Latest News: David Bowie

Now Available - Geek Wedding Vol. 2: The Sequel

By Jessica Apperson

1154_300dpi

 

Geek Wedding is back! The sequel to our wildly popular Geek Wedding Collection features more VSQ renditions of music from your favorite Movies, TV Shows and Video Games and is perfect for the couple who zigs when everyone else zags. Thrill your guests by having your wedding party enter to the “Raider’s March” from Raiders of the Lost Ark, experience an unforgettable first dance with the beautiful “Cara Mia Addio” from Portal 2, and leave your wedding in serious style with our rendition of Huey Lewis and The News’ “The Power of Love” from the Back to the Future trilogy.

  1. Halo - Opening Suite
  2. Raiders of the Lost Ark - Raiders March
  3. Doctor Who - Theme
  4. The Power of Love (Originally performed by Huey Lewis and The News)
  5. The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough (Originally performed by Cyndi Lauper)
  6. Linus and Lucy (Originally performed by Vince Guaraldi Trio)
  7. Star Wars - Cantina Band
  8. Final Fantasy X - To Zanarkand
  9. Portal 2 - Cara Mia Addio
  10. Howl’s Moving Castle - Merry-Go-Round of Life
  11. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - Nerevar Rising
  12. As The World Falls Down (Originally performed by David Bowie)
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Coming Soon - Geek Wedding : The Sequel

By Jessica Apperson

1154_300dpi

Arriving 2/19 - Geek Wedding: The Sequel

Geek Wedding is back!  The sequel to our wildly popular Geek Wedding Collection features more VSQ renditions of music from your favorite Movies, TV Shows and Video Games and is perfect for the couple who zigs when everyone else zags. Thrill your guests by having your wedding party enter to the “Raider’s March” from Raiders of the Lost Ark, experience an unforgettable first dance with the beautiful “Cara Mia Addio” from Portal 2, and leave your wedding in serious style with our rendition of Huey Lewis and The News’ “The Power of Love” from the Back to the Future trilogy.

 

  1. Halo - Opening Suite
  2. Raiders of the Lost Ark - Raiders March
  3. Doctor Who - Theme
  4. The Power of Love (Originally performed by Huey Lewis and The News)
  5. The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough (Originally performed by Cyndi Lauper)
  6. Linus and Lucy (Originally performed by Vince Guaraldi Trio)
  7. Star Wars - Cantina Band
  8. Final Fantasy X - To Zanarkand
  9. Portal 2 - Cara Mia Addio
  10. Howl’s Moving Castle - Merry-Go-Round of Life
  11. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - Nerevar Rising
  12. As The World Falls Down (Originally performed by David Bowie)
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    From the Vault: David Bowie

    By 21

    October 14th will be a big day for David Bowie fans all round the world.

    It will mark the 35th anniversary of one of Bowie's most classic albums, Heroes. The album was one of three albums Bowie conceptualized around Berlin and the second of the infamous Brian Eno/David Bowie trilogy. Not only have critics highly praised the record to be one of his best, but Beatles member John Lennon also considered the it to be the influence for his solo album Double Fantasy and is quoted saying that his ambition was "to do something as good as Heroes."

    The famous title track about two lovers meeting at the Berlin Wall — the "wall of shame" — remains an epic rock anthem to this day. "Heroes" has been covered by numerous artists including Peter Gabriel, The Wallflowers and also made it into a pop-rock medley in Baz Luhrmann's film Moulin Rouge. The song will also be featured on the forthcoming soundtrack for movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

    If David Bowie is one of your heroes, celebrate this milestone by checking out our string quartet tribute to Bowie, which features' "Heroes" as well  as other hits like "Ashes to Ashes," "Changes" and "Space Oddity."

       

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    From Stage to Screen: Movie Soundtracks by Musicians

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    A great movie or song, alone, can inspire powerful emotions. But combined, sounds and images can amplify the sensation. The Smiths' guitarist Johnny Marr, who worked on the soundtrack to Dennis Hopper's film Colours in the late-1980s, said he enjoys working on movies because “You're not restricted to working on something between three and five minutes long … It also can be quite solitary and it's nice not to have to please four or five other people.”

