Hey Indabans, let me know what you think of this new feature I'd like to start running on the site.  The idea is to find two songs that sound, for all intents and purposes, the same.  For our venture into the world of iffy copyright practices, let's have a look at two of the most famous early rock n' roll acts: The Beach Boys and Chuck Berry. 

First up is Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen," which hit the airwaves in 1958.

Now, let's have a listen to the Beach Boys' "Surfin' USA." 

Pretty much the same song, right?  How funny that two classic tunes got by using the same chords and melodies and nobody noticed!  Well, that's not entirely true: the Beach Boys' gave Berry a songwriting credit on "Surfin' USA." 

If you know of any funny sound-a-likes, let me know at Streeter@IndabaMusic.com.

I hate to post personal requests here, but I figure this is the place to ask for this one.  After spending an hour and a half in the scorching Manhattan sun I managed to secure a new iPhone.  I know, pretty rad.  Now, I've spent most of the last two days playing with the fancy phone and downloading a slew of stupid apps - namely, one where you try to land a helicopter without blowing it up.  Anyway, I'm looking to find some good music apps I can install and play with.  I've heard good things about the Pandora app, but I want something more.  I want to play with music - I want something that will take the songs on the phone and show me different ways to look at them.  in short, I want to use the music aspects of my new toy to its fullest ability. 

So, does anyone have a suggestion?  Anyone?  Either leave it in the comments or email me at Streeter@IndabaMusic.com.  Thanks guys, and I promise, no more personal requests on the Indablog (until I need musical advice again, that is). 

Dear DJ's,

I remember the first time I experienced what I'll refer to as the Curse of Stairway.  It was homecoming my freshman year of high school.  I had managed to make my way out on the dance floor for slow songs only, as was my strategy to avoid looking like a turd (I was not one for 'fast dancing,' then and still am not).  Anyway, I was out on the floor with my girlfriend when Led Zepplin's "Stairway to Heaven" came on over the PA.  Now I had hear this song hundreds of times but somehow I didn't realize what was to come as the song progressed.  The whole gym slipped into a rhythmic slow dance as the opening few verses rang out.  But then a feeling washed over me, a feeling of pure panic, a feeling - a knowing, really - that my fast dancing skills were about to be tested.  The song, as everyone - everyone - knows, speeds up, leaving the dancer with no choice but to...rock?  Some continue to slow dance, some attempt to 'fast dance' to the song but most just wander off the dance floor.  And that is what I did. 

This problem has been ruining romantic dances for a quarter century and doesn't show any signs of slowing down.  So it is here, on a site frequented by musicians and DJs, that I plead for you to stop playing "Stairway to Heaven" at dances.  Thank you. 

Let's do an experiment, shall we?  Let's all post our five 'most listened to' songs on iTunes in the comments here WITH the play count.  I'll go first. 

5. "Rebellion (Lies)" The Arcade Fire - 204 Plays

4. "When You Were Young" The Killers - 239 Plays

3. "Rocks Off" The Rolling Stones - 278 Plays

2. "You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes" Johnny Boy - 353 Plays

And, embarrassingly, the top spot goes to...

1. "Welcome To The Black Parade" My Chemical Romance - a shameful, yet impressive, 426 Plays.

Now you go...

The Times UK has an interesting story about the re-emergence of the concept album.  Only a short while ago albums were declared dead and singles were slated to replace them.  However, the death of the CD has brought an unexpected return to form for a lot of bands who, I believe anyway, see an album-as-a-whole as the only way to get all their music out there.  Most successfully and recently, Green Day showed us that a concept album of sorts, American Idiot , can also be a huge chart topper.  Now, says the The Times, more bands are beginning to experiment with the idea.  Where once the land was rife with concept albums from The Wall to Tommy , we haven't seen that kind of attention to the over all product in a long while.  I for one am happy it's back. 

Have you ever heard a song on TV or in a movie and thought, "Hmmm, I'd sure like to buy that."  I do all the time, only the majority of the time I can't find the name of the tune or even an artist.  I rely on hastily thrown together and rarely updates fan sites for such things and, usually, they're missing some sort of crucial bit of information which prevents me from finding the song.  Except today, that is. 

I first heard this song in an episode of The OC.  I checked every fansite I could find and, even though most of them were great, none seemed to be able to name this song.  It also wasn't on any of the OC Mixes the show would put out every season.  I was heartbroken.  The tune was haunting; a mix of folky guitar with melodc, layered vocals.  I had to have it. 

