Three from the Train: Harry Nilsson, Foghat, Galactic Cowboys

Every morning that I decide to drag myself to the city, I have a little over an hour to listen to music on the train. I put the iPhone music player on shuffle, and off I go. Calling my collection eclectic would be an understatement. So it's often an interesting mix.
I didn't take the train this morning, but if I had, this is what I would have heard:

Harry Nilsson: "Gotta Get Up"
The version I heard this morning was from 1971's Nilsson Schmilsson. The version below is live from the BBC in 1971. What an amazing song-writer, lyricist, and vocalist. If you get a chance, see the documentary, Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him?) (2010). It will reduce you to tears.



Foghat: "Chevrolet"
From 1978's Stone Blue. Foghat is one of those bands that was a staple when I was a kid. They're still in my rotation.



Galactic Cowboys: "Someone for Everyone"
Co-founder Wally Farkas is a good friend of the guys in King's X. My love of King's X eventually led me to discover GC and I fell in love with this song from their 1990 self-titled debut, Galactic Cowboys. The Cowboys opened for King's X in May, 1992 at the Chestnut Cabaret in Philadelphia and forever solidified themselves as a favorite of mine. I mean, how can you not like a band that has Thor (Ben Huggins) as their lead singer?



Until Next Time...

Three from the Train: Wendy and Lisa, The Beatles, Ramones

Wendy and Lisa: "Crack in the Pavement"
OK, I'm gonna get grief for this. Wendy and Lisa are an example of the chicken/egg paradox. I really appreciate what Prince has accomplished as an artist. But none of his stuff (with maybe the exception of the Purple Rain soundtrack) appeals to me as much as Wendy and Lisa's 1990 album, Eroica. There are songs on this record that are devastating. And in listening to the sound of this record, it begs the question, who had the bigger influence on whom? I KNOW that it's blasphemy to suggest that Prince wasn't the bigger influence, but I'm not convinced that it couldn't have been the other way around. Either way, enjoy this track and please, check out the rest of this record.



The Beatles: "She's A Woman"
Released Thanksgiving, 1964, "She's a Woman" was the b-side of the "I Feel Fine" single. It wouldn't show up on an album until Past Masters Volume 1, released in 1988. The song did appear briefly in the movie, HELP! What stood out to me, this morning, was Paul's killer vocal on the song and his piano part in the background.



Ramones: "Commando"
First rule is: Listen to Ramones
Second rule is: Like Ramones
Third rule is: Listen to More Ramones
Fourth rule is: Repeat.
Originally from 1977's Leave Home (the version I heard this morning), Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Ramones "Commando" live...

Three from the Train: The Who, King Crimson, Bare Naked Ladies

Every morning that I decide to drag myself to the city, I have a little over an hour to listen to music on the train. I put the iPhone music player on shuffle, and off I go. Calling my collection eclectic would be an understatement. So it's often an interesting mix. I didn't take the train this morning, but if I had, this is what I would have heard:

The Who: "Join Together"
I was a late comer to The Who. I always loved certain songs ("Who Are You" and "Won't Get Fooled Again") but it wasn't until the late 90's that I started listening with any real intent. I bought The Ultimate Collection and then Who's Next. Wow. Anyhow, Keith Moon's work on this tune is fantastic.



King Crimson: "Fallen Angel"
From the album Red, this song highlights John Wetton's vocal ability. (Sorry, I originally thought this was Greg Lake- my bad.) Oh well. King Crimson.



Barenaked Ladies: "The Old Apartment"
I discovered this song thanks to Apple Computers: they included the original music video as a bonus on one of their system releases in the late 90's. What I saw was Stephen Page channeling Elvis and what I heard was magical. Unfortunately, I never followed up to learn more about them and, when I did hear other stuff, it failed to compare to that original exposure. Anyhow, I have this one BNL song on my iPhone and it found its way into the rotation this morning.

Three from the Train: Nicole Croissille, Cheap Trick, Jeff Beck

Every morning that I decide to drag myself to the city, I have a little over an hour to listen to music on the train. I put the iPhone music player on shuffle, and off I go. Calling my collection eclectic would be an understatement. So it's often an interesting mix.

Three songs that highlighted my morning train ride:

Nicole Croissille: "Aufourd'hui c'est toi" from the Un Homme et Une Femme Original Soundtrack
I owe thanks to Ben Vaughn for this one. He has a Saturday afternoon show on WXPN here in Philly called, "The Many Moods of Ben Vaughn." One particular afternoon, Ben decided to play some of his favorite film music. Thanks to the iPhone app, "Shazam," I was able to finally identify a piece of music I've loved for years. This isn't that track, but it is from that same album. Close you eyes and imagine yourself in a convertible riding along the southern French coast.

Yeah, you get it.




Cheap Trick: "Clock Strikes Ten"
When I was a kid, live albums were a big deal. In the mid-70's, Kiss Alive, Kiss Alive II, Peter Frampton Comes Alive, and Cheap Trick at Budokan were some of the biggest-selling albums of the decade. 'Budokan made Cheap Trick into household names. "Clock Strikes Ten" is one of my favorite tracks on this record (In case you're wondering, "Need Your Love" is my favorite.) The clip below is from Rockplast, 1983.




Jeff Beck: "The Final Peace"
I have a lot of Jeff Beck on my iPhone. He is, after all, one of my favorite - if not the favorite - guitarists. I love his use of vibrato, tremolo, bending, and volume to create a truly unique style. This track from There and Back is a great example of all of the above.



