Music and Musical Gear

RIP Adam Yauch, the Beastie Boys MCA

Sad news today as we have just heard of the passing of the Beastie Boys MCA, Adam Yauch. He was 47 and had been battling cancer, which we learned about back in 2009. Here is more from USAToday: The music world is mourning again. Adam Yauch, known as Beastie Boys rapper MCA, has died. GlobalGrind.com, Russell Simmon’s website, reports that Yauch died after a long battle with cancer. He was 47. In 2009, Yauch announced he was being treated for a cancerous parotid gland and a lymph node. He has since undergone surgery and radiation therapy. Yauch is survived by…

Gear Bits

They May Be Slackers, but They Sure Are a Class Act

Online services go down. That’s a fact of life. Heck, even we have had our share of downtime but thankfully, as of last night, much of it is a thing of the past. Well it turns out that Slacker Radio ran into a bump in the road last month. From Friday, April 13 until Saturday, April 14 some customers encountered a service disruption. Some! Not all or even most customers had an issue, and it only lasted for a day; it happens. I didn’t even notice the issue, so it wasn’t even an issue for me, but clearly it was an…

Music Diary, News & Features

Spotify (Finally) Launches iPad App!

Spotify today announced and released their app for the iPad. And it is pretty much what you would expect – the same core functionality, but optimized for the larger screen. But based on my limited playing around I find that – as is true with many apps – the user experience provided by the larger screen opens up already existing functionality to entirely new possibilities. Here is the press release: Today we’re extremely proud to present our native iPad app in all its green-hued glory. Features include: • Retina graphics for iPad – dazzling display, razor sharp images, richer colours…

Music Diary, Reviews

Music Diary Semi-Quavers on Some Early 2012 Releases in Pop & Rock

As I have mentioned before, I love listening to loads of new music across a variety of genres, and have very much appreciated how many folks have shared new music with me since I have started writing music reviews for Gear Diary. I started off with full, large song-by-song reviews (whole notes), and then started to also do somewhat shorter reviews that don’t pick apart each song (half-notes). Then I started a series where I would have a shorter review for a number of albums that also targets a favored song and target audience (quarter note), but have found that…

Music Diary, Reviews

Marco Machera Serves up a Stunning Debut Album with ‘One Time, Somewhere’

Marco Machera – ‘One Time, Somewhere’ I had intended to include this as a feature selection in a round-up of new releases, but then something happened – that turned into a set of ‘semi-quavers’ set apart by a full review on this album. It simply earned and deserved the attention – so here it is! Summary: Since my family has such diverse set of musical tastes – one son is huge into techno while the other favors mostly rap and some ‘screamo’, my wife loves pop and alt-rock from throughout the decades, and I listen to … however you want…

Music Diary, Reviews

Gary Husband Delivers State of the Art Fusion on ‘Dirty & Beautiful Volume 2’

Gary Husband – ‘Dirty & Beautiful Volume 2’ I reviewed Dirty & Beautiful Volume 1 early last year, concluding : There is no fluff here – perhaps that is why this is ‘volume 1?, as the next volume is due in 2011 sometime. And while I might have appreciated getting more time to get to know each grouping on the record, this is Husband’s project, and if the goal was to show how vital and vibrant and versatile fusion can be in 2010 … and if that wasn’t the goal he should review the original goal! Because this record takes…

Reviews

Gear4 AirZone Series 1 AirPlay Speaker Dock Review

Back in January, Judie and I spent some time with the folks from Gear4. We got to know a bit more about the company and its vision, spent some time with their current products, and we even got to see one or two items that were not yet released. We were not, of course, allowed to photograph or discuss the latter items, but were assured that when they were released we would get to discuss and potentially review them. Gear4 were good on their word; they sent over one of their new AirZone Series 1 wireless home stereo systems. At…

Music Diary, News & Features

Rush Streams New Song in Advance of New Album Release!

Rush is no stranger to … well, just about anything at this point. Releasing their first album nearly 40 years ago, they have spent the decades remaining faithful to fans, providing some of the best prog-rock accompanied by impressive musicianship that complements without overtaking the songs. Now they are preparing a new album, ‘Clockwork Angels’ due out on June 12th. To build anticipation, they are streaming “Headlong Flight” for free in a variety of places, including an official version with lyrics streaming on YouTube. The song will be instantly recognizable to anyone with even passing familiarity with the band: Geddy Lee…

Music Diary, News & Features

Music as Art … Sheet Music Art, That Is!

An artistic duo called ‘People Too’ from Novabrinsk in Russia are known for their amazing papercraft that seeks to bring small scenes to life, but apparently they can also bring sheet music to life as well! We all know that music is art, and therefore sheet music contains art … but it is amazing when the sheet music ITSELF becomes art! The site linked below has more than a dozen examples of great art done in between the stanzas – definitely check it out. Take a look at this one! Head to the site and check out all of them!…

Music Diary

RIP Dick Clark, Timeless Host and Breaker of Boundaries

Although my kids will sadly remember Dick Clark from his post-stroke days, struggling for coherence alongside Ryan Seacrest, he was much more than that in a career that cut across 8 decades. The Dick Clark I grew up with was a force of nature – he started well before my time as the man who brought rock’n’roll to the mainstream, spent 31 years as the host of the amazing American Bandstand, started an empire including American Music Awards, the Pyramid game shows, Bloopers, and so on. And of course he made New Year’s Eve a television event with Dick Clark’s…

Music Diary

Sex Pistols 35th Anniversary ‘God Save the Queen’ Lands on the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee!