    Film and sound existed separately in the early 20th century, but they ended up cementing a lasting complimentary relationship with each other, from the first feature length sound film in 1927, The Jazz Singer, to music videos today. Our minds love that sync of auditory and visual senses – whether it’s unintentional, like The Wizard of Oz synching with Dark Side of the Moon, or intentional, like the music and movie collaborations that follow: Jónsi (Sigur Rós) – We Bought A Zoo (2012) Some music seems to conjure up movies instinctively, as in the instrumentally and emotionally rich soundscapes of Sigur Rós, fronted by guitarist and vocalist Jón “Jónsi” Þór Birgisson. For those of us wishing that Jónsi would follow us around playing a soundtrack to our lives (and have to settle for iPod daydreaming), we got the next best thing – he scored a movie, We Bought a Zoo. Director Cameron Crowe encouraged Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson and the other actors in the film to listen to specific Sigur Rós songs so they could create the right energy for a scene: “the actors listened to the music during their takes; it quickly became part of the film’s DNA.” When Matt Damon finally confronts the iPhotos of his deceased wife that come to life around him in a sonic and sentimental crescendo, a little watery DNA can’t help but moisten the eyes of the audience as well. Trent Reznor (with Atticus Ross) - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) After winning a 2010 Golden Globe and Academy Award for their work on The Social Network, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross decided to pair up again to take on another David Fincher film, the highly anticipated The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Delicate chimes and thin pianos mixed with ferociously plucked strings and ominous bass create just the right amount of foreboding tingles the movie calls for. As the founder of Nine Inch Nails, Reznor seems naturally drawn to the darker side of the music spectrum. This especially comes out in his raw cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” with Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ singer Karen O during the movie’s opening sequence with a vigor that carries on throughout the film. Johnny Greenwood (Radiohead) – There Will Be Blood (2007) If the images in Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood don’t scare you, the 80-piece in-your-face string orchestra will. Expanding on Radiohead’s already instrumental-heavy technique, guitarist and composer Johnny Greenwood’s score was well received and nominated for a Grammy. From the brooding lows to the quivering highs, the dissonant, disturbing and always loud strings act as a separate character in the film, adding an eerie personality to an already unsettling setting. Neil Young - Dead Man (1995) Leave it to Neil Young to score a psychedelic western starring Johnny Depp as William Blake, an accountant from Cleveland, as well as Jared Harris, Billy Bob Thornton and Iggy Pop in a dress all sitting around a campfire cooking beans. Improvising on guitar, piano and organ as he watched the film alone in a recording studio, Young provides the perfect rugged and deep jolts of music to go along with the story of a man who wrote his poetry in blood when the west was still young. David Bowie (with Trevor Jones) – Labyrinth (1986) The 1980s were an age of synthesizers. Trevor Jones and David Bowie couldn’t resist mixing the wide-ranging electronic instrument with orchestral ensembles in a hodgepodge almost as strange as the Jim Henson and George Lucas production they scored, Labyrinth. Starring Bowie as both the Goblin King and the film’s composer, the soundtrack has a fittingly ethereal, surreal feel. But the movie’s musical spell is often broken when Goblin Bowie and his minions break out into raucous songs that categorize the film in another '80s cliché of cheesy. Queen - Flash Gordon (1980) Queen’s melodic-dramatic overtures provide a natural soundtrack to a movie – especially one shot in the 1980s about a super hero, like Flash Gordon. And what better way to mimic the film’s ka-pow energy than with extensive use of electrifying synthesizers and overpowering harmonies. After all, Freddie Mercury’s music and performance carried with them a certain theatrical thrill fitting of an action movie. The theme song of the movie, “Flash” is a sonic comic book complete with character dialogue and laser beam sound effects over shouts of “flash!” accompanied by complimentary cymbal crashes. Pink Floyd – More (1969) From Dark Side of the Moon to Ummagumma, Pink Floyd has always voyaged into new and strange sonic territory fitting of futuristic movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey, which Roger Water actually turned down the opportunity to score – something he later regretted. Pink Floyd, however, applied their experimental approach to Barbet Schroeder’s More, a film about a German hitchhiker who falls for an American girl addicted to heroin. Their avant-garde instrumentals and some of their heaviest songs are the perfect backdrop to this mind-bending trip. Be Sure to check out: Per_versions - Vitamin String Quartet Vitamin String Quartet Tribute to Nine Inch Nails Vitamin String Quartet: Strung Out On OK Computer Rusted Moon: Vitamin String Quartet Tribute to Neil Young Vitamin String Quartet Tribute to David Bowie Vitamin String Quartet Tribute to Queen Vitamin String Quartet Tribute to Pink Floyd

