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Quote of the Week:

All solitary dreamers know that they hear differently when they close their eyes.
-Gaston Bachelard

Notes from Notchcode

5.05.2008

Mann vs. Isaak



So, Internets: Who should my wife, friends and I see at the Denver Botanic Gardens concert series this summer? Aimee Mann (with Marc Cohn) or Chris Isaak? Isaak's concert is TWENTY BUCKS MORE EXPENSIVE.

I saw both of them on the same bill back in about 1987, at the Coors Events Center up at CU/Boulder: Til Tuesday AND Chris Isaak opened for the Thompson Twins....how ironic is that? Although the Thompson Twins' t-shirt was pretty kick-ass.

We were also thinking of the Richard Thompson / Loudon Wainwright III double-bill, but we can't make our schedule work for it....

Send your possibly opinion-swaying input here.

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4.11.2008

New Software Friday: Moody

Need another tool to quantify your iTunes Music Library? Well, I did. ratings are fine, and smart playlists that create playlists out of most-played, least-skipped tracks recorded in the '80s by composers with the name "Peter" in them can only get you so far.

Enter Moody.

Moody uses a 16-square grid of color cubes, representing sad and less intense (blue, in the lower-left corner) all the way up to happy and intense (yellow, in the upper-right corner). Running in "Tag" mode, you simply click on the square that corresponds to how the track you're listening to makes you feel. In "Listen" mode, click on a square and Moody plays the tracks you've assigned to that mood. So: it's a rainy friday, and you feel like listening to shoegazer music and feel melancholy? Click the purplish-gray square (row 3, column 2 for me) and you'll get some slightly intense, slightly sad music. Might not be all Cocteau Twins and Brian Ferry--in fact, most of those are probably too intense for that setting--you'll probably end up with some jazz, some blues, a few Rolling Stones tunes...who knows? And that's the beauty of Moody: a seemingly random (but not really) way of listening ot music that fits your mood exactly, because you are the one telling it what music equates to which mood.

From an interface perspective, this is a pretty nice solution, although it's not perfect. Ignoring the little intro screen that explains what the grid coordinates correspond to, I was using the Sad, Slow corner to tag grungy blues tracks...but I suppose as long as you are consistent with your tagging methodology, you could assign any two variables to the grid and have it work well for you.

I'd actually prefer an infinite number of points, more like a full spectrum, and perhaps be able to draw a vector on the space--say, from just above sad and slightly intense up through slightly happy and very intense--and then get tracks returned from all the points along the line. This would require a heavier tagging scheme on the backend and in the comments area of each iTunes track (where Moody hides its data) but I think it could be done.

Don't want to tag all of your tracks? Take the lazy-man's way out and click the "Upload/Download Tags" button. Moody will send your tags to their database, and pull down tags for songs in your library that other users have tagged, but you haven't. Mind that now you have other people telling you that Black Sabbath's "Children of the Grave" is less sad that you might think it is, but that's the price you pay for being a slacker.

It's free, with donations appreciated, and they even have a beta online player version, too.

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3.07.2008

Songs for this week

Been a bit busy to update this last week. Here's this week's faves:

Got Your Money Ol' Dirty Bastard & Kelis
Happy Day Burning Spear
Playmate MC Solaar
CR-08 M. Antonio (Original) Beto Bertolini
I Was A Landscape In Your Dream Of Montreal
Jackson Hem
L'aigle Ne Chasse Pas Les Mouches MC Solaar
Tumble Down Burning Spear
Purple Haze Groove Armada
WS-11 Stream Beto Bertolini
Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games Of Montreal

Maybe it's politically incorrect to like Ol' Dirty Bastard. But what can I say? It has a beat, and you can dance to it. Even if it's about pimps and hos. I sure ain't listening to it in front of my daughters, though.

Album cover I wish I could take credit for designing: Feist. Nice use of phorography, brings the artist's personality into it, and lends some mystery and romance into the image.

Album cover in most need of a redesign: Burning Spear's Live at Montreaux*. Yeah, I know: it's a live album. That's why it's titled Live at Montreaux, silly designers! No need for the crowd shot. Too bad, actually, because a lot of Mr. Spears' covers are so interesting:


* notice how I didn't use a bold italic there? That should make designers everywhere happy ;)

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2.12.2008

Hem makes me like country music again

I picked up their sophomore effort, Eveningland, at eMusic, and have been listening to it in nonstop rotation, with my other faves from this weekend, Of Montreal and Zeroleen.

