Re: perhaps *some* musicians shouldn't be paid.....

[Daryl Shawn <highhorse@mhorse.com>]

This is priceless, even without hearing it. Made me laugh out loud. 
Downloading now...

Yesterday I was listening first to Naked City's 
wildly-dynamically-veering,18-minute-long "Grand Guignol", and then some 
stuff from Matthew Welch, an experimental bagpiper (pipist?)t. I'd 
almost be in the target market for this unwanted masterpiece (though 
there have been no cowboy songs, rapping, or children's choirs this week 
as I can recall).

There are styles of music I'm not especially partial to, but in the 
right context and especially when presented in surprising combinations - 
like Zorn's scraps of Western and lounge - I completely enjoy them.

Daryl Shawn
www.swanwelder.com
www.chinapaintingmusic.com

> (I found the start of this over on the Andrew Sullivan blog)
>
> hear it here: 
>http://ubu.artmob.ca/sound/komar_melamid/KomarMelamid_The-Most-UnwantedSong.mp3
>
> back story: http://www.artsjournal.com/quickstudy/2008/04/yo_yo.html
>
> excerpt:
>
> The most unwanted music is over 25 minutes long, veers wildly between 
>loud and quiet sections, between fast and slow tempos, and features 
>timbres of extremely high and low pitch, with each dichotomy presented in 
>abrupt transition. The most unwanted orchestra was determined to be 
>large, and features the accordion and bagpipe (which tie at 13% as the 
>most unwanted instrument), banjo, flute, tuba, harp, organ, synthesizer 
>(the only instrument that appears in both the most wanted and most 
>unwanted ensembles). An operatic soprano raps and sings atonal music, 
>advertising jingles, political slogans, and "elevator" music, and a 
>children's choir sings jingles and holiday songs. The most unwanted 
>subjects for lyrics are cowboys and holidays, and the most unwanted 
>listening circumstances are involuntary exposure to commercials and 
>elevator music. Therefore, it can be shown that if there is no 
>covariance--someone who dislikes bagpipes is as likely to hate elevator 
>music as someone who despises the organ, for example--fewer than 200 
>individuals of the world's total population would enjoy this piece.
>
> snippet of opening lyric:
>
> Yo, I'm ropin' up my saddle for the long long ride
> Every time I see the desert there's something inside says
> Yo, yo,  this is the life
> Give me open land and a big ol' knife
> To get some bear, deer, even a snake
> I light me a fire, do the shake and bake
> I say yo, yo, I'm a cowboy now.
>
>
>
> side note: I'm playing it now and I find it strangely intriguing.  But 
>then "Old Songs Deranged", a compilation of Ives compositions adapted for 
>marching band, is one of my favorite slabs of vinyl.