W♥M

Star Trek: Into Darkness

Read More Star Trek Again, I love Star Trek. I own all the DVDs and didn't feel the need to upgrade. That is… until I finally experience the high-definition of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION: THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS in theaters last week. .…

As a longtime Star Trek fan, I'm pretty happy about the new J.J. Abrams' Star Trek: Into Darkness feature motion picture that is playing in wide release this Friday (Thursday at midnight if you want to get into the action).

I saw the 3-D preview screening last night at the ICON Theater in St Louis Park. First of all, I love 3-D, so I had no issues or problems with wearing the passive glasses. For the most part, the 3-D effects made sense (especially when the Enterprise goes into warp speed), despite the fact that J.J. Abrams didn't want to make a 3-D movie. Paramount wouldn't fund Star Trek: Into Darkness without the 3-D demand, so Abrams was forced to give in. Again, I did enjoy the 3-D, so no lack of enjoyment on my end.

If you've read anything about the new Star Trek movie, you know that the new movie is based on a very popular Star Trek feature. Any fans could deduce that a "super powered/super soldier/super intellect villain" could only mean one thing. To say any more would spoil the movie, so I'll just leave it at that.

What they did right with Into Darkness compared to the original movie that it's based on, is that they demonstrated the villains' abilities as an all-around badass. The film's pacing is done better here, making it a more action-packed feature. Really, the story just kept going as soon as they entered into Klingon territories.

Again, comparing it to the original, they did switch it up a little. Characters that did one thing in the original did it in reverse in the new Star Trek universe. The dynamic here is different, because the new crew is still learning and bonding as a "family" (some really good Spock vs Kirk scenes here, solidifying their friendship).

I thought towards the end of the picture, it was a little predictable, but, still, it was still very satisfying to see the payoff. If you love Star Trek, it's highly illogical if you miss this new film.

Star Trek: Into Darkness will be in theaters this Friday.

"Please turn around!"

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com

Minneapolis: May 12-May 17

Too much going on this week in Minneapolis! We are covering these shows.

Sun 05/12/13: 7th Street Entry

WOODEN INDIAN BURIAL GROUND
woodenindianburialground.tumblr.com

Wooden Indian Burial Ground (with Night Beats headlining) are coming to Minneapolis this Sunday, May 12th. The Portland-based duo are touring in support of a double-a-side "Holy Mountain" b/w "Sunbeams and the Cosmic Ascent to Nowheresville". The single will be available on 10'' Vinyl (with digital) on May 21st via Mon Amie Records of Brooklyn, New York.

Tour dates:

May 11th - Bozeman, MT - Filling Station
May 12th - Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry
May 14th - Milwaukee, WI - Quarters Rock
May 15th - Chicago, IL - Quencher's Saloon
May 16th - Champaign, IL - Thee Death Tower
May 17th - Columbus, OH - Rumba Café
May 18th - Washington, DC - Ghion
May 21st - Doylestown, PA - Siren Records
May 22nd - Philadelphia, PA - Kung Foo Necktie (downstairs)
May 29th - Cleveland, OH - Happy Dog
May 31st - Nelsonville, OH - Nelsonville Music Fest
June 3rd - Newport, KY - Southgate House
June 5th - Knoxville, TN - Pilot Light
June 7th - Little Rock, AR - Vino's Brewpub
June 18th - Marfa, TX - El Cosmico or Lost Horse Saloon
June 20th - Las Cruces, NM - The Trainyard
June 21st - Santa Fe, NM - High Mayhem
June 22nd - Durango, CO - Olde Schoolhouse Café
June 25th - Boise, ID - Neurolux
June 29th - Portland, OR - Star Theater
July 11th - Hood River, OR - Trillium
July 12th - Le Grande, OR - KEOL Fest
July 13th - Portland, OR - Bastille Day Block Party

Mon 05/13/13: 7th Street Entry

STORNOWAY
stornoway.eu

Sure, we are covering Black Moth Super Rainbow at Fine Line Music Cafe on Monday , but did you know that England's Stornoway is playing at the tiny 7th Street Entry the same night?

You may recall that we covered them in 2010 and the singer came on saying that Minneapolis was "possibly the coldest place we've ever been to"? Good news: it finally stopped snowing last week.

