Stone Temple Pilots Studio Outtake

I miss the Stone Temple Pilots. I was, and still am, a huge fan. In my humble opinion, each album got better as they progressed. Dean DeLeo was one of the last guitarists to truly bring a new style of guitar playing, phrasing to the forefront of of Rock music. All that being said, I ran across some unreleased demos and outtakes a couple of years back on some random message board. I decided, for now particular reason, to post one of the standout tracks called "About A Fool". It is the easy going - layered - ballad STP that I love so much. I hope you enjoy!

boomp3.com

Manikin Memotron

I am a musical instrument enthusiast. If it has strings, keys or you can hit it - I want to have some sort of contact with it. I love the sound of old analog synths especially, they could make a or break a song back in the day. One of my favorite keyboard instruments of all time was the "Mellotron". The "Mellotorn" was a keyboard that had physical tape loop sound banks that were recordings of "Live" instruments. It was a bear to haul around, keep in working order etc. - but it was really worth it (I guess) if you wanted the thickest-richest string, horn, choral sounds around at the time (or even today in my opinion). I have seen Mellotrons go for a pretty penny on Ebay, even the ones in shitty condition. They stopped making them several years ago when lighter, easier to care for keyboards like polymoogs and other sweet ass synths were taking over. A few years back I saw that someone had bought up the old factory that made Mellotrons and other variations and were remaking them with improved mechanics. They were fetching a pretty big dollar, around $6000 if I am not mistaken. I could only dream of spending that kind of money on a musical instrument and even if had the loot, 6 grand, no thanks. So, surfing through Ebay the other day I found an ad for what was called a "Manikin Memotron". It is a digital version of the Mellotron and runs about $2500 or so - much more affordable, not to mention transportable. The sound banks are from the original Mellotron tapes (awsome!) and it has a pitch changer (sweet!). You can check out sound samples on their webpage. I am, for once, very happy. i figure i can buy this and throw a tube preamp in front of it to warm it up a bit and instant musical ejaculation. I begin my saving for this item...now.


If your not sure what a Mellotron sounds like, download and listen to one of the following tunes:
Genesis - "Watcher of the Skies" (intro)
The Beatles - "Strawberry Fields Forever" (intro)
The Moody Blues - "Nights in White Satin"

Werd,
M

Have you ever...

I work for a fortune 500 company. We employ about 160 or so people inside the building I work at. I notice this from time to time, actually a lot of times: I pass someone and say "Hi" and they say nothing back, they just cut off eye contact and keep moving along. I am pretty sure that I didn't say anything that would have offended someone, unless the term "Hi" means "Go Fuck Yourself" in corporate speak. I wonder what "Go Fuck Yourself " means to them. Maybe it means "Hi"...Hmmm...I guess I'll find out the next time they decide not to respond to my simple greetings. Fuckers.

Every Band Take Note!

I stumbled across this video on Youtube the other day. The person being interviewed is Wayne Kramer, former lead guitar player - songwriter for the MC5. He has some pretty interesting things to say about starting a band. I don't agree with some of the statements, but overall this is a good watch...

Time Machine

I have always said it and will say it again "Todays music has no fire". I am 31, which means that I shouldn't have a grasp on what is "happening" in music today - and I am ok with that. I don't really have unrealistic musical prejudices like some other people. My criteria is simple: make it catchy, maybe a little edgy, an actual performance (no, copy and paste in Pro Tools does not count...sorry) and have some energy. It's not a particular style that I dig over another, I truly like all kinds of music. I could tell you a track listing from Buffalo Springfield album as easily as one from Simple minds or Wes Montgomery. I realize that I am not a fan of performances where someone doesn't give it their all or when an album is made that is transparent. We are in an age where producers like to take all of the credit for 'creating' a great album: Bob rock, Butch Vig, Mutt Lang...the list goes on and on. Remember an album is a document, the performance is what really counts. A performer interacting with an audience and vice versa. Energy. Fire. Talent.
Enough of the ranting. I found this on Youtube. Another band that wasn't promoted well enough in the United States during the 60's: The Move. A few years later they become ELO, but that's a different story. Remember, when it comes to playing live: it's not tools, it's the carpenter. These guys played through an archaic sound system and had to have it together. This performance meets all of the criteria I mentioned earlier. Enjoy.

