Ginna Allison (Jay’s sis) long ago moved on from public radio production to web design. But she recently revisited her box of old tapes, and has been posting pieces on her Wormlips blog.

There’s some real gems in the series Skip Through the Shadows: Scenes from Childhood. And you gotta hear her sound-portrait/bio, Story of Rose Maddox.

Try this touching short film by (friend-of-HV) Lisa Miller of a garbage-picker in Phnom Penh, set to music by the Flaming Lips, “Yoshi in Cambodia:”

The Motley Fool slaps a strong SELL recommendation on the music/record industry, in “Putting Pandora Back in the Box:”

Thanks to record labels’ considerable whining, government and the music business seem to have joined forces to destroy popular services like Pandora, Last.FM, imeem, and Slacker… I think many consumers are catching on that when the industry howls about defending artists, it’s really just talking about defending the major labels’ broken business model, which has been under constant assault ever since the world went digital… As far as I’m concerned, their draconian reactions to music’s continuing evolution make them great examples of the types of companies and industries I avoid… As an investor, I do all I can to avoid companies that refuse to evolve, and thus find themselves on the wrong side of creative destruction. For the most part, I think the media industry fits that niche. Any company or industry that can perceive massive opportunity as a threat should strike investors as a long-term loser.

Hearing Voices from NPR®:
019 Life on the Mississippi— A Tour of the River Towns
Host— Barrett Golding of Hearing Voices
Airdates— 7/9/2008 - 7/16/2008

Hannibal, Missouri, birthplace of Mark Twain; a day on a tugboat; St. Louis showboats; and changing the course of mighty rivers. A downstream trip through the history and mystery of the Big Muddy, with Larry Massett and Scott Carrier.

Life on the Mississippi (53:00 mp3):

Hearing Voices from NPR®:
018 Stars and Bars— For Fourth of July
Host— Larry Massett of Hearing Voices
Airdates— 07/02/2008 - 7/9/2008

Celebrating America with Flags and Festivals, featuring: Recitations and reflections on “The Pledge” of Allegiance and “War vs. Peace.” The annual “Rainbow Family” migration into the Montana forest on July Fourth — their day of prayer for peace (photos by Chad Harder). A town that covets their title of the “Armpit of America” — welcome to Battle Mountain, Nevada. Mississippi moonshine, barbecued goat and old-time Fife & Drum at “Otha Turner’s Afrosippi Picnic.” Stories by Joe Frank, Barrett Golding, host Larry Massett, and Ben Adair.

Stars and Bars (53:00 mp3):

SF Symphony conductor Michael Tilson Thomas interviews James Brown about composition, performance, and timing:

From intro about JB’s music—
MTT: “We were all amazed by the level of energy, the attacks, the precision, the syncopation, the wonderful empty spaces.”

From interview—
MTT: “Being a conductor means you’re trying to get a lot of people to agree where Now is.”
JB: “NOW is right!”
MTT: “And boy do you do that.”

From APM’s series, The MTT FIles: “We Were Playing Boulez, But We Were Listening To James Brown.”

via The Kitchen Sisters.

BBC Report: “Thinking up beautiful music.”

Musicians may soon be able to play instruments using just the power of the mind. Researchers at Goldsmiths, University of London have developed technology to translate thoughts into musical notes.

Friend of HV, Gregg MvVicar, hosts the 1000th edition of his daily radio UnderCurrents: American Music With A Passport. This Saturday he spins the show’s top 75 tunes since UnderCurrents started flowing in 2005, selections of “Rock, Blues, Folk, Native, Country, Funk, Electronica, Reggae, World, Conscious Hip Hop, Dub and more.”