Maybe I'm a little late to the Hem party, but this 8-piece group from Brooklyn (!) sounds straight out of Nashville or LA, circa 1974. Think of the Carpenters, or Linda Ronstadt, but slightly grittier and no sugary sweet ickyness that makes me throw up in my mouth a little when listening to the over-produced country of the mid-seventies. They would be a perfect match on a bill with My Morning Jacket and Wilco, actually.

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2.07.2008

Songs for this Week

It was Bob Marley's birthday yesterday, so we had him in heavy rotation over here in the design shop, as did most Denver-area xacto-wielders (I would assume):

Watch The Birdie Barney Bigard
Superball Aimee Mann
Come Rain Or Come Shine Bill Evans Trio
Roots, Rock, Reggae Bob Marley
Waiting in Vain Bob Marley And The Wailers
Waiting in Vain (Remix) Bob Marley
Midnight Ravers (Remix) Bob Marley
Jamming Bob Marley And The Wailers
I Shot The Sheriff Bob Marley And The Wailers
Easy Skanking Bob Marley
Three Little Birds Bob Marley & The Wailers
One Love / People Get Ready Bob Marley And The Wailers
You Can't Blame the Youth. Bob Marley and the Wailers

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1.24.2008

Songs for this week

Columbus Burning Spear
Stagolee Mississippi John Hurt
Moonshadow Cat Stevens
Blue In Green Miles Davis
You Can't Blame the Youth Bob Marley and the Wailers
Come Rain Or Come Shine Bill Evans Trio
Waiting For My Lucky Day Chris Isaak
Young Americans [Single Version] David Bowie
Pump It Up Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Everything's Got 'Em Harry Nilsson
Opus De Funk Horace Silver
Carey Joni Mitchell
Lève-toi Et Rap MC Solaar

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1.17.2008

Songs for this week

Crazy Rhythm (Coleman Hawkins All Star Jam Band) Various Artists
But I Like You Bert And Ernie
In A Mist Bix Beiderbecke
Are You Sleeping? Harry Nilsson
Spring Is Here John Taylor Trio
Hot Rod Monster Jam Len
Sumthin´Sumthin´ Maxwell
Dark As A Dungeon The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Various Artists
Jazzin' Babies Blues the Queen City Jazz Band
Tumbling Dice The Rolling Stones
Boogie For Layette Various Artists
Wild Honey Pie The Beatles
Night Of The Living Baseheads Public Enemy

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1.05.2008

Songs of the week

Some of the most popular songs from last week:

The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill The Beatles
Gloria's Step Bill Evans Trio
Walk On By Cake
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry Johnny Cash
Once Is Enough Lyle Lovett
So What Miles Davis
Columbus Burning Spear
Look At Miss Ohio Gillian Welch
John Saw That Number Neko Case
Slavery Days Burning Spear
Old Marcus Garvey Burning Spear
Stornelli Amorisi Claudio Villa
Second Balcony Jump Dexter Gordon

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1.01.2008

What made us work last year

In 2007 we listened to a lot of music. It was pretty retro, though, but moving. Here's the "official" playlist from last year:
  • Make Me A Pallet on Your Floor, Mississippi John Hurt
  • Nine Pound Hammer, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
  • The Ghost of You Walks, Richard Thompson
  • Halfway To Dawn, Billy Strayhorn
  • The Candy Man, Sammy Davis Jr.
  • By The Time I Get To Arizona (Whipped Cream Mix), The Evolution Control Committee
  • The Pointed Man, Harry Nilsson
  • Jump in the Line, Harry Belafonte
  • Swingin' For Julie And Brownie I, Flip Phillips
  • Mah Na Mah Na, Sesame Street
  • Houses In Motion, Talking Heads
  • Waysid / Back In Time, Gillian Welch
  • Richland Woman Blues, Mississippi John Hurt
  • Rebel Rebel, Seu Jorge
  • I'm the Grumpy Old Troll, Dora the Explorer
  • Wabash Cannonball, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
  • Get Up Offa That Thing / Release the Pressure, James Brown

And the top 12 most played songs in the Notchcode office in Denver:
  • People Get Up and Drive Your Funky Soul (Remix), James Brown
  • All That We Perceive, Thievery Corporation
  • Cissy Strut, The Meters
  • Marcus Garvey, Sinéad O'Connor
  • Firebrand, William Orbit
  • Vampire, Sinéad O'Connor
  • War, Sinéad O'Connor
  • Downpressor Man, Sinéad O'Connor
  • Holographic Universe, Thievery Corporation & Gunjan
  • You Know Too Much About Flying Saucers, William Orbit
  • Red Dust, Zero 7
  • Autumn Leaves [Take 1], Bill Evans Trio
Now you know what music makes us creative. Please send us suggestions for more listening!