"Why don't they ever bring back or remake good shows, like 'BJ and the Bear.' Now there's a concept I can't get enough of, a man and his monkey. "

Brodie Bruce, "Mallrats"

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Pod KISS Series 1

I have decided to start a new series of blog entries called the "Pod KISS Series". The KISS stands for "Keep it simple stupid" which is what I think some people need to start keeping mind when producing a podcast. Now, I won't be covering content, there are plenty of so called 'experts' on that subject, but I will be covering recording techniques, file encoding, and recording equipment.
My first in the series will be on portability: mixers, microphones and recording devices. I will be pimping certain products if I find they deserve that kind of attention, others will be thrown to the dogs. Stay tuned.

-M

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Fotofox

I am always late finding things on the web that I think are cool. Usually some one says "Yeah, I've know about that" and then I say to myself "Hey, how about letting me in on it when you found out about it!".

So here is a cool extension I found while searching through the Firefox Add-ons: Fotofox

What is it? Here's a description from the download page:

"Easily select, tag, title and upload pictures from your computer to an
online photo service. Works with Flickr, Tabblo, 23hq, Smugmug, Marela,
and Kodak EasyShare Gallery."



It does what it says too (unlike some Firefox Add-ons). You simply sign into your Flickr account and then just drag n' drop your photos into the toolbar and hit 'upload'. It even gives you your monthly space quota that is remaining. I only have Flickr, so other users will have to comment on it's usefulness with the other programs mentioned.


Fotofox :: Firefox Add-ons

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The effect fo the 'Media Monster' on popular music.

I know it has been a while since I have posted anything , but I am making an effort to post more often.

This post was decided upon because of my absolute distaste for the 'Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame'. I have the online feed of Sirius radio and have been listening to the 'Howard Stern Show' when I get a few minutes to myself. Recently, Howard had Daryl Hall of 'Hall & Oates' on, which turned out to be great interview. During the interview Howard brought up the fact that Hall & Oates were not in the 'Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame', Daryl immediately went on a tirade about how the media machine in 70's praised anyone that covered Bo Diddley or Woody Guthrie and were suspicious of anyone artist who loved Al Green or hung out with the Spinners. The more and more I thought about what he said I realized that he was right. Hall & Oates started out as a Philly soul band (listen to tracks like "She's Gone" or "Sara Smiles" and you'll understand what I mean). They had a string of hits from the late 70's through the early 80's and were, I would guess, one of the biggest selling pop bands of the 80's. So why is it that they are not in the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame? Is it because they were not 'Rock N' Roll? Then why may I ask is Grand Master Flash in the HOF? Is there a reason why the Staple Singers are resting comfortably on the shores of Lake Erie and not Hall & Oates? It's because they played the game. I can't tell you how many times I have seen some asshole from Rolling Stone on a Rock N' Roll documentary (Fricke I think his name is) and just wanted to jump through the TV and tell him to zip it! It drives me insane when someone considers themselves a music aficionado when they don't really know what it is they are talking about. These are the idiots that vote on who gets in the Hall of Fame. They say 'whats cool' and 'what has credibility'. What is criteria?

Here is a list of all of the inductees into the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame since it opened, I will put question marks next to the questionable inductees (not that they shouldn't be there, but why ahead of whomever) and then a short list of artists who absolutely should be (whether I like them or not):

1986
Buddy Holly
Chuck Berry
Elvis Presley
Fats Domino
James Brown
Jerry Lee Lewis
Little Richard
Ray Charles
Sam Cooke
The Everly Brothers

1987
Aretha Franklin
B.B. King
Big Joe Turner
Bill Haley
Bo Diddley
Carl Perkins
Clyde McPhatter
Eddie Cochran
Jackie Wilson
Marvin Gaye
Muddy Waters
Ricky Nelson
Roy Orbison
Smokey Robinson
The Coasters

1988
Bob Dylan
The Beach Boys
The Beatles
The Drifters
The Supremes

1989
Dion? (2 top tens hits gets you in ahead of Johhny Cash?)
Otis Redding
Stevie Wonder
The Rolling Stones
The Temptations

1990
Bobby Darin? (seriously, this early?)
Hank Ballard (name his hit?)
Simon and Garfunkel
The Four Seasons
The Four Tops
The Kinks
The Platters
The Who

1991 - the year of R&B and blues
Ike and Tina Turner (for a cover of Proud Mary and other songs they didn't write.)
Jimmy Reed
John Lee Hooker
LaVern Baker
The Byrds
The Impressions
Wilson Pickett

1992 - more R&B
Bobby "Blue" Bland ?
Booker T. and the M.G.'s
Johnny Cash
Sam and Dave
The Isley Brothers
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
The Yardbirds

