Monthly Archives: May 2010

Lyreach – A Search Engine For Lyrics

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Lyreach

Name: Lyreach
URL: http://www.lyreach.com

If you love music as much as I do, the ultimate aggravation is listening to a terrific song and not being able to find out who is the performer afterwards. Personally, it makes me go madder than the squirrel from “Ice Age” whenever something happens to its dearly beloved nut.

That is why a site like this one sounds promising. Basically, it is a search engine for lyrics. In theory, it should produce satisfactory results even if you have only a couple of words from the actual line to throw at it. Once you have typed the words in, it will show you all the possible matches with links to MetroLyrics for you to dig deeper and see if that is indeed the song you were after.

Well, let’s take it for a test drive.

First try:

Song: “My Generation” by The Who
Words I will use: “talking”, “generation”, “baby”

Results:

talking gentleman I’d like to

talking get down through the

talking get em baby Nicki

talking get in the game

talking get on dis motorcycle

talking get on down mothafuckas

talking get that shit that

talking get the fuck off

Mmmh.. let’s try again.

Second try:

Song: “My Generation” by The Who (again)
Words I will use: “talking about my generation baby” (that is, the exact lyric)

Results:

talking about my Generation hope

talking about my Generation Injected

talking about my Generation talking

talking about my girl my

talking about my girl on

talking about my girl talking

talking about my girl that’s

talking about my grandma like

talking about my hair but

There it is. The third link directs to The Who’s classic. But shouldn’t such a classic top the list?

Let’s carry on…

Third try:

Song: “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by Elton John
Words I will use: “goodbye yellow brick road”
Continue reading →

Create Music… By Drawing!

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In the same way that every avid player of video games longs to create his own game, every lover of music can’t think of anything better than creating his very own song. In both cases, the technicalities at play make these objectives something that can be realized by studying a lot only, and learning a writing language that is not within everybody’s reach.

Well, we are living at a time in which these things that were previously unattainable are losing all their mysticism. Just look at the many iPhone apps that let you play an instrument, for example. And now, the ones who already have an iPad will be able to use it to create music, regardless of how technically-minded they are. Actually, they can be utter neophytes – an app that is about to be released will suit them just perfectly.

It will go by the name of Artikulator, and it will let anybody compose a song by moving his fingers around the screen of the iPad. The demo that is pasted below puts it all into clearer perspective:

As you can see, many adjustments are yet to take place. That is, you are not coming up with a song to rival “Wonderwall” in terms of melody… yet. But just give this app some time. I frankly believe it will be more than a toy or a passing curiosity.

Into The Great Wide Open (Tom Petty) – Album Review

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Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers 8th Album, "Into The Great Wide Open" Was Also The Final Record They Cut For MCA. Jeff Lynne Produced It.

"Into The Great Wide Open" Was The Final Record Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Cut For MCA. Jeff Lynne Produced It.

Some albums can have a very limited tonal palette and still manage to convey emotions with such vividness and diversity that you can but be amazed at the level of craftsmanship displayed by their composers.  “Into The Great Wide Open” is an album that certainly brings that to mind. Produced by Jeff Lynne, it was Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers eight album overall, and the last they would release for MCA Records.

The year was 1991, and the partnership with Lynne made a lot of sense – not only did Tom and Jeff get along like a house on fire, Lynne had helmed the praiseworthy “Full Moon Fever” just three years before.

In terms of sound, “Into The Great Wide Open” recalls not only Petty’s first solo album but also The Traveling Wilburys’ entire oeuvre with its mix of contemporary motifs and a shiny roots rock feel. That was an inevitable point of comparison, and one of the main criticisms leveled at the album – that it was nothing but “Full Moon Fever 2”,and that the production undermined the message.

The first part of that argument did hold its own, and Petty knew as much (this was the last album Lynne produced for him). But I find the second part patently untrue. Petty did never touch upon his endemic themes with such accuracy, vitality and grace.

The first single was to top the Mainstream Rock Charts for six weeks. Named “Learning To Fly”, it has become one of Petty’s trademark songs, and the one song of his that everybody knows down where I live (Uruguay). That is a good thing – the song is one of the catchiest within his repertoire. And thematically, it has all the basic ingredients that Petty is known to combine at his most emblematic- a lyric where hopelessness is turned in its head by the mere resolution of the protagonist to hold onto something that he actually knows is not there. But it will be there one day. Until that day comes, it is a matter of going up and down.

