Category: helloMike

Nudge Music Interface Lets Users Create Online

Today I was turned onto a new online music creation application called Nudge. The user friendly widget allows anyone — even those without any musical knowledge or experience — to compose rhythmic, electronic-based music by “painting” in boxes in 8 different color-coded 16×16 matrixes.

The interface is pretty intuitive and easy to learn in about 6seconds: You can control pitch of the note based on how high or low a box you select and you can control the rhythms by painting in boxes along the 1 measure timeline.

Subsequently, each color-coded matrix corresponds to a different synth instrument sound, including drums. You can control the overall tempo of the music and have the ability to pan each instrument to the left or right channel, control for volume or mute altogether.

One of the cooler aspects of this little app is the ability to share, embed and email your creations to others. Check out one of little bits I put together in about 3minutes:

Obviously you can be as simple or as complex as you want, but the best part is how easily you can just fool around until you get something that sounds pretty great.

Old Things That Are New To Me: Melody

File this one under “This seems like something I should have known… but didn’t.”

This morning I was listening to the wonderful Seattle radio station KEXP online and heard a moody, grooving song by David Holmes called “Don’t Die Just Yet.”

(Holmes, you might know from being the musician, producer and DJ behind many film soundtracks including notably, Steven Soderbergh’s Out Of Sight and Ocean’s Eleven.)

As I was listening, I heard these amazing swelling strings and dueling distorted guitar solos that I noted out loud sounded exactly like Beck’s fantastic “Paper Tiger” from Sea Change, one of my favorite albums by Beck.

It was promptly pointed out that this Holmes remix incorporated bits of strings from Serge Gainsbourg’s song “Melody” and that it was a song that Beck and Sea Change producer Nigel Godrich had apparently openly aped for their own song.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VoJMUpzAyI[/youtube]

I have been only somewhat aware of Serge Gainsbourg’s work on a very general level — I can recognize his musical style when I hear it, and have always enjoyed most of what I’ve heard. But I’ve never owned any albums by him so, up until now, I’ve never been overly familiar. But considering my fondness for Beck’s music, I was naturally a tad shocked that this song had eluded me.

I always love when hearing some random song takes you down this rabbit hole that presents an opportunity to discover new music and to dig into the Gainsbourg-sized gap in my musical knowledge.

“Melody” of course comes from the 1971 concept album, Histoire de Melody Nelson, in which Gainsbourg sleazily sings of a pseudo-autobiographical tale involving a car crash with the aforementioned Melody Nelson, a Lolita-esque teenage nymphet that he eventually seduces.

Histoire de Melody Nelson‘s mixes abrupt guitar, funky bass grooves and Gainsbourg’s distinctly lecherous spoken word vocal delivery all flourished with lush string and choral arrangements by Jean-Claude Vannier who composed almost all the music on the record.

According to the Wikipedia article, the album has “proven to be highly influential amongst later francophone and anglophone musical performers” including the Air, Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker, Portishead, and Beck.

A music video was made for each song on the incredibly short 28-minute album and eventually packaged together as a musical. Check out the video below for “Melody:”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fGXkT485ic[/youtube]

How did I miss this one? How did I miss that more than obvious connection between Beck’s song and Gainsbourg’s? The world will never know.

Reblogging: Jazz Now!

My cohorts over at NPR Music’s jazz blog A Blog Supreme have been curating a series of lists of some of the best jazz records from the last decade as a means to introduce new people to jazz. In the process we’re also sort of introducing a new modern canon of classic jazz records.

Now entering it’s second week, my list — which features MMW, Dave Holland, Marc Ribot, Dave Douglas and John Zorn — finally went up. Check it out here.

Beck’s ‘Planned Obsolescence’ Rethinks Digital Mixtape

Beck has been keeping busy.
Beck has been keeping busy.

All summer Beck has been slowly trickling out tracks from his Record Club as he Nigel Godrich and cast of other friends and musicians have covered The Velvet Underground & Nico in its entirety. He has also been releasing ‘acoustic’ versions of his 2008 album Modern Guilt, interviewing Tom Waits and Will Ferrell and unearthing found music. And just last night he unveiled his second Record Club effort, Songs Of Leonard Cohen, accompanied by MGMT, Devandra Banhart, Binki Shapiro (of Little Joy) and others.

Needless to say, the dude’s prolific.

One of the other main projects on his revamped website is Planned Obsolescence, in which he releases a new mixtape or DJ set of sorts. Perhaps because I was distracted by the other goodies, I overlooked most of these. But the latest effort, “No. 9: Sapphire Metallic And Silicone For Michael Jackson” really blew me away last night.

No. 9: Sapphire Metallic And Silicone For Michael Jackson by planned_obsolescence

Fusing together a mix of dance music, ambient and industrial electronic, hip hop, funk, a bit of indie rock and 60’s psychedelia, these sets are a great way to hear some new music, stuff you’ve heard before and some curios. It’s a great juxtaposition hearing all of this seamlessly mashed up, and truly mimics the feeling of scanning the car radio dial looking for a decent song.

Unlike other single song remixes or Girl Talk-esque uber-mashups with dozens (hundreds?) of cluttered samples that change just as soon as you figure out what song it’s from, Beck’s sets breathe much easier. It’s all a bit less frantic and the songs play out for just the right amount.

These DJ sets are worth hunting down, as they’d make a great playlist for a party, workout mix or even an early morning commute.

Also be sure to check out “No. 7 Summer Tapes,” all devoted to summer songs, including an inspired highlight where Beck segues a cascades through several versions of “Summertime Blues.”

