bitdepth

Get Behind Me Satan

Get Behind Me Satan The White Stripes are a simple duo that have a knack for catchy, quirky songs that I love. With a bluesy feel and a 70s rock sound I always seem to have the same reaction and the album grows on me. At first I think that it’s ok and usually have an early favourite song that is the catchy single and then I listen a bit more and the other diverse songs start to grow on me. With Get Behind Me Satan, it’s the same. The moods shift from song to song and you never know what to expect other than a lovingly-crafted collection of songs. My favourite quirky song on the album is “Little Ghost” which is the infectious and old-timey story of a man who falls in love with a ghost. Fun and sometimes I even sing along.
The other interesting thing is that it was the first album that I bought from the iTunes Music Store. It was a very simple process and I can see doing it fairly often. With this album I also got the music video for “Blue Orchid” (an energetic romp through an old house directed by Floria Sigismondi) as well as a digital booklet in PDF form. Neat.

July 5, 2005 music, review, whitestripes

Skimskitta

The very first online audio that I purchased was Skimskitta by Mira Calix. I found out about Mira Calix through a feature on CBC Radio 3 (click on the Mira Calix link on the Flash-enabled page). The sounds I heard there were intriguing as well as her process of creating ambient musical soundscapes with bits of sound from nature as well as electronic sounds. So I listened to the excerpts many times and kept my eyes open for any CDs. Eventually I found some, but they were a bit expensive. Then I found Bleep, which is Warp Records online digital music store. I was able to listen to all of the tracks on Skimskitta and I bought and downloaded the tracks.
It’s hard to describe what she creates. It’s ambient and rhythmic and I think that much of it works on a subconscious level. I have to be in a fairly receptive mood, but every time I listen I hear more. My absolute favourite listen to again and again and again track is I May Be Over There (But My Heart is Over Here). (If you have the Flash plugin installed you can listen to the track through an embedded player by clicking on the name of the track.) The emotion and progression of the sound is breathtaking. I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s as if she reached into my heart, transcribed the notes within and then constructed the sound so that it resonates in my soul.
technorati tags: miracalix, review, music, skimskitta

June 30, 2005 miracalix, music, review

Sonic Outlaws

Craig Baldwin‘s 1995 documentary Sonic Outlaws tells the story of audio visual artists and rebels who increasingly are being threated by laws that twist the notion of copyright and creativity. One of the stories in the film is that of Negativland and their battle with Island Records over their amazing reworking and recontextualizing of some audio by Casey Kasem and some of the band U2‘s song, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”. The film is filled with appropriated images and sound and demonstrates the techniques through the interviews and excerpts from the work of the artists interviewed. Shot with a wide range of film and video formats (including the low-res Fisher-Price Pixelvision!), it’s a constantly-changing audiovisual feast with images and sound that tap into our collective pop-culture memory. It also is an important account of the folk-art roots and history of cultural commentary and collage.
Things have become much more challenging since the release of the film. The media and electronics conglomerates have clamped down much more both legally and technologically to prevent the recording and reuse of material. The “record” button on VCRs in the future will not be controlled by you! While the situation for artists now is not great, in Sonic Outlaws we see those who fight for the right to remix and reuse and they do it with skill and humour.
technorati tags: film, dvd, review, copyright, copyfight, collage

June 29, 2005 collage, copyfight, copyright, dvd, film, music, review

Real Gone

Tom Waits - Real Gone

The music was like electric sugar.

The arrival of a new recording by Tom Waits is always exciting. The latest one, Real Gone, is bold and wonderful. While he could coast on his inherent coolness, he and long-time collaborator Kathleen Brennan have stayed in the same lyrical territory, but musically it’s a bit more radical, but crisply produced and a joy to listen to. Waits and his musical accomplices wander through diverse musical terrain with infectious beats that get into your head and roll around in your mind and touch your soul. Tom Waits is like an old friend who you always look forward to seeing again to find out what he’s been up to.

He’s the type of wheel you don’t fall asleep at.

The tracks are amongst some of my favourite songs and I’ve been listening to it almost constantly since last night. What is interesting is that many of the songs continue threads started on other albums with rhythms, sounds and noises that remind you of the ancestors. The family was involved with the production as well with son Casey providing some turntable and percussion support. A few seconds in to the first track, “Top of the Hill”, he had me. It’s a hypnotic mixture of rhythmic sounds with a toe-tapping beat. Listening to “Dead and Lovely” I have an image in my mind of a dance hall filled with elegantly dressed couples dancing while the dark lyrics and smoky rhythm fill the spaces between the dancers.

What’s more romantic than dying in moonlight.

The meandering poem “Circus” paints the dirty picture of a circus and those who are trapped inside it and follows on from tracks like “9th and Hennepin” from Rain Dogs and “What’s He Building in There?” from Mule Variations. “The Day After Tomorrow” could be the completion of a trio of tragic letters home that started with “Tom Traubert’s Blues” from Small Change and continued through “Time” from Rain Dogs.

I know that rose like I know my name.

Who would have known that something with so many experimental elements could feel so familiar. But that’s Tom and I’m glad that I have another glimpse of more of the musical territory that he’s exploring with his friends and family.

October 9, 2004 cd, kathleenbrennan, music, realgone, review, tomwaits

Medulla

It’s tricky when
you feel someone
has done
something on your behalf

Björk is a fairly unique and talented individual. Her new CD, Medúlla is built around her distinctive voice. While it’s not completely acapella, it’s a fascinating collection of soundscapes and minimalist lyrics that I really like. I heard the track and saw the video for “Oceania” and I fell in love with it. This can be a dangerous thing as the rest of the songs may not be as enjoyable. The interesting thing is that the other tracks on Medúlla aren’t a lot like “Oceania”, which is probably the most mainstream of the songs, but I love the diversity of the other songs. Each song takes you on a little journey with amazing stereo explorations of sonic and emotional spaces. The design of the CD by M/M is beautiful as well with a striking photograph of Björk on the cover by Inez & Vinoodh. I find that Medúlla is the perfect way for me to take a break from everything that tends to swirl around me every day.

September 5, 2004 bjork, cd, medulla, music, review

Creative Commons New Licenses

I’m a big fan of the Creative Commons project. They keep expanding the project with new licenses more specifically targeted to music and countries other than the USA. You can search for content and create your own derivative works. Many people are embracing the model of sharing and respecting the audience. Right now I’m listening to a stream from Magnatune who have built their online record label around Creative Commons licenses. The reason that I’m writing now is that they’ve revamped their licenses and I’ve revised my licensing. Now the written content on the site is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 deed. There also is a new logo that you’ll see at the bottom of the site. That means that you can use anything that I’ve written on the site as long as you give me credit and you aren’t using it commercially and you can also modify what I’ve written as long as you allow others the same right. Everyone should contribute to the commons!

June 7, 2004 creativecommons, law, magnatune, music

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