And several songs showcase a development in Petty’s typical cast of characters that one can help but feel, “At last, it all comes full circle”. I am speaking about “King’s Highway”, where the promise of a better day becomes engraved in time by the courage of the narrator to believe the force of his will. And the song “Two Gunslingers” has two gunfighters (IE, two slaves to a brutal form of entertainment) breaking out of their given roles, with one of them pronouncing “I’m takin’ control of my life” so many times that what ends up mattering is the life that is begotten, and not the onslaught that we (as the listeners) know had preceded that moment. Continue reading →

G2 – Simplifying The Way Bands Are Booked

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G2.fm

Name: G2
URL: http://www.g2.fm

This site was created by a group of musicians who felt frustrated with the process in which bands are traditionally booked. If anything, G2 makes everything clear from the word go – the artists and the managers of venues know what they are getting at all times.

That is possible because the site lets everybody have a profile in which everything is clearly set down. If you are a performer, you let everybody know which kind of music you can play, and you do that in the most representative fashion you could imagine – you upload a video of your band in action. In that way, managers of venues get to listen and see you as you rock out.

On the other hand, if you have a club you can not only browse through the pages of artists but actually create a calendar showcasing which slots you have to fill. Interested bands can approach you in a bid to get the gig. Continue reading →

Roger Linn Is Working On A New Instrument – And It Is A Tablet

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I am uncertain how many of you are acquainted with the name of Roger Linn. But I know for sure everybody knows the musical instrument that he created and introduced in 1979: the first drum machine that could use samples of a real drum kit.

That instrument was named the LM-1 Drum Computer. Two more would follow: the LinnDrum and the Linn 9000, and whenever you listen to a prototypical 80s’ song you are listening to any of these in nine out of ten cases.

Born In 1925, Roger Linn Was To Create The Drum Machine That We All Associate With 80s' Songs

Born In 1925, Roger Linn Was To Create The Drum Machine That We All Associate With The Sound Of The 80s

Now, Roger Linn is bound to make headlines again as he is working hard on a new piece of hardware. Named The LinnStrument, it couldn’t come at a better time – Apple’s iPad has turned tablets and slates into the trendiest things around.

Here you can see for yourself what the hoopla is all about:

The Kinks (Compilation Album)

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This 20-track Anthology Was Released By Disky In 1996. It Gives A Very Good Overview Of The Kink's Early Successes.

This 20-track Anthology Was Released By Disky In 1996. It Gives A Very Good Overview Of The Kink's Early Successes.

Issued by Disky in 1996 and named merely “The Kinks”, this CD anthologizes their early hits right up to the “Lola vs. the Powerman & the Money-Go-Round, Pt. 1” album. There is not a lot to dislike and not that much to change either.

The CD has everything from their early smashes “You Really Got Me” and “All Day And All Of The Night” to cuts like “Waterloo Sunset”, “Lola” and “Apeman”. Moreover, non-album sides that are key to the band’s appeal like “Days” and “Dedicated Follower Of Fashion” are featured. The one and only blemish is the inclusion of “Dandy” at the expense of tunes like “See My Friends”, “A Well Respected Man” or “Set Me Free”. Continue reading →

The Kinks – General Introduction

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The Kinks Were Ray Davies (Guitar, Lead Vocals), Dave Davies (Lead Guitar), Pete Quaife (Bass) & Mick Avory (Drums).

The Kinks Were Ray Davies (Guitar, Lead Vocals), Dave Davies (Lead Guitar), Pete Quaife (Bass) & Mick Avory (Drums).

Some call the Kinks “the original punks” because of the dirty sound of their early records, others go as far as to call them the fathers of heavy rock. They were a quartet in which tensions were constant among its members, with the two brothers that led the band eventually becoming estranged from each other. The Kinks were actually banned from performing in the States owing to their riotous onstage behavior. And people like Pete Townshend have said that Ray Davies (the band’s main composer) should have been a poet laureate. And I think most people who listen to “Waterloo Sunset” is inclined to feel the same way.

