Read on for the world's greatest song, or at least the most irritating...
The track in question is Public Image Limited's "Fodderstompf", the very name implies grinding banality and the track was indeed a sneering knock off, shoved together to fill up the running time of their debut LP and deliver a two fingered assault to the record company and record buying public. Despite having a history of getting up peoples noses in his previous band the Sex Pistols John Lydon decided PIL were going to be a complete break with the Pistols swaggering pub rock, indeed he planned a complete break with all rock, the one consistent being the power to annoy. But I don't think even John Lydon and his merry men could have envisioned how unbelievably funny and teeth grinding this track would end up.
When every rock act these days, with the honorable exceptions of Slipknot and System of a Down, seem obsessed with telling their mildly depressed Mondeo driving fans that its OK to feel a bit worried but everything will be all right because lets face it you are white and western, a glutenous shower of platitudes that make you want to join the Taliban, PIL's irony saturated track comes over the hill like the sanity police and reminds us all to stop moaning so much about fuck all. When global warming grows teeth its not Keane fans who will have to worry, mores the pity, it's the poor bastards in the third world who will get the big Kahuna...
This reality, the hand ringing of the western privileged classes and the shafting of anyone else is echoed in the bottomless "black" sound of the music, the thin helium voices moan "we only wanted to be loved" in increasing derangement as the rumbling dub bass and eerie squelching synths buzz like tsetse fly in the bush.
One proviso the Youtube clip below proved incapable of translating the bass of the original which is virtually inaudible on the clip so download for the full glory. Without the groove the piss taking voices are unbearable for the full ten minutes however funny!
Maningrey
"World's Greatest Song..." > read the full post
Monday, 26 October 2009
Sunday, 25 October 2009
The Daily Adventures of Mixerman
If you've got a few hours to spare, check out the Daily Adventures of Mixerman. It tells the story of a recording job from hell. Many familiar situations for those who've been there, many lessons for those on their way...
(Unfortunately, you'll need to buy the book to see how it all ends...)
"The Daily Adventures of Mixerman" > read the full post
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
LSS upgrades to new gorgeous iMacs
Yes, the latest generation of iMacs with OLED displays had only been announced for thirty minutes and we were already on the phone to order new computers for LSS North Campus. The old ones had been there already for two years, and you know, the waste basket on the desktop was full of stuff, and yeah, you could click on 'empty waste basket' but it's quicker to throw them all away and order some new ones ;)
Read all about the new iMac on Apple's website, the ones we are getting have a 21,5" OLED display, 4Gb or ram and 3GHz processor, but we are staying well clear of the new wireless keyboard and Magic Mouse.
As much as we like LSS to be on the cutting edge, the classic extended keyboard remains the best one for music applications, and to be honest, I am very wary of anything 'Magic'. I like my mouse to be stupid and have real buttons to click, thank you very much, so we are sticking with the Apple Mouse (it used to be known as Mighty but it's now just the Apple Mouse > read how Apple lost the right to the Mighty Mouse name).
Still, you are welcome to bring yours in the class, if you think it's better.
"LSS upgrades to new gorgeous iMacs" > read the full post
Open your mind Maaaannnnnnn
I have recently introduced various people to the work of Yes, Neu, King Crimson and Can....
Two of those four bands, Can and Neu, are now accepted as being cool despite sharing the same amount of facial hair and velvet loon panted leg room as the other two, in fact there could not be anymore uncool acts in history than Yes and KC in the eyes of the musical taste makers, and yet by sneakily playing people tracks blind or to people who have no knowledge of a particular period of rock history I have turned hop hop fans, wedge haired indie tykes and suspicious girlfriends onto all manner of embarrassing shit....
Try it! While doing the washing up put on The Clap by Yes, as if it was just on the radio, hum along and when your WAG/shades wearing flatmate or flute playing cat goes "Hmmmm this is nice" grab them, cuff them and yell "Ha it's by YES and I am making a citizen's unwitting prog consumption arrest" and then make them admit they only bought the Ting Tings CD because it was all over the tube on huge posters which said "Buy the Ting Tings you thoughtless dull eyed slaves of capitalism, see the bright colours, see the attractive girl and BUYYYY"
What gets my goat is that certain styles are swept under the carpet while other are venerated when lets face it how much of punk was actually good??? the Clash, The Pistols...ohh hmmm ohhh YES THAT'S IT!!
