Burl Veneer’s Music Blog

Merry Christmas!

nobody@vox.com(Burl Veneer) — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 21:28:43 -0800

Merry Christmas from me, Nigel, David, and Derek!

20 Spinal Tap - Christmas with the Devil

Spinal Tap

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A Very Ping Pong Christmas

nobody@vox.com(Burl Veneer) — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 20:53:08 -0800

I bought Shawn Lee's new Christmas album (subtitled "Funky Treats from Santa's Bag) under his Ping Pong Orchestra moniker, and as expected it is one groovy treat. Here's his version of "Do You Hear What I Hear," a la Deodato:

04 - Do You Hear What I Hear

Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra

And here's a Deodato lagniappe:

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Walkin' in an Essex Wonderland

nobody@vox.com(Burl Veneer) — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 20:43:57 -0800

Speaking of Baltimore accents (as I was in my last post), the best exaggerated Baltimore accent ever recorded is in 98 Rock's Twisted Tune, "Walkin' in an Essex Wonderland." (Though Mrs. Veneer claims she's heard more extreme Baltimore accents in real life.) Two hallmarks of the Baltimore accent are the i's and o's: pronounce a long "i" as "ah" and a long "o" as "ayo" and you're halfway there. Sprinkle your sentences with "hun" and you're even closer. Thus you get "bingayo" and "Arn Maiden":

Essex_wonderland

98 Rock Twisted Tunes

Essex sits on the southeast side of Baltimore, its landscape dominated by the twin golden domes of the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant. While Essex is singled out in the song, it could also apply to several other blue-collar, predominantly white neighborhoods of long standing in and around Baltimore. Dundalk, Highlandtown (that's "Hollandtown" to natives), Hampden, and Glen Burnie come to mind. If you happen to live in one of those places and you're reading this, I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing with you, at your neighbors.

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