Fri 05/10/13 Cleveland, OH Beachland Tavern
Sat 05/11/13 Chicago, IL Schubas Tavern
Mon 05/13/13 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
Tue 05/14/13 Omaha, NE The Waiting Room
Wed 05/15/13 Denver, CO Hi-Dive
Thu 05/16/13 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
Sat 05/18/13 Vancouver, BC Media Club
Sun 05/19/13 Victoria, BC Lucky Bar
Mon 05/20/13 Seattle, WA The Crocodile
Wed 05/22/13 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge
Fri 05/24/13 San Francisco, CA Brick & Mortar Music Hall
Sat 05/25/13 Los Angeles, CA Bootleg Theater
Sun 05/26/13 Los Angeles, CA Bootleg Theater

Tue 05/14/13: Dakota Jazz Club

JOSHUA RADIN
joshuaradin.com

Lots of shows on this Tuesday. First of all The Thermals are playing 7th Street and Limp Bizkit - that Nookie-loving band - is playing at the Varsity Theater. Since we've already mentioned Thermals, I thought I'd tell you about Joshua Radin's show at the Dakota Jazz Club this Tuesday, May 14th.

If Radin's name sound familiar, that's because we semi-recently covered his co-headlining tour with A Fine Frenzy late last year. From seeing him live, he loves Minneapolis.

According to his website, he is handpicking "smaller than usual" venues for his "Wax Wings VIP Tour", which is really meant to give his fans a small and intimate performance. Most of these venues have sold out.

Tour dates:

05/12 Denver, CO Sold out
05/14 Minneapolis, MN
05/15 Chicago, IL Sold Out
05/17 Toronto, ON
05/18 Washington, DC Sold Out
05/20 Boston, MA Sold Out
05/21 Philadelphia, PA
05/22 New York, NY Sold Out
05/30 Paris, France
06/02 Hamburg, Germany
06/04 London, UK
06/05 Dublin, Ireland

Wed 05/15/13: Kerasotes Showplace ICON

STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS
startrekmovie.com

We are covering the Presets/Dragonette show on Wednesday, although I am gutted that I won't personally be attending their show, or am I attending of Montreal at the Cedar Cultural Center….

Instead, I'm doing a non-music event, seeing a preview for Star Trek: Into Darkness. As I've previously mentioned, I am a bit of a Trekkie, so expect a review of the movie on Thursday.

Synopsis:

In Summer 2013, pioneering director J.J. Abrams will deliver an explosive action thriller that takes Star Trek Into Darkness. When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.

Fri 05/17/13: 7th Street Entry

TELEKINESIS
telekinesismusic.com

We don't have any shows on Thursday, but we're making it up for Friday as we're covering a ton of shows: Youth Lagoon/Majical Cloudz at Fine Line Music Café, Shout Out Louds and Haerts at Varsity Theater , Laura Stevenson and Field Mouse at Triple Rock Social Club (maybe), and Reliant K and Hellogoodbye at Mill City, but my choice will probably be Telekinesis and Deep Sea Diver at 7th Street Entry.

You might recall that we covered Telekinesis' show in Manchester (England) a few years ago.

It looks like the band is back with Dormarion, which came out earlier last month (April 2nd) on our favorite label, Merge Records.

Telekinesis on tour:

May 11 Montreal, QC Il Motore%
May 12 Toronto, ON Horseshoe Tavern%
May 14 Cleveland Heights, OH Grog Shop%
May 15 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall%
May 16 Madison, WI High Noon Saloon%
May 17 Minneapolis, MN 7th St. Entry%
May 18 Kansas City, MO Riot Room%
May 20 Denver, CO Hi Dive
May 21 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge%
May 22 Nampa, ID Flying M Coffee
May 24 George, WA Sasquatch Music Festival

% = w/ Deep Sea Diver

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com

Update (May 2013)

Setlist courtesy of Brian Read More Johnny Marr The first band that I fell for was The Smiths. By the time I discovered Morrissey (on the Johnny Carson show in 1991), The Smiths were long gone. When I said that I fell for the band, I really meant it …

MARR-VELOUS
Yeah, I know, I missed Marr at the Varsity Theater, but I think I got a better deal with a personal one-on-one with the legendary guitarist at Twin Town Guitars. An employee there (Andrew Bell) said that Marr stayed over three hours to sign and personally talk to everyone in line:

"He is that kind of person, and he did stay until everyone in line had a chance to ask questions, greet him and get a personalized autograph. He's a great, generous person. He stayed at Twin Town for over three hours greeting fans."

It did make me think that I went to see Johnny Marr + the Healers at First Avenue on Wednesday, May 7th, 2003. I still have a stolen poster, which lists a couple of key things about that show: (1) it was a 21-and-over gig, (2) $20 at 6pm, (3) DAMF booked and presented the show, (4) Drive 105 was promoting it, and (5) Paloalto was the opener. This was a decade ago, so I actually have a very poor memory of it. I remember I was in front, it wasn't that crowded and I did touch Johnny Marr's arms and guitar.

