I found out about this navel-gazing blogger music meme from Strange Reaction and I couldn't resist.

Total volume of music files on my computer:
A paltry 4.42GB. However, I have an additional 7 CDs full of MP3s that I pulled off my work computer before I quit but haven't got around to putting on my home machine.

The last CD I bought was:
In one trip, Black Forest by A-Frames, Live in Cambridge 1988 by The Fall, and Humpty Dumpty LSD by the Butthole Surfers.

Song playing right now:
"I Am A Computer" by the Mad Virgins

Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me:

"Too Late" by Wire

"English Scheme" by The Fall

"Waterloo Sunset" by The Kinks

"Unsatisfied" by The Replacements

"Little Man With A Gun In His Hand" by The Minutemen

It's impossible to narrow down the works of any of these bands to just one song, but those are definitely the Big 5 bands of my life.

Edit: After a good night's sleep, I don't know how I can justify not including a Pixies song, but I also can't imagine bumping anybody off that list. I also made some odd choices for the Wire and Fall songs, I guess.

I first learned about the Wilhelm Scream right after college, when I was getting more deeply into the nerdy, obsessive aspects of movies. While watching The Two Towers DVD, I noticed what seemed to be a very obvious use of the effect. That makes perfect sense, since those movies (particularly the Special Edition DVDs) are tailored for the obsessive nerd market.

So it's nice to see that someone has posted a thorough history of the Wilhelm Scream.

Many of the people who will look at this blog have already heard The Farm Team, the latest band featuring Andy Malkus and Jesse Morrison, formerly of the Tremors and Brand New Broken Homes.

The Farm Team is a new direction for them - folk songs performed in the old-timey style. Andy's high lonesome voice is perfect for this kind of music, and Jesse's gruffer baritone makes an excellent counterpoint. They haven't written any original songs yet (I'm not sure they plan to), but their selections so far demonstrate a broad musical knowledge and impeccable taste.

If you live in St. Louis, try to see them live. You won't regret it. If you don't, you'll have to make do with these demos, which I recorded in my living room before I moved. I'm sure they won't mind me posting them here.

The first is a DQE song called Married Girl. The instrumental break is reminiscent of the old BNBH style - Andy's part is a complex, rhythmically jerky construction that resolves into Jesse's strongly melodic mandolin part. Good stuff.

Next up is the traditional A Fool Such As I, most famously covered by Elvis. I suspect that Andy enjoys arranging songs more than writing them. In fact, the second tape we ever made under the BNBH name, Let's Spend This Christmas With The Brand New Broken Homes, featured his reworkings of Robert Johnson's "32-20 Blues" and the Carter Family's "The Poor Orphan Child". Jesse was always the harmony expert, and he does a great job here.

I have a few more Farm Team songs available upon request, and if we're lucky they'll get recording again soon.

To whom it may concern: I recently moved to Chicago. This seemed like a good time to try another revival of the blog. The old stuff is available through that link on the right there. Until new stuff comes along, please check out the "Elsewhere" links.