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STRATEGY FOR THE DAY: speak through clenched teeth

Okay, so I'm embarrassed to admit it, I bought this CD, Eastern Energy by the Twelve Girls Band, based on a television commercial. A bad idea because, of course, in the commercial they play the only 10 seconds of music that's actually any good (remixed to sound decent) and you think, 'Oh, that sounds interesting,' but it's not. The Twelve Girls Band is, no surprise, comprised of twelve girls. In this case, twelve Chinese girls playing traditional chinese instruments with an alleged dance groove underneath. The alleged dance groove should be arrested and charged with impersonating something that has a beat. Apparently mainland China hasn't figured out what a dance groove is supposed to sound like. Ah, well. I think it was possibly a good idea once but something went horribly wrong.

Actually, the reason I bought this CD (I do have an excuse) is because I am always looking for instrumentals for my Ted Airlines "Tedscapes" channel. I've used Bond on the last couple of shows. Bond is a five girls band, all of whom play violin; the production is quite good. Their rendition of "Stranger in Paradise," called "Strange Paradise" is simply wonderful - kitchy, catchy, quirky and fun.

(The Twelve Girls Band is just now ruining something from Riverdance. Hmmmm.)

I've just discovered Lemon Jelly, a duo with a truly marvelous talent for deep grooves and a leftfield sense of fun. Their track "Nice Weather For Ducks" is a current fav and I hope to use it in an upcoming show. I realize this is old news for you Brits, but we don't get stuff like this in California. And besides, the weather here is never nice for ducks.

The TAXI Road Rally is coming up on November 12, 13 and 14. I'll be mentoring and giving songwriting feedback on Friday afternoon and am looking forward to it. More about that later.

Currently reading The Island Of Lost Maps, a true story of theft and brigandry (is that a word?) in the world of rare books and ancient documents, proving once and for all that librarians can surprise you.

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Read A Brief History Of Love Songs by Robin Frederick at the Sound Experience Music web site.

Copyright 2004 Robin Frederick. All rights reserved.