Big Job Ahead

/ / iPhone Apps, Opinion, rantings, review

Nifty iPhone app: mylibrary. Not the lite version … the full-blown, non-ad-supported version.

Since it incorporates the Occipital bar code scanner SDK, it allows the user to scan a CD (or book or DVD/Blu-ray) to get the data for the disc. The only thing it doesn’t automatically populate is the genre and the price, which are relatively trivial if you’re using the app to have a one-stop shop for your music collection.

So the big job comes in that I need want to scan my collection. This will be time consuming. Remember how long it took Boston to release 3rd Stage after Don’t Look Back? Ya. Think in those terms. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating, but not by much. We have two shelves full of CDs. I’m guessing there are at least 500-600, but I could be wrong. The good news is that I already have about 160 scanned, but those are just the ones that don’t fit on the shelves.

The problem I keep running into is that I go to Graywhale and find some CD, but I think I already have it, but I’m not sure, so I buy it anyway, only to get home and find out that, indeed, I already own it. Lucky me–I now have two copies. Thankfully, they’re pretty good about returning something relatively quickly. Also thankfully, this app will prevent any kind of duplicate purchases in the future. Nice, eh? And at only 99 cents, I can catalog my book and movie library as well. THAT’s a pretty sweet bargain.

Throw in the fact that you can back up your data to their server, and voila–you’re set.

My only issue with the app right now is that it doesn’t download much cover art. I would much prefer that I don’t have to go out to Google, search for the image, save it to my photos library, open the app, select the image as the cover art, then re-save the file. Not a HUGE pain, but a pain all the same.

Other than that, if you have a large library of ANY kind–books, movies, CDs … you’re gonna need want this app.

iPhone for Concert Video and Audio Recording

/ / Opinion, rantings, review

I’m going to give you one very solid reason to pick up an iPhone 4.

HD recording. Insane sound quality RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE FRICKIN’ STACK. impeccable video and audio recording capaiblity alone should push you towards an iPhone 4 IF you are a fan of concert video footage of your own making. You can hear everything–from the background keyboards to the syncopated high hat. That’s impressive. You don’t just get the extreme high and low end sounds … you’re getting a fantastic full range. I can only imagine that the next iteration of the iPhone will have full 1080p HD capability, but for now 720 is fantastic (get it? FANtastic? music fan? recor … blergh. Never mind.)

Not to mention the 5MP camera. Granted, it will do better the closer you are to the stage, but it works well, even in the low-light conditions of a concert. Of course a steady hand is mandatory, but that’s true of taking pictures with ANY camera. The iPhone is no exception.

So there you have it. It does HD video, audio, and pictures, all on one convenient device.

I can find other reasons to justify picking up this awesome little device that are non-music related, but really … this one is the deal-sealer in my book. If you attend concerts regularly and want to record some video for posterity (read: flood YouTube with amazingness and such), this is the phone for you. Sure you could buy a Flip or something else, maybe even something that does 1080p, but A) you might run into issues with getting into a concert with such a device, B) a phone is much less likely to be turned away at the door.

Web Comic Fun

/ / Opinion, rantings

Admittedly, web comics aren’t my … thing. I don’t read a lot of them. It takes a lot for me to *want* to follow a web comic.

Enter Jeph Jacques. Much like Penny Arcade is to video games, the original concept of Questionable Content was to bring Indie music to the masses. I think. That’s my perception of the comic, anyway. With a degree in music, I’m sure there had to be some correlation.

As far as comics go, you’ll need to read it for yourself to judge of course, but I frickin’ love it. Witty, acerbic, sardonic, and TONS of indie music references. Especially at the beginning of the strip. As it progresses, it kind of reaches its zenith with the music references when the main character, Martin, forms a band with his friends. After that fizzles, so do the music references. Again … correlation? Dunno. One to ask Jeph.

