Friday 15 July 2011

Free Download Friday#106: I am not a number!

After the "Not Keen" ratings last week, I thought I'd go back to more familiar, albeit somewhat quirky, territory.

As I've stated before, I like noisy guitar bands but while this band are noisy, there are no guitars to be heard... at least, none with six strings. Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling are a duo: one who sings and plays bass and one who plays drums. I find myself enjoying minimalist approaches and stripped back arrangements at the moment and you don't get much more stripped back than just bass and drums!

I promised you quirky and if a bass and drum duo and quirky enough, this pair named themselves after an episode from the cult TV series, The Prisoner and are planning to release seventeen tracks - one for each episode. You want more quirkiness? How about a video for a track that faithfully recreates the programme's opening sequence:


(If you are not familiar with The Prisoner, the band have helpfully provided a version of their video with a picture in picture of the original opening sequence.)

A couple of the tracks are available as free downloads, specifically Episode 12 - Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling and Episode 11 - It’s Your Funeral. other tracks can be accessed and purchased from the band's music page.

They remind me a bit of Miss The Occupier and I like what I've heard so far. Have a listen and tell me what you think... Or at least, click on one of the checkboxes below.

Be seeing you.

Thursday 14 July 2011

Feedback on Feedback

I get a small but relatively steady number of visitors to this blog. I always intend to do more with it: to write more, to engage more, but poor time management and general disorganisation combine and lead to the infrequent posts and quiet blog you are currently reading.

thumbs up by .nate
thumbs up, a photo by .nate on Flickr.
A wee while ago, however, I noticed that you could add a reactions widget to Blogger blogs. This meant people could respond to a post simply by clicking in a box. I liked the idea. People might not want to take the time to leave a comment but offering a Facebook-style "Like" option seemed like a good idea. I hoped it would lower the participation bar sufficiently to encourage a bit more feedback on the Feedback blog. I always meant to write about this feature, draw it to people's attention but somehow never got around to it. (See opening paragraph!)

Essentially therefore, the reactions feature has remained ignored/overlooked/unused (delete as applicable). Last week, however, there was a flurry of activity in that there were two "Not keen" checks on the I Can't Think Of Any Jokes post. Curses! I like funny songs but I guess they are not to everyone's taste. I can't promise I'll never feature a funny song again but I will wait a good while before I risk it!

In the meantime, if you want to influence what appears here, or what songs feature in Free Music Friday, get clicking those check-boxes. It only takes seconds and I will pay attention... Honest.

Friday 8 July 2011

Free Music Friday #105: I Can't Think Of Any Jokes

Collect a punnett of terrible puns, write a catchy tune, add a chorus, and what do you get? You get this free download from Alfred Williams:

I can't think of any jokes by Blindingham

Sad nerd that I am, I had a go at transcribing the lyrics. I think I got most of it but was completely stumped by the second last joke; anyone want to offer a suggestion?

If you can't help with the missing lyric, perhaps you could suggest lyrics that could have been included but were inexplicably omitted. For example, he could have told the one about the skunk, but frankly it stinks.

{This is a partial cross-post from EdCompBlog, my education blog. If you are interested in seeing a video of this track, the Education blog is displaying it for your edification and enjoyment.}

{P.S. Thanks to the Mitch Benn Podcast for bringing this track to my attention.}