Friday Music

Another weekly entry in your Mixtape of Teh InterWebs:

First off, a request by Laura, who asked me what the music was in the TV ads for Where the Wild Things Are, which she said really “gets her.” Turns out it’s a track from the soundtrack, which is comprised entirely of original songs done by Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O. The track in question: Karen O and the Kids – “All Is Love.”

Second — an absolutely kicking mash-up, from the new collection of Iron Maiden mashes, Number of the Boots, this one mixes Maiden (various songs, mostly “Flight of Icarus”) with Indian artist Sinidhi Chauhan (the song “Crazy Kita Re (Dhoom 2)”). Thanks to Sean Jaffe for pointing me towards this one. Wax Audio – “Maiden Goes To Bollywood.”

My mind has been lingering of late on the topic of Steampunk — and this is one of the songs that forms the soundtrack for the genre in my head (largely a result of reading Jeter, Blaylock and Powers in freshman year of college, listening to The Golden Age of Wireless as I did): Thomas Dolby – “Windpower.”

Another track by The Swimmers — the neo-80s alternapop group that I posted about last week. The more I hear, the more I like: The Swimmers – “A Hundred Hearts.”

One of the best tracks from Duran Duran’s latter period, pre-reunion-of-the-original-lineup, when they were largely ignored by mainstream music press and broadcasters: Duran Duran – “Electric Barbarella.”

I really didn’t expect to like this, much less post it. It’s the new posthumous single from Michael Jackson. To coincide with the release of the movie comprised of rehearsal footage of his planned farewell concerts, they went back and found a demo from 1983: A song he wrote with Paul Anka, which never left the demo stage. They took the piano-and-vocal demo, added lush instrumentation, the surviving Jacksons on backing vocals, and released the single. It’s a brilliant move — it’s pure height-of-his-powers MJ, before he started gasping and hiccuping and shammon-ing his way through lyrics. A reminder of when he was the best. Michael Jackson – “This is It.”

There you go kids. As always, if a link gives you trouble, try copy-and-paste.

See you next week with more.

Mid-list Kindle Numbers, and Busking

A very interesting blog post from a mid-to-low-list thriller writer, who has eBooks available on Kindle through his publisher, as well as several that he self-published to Kindle. He breaks down the sales numbers:

A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing — Kindle Numbers: Traditional Publishing Vs. Self Publishing.

Dovetails nicely with Amanda Palmer’s “Virtual Crowdsurfing” blog post (and the related earlier piece, “why I am not afraid to take your money.”)

I’ve been kicking the mental can around for a few months now, regarding future plans, making a living as a creative in the 21st century, brand extension outside of the gaming market, etc. There definitely seem to be more and more essays and blog entries that fall neatly into where my mind is headed. There’s a zeitgeist rising.

At some point, I should do a massive link-tastic blog entry that puts all of this stuff into one place, so that everybody can see the whole picture that I’ve got in my head right now.