Sophie Time!

I've mentioned before that Sophie Madeleine is one of my favorite new artists.  She is simply exquisite, a lovely and talented young English singer-songwriter, conquering the world of music with her ukulele.  Sophie is the best.

So, to share a little Sophie, here is a link to her music video for "You Are My Favorite".  This is absolutely the happiest music video ever!  Feeling a little down - watch this video - it will perk you up.  Guaranteed.

Recently, as a lead in to her CD release, Sophie performed 30 covers in 30 days, and posted them all to Youtube.  They are all there for your enjoyment - check them out.  And if you like Sophie's music, visit her website and learn more.

So, without further ado, heeeeeeeere's Sophie!

Link: Sophie Madeleine - You Are My Favorite

I'm sure there will be more Sophie news here...

R.E.M. - Thanks for the music

R.E.M. announced today that they are calling it quits after more than 30 years.  This is just a quick blog entry to say "Thanks guys, for all the great music".  (You know, in case Michael Stipe is one of my 18 followers...)

I'm not the most manic R.E.M. fan around, but I have all of their studio CDs and love their music.  I only saw them in concert once, in 1986 at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, KS (opener - Camper Von Beethoven).  Should have seen them with Sonic Youth on their "Monster" tour, but didn't.  Shoot.

What strikes me more is this seems like the end of a significant period of my life.  I started college in 1982, and R.E.M. was emerging as a musical force in the 'college music' genre.  They seemed to be the foundation of the sound that became college radio, more than Los Lobos and Talking Heads, and way darned more then Duran Duran.  It feels like R.E.M. got their start at the same time I got mine.

The Beatles, the Who, Pink Floyd - they were all adults playing music that youth was listening to.  R.E.M. was us.  Same generation.  They grew as we did, or at least that's how it felt.

And now they have retired(?)  broken up(?)  quit(?).  Decided that it's time to end with grace (yeah, that's it).  30 years is a right long time for a band to stick together and keep making great music.  So, yeah, I guess it's the right time.

So, thanks guys.  Thanks for the great music, and being a major part of the soundtrack to my life.

Think I'll listen to Murmur on the drive in to work tomorrow...

Mid-September in KC

I've been away from the blog for a while, just winding down Summer and doing many varied and miscellaneous things.  For the last six weeks I've been on a sabbatical from work, doing a lot of projects around the house, taking in the local attractions, catching up on movies, and, as they say in the garage sale ads, lots of misc.

One bit of good news:  I've spent a fair amount of time recording Christmas albums for the upcoming sharity season.  I have quite a few recorded and waiting on the next steps (ClickRepair, normalization, artwork scans).  Hope to get a few more before returning to work, and then continue up through the season.

Have some good stuff to share out this year, including some re-recordings of a couple from last year, specifically the Hallmark records.  I shared two of them out last year before discovering ClickRepair.  I have more from Hallmark this year, so will re-record the two from last year and share out the whole set.

You run into some interesting things with this hobby (as I'm sure Ernie can tell you).  Yesterday I recorded a record where side 2 was completely different than both the label and the album cover.  And, at the end of the side was a very pleasant and unexpected surprise!  Sorry readers - you'll just have to wait :-)

Mid-September in Kansas City has brought us temps in the 40s (at night, for at least a couple days).  Beautiful Fall-feeling weather, giving us Winter-lovers a preview of the chills in the air yet-to-come.  When the temps drop, the Christmas music starts.

Looking forward to a great holiday music season.  Be sure to visit the other sites - FaLaLaLaLa, Stubby's place, Ernie, and the rest - and see what they have to offer once the season starts up.