Special thanks to Brian who provided a photograph of the setlist from that night. Yes, no Smiths songs, which was disappointing, but hey, he threw in a Bob Dylan cover for "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right".

On another note (and I did verify this with Marr when I met him) that Johnny Marr wanted to recruit Ian Brown (Stone Roses) to sing for his pre-Smiths band called Freak Party. Obviously that all changed when The Nosebleeds' Morrissey became singer of Freak Party. This information was from STONE ROSES: WAR AND PEACE book from St Martin's Press. I will have a review of the book up very soon.

MINNESNOWTA
The weather here in Minneapolis blows. It is freezing and I think it even snow for a bit on Wednesday. I thought they said it was going to snow today (05/03)! Yes, we're talking May 2013. Will Spring ever arrive? I came out of hibernation earlier last month, but it looks like I might have to stay indoors for a bit longer.

MY NEX CAMERA
I have a new camera. After rave reviews from Engadget (and other places), I have purchased the Sony NEX-3N. This is the perfect camera that I've been looking for: a small/compact camera that can produce DSLR-quality photographs. I did request a few recent shows to do some real-world testing: Twin Forks (previously known as Twin Falls) and Cloud Cult at First Avenue.

The former had terrible low-light (as usual for 7th Street!) I will try and see a show at Triple Rock - certainly the worst when it comes to bad lights.

For the price ($500) the NEX-3N is quite a bargain, considering its more expensive brother (NEX-5N) is double the cost but only offer slightly better options. The only downfall in this nearly perfect camera is its battery life. Shooting a regular show with turning on and off (for a total of on-time of about 15 minutes), will drain the battery to about 80%. Charging also seems to take forever. Otherwise, I am so impressed with the camera that I may invest in and get a 200mm e-mount lens. The kit lens only zooms in about 50mm.

MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU
This Saturday is known as Star Wars Day (May the 4th). It's also Free Comic Book Day, which usually falls after or near a release of a comic book movie. This year, it would seem that FCBD is following Iron Man 3, which comes out this Friday (today?).

Although I thought the first Iron Man movie was alright, I wasn't that excited to see the sequel, and probably less than excited to see the upcoming movie. I'll probably pick up the Blu-Ray, but will probably skip the theatrical release.

Anyway, if you live near a comic book store, just show up on Saturday and get free comic books. Lists of free comics is available on www.freecomicbookday.com.

Some comics of interests:

SUPERMAN SPECIAL EDITION

TMNT NEW ANIMATED ADVENTURES

WALKING DEAD SPECIAL

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE HULK AGENTS OF SMASH #1

DC NATION SUPER SAMPLER #1

JUDGE DREDD CLASSICS

VALIANT MASTERS SHOWCASE ED (mostly for Barry Windsor-Smith)

SET PHASERS TO PUNS
Again, I love Star Trek. I own all the DVDs and didn't feel the need to upgrade. That is… until I finally experience the high-definition of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION: THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS in theaters last week. I was so impressed that I picked up Season 3 on Blu-Ray with a $5 extra to grab The Best of Both Worlds on BD at Target.

I have not watched everything, but a couple of notes: (1) Wesley Crusher has pimples, which I've never noticed before, (2) on HD, I also noticed seams in the costumes, (3) Everything looks so much better, especially the rich colors and extraordinary details, and (4) on a few episodes are audio commentaries. Overall, I love it; it's like the series again for the first time.

Random note: I have some duplicate DVDs that I will likely take into Best Buy and convert them for $5 and buy Men in Black III Bluray Steelcase, which is on sale at the moment for $18. With $5 taken off, it'll be $13, which is a "steel".

CROFTING THE PERFECT TOMB RAIDER
I picked up the Target Steelcase version of the new Tomb Raider game. I beat the game last night (with about 75% complete) in about a good 4 hours of playtime. I tried going back to do all the side quests to make it 100%, but quickly got bored of re-playing levels. What does this mean? Well, when you play it, it's like a sequential movie… when you get to the end, there's really no reason to go back and replay it again.

Also, the game seems to be inspired by ABC's "Lost" and that movie "Descent" (especially when Lara Croft rises from a pool of blood).

Anyway, as much as I love playing the game, I am regretting paying $60 to buy it new. It's definitely a rental game. I know there are online components to the game, but I have no desire to explore it… so my time with the game is at an end.

