The Second Floor Librarians » Music

The Library welcomes musician and novelist Willy Vlautin

Alex — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:30:46 +0000

On Thursday, February 16, at 6:30 pm in the Main Meeting Room, Willy Vlautin will present a program that combines music and literature. Vlautin will read from his Oregon Book Award-winning novel Lean on Pete as well as play songs which inspired the book.

Lean on Pete is an unsentimental story about a 15-year-old boy who dreams of a normal home and the chance to play high-school football. Newly arrived in Portland with a mostly absent father, Charley hopes for the best and gets the worst. Suddenly homeless, he hangs out on the backstretch at Portland Meadows racetrack and finds a friend—an aging Thoroughbred named Lean on Pete (with thanks to Booklist).

Not only a writer, Vlautin is also the lead singer and songwriter for the Portland-based alternative country band Richmond Fontaine, which cites Husker Du, Willie Nelson, X, The Blasters, and The Replacements as musical influences. Vlautin’s story-based songs have often drawn comparison to the short stories of Raymond Carver, so it is natural that he is also a published author of three novels, of which Lean on Pete is his most recent. The novel won two Oregon book awards last year: the Ken Kesey award for fiction and the Readers’ Choice Award. His first novel, The Motel Life, is currently in production to become a major motion picture starring Emile Hirsch, Stephen Dorff, Dakota Fanning and Kris Kristoffersen.

The Library has copies of Vlautin’s novels The Motel Life, Northline, and Lean on Pete, as well as Richmond Fontaine’s new song-novel CD, The High Country.

This event, which is sponsored by the Friends of the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, is free and open to the public. We’re excited to have Willy Vlautin come to Corvallis and hope to see you on the 16th at 6:30!

Posted by Alex, a second floor librarian

Image credit

The power of music

Alex — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 18:10:01 +0000

Most of us recognize the influence music has on our mood. Why else do we listen to music at the gym, if not to harness its potency to make us exercise harder while enjoying it more?

There is a new book about the impact music has on our brains that goes beyond its role in lulling babies to sleep or pumping us up for a workout. Elena Mannes’s new book The power of music: pioneering discoveries in the new science of sound looks at how music might be effective in treating disease. The library has two copies of the book. For more about the book, take a look at NPR’s story on it.

We have other fascinating books and DVDs that examine the psychological aspect of music. Try one of these:

	Music, the brain, and ecstasy: how music captures out imagination. By Robert Jourdain
	How music works. The science and psychology of beautiful sounds, from Beethover to the Beatles and beyond. By John Powell

	The music instinct (DVD): science and song. written and directed by Elena Mannes
	Musicophilia: tales of music and the brain. By Oliver Sacks

Posted by Alex, a second floor librarian

Dive into it!

Lisa — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 15:00:11 +0000

You may have noticed the red bar that runs across our homepage. There is a ton of amazing information that hides just below the surface of the red bar. And not in a creepy way, but in an amazing, “wow I didn’t know that was there!” way. A lot of people use the red bar to access their account, but there is so much more beyond that.

Consider for a moment the wealth of info on the Books page (www.thebestlibrary.net/books). Right at the top of the page, by clicking on the words below the book image, you can explore our fiction collection, get suggested reads for nonfiction, and even fill in a form to have a second floor librarian choose a reading list just for you! Scroll down a bit and you’ll see lists of staff picks for the month and new books in fiction and nonfiction. You can also browse lists of award winners.

How about Movies/DVDs next?

There you can also browse lists of staff picks, and see titles in the genre of the month. What I think is really cool is that you can browse our DVD collection by genre or director, just using the links on the page.

You can do something similar on the Music page. Want to see which 1960s soul albums we have? How about rock from the 1970s? Or whatever pop music is hot these days? It’s really easy, just use the links to browse our catalog with just one click.

I hope this post has encouraged you to explore the depths of amazing content hiding below the red bar on our homepage. Dive in! I think you’ll like what you see.

As always, if you get stuck or have any questions, let us know and we’ll be happy to help.

Posted by Lisa, a second floor librarian

Image credits:

(top) Geir I testing the flex on the diving board, by hufse on Flickr

(bottom) Cottage Dock and Water, by Melina. on Flickr

it’s a small world after all (or at least a global village)

Christopher — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 22:44:18 +0000

The Small World Band from Wootang01 on flickr

“So is music an asylum. It takes us out of the actual and whispers to us dim secrets that startle our wonder as to who we are, and for what, whence, and whereto.”

