks us if we want piano on the song. He asks us how long the song is, and we tell him about five minutes. "Well," he says, "I only have six." He then picks up a pizza box, proceeds to write the chord progression on the cardboard box, puts it down on the piano, and plays it once. It sounds great. He then asks us to send him a check and he leaves us his card. The fellow's name is Norman Durkee. He's a musical director for Bette Midler and Barry Manilow. We credited him on the album." (www.newyorkwaste.com)

We did this one song called "Different Star Blue." It's about traveling to outer space.

Strange Instruments

Just heard a great story on NPR about strange instruments, and I was proud to hear that the world's only operating cello Theramin is in Seattle. I didn't catch the guy's name, but he played the thing beautifully.

Here's a theramin song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_R9HRvoHTk

If you've never heard of this bizarre sci-fi instrument, google it. It's pretty cool.

Anyway, back to NPR. I didn't realize they had a free song every day:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4703895

Here's a nice video of the weird musical instruments—including the "double belled euphonium," which sounds to me like a medical procedure you'd never want to have;

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95100172