FREEDOMFIZZLE
You know that saying, "you get what you pay for?" It's true.

I was initially happy with the service, but after a few months of usage, I can safely say that Freedompop is one of the worst ISP I've ever dealt with. I think when I downgraded my service to its basic $10 a month, they started consistently disconnecting me from the internet. I have tried moving the modem closer to the windows with no change in service. I'm going to cancel my service this month and only keep its "free" service (for my Skype telephone).

Since the service is so bad, I am currently shopping around for a more reliable internet service (again). I may eventually just give in and call Century Link for its DSL service.

So the short answer is: avoid Freedompop.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Star Trek: The Best of Both Worlds

Details The powerful cliffhanger: The Best of Both Worlds Part 1 and 2 has been fully restored in brilliant 1080p HD and seamlessly edited together into one feature-length presentation…and the crew of the Enterprise is asked: How do you stop an unstoppable foe? The Enterprise team discovers the devastated remains of a Federation colony as an ambitious young officer joins the crew to confirm the presence of the deadly Borg. Soon after, Borg drones abduct Captain Picard, mutilating him horribly as they assimilate him into their collective. Commander Riker must take over as Enterprise captain as Steerfleet braces for an all-out battle to defend Earth. But the Borg's power proves overwhelming, and resistance is futile. Will Riker be forced to destroy his former captain to save Earth and the Federation? Read More Star Trek I was born too late for the original Star Trek, but I was lucky enough to have caught TNG from the beginning. My favorite character, easily, was Data, the android played by Brent Spiner. …

You know I love Star Trek, right? I got a chance to watch "Star Trek: The Best of Both Worlds" in theaters last night, April 25th. This was a one-night only special Fathom event. I thought it would just be a few hardcore fans, but I was wrong, the theater was packed full of Trekkers, some even wearing costumes. It was pretty awesome.

To give a little background on why this television show made it to the big screen, that's because CBS and Paramont are both going back to the vault and re-scanning the original negative and re-releasing Star Trek: The Next Generation on Blu-Ray in glorious 1080p. Since I already bought all the ST:TNG on DVD, I just didn't feel the need to sink back hundreds of dollars to re-buy them on BD. Sure, I've seen side-by-side comparison between the original DVD and BD prints - and yes, they look impressive. But I have to tell you, watching ST:TNG in the theater was pretty amazing. Particularly the nice close-ups! You can see the pores and costume details! I was so impressed that I may drop $53 on the Blu-Ray for Season 2 (sorry Season 1 was too slow).

"Star Trek: The Best of Both Worlds" originally aired as the cliffhanger for Season 3, so fans had to wait a whole summer to find out how Captain Picard made it back (if at all!) from being turned into a borg. The two-parter was seamlessly tied together as one continuous and uninterrupted story, with new digital/clean effects. It worked quite well; I didn't even know there was a "cut" in the middle of the story.

Prior to the "movie", we were also shown a 30 minute documentary on "The Best of Both Worlds". The featurette had brand new interviews with cast and crew (and oddly that guy from "The Family Guy") and summed up why everyone in the Star Trek universe agreed that "The Best of Both Worlds" was ST:TNG at its finest.

After the movie, we're also shown bloopers and outtakes. There is one really funny blooper, where Picard asked did we all play with ships in bottles as a boy? And Worf said, "I did not play with boys." That had a huge audience reaction.

Anyway, if you missed the one-time Star Trek event, then you can buy the Blu-Ray coming out April 30th. I believe all the features we saw in the theater will be available on BD. Since I already saw it, I probably won't pick up the Blu-Ray … but you know what they say, "Resistance is futile!"

vu ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com

Sci-Fi Goodness

I really like Science Fiction movies and television, especially when they start messing around with time-travel. So below are some television shows that I think you should check out if you're into time-travel and sci-fi.

If you don't like spoilers, please stop reading.

LOST

Michael Giacchino - The Constant

Michael Giacchino

This show started off with a plane crash on an island. Pretty normal stuff, except for a man in a wheel chair walking again (Locke) and that smoke monster and polar bears... Pretty mysterious, but I didn't really get into the show until season 2, when I watched a season 1 wrap up with one of my friend.

Currently, season 5 is pretty awesome! Although I have confessed that knowing too much about the Darma Initiative was lame, I do like the time-travel aspect of the show. You have to realize that the show didn't start off like this, it's evolved into science fiction.

I just love the time-travel aspect, and I think a lot of people will agree with me. I have already have my own theory on how the show is going to end (the show is ending next year).