Not only does he design his web comic exclusively, but he also designs the merchandise as well. I got a t-shirt the other day with the ever-endearing anthro PC, Winslow, that says “I am full of music.” It couldn’t be any more appropriate for me. LOVE the shirt.

Jeph also maintains a couple other blogs. here are somenod his links:

www.twitter.com/jephjacques
www.jephdraw.com
qcjeph.livejournal.com
qcjeph.tumblr.com

Awesome online comic. Enjoy it.

Boom Bip – Blue-Eyed in the Red Room

/ / Opinion, review

Since I haven’t really “reviewed” anything as of late, I flipped over to iTunes and hit the “random” button. I then clicked “next” 5 times. The first thing that popped up was Boom Bip’s Blue-Eyed in the Red Room CD. So, here goes.

Ummm … cool.

Interesting stuff. I like that it’s mostly instrumental. I also like that there are literally no samples used. There’s kind of a Postal Service sound to this, but no Ben Gibbard–just music. And it’s mixed really well. A lot of times with instrumentals, there’s an emphasis on keyboards, or bass, or drum beats. Not this–everything is well balanced and sounds great together. I’d be curious to know if this was all done on a keyboard, or whether actual instruments were used. It sounds like instruments, but with as accurate as some sound processors can be, it’s a bit difficult to tell!

The CD opens with “Cimple.” Keyboards, piano, drums, bass, something that sounds like a harpsichord, some other programmed sounds … kind of a mellow piece that kind of keeps you awake, but could easily lull you to sleep.

“The Move” is a little faster, with more keyboards, bass drums, something that sounds like it’s supposed to be a snare but isn’t … sounds more like a DJ scratching. Lots of layered sounds mixed in.

I’m liking this CD.

“Do’s and Dont’s” features utilizes the vocals of Gruff Rhys. “Thou shall not do this; thou shall not do that.” I like the lyrics–a classic back-and-forth between opposites. I’m also digging the water-pipe sounds. If you’re familiar with the STOMP dvd where they play pipes in an underground sewer line and they put them in water and move them up and down, yah–similar sound.

Kind of like Mike Oldfield, a little Owl City-ish… though in my opinion more diverse and a LOT more sounds than OC. I like this CD a lot.

Okay, that’s it for the song reviews. If you’re a fan of instrumental music and dig the whole electronica scene, this CD is for you.

Best of Both Worlds

/ / Opinion, rantings, review

So, U2 had to cancel their tour due to Bono’s back surgery. Crushing shame for fans all over the world, right?

Tell that to the Glastonbury audience.

In their absence, Muse was asked to fill the slot. Now … I have no problem admitting that I am a HUGE Muse fan, and I bask in their musical glory on a daily basis, but those are awesomely MIGHTY large shoes to have to fill. U2 is legendary. Their shadow is cast on just about every country. Is there a corner of the world that hasnt’ heard of them? I highly doubt it. Muse, by way of comparison, are on the rise, and they are comprised of some of the best musicians out there, but …  they’re not Adam, Edge, Bono or Larry.

Yet.

So the good folks at Glastonbury recognized the talent in Muse, asked them to headline the show. An honor in and of itself. However, Muse “filling in” for U2 is like asking the now LA Lakers to “fill in” for the Chicago Bulls of the 90s. You can’t do it.

Yet.

Muse knows PR. They know the fans got shafted out of seeing the legends. They also know that they have a good, strong fan base in the UK. So … how do you assuage the audience that feels cheated?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yX1avvACZM&feature=related

If that doesn’t give you goosebumps, you suck. Period. For one, it means you know next to nothing about either music history or current music, which begs the question: “Why am I even reading this blog?” Second, the energy these two bands have ALONE is enough to power a small country, like France. Together? I don’t know. We’re way past nuclear fusion or atomic energy. We haven’t even created that much energy yet.

Or maybe they have.

In any case, enjoy the video. I have at least a dozen times at this point.

iPhone Music App You NEED

/ / iPhone Apps, Opinion, review

Nifty.

