Tag: links

  • the Zombie Dance Parade

    In my personal blog I already noted the demise of the FFWD Dance Parade in Rotterdam. The annual clone of the Love Parade in Berlin was Rotterdam’s annual party in the city centre, until the city government decided it was a security risk and could no longer take place in this form.

    The organisers now whipped together The Dance Parade 360, what seems to be on paper a pathetic display. Instead of trucks driving through the city centre, the Zuiderpark in the South of the city will be fenced off, tickets will be sold (only pre-sale) and the trucks will basically drive around in circles in the park with ‘crowds’ behind them, from what I can tell from the website.

    Most noteworthy to mention is that the most popular truck, the B2S, will not be present, nor will any form of harcore dance music. I can see why, since they don’t want any hooligan incidents, but effectively with the already poor location and strategy, it will make the FFWD just another small dance festival, hardly worth mentioning. It would be best for the organisation to call it quits for 2011, because this will be a pathetic charade. There’s no use keeping it on life support.

  • Things to be excited about

    EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP

    Not specifically music related, but certainly DYI: Graffiti artists Banksy’s film project. When will this be realeased in the Netherlands? Interesting story about this film is that he offered a piece of art to a band named Exit Through The Gift Shop Door to change their name so he could use the title. They accepted.

    HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS
    Rumour has it, that’s the new pet project of Trent Reznor and his wife. The sound samples on the page seem to confirm that Trent at least has to have a minor hand in this.

  • Sharing only kills a broken industry

    There’s a few interesting posts on other blogs and sites I’d like to point out for further reading. The Cult’s Ian Astbury said that he thinks what Radiohead did with their release of In Rainbows was irresponsible. Nathan Harden posts that he thinks people who share music are killing rock ‘n roll. All this criticism is based on an incorrect assumption that a restructuring of the music scene, the distribution and industry as a whole equates to killing it. Kyle Bylin has written a very good column explaining that it’s the industry that is broken.

    The fact that sharing is free, doesn’t mean there is no money that can be made by honest individuals and companies. Also, at the end of the day it’s art, not a consumer product. You can sell it, but it selling it is not its purpose in life.  If any thing, it is not a bad time for rock ‘n roll at all. Unless you’re a corporate rock band.

  • Labi Siffre – I Got The

    Some great songs lean on samples of even better songs. One example is Labi Siffre’s I got the (blues). It’s a great summer night soul song, you can put on and hang back. Until about halfway through the song there’s a small break and something familiar starts up. And then you realise you’re listening to Eminem’s Hi… my name is .

  • Audiotool

    Audiotool

    For those who want to get a bit more of a feel what it’s like to play with a studio set up, Audiotool.com provides a quick webbased music studio. In the 1.0 version there’s two basic drum machines, three synths, thirteen effect boxes and some gear needed to mix it all together. You set them up in the exact same way you would with it’s real world counterparts, except now you get to do it with just your browser for free.

    The problem is that Audiotool balances between what the starter might still have to learn about real hardware (how do you link all these things together) and what the pro demands (needs more gear). As such it might bridge a gap for quite a few new people  who are willing to learn and a great toy to play with for pro’s on a lazy weekend.The wait is for a new release with more gear.

  • Brett Domino – Timberlake Medley

    More than a year ago, I already praised what the Brett Domino Trio was doing in my personal blog. He did an excellent cover of Michael Jackson’s Beat It, before Michael Jackson had even died. I’ll repeat it: the nerdy act may secretly all be a gimmick, but regardless Brett Domino & friends prove that musically even with the most simple means and instruments, you can make something made of epic win. And here he is doing it again with a medley of Justin Timberlake songs:

  • Selling out is harder than you think

    Want to make a living a musician? Then make great music, press your own cd’s and sell them online. If you sell about 150 of them each month, you might make minimum wage. Any other road will mean you shouldn’t quite your day job. That’s the quick answer provided by graphs made by Information is Beautiful.

    Of course, this might be excluding any other amount of investments you need to make (recording the music, buying instruments), but still the picture painted is quite realistic. And it explains why record companies only seem to care about big artists who sell a lot. Their entire system is not only set up on making big artists even bigger, it’s their only tactic for survival and why they are shitting their pants about what’s happening on the internet.This is why they are using bogus arguments that even the US government is no longer buying.

    You may say Freeloaders are ruining entertainment, but let’s face it, copying is not theft. If you’re a self-respecting artist, be realistic. Make music because you love it, not because you have to make a living out of it. It’s nice if you can or at least make an extra buck, but never corner yourself in a position where you accuse your own fans of ripping you off. I know plenty of artists who don’t make an income off their art, but make an income to be able to make art. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

  • iNudge


    iNudge is a simple, but brilliant sequencing toy to play with, with just your browser. You can select a number of pre-programmed synth sounds, sketch a few patterns and get a simple but pretty, looped tune.

    It’s learning curve is virtually non-existant, but even more experienced musicians might enjoying tinkering with it. Ideal to kill the weekend with.

  • Blood Red Shoes: From DIY to ‘Professional’

    Over at Drowned in Sound, there’s an interesting article by/about the Blood Red Shoes and their top 10 list of advices to start DIY and become ‘professional’, although from their story, you start doubting how professional the supposed professionals are.

  • Aviary Myna

    Aviary is a website that builds webbased tools. They’re best known for their free ‘online Photoshop clone’ Phoenix. They recently launched a pretty basic online audio editor and composer named Myna that just requires a browser to run.

    Myna audio editor

    You can record audio tracks, upload them or take them from a database and assemble them together to form a track. For more experienced musicians already working with tools like Cubase, it’s much too basic and nothing more than a handy ‘sketch’ tool when on holiday with just a laptop and an internet connection.  But for someone just starting out or just doing it for the love of music and not having a budget to buy expensive, complicated software, Myna is a good and easy way to start.