Charlie Pace - Wonderwall on LOST

As far as music is concern, despite being lost and isolated on an island, you do get the occassional Patsy Cline. My favorite was spotting Oasis' "Wonderwall" as performed by Charlie Pace on a street corner. Charlie, as you know, is the singer in the fictional band Drive Shaft, who had brief fame before crashing on Flight 815.

For further music information, check out Lostpedia. In all of their database, they didn't at all mention the band Previously on Lost.

Previously On Lost - We're Going Home

Previously On Lost

Previously on Lost should be one of the worst band name ever. Their only gimmick is songs recaping Lost episodes. Previously no relationship with the show, for the last season (season six), ABC.com have hired them to do a musical recap of Season 5 (I can't wait to see what they rhyme with "Jacob" and "four-toed foot statue").

I did request their latest album The Tale of Season Four and the Oceanic Six, and I can tell you the band is as silly (and witty) (and nerdy) as I imagine the band to be. The first recap song "We're Goin' Home" will take you back to the Jack vs his beard fiasco and introduced the catchy chant "we are the oceanic six". It does get a little boring when you realize all the songs are about episodes from Lost. You start to think, didn't I just watch this ? With one exception, "Ballad Of Sayid Jarrah", is much better than the actual episode. It pretty much sums up what Sayid is all about: armed to the teeth secret agent with a list... and with good hair gel.

The Brooklyn band is currently on tour:

06/06/09 Public Assembly LIONSHARE and Ninjasonik Brooklyn, New York*
06/09/09 The Middle East Downstairs Cambridge, MA*+
06/10/09 AS220 Providence, Rhode Island+
06/11/09 Maxwells Hoboken, New Jersey*
06/12/09 Nightcat Cafe Easton, Maryland*
06/13/09 Danger Danger Gallery Philadelphia, Pennsylvania*

* with Anamanaguchi
+ with Harry and the Potters

My only concern for the band is that it's a novelty. I mean, will we still hear about them a year or two after the show's gone off air? Where will they get their inspirations for new songs ?

Their debut album, The Tale of Season Four and the Oceanic Six, can be bought via paypal to wearepol at gmail.com or iTunes.

JOURNEYMAN

Amanda Ghost and The Rural - Journeyman

Amanda Ghost and The Rural

I really like this show, I spent the better part of some weekend watching all thirteen episode of Journeyman on Hulu. The 2007 time travel television show feels like a modern age Quantum Leap (another show that I loved when I was younger). The show was created for 20^th Century Fox, but ultimately ended up airing on NBC.

The show is quite modern, I mean, after all, it was only two years ago, but seeing the iPhone on the show is kind of cool.

My problem is that Dan Vasser disappear in modern time (2007) whenever he does the time travel thing - often at unconvenient times. I mean, wouldn't people sort of noticed this bright light and a man disappearing? Also, since it's time travel, why doesn't he just return at the same time he left?

My favorite part about the show is the Journeyman theme song by Amanda Ghost and The Rural. The song was never official released on any record, but if you're interested in buying her 2008 download-only album, Blood On The Line, it is available here.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

Bear McCreary - All Along the Watchtower

Bear McCreary

Am I the only person that was disappointed with the very last episode of the new Battlestar Galactica ? I mean, huh? Prior to the final episode, the writing and story was top-notch! I love the time stuff, and it's more of a human story (everything from racisms to religion). The idea of the machines believing in God (read: not man), is a strange idea.

While the show was a rollercoaster ride, there were a few episodes that sort of went nowhere - but it's still a very excellent show. At one point, I thought it was my favorite show ever because they were killing off all your favorite (and not-so-favorite) characters.

Music was a main plot point when Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" (as played by Jimi Hendrix) caused the Final Five to unite and discover each other as Cylons. The Battlestar Galactica version from Bear McCreary is available on the soundtrack to Season 3.

 05/30/2009 22:42:24 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥podcast.weheartmusic.com♥news.weheartmusic.com

Tim Russ

 

 

Tim Russ - Crossroads

Tim Russ

Where we last left off on my Star Trek music coverage, we heard from Brent Spiner (Data) , Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), and Leonard Nimoy (Spock) and William Shatner (Captain Kirk).

Today, I am happy to report that I have Tim Russ's self-titled 2000 album that I picked up used. Fans of Star Trek: Voyager will know Russ as Lt Commander Tuvok, but if you follow Star Trek closely, you'd recognize Russ in other Trek roles (like the movie Star Trek: Generations).

