Microblogging Germ
Posted: September 30, 2009 Filed under: Recording, Technology | Tags: iPhone, MacRumors, musical microblogging, Sonoma Wire Works Leave a comment »This is about all I’ve got this evening:
While recording those 46 seconds on Voice Memos a moment ago, it occurred to me that what I’d really like is an iPhone app that allows multi-track recording. Via this thread on MacRumors, I found this app. Might be worth a look.
Gungfly Seriously Hooking
Posted: September 29, 2009 Filed under: Artists, Listening | Tags: Beardfish, Gungfly, mpomy, Rikard Sjöblom Leave a comment »I checked out MPomy’s 43-minute mix yesterday. One of the tracks on there was “On and On,” by Gungfly (also known as Beardfish’s Rikard Sjöblom). After hearing the tune, I looked up the record on iTunes and downloaded. Home run. As MPomy put it, “That guy’s in anutha zone!”
Here’s “She is Gone Again,” a video featured on the Gungfly MySpace page.
Stub Memories: Jerry Garcia Band, 11/19/1991
Posted: September 28, 2009 Filed under: Concerts | Tags: 11/19/1991, cults, Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, Providence, shows you saw in college, stub memories 3 Comments »
I have one distinct memory of this show, which took place in the fall semester of my sophomore year. On the way into the arena, I looked up, and there, selling merchandise, were two people I knew from growing up. One was a really good friend of one of my siblings. She had started touring with the Dead in high school or college and got completely sucked into this strange, cult-like group. If I’m not mistaken, this group followed the band around – and Jerry’s solo projects too, I guess – and supported themselves selling Guatemalan-type clothing (“I mean, is that a Mexican poncho, or is that a Sears poncho? Hmmm. No foolin’.”)
Then, and I don’t know what the story is here, her younger sister got sucked into the cult as well. Both of them were outside the gig, with their wares spread out on the ground. We exchanged a bit of small talk.
I haven’t seen either of them since, but I’m pretty sure they both extricated themselves from the cult. Again, not entirely sure of my facts, but I think there was some sort of breakdown where the cult’s leader was exposed as a total fraud or bamboozler or whatever. I suppose that’s how these situations often end.
Anyway, as for the music of the show, I remember just about nothing. Thanks to The Jerry Site, however, we’ve got a set list – and video!
- Set 1 -
How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)
He Ain’t Give You None
That’s What Love Will Make You Do
And It Stoned Me
Dear Prudence
Run For The Roses
Senor (Tales Of Yankee Power)
Deal
- Set 2 -
Lay Down Sally
Shining Star
Waiting For A Miracle
Ain’t No Bread In The Breadbox
Tore Up Over You
Don’t Let Go
That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day)
Midnight Moonlight
Bird Song
Posted: September 27, 2009 Filed under: Videos | Tags: Balloon Juice, Bird Song, Grateful Dead 1 Comment »Via Balloon Juice (which doesn’t seem to be working at the moment), a nice find:
Three Sneeze Jam
Posted: September 26, 2009 Filed under: Listening, Recording, Uncategorized | Tags: Lawn Boy, musical microblogging, phish, raincoats, sneezing, Washington Leave a comment »- A really, really nice raincoat. This immediately came in handy, as the weather in Washington got very soggy this afternoon.
I also recorded (on the iPhone) some microblogging rudiments. There was some guest sneezing on the track.
Party Sounds with Grateful Dead
Posted: September 25, 2009 Filed under: Listening | Tags: Grateful Dead, iPhone, party sounds, Voice Memos 2 Comments »Voice Memos is rapidly becoming my favorite iPhone app.
Tonight, I used it to capture a wonderful, soothing sound: a party with the Grateful Dead on in the background.
Transit Sounds
Posted: September 24, 2009 Filed under: Listening, Recording | Tags: Apple, GarageBand, musical microblogging, Nonsuch, Washington, WMATA, XTC 2 Comments »
Two items this evening.
- That interview with Andy Partridge may or may not send me on an XTC Bender. I’ve just imported “Nonsuch” into my iTunes collection. There’s a record I listened to quite a bit back in college, and here, courtesy of Chalkhills, is probably all you’ll ever need to know about it.
- I’ve been seriously neglecting my musical microblogging. Part of that is that I can’t hook up my MBox to the computer because of operating system issues. This evening, however, I went ahead and put together something. First, I recorded about a minute’s worth of Washington Metro sounds. Then I fooled around a bit with GarageBand. The bass track in here is an Apple loop, by the way. I wish I could play bass like that.
XTC’s Andy Partridge: “Surprise Yourself”
Posted: September 23, 2009 Filed under: Artists, Videos | Tags: Andy Partridge, Guitar.com, Guitars, Paul Badger, XTC 1 Comment »Via Paul Badger via Guitar.com, an interview with Andy Partridge of XTC. Partridge talks about how he got started playing guitar (including playing along with Jerry Garcia), favorite players, his approach to chord changes, songwriting, summoning up the great god “Ernie,” and soloing.
“Surprise yourself. Alarm yourself.”
Nice one.
Ideas are Cheap
Posted: September 22, 2009 Filed under: Listening, Technology | Tags: Easter Theater, Environment, Green Houses, JamBands.com, Mike Gordon, Songza, Wall Street Journal, XTC Leave a comment »Bits and pieces this evening.
“[ideas] are cheap. You can think of a million ideas in a minute, and it’s the following through that counts. I spent the first fifteen years of my life typing up very elaborate schemes, even when I was six years old. Then finally when I was 15, I saw the value of following through and finishing something. I just decided from then on, I would plan a lot less and do a lot more. So it’s definitely all about the following through.”
- This April 2009 story from the Wall Street Journal, “The Green House of the Future,” just came to my attention. Nothing much related to music, but it falls under the category of stories that help me believe humanity is not doomed.
The surface of his house, like a leaf, contains a photosynthetic layer that captures sunlight. Unlike today’s solar panels, which are often pasted above a roofline, these are woven into the fabric of the exterior. They heat water and generate electricity for the home — and create oxygen for the atmosphere, to offset carbon produced in other areas of the home.
- Songza: “music search engine and internet jukebox.” On it I just looked up XTC’s “Easter Theater.”
Nissan’s Beautiful and Futuristic Sound
Posted: September 21, 2009 Filed under: Technology | Tags: Blade Runner, Bloomberg, electric cars, Nissan Motor Leave a comment »Bloomberg reports on Nissan Motor’s efforts to create sound for silent electric cars.
“We decided that if we’re going to do this, if we have to make sound, then we’re going to make it beautiful and futuristic,” [engineer Toshiyuki Tabata] said.
The company consulted Japanese composers of film scores. What Tabata and his six-member team came up with is a high-pitched sound reminiscent of the flying cars in “Blade Runner,” the 1982 film directed by Ridley Scott portraying his dystopian vision of 2019.
“We wanted something a bit different, something closer to the world of art,” Tabata said.