How much of grunge? Nirvana...there that's its I'm afraid...
60's Rock? Hendrix and Zappa...I also like the Loving Spoonful but I will admit that's a personal tic like scratching my ear when nervous.
Heavy metal? Sabbath and Zep.
Yeah OK so I am being a bit sweeping but cool people are always telling me how ALL prog sucks or all jazz is boring and how all dance music sounds the same and frankly that is balls.
So open you mind and don't worry about the labels, unless of course its an orange skull and cross bones on a bottle of bleach that says DEATH under it..
Maningrey
"Open your mind Maaaannnnnnn" > read the full post
Two of those four bands, Can and Neu, are now accepted as being cool despite sharing the same amount of facial hair and velvet loon panted leg room as the other two, in fact there could not be anymore uncool acts in history than Yes and KC in the eyes of the musical taste makers, and yet by sneakily playing people tracks blind or to people who have no knowledge of a particular period of rock history I have turned hop hop fans, wedge haired indie tykes and suspicious girlfriends onto all manner of embarrassing shit....
Try it! While doing the washing up put on The Clap by Yes, as if it was just on the radio, hum along and when your WAG/shades wearing flatmate or flute playing cat goes "Hmmmm this is nice" grab them, cuff them and yell "Ha it's by YES and I am making a citizen's unwitting prog consumption arrest" and then make them admit they only bought the Ting Tings CD because it was all over the tube on huge posters which said "Buy the Ting Tings you thoughtless dull eyed slaves of capitalism, see the bright colours, see the attractive girl and BUYYYY"
What gets my goat is that certain styles are swept under the carpet while other are venerated when lets face it how much of punk was actually good??? the Clash, The Pistols...ohh hmmm ohhh YES THAT'S IT!!
How much of grunge? Nirvana...there that's its I'm afraid...
60's Rock? Hendrix and Zappa...I also like the Loving Spoonful but I will admit that's a personal tic like scratching my ear when nervous.
Heavy metal? Sabbath and Zep.
Yeah OK so I am being a bit sweeping but cool people are always telling me how ALL prog sucks or all jazz is boring and how all dance music sounds the same and frankly that is balls.
So open you mind and don't worry about the labels, unless of course its an orange skull and cross bones on a bottle of bleach that says DEATH under it..
Maningrey
"Open your mind Maaaannnnnnn" > read the full post
Sunday, 18 October 2009
Cinematic Strings
Cinematic Strings are giving away their Monster Staccato patch when you register on their site....
Been playing around with it for a hour now, and it sounds pretty awesome. It's only available in Kontakt format, but you've already got the free Kontakt Player now, haven't you?
"Cinematic Strings" > read the full post
Thursday, 15 October 2009
DIY reamp box and more from Jensen
Thanks to Matt Foster (Mixing Engineer Supremo and great guy all around) for this link.
Jensen Transformers is an American company producing all sorts or useful boxes for musical use: DI boxes, microphone splitters, the list of gadgets is too long to publish but you are welcome to visit jensentransformers.com and discover one or two boxes you didn't know you wanted, and now you do.
The best part is that rather than waiting for Behringer to go and copy their designs, Jensen is not afraid to publish full schematics for each one of their products, encouraging people to make their own. They know perfectly well that after a couple of aborted attempts at doing it yourself you will just get back to them and buy the real thing, but this shouldn't stop us from having a go.
Matt is currently getting his soldering iron out for a very handy reamp box, to be used to get some guitar tracks out of Pro Tools and back in to some cool vintage guitar amps – because, you know, just having every guitar amp plugin in the world is not enough.
Here is the link to the schematics for the reamp box and to the full list of application schematics
.
"DIY reamp box and more from Jensen" > read the full post
Jensen Transformers is an American company producing all sorts or useful boxes for musical use: DI boxes, microphone splitters, the list of gadgets is too long to publish but you are welcome to visit jensentransformers.com and discover one or two boxes you didn't know you wanted, and now you do.