The album is largely jazz-style, but there is a blues song that really stood out for me: "Crossroads".

The most interesting thing about this song is that it's based on Robert Johnson's most popular song, "Cross Road Blues". Johnson had a short (less than two years), but very influencial career as a Delta blues musician... and many believe that he made a deal with the Devil to become a famous singer (and hence his untimely death at the age of 27).

I'm not sure if Russ was a fan before starring as Robert Johnson in Crossroads (1986), but it's evident that Russ loved Johnson's song that he recorded his version of it on this self-titled album.

What makes Russ' version more compelling is that it's actually based on an interpretation of Johnson's classic song from Eric Clapton when he was in Cream (from the album Wheels Of Fire). I love the Clapton's version as well, featuring some great guitar-playing and his blues-rock vocals.

Tim Russ will be making some rare appearance: September 20^th at the Rhythm and Ribs in Sacramento, California and on October 11^th at the Tri-State Convention in Washington.

Below are some more Star Trekkin' goodness.

The Firm - Star Trekkin	Dennis McCarthy - Star Trek the Next Generation-Main Title	Brent Spiner - Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone	Brent Spiner - Toot, Toot, Tootsie	Nichelle Nichols - Rock the World
William Shatner - Mr. Tambourine Man	Tom Tuerff - Little Star Treks	William Shatner/Joe Jackson - Common People	Leonard Nimoy - Highly Illogical	Leonard Nimoy - Piece Of Hope

Links: timrusswebpage.net

 09/01/2008 21:33:16  ♥ written by vu ()

Brent Spiner & Maude Maggart - Dreamland

Brent Spiner - Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone Brent Spiner and Maude Maggart Discography [1991] Ol' Yellow Eyes Is Back [2008] Dreamland Read More Star Trek http://weheartmus... It's good news (depending on who you ask), is that Spiner released an album, Ol' Yellow Eyes Is ... Trivia Maude Maggart is the sister of Fiona Apple.

Brent Spiner - Toot, Toot, Tootsie   Maude Maggart - Night and Day My DVDs

If you've ever seen my DVD collection, you'll know that I am a pretty big fan of Star Trek. I have previously mentioned how much I love Data from Star Trek and was glad to see that the actor, Brent Spiner, had recorded Ol' Yellow Eyes Is Back. The 1940's pop and showtunes standard album have been out of print for a while, and fans and collectors have paid a lot of money to own an original copy. I would recommend getting a copy of his new, just-released, album, Dreamland before it goes out of print or you'll regret it later.

Dreamland is an old fashion radio musical with already established jazz singer, Maude Maggart. We've previously used her cover of Cole Porter's "Night and Day". It is important that I mention the Porter tune, because Brent Spiner heard her Porter cover of "Looking at You" and fell in love with her voice.

The other star appearing on this CD is Mark Hamill (Star Wars). He plays the villainous boyfriend and the Spanish waiter, and I believe other character voices too. I'm not familiar with the other voice actor Pat Richardson, but I think she is a pretty famous TV actress.

This album was meant to be listened to from start to finish, like an hour radio program. I was surprise to see that you can download it as per song ($1.50), but to me, this doesn't make much sense because you're only getting 1/16th of the story.

I didn't realize that the story is actually a dream (if you think I'm spoiling the story, I'm not, the explanation is written on the liner notes), so at one point in the story I was pretty confused when Spiner woke up with (what I imagined based on the voice acting) a horrific and older lady. The story is a great idea and it keeps you listening to find out what will happen next.

 

 

Brent Spiner and Maude Maggart-El Parador

As for the songs, if you love old big band/swing Frank Sinatra tunes ("In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning", "Nice 'n' Easy"), you'll love these new recording from Spiner and Maggart. The songs that are excellent are the duets, especially on the last track "To Know You is to Love You".

For some reason, when I was listening to this album, the one song that I kept going back to was "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone". There's a sense of humor in the song ("What do you call a singer who breaks up with his girlfriend?" answer: "Homeless!") and some improvisation and it made me think of a live 1930 setting.

 

Brent Spiner & Maude Maggart - DREAMLAND

Check out this video "behind the scene" of Dreamland, it really shows off what a great fun time they all had while recording this album (and it translate to the album too).

 

 

Dreamland is available on amazon and iTunes, but I would recommend getting it directly from therealbrentspiner.com because you can get it personalized and autographed.

What's in store for Brent in the future? It looks like he's going to be filming a documentary? From reading his blog, it would seem that he's going to be traveling around and will personally make stops to people's homes.