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    Top 10 Brian Eno-Produced Albums

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    In both his production work and his solo releases, self-described "non-musician" Brian Eno has had an incalcuable influence on the recording and production of modern rock/pop music. While his solo work is incredibly varied - running the gamut of glam rock to film soundtracks to New Age-influencing ambient electronics - he is perhaps most well known for his production work, from his more experimental 70s Talking Heads work to his more recent collaborations with mainstream artists Paul Simon and Coldplay. With a new solo record on the horizon (Small Craft On The Milk Sea, seeing release in November), now is as good a time as any to look back on his celebrated production career and pick out his very best works.

    Talking Heads - Remain In Light

    The obvious forerunner here, the Talking Heads' 1980 masterpiece is one of Eno's most enduring productions. An intoxicating hybrid of Afrobeat polyrhythms, electronics, and the Heads' increasingly cerebral pop melodicism, Eno crafted a strange yet immediately accesible sonic landscape that remains his most distinctive achievement.

    U2 - The Joshua Tree

    Co-produced with Daniel Laonis, The Joshua Tree is easily Eno's most commercially popular production. Marrying U2's soul-searching anthems with Eno's gorgeous electronic flourishes was a major coup for both, artistically and commercially; the record single-handedly turned U2 into rock superstars and launched Eno's mainstream career.

    Devo - Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!

    Of Eno's leanest and least obtrustive production jobs, Devo's debut record remains a high water mark for both parties. While Eno's trademark layered electronics are in short supply here, he allows the group's nervy deconstructionist pop songs to build and seethe, making for an exceptionally tense and memorable record.

    David Byrne and Brian Eno - My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts

    A collection of melodic, funky instrumentals interwoven with a varied collection of vocal samples - from radio show hosts to preachers - Bush of Ghosts was an utterly original release in 1981. While sampling had been done before, Eno's idea to use said samples as "lead vocals" was new, influencing hip hop to modern dance pop and beyond.

    David Bowie - Low

    Although not technically produced by Eno (due credit must be paid to Tony Visconti and Bowie himself), his presence on Low is crucial and unmistakable. Pushing Bowie's songwriting to bizarre new heights while offering the foreboding instrumental "Warszawa," Eno and Bowie reveal a window into the haunting future of rock 'n roll.

    Brian Eno - Another Green World

    Considered by many to be Eno's finest solo release, Another Green World combines his underrated sense of pop melodicism with his increasing interests in ambience and expansive electronics. Foreboding, lovely tracks like "Becalmed" and "Zawinul" directly foreshadow the work Eno would be making for the next quarter century.

    Paul Simon - Surprise

    The new millenium sparked some of Eno's most mainstream production work yet, culminating with his, well, surprising collaboration with Paul Simon. As unusual as it might sound on paper, Eno's warm arrangements fit with Simon's songwriting like a glove, resulting in one of his most inviting works.

    Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois - Apollo (Atmospheres And Soundtracks)

    Eno's ambient releases explore a wide variety of moods and textures, but Apollo (Atmospheres And Soundtracks) is perhaps his most distinctive; a collection of moody atmospherics combined with Laonis's warm guitar tones, it gives the listener the distinct feeling of floating in space, making for a quintessential late-night record.

    Ultravox - Ultravox!

    Eno's pioneering work in the mid-70s can't be understated; he was almost single-handedly responsible for pushing synth-pop and New Wave into the forefront of popular culture. Ultravox's debut record makes this clear, offering a hard-hitting early glimpse into the development of an exciting new genre.

    David Byrne and Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today

    Eno's second collaboration with David Byrne is markedly different effort than their first, forgoing the experimental route for a collection of sweet, homespun melodies. Marrying gospel with deep electronics and pushing the strongest vocals of Byrne's career into the forefront, it is perhaps Eno's most accessible and enjoyable album.

