The New Hobbit Hole

[JenB]

Yes, well, you were responsible for starting this whole Hobbit Hole thing in the first place!

[RosieCotton]

I like the Dixie Chicks' latest CD, but haven't purchased it yet. Haven't heard much of their other stuff.

Is Pat Green country?

I don't have much Texas swing, something I will remedy someday. Do have some "Asleep At The Wheel", but I can't remember if they're considered Texas swing or something else!

Tim McGraw...like most of his songs, don't like his voice. And after his latest hit...well, it bothers me. So...not sure I'd purchase something of his, though I do admire him as a song writer.

Thanks for the tips! I'll keep an eye out for Ricky Calmbach.

My general tastes (besides Celtic) run to stuff that's is what I think of as folk but that other people lump in with bluegrass or old time - Norman Blake, Doc Watson, and Allison Krauss who I would call bluegrass but who hardcore 'grassers call country. I'm so confoooosed!

[JenB]

Oh, hey, you're the George RR Martin fan, aren't you? Is he ever writing the next book?

[John Farson]

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Ever since the theatrical trailer to The Two Towers showed up, a lot of fans have been oooh-ing and aaah-ing over the usage of the music from "Requiem for a Dream" in the last half of the preview, as all kinds of sh*t blew up, got stabbed, shanked and killed. It seemed very appropriate. But since that version of the Requiem Overture was created just for the trailer and was not available anywhere, frantic fans searching p2p networks, websites and mIRC rooms had to make do with 2 minute soundclips from the actual "Requiem for a Dream" soundtrack, which, unfortunately, sounded almost nothing like the raw, thumping orchestral music that just kicked them in their pointy, Tolkien-obsessed heads. Still, that's better than it was for "Fellowship" -- The stirring music in that trailer has still never seen release.

Then somehow, some kids at a site called ajaxproject managed to sneak a file out called "The Requiem Remix" or "The Requiem for the Rings" that actually managed to incorporate the 3 or 4 bits of re-created orchestral goodness from the trailer. But it still wasn't all good: They had the right idea in arranging the music into a concert piece, but they muffed it by making the intro a pretentious mess, sticking atonal wailing over every note in an effort to make it all "Gothic" and using offbeat drumming to "anchor" the intro. To make matters worse, the Orchestral pieces were there, they were just chopped to hell and kind of slapped together. And then, shortly after TheWarOfTheRings.com got a hold of it, it was asked to be removed by the deadly "Unnamed Record Company" and not a note of the trailer music has been heard since.

But now, OpSom has a piece of @ss-kicking, drum-pounding, choir-screaming Orchestral Requiem Goodness available to you, in a 6 minute concert piece edit. Get it while you can--your ears will reward you. Never has music written for smack-addicts to hit rock bottom to ever sounded so uplifting. Amazing what some string effects, a lot of drums and association with Hobbits will do to your perception. Enjoy the @ss-kicking.

Click here

Please don't sue me, I'm only trying to get people excited about your movie.

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[HairOfTheDog]

Cool John! - Though I thought the quality on the other one was good! - Downloading it now!

[SuziQ]

I've been trying to find a good way to sing it up until now, for Autumn's bathie-time.

What a sweet Daddy!!

Here I go Hair, making MY way through the posts since this morning!!

[HairOfTheDog]

I am watching that stream of the 16 minutes again... It is not streaming nearly as nicely as it was earlier... they are getting loaded. I sure wish we could figure out how to download it.

[HairOfTheDog]

Heh.... Good, we can play travel games till you catch up!

[RosieCotton]

Found this quote about the "Riders of Rohan" track:

With the appearance of Eomer and the men of the Riddermark, Shore introduces a new theme, a theme for the hardened people of Rohan. It begins quite subtly, with noble, medieval-sounding strings. It then moves on to a stirring brass fanfare, triumphant yet with an underlying melancholy. In the hands of a lesser composer, the Rohan motif might have become a rather vacant, faux-mythic affair. But Maestro Shore leads his second reading of the theme with a Norwegian fiddle called a hardanger, reminding us that these are not empty heroes but a struggling people of the earth. The impact is palpable. The theme is amazing. And we're only on track three, folks.

So you were right on the hardanger - good ear!

[John Farson]

Oh, hey, you're the George RR Martin fan, aren't you? Is he ever writing the next book?

Yes! I'm looking forward to A Feast for Crows even more than these movies. He posted a message his website concerning the delay last month.

aFfC was scheduled to be published in Fall '02 -- now late Spring '03. However, Martin insists no one knows when it will be finished.

I just hope he doesn't die before he finishes the series.

[SuziQ]

Maybe I need to get a life. but I don't want too!

You have one, ksen, and we're happy to be a part of it!!

[RosieCotton]

I've been trying to find a good way to sing it up until now, for Autumn's bathie-time.

By the way, it also goes well with the tune "Little Beggarman", also known as "Red Haired Boy", if you know those. Or I can point you to it! That's the one my brother and I sing it to...

[JenB]

Heh, yes - I'd prefer he finished the series before I died, too! Any chance he'll kill Sansa this book? He seems to be killing off characters at a good rate, which I admire. It's definitely one of the best fantasy series I've read in years. Maybe the best if you call Otherland SF.

[Sam Cree]

I hope not, as I like Sansa.

[JenB]

Oh, I cannot stand her! She's such an annoying little twit. I consider her a traitor as well. Now Arya, there's a girl for you.

[Sam Cree]

"That was a good year, too...that's the year my Mom was born."

That was a good year, my twin brother was born then also! Your Mom must be pretty.

[ItsOurTimeNow]

Nope, sorry, I'm 26

[Sam Cree]

Arya is cool and I admire her more...but something in Sansa strikes me too.

[JenB]

Your twin brother, huh?

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

Is Pat Green country?

Uhm, well, he's Texas country, which is different than Nashville country. You can sample some of his songs right here. My favorite is "Carry On".

Do have some "Asleep At The Wheel", but I can't remember if they're considered Texas swing or something else!

Yes, they do a lot of Texas swing. Ricky Calmbach is very new, no big contract yet. Here's his website; you can hear samples of his music too. (Ain't the web wonderful?)

Which Tim McGraw song didn't you like? His CD "Everywhere" was from a few years ago, now. Have you heard any of Alan Jackson's songs? His latest CD "Drive" is really good!

I like old timey country & bluegrass best of all, although I'm more familiar with country than bluegrass...

Why, you could say I'm positively steeped in old-timey!