Think back to a great summer of traveling and adventure. That is what I like to do, especially when I don’t have an exciting summer vacation planned!

If you are looking for something to kindle your sense of travel adventure, why not take a listen to some of the great music the library offers? Not only do we have a great selection of Music CDs but we also have subscriptions to some world music databases.

Contemporary World Music has nearly 30,000 tracks to explore.
Smithsonian Global Sound World has about 19,000 tracks.
Try out all of our music databases and find something you enjoy!

Posted by Christopher, a Second Floor Librarian

American Song Database

Sharon — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 18:53:51 +0000

You now have access to more streaming music!American Song is a history database that allows people to hear and feel the music from America’s past. The database includes songs by and about American Indians, miners, immigrants, slaves, children, pioneers, and cowboys. Included in the database are the songs of Civil Rights, political campaigns, Prohibition, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, anti-war protests, and more.

Content from African American Music, another of our subscription databases is now a part of American Song, including 17,000 tracks from the original interface, plus 18,000 newly released tracks.

Get access to these databases as well as classical and world music resources on our music page.

Posted by Sharon, a Second Floor Librarian

Holiday classics online

Christopher — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:48:16 +0000

marshmeowlows by the1pony on flickr

For those contemplating a warm fire, tree trimming and hot cocoa…
Here is a list of online holiday classics in multiple formats. Point, click and enjoy!

Ebooks

Audiobooks

Music

Radio Shows

…Late Breaking News: the library will soon be lending ebooks! Check our Ebooks LibGuide for more details!

Reunion Rock!

Christopher — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:11:36 +0000

Black Francis from Mc-Q on flickr

I was lucky enough to see the Pixies at the Hult Center in Eugene last night.

It was a great show, the band performing the entire Doolittle album and B-sides from Doolittle singles. I guess I’m a big fan, having first seen them over 20 years ago.

The Pixies are considered one of the most influential groups of the 1980s. Two of the Pixies’ albums, Surfer Rosa and Doolittle are on the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Kurt Cobain of Nirvana famously quipped to Rolling Stone regarding Smells Like Teen Spirit, “I was trying to write the ultimate pop song. I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies. I have to admit it“. Cobain also noted his affection for the Pixies’ loud-quiet-loud song style.

So by means of my humble recommendation, please check out the Pixies CDs we have at the library. While you’re at it, check out the rest of our Rock CDs too!

Posted by Christopher ”un chien andalou” a second floor librarian

The Beatles are coming to America, Again!

Christopher — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 23:31:01 +0000

: The Beatles by Dunechaser on flickr

With all the news about the remastered CDs and Rock Band, why not read-up on the Fab-four!

My favorite Beatles books in our collection are by author Bruce Spizer:

The Beatles are coming! : the birth of Beatlemania in America
781.66092 SPIZER

The Beatles on Apple Records
781.66092 SPIZER

The Beatles’ story on Capitol Records
781.66092 SPIZER V.01
781.66092 SPIZER V.02

The Beatles swan song : “She loves you” & other records
781.66092 SPIZER

These books offer a comprehensive look at American Beatlemania and systematic information about the original American releases and those that came out on Apple records. Rest assured, Beatles albums are well represented in our collection. The remasters will be available soon too!

Christopher “I’ve got blisters on my fingers!” a Second Floor Librarian

Remembering Woodstock

Lisa — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:00:24 +0000

This year is the 40th anniversary of Woodstock – it ran from August 15th to 18th in 1969. But, if you want to reminisce, or want to learn more about the culture in the late 1960s, here are some books to help get you there.

This post was inspired by a little blurb I saw on the NPR Books page, called 1969: Racy Reads from a Landmark Year. Check out the article – it’s short and sweet. Here are some of the books published in 1969 that were featured:

This year saw the publication of all sorts of Woodstock anniversary books, including these four:

Some more non-fiction books about the 1960s:

And of course, we can’t forget music. You can browse our entire collection of CDs by genre and time period on our Music page.

Posted by Lisa, a second floor librarian

Name that tune…

Christopher — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:54:39 +0000

How about the other way around, name that song by lyric!

LyricRat allows you to type in lyrics and it will tell you what songs they come from. I love this! What a dream this would have been when deciding on songs for a mixtape!

A similar trick is to use the library catalog to find song titles on our CDs. In the catalog Keyword Search select “Music”, search in “Notes” and then type in a song title or part of one. I tried the word “Folsom”. I could easily identify a bunch of CDs with the song “Folsom Prison blues” on them.

Posted by Christopher, a second floor librarian