It's Tuesday - What you listening to?

[Troy]

That sounds a lot like ACID style, you then can edit them in any number of ways. It's indeed a blast to play with (you Mac guys just discovering this? LOL!

Yeah, I think there are many programs like this around. Take a look at that link I posted and see if it's the same sorta thing. The flexability of it is amazing. What's nice about this is that it's part of a cheap upgrade to the OS iteslf. It's bulletproof. Because it's not a 3rd party item, it integrates with the rest of the internal OS programs like itunes like it's all one program . . . because it is.

[Stone]

I've started work on a 2003 comp, so I listened to a few things from last year like Frog Eyes, the Shins, Four Tet, Black Eyes, etc.

I've decided to put a song from each of my top 20, a song from my EP of the year, and my song of the year (which isn't on one of the top 20) as my comp. That's 22 songs, and based on the tunes I've picked so far, it's lookin' like I'll have room for 20, so some cuts need to be made, and I have a few song decisions to make yet before I start sequencing.*

Also:

Dumptruck - Positively (Ryko reissue)

Mekons - Fear & Whiskey (again)

Beethoven - 9th Symphony (Claudio Abbado) on DVD-A

Stone

*No Davey, no 2-CD extravaganza this year.

[Davey.]

I've started work on a 2003 comp, so I listened to a few things from last year like Frog Eyes, the Shins, Four Tet, Black Eyes, etc.

Hey Stoney, how do you like that Frog Eyes? Snowie sent me a copy last summer but I never really got into it much. I know they loved it at some of the ezines, but it's a little over the top for me. Guess I need to give it a fresh listen. There are some good Bowie-like moments on it, but mostly reminds me of Captain Beefheart. Are you a fan of the Captain?

N O W   P L A Y I N G

[Stone]

Hey Stoney, how do you like that Frog Eyes? . . . There are some good Bowie-like moments on it, but mostly reminds me of Captain Beefheart. Are you a fan of the Captain?

I like the Frog Eyes a lot (it was in my top 20), but it took some getting used to. His vocal style is surely not for everyone. The more accessible moments on the album are definitely Bowie-like.

And to answer your question, I've heard virtually nothing from Captain Beefheart's portfolio, but have heard the name dropped so many times (especially about Trout Mask Replica), I feel like I should.

Stone

[Jim Clark]

Aphelion by Amethystium. (2003) Described as New Age, and it is. Very much in line with Enigma, even has a bit of chanting. Very spacey and electronic with a couple of very fine moments. Don't know how often I'd listen to it all the way through, probably as much as I listen to Enigma, which isn't very often at all.

Then a bunch of older (read not new) stuff:

Notwist-Neon Golden
Crystal Method-Vegas
Crystal Method-Legion Of Boom
Cat Power-You Are Free
Twilight Singers-Blackberry Belle
Wrens-Meadowland
Wheat-Per Second...every second
Breeders-Title TK
Moonbabies-June and Novas
Gary Numan-Exile
Switchblade Symphony-Bread and Jam For Francis
A techno/trance comp thingie I'm working on
KMFDM-Attak

and some more that escape me but not too many more.

jc

[Dusty Chalk]

Crystal Method-Legion Of Boom

Report, please.

[nobody]

OK...I'm late and gonna be brief, but here's what I've been hearing lately...

Johnny Cash: Unearthed
Simply great. More uneven than the regular American recordings releases, but plenty of burried gems, and the last disc with highlights from the whole series is nice.

Handsome Family: Singing Bones
Finally picked this up and it's great. Not gonna make any new fans, but old ones should be happy. Another chapter of gothic americana, most closely resembling Twilight of their other albums.

And, how about just a list for a change:

Peace Orchestra
Miles Davis: Walkin'
Cannonball Adderly: Somethin' Else
Electric Magnolia Company
David Johansen and the Harry Smiths: Shaker
Macy Gray: The Trouble with Being Myself
The Vibrators: Batteries Included
Massive Attack: Mezzanene
Jesus and Mary Chain: Darklands
OutKast: Speakerboxxx/Love Below
DJ Spooky: Subliminal Minded EP
Best of Earth, Wind and Fire
Broken Social Scene's latest
Wheat's latest
Elvis Preseley (self-titled RCA debut LP)
Kings of Leon: Youth and Manhood

A few other things, but I'm too lazy to write any more now.

[Jim Clark]

Report, please.

I mentioned a little bit last week since I managed to get it Friday before the official release date so I'm just going to elaborate a bit from there.

Overall it's probably not as good as Vegas in my opinion. The first thing I noticed is that there isn't much boom. I'm just thinking that the Legion of Boom would, you know, have some wicked low bass and I can't shake the impression that the booms are much bigger and more frequent on Vegas. Also, when the Crystal Method tries to break away from their normal routine it doesn't have the same feel of boldness and accomplishment that accompanies something that would come from the Chemical Brothers or even Death In Vegas. It just feels forced and somewhat out of sync with the rest of the album.

Like I said, there are some great tracks that highlight what the band does well. Starting Over, True Grit, Weapons Of Mass Distortion, and I Know It's You are all great tracks. The last one features vocals by Milla Jovavich which starts out promising enough but she really wanted to do more. Basically they get a line sung in a breathy, haunting, and quite sexy voice and just loop it and disperse it throughout the song. She really needed to be featured more prominently. I like the Method more when they work to fuse the techno and rock together in a loud and brash sort of way. Of course they also like to work in some hip hop along the way and I think those efforts are the weakest but luckily there's not too much of that here.

