Henry Bueno (myMusicCircle) – Interview (Part 1)

I have had the pleasure of interviewing Henry Bueno from the social marketplace for musicians named myMusicCircle that I reviewed last week. He provided some very elaborate answers, and I am very thankful for the time he devoted to this interview.

The interview will be split in two parts. This is part 1, and part 2 (“Music & You”) is right here.

Full Name: Henry M. Bueno

Age: 32

Startup: MyMusicCircle.com

Position: CEO / CIO

PART I

THE STARTUP

Tell us a little about your startup. How was it conceived? What are its most distinctive features in your opinion?

myMusicCircle.com is a Service Marketplace for the Music Industry Professional; whereas music industry professionals register/create their profile and they are empowered with useful online portfolio and interactive tools, a professional image, leads and additional sources of revenue.

Currently, we are inviting all Music Industry Professionals and any creative, support, financial or managerial professionals that provide valuable services to the Music Industry to register/create their profile, upload their portfolio and set their work terms. Continue reading

Linda Ronstadt – General Introduction

A Young Linda Ronstadt

A Young Linda Ronstadt

The number of female figures in music today makes it a bit difficult for members of younger generations to wholly grasp the impact Linda Ronstadt had through several decades before other figures such as Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson and who knows who else came along. I am not going to discuss the merits of such performers – all I am going to say is that many of them are not artists but mere entertainers. Linda, on the other hand was, is and will always be not just an artist but a person who promotes art in its purest form, and that has opened a door into music that shows the way to female artists in an industry where roles are sadly (and constantly) painted in black and white. Continue reading

Moof – Listening To Music The Social Way

Moof

Name: Moof

URL: http://www.moof.com

In which ways are you currently using the WWW to access these songs that you have always liked, and the ones that you want to listen to for the first time? I bet many of you are already acquainted with the concept of listening to music socially, but if that is alien to you this site is a prime example of how that is achieved and the advantages it can yield. Continue reading

Marco (Filtersage) – Interview (Part 2)

This is Part 2 of the interview with Marco from Filtersage. If you haven’t already done so, read Part 1 here.

PART II

MUSIC & YOU

When did you become interested in music? What was the first album or single you ever purchased?

I became more interested in music when I discovered stuff that was more intense than what was in the charts. I think that the first experience in that sense was listening to Joy Division’s ‘Unknown Pleasures’. Continue reading

Action Packed: The Best Of The Capitol Years (Richard Thompson) – Compilation Album

Where Can I Buy One Of Those?

Where Can I Buy One Of Those?

Although commercially Richard Thompson has never seen wildly successful days, the ‘90s will always remain as the closest he got to mass-popularity. I am more than sure that if the name Richard Thompson rings a bell when it comes to casual listeners, it is all because of songs released in that decade such as “1952 Vincent Black Lightning”, allegedly his most popular composition.

The whole decade Richard’s record company was Capitol. When they parted ways, this retrospective was issued. The CD features songs from every single album he produced during his tenure at Capitol, beginning with 1988’s “Amnesia” and ending with “Mock Tudor” (1999). It also has 2 rarities and a new track where Richard duets with son Teddy. That song is called “Persuasion” and it is a lilting ballad about second chances – definitely one of my personal favorites from this compilation.

In terms of approach, there are countless character sketches where Richard’s acidic vision of humankind is fully developed, including the minor-hit “I Feel So Good”, the startling “Cold Kisses” and “Cooksferry Queen”, a polka which has been drawn from “Mock Tudor”.

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Get Happy!! (Elvis Costello) – Album Review

The Retro-happy Cover Of The LP

The Retro-happy Cover Of The LP

Issued for the first time in 1980, Get Happy!! was Elvis Costello’s fourth album, and (to me) the one signaling the end of his purple years. Granted, his biggest hits were yet to come, but those were to be sporadic successes. The string of consecutive Top 10 singles ended here with his cover of “I Can’t Stand Up (For Falling Down)”. The sound of the album also marks the first detour from Elvis’ “classic” New Wave sounds, as some R & B inflections are very evident throughout.

