Results are in from yesterday’s voting on the second round, Sun and Elements regions. More than half of my picks advanced, allowing me to feel both au courant and avant garde — a music nerd sweet spot!
Today, we vote in the second Round of the Rain & Seasons regions. Let’s get to it!
Worthy opponents, both, but for me, no contest! Continue reading
Music Nerd March Madness continues with the second round of the Weather Channel’s Weather Song Tournament! We’re down to four matchups in each of four regions — let’s see how it looks!
On Tuesday, I gave Sheryl Crow the Diddly-Squat Award for inane lyrics, so my pick here should come as no surprise! Continue reading
We’ve arrived at the final quadrant in the first round of the the Weather Channel’s Weather Song Tournament: the Seasons Region. Let’s get to the Music Nerd March Madness!
Also check out the other regions:
Sun
Elements
Rain
I must confess, I’m just not a Parrothead.
MMN’s pick: Bing Crosby: “White Christmas” Continue reading
Results are in from the Sun and Elements regions in the Weather Channel’s Weather Song Tournament, and MMN was gratified to see some of her picks win the popular vote. Others didn’t, but that’s okay… I know I teeter between contrarianism and finger-on-the-pulse hipness!
Now, it’s time to look at the contestants in the Rain Region!
Also check out the other regions:
Sun
Elements
Seasons
This is a puzzling matchup — I’m reminded of Bambi meets Godzilla. I can’t think of any song that could seriously rival this iconic performance, but “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” might’ve been at least plausible. Continue reading
More fun from the Weather Channel’s Weather Song Tournament! Okay, music nerds, we’ve covered the Sun Region, and now it’s time to brave the Elements!
Also check out the other regions:
Sun
Rain
Seasons
MMN’s pick: Dean Martin: “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow” Continue reading
Herein, I break down the first round of contestants in the Sun Region of the Weather Channel’s Weather Song Tournament, or as I like to call it, March Madness for Music Nerds! I promise to be mercurial and opinionated, because I know my readers expect nothing less!
On a related note, this being the internet, many commenters have already voiced strong opinions on which songs aren’t included that should’ve been, and are included that shouldn’t, and I have a thought or two about that myself. This kind of curatorial activity always displeases someone, because by definition, you can’t include everything. TWC’s selection committee made the decision to include only songs with weather references in the title, which left out many songs that might actually talk about weather more, and left in some songs where the title is the only weather connection. Oh well, that’s showbiz!
Also check out the other regions:
Elements
Rain
Seasons
UPDATE: Here are my picks for the Sun Region and for the Elements Region!
I have a confession to make, music nerds.
I don’t give a tinker’s damn about sports.
In music nerd terms, this is certainly less surprising and controversial than my ambivalence toward baroque music, but you try living in Boston and not being a Red Sox fan — it’s not pretty. I have on occasion enjoyed watching a game or two, but I’ve never felt a pressing need to follow a particular team or get involved with the trajectory of a season.
So, the only blip of March Madness on my radar screen this month took the form of mild amusement at the bracket-patterned dresses in a TV commercial I’ve seen recently (I can’t find it on the Google, so if anyone out there has seen it, too and can recall what it’s actually advertising, let me know!
But then yesterday, while checking the Weather Channel to see just how unseasonally beautiful a day we were going to have, I discovered this:
Over the next three weeks, you can vote on your favorite weather songs in four different categories: Sun, Rain, Seasons and Elements. Now, that’s my kinda bracket! You can view all of the competing songs in bracket format on this pdf. And here’s a grid with all the song titles, plus links to listen in iTunes.
Voting began this morning in the Sun and Elements categories. (The posts say that voting ends April 14 at 5:00 am EDT, but I think that must be a typo, and that it should say March 14. So vote before bedtime tonight!)
In my next post, I’ll break down the contestants and share my picks. (Update: here’s the first round breakdown, part 1 and part 2!) Arm chair music nerds, lace up your kicks!
Let’s keep in touch!
Follow MMN on Twitter!
Like MMN on Facebook!
Happy Friday, music nerds! Today’s nerdy music links are coming to you from a mile high!
Where in the World is Miss Music Nerd?
On Monday night I got to hang out with ETHEL, one of my favorite classical bands, at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Go here to read how they rocked the house, from Glass to Zeppelin!
But today, McDoc and I are in Denver, where he is attending Continue reading
ETHEL: Present Beauty
Monday, March 5, 2012, 7:30 p.m.
David Friend Recital Hall
Berklee College of Music
Classical music has a bit of a PR problem. It has a bad reputation as being boring, stuffy, and overly serious. There’s even a web comic about it! Now, the extent to which that reputation may not be entirely undeserved is a rich topic worthy of exploration, but I’ll save that for another day.
A major component of my music nerd mission is to bring you examples of how the classical world gets it right, which it often does. One of those examples was on display Monday night in Boston, when I got to hang out with one of my favorite classical bands, the string quartet ETHEL. They play with amplification, and they rock. Self-described as “postclassical,” they focus on music of recent decades, highlighting composers who combine traditional classical training with the pop music influences they grew up with. And while that may sound cutting-edge, it’s not really new; composers have always responded to whatever was going on around them, freely borrowing or, let’s face it, stealing from the popular music of their time.
L to R: Ralph Farris, Jennifer Choi, Cornelius DuFallo, Dorothy Lawson. Photo: James Ewing
Here’s ETHEL’s video of a past performance of the piece: Continue reading
Happy Friday, music nerds! In today’s nerdy music links, we go from the sublime to the ridiculous (but what else is new?), celebrating Chopin, the Monkees, and the best way to learn about Opera! Let’s leap right in!
Where in the World is Miss Music Nerd?
Right now I’m looking out my window and marveling at the fact that there is snow on the ground, for the first time since October! But on Monday evening I’ll be at Berklee College of Music hearing the fabulous rock ‘n’ roll string quartet, ETHEL. Boston area peeps, check it out — admission is free!!
And they totally rock!
For most of this week I’ve been chained to my laptop as usual, but this time at least, I have something tangible to show for it:
