Professor Penguin is a London based nine piece we recently featured on the Dig here. Their newest single Pirate was released yesterday and along with it came an uncomplicated, earnest, and nostalgic music video. What I dig about these guys is the cleanliness of their songwriting, and the warmth of their sound. With a nine piece band I expect to be overwhelmed by texture and effort, but Professor Penguin is the perfect balance of harmony, rhythm, melody and countermelody – they've got me hook line and sinker. I look forward to the release of the full album and grand things to come from our friends across the pond. Please do remember to show the guys a little love via their social media at Twitter, Soundcloud, Official Webpage, and Facebook. You dig?

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It's safe to say that I've been a quiet fan of Tears for Fears my whole life. More recently however I've been enjoying the way that artists are re-contextualizing their music and taking the originals to strange and beautiful new places. With melody at the forefront of stoic and warm harmonies, the music of Tears For Fears is ripe for exploration in other genres. A few months back I posted a video performance of the incomparable jazz trio The Bad Plus performing TFF's classic Everybody Wants To Rule The World. Check out that article and video here. Today I am happy to share another dip into the canon of TFF by the massively talented and imaginative pianist and composer Michael Sheppard with his new work entitled Mad World Fantasy.

Read on and kick off your Thursday with a little bit of music from the friges of two genres. You dig?

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Let's jump in the way back machine and go all the way to November 18, 2011. The place is Wa(r)shington DC, the scene is the 9:30 Club, and the person is none other than friend of the Dig Jonny Corndawg. This was a tour stop for Jonny while he was out pillaging the US of A with juggernauts of newgrass Trampled By Turtles. I was in the audience for this thoroughly enjoyable show and managed to sneak this video of Jonny's performance of the Hank Williams Jr classic Texas Woman. Although he is on the opposite side of the stage, you'll hear that Erik Berry, the mandolinist for Trampled was sitting in for this one. 

This was one of several unexpected treats from that evening's concert, but that's what you get with the always surprising and engaging Jonny Corndawg. You dig?

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Natalie Prass is an enchanting and talented singer/songwriter of which I have recently become acquainted with. Not surprisingly, she is based out of Nashville Tennessee and has cultivated a quirky, care free, and quaint performance style. I really enjoy her vocal cadences and the way she plays with the speed and accent of her words. The strength of her songwriting speaks so clearly in this stripped down and minimal video performance which is brought to us by way of the good people at Live and Reel. If you're not familiar with their work yet please do yourself a solid and go check it out – some great things happening over there. I also think it is completely adorable the way Natalie looks upwards in the first verse as she looks inside of her own head to remember the lyrics. Finally, the tag team vocal ending with her partner in crime Kyle Ryan is a perfect fit for this irresistible pop sing-along. This might be the first of many soon to come posts about Natalie Prass, so keep your ears and eyes open.

For more on this soon to be well known songwriter feel free to hop on over to her Offical Webpage, Bandcamp, Facebook, and Twitter accounts.

Natalie Prass: You Didn't Know

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Off the Charts is a PBS documentary about song poems in which the film makers take an earnest and unbiased look at both the poets and musicians responsible for the 20th century phenomenon of song poems. If you're not familiar with this practice let me try to briefly explain what's going on here. Last century saw the boom of the recording industry, but with it came several companies who decided to dedicate themselves to writing, recording, and releasing songs based on lyrical content which was given to them by anyone who was willing to pay their submission fees. Since lyrical quality wasn't at a premium and mass production was the point, it was pretty much unavoidable that some of the most awkward, graceless, bizarre, and slapstick material in the history of music resulted. Classics such as Non-violent Taekwondo Troopers, Jimmy Carter Says Yes, and I Like Yellow Things are a few of my personal favorites. 

Truth is that my buddies and I have been listening to this music while playing poker for years now and I never bothered to look past the absurdity of the product and get the full picture. This documentary does that in a manner which I believe is both fair and heartwarming. It's fair in that you'll see how easily these musicians were slamming together their material and then moving on to the next one – it was a business, not an art. However, you also connect with the lyricists on a personal level after hearing and seeing their side of the story. Most of the submissions did come from sincere, if not slightly misguided individuals who believed in the worth of their work, and found satisfaction and fulfillment through this means of expression. 

