Unexpected~n

So, who was expecting this?

I have decided that blogs, being... blogs... need to be updated. And update I shall. What a wondrous start this shall be, as well.

I have actually decided maybe, sort of, almost, that I might do some audio blogging on the subject of music. Until then, however, I present you with the following... something.

My own collection of noise music. And by that, I don't mean I just own it - I mean I made it. It's like, an album, almost.

Who would have figured?

http://rapidshare.com/files/59914493/Minimalistic_Assortments.zip.html

Enjoy.

Distant Early Warning

Yes, that is the title of a Rush song.

I feel dirty updating this blog when not immersed in music - I think ever since I lost my ability to transport my collection with me, any future I had in music journalism has gone direly downhill. However. Something has lately inspired me to a mood in which the only obvious thing to do is to write about music. So that's what I'll do.

Later, anyway.

Until then.

A never ending change of bizarre music links

It has been a while since I updated this old sucker, mostly due to lack of interest. However, I have been stumbling on too much good stuff lately to not share it.

I have noticed that in researching, listening, and interpretting music and musical artists, that if you look hard enough, a lot of stuff is connected. For example; one of my compositional idols is Mr. John Zorn, a phenomenally talented and prolific avant-garde saxophonist who was awarded the "MacArthur Genius Grant" in 2006 for his virtuoso playing and compositions which transcend genres (notable projects include Painkiller and one of my favorite jazz combos of all time, Naked City). Following that chain, we can come up with a lot of the interesting musical acts that I've been listening to lately.

-John Zorn has worked extensively with Japanese 'vocalist' Yamantaka (Yamatsuka) eYe, the frontman of the crazy Japanese group The Boredoms.

-John Zorn's record label was used for the first several releases of virtuoso guitarist (and all around weirdo) Buckethead.

-Buckethead has done some work and guest contributions with Les Claypool, and his band of note, Primus - the only band given their own genre tag. Awesome.

-Primus have toured with genre-bending funk-metal act Mr. Bungle - fronted and arranged by a Mr. Mike Patton, who has worked extensively with John Zorn, and eYe. (Also, another act to tour with Mr. Bungle - Incubus. >>;)

-Zorn, Patton, and eYe have all worked with with Masami Akita (aka Merzbow), one of the most prolific and notable noise 'music' producers in the world.

Which leads us all in a big circle - from that group I can find a lot more stuff. I can link Buckethead to Estradasphere (a genre defying instrumental group), and them to Liquid Tension Experiment, and them to Dream Theater - thus providing the methodology through which I came to acknowledge the existence of a lot of these artists. It's not always a straight line, I guess.

My reccomendation to people is to follow connections - you never know what kind of amazing stuff you might wind up with if you look for it.

Today's song is probably something people have heard a lot lately, mostly due to the fame of Guitar Hero 2 amongst... well, just in general. So that means people might know it. I could pick something less cliche', but these are just good songs, and I see no reason not to let people know they're around. Plus, I'm not yet familiar enough with Buckethead (or Primus, tomorrow) to show people other stuff. So deal.

Today's song of the day: Jordan by Buckethead. Enjoy. Link is Here.

Self Produced Noise Music

I hesitated to put this up, but...


Lately, I've been messing around with some freeware and a microphone I picked up in a local bargain bin... after a couple false starts, I managed to sit down and finish what I would call a track.

Word of warning - it's noise music. And, yes, it is one of the first things I've ever made, so it's not that great. But I think it could be worse. I think I may be trying to do too many things in one song. I may upload the other 'track' I finished earlier - it's not nearly as good as this one.

Enjoy?

http://www.sendspace.com/file/a43rze

Bootlegged Stuffs

One of my favorite bands of all time, Dream Theater, has an interesting position on bootlegged materials. My drumming idol, Mr. Mike Portnoy, actively supports the stuff, and even goes so far as to release 'official' bootlegs on his own record label. I never really thought about this before, but it's a Godsend for someone like me who loves extra stuff about anything - and even though I probably once pledged not to upload any DT stuff before because they're right up there in my 'essential artists' list, I can't help but share something that's so 'rare'.

As a battoned down music pirate, I don't really think about the implications of music bootlegging - I'm one of the only people I know who's never really bought a CD in their entire life, yet I have one of the biggest music collections of anyone I know. I try not to think about the ramifications of it. I have one of the weirdest theories on music distribution of anyone I know - and I always hold that if I make it big as a music type person, musician I suppose, or percussionist, if you prefer... I'd offer the band's entire catalogue free for download. Money should be made off touring, in my opinion, though if anyone wanted to buy some CDs, that would be neat too.

I've wanted to buy a fair many CDs in my time, but they're always so obscure, they're impossible to find in any of my local retail outlets. So, if I want to get my hands on a hard copy of anything, I end up having to order it from somewhere in Sweden or something, and by the time it goes through all the currency exchanges and shipping and handling I'm looking at a 35$ purchase, which is a bit steep for one CD - especially with my income being as nominal as it is.

Then again, bootlegging is an entirely different thing. It'd be different if I had the wherewithal to go to shows, and participate in that kind of 'offline internet' thing. Maybe I will some day, following Dream Theater on tour or something... but not for now.

Oh yeah. Sorry to make this a bit of a wild goose-chase, but really, I meant to say - in my acquisition of bootlegs and other type stuff, I also managed to get my hands on a bunch of stuff by Mindless Self Indulgence, another of my essential picks. I don't think recordings of live shows are too bad, especially when the band actively promotes the idea. So many of them are really poor quality, but I have one that looks almost properly produced - a live show video of the song Stupid MF, which is what I'm going to share today.

Hopefully a taste of something a little different isn't a bother. Yes, it is a video, and a live show - but I think it's worth a look, in any case. If you like the band, it's pretty cool, and if you've never heard of them before (what's wrong with you? ^^) it's still good enough to get a taste of their sound. That's another thing... if I'm in a band, I will spend hours tweaking our live sound to get it right. Gosh.


Link is here.
MP3 of the song is here.

You might have to open the video file in Windows Media Player Classic, or just WMP in general, because my Winamp had problems with it.

Notes about the song (and band):

1. The bass player (Lyn-Z) is unbelievably attractive. >>;
2. The band is known for their crazy and over the top live antics and shows.
3. Now that I actually know something about drumming, I'm less than fond of the drummer for this band. I don't even know what she's doing... ugh.

Call this the song of the day if you want.