1993
Cream
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Etta James
Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers? (seriously)
Ruth Brown ?
Sly and the Family Stone
The Doors
Van Morrison

1994
Bob Marley (a little early for this guy)
Duane Eddy
Elton John
John Lennon (where's Paul? I want some asshole to tell me John was more influential)
Rod Stewart
The Animals
The Band (too early)
The Grateful Dead

1995
Al Green
Frank Zappa (too late)
Janis Joplin
Led Zeppelin (too late)
Martha and the Vandellas
Neil Young (ahead of Buffalo Springfield?)
The Allman Brothers Band

1996
David Bowie
Gladys Knight and the Pips
Jefferson Airplane
Little Willie John?
Pink Floyd
The Shirelles
The Velvet Underground (they should still be sitting and waiting)

1997
Buffalo Springfield (too late)
Crosby Stills and Nash
Joni Mitchell (you can tell they had their CSNY family hat on the day she was picked)
Parliament-Funkadelic
The (Young) Rascals
The Bee Gees (waaaay too late)
The Jackson Five

1998
Fleetwood Mac
Gene Vincent
Lloyd Price
Santana
The Eagles
The Mamas and the Papas

1999
Billy Joel
Bruce Springsteen
Curtis Mayfield
Del Shannon
Dusty Springfield
Paul McCartney (waaay too late)
The Staple Singers?

2000
Bonnie Raitt? (Someone please explain this one to me. Ahead of Linda Rondstadt?)
Earth, Wind & Fire (ahead of Chicago?)
Eric Clapton
James Taylor
Lovin' Spoonful
The Moonglows

2001
Aerosmith
Michael Jackson
Paul Simon
Queen
Ritchie Valens (waaay too late)
Solomon Burke
Steely Dan
The Flamingos

2002
Brenda Lee (come on now.)
Gene Pitney
Isaac Hayes
Ramones
Talking Heads
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

2003
AC/DC
Elvis Costello & the Attractions
Righteous Brothers
The Clash
The Police

2004
Bob Seger
George Harrison
Jackson Browne
Prince
The Dells
Traffic
ZZ Top

2005
Buddy Guy (great player, but come on)
Percy Sledge?
The O'Jays
The Pretenders
U2

2006
Black Sabbath
Blondie?
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Miles Davis? (Rock N' Roll, not jazz, shoulda put in Jeff Beck in if they were walking that line.)
Sex Pistols

2007
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (no comment).
Patti Smith?
R.E.M.
The Ronettes
Van Halen

I want some one to explain to me why the following artists are not in the HOF ahead of some of the artists where I put question marks:

MC5 (eligible in 1989)*
YES (eligible in 1993)*
Chicago (eligible in 1992)*
Genesis (eligible in 1992)*
America (eligible in 1995)
The Guess Who (eligible in 1990)*
The Cars (eligible in 2002)
Deep Purple (eligible in 1993)*
DEVO (eligible in 1997)
Electric Light Orchestra (eligible in 1996)*
ABBA (eligible in 1997)
Emerson Lake and Palmer (eligible in 1995)
Kiss (eligible in 1996)
Free (eligible in 1993)
Humble Pie (eligible in 1994)*
Small Faces (eligible in 1990)* (hey, if the Yardbirds are in, why not a better band?)
Iron maiden (eligible in 2000)
Judas Priest (eligible 1994)*
Journey (eligible in 1998)
Rush (eligible in 1993)*
Styx (eligible in 1997)
The Zombies (eligible in 1986)*
Todd Rundgren (eligible in 1995)
Vanilla Fudge (eligible in 1992)
Hall & Oates (eligible in 1994)*

...and the list goes on and on...I know you can't put them all in at once, but the ones with the asterisk next to them should be getting a written letter of apology by now.

Someone should open a separate Rock N' Roll HOF where the criteria is fair and the voting is done by real music fans and the listening public.

Wii for me....