Aggression, volume, wit, profoundness and delicacy. These are the adjectives you can extract from the above. And these adjectives apply either in part or in whole to my favorite bands, and to every band that has marked me – The Who, The Jam, Oasis…  The Kinks were simply one of the most influential bands in the history of British music.

They were part of the initial wave of British Invasion bands, with their third single being a hit everywhere it started spinning. Dave Davies’ guitar insinuated the power that harder-rocking outfits were to unleash a decade later into the airwaves. He had sliced the amplifier with a blade in order to get the gritty sound. The song was called “You Really Got Me”, and it was to influence The Who both structurally and thematically, and the most realized punk and new wave acts of the late 70s such as The Clash, The Jam and XTC always expressed that they either dearly respected or even worshipped The Kinks. Continue reading →

Watch Out Justin Bieber, Greyson Chance Is Here

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Greyson Michael Chance is the new viral sensation. His solo performance of Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” at a school festival has garnered more than ten million YouTube views in just two weeks.

This performance eventually resulted in Greyson being invited over to The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where he was to blow the audience away… again.

What’s next for this twelve-year old? Think it over while you watch his original viral performance.

Full Moon Fever (Tom Petty) – Album Review

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"Full Moon Fever" Was Tom Petty's Debut. It Came Out In 1989, And It Yielded Three it Singles.

"Full Moon Fever" Was Tom Petty's Solo Debut. It Came Out In 1989, And It Yielded Three Hit Singles.

An immensely accomplished record, “Full Moon Fever” was Tom Petty’s first solo album. It was released in 1989, right after The Traveling Wilburys’ beloved debut. Jeff Lynne was to helm Petty’s record, and both Harrison and Orbison would lend their talents too. That was the reason many pronounced “Full Moon Fever” the “true” continuation to “The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1”, and they also took the fact the next recording issued by the Wilburys was called Volume 3 at face value.

Well, that is always something which could (and will) be disputed and counter-disputed till the rivers all run dry. But everybody will always agree on something: Petty came up with a wondrous record from start to finish.

Five tracks were released as singles, and three of them have become staples of classic rock stations: “Free Fallin’”, “I Won’t Back Down” and “Runnin’ Down A Dream”. “Free Fallin’” is a dexterous study on growing up, with somehow childish verses at the beginning that eventually give way to a sudden, mature conclusion in a way that is beautifully startling.

On the other hand, “I Won’t back Down” is as cocky as its tile suggests, and it is the one cut to which George Harrison added backing vocals. The song was to be covered by Johnny Cash for his third American album, “Solitary Man”.

Finally, “Runnin’ Down A Dream” rocks and swings in equal measures, showcasing Petty’s influences in a distinct way. “Runnin’ Down A Dream” references Del Shannon in the first verse, and the song that is mentioned (“Runaway”) was actually covered by The Traveling Wilburys. It is now found on every remastered edition of the “The Traveling Wilburys – Vol. 3”. “Runnin’ Down A Dream” was written by Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne along with Mike Campbell. Campbell also got together with Petty to compose “Love Is A Long Road”, a song that fully recalls the sound of Petty’s combo. Yet, the production by Lynne gives it a sheen of its own, and the song was rightfully issued as a single. Continue reading →

Radar Music Videos – Find The Right Director For Your Music Video

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RadarMusicVideos
Name: Radar Music Videos
URL: http://www.radarmusicvideos.com

No music project is unviable any longer – the amount (and diversity) of social networking sites currently available has wiped the word “impossible” away from the dictionary of music. If you wanted to assemble a band together that plays only one song – a 45-minutes rendition of “The Crystal Ship” – you are not only going to gather the musicians, but you are also going to get some supporters. That is, now that viral videos are all the rage people have license to do mostly whatever they fancy from the comfort (and safety) of their living rooms. The chances of a random drunk flinging a bottle of Newcastle Brown at the band are not just minimized – they become non-existent.

But if you think about it, not every angle is already covered. There is one in particular that has been unattended until now: the creation of a compelling music video. And that is all the more surprising because the potential a clip can have when it comes to doubling the expressive force of a song is colossal.

This site hopes to do something about that. It will let you create video projects that will then be scrutinized by directors, and those who feel that they can bring your original vision to fruition will get in touch. You can then decide whether or not you are hiring them. Continue reading →