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11.24.2007

Musical Artist of the Week: DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid


I have featured DJ Spooky here previously, but BoingBoing brought yet another great mix of his to my attention yesterday. Spooky is a thinking-man's DJ, with a deep understanding of history, both arthistorical and musicological (well, it seems like a real word...). I saw him speak at the AIGA conference in NYC in 2001, and he's one smart cookie, especially when it comes to looking at art and culture. Interestingly, most of what he discussed related to visual art, but after his presentation I could see how he has extended his sense of aesthetics into the aural world as well.

I would wager a lot of the best DJs have a hand or arm in the visual art world as well. One of my friends from SCAD is now a great DJ down in Atlanta, and I am sure she is not the only one to make the transition from visual to musical imagery. DJ Spooky has long brought cultural, social and political issues to bear on his mixes, and the latest effort, Ghostworld (Africa Pavillion Mix) is no exception. Check out what he has to say about it, and then download the eighty-nine minutes of soundscape and listen. If it doesn't move you, you aren't alive.

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11.02.2007

The Beatles and Pink Floyd, sure....but Linkin Park?

Gracenote, the database that software like iTunes uses to grab title and track info, now has an interactive Flash map showing what groups and albums are popular in any given state or country. The amazing thing I learned is how popular the Beatles and Pink Floyd still are, despite their, shall we say, inactivity. Linkin Park is also quite popular across the globe (whaaa?).

The map is a nice example of how you can show a large amount of data in an understandable fashion. I wish there was some way of typing in a band or album name and having the map display relative popularity from country to country...as it stands now, you can only roll over one country at a time and view those stats by themselves. Why not have a color- or intensity-coding scheme tied to specific artist popularity?

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10.10.2007

Artist of the Week: Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings


In a rush to empty my monthly eMusic account credits before they turn back into pumpkins, or magic beans, or whatever, I noticed that Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings have issued a new album. 100 Days, 100 Nights is, if it's even possible, better than my other favorite voyage into Detroit and Stax Soul-land, Naturally.

Jones sounds even more confident, and comfortable, on this album. Not to take anything away from the brilliance of Naturally, but 100 Days, 100 Nights knocks me out.

Possibly my favorite cut is the last one, Answer Me, a gospel number which shows us that Jones isn't just a pretender--she's the real deal. Anyone who loves soul simply must have a healthy helping of Jones and her Dap-Kings, pronto.

P.S. How about that album cover art, too, eh?

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9.18.2007

Today's Musical Notation: In The Country


eMusic turned me onto a scandanavian jazz group, In The Country. Part Bill Evans, part Thelonious Monk, part Philip Glass, this trio rewards both the casual and serious listener. In other words: perfect for creating to, and to relaxing to. Some people might find In The Country's pieces too nontraditional, but their layered atmospheric musicianship is a winner for me. Original and great! You can listen to some samples on In The Country's MySpace page, or just check them out on eMusic.

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7.20.2007

Musician of the day: Zack Kim

I am not much of a YouTube junkie, but I found this courtesy of BoingBoing, who does my surfing so I don't have to. Zack Kim plays two guitars at once, by tapping on the frets, rather than holding down the string on the fret with one hand and then strumming with the other. This is not a new technique, as any Tuck and Patti or Eddie Van Halen fan can tell you. But Kim gives some classical, movie and videogame soundtracks the tapping treatment. And while his Super Mario Brothers performance isn't as awesome as threefiftyduo's is, his Bach's Prelude #3 in C minor is quite amazing.

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7.17.2007

Music of the Day: Talking Heads Live




I've been a fan of the Talking Heads ever since my grandmother (!) took me to see "Stop Making Sense" at the Ogden back in the mid-'80s (I returned the favor by introducing her to The Police and Tears for Fears...hey, I was 14, what else can I say?). And even though I was about five years too young to really get on the Heads bandwagon, I've got most of their albums, as well as a lot of David Byrne to boot (and his blog is one of the best cultural observatories out there). A few years ago I picked up a 2-CD set of the Talking Heads' performances; one disc had performances from 1977-79, and the other--containing many of the same songs-- from 1980-81. It is great to listen to them back to back, and catch how some songs got better, and how some--in my opinion--were played with the ennui felt by a group that had played them a few too many times, and were experimenting a little, but not really as into the raw energy of the piece as they were the first time around.

In any case, it's a great compilation, and many of the performances are better than the studio versions. And my daughter, Sophie, can't get enough of "Who is it?". And she (and her sister) are, after all, the ultimate arbiters of popular music in our house, at the moment.

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