Music
« Older Entries | Newer Entries »Sometimes You Just Have To (inter) Face The Music
[ 2 Comments ]Posted on November 1, 2008 by admin in Music, Technology
Saturday, November 1st, 2008Two Tune Tables and No Microphone
Years ago I had a dream in which I was playing an amazing instrument that responded to my hand gestures and thoughts, creating sublime, transcendent music that moved the soul. Then I woke up. The best that I had at my disposal at the time was still my electric guitar, because a velocity sensitive keyboard, although it’s pretty cool, had been around for awhile. The evolution of the musical instrument interface has amazing possibilities these days, as evident in the reactable project created by students at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona. As is so often the case though, the same technology seems to be more immediately applicable to practical needs, like selling cocktails. The clip at left is the brick, a “Tangible & Multi Touch Sonification Instrument”. Which is one of the more creative and purposeful interfaces I’ve seen. Many of these concepts are clever, but end up being rather non-musical or like the reacTogon, just a a clever redesign of existing ideas. Coming at things from the other direction, Japanese artist Daito Manabe lets the music play him (YouTube clip). If you watch that video, you’ll get a feel for what it means to “surrender to your art”. That can’t feel good. Daito Manabe’s YouTube page is here; he also seems to do interesting public performance art projects like whitebase + Daito Manabe and disturbing video experiments like Milk. Yucky.
Elbow Room Only
[ 2 Comments ]Posted on October 31, 2008 by admin in Music
Friday, October 31st, 2008You’ll need some sharp elbows to queue up in my music collection…
If you care about me, stop introducing me to music I like. I’m rapidly running out of time and hard drive space. The other day, a friend sent me a link to some British band’s web site, asking me what I thought. I think my remark at the time was something like “it’s a good thing their web site’s so pretty, ’cause they’re a fugly bunch of fellows”. After giving their music obsessively repeated listens, I now officially retract anything unkind I’ve ever said about Elbow. Their newest release, The Seldom Seen Kid
Peter Fox & Seeed Prove German Reggae’s Not An Oxymoron
[ 4 Comments ]Posted on October 24, 2008 by admin in Music
Friday, October 24th, 2008Two words you don’t often see next to each other: “German” and “Reggae”
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The lyrics are in German.
Found a translation here. |
If you’re in a funk today, check out the Peter Fox clip at left. If you’re not feeling a bit chippier by the end of the tune, call your doctor for an emergency dose of Zoloft. Your case may be terminal. I had heard of Seeed
Dweezil Zappa’s Tour de Frank
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on October 20, 2008 by admin in Music
Monday, October 20th, 2008No poodles were harmed in the course of the performance
If you were to grow up with the name Dweezil, and had a brother named Ahmet Emuukha Rodan, and sisters named Moon Unit and Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen, most would find it perfectly acceptable if you turned out to be a serial killer or just plain maladjusted. Frankly (heh, I slipped in a Frank) I don’t know how well adjusted Dweezil Zappa is, but he is certainly one of the most remarkable guitarists and bandleaders I’ve had the pleasure of seeing in concert. Thanks to a client/friend of mine (Paul Hickman; check out the cool art he does with his son here) I got to see Zappa Plays Zappa tonight. If you’re able to catch one of their remaining shows, be prepared for a rather relentless presentation of classic Zappa, immaculately performed. Actually it was a bit too relentless for me; at two hours they were still playing with no signs of fatigue, and the show apparently clocks in at around 2:45. That didn’t seem to bother the true Zappa devotees a bit, however. If you’re more of a fan, their non-stop Tour de Frank will probably be a joyous experience.
Lullatone – Music To Hide Under Your Bed By
[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 8, 2008 by admin in Music
Wednesday, October 8th, 2008It toe tyoot it make u fee-yu wike u too yee-wuhs ode
I haven’t experienced such a profound feeling of Squee since my friend Terry turned me onto Pucca a few years ago. You know those days when the most inspired thing you can think of doing is climbing under your bed and hiding with the dust bunnies, who are probably feeling about as much like facing life as you are? Well, now you can have a soundtrack. Lullatone is both a band and a married couple from Nagoya, Japan. They call the style of their music “Pajama Pop”. I’ll accept that; the childish, music-boxy peacefulness of it almost couldn’t be called anything else. The hand-crafted stop-motion clip at left is a promotional video for their CD Little Songs About Raindrops