A friend of mine has a rustic summer cottage on a private island pm a river. There is no electricity. This lack of everything modern is one of the main charms of the place except when it comes down to music listening: You can go through dozens of batteries in a week just powering a… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Music
Gesture-based Music Apps are Getting Good
I have been watching music mobile apps that harness accelerometer and gyroscope for a while. Many of these implementations have been pretty clumsy and toylike rather than offering a serious expression alternative that a serious musician/DJ might be tempted to use. This new $20 AirJ is looking really powerful. You can see it in use… Read more »
MeeBlip : The Open Source Virtual Analog Monophonic Synthesizer
I used to play with those Radio Shack 40-in-one electronic science kits. Yes, I was one of those kids. I have grown up. Now I want one of these. The hacker version that will let me smell burning solder once again. via MeeBlip Community Synthesizer Is Made By Bloggers For Hackers.
RIP Solomon Burke
I have been listening to Solomon Burke today. Sadly, the eccentric showman credited for helping to keep the lights on at Atlantic Records in the early 60s has died. Burke had a subtle vocal style and wide eclectic influences that earned him respect from a range of artists. This has made his music wound tightly… Read more »
Books by Musicans about Creating
The creative process is often a solitary, tortured and somewhat mysterious act. I am always interested in learning how great artists (and great software developers for that matter) find a way to stimulate their creative mind, focus and produce their work. Aside from David Bowie’s new book ‘Bowie: Object’, there are a few other books… Read more »
Check out Thunder Soul
Anyone who knows me knows that I am often talking about how important it was for me that I had the opportunity to participate in a great high school music program. You can understand then how excited I am to see Thunder Soul – Mark Landsman’s documentary about the great Kashmere Stage Band from Texas… Read more »
Marvin Isley
One of the funk bass greats has left us today. Marvin Isley was responsible for laying down the law for the crossover hits that kept the Isley Brothers on the radio for much of the 70s. Here are some great live Soul Train performances from 73-4. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAKfiP1oySg httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6bC8GvSHxU httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x04iW-J6EhA
RIP Herb Ellis
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=337hbXJD9vk I can almost always pick Ellis even when he is doing ‘strictly rythym’ percussive accompaniment as he does in the lead off here. We will miss his clean, hard driving swing and unpretentious playfulness but we have lots of great records to listen to and I am sure OP is glad to see him… Read more »
Mary Kaye Trio
I stumbled across this post on boing boing about the Mary Kaye Trio. I have heard this excellent singing group in various compilations but did not realize that she was the founder of the Vegas lounge show itself. These late night shows were credited with greatly expanding the success of the nascent casino industry by… Read more »
Microphone Love
I have come to realize that a healthy lust for classic microphones is something to be proud of. It shows an appreciation for the quality of a time gone by. It indicates a romantic desire to hold a beautiful sound in one’s hand. It is one of the affinities that separates men from apes. When… Read more »
