Category: music

music – Broken Social Scene

On By Rick McIn musicLeave a comment

Canadian music was hot in 2005. Of the many critically acclaimed newish Canuck bands I am most intrigued with Broken Social Scene.

It is a collective with over a dozen band members. For live gigs, whoever is available shows up and they wing it. Cool!

A British musician with plenty of time to listen to new bands (5 years on the dole) saw BSS in London recently and raved! Then cursed me for association with Celine Dion and Brian Adams. I explained we deported one to the US and the other to the UK.

I haven’t been this keen on a new Canadian band since Bran Van 3000.
Broken Social Scene

But what’s with Arcade Fire? Simply over-rated? Or am I missing something?

Leonard Cohen

On By Rick McIn musicLeave a comment

Leonard CohenLeonard Cohen bio on wikipedia.

Willie Nelson sang Bird on a Wire. kd lang sang Hallelujah.

It was a tribute to the remarkable musician / poet philosopher. He’s my man.

Only in Canada could somebody with a voice like mine win ‘Vocalist of the Year’.
— first words of his speech accepting the Award for Best Male Vocalist in Canada (1992)

And Cohen is back recording at age 71.

Cohen leads Hall of Fame inductees
Leonard Cohen

where to get podcasts

On By Rick McIn audiocasts, internet, music, videocastsLeave a comment

Videos? Education? Travel? Food? Tech?

OK, mainly Tech.

Apple’s iTunes is your first stop. Think of iTunes as a convenient distribution jukebox. Though many podcasters have their own websites, iTunes makes finding new material easier than searching the whole web — just browse iTunes’ podcast categories to see what’s available.

Search for iTunes in at Google.com

More information from Wired magazine: get Wired

music – best recording of 2006 is …

On By Rick McIn music, product endorsementsLeave a comment

Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not

No contest. I listened more to the Monkeys than any other artist in 2006. I love everything about this concept album.

Arctic Monkeys are a four-piece indie rock/post-punk revival band from High Green, a suburb of Sheffield, England. Their first two singles, “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor” and “When The Sun Goes Down”, both went straight to number one in the UK Singles Chart. …

Unlike many of their contemporaries, who were marketed and advertised extensively by record labels, Arctic Monkeys achieved their success through fan-made demo tapes and online file-sharing, with fans singing along at gigs of songs which had never been officially released, leading media commentators to discuss the possibility of a sea change in the way in which new bands are promoted and marketed.

The band resisted signing to a major record label, even banning talent scouts from gigs. Eventually, the band signed to independent record label Domino Records, releasing their first album Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, which charted at number one and broke the record for the largest first week sales of a debut album in UK history. The band subsequently won several major music prizes for the album, including the 2006 Mercury Prize, “Best New Act” at the 2006 Brit Awards and “Best New Band” and “Best British Band” at the NME Awards.

The overnight success of the band and the gritty, realistic nature of the lyrics of songs such as “When The Sun Goes Down” has led to the band being described as the “yardstick for all that is current and cool”.

Arctic Monkeys – Wikipedia

Whatever People Say I Am, That\'s What I\'m Not

Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not

lists – year end 2005

On By Rick McIn books, humour, musicLeave a comment

BushI have always loved lists, especially around New Years.

I find I can skip entire years — then catch-up by scanning lists of the Best of ____.

For the 237th straight year, Fimoculous.com has posted a lists of lists for 2005.

For example, Roger Ebert’s best movies of the year. (I have seen not one of them.)

Or go straight to America’s Finest News Source, the top 10 stories of the year from Onion.com

What is Web 2.0?

On By Rick McIn blogs, miscellaneous, music, photosLeave a comment

To oversimplify, Web 1.0 was commerce. Web 2.0 is people.

Increasingly online users generate or interact with content — blogs, podcasts, music, video — rather than simply consume it.

The web rather than the desktop will be the dominant platform. Interactivity is key.

I’m agree. These days I hardly ever open Word, Excel or Powerpoint.

I update this blog online from any computer, for example.

Wired magazine: Are You Ready for Web 2.0?

books on .mp3

On By Rick McIn books, hiking, internet, musicLeave a comment

Finally!

Libraries where I live offer books on .mp3 on a CD disk.

I love listening to audio books when I travel. I am loading up now for my next trip (Mexico & Central America). Three books ready for upload to my mp3 player:

  • The Worst Journey in the World, by Apsley Cherry-Garrard
  • Running with the Bulls, My years with the Hemingways, by Valerie Hemingway
  • Northern Lights, by Nora Roberts

    • Ripping books from CD, in comparison, was slow & painful. Death to the audio CD.

    Use the IMPORT function on your iTunes (or other inferior) music software to get the track order sorted correctly.

    I am very happy with my Rio Cali waterproof mp3 player — but the way to go today is with the iPod Nano, the first good iPod.
    Rio Cali 256 MB Sport MP3 Player

    Favourite tunes of late

    On By Rick McIn musicLeave a comment

    <img Natasha Bedingfield photoI tend to listen to a few songs, old and new, over and over.

    The best of the new songs over last 6 months are rap / hip-hop — the most innovative genre right now.

    Kayne West – Gold Digger
    Natasha Bedingfield – These Words (I love you, I love you)
    50 Cent – Hate it or Love it (G Unit remix)

    Of the three, only Gold Digger has a video I would bother watching more than once. It is fantastic. I find most music videos lame. Why are there not more interesting videos in 2005?

    I should put in a good word for alternative Canadian supergroup, Our Lady Peace. Their new song Where are you is great. Interesting video too.

    rap music – 50 cent

    On By Rick McIn music2 Comments

    fiddy50 cent says he is now worth $60 million. Guess I am not the only one who likes his music. I might be the only one my age who likes it.

    Rap lyrics are ridiculous, I concede. But no other genre of music has been as innovative or as collaborative over the past 3-4 years. Listen to 50 cent Hate it or Love it — it is as catchy, as harmonic, as interesting as any song in years.

    Go head envy me, I’m rap’s MVP.

    I love vocal intensive music. Love the street doggerel.

    Most of the best rappers come from the NWA > Dr. Dre > eminem > 50 cent > G Unit > Lloyd Banks > The Game lineage. Dre is the common denominator. Seems he can do no wrong.

    Ludacris is good too.

    But rap is limited. With very few & vile lyrical themes, where can it go next? Eminem & Ludacris use humour. That works.

    Once the shock value of extreme lyrics wears thin, rap could quickly become boring. Uncool.

    50 would be a nostalgia act at that point.