The Bunge

I was walking to the nearby coffee shop when I heard a strange yet familiar sound coming from the third floor church window along the way. A few years ago I took a world music class that had a section on the old timey tradition of Shape Note singing and I had a feeling that what they were singing. I went up stairs and this video is what I found. Here’s a five minute taste of Shape Note singing with an explanation of how it works and its history.

Click To Play

Shape Note recently gained some popularity after the movie Cold Mountain had a scene were a congregation was singing out the songs of the “Sacred Harp.” My world music teacher and her husband were the muscial directors in the movie and even had some of their songs featured on the Cold Mountain Soundtrack along side Jack White (of the White Stripes), Riley Baugus and Tim O’Brien. The movie’s soundtrack was nominated for 2 Golden Globes, 3 Oscars, and 3 Grammies.

This street interview discusses panhandling and street entertainment and legality behind it. Plus, there’s some singing for your enjoyment. I went out with a camera to do consumer insight interviews for an intern project, but took a tangent talking with Eric about singing in the street.

Here’s a beautiful video of Bon Iver playing in an apartment in Paris. There’s one HD camera and I love the uncut intimacy it captures. I’ve been listening to Emma, Forever Ago, his most recent release nonstop. The album was recorded in a cabin in Eau Claire, WI during the “spring thaw” hence the name Bon (H)iver meaning good winter in french. It has a recording style and sound unlike anything I’ve heard before. Check it.

Radiohead held a remix competition on their website in the same open mindset as their recent album release for In Rainbows. This late entry takes the remix in a different but fitting direction. Wait through the first part (or fast forward to about 1:30) it gets better.