EARFUL

JazzTube

2007-02-19T21:30:00.000-05:00

Just got a link to this site today from a friend of mine. It is exactly what the name implies - a jazz specific site powered by YouTube. Lots of performances by a whole slew of jazz greats (I was disappointed to see that all of the Jaco footage was unavailable - what a tease!). Now you don't have to search and search on YouTube for footage of the greats - they're all right here!

Here's a rare gem I found there today.

Sound Waves Make Salt Form Pattern

2007-02-05T22:29:00.000-05:00

Wow! I have never seen anything like this. I wanna try it.

The Amen Break - Most Significant Drum Sample Ever.

2007-02-05T20:44:00.000-05:00

We've all heard it a thousand times whether you know where it came from or not. I only realized where it came from a few months ago and was amazed because I instantly realized just how much this sample has been used. It is thee hip-hop/jungle groove - literally its epitome.

The creator of this video plays the original cut and goes on to site example after example of its use. He also goes talks about the fact that the original artists (The Winstons), or whatever label owns the rights, have never sued for copyright infringement as well as creative commons licensing and how it doesn't necessarily negate a market for a product.

It's a long video and the imagery is very static but the information is well worth it.

Artists Aren't Starving Because of Piracy

2007-02-04T10:32:00.000-05:00

This is a great article debunking the common idea that piracy is the main reason for artists losing money. It is in fact the RIAA's unfair business practices that have taken most of their money. In this day and age it's just ludicrous to be a part of those industry practices. Artists involved with them should spend their time getting free of those practices and not turning on people who download/share their music.

Buy directly from the artist or through a specific channel that they point you to.

Here are the rest of my thoughts from the comment I posted to the article:

Buy music directly from the artists. If you buy it somewhere else, assume the artist is ok with selling it there, they have agreed to do so. If you signed a contract with a label that you're unhappy with that sucks but wise up! Business is about making money and big business is about making big money. If you think the entertainment (or any other business) is about anything else you have been misled.

The RIAA and the rest of the entertainment industry/media have also created all this celebrityism that is rampant today. Everyone wants to be a star. Everyone thinks they have an equal chance to make lots of money from their craft. If you love doing it do it. If you can make a living from it make it.

The real value in anything great is the sharing with others. Make a good living but don't lose site of the point which is the process of getting it out of you and/or sharing it with others. The money is just to enable you to spend most of your time doing your thing.

Do good work. Share a little for free. Offer the rest for a reasonable price. If people like it they will buy it. Otherwise find some other way of making a living. The only reason business should mix with art is for the sake of making a living. Not getting rich or becoming famous - both of which make life worse, not better.

Quit whining and do something worthwhile!

Enough said.

Sandbox: The Music of Mark Sandman

2007-02-03T14:24:00.000-05:00

I just found about this release today and I'm so happy to have it. I listened to it this morning and while I was listening I felt like I was getting a much broader sense of Mark Sandman's musical personality. There are some great quirky and unusual tracks here much like 1997's B-sides and Otherwise but it also seems to include a variety of random recordings from different times in Sandman's career.

This is definitely not for the casual fan but very worthwhile for any hardcore Morphine fan. I just really appreciate having new songs to hear Mark Sandman sing. I miss his voice! Morphine will remain one of my all-time favorite bands.

Kudos to Dana Colley and Billy Conway for getting this collection out.

The Best James Brown clip I have seen

2007-02-02T19:20:00.000-05:00

I know we've all seen a lot of James Brown lately and this post is a bit late on that tip but this really is the best James Brown clip I have seen yet. Seems like it's when Popcorn was still a fresh hit.

Enjoy!

Hum a tune and Midomi tells you what it's called.

2007-02-01T12:29:00.000-05:00

Neat!

Nose Trumpet Symphony

2007-02-01T00:36:00.000-05:00

Ok, it's not exactly a symphony but it's a beautiful example of multi-tracking with video. The guy's pretty funny too.

The Worst TV Theme Show Ever

2007-01-31T21:08:00.000-05:00

I'm not a trekkie. But I have enjoyed just about every Star Trek show that's been produced - including Enterprise. It takes place earlier in the Star Trek timeline than the original series did, when humans had just reached the point of space travel outside their own solar system. It follows the explorations of the first Enterprise spaceship.

It's a good show and it plays off of the development of the prime directive, which is one of the central themes in all versions of the show. The prime directive is the universal law that no species should interfere with the natural evolution of another species - no matter what the situation may be.

Despite the show itself being good, the theme song is atrocious. It is one of the most generic, cliched (I feel cliched even saying that something is cliched) theme songs that I have ever heard. In fact it's one of the worst songs I've ever heard - period.

The lyrics get across the most general, watered-down idea of the show but the music is so culturally incestuous that it feels completely foreign to what the show is about. Think of the cheesiest TV anthem you can and then double it. That's what the theme to Enterprise sounds like.