Bonus: Let's not forget other Star Trek actors have recordings. Here are some songs that we've previously used:

Leonard Nimoy - Highly Illogical

William Shatner - Mr. Tambourine Man

Nichelle Nichols - Rock the World

William Shatner/Joe Jackson - Common People

Leonard Nimoy - Piece Of Hope

Links: therealbrentspiner.com myspace.com/realbrentspiner maudemaggart.com myspace.com/maude...

 06/29/2008 12:52:32  ♥ written by vu ()

Where No One Has Gone Before

 

Patrick Stewart Alphabet

If you were one of the three people that watched my Sony 400 Disc Changer Review, you'd probably noticed that I like Star Trek. Particularly The Next Generation.

Well, last week (Sep 28th), marked the 20th Anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which came on the television screen in 1987.

I was born too late for the original Star Trek, but I was lucky enough to have caught TNG from the beginning. My favorite character, easily, was Data, the android played by Brent Spiner.

 

Brent Spiner - Toot, Toot, Tootsie

It's good news (depending on who you ask), is that Spiner released an album, Ol' Yellow Eyes Is Back in 1991. The album is mostly 1930-40 pop standards. From what I've heard of Spiner's songs, he actually does a pretty good job. However since he called it Yellow Eyes and had The Sunspots (back-up vocals, including LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, and Patrick Stewart), it just seems like a tongue-in-cheek joke, and I'm not sure if I can take it seriously.

Since we're on the topic of Star Trek actors releasing music, no one can ignore the awesomeness of Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner.

William Shatner - Mr. Tambourine Man

William Shatner/Joe Jackson - Common People

Shatner's approach to music, isn't really singing, but acting his songs out. Although The Transformed Man is pretty much spoken words, his second effort, Has Been is more of a music album. This is partly because of his collaborator, Ben Folds and Joe Jackson. We're not exactly sure why a Canadian like Shatner would cover a Britpop song by Pulp ("Common People"), but I did quite like his version.

Leonard Nimoy - Highly Illogical Leonard Nimoy - Piece Of Hope

Leonard Nimoy had a bunch of covers on his The New World of Leonard Nimoy, including "Proud Mary", "Abraham, Martin and John", "Put A Little Love In Your Heart", and "I Walk the Line".

Perhaps the most bizarre song from Nimoy is "The Ballad Of Bilbo Baggins" about Bilbo Baggins from "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien.

My favorite Nimoy album, which is the only one I own, is A Touch of Leonard Nimoy, which was a "serious" album. Most of the songs sounds very folk, which common for this time.

Half of Shatner's Transformed Man and Nimoy's pre-1970's releases were collected on Spaced Out.

 

Nichelle Nichols - Rock the World

Finally, did you know that Nichelle Nichols (the actress that plays Lieutenant Uhura) have released not one, but two albums ? I actually didn't know she was a recording artist until I started doing research for this article.

Nichols's 1995 song, "Rock the World", feels a little funky and has that 80s vibe to it. I couldn't help but imagined her in her Star Trek uniform singing "Rock the World" to an alien planet. This could really make a great episode.

Post Script: Check out even more Nimoy goodness on 6BaM and WB Mook. Also, there are a few spoken word albums that you may want to check out, such as Spock vs. Q.

Discography [1967] Mr. Spock's Music from Outer Space (Reissued on Rediffusion in '73 and Varése in '95) [1968] Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy [1968] The Way I Feel [1968] The Transformed Man [1969] The Touch of Leonard Nimoy [1970] The New World of Leonard Nimoy [1972] Space Odyssey [1974] Outer Space/Inner Mind [1977] Captain of the Starship / William Shatner - Live! (Reissued in 1978) [1988] Leonard Nimoy (Sears Records) [1991] Ol' Yellow Eyes Is Back [1993] Highly Illogical (Greatest Hits) [1995] Out of This World [1997] Spaced Out [1999] Spaced Out (Re-issue) [2004] Has Been [2005] Down to Earth [2005] Brian Evans Live in Concert with special guest William Shatner

 

 10/06/2007 16:16:49  vu my♥posts vu@weheartmusic.com www.startrek.com

Where's Captain Kirk?

Mr. Spock

Dr. McCoy

Sixbucksamonkey wrote: Oct 6, 2007 9:01 PM

[das ist gut] Thanks! Delightful post as usual. I see a few things here I need to seek out. Nichelle Nichols is the QUEEN of awesomeness. She's like Shirley Bassey multiplied times T'Pau.

But, frankly the Spiner stuff creeps me out a bit.

