Music Archives

Listening, Too

Posted at 9:47 AM

I rarely find new music these days. I’ll blame it on time and general lameness. But here’s two new (to me) bands that are worthy of spreading the word on.

Midlake: “Head Home”. My pal Jeff turned me on these guys. Pure 70s smoothness. No one does vocal harmonies like this anymore. Their album, The Trials of Van Occupanther is an absolute gem.

MGMT: “Time to Pretend”. Could this be the Summer 2008 Anthem™? It’d probably need different lyrics. But regardless, this is one catchy tune, with an ABBA-esque quality (again, vocal harmonies) that’s damn infectious.

What are you listening to these days?

48 Comments

The Only Song You'll Need to Learn on the Ukulele

Posted at 5:28 PM

Esteemed readers that haven’t left while I’ve found little to write about lately, may remember the time that I listed out the Reasons I’ve Purchased a Ukulele. I can report that it’s still the best $39.99 I’ve ever spent. Little Jack goes into a hypnotic trance whenever I bust it out, and it’s so light and portable, it’s easy to juggle it with whatever else you’re doing.

But the main reason I return to this fascinating topic, is that I’ve found the one and only song you need to learn in order to sound like a soprano ukulele pro. One song only: I’ll Follow the Sun by the Beatles (perhaps you’ve heard of them).

Once you learn C - C7, D7 - G7, and F - Fm transitions. You can start mixing and matching these to instantly sound like a Hawaiian ragtime virtuoso. Seriously! Also, by learning this one song, you can play others, like Proud Mary, Ring of Fire or Puff the Magic Dragon (I know, I know… but Jack loves ‘em).

So that’s it. If you’re a recent or future ukulele owner, learn this one song, and off you go into 4-string stardom.

Update: I’ve recorded a little tune I like to call “Jackulele” over at Odeo. My first podcast, and hopefully not my last. The song uses all the chords from the aforementioned Beatles selection, with a few other experimentations. It’s a bit rough, but is always a crowd pleaser (to a crowd of one. One that is 5 months old).

41 Comments

Reasons I've Purchased a Ukulele

Posted at 3:21 PM

1. It’s compact, portable, and easy to play while holding a baby.
2. Babies enjoy songs played on the yookalayli.
3. It’s easy to spell.
4. Hawaii.
5. It’s snowing outside.
6. It stays in tune.
7. An electric guitar is heavy, too loud, and potentially dangerous to operate while holding a baby.
8. It’s just like playing the guitar.
9. It’s a fun, new instrument to learn.
10. It supports CSS3.

For those now chomping at the bit to share in the excitement, I’ve found a relatively clear and concise beginner’s guide to the ukulele. Join the revolution.

68 Comments

Shuffle FM

Posted at 12:06 AM

I rarely listen to commerical radio (usually in the car), but I’ve noticed a new(ish) radio station here in the Boston area, 93.7 Mike FM. Their motto is “we play everything”. This means you’ll hear Loverboy, then Jim Croce, then Ashlee Simpson. I’m guessing the new format has something to do with the rise of shuffling on the iPod and other similar devices (are there other devices?).

I have two reactions to this: a) well, that’s sort of cool. At least they’ve broken out of the commercial radio mold of playing the same 12 songs a day. And b) is this just background sound for people that don’t like music? A sort of “Russian Roulette”, where the station bets on playing something that you’ll like… eventually? What’s the demographic they’re going after?

Another observation is that this particular station has no DJs (from what I gather). Just pre-recorded station bumpers, commercials and random songs. I imagine this keeps the cost of running a station like this to a minimum. Just hit shuffle and go.

I also wonder: are there similar “shuffle style” stations popping up in other parts of the world?

104 Comments

The Great Book Giveaway Contest #2

Posted at 10:21 AM

It appears that Bulletproof Web Design is now available, and I’ve received a few reports that copies are starting to be spotted in stores and received via various online booksellers. To celebrate, I’m launching a little contest where you can win two books, a t-shirt, and some icons.

712 Comments

Ballad Lighter 2.0

Posted at 6:38 PM

Observered while watching a televised Duran Duran concert on high definition television: During the retro ballad “Save a Prayer”, instead of holding up the customary lighter, much of the crowd at Wembley Arena raised glowing mobile phones to the air to create the intimate atmosphere that is the “power ballad lighter thing”.

Does this mean that Duran Duran fans are now non-smokers? Or maybe Wembley doesn’t allow smoking. Or maybe everyone was bored and already talking on the phone when the song came on, and it was more convenient to lift that in that in the air, rather than dig out their lighter. And then again, this could mean that the average person is now more likely to have a mobile phone, than a lighter on them (while watching Duran Duran—an extremely scientific metric).

Whatever it means, Duran Duran is still touring—and people with mobile phones like it.