No. 7: Summer Tapes by planned_obsolescence

The Muppets Play The Beatles

So I’ve heard some of The Beatles’ remasters coming out next Wednesday (9/9/09!!!) and all I can say is that they’re stunning. I’ve heard a handful of tracks from all the albums — standouts from what I’ve heard seem to be “I Am The Walrus,” “I’ve Got A Feeling,” “Daytripper,” “She’s Leaving Home” etc — plus all of Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour in their entirety.

I’ll be sure to write up more once I have the full stereo box set in my possession next week. But in anticipation, here is a bit of Beatles-related ephemera.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVLkRixjHo8[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZqXspiN-lg&NR=1[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjfdfU-uaPQ[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr7v5lLQhHQ[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfNg484cRCQ[/youtube]

Best Song I’ve Heard All Day: Unlikely Cover Song Edition

(parts 792 in a 1001 part series)

Lately I feel like this has become some sappy Flaming Lips fan blog, but this one was too good to pass up, and what can I say? I am fan.

Anyone who knows me even a little knows that I love a great cover song. One that’s not only a great performance, but one that makes you hear the original in a new light. One of my favorites from this year so far is The Flaming Lips’ cover of Madonna’s “Borderline.”

I first heard The Lips play this song at that pretty mediocre Earth Day concert earlier this year and it was fun to hear, but much like the rest of the set, underwhelming.

What I didn’t know was that the band not only has incorporated the song into their live set, but recorded it for a Warner compilation, Covered, A Revolution in Sound: Warner Bros Records with members of Stardeath and White Dwarfs. But judging from the rest of the music included, “Borderline” looks to be the standout.

The Flaming Lips’ version starts as a mellower approach to the song, dreamy and full of computerized glitches and chiming tones. But soon that epic noise rock side of the band really explodes, transforming it into a fantastic shoegazey stadium anthem. What I love about it is that it truly reinvents the song, peeling away the sheen and gauzey production of Madonna’s original and finding the nugget of a great pop song. Like most Madonna songs, this one is fully of great melodic hooks and really makes you appreciate the songcraft with fresh ears.

Take a listen here, and watch the great video that they made for it:

Who Am I Kidding? I’d Probably Eat That…

I am a huge fan of the website This Is Why You’re Fat, a brilliant blog that regularly shows photos of disgusting food concoctions that are so intensely bad for you that you have to question who would come up with this, let alone eat any of that junk. However, I regularly find myself admitting, “Who are you kidding? I’d probably eat that…” when I see some ungodly fatty meat invention. It’s not like I’d order it myself necessarily, or even make it at home. But I’m pretty sure I’d be game to eat anything on this site if it was served to me.

That said, LA Times and Huffington Post have tuned in on some buzz has been going on in the last few days about a new KFC product, the ‘Double Down,’ a hilarious “This Is Why You’re Fat”-like spoof on America’s obesity problem.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLwEZRf3www[/youtube]

And yet, it’s not a spoof. It’s real and it’s currently being test marketed in Providence, R.I. and Omaha, Neb.

It’s a “sandwich” of cheese, bacon and some sort of sauce, housed by two pieces of fried chicken breasts that serve as bread. It’s a wonder on the same level as the much derided KFC Bowls. America has spoken and I can’t wait to know what Patton Oswalt thinks.

But who am I kidding? I’d probably eat that.

UPDATE 8/27: In what might be the single greatest piece of writing in the now ubiquitous “KFC Double Down” genre of creative writing and criticism, Sean O’Neal of the AV Club, has a fantastic dystopic write-up. One of the many highlights:

Well naturally it’s exceeded expectations: Not only is its design a blow against “the tyranny of the bun,” it’s also the ultimate challenge to the rest of the fast-food industry to step up its game. KFC has seen your impotent Triple Whoppers and raised you bacon and cheese wrapped in two slices of fried chicken; put up or fold. And such escalation is a critical step toward engendering a citizenry so docile and addled with saturated fats that it has no choice but to accept whatever health care plan will cover their rapidly corroding insides.

Still, I’d probably eat one.

Best Song I’ve Heard All Day — Psych Pop Edition

(parts 731-733 in a 1001 part series)

I cannot express how much I am looking forward to the new Flaming Lips album Embryonic, which arrives in stores on October 13. From what I’ve heard of the pre-leaked tracks, the band sounds to be taking another sonic shift… a bit more psychedelia and noise than the last few albums. I was probably one of the few who thoroughly enjoyed At War With The Mystics, but I can see why people thought it was a bit too similar to Yoshimii and were subsequently underwhelmed.

Anyway here are all the songs so far…

Silver Trembling Hands:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiX-HDksbck[/youtube]

Convinced Of The Hex:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ3S-c-96ik[/youtube]

The Impulse:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk7kzIxcpSQ[/youtube]

See The Leaves:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVrVNZfGibU[/youtube]

Best Song I’ve Heard All Day: Panda Bear Edition

(part 721 in a 1001 part series)

For one reason or another, last year’s Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel by Brandon Cox’s side project Atlas Sound, never really caught on with me. Compared to Cox’s main musical outlet Deerhunter, and specifically 2008’s Microcastle, Atlas Sound just seemed more of the same.

After a bit of prodding from friend and occasional music collaborator (not to mention All Songs producer) Robin Hilton, I took another listen to that first record, as well as the new one Logos and fell in love.

My favorite track so far from Logos, “Walkabout” which features Animal Collective’s Noah Lennox.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcMGACqsg5A[/youtube]