The group OK Go performed at the opening of my university’s academic year back in late August and the lead singer said that they had just returned from Japan. It looks like they spent some time while there creating the video to accompany the release of their new single I won’t let you down. The group has developed a reputation for creating highly choreographed complex videos that are done in a single take and the new one follows that pattern, with a lot of people engaged in high-precision maneuvers on nifty little motorized unicycles that I had not seen before, though they seem like they are way cooler than the Segway.
[Read more…]

There is something deeply hypnotic about listening to Ravel’s Bolero. It is like getting engrossed in a mystery novel and not wanting to stop until you know how it ends. In this performance by the London Symphony Orchestra, we get to see close up the increasing intensity of the musicians at the climax approaches. I wonder how hard it is for the percussionists to keep that steady tempo for 15 minutes, because that is crucial.
[Read more…]

One thing that you have to give credit to Christianity is that it gave us some great organ music and some wonderful organs were built to play them. But via a reader, I learned of a historic church organ in our region that was destroyed by fire. The reader has a personal connection to the organ that increases his sense of loss, because his father was one of the people who was instrumental in getting the organ installed. He adds:
[Read more…]