The best part is that rather than waiting for Behringer to go and copy their designs, Jensen is not afraid to publish full schematics for each one of their products, encouraging people to make their own. They know perfectly well that after a couple of aborted attempts at doing it yourself you will just get back to them and buy the real thing, but this shouldn't stop us from having a go.
Matt is currently getting his soldering iron out for a very handy reamp box, to be used to get some guitar tracks out of Pro Tools and back in to some cool vintage guitar amps – because, you know, just having every guitar amp plugin in the world is not enough.
Here is the link to the schematics for the reamp box and to the full list of application schematics
.
"DIY reamp box and more from Jensen" > read the full post
Ultra Anal?
AudioMIDI have another of their "no-brainer" deals going on.
They're offering the Applied Acoustics Systems Ultra Analogue VA-1 synth for just $15 (that's $184 off the regular price!)
It comes in VST and RTAS for all you PC users, and AU, RTAS and VST for Mac.
I got my version yesterday, and it's a very cool, 2 oscillator, 32 voice polyphony physical modeling virtual analogue synth.
You'll find the deal here.
Just one thing - why don't manufacturers realize how their name will abbreviate in a sequencer window? I expect to get some strange looks if anyone sees me with this.....
"Ultra Anal?" > read the full post
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
Synth Britannia!
Friday 16th of October, BBC4. From Human League to Throbbing Gristle, check out what it was like before the days of plugins....
"Synth Britannia!" > read the full post
Check out the trailer.
"Synth Britannia!" > read the full post
Shels build a "Guitar Bunker"
There's quite a cool DIY solution to recording loud guitars at home up at the Shels blog...
"Shels build a "Guitar Bunker"" > read the full post
Looking forward to the new album - they're using classical guitars through a 5150
"Shels build a "Guitar Bunker"" > read the full post
Tuesday, 13 October 2009
Logic 9.02 update
Use your software update to download the latest version.
At the time of writing the list of changes and bugfixes has not been updated on Apple's website but it should be available soon on this page > http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2565
We can only assume this release addresses a number of bugs (Logic 9.01 still had many serious bugs) and we can also safely assume it doesn't fixes all of them.
Apple has got in to the bad habit of NOT giving a complete and detailed list of bug-fixes, possibly to avoid projecting a negative image about the product. So what we get is a non-committal "Some issues addressed include (but are not limited to)" which means having to go and spend hours trying to figure out which bugs are still there and which aren't. Bastards.
At this moment in time we still recommend not upgrading to Snow Leopard and not deleting your Logic 8 if you upgrade to Logic 9.
Note: the plugin settings (the presets) of version 8 are overwritten by version 9, and version 8 might not be able to open some of them. If you really like certain presets and you want to be able to open them again in version 8 all you have to do is save them as 'user' settings and Logic 9 will leave them alone – obviously this has to be done before you upgrade to 9.
"Logic 9.02 update" > read the full post
At the time of writing the list of changes and bugfixes has not been updated on Apple's website but it should be available soon on this page > http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2565
We can only assume this release addresses a number of bugs (Logic 9.01 still had many serious bugs) and we can also safely assume it doesn't fixes all of them.
Apple has got in to the bad habit of NOT giving a complete and detailed list of bug-fixes, possibly to avoid projecting a negative image about the product. So what we get is a non-committal "Some issues addressed include (but are not limited to)" which means having to go and spend hours trying to figure out which bugs are still there and which aren't. Bastards.
At this moment in time we still recommend not upgrading to Snow Leopard and not deleting your Logic 8 if you upgrade to Logic 9.
Note: the plugin settings (the presets) of version 8 are overwritten by version 9, and version 8 might not be able to open some of them. If you really like certain presets and you want to be able to open them again in version 8 all you have to do is save them as 'user' settings and Logic 9 will leave them alone – obviously this has to be done before you upgrade to 9.
"Logic 9.02 update" > read the full post
Monday, 12 October 2009
Freemasons Master Class (Become a Dance Music Superstar)
The British Music Experience are presenting a unique chance to interact with one of the UK's most successful DJ and Producer teams, The Freemasons.....
