Friday, November 22, 2013

The Family Mode: Musical Bonding



Fans of the band Depeche Mode will really enjoy this but it's still a curiosity for non-fans and maybe a hater or two.  Dicken Schrader is simply a creative man -- the native Colombian is a video artist with skills that become more apparent (a parent... didn't expect that one to slip in here) as we go.  Possibly his biggest gift is being able to bring his family together with music.

In 2010, Dicken started recording music videos with his kids Milah and Korben under the name DMK covering songs by Depeche Mode.  The first one, a version of "Shake The Disease," started the ball rolling and you can see the the kids' progress.  The videos are getting... well, let's put it this way, their version of "Everything Counts" now has 2.6 million views (not counting yours of course.)  They have even moved on to performing live -- as seen in the final video posted below.  So, chronologically, enjoy the DMK!



Shake The Disease


Strangelove


Everything Counts


Black Celebration


Enjoy The Silence


Just Can't Get Enough



I hope you enjoyed this journey.  Makes you want to find a favorite band and teach the kids some songs, doesn't it?  Oh, btw, the kids have another sibling that was born this year.  So, I don't know if they will need to change the group's name by then or if they will have to start doing New Order covers.  Have a great weekend!

Monday, November 18, 2013

Strange Days Indeed: The Long Search?



As any of you may know, I'm a research nut (as well as an 80s one.)  To my left at this moment are about 40 books -- easily accessible -- that I can reference music data at a momentary mention.  I have people come to me to find things all the time and I get ticked that they don't bother to look for themselves when all it takes is a few words in a search engine.  But, there has always been something that I couldn't find online but was reticent to pursue too heavily.

I'm not going to say what it is but I mentioned it years back in one single post.  But, it's funny how you decide to try typing something into a search engine for the hundredth time or so over the last... well, there was a point when the Internet wasn't available... anyhow, suddenly things pop up.  You see a connection, then 1, 2, 3... all corroborating it.  So, take the feeling of trying to find a rare song from your youth that you only know a few words to and multiply it by a few hundred.  Strange days indeed.  It must be why I'm shaking.

Friday, November 08, 2013

A Little Downgrading In The Near Future






Was checking a couple sales specials at Sam's Club while talking with the wife and stumbled onto this.  We do have plans to move into what we hope is our final home in the next few years and this outdoor storage enclosure looked pretty interesting.  (Except the idea that I'd probably be putting it together myself and have many extra screws and washers.)  So I asked Kerry, "What do you think?"

She liked it.  I told her that it would open up the garage a bit more for car space and that it would be a lot less cluttered.  Then she hit me with it.  I don't know if she was holding it back for a minute or two but she said, "That could be your new mancave!"  Crap!  She's after my mancave, guys!  Nothing is sacred anymore.