I've just figured out that people who weren't on Star Trek sing about it. Yet another reason to live!

Little Boxes

Little Boxes

Malvina Reynolds

The third season of the Showtime series Weeds recently began. The popularity of the show has increased and the main theme song has become more recognizable. The song is called "Little Boxes" and was written in 1962 and originally performed by Malvina Reynolds. Since then, it's been covered by many artists and since last season, various musicians were asked to cover the song so it could be used in the beginning of each episode. They've continued this theme for the third season and this time around, there have been over ninety submissions. Below are the show's covers of the songs from last season and the current one. Also, I'll try updating each week with the latest episode's cover. I've chosen to put them in list format this time for organization purposes and so the same album art doesn't appear multiple times. There are also full versions that some of the artists recorded (click the "Full" link). I also attached them below in a subcategory.

Weeds Season 2

01 Elvis Costello
02 Death Cab For Cutie
03 Engelbert Humperdinck [Full]
04 Kate and Anna McGarrigle [Full]
05 Charles Barnett
06 Aidan Hawken
07 Ozomatli [Full]
08 The Submarines
09 Tim DeLaughter
10 Regina Spektor
11 Jenny Lewis and Johnathan Rice
12 Malvina Reynolds [Full]

Weeds Season 3

01 Randy Newman
02 Angelique Kidjo
03 Kinky
04 Donovan
05 Billy Bob Thornton and The Boxmasters [Full]
06 The Shins [Full]
07 The Individuals

others will be added as the season progresses

English Covers:

 

Pete Seeger - Little Boxes

 

Pete Seeger - Little Boxes

 

Pete Seeger - Little Boxes (Live)

 

Pete Seeger - Little Boxes (Live)

The Womenfolk - Little Boxes

Nina & Frederik - Little Boxes

Keith Carradine - Little Boxes

Roger Scimé - Little Boxes

Kris Gruen - Little Boxes [Clean]

Kris Gruen - Little Boxes [Dirty]

Christopher O'Riley - Little Boxes

Devendra Banhart - Little Boxes

Abby Lappen - Little Boxes

The C.R.S. Players - Little Boxes

The Global Stage Orchestra - Little Boxes

Dogwelder - Little Boxes

Full Versions (of the 50 second long edits used on the show):

Engelbert Humperdinck - Little Boxes

Kate and Anna McGarrigle - Petites Boites

Ozomatli - Little Boxes

Billy Bob Thornton and The Boxmasters - Little Boxes

The Shins - Little Boxes

Covers in Other Languages:

Graeme Allwright - Petites Boîtes

Nara Leão - Little Boxes

Victor Jara - Las Casitas del Barrio Alto

Parodies:

Tom Tuerff - Little Star Treks

Links: Music from Weeds (Showtime Site) | Wikipedia (Little Boxes) | List of Covers

Posted by Jason

bellawilfer wrote: Sep 17, 2007 at 1:43 PM

Fantastic job, but it would be great if you could note that Pete Seeger did more than just cover the song. Malvina Reynolds wrote it, but it definitely was Pete who made Little Boxes famous. I think his first recording of the song was on the live album of a 1963 concert at Carnegie Hall, We Shall Overcome, but there was a later studio version that was pretty successful as a single. There's what looks like quite a good discography on the Pete Seeger Appreciation Page.

Sixbucksamonkey wrote: Sep 17, 2007 at 7:04 PM

[ciò è buono] NICE! Decemberists version here.

 

Notes:
* French Voxer olivelela also has a post about the "Little Boxes" covers.
* There are apparently 3 different versions of the Pete Seeger cover. A live version that appears on The Essential Pete Seeger and Pete Seeger's Greatest Hits are the same exact versions. It's the same version that appears on We Shall Overcome: The Complete Carnegie Hall Concert sans the stage banter. Then there are 2 studio recordings, one on Broadside Ballads, Vol. 2 that's acoustic and another on Headlines and Footnotes that uses a banjo.
* I noticed the "permalink" to this post includes an "s" after "little" making it "littles-boxes.html" instead of "little-boxes.html". That's a typo on my part because when I wrote up the entry, I entered "Littles Boxes" in the title field.

 

William Shatner/Joe Jackson - Common People

William Shatner/Joe Jackson - Common People

William Shatner/Joe Jackson

Best. Cover. Ever.

I will tell you why I love this version - because William Shatner does not sing the song.  He acts it.

The original song was a huge hit for Pulp, and I believe is the Britpop theme (sorry, it's definitely maybe not Oasis).  Oasis, to me, was more cock and roll, not pop.

v