dust off that accordion
I discovered Jonathan Coulton when he was memed around last week with his brilliant folksy cover of Baby Got Back.
I listened to some of his other music, and liked enough of it to add him to bloglines. Each week, he releases a new song to The Internets, and this week, he gives us a terriffic little ditty called Someone Is Crazy.
This one comes from a verse that’s been floating around in my head for about 10 years. I think that originally it came from an argument with some girl about something, but I can’t remember anymore. I can still find the disdain in my heart though, that hasn’t left me. The amazing Cynthia Hopkins stuff on Wednesday night inspired me to dust off the old accordion and give it a whirl. Man that thing is hard to play. But that’s what Thing a Week is about. Dusting off old accordions. Hard to play. Rough weeks.
Here is the song: link
If you share my musical tastes, or just want to spend a moment with something new, check it out.
Comments
Interesting, now if only I could get that image of Green Day and a ukulele out of my mind :-)
Posted by: Tears | October 22, 2005 11:54 AM
wil --
if you liked this version of "baby got back", you'll probably *LOVE* the Richard Cheese version.
I've never seen you mention Richard Cheese, so perhaps you haven't heard of him yet.
Richard Cheese is a lounge singer from Madison, WI. He does lounge covers of popular songs... rap, alternative, hair metal ... and all the covers he does are very brilliant in their own twisted little way.
absolutely brilliant.
his version of baby got back can be found on his full length, "tuxicity". unfortunately, only his first recording can be found on iTunes ...
here's a link to tuxicity on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00008RH8V/qid=1130008007/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-7061177-3978340?v=glance&s=music&n=507846
you gotta check it out. ;)
seriously.
his version of "gin and juice" is also brilliant.
hope you check this guy out, as i think you might like him.
cheers man.
--darien!
long-time reader
Posted by: dj darien | October 22, 2005 12:09 PM
there's also a medley of songs off of tuxicity on richard cheese' site of songs on tuxcity -- baby got back starts it up.
http://www.iloverichardcheese.com/media/aud/rctx-sampler.mp3
--d.
Posted by: dj darien | October 22, 2005 12:18 PM
I like it.
Posted by: brian | October 22, 2005 02:12 PM
Fuckin' hilarious. My mom had an accordion and tried to get me to take lessons as a young girl. Um, no. Only a few people can pull that off. This guy, Weird Al and maybe a few others. Great stuff, though, I have to admit! Does he take requests? I always wondered what Pink Floyd would be like on the accordion.
Posted by: love2all | October 22, 2005 03:28 PM
if you haven't checked out his song "skullcrusher mountain", i highly recommend it.
Posted by: rmd | October 22, 2005 03:31 PM
Enjoyed the song, enjoyed this link from his blog more:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6739710473912337648
Posted by: Macharo | October 22, 2005 04:48 PM
Hahahah!
Okay, the BGB cover was so awesome that I've added it to my music-to-cover list, and typed out the words and chords. Yep, I'll be playin that on guitar at the next party.
Can't wait to listen to the rest of his stuff.
Posted by: ak_hepcat | October 22, 2005 05:16 PM
Hey Wil!
That cover is HIlarious! Thanks so much for posting it.
So...let me return the favor. A friend of mine found this rather funny site where the webmasters...um...act out scenes from movies. Then you have to guess what movie it came from, etc.
I think you'll appreciate the #5 clip on this link:
http://www.liquidgeneration.com/flix/gsgb_game7.asp
*grins*
Heather
Posted by: Heather S. | October 22, 2005 09:45 PM
Actualy following through some of the other links, theres a few more tracks to download here :-
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/futurebody/ecad9371b1d75010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html
Something I cant quite put my finger on, but while playing the tracks my poker winnings have gone up 50%
Posted by: Tears | October 23, 2005 04:47 AM
Cute song :).. now I gotta find the lyrics ;)
Posted by: MistyB78 | October 23, 2005 10:53 AM
Wil,
I submitted the BGB cover to BoingBoing that originally started the whole buzz on it :) If you like that check out these covers by Chance - especially the Milkshake song.
Brian
Posted by: pipa | October 23, 2005 07:44 PM
Has this guy been talking to my husband?
Posted by: Val | October 24, 2005 07:19 AM
I HATE YOU !!
Cant get this damn tune (or the others) out of my head. For some reason Todd the T1000 is played the most
Posted by: Tears | October 24, 2005 02:33 PM
Isn't he terrific? Both of his existing albums are good, but I can't praise the EP (Where Tradition Meets Tomorrow highly enough). Last year we bought ten copies and just handed them out as Christmas gifts. Best geek music ever.
Posted by: Rachel Barenblat | October 25, 2005 02:27 PM
Oh, I can't thank you enought for that link... Jonathan is gonna get a few new fans out of that... and the IKEA song !!! holy merde that is funny....
I have several versions of Baby got Back, my favorite being the hard metal version by Difficulties... but Jonathan is even better...
PS "J'aime les grands derrières et je ne peux pas dire un mensonge, vous que d'autres frères ne peuvent pas nier"
Posted by: Laura Johnston | October 25, 2005 03:42 PM
I definitely second rmd's recommendation for Skullcrusher Mountain. That's the song - passed around several friends through IRC and LJ - that turned me on to JC. The fusion of "Bond-style supervillain" and "generic love song" is utter brilliance.
Posted by: Darth Paradox | October 28, 2005 04:29 PM