Until next time...

Three from the train: Cake, Killing Joke, Garbage.

Every morning that I decide to drag myself to the city, I have a little over an hour to listen to music on the train. I put the iPhone music player on shuffle, and off I go. Calling my collection eclectic would be an understatement. So it's often an interesting mix.

I've been looking for a reason to post regularly on my blog, so here goes: three songs that highlighted my morning train ride.

Cake: "The Winter"
Cake isn't for everyone. But I get it. I love the song writing, the wit, the arrangements, the instrumentation, etc. They resonate with me. This song, in particular, reminds me of the great early 70's songs written by Burt Bacharach or Harry Chapin. One of my favorites. Love the chorus and the lyric.



Killing Joke: "Change"
In the early 80's, I was talking with a fellow musician about how "tight" I thought a particular band was when he schooled me by playing this track for me. I never looked back. That first Killing Joke record - the 1980 self-titled release - had a lasting impact and has been a staple in my collection ever since. This will always be a favorite track for me. Love the guitar work in the last minute.



Garbage: "Fix Me Now"
I discovered these guys somewhere on TV when I saw the video for "Stupid" Girl, circa 1995. Always been a big fan of Butch Vig as a producer (Nirvana, SonicYouth, Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters), so no surprise that I find Garbage's production to be stellar as well. I also love lead-singer Shirley Manson's voice. This is another great track off their debut album that is a great example of their sound.



Hope you get a chance to listen and enjoy these tracks!

Man Cave Part V: Vapor Barrier and Purchases 

My son Liam helped me get the vapor barrier up. I used a 4 Mil 8' x 100' roll and made pretty quick work of it with 1/2" staples.

The Vapor Barrier in place.

My staple gun of choice is the Powershot 5700 staple and brad gun. I've had it for almost 20 years and it still rocks.

Next up, the drywall.

So, I stopped in a local furniture store and found two of these killer over-sized black leather chairs. They were on clearance and I got the pair for $150.

Over-sized leather chair.

Lighting has been tricky. I found 4 of these amazing art-deco style sconces made by Forecast Lighting. The MSRP is $126 a piece. I got all 4 on e-bay for $16 - total, S/H included.

Awesome lighting.

I also picked up an X-Box at a yard sale for $20. 

Now I need a leather sectional and a large TV.

It's all coming along.

Electric and Ductwork

It's been a week since my last post and even though I've been idle here, I haven't been idle in the man cave.

Electrical Work

To help isolate the cigar smoke smell from the rest of the house, I wanted to put up a drywall ceiling. If I hadn't said it before, I had plumbing and electrical work hanging from the joists that all had to be moved.

I had to move or remove the fluorescent lights that were hanging and move any wires that were lazily run and hung on the joists. I'd detached everything and put up the framing around it, but the time had come where I had to bite the bullet and rerun wires, etc.

I put in a 20 amp circuit for the outlets, and installed 10 outlets around the room - about every 4 feet from corners, doors, and each other. I went with 20 amp so any refrigerators or air purifiers, etc. would be accommodated.

 

Double duplexes for the A/V equipment.

I put in a 15 amp circuit for the lights and the exhaust fan.

I am using 4 sconce lights that I got on eBay for $16 (S/H included) on a dimmer. I am putting two recessed lights on a separate switch, and the fan - which is only 98 watts - on it's own switch.

I also had to rerun the basement's existing circuit to accommodate the lighting in the utility areas and an outlet for our freezer.

The fluorescent fixture moved to the area where the electrical box resides.

Duct Work

I bought a 10 inch ceiling box with a 90 degree out for the primary exhaust. I couldn't find this item at Home Depot or Lowe's, so I bought it at a place in Norristown/Plymouth Meeting called Riley Supply. I also went to them for the exhaust hood that will be on the outside of the house.

The 10" ceiling box in place. The duct is 6".

The most important part of this plan was the exhaust fan.

There was a lot of conflicting information out there about ventilation needs and how to size and select a ventilation system.

I found a formula for scaling ventilation needs that went like this:

Room length x Room width x Room height = cubic feet of the room.

In my case, that was 16' x 12' by 7' = 1344 cubic feet.

I needed to divide the cubic feet by 60 minutes. 1344/60 = 22.4 CFM. This meant, to exchange the air once in the room, per hour, I would need a 22.4 CFM fan.

I want 12 to 16 exchanges per hour in moderate to heavy smoke conditions. Granted, that won't happen often, but if I get several of my friends smoking in the room at one time, it'll be nice to have.

So, the range I would need was defined by 12 x 22.4 = 268.8 CFM. and 16 x 22.4 358.4 CFM.

I ended up buyng a Panasonic Whisperline in-line fan, model FV-30NLF1 that is rated at 340 CFM. This is way above the minimum 268.8 CFM I needed, and almost at the 358.4CFM on the high side. (The fan is spec'd at 370 CFM.)

The Panasonic FV-30NLF1340 CFM fan.

The other factor was noise. This baby would be installed right under my kitchen, so I didn't want anyone upstairs being bothered by a loud fan running. Fans are rated in sones. The average bathroom fan was rated at 2 sones. This fan was rated at 1.7 sones, whereas many utility fans or hydroponic fans were rated 6 or more sones.

I had to do a little modification to the floor joists to fit the fan in, but it was no big deal.

Next up, the vapor barrier and drywall.