So, I opened my mouth when I was in Denver that it super easy to find a Nintendo Wii here in the Cleveland area. Well, I stopped at a Gamestop before I left for Denver back in March and they had a few of them...so I figured that they were easy to come by. Flash forward to the beginning of April: I could not find a Wii to save my life. I looked at Wal-Mart, Gamestop, EBGames, Circuit City - you name it I stopped to look. I searched craigslist.org, but everytime someone posted one (at a premium mind you - of anywhere from $50-100 more than retail) they were already gone. I even had friends of mine looking if they were out and about, they would call me with "Sorry man, they said they don't have any and probably won't have any anytime soon". Bah, I actually gave up a week or so ago, but a buddy I work with suggested one of the Wii tracker sites - they track inventory of all of the stores for you so that all you need to do is register & check their site from time to time to see where and when the next shipment will be. I treid one of them before, but it was set up poorly and kinda confusing to use. I did a yahoo search and noticed that someone had posted info on a great tracking site in the "Yahoo Answers" (which, by the way, is usually filled with lame questions and even lamer answers). This guy gave all kinds of ways of finding one of these sweet little entertainment oddities, most of which were, again, a huge pain in the ass to do - except for this website called www.itrackr.com. It was easy to follow, just register , type in your zip code and poof! - results. Of course though, when I typed in my zip yesterday there wasn't a Wii in a 20 mile radius. Everything changed this morning however...I happened to have my alarm clock set an hour early because of an early meeting at work the day before. I woke up at 6:30am and decided to check the site and...suck it! There it was...the Target 5 minutes away had a shipment of 'em. I checked the Target for that locations store hours and...sweet sassy molassy, they opened at 8am! Plenty of time for me to get to the store and still make it to work on time!
I got there at 8:02am, there were a lot of cars in the parking lot, but they were all on one side - so I figured they were all employees...I was right. I walked in and went right to the electronics section - past the digital cameras, past the Playstation stuff...and...in the bottom of the case...there they were, 8 little Wii's and no one else in sight, as a matter of fact there wasn't even a clerk to get it out of the case. I was imagining a crowd of 30 rabid Wii nerds racing in through the doorand me having to fend them off with a set of jumper cables from the automotive department. I finally found a lady who paged a guy who got it out of the case for me. He remarked "I'm not really a fan, I like the XBox 360"...ya, and you probably love Good Charlotte and live with your parents...terd. So there it is, I am at work and can't wait to get home to hook this shit all up. Oh yeah, Knighthawk has my Mii that I created during my St. Paddy's romp in Denver. I can't wait to play progressive bowling on this thing...I am a nerd.

Boring...

I have had a lot of developments in my life in the last 6 months. I got a nice raise at work, a new apartment, a new car, etc. I have my finances under control for really the first time in a long time, I'm not spending tons of cash on crap and I actually have a savings for the first time in my life. I figured if I got this stuff in order I would feel less stressed and a little more grounded. The problem is I don't. I came to the realization the other night that all I want to do is perform music. I have had this music bug up my ass since I was about 9 years old (almost 22 years...eeeek!) and I always seem to get in musical situations where I have no control (i.e. Body Thief, Sons of the City, etc.). So, today I set the goal for myself to create the band I always wanted to be in and make a cd - I set this goal at a year. Fun, I hope.

My new favorite show

I have to say the Penn & Teller's show Bullshit! is my new favorite. I have watched it before, but I caught it on Friday night and just did not want it to end. For those of you who aren't familiar here is a synopsis form good 'ol wikipedia:

"The show aims to debunk an array of popular fads, pseudoscientific ideas, and misconceptions, sometimes supernatural in nature. It criticizes proponents of such things, often citing ulterior or financial motives. The stated aim of the show is to apply critical thinking to misconceptions, and as is indicated by the show's title, the program inherits Penn & Teller's characteristically blunt, aggressive presentation."(wikipedia).

Basically, it puts to bed some of myths that some, or most, of us have fallen for. These topics range from weight loss to religion. I guess I wouldn't care so much, but since I have a such big problem with people who "think" they are educated telling me what to do and think, this show is a big middle finger to them.

Rocky Mountain Hi!

So, I got back to Cleveland today around 2:05 and, as per usual, the weather was shit: 33 degrees and wet. I'm going to give Southwest airlines a 'B' on the grading scale: they were cordial enough, they served everyone free beverages and they seem to be consistently on time (the flight from Denver to Chicago was actually early). The negatives were minimal: no in flight movie (there really wasn't enough time to watch one) and I'm not so sure about the 'A' - 'B' - 'C' seating that they use. It's great if your ticket says 'A' (from Chicago to Cleveland - first seat..) your golden, but if your ticket says 'C' - forget it, be prepared to pick a middle seat between sweaty pig no.1 and unruly child no.16. The trip to Denver was another to lock in the spaces of my memory: A marathon St. Paddy's Day DFH show, goodtimes with my closest friends and the realization that no matter how much I talk to these butt heads on Skype, nothing makes up for quality time at the local flea market and upping my rating on Wii bowling.