Dance music superstars Freemasons are giving a masterclass on Thursday 26th November 2009 at The British Music Experience. Sounds like decent value for £8 and access to the exhibition as well, see the BME hyper link for more details.
"Freemasons Master Class (Become a Dance Music Superstar)" > read the full post
Dance music superstars Freemasons are giving a masterclass on Thursday 26th November 2009 at The British Music Experience. Sounds like decent value for £8 and access to the exhibition as well, see the BME hyper link for more details.
"Freemasons Master Class (Become a Dance Music Superstar)" > read the full post
Classical Music Event - Student Discount
The historic 100 Club has a new night for the classically minded among us...read on.
The good people at Limelight are bringing classical concerts to the spit n beer atmosphere of the 100 Club in an effort to "attract a younger crowd, to prove that classical music is not the preserve of the white-haired stalwarts", heartening news unless you are a "white haired stalwart" of course...But anyhow they are offering a 2 for 1 discount for students from music schools so check this link and follow the instructions.
If you can't make this night they have more excellent young musicians playing over the next few months:
Upcoming headliners:
* Tuesday, Oct 13th: saxophonist Amy Dickson
* Tuesday, Nov 10th: violinist Daniel Hope
* Tuesday, Dec 8th: pianist Joanna MacGregor
"Classical Music Event - Student Discount" > read the full post
The good people at Limelight are bringing classical concerts to the spit n beer atmosphere of the 100 Club in an effort to "attract a younger crowd, to prove that classical music is not the preserve of the white-haired stalwarts", heartening news unless you are a "white haired stalwart" of course...But anyhow they are offering a 2 for 1 discount for students from music schools so check this link and follow the instructions.
If you can't make this night they have more excellent young musicians playing over the next few months:
Upcoming headliners:
* Tuesday, Oct 13th: saxophonist Amy Dickson
* Tuesday, Nov 10th: violinist Daniel Hope
* Tuesday, Dec 8th: pianist Joanna MacGregor
"Classical Music Event - Student Discount" > read the full post
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
Electromagnetic noise from an iPhone
These things are amazingly noisy!...An old friend of mine has been experimenting with his iPhone and iMac, seeing how much electromagnetic noise they put out.Here's the iPhone, but head to his Youtube page to see the iMac, as well as his circuit bending experiments...
"Electromagnetic noise from an iPhone" > read the full post
"Electromagnetic noise from an iPhone" > read the full post
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
iPhone notepad
So, it's a notepad that costs a stupid amount of money, but looks like an iPhone....
Pointless? Maybe not - if you're developing iPhone apps it might be useful, but how difficult is it to draw a square on paper?
"iPhone notepad" > read the full post
Free Bitsmacker Plugin
Another free AU for you, this time from Meatscience...
Bitsmacker is, as you might have guessed, similar to Bit Crusher in Logic. It allows you to reduce the sample rate and bit resolution, for that eighties-sounding digital audio effect.
What's cool though, is the pre and post distortion parametric EQ, allowing you to shape the tone of the bitsmacking.
Head to the Meatscience page to check it out.
"Free Bitsmacker Plugin" > read the full post
Sunday, 27 September 2009
Kurt Cobain raps and sings Bon Jovi
If you want to see the positive side, this could be your best argument to convince someone that killing yourself is bad. Rather than being the tragic romantic gesture, the ultimate rebellion against the system, or whatever other misconception your average teenage goth might have, it turns out that suicide is the quickest way to be made in to a money-making puppet – now legally owned by a giant capitalistic corporation.
(Watch the video at the end of this post)
In short, the latest version of Guitar Hero has a bonus mode in which you can get a 3D version of Kurt Cobain to sing songs from a number of other artists. Some of them, you could say, quite not what Cobain would have ever wanted to be associated with, in life or death.
And while there is some debate to the amount of blame to attribute to Cobain's widow, selling the rights to use his image to Activision, it should be pointed out that every single retarded person who buys Guitar Hero is fundamentally supporting this thing.
I do appreciate that in saying so I am probably offending a large part of the readers of this blog, but hey, maybe you like seeing Kurt Cobain singing Bon Jovi. I can't really say that I am that bothered myself, personally I find more offensive the concept of a game which uses music to reward your ability to follow orders and doesn't involve the slightest amount of creativity.