I really like the album but some parts are stronger than the whole. I also wish it was a bit more consistent and of course wish it had more BOOM!

jc

[Slosh]

Hey Stone, just curious whatcha thought of The Unicorns? I thought you'd be one of the few here that might like it, but who can tell?

Anyone hear from Rae lately?

NP: a surprise disc from the desert that appeared outta thin air today Mr. Toze, you have very fine taste Thanks!

Oops, guess no HTML in the subject line anymore

[tentoze]

Hey Stone, just curious whatcha thought of The Unicorns? I thought you'd be one of the few here that might like it, but who can tell?

Anyone hear from Rae lately?

NP: a surprise disc from the desert that appeared outta thin air today Mr. Toze, you have very fine taste Thanks!

Oops, guess no HTML in the subject line anymore

We's just trying to be of some use around here..............

[Stone]

Hey Stone, just curious whatcha thought of The Unicorns? I thought you'd be one of the few here that might like it, but who can tell?

Anyone hear from Rae lately?

I've only spun it once so far. It's in my car, with some others that are new or have been ignored. My initial impression was that it sounds like something I'll really like, but I need to spend more time with it. Thanks for sending it, and I'll let you know how I like it, but I'm gonna be basically out of commission for the next month so it may be a while.

I haven't heard from Rae in a couple months probably. We were exchanging emails periodically, but I got busy, yada, yada, yada . . .

Stone

[chrisnz]

Yeah, I think there are many programs like this around. Take a look at that link I posted and see if it's the same sorta thing. The flexability of it is amazing. What's nice about this is that it's part of a cheap upgrade to the OS iteslf. It's bulletproof. Because it's not a 3rd party item, it integrates with the rest of the internal OS programs like itunes like it's all one program . . . because it is.

Yup that's Acid alright. I wonder if you can plug in other synths and suchlike? I've spent truckloads of $ and had a whale of a time doing this on the PC. I foresee one of these babies in your immediate future.

http://www.evolution.co.uk/products/evo_mk461c.htm

As for it all being proprietary and just plug and play... The software music industry has come to a virtual halt over the past year porting all their existing instruments/effects over to OSX and Audio Units standards so it's a bit of a sore point with the PC crowd.

Have fun, Chris.

PS just heard that it does support AU instruments but that's only off the net and not confirmed.

[Troy]

Yup that's Acid alright. I wonder if you can plug in other synths and suchlike?

Yes, it's MIDI capable and with a USB you just plug it in. It records the notes and you can then massge them and fix the bumbling. Then you drop attributes on them. Kerjillions of them. It sounds like ACID isn't quite as flexable on the little bit I've read. The Apple store are selling a cheapie $99 keyboard, but every single store in Nor Cal sold out of them in 2 days. Even the music stores just smirk at me when I go in and ask. They just shake their heads- "I coulda sold 10 of those freekin' things today!". That's pretty much all I'm willing to spend so I'll just wait til the next shipment.

I've spent truckloads of $ and had a whale of a time doing this on the PC. I foresee one of these babies in your immediate future.

Gack! Too elaborate. The program is so sophisticated that this newbie geek won't need anything more than a simple inpoot device for a while.

As for it all being proprietary and just plug and play... The software music industry has come to a virtual halt over the past year porting all their existing instruments/effects over to OSX and Audio Units standards so it's a bit of a sore point with the PC crowd.

This just in: Steve Jobs want to own all the ways to make and distribute music with the computer.

Have fun, Chris.

Roger wilco!

[chrisnz]

Yes, it's MIDI capable and with a USB you just plug it in. It records the notes and you can then massge them and fix the bumbling. Then you drop attributes on them. Kerjillions of them. It sounds like ACID isn't quite as flexable on the little bit I've read. The Apple store are selling a cheapie $99 keyboard, but every single store in Nor Cal sold out of them in 2 days. Even the music stores just smirk at me when I go in and ask. They just shake their heads- "I coulda sold 10 of those freekin' things today!". That's pretty much all I'm willing to spend so I'll just wait til the next shipment.



Gack! Too elaborate. The program is so sophisticated that this newbie geek won't need anything more than a simple inpoot device for a while.



This just in: Steve Jobs want to own all the ways to make and distribute music with the computer.



Roger wilco!

Acid comes in a variety of flavours and prices ;-) I've no idea where garage band fits in.

It's a good price for the MAudio keyboard... however. These are the entry level MIDI controllers we are dealing with here. With all the quality and durability of your QWERTY keyboard. Of these, probably the best is the Edirol followed by the Evolutions with MAudio's languishing in last place. I think the best comment that I've ever heard about them was that they were "adequate". I've got an Evolution Mk 261 which looks slightly more complex than the one you are looking at and is a predecessor of the 461 that blew your mind. It's a charmless hunk of plastic but it's 18mths old and still functioning. 61 keys are generally thought to be the minimum if you actually want to play with both hands.

All the nobs on the 461 are simply available to be assigned to the controls on your software. They don't actually have to be used at all. If you were hammering along on your Mellotron or Moog Modular you might assign some to a filters cutoff and resonance and the sliders to your mixing desk... whatever. Sure wish I'd got them, but then I'm a gear junkie and if it came to a choice between $99 for the MAudio and $250 for the Evolution I'd go for the Evo every time. However you seem much more disciplined than me :-)