Saturday, August 14, 2010
In 1988, a pair of British acid house DJs named Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty, variously known as The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (The JAMs), The Timelords and The KLF, had an improbable number one hit with “Doctorin’ The Tardis.” The track isn’t so much a song as it is an early mashup. Aside [...]
Filed in music, tv
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Also tagged book, dance, doctor who, eighties, looping, memes, michael jackson, pop, production, recording, rick astley, songwriting, uk, whitney houston
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I’m pretty sure that “Need You Tonight” by INXS was the last song I fell in love with through commercial radio. I would never have admitted it, and I couldn’t have articulated why, but oh yes, in middle school this track hit me exactly where I lived. It still sounds as fresh today as it [...]
May 22nd at 9:30 Parkside Lounge – 317 E. Houston St 9:30 pm Revival Revival – Babsy Singer, Ethan Hein, Pam Adams 10:30 pm Danger Pin – Sam Gurewitz, Matt Horton 11:30 pm DJ Babsy No cover!
Classical music recordings are usually straightforward snapshots of live performances. Sometimes recordings are spliced together from multiple takes or overdubbed, but this practice is considered by classical musicians to be highly shameful. Glenn Gould had a very different attitude toward the studio. He loved working there, and viewed it as a more valuable creative outlet [...]
My friend Adam suggested combining “Let’s Dance” by David Bowie and “Just Dance” by Lady Gaga. Here’s the result. Let’s Just Dance [Audio clip: view full post to listen] Revival Revival vs Lady Gaga vs David Bowie mp3 download, ipod format download
Friday, February 26, 2010
The vast majority of music that I hear is recorded, and if you’re reading this the same is probably true of you. Most people don’t have a clear idea what the recording process is like, especially using computers. Here are my adventures in recording. I grew up in the eighties. Cassette recorders were just starting [...]
Filed in hardware, music, software
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Also tagged analog, audio, audio editing, autotune, book, computers, electronica, hip-hop, improvisation, looping, music, pro tools, recording, remixes, revival revival, sampling, sequencing, synths, tape, tape editing, visualization
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Saturday, February 20, 2010
Fan Wars: Copyright vs. Mash-ups and Fan Fiction Many mash-up artists seem unaware that their work implicates any rights at all, and copyright owners may be reluctant to alienate fans with copyright restrictions. Artists such as Girl Talk remain outspoken against copyright restrictions on mash-up culture. Individual copyright owners, such as the owners of Star [...]
This PBS Independent Lens documentary on sampling culture is a good one, and you can watch the whole thing on Youtube. Their resources and links page includes my Biz Markie blog post. Thanks Beautiful Decay for posting the videos. Part one:
Filed in movies, music, software, tv
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Also tagged a tribe called quest, audio editing, beastie boys, biz markie, book, clyde stubblefield, computers, copyright, dance, dj, eighties, george clinton, hip-hop, improvisation, james brown, jeff chang, looping, memes, michael jackson, music, pro tools, public enemy, recording, remixes, rock, sampling
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DJ Kool Herc likes to say that The Incredible Bongo Band’s version of “Apache” is the national anthem of hip-hop. Its famous drum and percussion break reliably put bodies on the dance floor through hip-hop’s prehistory and has been sampled untold numbers of times. Here’s the break: [Audio clip: view full post to listen] On [...]
Filed in music
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Also tagged apache, book, breakdancing, copyright, dance, dna, double dee and steinski, drum n bass, drumming, evolution, funk, goldie, grandmaster flash, hip-hop, history, kool herc, memes, missy elliot, nas, pop, questlove, roots, sampling, seventies
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Monday, December 28, 2009
I don’t get to movie theaters much. But as part of the new family plan to enjoy ourselves on Christmas, I went to see Avatar in 3D with a bunch of relatives. I went in intending to dislike it, and came out having thoroughly enjoyed myself. So much for my hipsterish snobbery. What’s interesting to [...]
Filed in movies
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Also tagged aliens, america, anne mccaffrey, avatar, capitalism, gaia hypothesis, green, james cameron, memes, military, movies, native americans, originality, pop, racism, roger dean, scifi, south park, the abyss, the matrix, white people, yes
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