Don’t know how to play an instrument? Comp heavily, sample or dig into some sample libraries. Can’t sing on key? Antares is your friend. And don’t worry about the lyrics making any sense either.
Making A Pop Song: Talent Not Required
Category: David Feldman Show
All Hail the Lord of the Twin Moons!
Last night’s couch gag on The Simpsons might go down as one of the oddest in the history of the series. The 26th season opener propels the “Sampsans” into a grey null space of protoplasmic, shriek-talking figures and might just be mainstream America’s first real introduction to Oscar-nominated animator Don Hertzfeldt.
The deliberately off-putting (and lengthy) clip blends live-action and animation while pitch-shifting the voices of The Simpsons clan beyond recognition (although I kind of think Yeardley Smith is voicing the tentacled Marge). Set in the year 10,535, it’s like Hertzfeldt boiled off all of the joy from the long-running animated series and skimmed the broadest cultural signifiers off the top. Then had aliens animate it.
Read more here at The Nerdist: All Hail the Lord of the Twin Moons: A Look at Last Night’s SIMPSONS Couch Gag
Is America OK with Gay Marriage?
First, a highlight from this week’s Ralph Nader Radio Hour where Ralph discusses smart meters in our homes. Then Pacifica Radio’s John Matthews on a poll about American’s tolerance of gay marriage. Michael Snyder on what movies to catch this week, and the ‘King of TV’ Paul Goebel on what’s good to watch on television.
Watch This: Pistol Pete
In light of the recent barrage of Simpsons output, it’s nice to know that some things about the long-running show are still a bit of a mystery. In this case, the enigma is John Swartzwelder, one of the show’s longtime writers and a veritable JD Salinger/Hunter S. Thompson of the Simpsons world. With a weird and absurdist view on things, Swartzwelder is perfectly suited for writing animated comedies, where pretty much anything that will make you laugh your ass of goes.
A lesser-known fact is that Swartzwelder wrote a live-action pilot that, until this week, few had seen. Swartzwelder’s 1996 pilot Pistol Pete was uploaded to YouTube on Tuesday and is a time capsule of an established talent, in the vein of Lookwell and Heat Vision and Jack. Absurdly anachronistic, chock full of bad acting and rough cuts, there are shades of Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace. But where Darkplace deliberately lambastes, Pistol Pete falls short in its reverence for the classic western source material and lack of self-awareness. Either way, the pilot is a fun watch, if only to see Simpsons-world comedy in a real world setting.
Who’s Smarter: LA Or NY?
Jimmy Kimmel Wants To Know Who’s Smarter: LA Or NY?
There’s been a long-standing rivalry between America’s two biggest cities and it’s finally time to put their knowledge to the test. Let’s let the chips fall where they may (which is probably in some other smarter city).
Woody Allen’s Sixties Stand-Up Albums Reissued
The recordings Woody Allen made of his comedy routines in the mid-Sixties will once again be available at an affordable price. November 25th will see the release of a comprehensive two-disc set – The Stand-Up Years: 1964 – 1968 – which will contain everything from the three records Allen released in the Sixties, along with a never-before-released routine and more bonus audio. The additional material comprises 25 minutes of excerpts from the 2012 film Woody Allen: A Documentary, in which he discusses how stand-up comedy changed his life, as well as liner notes by the documentary’s producer and director, Robert B. Weide.
The album contains Allen’s routines from the Chicago club Mr. Kelly’s in March 1964, the Washington D.C. venue the Shadows in April 1965 and the San Francisco club Eugene’s in August 1968. Previously, Allen’s three comedy LPs had been split between two compilations, Standup Comic and The Nightclub Years. Among the performances are the comic’s routines about everything from Brooklyn and marriage to a vodka ad and “The Moose,” a memorable bit about shooting a moose – and the repercussions he faced from doing so.