April 1, 2011 Playlist

A Very Serious Special
Sir Lord Uphall-Knyte
Hosted by your humble servant, the Rt. Hon. Sir Lord Uphall-Knyte.
 
"The People's Choice Music" by Komar & Melamid with David Soldier (2002)
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Komar & Melamid with David Soldier  "The People's Choice Music"  2002 (USA)
This month's special is Very Serious.  And what method of music-making could be more Serious than applying Market Research techniques to produce Art That People Really Want?  Rather than a subjective review, here are David Soldier's technical notes on the compositions contained in this album: 
 
"The most favored ensemble, determined from a rating by participants of their favorite instruments in combination, comprises a moderately sized group (three to ten instruments) consisting of guitar, piano, saxophone, bass, drums, violin, cello, synthesizer, with low male and female vocals singing in rock/r&b style.  The favorite lyrics narrate a love story, and the favorite listening circumstance is at home.  The only feature in lyric subjects that occurs in both most wanted and unwanted categories is “intellectual stimulation.”  Most participants desire music of moderate duration (approximately 5 minutes), moderate pitch range, moderate tempo, and moderate to loud volume, and display a profound dislike of the alternatives.  If the survey provides an accurate analysis of these factors for the population, and assuming that the preference for each factor follows a Gaussian (i.e. bell-curve) distribution, the combination of these qualities, even to the point of sensory overload and stylistic discohesion, will result in a musical work that will be unavoidably and uncontrollably “liked” by 72 plus or minus 12% (standard deviation; Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic) of listeners."
 
"The most unwanted music is over 25 minutes long, veers wildly between loud and quiet sections, between fast and slow tempos, and features timbres of extremely high and low pitch, with each dichotomy presented in abrupt transition.  The most unwanted orchestra was determined to be large, and features the accordion and bagpipe (which tie at 13% as the most unwanted instrument), banjo, flute, tuba, harp, organ, synthesizer (the only instrument that appears in both the most wanted and most unwanted ensembles).  An operatic soprano raps and sings atonal music, advertising jingles, political slogans, and “elevator” music, and a children's choir sings jingles and holiday songs.  The most unwanted subjects for lyrics are cowboys and holidays, and the most unwanted listening circumstances are involuntary exposure to commericals and elevator music.  Therefore, it can be shown that if there is no covariance—someone who dislikes bagpipes is as likely to hate elevator music as someone who despises the organ, for example—fewer than 200 individuals of the world's total population would enjoy this piece."
 
A short video documentary on this album.
 
(N) = New Release
   
Artist Song Album Year Country
National Lampoon
(Christopher Guest)		 A History Of The Beatles Goodbye Pop 1975 USA
Evolution Control Committee What Would You Do If I Sang AutoTune (Beatles) All Rights Reserved (N) 2010 (Seeland) USA (UK)
Neil
(Nigel Planer)		 Hole In My Shoe (Traffic) Neil's Heavy Concept Album 1984 UK
The Bonzo Dog Band My Pink Half Of The Drainpipe The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse 1968 UK
Mason Williams The Prince's Panties The Mason Williams Phonograph Record 1968 USA
Tony Burello The New Sound Only In America (various artists compilation) rec. 1953 USA
Evolution Control Committee Stairway To Britney (Led Zeppelin/Britney Spears) All Rights Reserved (N) 2010 (Seeland) USA
Mysterious Clown Mysterious Clown Only In America (various artists compilation) rec. 1960's USA
 
 
Frank Zappa Stink-Foot Apostrophe' 1974 USA
"Weird Al" Yankovic
(lead guitar by Dweezil Zappa)		 Genius In France Poodle Hat 2003 USA
Flo & Eddie
(Mark Volman & Howard Kaylan)		 Kama Sutra Time (live) Illegal Immoral & Fattening 1975 USA
   
 
"Weird Al" Yankovic Canadian Idiot (Green Day) Straight Outta Lynwood 2006 USA
Bob & Doug McKenzie
(Rick Moranis & Dave Thomas)		 The Beerhunter The Great White North 1981 Canada
Prince Paul The World's A Stage (A Dramedy) Psychoanalysis: What Is It?! 1996 USA
Neil Hamburger Freebasing
   / Snoop Doggy Dogg		 Raw Hamburger 1998 USA
Master Shake
(Dana Snyder)		 Nude Love
   / Face Omelette		 Aqua Teen Hunger Force Movie Soundtrack 2007 USA
Beatallica The Thing That Should Not Let It Be (Beatles/Metallica) A Garage Dayz Nite 2001 USA
   
 
National Lampoon Lemming's Lament Lemmings 1973 USA
The Firesign Theatre W. C. Fields Forever
   / Le Trente-Huit Cunegonde		 Waiting For The Electrician Or Someone Like Him 1968 USA
National Lampoon
(Tony Hendra)		 Magical Misery Tour Radio Dinner 1972 USA
National Lampoon
(John Belushi)		 Megadeath Lemmings 1973 USA
Cheech & Chong Dave Cheech & Chong 1971 USA
   
 
Lord Buckley Subconsious Mind
   / Willie The Shake		 Dig Infinity! (compilation) rec. 1959 USA
National Lampoon
(Christopher Guest)		 The Art Rock Suite Goodbye Pop 1975 USA
Spinal Tap
(Christopher Guest)		 Stonehenge This Is Spinal Tap (original soundtrack) 1984 USA
   
 
Komar & Melamid with David Soldier The Most Unwanted Music The People's Choice Music
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK		 2002 USA
 
 
Komar & Melamid with David Soldier The Most Wanted Music The People's Choice Music
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK		 2002 USA
Evolution Control Committee California Dreamings (various artists) All Rights Reserved (N) 2010 (Seeland) USA
Mrs. Miller Up Up And Away (The 5th Dimension) Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing 1968 USA
Jack Jones Homeward Bound (Simon & Garfunkel) All To Yourself: 20 Golden Greats (compilation) rec. 1969 USA
William Shatner Rocket Man (Elton John) The Science Fiction Film Awards (TV special) 1978 Canada
             
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