This is the archive of tumbledry happenings that occurred on 7 March, 2008.

Know the song “Hallelujah”? The one that goes “I heard there was a secret chord that David played and it pleased the Lord, but you don’t really care for music, do you?” (That was from memory!) Anyhow, I first heard it but Rufus Wainwright, and loooved it. However, there’s much much more to this song. In this great piece, clapclap.org covers everything you’d need to know about the song.

Today, in contrast, one particular Leonard Cohen song is featured prominently in no less than three separate episodes of teen uberdrama The OC, and can be heard in at least twenty-four separate movies and TV episodes, almost always as the soundtrack to a montage of people being sad.

What I hope to show today is how, exactly, that happened to a song called “Hallelujah.”

What I find particularly hilarious are the comments about the original:

This is more like your uncle’s band playing in a warehouse, assuming your uncle was weird and labored under the impression that he was a crooner. It passed into the public realm almost unnoticed, and remained that way for some time; in the major Cohen biography, published in 1996, there’s no entry for the song in the index, despite the fact that the book’s name is the same as the album on which “Hallelujah” originally appears.

Read on for the rest of the fascinating story. I’m not going to quote one more piece of the story because you should see the whole thing. Yet… I can’t resist:

The usage was so pervasive that, based on the numerous OC Mix CDs that were released, it seemed to inspire musicians to create their own soundalike songs, and to boost those artists who had already been working that sound. (This was the “indie rock boom” that the OC supposedly instigated, bringing sensitive-crooner bands like Death Cab For Cutie to fame and fortune.)

The most prominent example is Imogen Heap, someone who I, at least, had not heard of since a cassingle was mailed to me in 1998. But Heap’s song “Hide and Seek” soundtracked the final moments of the OC’s second season, the slot occupied a year before by a full rendition of Buckey’s “Hallelujah.” This pairing was so successful that, for the finale of season three, the final moments were accompanied, once again, by Heap, this time covering —and, to be clear, I am not shitting you—“Hallelujah.” This is the point where the OC consumes itself whole, and it is a sickeningly gorgeous thing to watch.

Articles, coverage like this, is why blogs are winning. Any magazine editor in their right mind would say “this piece, so involved and extensive as it is, can not run in any music magazine.” But they would be wrong. Yet anything truly interesting, in depth, or innovative continues to be placed either online or in a frighteningly few publications. And so the exodus from the printed to the digital word continues. (via Deron Bauman at kottke, via Andew Simone)

‌

They’re not fonts! explains the difference between “font” and “typeface.”

Graphic designers choose typefaces for their projects but use fonts to create the finished art.

Essentially, if you are talking about the appearance of text, you are speaking about what typeface it is set in. “Font” is like an implementation, or an instance of a typeface. Quoth wikipedia:

In typography, a font (also fount) is traditionally defined as a complete character set of a single size of a particular typeface. For example, all characters for 9 point Bulmer is a font, and the 10 point size would be another font.

I’ll have to start saying that correctly.

‌

‌

Charles Apple provides great before and after comparisons between the old and new Saint Paul Pioneer Press designs. I could live with the Myriad (har) of typefaces used in the new design, if only they didn’t use the face Stainless. That one is driving be absolutely batty. Every time I look at it, I’m thinking Star-Trek type computer screen displays; it’s too sharp and computer-like.

Also, I realize they went for a USA Today style color coded section-type thing… but man did I prefer the whitespace employed before to identify a section. Graphic design is really difficult, especially on something like a newspaper — I just think that this design needed a few more revisions before going public.

‌

Alexander Micek commenting on Waiting on Some Warmth

I agree, guys. Our latitude seems to change not only our perception of the passing seasons, but also the way we perceive the passage of time. I don’t know if weather is a not topic everywhere, but it’s always discussed in Minnesota. Also: I didn’t realize Oklahoma got that hot!

Consider this: one month after only part of a song called “New Soul” by Yael Naim backed the first commercial for Apple’s Macbook Air, the song debuted at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100. Disregarding its precipitous tumble down the charts after that, it is easy to see that featuring music on TV can have a profound effect on sales. This brings me to my idea: illustrated radio.

I’m not talking music videos — not only has the culture around those been absolutely beat into the corporate cemetery by MTV/VH1, but the idea is tired. We need something simple and fresh. Here’s what you do (the details are very important):

• Once a week, secure a half hour pre-primetime network television spot — get a time when people might have the TV on in the background but are doing something else, such as preparing dinner.
• Then, get one true disk jockey with impeccable taste to pull great music that many people haven’t heard. This part is crucial: you need singularity of vision in the beginning, so you need just one dude/dudette with grrrreat taste. One. No committee, no focus group — just make one DJ’s dream come true by giving them a huge audience. Hint: look at a place like The Current.
• Don’t advertise it; let the facts of how stunningly different, unique, and daring this is speak for themselves.
• Read commercials by one voiceover person, with one graphic per product. This is illustrated radio, remember?
• In the beginning, don’t feature any “new media” tie-ins. (Secure a good URL, certainly, but sit on it at first.) See, you need to get everyone watching first.
• After a month or so of building interest, put together a brain-dead simple web page. I don’t want flash videos, I don’t want atrociously bold branding — give me a list of the artists and their songs played, followed by exactly three things: the artist’s website, an iTunes link, and an Amazon link. Sort reverse chronological by date. Don’t trash things up with 100s of links to the network’s other shows.

Finally, call the show “Music.” Do not call it anything else. You are promoting music, you are sharing good music. But don’t call the show “Good Music,” because that’s an opinion. The goal here is to take all the strengths and innovations of podcasting and combine them with the strengths of network TV.

KEEP IT SIMPLE. If you do that, this show will. Be. Awesome.

3 comments left

Sam commenting on Waiting on Some Warmth

Oh yes, daily highs of 98 - 108 are pretty common during August and September.

Mother Nature did it again this week. High temp on Wednesday pushed 70 degrees, then the bottom fell out with 6 to 9 inches of snow yesterday. Even Dallas TX (couple of hours further south) picked up an inch or two.

The weather is always a hot topic around these parts.

John commenting on Messy

You should be an orthodontist. You can help keep everything straight and ordered out there in the world, even if it is only the teeth.

Mykala commenting on Steal This Idea

So what would actually be shown on the screen while the music is playing? I am confused…

Alexander Micek commenting on Steal This Idea

Oh shoot, I forgot to mention that. There’d be album art, a track listing; I think allowing the artist to choose what they wanted shown could be useful, too. So… no music videos, but actually showing the music being made in the studio (possibly on stage) could be cool. Rather like the “Scotch Mist” production by Radiohead on New Year’s Eve.