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    Vitamin String Quartet Salutes Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame

    By 23

    Download on iTunes

    1. Atlantic City (originally performed by Bruce Springsteen) 2. Imagine (originally performed by John Lennon) 3. Back in Black (originally performed by AC/DC) 4. Dazed and Confused (originally performed by Led Zeppelin) 5. Heart Of Gold (originally performed by Neil Young) 6. Iron Man (originally performed by Black Sabbath) 7. The Unforgiven (originally performed by Metallica) 8. Maggie May (originally performed by Rod Stewart) 9. Changes (originally performed by David Bowie) 10. God Only Knows (originally performed by The Beach Boys) 11. Hurts So Good (originally performed by John Mellencamp) 12. Bohemian Rhapsody (originally performed by Queen)

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    Peter Gabriel Gets His Indie On, New LP Scratch My Back

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    Oh, I really should apologize to Peter Gabriel. I had pretty much written him off. I thought he was done, at least in the current-pop-culture-relevancy context. I don’t mean to downplay the immense contributions he’s made over the years because, really, kudos to him, man. I just thought he was, ya know, done. But then he goes and pulls a Johnny Cash and surprises the hell out of all of us. But with once-a-decade studio LPs, nothing should really be all that shocking. That said, PG’s newest release, Scratch My Back, is shocking, in a great way. First of all, the LP consists entirely of cover songs. And the picks are insane. No one would’ve pegged the former Genesis member for picking these 12 songs, out of all the songs in the world to choose. He credits at least some of his exposure to indie music to his daughter and after hearing Gabriel’s cover of Flume by Bon Iver, I’m about to send that girl some flowers or something; it’s amazing, quite simply. His choice to use only orchestral arrangements in lieu of traditional pop instruments makes some songs simply more interesting, while really doing something amazing for others; He takes Regina Spektor’s Apres Moi, to newly dark, cinematic, lofty places that the original song hinted at, even if he does lack her signature stop-motion vocal acrobatics. Without getting all fangirl, it is sufficient to say that the rest of the album holds up just fine. Release date is February 15th, 2010. Stream the album here.

    Tracklist:

    01 "Heroes" (David Bowie) 02 "The Boy in the Bubble" (Paul Simon) 03 "Mirrorball" (Elbow) 04 "Flume" (Bon Iver) 05 "Listening Wind" (Talking Heads) 06 "The Power of the Heart" (Lou Reed) 07 "My Body Is a Cage" (Arcade Fire) 08 "The Book of Love" (The Magnetic Fields) 09 "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" (Randy Newman) 10 "Après moi" (Regina Spektor) 11 "Philadelphia" (Neil Young) 12 "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (Radiohead)

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    VSQ Employee Mixtape #5: Customer Service Dept.

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    Chrissy H. came to CMH as a lowly intern and has since blossomed into a Customer Service superstar. Not only does she have a winning personality, but has the musical taste to ehttp://www.thevitaminstringquartet.com/blog/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=735nsure all your purchases are the right ones. Her mix-tape is a surefire winner with everything from the eclectic to straight up dance pop. If you ever see her boppin’ around Los Angeles, buy her a drink and she’ll sing you a song. She’ll try not to sing out of key. 1. Van Morrison - And It Stoned Me from String Quartet Tribute To Van Morrison Download buy CD 2. The Roots - The Seed from String Quartet Tribute to The Roots Buy CD download 3. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt. 1 from String Quartet Tribute to The Flaming Lips download buy CD 4. Get Your Hands Off My Woman from String Quartet Tribute to The Darkness download buy CD 5. Hello, Goodbye from String Quartet Tribute to The Beatles download buy CD 6. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Ohio from String Quartet Tribute to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young download buy CD 7. 2Pac - California Love from String Quartet Tribute to 2Pac buy CD 8. Death Cab For Cutie - Sound of Settling from Ghost: The String Quartet Tribute to Death Cab for Cutie download buy CD 9. David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust from String Quartet Tribute to David Bowie download buy CD 10. Kanye West - Flashing Lights from The String Quartet Tribute to Kanye West download buy CD

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