The Farrellel Universe

I am starting on a completely new version of PShare (probably going to rename it, fyi) and am looking for suggestions for functionality from my users. I'm going to be coding a new interface/server code from scratch, so anything is possible.

I'm still going to have the service restricted to the small list of users, so any suggestions that make sense only if you have a large number of users will be shelved (or is it tabled?).

Here are some of the things I am looking to do:

• Search based on MP3 tags, not just file name (search genre/album/year
• ability to create 3-5 song podcasts
• all songs browsable by album
• up/down type moderation on songs (as opposed to notes)

This functionality may go along with a public site I am also planning that will be more of a blog/recommendation site based on user tastes (more on this later). Also, be aware that there is a collaborative writing site in the works as well (sorry for the delays, Mr. Bartenbach).

Please post any suggestions you have as comments

Do you want to ride on the Mothership? Are you ready to see Dr. Funkenstein? Do you wish you could have seen Parliament in the 1970's?

God how I wish I could have seen a show like this. I've seen Parliament a couple of times in the last 90's/early 00's. Each time I see them, I go through the same process.

1. These guys have totally lost it. Boring
2. Ok, they're playing some good songs and the women sure can sing
3. Man, Star Child is fat!
4. Here's comes Clinton!
5. HEY! Clinton's theme is I Am The Slime by Frank Zappa. No question
6. Oh, now, hold on, what's this bass groove that
   suddenly come out of nowhere
7. Oh my God! I think I just zoned out for
   like 10 minutes!
8. This is the best show I've ever seen. There's still
   2 hours left!
9. Oh man, I wish I could have seen these guys in the 80's

The following video picks up where the last one stops, with the arrival of Dr. Funkenstein, the cool ghoul with the funk transplant.

"It's one of the heaviest groups in the world... I'm talking about the group The Cream

-Jimi Hendrix

Cream did more to change rock and roll in 2 years than any other group ever. Tales of Brave Ulysses is more psychadelia than blues, but I love it just the same. I've got to agree with Hendrix's assessment (from Jimi's "Live At Winterland" album introducing his version of Sunshine of Your Love

Led Zeppelin (or possibly Styx) may have used "The Lord of the Rings" in their songs, but Cream's Homer references in the hard rock setting has always rang true to me.

When I was at Purdue, a friend of John Ambriole's had a band I saw once. I know I already loved this tune when I heard them cover it. They played it more heavy metal, but it was still pretty awesome.

Also, Keith Moon is the 60's best drummer, but Ginger Baker is no slouch either.

... and when your fingers find her, she drowns you in her body, carving deep blue ripples, in the tissues of your mind

Lilywhite Lilith is the first song of the second part of Genesis' The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Their masterwork remains as inscrutable today as it surely must have been then. I've heard rumors about how the staging was problematic and that most of the audience wasn't prepared for a two hour show of songs they'd never heard before. Still. Listening to the album today, I am floored by the musical and lyrical accomplishments. The second disc drags a little compared to the first one (especially around the Slippermen). The last four songs are really great.

To give you an idea of where we stand when this song appears in the work. We open the second half of the story with Rael (our narrator and eventual hero) had been spray painting (or perhaps committing a crime) in a subway stop on Broadway in NYC. When he exits, a fog envelops him and forms a crust around him. The crust keeps forming till he's lost in a cave which he wanders. He has deduced that he's not dead (because he hasn't changed that much). As he wanders, he has found a chamber of 32 doors filled with masses of people all in confusion. Lilywhite Lilith approaches him here and offers to lead him to safety if he can be her eyes (since she's blind).

This is only a taste of the abstract storyline of progressive rock's masterwork.

The Musical Box is one of my favorite early Genesis songs. Genesis exists as several incarnations. Here is a quintessential romp through the progressive years when Peter Gabriel was at the head. Gabriel would leave in 1975 and go on to the solo career you already know. Phil Collins (featured as drummer and backup vocals here) would take over and turn Genesis into the more accessible pop band you also already know. I don't think Gabriel ever captured the energy he had in his early days (his later success notwithstanding).

If you're going to watch this, try to make it to the very novel ending to the song.

My favorite Rolling Stone's album has got to be Exile On Main Street. I'll write more about this another time, but I know that I'm not alone. From the first notes the first time I heard the album, I was in love with it. The whole tone of the album is a departure from previous Stones work. There are more soul numbers and a couple of blues.

I always thought Rocks Off was the best song on the album, but I've begun to wonder if Rip This Joint doesn't deserve more attention. RTJ has the unfortunate placement right after RO (they sound a lot alike).

I tried to find a good clip of either song, but couldn't. So here's a clip of Keith Richard's kicking ass on stage.