The original LP has 20 tracks. Many last little more than 2 minutes, and some are even shorter than that. Absolutely nothing has a chance of getting on your nerves, and the one “long” track (in the context of the album, obviously) is the set closer. The song is named “Riot Act” and it is one of Elvis’ most balanced lyrics from the period. Content and form are perfectly interweaved, and the disc couldn’t finish on a higher note. Continue reading

Moon: The Life And Death Of A Rock Legend (Tony Fletcher) – Book Review

Moon

Without a doubt, this is one of the best biographies I have ever set my eyes on. This edition was first published in 1999 by Spike. The enthusiasm and integrity of biographer Tony Fletcher drives the book along its 40 chapters, and he takes upon himself to demolish a myriad of myths and legends along the way.

The Beachcombers were not a surf band. Keith’s audition did not take place as we were always told. His 21st birthday party was exaggerated. But Fletcher has a deft way of bringing some much needed light into a life that was to be incredibly aggrandized, explaining how these fabrications are really secondary to Keith Moon as a man and as a musician like no other. Continue reading

Marco (Filtersage) – Interview (Part 1)

I have the pleasure to share with you the insight of Marco from Filtersage, the startup I reviewed recently. As you probably remember, Filtersage is a system that lets you explore the connections between movies and music releases from all through history.

This is part 1 of the interview, about the startup itself.

And click here for Part 2 (“Music & You”).

PART I

THE STARTUP

Tell us a little about your startup. How was it conceived? What are its most distinctive features in your opinion?

The basic idea comes from a very simple observation. When we listen to a new album or watch a movie, we usually connect it to something that we have listened to or watched before. A new album reminds us of an old favorite because of the tune or the sound; or we connect a dvd to something we watched last year because of the story, a particular scene or even the atmosphere. This is what Filtersage is about: connecting new stuff to something we have loved in the past. And it is also about exploring the connections that other users are making, so it’s possible to discover more stuff that might interest us. Filtersage is about memory and knowledge, and this is why we think that the connections you can find here are very strong and highly interesting: because these connections are memory based and knowledge based. We like to say that this happens because there is no is algorithm working, Filtersage is totally ‘human based’. Continue reading

Kiss This (The Sex Pistols) – Compilation Album

Rotten And Vicious "Grace" The Cover

Rotten And Vicious "Grace" The Cover

What better way to commemorate the post number 77 of MusicKO than reviewing this compilation album? As you know, the Pistols were to release only one “true” album during their turbulent career, and a soundtrack that had mostly farcical appeal. What this compilation does is to take the entire “Never Mind The Bollocks” album, add the best tracks from the “Great Rock & Roll Swindle” OST and throw in a couple of studio tracks that are found in neither album.

The sequencing of the disc is flawless – my hat off to the one who took care of that. The first 4 tracks are the singles from “Never Mind The Bollocks”, and they are followed by the studio rarities “Did You No Wrong”, “Satellite” and “No Fun”, along with some of the best tracks from the soundtrack album (“I Wanna Be Me”, “No Lip” and “Stepping Stone”). Then, you have the remaining “Bollocks” tracks in the order that they appeared on the original record if you were to take away the singles (which here are placed at the very beginning). This means that “Bodies” is followed by “No Feelings”, “Liar”, “Problems” and so on. Once this section ends, you have Vicious’ “My Way”, and the album closes with an alternate take of “Silly Thing”. This time, Steve Jones handles the lead.

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MyMusicCircle – An Online Social Marketplace For Music Professionals

MyMusicCircle

Name: myMusicCircle

URL: http://www.mymusiccircle.com

This is a brand new music site that I caught wind up of today. To be frank, I think it really has what it takes to make it into the big time. Basically, it is a sort of marketplace for musicians and for every person who can be considered a music professional such as sound mixers, producers and also managers. The ones who register create profile pages that showcase their skills, and they can be contacted by people looking for services like the ones they render. On the other hand, people can post their very own projects on the site and have their pick from the offers that will start rolling in. Continue reading