Flash forward two years to this morning.  I was laying in bed, idly enjoying some Friday Night Lights I had downloaded a few weeks ago.  BAM, the songs pops up again.  This time the fansites were more generous and identified the song as "Eyes" by Rouge Wave (it's great, by the way.  You should all listen to it). 

Anyway, this is a rather long way of suggesting that IMDB or some similar site cataloging movies and TV add a song section to clear up this problem for me and anyone else who likes music.  The soundtracks for these shows are planned out long in advance and there's no reason they couldn't have accurate, up-to-date info.  So, come on, IMDB, help me out? 

New York Magazine - not to be confused with the more literary New Yorker magazine - has a great article on the remnants of the punk scene on New York's St. Marks Place (a street in the East Village area of New York City, for you out-of-towners).  The article follows a few punk kids around for a few days and offers a fascinating look at a culture that had already died and has only been resurrected by those searching for the dead one. 

We're first taught about the various kinds of punks you'll find hanging out on St. Marks at any point during the summer: gutter punks, MySpace punks, hippy punks, etc.  All are essentially homeless (well, all the real ones, anyway), spending their nights squatting and their days drinking and doing drugs.  At one point in the story, one punk is arrested for smoking weed and the big concern among his friends after he's hauled away to jail is the fact that he was the only one who knew where the punk show was that night.  As the article points out, all these wayward kids descend on St. Marks looking for the famous filth and squalor that made the street famous among punks in the 80's.  Of course, now there's a Chipotle on St. Marks and that scene is as dead as Sid and Nancy.  However, the sheer number of punks coming to the street looking for that scene have created it all over again. 

Of course, underneath the clothes, tats and binging, is the music.  The punks interviewed in the article all claim a love of the music, but it seems secondary to their enjoyment of drugs and alcohol.  Perhaps the author of the article chose not to focus on the music or perhaps it isn't really that important to them, and the idea of the scene is a larger concern.  Who knows?  Then again, punk was never really about the music.  Sid Vicious couldn't even play bass, after all. 

Anyway, go read about one of the strangest scenes in the country: Punks Like Them. 

In what is sure to be old news to any hip music consumer, Girl Talk - the handle of DJ Gregg Gillis - has released his latest mash-up masterpiece.  Some fans are calling it a quick fix to appease his growing and rabid fanbase, but from a pure listening standpoint, this is one solid record.  Listening to the record in order is like taking an 80-minute musical journey through all the songs you forgot you liked.  It's far beyond your average mashup, in that each song sampled seems to be better than the original track and in that each layer adds something new to the mix.  As with all great albums, you feel as though you're being told a story.  What that story is, I haven't the faintest, but the album moves up and down in intensity, creating a feeling of forward movement and no, I'm not stoned right now.  Questionable as it may be - Gillis doesn't pay licensing fees for his samples - it's worth a listen if just to see what one creative musical mind can do with other people's songs. 

Download "Feed the Animals" by Girl Talk

Ready for this?  10 Million people have watched this video...

We live in an age when a cat idly tapping keys is more popular than most TV shows.  We live in an age where we can watch someone else's cat idly tapping on keys whenever we want.  We live in an when anyone with an idea, a video camera, a recording device and a modem can become hugely famous overnight.  In other words, we live in an amazing age and I, for one, love it.  Though it's stupid and took no talent, the video above has been watched 10 million times.  Imagine what all of you - people with talent - can do.  _

This moment of idealism brought to you by the good mood I'm currently in._SPLIT__

Upon entering my apartment, my new roommate spotted my guitars. He asked if I play. "A little bit," I said. "Nothing serious. Like chords and a few scales, no real solo potential I'm afraid."

"What's your song?" he asked.

"My song?" I said. I didn't quite get what he was talking about.

"Yeah, your song. Everyone who only plays a little bit of guitar has a song they play when they pick one up. It's to make it look like you're better than you are. Mine is 'Sweet Home Alabama.'"

That's when i realized that he was right, we crap guitar players do all have songs we play to impress people. It's normally a song with a mix of easy picking and open chords. It's not very hard but it's always recognizable and always sing-along-able. My song is "Comfortably Numb."

So, what's yours, crap guitar players of Indaba? Confess in the comments.