That’s about the best way to describe Moodagent. This app ($4.99 in the App Store) will take all your songs, catalog them and assign them to one or more categories (up to 5), then you can select your mood–sensual, tender, happy, or angry, then select the tempo. All of this selecting is done on color-coded sliders. The higher you slide a particular mood, the more songs of that type will be added to a playlist. The playlist can be up to 50 songs, but the default is 25. 

With the new 2.0 version of the app, you can tweet or Facebook your playlist. I *love* that. I’m a big fan of sharing what I’m listening to (though once it got me in a bit of trouble with FB friends who wondered why I was posting every 3-5 minutes, “I’m listening to ‘X’ by Y,” but that was a different app, iShareTunes). I’m also a monster fan of helping others discover new music. Others better than I have done it for me; the least I can do is return the favor. “Pay it forward,” as it were, only with a musical twist.

There is a music profiler that you can download from their site, both for PC and Mac platforms, that allows you to “speed up” the process. I’ve noticed that quite a few of my songs (read: a few thousand) weren’t catagorizable because they weren’t in the profiler’s database, nor could the program cull the information from the internet. I’d say about 90% of my items were cataloged. Pretty good, considering the amount of indie and foreign/world music I have.

Things I’d like to see in future releases:

  • Longer playlists. Really, 50 songs is good, but it’s really only about 3-4 hours of music, if that. If all you have is Weezer, then it’s probably about an hour and a half of music. 🙂 And sure moods can swing in that 4 hour span, but … meh. At least it’d be another option.  
  • Better cataloging. This has to be a no-brainer. 90% is good, but … when you have a 30000-song repository, that means you’re lacking 3000 tunes. Not good. That’s approximately 300 CDs. WHAT?! Yes–you read that right. 300 CDs not cataloged. So, again, 90% is good. 100% … yah. That should be the target. Always (again, a no-brainer).

Other than that, it’s a *great* app. I like selecting the “angry” mood with the slowest tempo possible. I get some seriously brooding, bruising tracks. Conversely, selecting the “happy” mood with the fastest tempo could very easily cause me to swerve off the road from the sheer energy.

For example, here are the first 10 tracks that Moodagent selected for me, based on the “angry” mood being all the way at the top, and the tempo being set to the lowest setting:

  • Autolux – Turnstyle Blues
  • Phaser – Life and Illusion
  • Muse – Microcuts (a personal favorite)
  • Adult – Contagious
  • Land of Talk – Magnetic Hill
  • The Beautiful Confusion – Rain
  • Xandria (Casablanca)
  • Krypteria – Victoriam Speramus
  • The Music – Guide
  • The National – The Geese of Beverly Road

Here’s an uptempo happy playlist:

  • Niyaz – Arezou
  • Vas – Moshka
  • Mike Oldfield – Sunjammer
  • Nouvelle Vague – Dancing with Myself
  • Von Iva – Birds of Prey
  • Of Montreal – Oslo in the Summertime
  • Niyaz – Golzar
  • Dido (don’t judge) – Us 2 Little Gods
  • Straylight Run – Untitled
  • Azam Ali – I Am a Stranger in This World

Anyway, for all you iPhone users out there, get this app. I think it’s well worth the $5 it costs. There is a free version, but the only difference is that it’s not ad-supported. In other words, annoying ads appear at the top of the app. If you can live with that, by all means, download the free version. I loathe ads, so I ponied up the $5.

a-HA!

/ / Opinion, review

There are some bands that you just never out-grow. They stay with you for life. Regardless of what others may think, you stay true to your bands for whatever reason.

So it is with a-ha and me. One of the first tapes I bought was their Hunting High and Low release from 1985. Really, I only bought it for “The Sun Always Shines on TV,” but I quickly started listening to the whole thing.