Back in 1977 the Sex Pistols stirred up considerable controversy … well, pretty much all the time! But their confrontational punk anthem ‘God Save the Queen’ from their ‘Never Mind the Bollocks’ LP is perhaps the grandest singular statement in punk music. And perhaps not coincidentally it landed with a bang just as the Queen was celebrating her 25th anniversary. Now in 2012 all of England is gearing up for the Queen’s diamond (60th) jubilee celebration. So naturally the Sex Pistols publishers are re-releasing the classic single to coincide with the event! Back in 1977 the song simultaneously captivated and…

Editorials, Music Diary, News & Features

Musical Necrophilia Hits the Rap Era

It was only a matter of time before rap music started resorting to ‘Natalie Cole Syndrome’. Older performers such as the caricature ‘Snoop Doggy Dog’, the has-been Dr. Dre, and the self-parody Eminem who are seeking to show that they are hip and relevant — rather than out of touch middle-aged millionaires without a clue — have taken the EXACT SAME tactics as Cole when she sang ‘Unforgettable’ with her (late) father. I’m sure rap fans will deny it … but that is all just posturing. Sure, in typical rap fashion they inject language that shows their limited intellect and…

Music Diary, News & Features

Madonna Finds an (Unfortunate) Way To Prove She is Better than Gaga in All Ways!

Lady Gaga has made quite a career as a Madonna clone, something that the Queen of Pop was fine to tolerate until she decided it was time to kick-start her music career again this year. At that point, emboldened by a general opinion that Gaga was a similar but lesser product than her, Madonna earlier this year referred to Gaga’s ‘Born This Way’ as ‘reductive’ – an accurate but nonetheless scathing term … especially in an age where computers with sophisticated software can dissect songs so easily to show their origins and similarities. Now, just one week after claiming the…

eBooks, Music Diary, News & Features

Grab the Entire Synapse Magazine Archive Online for Free!

For so many magazines, unless you kept a copy for your archives the past is gone. Countless magazines and publishers have struggled and gone under in the internet era, and particularly in the latest economic downturn. So it is great when you find an online archive … and even better when it is a legitimate one set up by someone with a great history in the industry! Cynthia from Cyndustries has set up an online archive for Synapse magazine. Synapse was one of the big electronic magazines of the late 70s, though it faded away much sooner than Keyboard or…

Music Diary, News & Features

David Lynch’s “Crazy Clown Time” Music Video Breaks Out the (NSFW) Crazy!

I have always been a big fan of filmmaker David Lynch, from Eraserhead to Blue Velvet to Twin Peaks and beyond, his imaginative visual style and remarkable storytelling has always been compelling. Recently he released an album called Crazy Clown Time, and now we have a music video for the title track – directed by Lynch himself of course! It contains semi-blocked nudity and loads of bizarre imagery. Enjoy.

Music Diary, News & Features

PropellerHead Releases ‘Figure’ Music Making Tool for iOS!

If you have been making music on computers for any amount of time, you shoud definitely know the company name PropellerHead. They make software such as Rebirth, Traktor, Reason, Thor and many others that have amassed a huge following amongst musicians. They have already brought Rebirth to iOS … and now they are bringing Figure, a tool for ‘instant musical inspiration’. Here is the description: Create an addictive beat before the next bus stop or lay down a beefy bass line while waiting in line at the bank. Figure will have you making music within seconds yet is deep enough…

Music Diary, News & Features

IK Multimedia Ships iKlip Studio for iPad

At CES and NAMM (and beyond), IK Multimedia introduced a number of cool new products. Some – such as DJ Rig – have already been released (and I am finishing up my review now), while we are still waiting for others such as iStomp and iRig Mix. But now we have shipping news for another cool product – the iKlip Studio stand for the iPad! Here are some details: iKlip Studio is constructed of lightweight, shock-resistant, durable thermoplastic material that reliably supports the iPad in both horizontal and vertical positions. Rubber foot pads grip the desktop surface and prevent unwanted…

Music Diary

Moog Brings Bowel-Shaking BASE Pack to Animoog!

I have talked about the high quality musical production tools available on the iPad, and one of the best sounding and most flexible instruments is AniMoog from music pioneers Moog Music. The $30 app is more than a toy – it is an amazingly powerful music processor and sound generator. The new update adds the ‘Animoog Store’, which will allow you to buy new sets of timbres and presets to expand the already broad functionality of Animoog. The first addition to the store is called the ‘BASE Pack’, which stands for ‘Biomimetically Augmented Synthesis Expansion’. Here is the description from…

Reviews

MOG For iPad Review

There was a time when I was totally against the idea of streaming music services. I was stuck in the old ways of thinking I must own all of my media and had a large collection. Due to a hard drive issue, I decided to give MOG a try and never looked back. Having a much larger library of music at my disposal than I could ever collect which is available on all of my devices anytime has been awesome. While there can be a separate discussion/debate on which service is the best, this post will simply focus on the…

Music Diary

Great Music Videos from Before MTV

Image courtesy of ICanHasCheezburger Many folks think that the birth of the music video can be traced to the launch of MTV … but that really doesn’t make sense when you think about it. I mean, even knowing that MTV started as a small local station before transitioning to a major cable network … how would they have established themselves without existing material? The reality is that there have been music videos produced since the early days of sound-based video. With the advent of television and its popularity in 1950s, we started to see promotional videos attached to network shows…

Music Diary, News & Features

Metallica Releases a New Song from their Live DVD

Back in 2009 Metallica played in Mexico in front of 150,000 fans, and released the show on the DVD called Orgullo, Pasión, y Gloria: Tres Noches en la Ciudad de México. Be sure to check out the stunning DVD of Metallica performing live in front of 150,000 fans at three sold out shows in Mexico City. Filmed during the World Magnetic Tour, Orgullo, Pasión, y Gloria: Tres Noches en la Ciudad de México is available on DVD, Blu-Ray and as a Deluxe Box Set in the MetStore at Metallica.com Now they are preparing to play an epic set at the…

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