50 Comments

A Musical Baton

Posted at 1:40 PM

Jon Hicks has passed me a musical baton. This means I get to document what I’m currently listening to by answering a series of revealing questions. And they are…

26 Comments

The Cheapening of Music

Posted at 2:16 PM

Not too long ago, a good friend of mine still working in the music business said something that struck me: “music’s been cheapened”. I agreed immediately, not knowing exactly why, but gave it some more thought. It relates to how technology will affect music — not how we listen to music, but how we digest it, buy it, perceive it.

Let me first say that I love the iPod, and the device has even allowed me to rediscover music that was previously boxed away in racks of old CDs. The technology is wonderful, making it so easy to carry around your entire record collection at all times. But is the art of recording an “album” — an LP — in danger? I guess that’s what I’m questioning here.

One of my favorite rituals has always been going to the record store and buying a CD or two. The physical act of purchasing something, taking it home, opening it up, lookng at the artwork, reading the lyrics, etc. Will that become something of the past? Probably. For years we’ve been hearing things like “yeah, but you’ll be able to print out your own artwork to go along with the digital downloads”. Somehow that just doesn’t sound as nice.

The album as an artform

Creating an album — not just a collection of songs, but an entire “experience” has long been an artform in and of itself. It’s part of what got me interested in design early on: studying the packaging design and album artwork of bands and artists I worshipped. The collection and artwork combined with a group of songs recorded within the same time period always seemed like a time capsule of what the band was doing at that moment. But with the ability to buy a single song immediately via the web, will a shift materialize? Will we go back to the days of 7” 45s, where the single ruled?

When my friend said that he believed music has been cheapened, he was referring to the fact that music is now everywhere. It’s in your cellphone, on the web, on your microwave, TV, toys, etc. It’s even a marketing tool. It’s become easier to get, but will that affect the music itself?

The web site “album”?

What has become crucial is the band’s web site — the depot for news, info, photos, music, videos, etc. It’s possible that the web site will become even more important as digital distribution gains even more steam. Perhaps an “album” will really be a web site devoted to a group of songs released at the same time. Each “album” will stand on it’s own like an archived article.

I don’t have any answers, of course. We’ll just have to see how it all plays out. The Compact Disc is the end of the line as far as a physical medium for music — but even as technology progresses, I hope there continues to be a way of relaying the special qualities that only a packaged album can deliver.

50 Comments

Urgh! A Music War

Posted at 5:48 PM

I happened to catch a great documentary on INHD a few nights ago. Besides having a bizarre title, Urgh! A Music War captured some incredible live performances from the “it” bands of 1980.

The Police and the Go-Gos were well known at this point — but check out this lineup: The Police, Wall of Voodoo, Toyah Willcox, John Cooper Clarke, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Chelsea, Oingo Boingo, Echo and the Bunnymen, Jools Holland, XTC, Klaus Nomi, Athletico Spizz 80, The Go-Gos, Dead Kennedys, Steel Pulse, Gary Numan, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Surf Punks, Members, Au Pairs, The Cramps, Invisible Sex, Pere Ubu, Devo, The Alleycats, John Ottway, Gang of Four, 999, Fleshtones, X, Skafish, Splodgenessabounds, UB40.

I’m still having nightmares of Klaus Nomi (who I’d never heard of before seeing this), but seeing XTC, John Ottway, Echo and the Bunnymen and Devo live at a time when punk, new wave and techno were all converging was just amazing.

I’m not surprised it’s being played on television in 2004 as many of today’s bands sound similar — even 24 years later.

49 Comments

The Motivator

Posted at 11:16 AM

Lately, there’s been music. I’ve been listening more, caring more, even buying a new, larger-capacity iPod to hold more of it. And it seems like it operates on a cycle. There will be stretches where everything I hear, I love. Alternatively, there will be stretches where everything sounds horrible.

But lately, music has been the motivator. It gets me from point A to point B while struggling with a design or CSS issue. Thank goodness for “shuffle” mode.

It’s been asked repeatedly elsewhere, but what music motivates you these days?

Recently for me, it’s been recent offerings from The Killers, The Hives, The Autumn Defense (thank you, Jeff), and “shuffle standouts” Wire. Although I have a confession that is likely to have me pelted with deprecated HTML elements: anything I’ve heard on MTV from Ashlee Simpson has been downright catchy as heck. Is this completely uncool? Most definitely, but there… I said it. And I feel better now.

76 Comments

Copy Protection? Boo.

Posted at 8:22 PM

I’ve just purchased The Darkness new album, Permission to Land — it’s a great one, conjuring up rock’s past masters of the late 70s and early 80s. We’re talking Journey, Boston, Foreigner and Loverboy here.

Anyhow, the band is beside the point — this was the first CD I’ve purchased that has some sort of bogus copy protection built into it. Crap. Now I can’t play it on my Mac and I can’t rip it to live on my iPod. Ridiculous. There was no warning on the packaging about it being copy protected. Now I’m not sure of what to do with it. Return it? Then I have no way of listening to the 100% pure rock of the Darkness.

Has anyone else run into this dilemma?

47 Comments