Frank Zappa plays a bicycle on the Steve Allen show - Boing Boin. Spheruleus - A Vision Obscured. The Caretaker - V/Vm Test. Jonny Greenwood on computer programming. Edward Elgar. English composer (1857–1934) Although Elgar is often regarded as a typically English composer, most of his musical influences were not from England but from continental Europe. He felt himself to be an outsider, not only musically, but socially. In musical circles dominated by academics, he was a self-taught composer; in Protestant Britain, his Roman Catholicism was regarded with suspicion in some quarters; and in the class-conscious society of Victorian and Edwardian Britain, he was acutely sensitive about his humble origins even after he achieved recognition. He nevertheless married the daughter of a senior British Army officer. She inspired him both musically and socially, but he struggled to achieve success until his forties, when after a series of moderately successful works his Enigma Variations (1899) became immediately popular in Britain and overseas.
In his fifties, Elgar composed a symphony and a violin concerto that were immensely successful. National and international fame. Beatles Unknown "A Hard Day's Night" Chord Myster. It’s the most famous chord in rock 'n' roll, an instantly recognizable twang rolling through the open strings on George Harrison’s 12-string Rickenbacker. It evokes a Pavlovian response from music fans as they sing along to the refrain that follows: "It’s been a hard day’s nightAnd I’ve been working like a dog" The opening chord to "A Hard Day’s Night" is also famous because, for 40 years, no one quite knew exactly what chord Harrison was playing.
There were theories aplenty and musicians, scholars and amateur guitar players all gave it a try, but it took a Dalhousie mathematician to figure out the exact formula. Four years ago, inspired by reading news coverage about the song’s 40th anniversary, Jason Brown of Dalhousie’s Department of Mathematics decided to try and see if he could apply a mathematical calculation known as Fourier transform to solve the Beatles’ riddle. It worked, to a point: the frequencies he found didn’t match the known instrumentation on the song. Dr. A Conversation with Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo. I have this dear old chum in NYC who’s a bit of a troublemaker in the best possible way, and I’ve been pining to bring him into our Coilhouse endeavor for months now.
A brilliant writer, teacher and libertine, he’s not afraid of asking difficult questions or enduring awkward silences, and has a knack of getting to the juicy, palpitating core of an ethos more swiftly than you can say “subvert the dominant paradigm.” He will make you smile, he will make you think, he will make you shift uncomfortably in your chair. Ladies and gents, he’s “Double Agent Oh No, Your Spy in NY”, and here is his premiere piece for Coilhouse, a provocative interview with Mark Mothersbaugh.
Stay pruned for more upcoming features. – Mer Mark Mothersbaugh. De-evolution in the 21st-Century: The Avant-Garde as Derriere-Garde Devo-Beautiful World by adiis“It’s a beautiful world… for you. Does de-evolution turn the avant-garde on its head so that it is now the derriere-garde? How would your visual art guide people?