Yeah, I suppose it's pretty standard for me to pick this well-worn Floyd tune during a money theme.

Ever hear of Super Audio CD, or simply SACD?  No?  Well, I wouldn't blame you if you haven't.  It's a high-resolution multichannel audio format created by Sony and Philips that came out several years ago.  It went up against a similar competing format called DVD-Audio.  As it turned out, this format war really had no winner - neither one really caught on.  The improvements in audio quality were just too subtle to really take off as a replacement for CDs.  Now, especially in the iPod era, high-res audio on disc is a very small niche market for audiophiles.

Right around that time I got a Philips DVD player that happened to support SACD, and Dark Side of the Moon was one of the format's crowning jewels.  Chances are if you have an SACD-enabled player and you actually make use of that feature, you have that disc.  Well, I do and I do, and it always gets used when I have the rare opportunity to demo my home theater.  I play this song's intro, with it's barrage of cash register noises - cascading through four different speakers.  Oooooh!  Aaaaah!

OK, I suppose such things seem dated now.  But it was kind of a big deal way, way back - in 2003.

Hear "Money" on YouTube.

Pink Floyd live performance

Roger Waters live performance

Watch the guitar solo being performed by YouTube's preeminent hand farter.

This is part of a week-long series on songs about money.

Guess what, boys and girls?  It's tax season!  Yaaaaaaay!  We love tax season.  As usual, I owe a goodly amount.  I won't say exactly.  But I can't help but think of the more worthwhile purchases I could make with what I'm sending to the powers that be.  Like a really good 6-string bass.  Or a super-groovy car audio rig.  Or a five-year supply of Flamin' Hot Funyuns.

In any event, here are a week's worth of songs having to do with money.

"Geez, you're posting 'Popcorn' again??"

Yeah.  So?

I have 20 versions of "Popcorn" now.  It's hard to explain my fascination with this song.  I just happen to like a lot of versions of it, and marvel at their differences.  I have ska, dub, dance, trance, metal, surf and Latin versions.  I have a couple of really laughable ones that I keep around mainly for kitsch value.  I have one played by a string quartet.  I even have one that features sampled barking dogs.

One version I like a whole bunch is a 2000 remake done by the song's author himself, Gershon Kingsley, which was featured in a compilation album called At Home with the Groovebox.  I guess the idea was to gather a bunch of diverse artists and have them make a bunch of synth tunes.  Pavement, Beck and Sonic Youth also did tracks for it.  And in a subtle stroke of inspired brilliance, they had Kingsley remake his 30-year-old signature tune, and I just adore this version.

So go hear it.  Now.  Even if you don't normally listen to my picks.

Hear Gershon Kingsley's 2000 redo of "Popcorn" on Last.fm.  Click the second "Popcorn" link to the right, the one that clocks in at 3:55.

OK, I'll do one more basketball song.  And, um, I'll just let this one speak for itself.  Perhaps you've heard people say that you really needed to be stoned to find Cheech & Chong funny?  I'm starting to believe that.

This comes from 1973's Los Cochinos.  See that album cover?  We had that on vinyl.  I don't remember if my Dad or my brother had it, but it was definitely in our household.

Watch an animated video for "Basketball Jones" on YouTube.  Did Ralph Bakshi do this?  It sure looks like it.

Keeping up the basketball motif for another day, here's a Laker-centric song from those schlong sock wearing Angelinos, the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

I just liked that band more when they did wacky funk tunes like this, before they got whiny and boring and started talking like self-deifying twerps.  I mean, geez Louise guys, your music is not so damned cosmic and otherworldly.  You just happen to be in a pretty good band that happens to be very famous.  You make some pretty good stuff.  It's just that, well, I think you used to make better stuff.

Hear "Magic Johnson" on YouTube.

Being 6'7", the game of basketball has always been an issue.  Namely, everyone just seems to assume that I not only love the game but am particularly adept at it.  As to the latter, their assumption couldn't be more inaccurate - I can't play the game to save my life.  Big surprise, I am not the least bit athletic.  I've always been more of an athletic supporter.  And basketball specifically, forget it.  I can't even go to the free throw line without tripping over it.

As a spectator, my feelings are mixed.  I'll casually watch a regular season college game, especially if my alma mater is playing.  But I HATE the NBA.  That league could disappear tomorrow and I wouldn't sweat it one bit.

However, I LOVE March Madness, aka the NCAA year-end college tournament.  I fill out the brackets and everything.  That's always a yearly life highlight - and it starts tonight.  So here's an appropriate song pick - the delightfully cheesy Kurtis Blow standard simply entitled "Basketball."

Morehead St. against Alabama St.?  Bring it the f**k ON!!

Watch the video for "Basketball" on YouTube.  It's posted by UMG, which means a) it won't get pulled and b) it's overcompressed all to hell.

Meh.  Can't seem to come up with a theme again.  I think I may have already used every theme topic there is.  So here's another week of random musicness.

Today I'm once again following Pat's lead by posting something from Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.  His Piano Concerto is the only concerto he ever wrote, and it's also one of the most popular concertos ever.  And of course, it's a personal favorite too.  You've probably only heard the very beginning of it, so here it is in its entirety.

Maybe it's best that he never wrote another one.  Where do you go from here?  I can just imagine the conversations.  "Edvard totally jumped the shark after the 2nd Concerto, man..."

Watch a live performance of "Piano Concerto in A minor" on YouTube, featuring the super-godlike Arthur Rubinstein.  1st movement (part 1) - 1st movement (part 2) - 2nd movement - 3rd movement

Wikipedia article

Quick entry today.  Here's a Bad Brains song.  VERY influential band.  They are cited as influences all the freaking time.

Hear "Sailin' On" on YouTube.

A bunch of bands have covered this, including Living Colour and No Doubt.

Wikipedia article on Bad Brains

In a previous post, I discussed the events behind my original purchase of the 1985 Level 42 CD World Machine.  Back then I posted *a* favorite track from it, but I was never able to post my *actual* favorite.  Until now.  "Good Man in a Storm" is now on everyone's favorite Internet collection of streamed video contraband.

I can't explain why I love this song so much.  You might think I'd avoid songs like this for being too, well, "contemporary."  You might think it's a little too Kenny G-ish for my tastes.  You might think I'd reject something with this kind of "pop sensibility."  You might think I'm crazy to hang around with you.  You might think I'm foolish.  Or maybe it's untrue.  You might think I'm delirious, the way I run you down.  Wait, where was I going with this?

Anyway, great song, great sound, great performance.  Normally I'm not big on bands with weenie names with numbers in them.  But this was long before the onslaught of the Maroon 5s and the Matchbox 20s and the Sum 41s of the world, so I guess it's OK.  Especially when they sound like this.

Hear "Good Man in a Storm" on YouTube.  It'll probably get pulled, so be quick.  Hell, it's reached the point where I'm expecting every song I post to get pulled.