music

For April Fool’s Day, I thought a profane paean to the moral wasteland of the dark web by a pair of self-described wicked clowns would be just the thing.

Were you aware that William Shatner has been putting out albums fairly regularly over the past couple decades? Like a mobius strip, his songs sometimes manage to take awfulness to its limit before twisting back around on themselves and becoming… almost magnificent. They’re transcendently awful, I guess. Here’s one of the “best” of the bunch, from a blues album he released just last year, a cover of Muddy Waters. “Enjoy.”

One of my favorite pieces of Christmas music. So irresistibly cheerful. The only problem is it’s only a minute long. Therefore, we should listen to a few alternative arrangements as well.

And possibly the best of the bunch (they actually have a recording of The Nutcracker Suite for sale at their website, if you enjoy your Tchaikovsky funky. I bought it and got a personal thank-you email, which was a nice touch) :

Well, hey, there’s a nice surprise — for any of you fans of world music in general, or Dead Can Dance in particular, Brendan Perry has just released a new record, Songs of Disenchantment – Music from the Greek Underground.