Category Archives: News & Announcements

The Best Of The Best Of ChatRoulette: Merton, The Impromptu Piano Player

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As many of you probably know, one of the latest Internet crazes is a messaging service named ChatRoulette. Created by a 17-year old Russian, it is a webcam-based chat in which you are placed face to face with an utter stranger. You can chat with the person if you like his/her looks, or you can hit a button to skip that person and come across someone new.

The big (and nefarious) thrill of it all is that you might come across girls who will show you their charms just for the fun of it, and also boys who have no qualms jacking off onscreen. That is why this IM service is called “ChatRoulette” – as in Russian Roulette, the “dangerous” element is what makes it all so thrilling.

Fortunately, there are also people who do something funny and clever. And this pianist steals the show. Named Merton, he is an impromptu performer in the truest sense of the word. Just watch the video I have embedded for you below. And note that he has a YouTube channel – I hope he adds more videos soon.

Without a shadow of a doubt, this guy is the best excuse you can have for trying out ChatRoulette. Or is it? ; )

Is This The Next Lady Gaga?

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Let me introduce you to the latest sensation from China. Named PixieTea, she has already been touted as a Lady Gaga contender. Her approach to making music is certainly original – her backing tracks are composed using nothing but her iPhone.

The software and apps that she employs include DrumMeister, Bassist, iDrum, NlogSynthesizer, NESynth and iShred. The results? Have a good look for yourself:

You can say what you want, but you can’t accuse her of not being distinctive. Before being uploaded to YouTube, her video was big news in Youku (the Chinese equivalent to YouTube).

So, what do you think? Is she a rising star or another no-hoper? Let’s discuss it in the “Comments” section below.

Month In Review – February 2010

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Not that it was planned or anything, but February turned out to be Oasis’ month. The month saw the review of “Definitely Maybe”, “(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?”, “Be Here Now”, “The Masterplan” and “Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants” almost consecutively. As I explain on the reviews (and on the general introduction) I had given up entirely on the Manchester band a long time ago, but I finally realized it was only fair to review those albums of theirs I had purchased. I listened to them incessantly when I was younger, and they gave me the resolve to push forwards more than once. And I also reviewed Lee Henshaw’s book on the band.

The other addition to the main category of artists was Tom Petty. I have already reviewed his classic 1979 record “Damn The Torpedoes”. Look for more very soon!

The startups I reviewed this month included DemoHero, Lyrics Training and Songbright.

A movie I was very keen on reviewing finally received that treatment: “August Rush”. In case you know nothing about it, it is the closest we have to a modern-day fairytale. Give the review a look, and see if it is something you would enjoy watching or not.    Continue reading →

Erykah Badu Gets A Sample Clearance From Paul McCartney Using Twitter

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This story makes it clear how much of a tool for instant communication and collaboration Twitter really is. It involves Erykah Badu (the Queen of Neo Soul) and Paul McCartney. The African-American musician was looking for last-minute clearance for a sample from the song “Arrow Through Me”, penned by the former Beatle and included on Wings’ final album “Back To The Egg” (1979).

In a bid to connect with Macca, she decided to tweet out and see if her luck was in, and if someone could connect her with Sir Paul McCartney. It turned out the tweet was picked up by Lenny Kravitz, who is friends with McCartney’s daughter Stella. She made the connection with Paul, who approved the usage of the sample on the spot.

Erykah Badu Gets A Sample Clearance From Paul McCartney Using Twitter

Erykah Badu Gets A Sample Clearance From Paul McCartney Using Twitter

Continue reading →

Month In Review – January 2010

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I started the new year in the best possible way by adding R.E.M. and Pete Townshend to the main list of artists featured in MusicKO. “Out Of Time”, “Automatic For The People” and “Monster” have already been reviewed, whereas fans of The Who’s unique composer should check what I had to say about “Who Came First”, “Rough Mix” and “Empty Glass”. And the best is yet to come…

I also started reviewing music movies, with the brilliant “Once” being the first addition to what I sincerely believe will become a different section of the blog.

Startups reviewed this month included Digiclef, The Sixty One, Twt.fm, Jamendo and Spotiseek. An additional note of gratitude to Ian Cox from Digiclef and Kristofer from Spotiseek for accepting being interviewed. Continue reading →

A New Category Is Added To MusicKO (Movie Reviews)

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Today I am adding a new category to the blog: “Music Movies”. The category will be an encompassing one, as not only music movies per se like “The Wall” and “Tommy” will be featured, but also movies in which music is either the driving force all along or even a character. In that sense, movies like “August Rush”, “Almost Famous” and “Elizabethtown” will be reviewed.

And a companion category will be added this month as well: “Original Soundtrack Recordings”. The first movie I am reviewing will be “Once”, the most vital creation I ever came across in music-related filmmaking. As always, if there is something you would like me to cover simply drop me a line or leave a comment below.

Cheers,

Emilio

Year In Review – 2009

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Hi everybody. I would like to do a quick recap and share the best content on MusicKO with you, so that you can read it once more or discover it for the first time in case you are new to the blog.

The most popular reviews include:

The Smiths
A Decade Of Hits (The Allman Brothers Band)
Greatest Hits (ZZ Top)
Quadrophenia (The Who)
Greatest Country Hits (John Denver)

Personally, these are what I deem as the best reviews and articles on the blog so far: Continue reading →

Play Along And Jam… With A Robot!

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Many people are known to use the expression “robotic drumming” when talking about 80s music. They might like to reconsider after watching this video that has surfaced recently on YouTube:

There is not a lot more that could be said. While nobody would mistake this little automated fella (named “Shimon”) for the next Stewart Copeland, it certainly does it bit. Continue reading →

Merry Christmas!

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I’d like to wish every reader of MusicKO a very merry Christmas. I have embedded two videos for you below. The first one is Sarah McLachlan’s “O Little Town Of Bethelehem”, and the second is “Elf’s Lament” from the album “Barenaked For The Holidays” by Barenaked Ladies. Enjoy!

First, Sarah’s McLachlan “O Little Town Of Bethelehem”:


And this is “Elf’s Lament” by Barenaked Ladies: Continue reading →