Thank Jehovah for kung fu bicycles and Priscilla Presley – and song poems. You dig?

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A new video of The Bad Plus has recently surfaced in which they perform Abba's Knowing Me Knowing You. The Bad Plus has a remarkable way of engaging an audience with the sincerity of their stage demeanor, musicianship, attention to detail, and willingness to explore in sound. These subtle explorations are littered throughout their catalog, but in this video you can see and hear David King playing his drum kit in the opening section with a set of walkie talkies, and later Ethan Iverson motor boats his piano keyboard. Walkie talkie feedback has never been something I've heard as musical before but I'm glad I will now. As for Mr. Iverson's piano motor boating, he is doing this to disrupt the tonality of the composition by banging out tone clusters with his face. A juxtaposition I've also never seen or heard before. In secret, I'm going to practice this later on my piano.

Don't forget to check out The Bad Plus on itunes, facebook, twitter, and Ethan Iverson's blog Do The Math. You dig?

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At the end of last year The Flaming Lips recorded this psychotropic cover of The Beatles classic I Am The Walrus at the Pink Floor Studio in Oklahoma City. It takes a lot of guts to cover the Beatles in meaningful way. Is this meaningful? I'm not sure. What I do know is that Wayne Coyne and The Flaming Lips are the pinnacle of interesting in rock and roll, and this video is testament to their throne. 

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Bobby Mitchell performs John Cage's (1912-1992) Sonata V for prepared piano from Cage's Sonatas and Interludes (1946-1948) The video was shot by Katy Mitchell. Short of 4'33'', Sonatas and Interludes was one of John Cages premier compositions. In total it is a collection of 20 short pieces for prepared piano which are noted for their improvisational and dance influences. In the performance notes he indicates that he expects the set up time for the preparation to take up to three hours, but he also remarks that "…if you enjoy playing the Sonatas and Interludes then do it so that it seems right to you". 

Seeing the piece performed from this perspective is awesome. I think that it makes clear to the audience the music, the technique, and intent of the composition in a way that wouldn't necessarily communicate from the stage alone. This particular selection from the Sonatas and Interludes is super groovy and I can't imagine not finding joy in this performance every time I heard it. You dig?

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McCoy Tyner is one of my all time favorite jazz piano players – he is an absolute diamond in the rough. In a nutshell, McCoy Tyner cut his teeth in the jazz scene playing piano in Coltrane's band before a long and healthy solo career. My favorite of his solo albums is Nights of Blues and Ballads and I cannot recommend it highly enough if you don't already have this one in your collection. Regardless, I had a one of those transcendent moments this morning while drinking a cup of coffee and listening to McCoy Tyner perform his rendition of The Beatles classic, She's Leaving Home. 

I've already called Tyner himself a diamond in the rough, but more specifically, that's how I feel about his performance amongst a collection of thirteen other jazz interpretations of Beatles songs from the 1995 album (I Got No Kick Against )Modern Jazz: A GRP Artists' Celebration Of The Songs Of The Beatles. If you are curious, or would like to purchase just this track, the album is available on Amazon. The band is McCoy Tyner on Piano, Avery Sharpe on Bass, and Aaron Scott on Drums. Collectively, I enjoy the way they stay true to the original song and its emotional content, while speaking their own language. The best story tellers always manage to get the important parts correct, even if they change the details along the way.

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It's hard to believe that I could ever look at a 60 gig ipod and feel bored, but it happens.  I'm sure you've been there too. So let me throw something at you that might get you out of the box and refresh your tired ears. David Smooke is a composer, musician, professor, blogger, birder, and badass. He is also extremely interested by toy pianos and posted a wonderfully thoughtful and intriguing article on the ever engaging NewMusicBox -the online magazine for the American Music Center.

Read on for a full link to the article as well as videos of his pieces Half the Way Down and Toy With Me. Both of which feature the toy piano and might seem a bit more accessible after reading the artists thoughts and seeing them isolated and in action. You'll also get information about Uncaged which is the 3 day toy piano music festival in NYC where David Smooke will be performing.

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