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The Charm Of The Highway Strip
''The Charm of the Highway Strip'' is the third studio album by American indie pop band The Magnetic Fields, released in 1994. It was the fourth Magnetic Fields album to be recorded, but was released five months prior to their intended third album ''Holiday'', which was delayed for more than a year due to label issues. ''The Charm of the Highway Strip'' was also the band's debut release on Merge Records. Content Its title, lyrics and musical styling are a nod to country music, though the songs of Stephin Merritt remain rooted in classic pop and synthesizers. Virtually every song deals with roads and travel, and several songs' lyrics implicitly reference vampires. The title of the album comes from a quote by J. B. Jackson, 1959: "Let us hope that the merits and charm of the highway strip are not so obscure but that they will be accepted by a wider public." This is the group's first full album in which songwriter Merritt also takes lead vocals. He designed the record's cover ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Magnetic Fields
The Magnetic Fields (named after the André Breton/Philippe Soupault novel ''Les Champs Magnétiques'') are an American Band (rock and pop), band founded and led by Stephin Merritt. Merritt is the group's primary songwriter, producer, and vocalist, as well as frequent multi-instrumentalist. Merritt's lyrics are often about love and feature atypical or neutral gender roles, and are by turns ironic, tongue-in-cheek, bitter, and humorous. The band released their debut single "100,000 Fireflies" in 1991. The single was typical of the band's earlier career, characterized by synthesizer, synthesized instrumentation by Merritt, with lead vocals provided by Susan Anway (and then by Stephin Merritt himself, from the ''The House of Tomorrow (album), House of Tomorrow'' EP onwards). A more traditional band later materialized; it is now composed of Merritt, Claudia Gonson, Sam Davol, and John Woo, with occasional guest vocals by Shirley Simms. The band's best-known work is the 1999 three-vol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creative community of New York City. It ceased publication in 2017, although its online archives remained accessible. After an ownership change, the ''Voice'' reappeared in print as a quarterly in April 2021. Over its 63 years of publication, ''The Village Voice'' received three Pulitzer Prizes, the National Press Foundation Award, and the George Polk Award. ''The Village Voice'' hosted a variety of writers and artists, including writer Ezra Pound, cartoonist Lynda Barry, artist Greg Tate, and film critics Andrew Sarris, Jonas Mekas and J. Hoberman. In October 2015, ''The Village Voice'' changed ownership and severed all ties with former parent company Voice Media Group (VMG). The ''Voice'' announced on August 22, 2017, that it would cease p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sam Davol
Samuel Bradford Davol is a musician best known for his work with the indie pop band The Magnetic Fields. He is featured several times in videos for The Magnetic Fields, and in the opening for "Born on a Train", his cello is featured at the beginning of the video. He also appears in '' Strange Powers,'' a 2009 documentary about Stephin Merritt. He graduated from Concord Academy in 1988. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University and has a J.D. degree from New York University School of Law. He and his family now live in Lower Manhattan. Along with his wife, Leslie, Davol is a founder and executive director of Street Lab, a non-profit organization which creates programs for public space A public space is a place that is open and accessible to the general public. Roads (including the pavement), public squares, parks, and beaches are typically considered public space. To a limited extent, government buildings which are open to .... Notable among these is the Uni Proj ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Claudia Gonson
Claudia Miriam Gonson (born April 5, 1968) is an American musician best known for her work with The Magnetic Fields. She often provides the band lead vocals as well as performing the piano or drums. She is also the band's manager. Gonson met Stephin Merritt in high school in the early 1980s, and the pair have worked together ever since. While in high school at Concord Academy, Gonson performed in her first band, the Zinnias, in which Merritt wrote or co-wrote most of the band's material with John Gage. The band broke up when Gonson left to attend Columbia University. Gonson later returned to the Boston area to attend Harvard University, and joined the group Lazy Susan, which also included Therese Bellino and Shirley Simms. She has since performed on many of Merritt's albums, including the critically acclaimed 1999 album ''69 Love Songs,'' and frequently appears with him live as part of the usual quartet that constitutes The Magnetic Fields. Gonson has been Merritt's longtime ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
This American Life (TV Series)
''This American Life'' is an American television series based on the radio program of the same name. Like the radio program, the series is hosted by Ira Glass. The series premiered on March 22, 2007. Two seasons of the show have aired on Showtime. The second season finale aired on September 3, 2008, and Showtime aired one final episode in May 2009. In September 2009, Glass announced that he and the other creators of the show had "asked to be taken off TV", largely in part to the difficult schedule required to produce a television program.WBEZ official blog:Exclusive: Ira Glass dishes on end of TAL TV. Will he return to Chicago?" He went on to state that the show is officially "on hiatus", but would like to do a television special at some point in the future. From January 10 to April 4, 2011, Current TV re-aired the series in its entirety. Adaptation for television The television version of ''This American Life'' is a twofold shift in media from public radio to commercial telev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lush (band)