But I am digressing.
Activision's CEO has so far responded to the criticism of fans around the world "We went and spoke directly to the estate and made it crystal clear, got the rights, paid for the rights, and really we've done what we've always done.”
Business as usual then. Well, if you think hilarious to see Cobain singing light-hearted pop songs, here below is a video for you. If you think this is a bit in poor taste, you should email Activision and tell them so. More importantly, if you don't like the idea of becoming part of Guitar Hero after you are dead, it's time to call a lawyer and make some amendments to your recording contract.
"Kurt Cobain raps and sings Bon Jovi" > read the full post
(Watch the video at the end of this post)
In short, the latest version of Guitar Hero has a bonus mode in which you can get a 3D version of Kurt Cobain to sing songs from a number of other artists. Some of them, you could say, quite not what Cobain would have ever wanted to be associated with, in life or death.
And while there is some debate to the amount of blame to attribute to Cobain's widow, selling the rights to use his image to Activision, it should be pointed out that every single retarded person who buys Guitar Hero is fundamentally supporting this thing.
I do appreciate that in saying so I am probably offending a large part of the readers of this blog, but hey, maybe you like seeing Kurt Cobain singing Bon Jovi. I can't really say that I am that bothered myself, personally I find more offensive the concept of a game which uses music to reward your ability to follow orders and doesn't involve the slightest amount of creativity.
But I am digressing.
Activision's CEO has so far responded to the criticism of fans around the world "We went and spoke directly to the estate and made it crystal clear, got the rights, paid for the rights, and really we've done what we've always done.”
Business as usual then. Well, if you think hilarious to see Cobain singing light-hearted pop songs, here below is a video for you. If you think this is a bit in poor taste, you should email Activision and tell them so. More importantly, if you don't like the idea of becoming part of Guitar Hero after you are dead, it's time to call a lawyer and make some amendments to your recording contract.
"Kurt Cobain raps and sings Bon Jovi" > read the full post
Friday, 25 September 2009
Butch Vig will record your band! - eBay auction
Butch Vig (producer of Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins, and Nirvana, as well as being the drummer in Garbage) will record your band.....
He's auctioning a 1 day, 10 hour session at Dangerbird Studios in LA, for the Pablove Foundation. Bidding's currently at $790, but with 5 days to go, don't expect it to stay that low for long!
Check out the auction site here.
"Butch Vig will record your band! - eBay auction" > read the full post
Eleven Rack is here
And, as we suspected, it's a bit pricier than first rumored......
At £787, it's still pretty cool for an audio interface + amp emulator + pro tools though. Check out vids of it in action here, or head straight to Digital Village for UK prices and specs
"Eleven Rack is here" > read the full post
Thursday, 24 September 2009
Jimi Hendrix Signature......Gibson?
OK, so Hendrix did play Gibsons occasionally (we have a Hendrix Flying V in our collection), but he's most pictured with a Fender Strat in his hand.....
But this is a bit of a weird beast - The Little Wing, Signature and Experience models. They look like Fender Strats, probably sound like Fender Strats, but they're Gibsons...
Not very convinced myself - looks like a bit of a cash-in by the Hendrix estate.
And is it a good idea to walk on stage with Jimi's face on you scratch plate? - let's face it, you're not going to come off well in comparison.
Still, anyone gets to try one out, let us know how they perform....
"Jimi Hendrix Signature......Gibson?" > read the full post
Pro Tools on Snow Leopard
In what must be the fastest ever turnaround from Digidesign (10.5 support took ages - Leopard was released in October 2007, and compatibility with Pro Tools arrived in June 2008), there's a pre-release of 10.0.3 now out......
The bad news is, they're dropped support for Power PC Macs and the original MBox, as well as a few other bits and pieces. (Whether our old MBox will be usable with the update remains to be seen - unsupported doesn't always seem to mean doesn't work in Digidesign land)
For the adventurous amongst you (and those who've just bought a new Mac so don't have 10.5), head here to check it out.
Go on, you first..... let me know how it turns out....
"Pro Tools on Snow Leopard" > read the full post
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