Los Angeles Guitar Quartet: Pachelbel Canon in D (the "Loose")
11/23/2013
Weekend Music
I saw these guys in concert Tuesday night. Most enjoyable. This was their encore.
The most striking thing they did--not the best, but the most unusual and attention-getting--was a piece in which they did things to their guitars that made them sound like a gamelan orchestra. Yes, really. Mostly it seemed to involve affixing objects to their strings.
What does a gamelan sound like? Like this:
Of course the guitars didn't produce anywhere near that range of sound, but really, there was enough of a resemblance as to seem almost uncanny.
The comments in The Thin Red Line post are closed, so I'm just going to post my comment here.
Sublime and profound for sure.
All my thumbs are up.
AMDG
Posted by: janet | 11/24/2013 at 08:16 PM
I had to go find the post to remember what I'd said about it (here). Apparently the effect wasn't real long-lasting for me, or maybe it's just another effect of my declining memory, because I had to make an effort to recall much of the movie. But now that I have, yeah, I still think I would say sublime and profound.
I have the blog set up to automatically close comments after 30 days, btw, as an anti-spam measure. It wasn't anything to do with that post.
Posted by: Mac | 11/24/2013 at 10:31 PM
Sublime and profound was what you said in the post. We had a choice between that and something like icky and gross. ;-)
And yes, I know. It's hasn't been THAT long since I was around here.
AMDG
Posted by: Janet | 11/25/2013 at 07:59 AM
Right, I had refreshed my memory. And for the benefit of those who didn't read the original post, my other choice was "pompous and pretentious." I guess there is an "icky and gross" party, too.:-)
I didn't know whether I'd ever mentioned why comments are closed on the older posts.
Posted by: Mac | 11/25/2013 at 09:15 AM
I never go to icky and gros parties. ;-)
Posted by: Janet | 11/25/2013 at 09:51 AM
or gross either
Posted by: Janet | 11/25/2013 at 10:10 AM
Maybe "gros" in French? (="big", I think?)
Posted by: Mac | 11/25/2013 at 11:31 AM
Yes. In my French class we had to memorize phrases to go along with pictures. One phrase was, "Regarde cette grosse (gros is masculine)dame la y su petite chien. Elle est drole."
"Look at that fat lady there, and her little dog. She's funny."
That's on reason why I've never had a little dog.
AMDG
Posted by: Janet | 11/25/2013 at 11:51 AM
They were not laughing with her.
Posted by: Mac | 11/25/2013 at 01:29 PM
The French never laugh with anybody.
AMDG
Posted by: Janet | 11/25/2013 at 01:43 PM
That makes me think of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwUZrfvXsBM
Posted by: Mac | 11/25/2013 at 01:47 PM
That's what I like about you, Maclin--always some cogent literary reference at hand.
I never knew that frogs ate grapefruit.
AMDG
Posted by: Janet | 11/25/2013 at 02:21 PM
Yeah, the popular stereotype is that they hardly eat anything except cheese.
Posted by: Mac | 11/25/2013 at 02:51 PM
Don't forget horsemeat. Although they don't eat it as much as they used to, some chefs are pushing a "gastro-trend" in its direction:
A handful of chefs have started putting horse on their menus. Go to Les Tontons, for example, opposite the former Paris horse abattoir in the 15th arrondissement, and you can be served a succulent horse tartare (raw horse with egg and seasoning).
Shudder.
Of course, I shudder at the thought of marmite, too, while others...
;-)
Posted by: Marianne | 11/25/2013 at 03:54 PM
they hardly eat anything except cheese
Isn't that the Dutch?
The French eat horses, snails, and frogs' legs. And garlic and onions.
Posted by: Paul | 11/25/2013 at 04:00 PM
Oh yes, snails. That's also part of the popular stereotype. Cheese and snails. The other things are no doubt true but I was thinking only of the stereotype, and I think the American public is probably mostly in the dark about them. Frogs' legs are by no means unknown in this country. Right here where I live, in fact. I think I may have sampled them once many years ago and thought they were pretty good, but not as good as the fish and chicken and barbecue which were on the menu at the same place, so I never tried them again.
Horses?...that's a new one to me. I ask myself why that should be so bothersome, and I don't have a good answer, except that it just is.
And horse tartare...yes, shudder. Spare me "gastro-trends." There is a funny Mr. Bean sketch where he orders steak tartare.
Posted by: Mac | 11/25/2013 at 04:22 PM
Ahhh, now I see what you mean. I think the frogs eating grapefruit in the Simpson sketch were really frogs, but maybe I'm just naive.
AMDG
Posted by: janet | 11/25/2013 at 07:27 PM
They were saying, "La grenouille mange le pamplemousse." The frog eats the grapefruit.
Pamplemousse, by the way is one of two most excellent French words; the other is parapluie.
AMDG
Posted by: janet | 11/25/2013 at 07:31 PM
It is also a quirky singing duo.
Posted by: Robert Gotcher | 11/25/2013 at 07:57 PM
test
Posted by: Mac | 11/26/2013 at 07:09 AM
The comment software was apparently malfunctioning last night. I couldn't post comments. This is what I was going to say:
Yes, I was engaging in deplorable ethnic humor.
I got the word "grapefruit" in the Simpsons clip but that was all.
The girl in Pomplamoose is really way too cute.
Posted by: Mac | 11/26/2013 at 07:10 AM
I felt so stupid when I finally figure it out.
She is really cute and I wouldn't call them a duo, really, since she is a quintet all by herself. I have all their music, but it's really not the same just listening to it.
AMDG
Posted by: Janet | 11/26/2013 at 07:57 AM
I stand corrected. Properly speaking they are a "musical 'duo'."
Posted by: Robert Gotcher | 11/26/2013 at 10:19 AM
Funny, it never would have occurred to me to qualify or expand on the "duo" term, and I guess that's because I'm so used to music that depends on studio technology. It goes back to Emitt Rhodes, at least--one guy in the studio playing all the instruments.
Posted by: Mac | 11/26/2013 at 10:32 AM