It's so bad that I actually payed attention to who wrote and sang it so I could do a little research.

Diane Warren wrote the song, which is entitled Where My Heart Will Take Me. I went to her sight and found out that she's had many top ten hits from a variety of very popular artists........ that all sound awful! She's responsible for some of the most god awful music to hit the airways in recent years. I was gonna mention a few but I just can't bring myself to open up a pathway between this blog and that heinous music.

The song is performed by Russell Watson. He sounds like your average 3rd generation Brian Adams knockoff in the Enterprise theme song but when I went to his site all I heard were classic international favorites done in the most cheesy (profitable) fashion.

Now the guys voice isn't bad but this is a classic case of the "singer" sydrome that I first encountered at Berklee.

Let me start by saying that I'm not talking about all singers - I'm talking about people with a good voice who can replicate a variety of songs and genres but don't have a creative cell in there body. If you are making someone happy with that stuff than you're at least contributing something to humanity in general, but musically speaking it's the equivalent of a fast food hamburger. Yeah you made a hamburger in a pretty package but it's the palest imitation of the real thing a person could ever encounter.

Who gave the OK for this theme song? I wish I was at that meeting so I could have steered those lost souls toward the realm of sanity. Not only is it a ghost of anything remotely musically pertinent, it doesn't even match the tone of the show. Couldn't you have just done another regal orchestral theme like all the others? At least that wouldn't detract from the quality of the actual show.

I don't make it a point to yuck-yuck on someone else's yum-yum but this track has got to be the worst track I have ever heard.

Jeeeeeeez!

(whew)

I feel better now.

Rediscovery of a Musician

2007-01-31T18:00:00.000-05:00

Jimbo Mathus is the most recent addition to my list of all-time favorite musicians. You may recognize his name or voice from his former band Squirrel Nut Zippers where he and his fellow musicians tore it up with old school swing and vaudeville music. I've been a fan of the zippers since I first heard "Put A Lid On It" on the radio in 1995.

I have most of their records and saw them play an incredible show at the Theatre of Living Arts in Philly in 2000 where they opened up by playing "Ghost of Stephen Foster" lit only by their old school cartoon video projected behind them. Amazing show. Even so, I was never that aware of any of the players individually - until the spring of 2005 when I stumbled upon a Jimbo Mathus show at a little restaurant/bar venue in Chestertown, MD.

We had gone to Chestertown with our neighbors who invited us to a show there. We arrive and decide to get dinner first at Andy's while we're eating a 4 piece blues band is setting up. As we finish eating they start. I was expecting your average bar blues band but these guys were kicking out sweet, raw, groovy blues from the south. Tight grooves like a funk band and wild, gritty guitar all over the place.

The more I listened, the more the singer's voice seemed familiar and all I could think of was Squirrel Nut Zippers but the singing style was different. More loose and raw - not the clean, annunciating singer from the zippers. Well after 3 songs we had to get to the show we came down for.

We get there and its a Grateful Dead cover band - and not a good one. So we sit there for a couple songs and have a beer but all my wife and I can think is man, we gotta go see the rest of the blues bands set but we didn't want to ditch our neighbors when they were the ones that invited us down there. Thankfully Larry (neighbor) comes over and says "Guys, this is not the show we thought we were coming to see - this band stinks. Let's go back and check out the blues band."

We go back to Andy's and catch the end of the blues band's first set which was equally killer. During the set break the singer/lead guitarist is chatting at the merch table near us so I went up and told him we loved the set and bought a disc and a shirt. When I got a look at him up close I knew it was the singer from the Squirrel Nut Zippers but asked just to be sure and... you got it.

Anyway, the record I bought, "Knockdown South", became a quick favorite. Moody electric southern blues is the best way I can describe it. His new one "Ol' School Hot Wings" is my favorite though. Classic old blues, country & country/blues songs done with traditional acoustic instrumentation - a real treat. With this record I realized that Jimbo Mathus is a true master bluesman of the most genuine kind. And the folks playing with him on the records are not to be skipped over either - very pure players (including a couple from the North Mississippi All-Stars).

Check out the good word about Jimbo Mathus (aka James Mathus, Jas. Mathus) at jimbomathus.net. You'll find out that Jimbo was born in the Delta with some very close ties to the origins of the blues.

"Thank ya people!"

Greetings

2007-01-31T17:53:00.000-05:00

I've known about blogs for quite some time now but just never felt I had a reason to add to the enormous amount of information on the web. But after several years of using the web everyday I've realized that it's just that old 80/20 rule again when it comes to quality.

I've been amused, entertained, intrigued, amazed and overwhelmed by the internet over the past 8 years - and I've encountered a lot of dookie. That being said I realized that I've got as much to say about as many things as anyone else. So brace yourself or an earful!