posted by david on Fri 28 Jun 2002 @ 11:32 PM

A few months ago a friend of mine brought over a live DVD of The Who and as we watched, he explained what an extraordinary bassist John Entwistle is, as he plays the bass like a lead guitar. Being a non-musician, I didn't completely understand what he was talking about but he was obviously in awe of his talent. Unfortunately, we have now lost that talent - John Entwistle has died of a heart attack in Las Vegas. He was 57.

posted by david on Thu 20 Jun 2002 @ 09:08 PM | read or post comments (1)

In the media industry, it sometimes seems that all the so-called celebrities are clambering over each other as they attempt to climb the ladder. When John Safran famously confronted Ray Martin outside Ray's house, the thought that John was not interested in playing that game was heavily underlined. When things get a little too pompous, people like Safran can be a breath of fresh air. I've heard mutterings for a while that he was going to do a SBS series on music and while this article doesn't give us a lot of details about what exactly "John Safran's Music Jamboree" will entail, I have a feeling it will be interesting TV. It starts on SBS Monday 24/6 at 8:30pm (I like the way the JSMJ website is credited to SBS New Media and SBS Legal).

posted by david on Wed 19 Jun 2002 @ 10:21 AM

The folks over at Slashdot have pointed out a review thingy of a bunch of computer soundcards, talking about their features and problems. I've heard some interesting things about the Creative Audigy - I think there's an external version that plugs into the USB port so that you can use some of it's features independently of the computer. There was some speculation about whether it could strip the SSCM signal that's embedded in digital outputs of gadgets like Minidisc recorders so that you could make your own MD recording and then transfer it to CD without any dramas. It seems that computer soundcard technology is starting to get interesting.

posted by david on Tue 18 Jun 2002 @ 11:31 AM

It seems that musical ability may be hereditary, according to this BBC article It seems a bunch of neurologists have done a study which showed that musicians " had 130% more grey matter in the part of the brain that makes sense of music compared with people who were not musical". Like many of these studies some are suggesting that the reason for this may be that people who play a lot of music have developed the area of the brain in question and it's not a hereditary thing at all. All I can say to the musicians out there is: don't let this go to your head. Oops, sorry... :-)

posted by david on Sun 9 Jun 2002 @ 06:15 PM

There's been a lot of hoo-ha about mp3 technology affecting the music industry and a little has discussed the popularity of CDRs but I haven't read a lot of discussion about how CDRs are changing the way bootlegs propagate. In this article at The Age, Jon Casimir takes a look at the topic but disappointingly, doesn't seem to address whether home bootlegging is affecting the "professional" bootleg operations. Most CD trading trees I've seen baulk at trading copies of officially released albums but they've no problem with trading copies of bootlegs produced by professional bootleggers.

posted by david on Sun 9 Jun 2002 @ 03:01 PM

Apparently Tim Finn has returned to manic pop with his latest album "Feeding The Gods". I've spoken to a few people who attended his recent Melbourne shows and most loved the energy although one thought it was a bit weird seeing him jumping around like a teenager. Steve Earle has released an album of rarities titled "Sidetracks" collecting b-sides and random stuff he's written for films such as "Dead Man Walking". Linda Thompson has returned to the studio after a 17 year absence and will release the aptly-titled Fashionably Late on July 30 through Rounder Records. The album will feature appearances from ex-husband Richard, their son Teddy, Rufus Wainwright, Van Dyke Parks and others. The new album from Wilco is titled "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" and is getting a bit of attention from the critics (who love it) partly because it's the record that caused their record company to drop them. Apparently they thought it was a bit too weird. If that's the way record companies think, Radiohead should be counting their lucky stars. Apparently there's also a documentary film on the way which details the dramas with the album. Billboard has a piece discussing Joe Jackson re-uniting his "Joe Jackson Band" with which he recorded his albums "Look Sharp!", "I'm The Man" and "Beat Crazy". It seems that Joe is doing the whole nostalgia thing: first it was recording the album titled "Night & Day II" and now he's celebrating the 25th anniversary of the release of "Look Sharp!".

Reviews:
Linda Thompson: Rolling Stone

posted by david on Tue 4 Jun 2002 @ 07:41 PM | read or post comments (2)

Regular readers have probably already guessed that Bruce Springsteen is one of my favourite artists. Maybe he can be bettered as a singer, a songwriter, a guitarist or as a showman but considering his talents together, I'd be happy to argue that he has few, if any, peers. But his output over the past 10 years could be considered disappointing, with his last studio rock album released in 1992 and his last studio album released 7 years ago. Fans of his work with the E Street Band have to go back to 1987 for their last studio effort together, and if that lacks the punch the band are famous for, you've got to go even further back to 1984 and "Born In The USA". Looking back like that, it seems a terrible drought. Thankfully, we can fret no longer as the Bruce camp have announced the imminent release of a new studio album with the E Street Band. Both Backstreets and Billboard are reporting that "The Rising" will feature 15 new songs and will hit stores July 30. The album is said to be influenced by the events of September 11, so I'll be interested to hear what perspectives he has to offer. This album has not been produced by Bruce's longtime manager Jon Landau, with Brendan O'Brien taking the reins so it may mean we'll hear the E Street Band like we've never heard them recorded before. I can't wait.

Reviews: Billboard - Timeoff - Rolling Stone - CNN - Post-Gazette - Nando Times - National Review Online - Boston Globe - San Francisco Chronicle - New York Metro - Newsday - Contra Costa Times - Washington Post - Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin) - Chicago Sun-Times - PopMatters