Lush were an English rock band formed in London in 1987. The original line-up consisted of Miki Berenyi (vocals, guitar), Emma Anderson (vocals, guitar), Steve Rippon (bass guitar) and Chris Acland (drums). Phil King replaced Rippon in 1991. They were one of the first bands to have been described with the "shoegazing" label. Following the death of Acland, the group disbanded in 1996. The group reunited for a short time between 2015 and 2016 with Berenyi, Anderson, King and Justin Welch. They toured and recorded an EP of new material. History Formation and early sound (1987–1988) The band was formed in 1987 in London, initially named the Baby Machines (after a line in the Siouxsie and the Banshees song " Arabian Knights"), with a line-up of Meriel Barham (vocals), Anderson (guitar, vocals), Berenyi (guitar, vocals), Steve Rippon (bass guitar) and Chris Acland (drums).Thompson, Dave (2000) ''Alternative Rock'', Miller Freeman, , p. 478-9 Their influences were diverse; they w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morning Becomes Eclectic
''Morning Becomes Eclectic'' (MBE) is a three-hour adult album alternative radio program first aired in 1977 and broadcast live every weekday from KCRW in Santa Monica, California. The show's name is a play on the Eugene O'Neill trilogy of plays, ''Mourning Becomes Electra''. The program was created by Isabel Holt. MBE was previously hosted by Tom Schnabel (July 1979 - November 1990), Chris Douridas (1990 - 1998), and Nic Harcourt (1998 - November 2008). Jason Bentley followed Harcourt as host in 2008. He announced that he was relinquishing his duties as Music Director and host of ''Morning Becomes Eclectic'' after 10 years on August 30, 2019. Anne Litt, the station's current Program Director of Music, served as host from January of 2020 until February of 2021. In December of 2020, Novena Carmel and Anthony Valadez were named as the new hosts, beginning their tenure on February 2, 2021. The show is repeated twice on KCRW's music webcast, and live performances are also sometimes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
KCRW
KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programming from NPR and other affiliates. A network of repeaters and broadcast translators, as well as internet radio, allows the station to serve the Greater Los Angeles area and other communities in Southern California. The station's main transmitter is located in Los Angeles's Laurel Canyon district and broadcasts in the HD radio format. It is one of two full NPR members in the Los Angeles area; Pasadena-based KPCC is the other. History KCRW was founded in 1945 to train servicemen returning from World War II in the then-new technology, FM broadcasting—hence its call letters, which stand for College Radio Workshop. It was a charter member of NPR in 1970, making Santa Monica College the second community college to own a public radio or telev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arcade Fire
Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member Sarah Neufeld and multi-instrumentalists Paul Beaubrun, Dan Boeckner and Eric Heigle. Each of the band's studio albums features contributions from composer and violinist Owen Pallett. Founded in 2001 by friends and classmates Butler and Josh Deu, the band came to prominence in 2004 with the release of their critically acclaimed debut album ''Funeral''. Their second studio album, ''Neon Bible'', won them the 2008 Meteor Music Award for Best International Album and the 2008 Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year. Their third studio album, ''The Suburbs'', was released in 2010 to critical acclaim and commercial success. It received many accolades, including the 2011 Grammy for Album of the Year, the 2011 Juno Award for Album of the Yea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Synthesizers
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and frequency modulation synthesis. These sounds may be altered by components such as filters, which cut or boost frequencies; envelopes, which control articulation, or how notes begin and end; and low-frequency oscillators, which modulate parameters such as pitch, volume, or filter characteristics affecting timbre. Synthesizers are typically played with keyboards or controlled by sequencers, software or other instruments, and may be synchronized to other equipment via MIDI. Synthesizer-like instruments emerged in the United States in the mid-20th century with instruments such as the RCA Mark II, which was controlled with punch cards and used hundreds of vacuum tubes. The Moog synthesizer, developed by Robert Moog and first sold in 1964 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pop Music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describes all music that is popular and includes many disparate styles. During the 1950s and 1960s, pop music encompassed rock and roll and the youth-oriented styles it influenced. ''Rock'' and ''pop'' music remained roughly synonymous until the late 1960s, after which ''pop'' became associated with music that was more commercial, ephemeral, and accessible. Although much of the music that appears on record charts is considered to be pop music, the genre is distinguished from chart music. Identifying factors usually include repeated choruses and hooks, short to medium-length songs written in a basic format (often the verse-chorus structure), and rhythms or tempos that can be easily danced to. Much pop music also borrows elements from other styles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Country Music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, old-time, and American folk music forms including Appalachian, Cajun, Creole, and the cowboy Western music styles of Hawaiian, New Mexico, Red Dirt, Tejano, and Texas country. Country music often consists of ballads and honky-tonk dance tunes with generally simple form, folk lyrics, and harmonies often accompanied by string instruments such as electric and acoustic guitars, steel guitars (such as pedal steels and dobros), banjos, and fiddles as well as harmonicas. Blues modes have been used extensively throughout its recorded history. The term ''country music'' gained popularity in the 1940s in preference to '' hillbilly music'', with "country music" being used today to describe many styles and subgenres. It came to encomp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