Because I enjoyed their first offering so much, when Scoundrel Days was released in 1986, I figured it had to be pretty good, so why not give it a shot. On the strength of HHaL and their first single from SD (“Cry Wolf”), I went to my local music store and bought it. Same style of typical 80s synth-pop, but SD seemed to have a different feel to it. I don’t know … maybe “meloncholy” is the right word. It’s a great listen.

Time marched on, I started listening to different music, like Van Halen, The Cult, Rush, Led Zeppelin … stuff like that. Meanwhile, Norway’s best-kept musical offering kept marching on. They released Stay on These Road, East of the Sun West of the Moon, and Memorial Beach between 1988 and 1993. I had known about SoTR, but I never picked it up. Not even recording the newest Bond film title track (“The Living Daylights”) got me to purchase it.

My roommate in college and now brother in law has been into them for a number of  years. Through him, I actually discovered that they had 3 additional CDs between 2000 and 2005 –  Minor Earth Major Sky, Lifelines and Analogue respectively. I tried listening to all 3 of them. Not bad recordings … just not my cup of tea. My problem with them was that I wanted them to sound like 1985. That doesn’t work.

Until they released Foot of the Mountain last year. A full return to their original synth-pop roots. And it totally works. The first track on their newest CD, “The Bandstand,” has a great keyboard sound to it. Extremely catchy, easy to hum and remember. But in the background is layered some subtle bass lines that keep the track flowing nicely. There are also some strings that I’m sure are born of another midi keyboard, but whatever. The drums sound processed as well, if not programmed. Again, whatever.

The amazing thing to me is that Morton (lead singer), sounds the same now as he did 25 years ago. If you mixed tracks from HHaL with FotM, you’d be hard pressed to separate which tracks are from which CD without prior knowledge. It’s really impressive.

Saturday Morning Rip Session

/ / New Music, Opinion, rantings

So, I’m finally getting around to ripping all the music I bought 3 Fridays ago. I’ve sampled songs from The Happies, Inkwell, Josephine Foster, and Foma. Again, not a let-down amongst them.

A friend of mine was right about The Happies … they’re a great local band. Well, local to me, anyway. Used to be local to her. Anyway, as I typically do with music that I like, I tried finding more of their recordings. Either there are other bands with the same name, or they’re pretty diverse. Based on the fact that their label only has If I Were Really Here listed as their only CD, I’m guessing these guys are a completely different band. Interesting …

Anyway, on with the ripping!

Grooveshark … Yah.

/ / Opinion

One amongst us just became a HUGE fan of Grooveshark. So far, it’s found everything I’ve thrown at it: Rush, Tool, Samantha Crain, Joanna Newsom, Appleseed Cast, Lacuna Coil, Metric … and it’s not just pulling back studio-released material. There were live songs thrown in there as well. Wow. I’m … wow.

This is very cool. This beats the pants off of Pandora.

Today’s Playlist

/ / Opinion, rantings

So, again … Friday will have come and gone, and I won’t make it up to my favorite CD shop. Boo hoo for me.

Anyway, here’s what’s played on my iphone so far today, in reverse order (current to latest).

  • Metric – Wet Blanket
  • Over The Rhine – Jesus in New Orleans
  • Scarlett Johannson – Summertime (Sublime cover)
  • Animal Collective – Turn into Something
  • Nouvelle Vague – O Pamela
  • Metallica – Fade to Black
  • The Cult – Automatic Blues
  • Swans – Telepathy
  • Lunatica – World under Ice
  • Dido – Slide
  • Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johannson – Clean
  • Joanna Newsom – Does Not Sufice
  • Sigur Ros –  Myrkur
  • Hungry Lucy – Open Window (Chandeen mix)
  • Belle & Sebastian – Photo Jenny
  • Collide – Spaces In Between

Not a bad mix. Old school Metallica mixed with the new version of The Breeders in Metric.

Well, *I* think that Metric sounds like The Breeders.

I skipped ahead to She Wants Revenge’s “Sleep.” Justin Warfield has such a unique voice. Hard to mistake it. He has a lot of earlier projects that I want to check out too.

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