Not sure why, but I quite like Omnikrom. Their summer hits are unapologetically poppy and I like the self-deprecating humour which seeps through the whole thing. These guys seriously don’t take themselves too seriously. All the while posing as superstars, which they could well become.
I should go to the free (as in summer beer) Omnikrom and Numéro# Fouf show on May 9.
Thanks to André Péloquin’s PodMo for including «Été hit» (which he got from La Swompe).
College students take to Ruckus | CNET News.com
(Also talks about other music-related services showed at the Digital Music Forum – East.)
Talked about Ruckus and music discovery on one of my other blogs. Still like part of the system as a way to explore musical diversity (especially if they get more diverse music).
The idea, here, is to hook students-as-music-consumers to a music delivery system. Not even sneaky. But a bit ill-advised, IMHO.
And I mean that in a positive, optimistic, hopeful, idealistic way.
Been pretty busy recently. Have a bunch of things to read and catch up with. So this’ll just be a series of links. I feel they’re all related, in a way…
Will the GBN jump in now or did it do so already?
Hey, blog-brothers and sisters!
Feel free to put a plug to your blog, here. Doesn’t even need to rhyme.
Got the idea from YULBlog last night and thought it might be neat. (Besides, it’s a shameless attempt at getting more comments and/or pings.)
Otherwise, if you came for stuff about craft and homebrewed beer, homeroasting and other coffee geekery, or musical diversity, do browse and comment.
I also have two blogs on music. One for a course in the anthropology of music, the other Thinking Globalisation Through Music.
Though it might not seem so obvious, I’m longing for comments… 😉
Started out the usual way, with emails and blogs. But then moved into very diverse and unique activities.
Went to a workshop on the game Guitar Hero, organised by GameCode and Ludiciné. Stimulating conversations on music, games, gender, sandboxes, playfulness, musicking, performance, competition, etc.
Then went on to the Ethnographic Film Festival. Was only able to watch a short excerpt of a short film from the Wapikoni Mobile project and a good part of a movie about food production in Europe (Malthus was wrong! 😉 ). Unfortunately, there were technical problems with the Wapikoni short, but it seemed fascinating. Glad to know there’s a Wapikoni Mobile podcast, but contrary to the Off-Courts podcast, it doesn’t include video content.
Then moved to a coffee jam at Caffè ArtJava. Had an excellent time and tasted some of the best espresso in my life. CAJ is set to participate in the growth of Montreal’s espresso scene.
From CAJ, went directly to Kola Note to pay tribute to Boubacar Diabaté‘s life and influence on Montreal’s (very dynamic, yet IMHO underrated) African music scene. Many of the players in that scene appeared on stage (in different bands) and the general ambiance was that of a strong community. Reminded me of the Francis Bebey tribute at Alizé, a few years ago, but last night’s event was more free-form, organic, cooperative… African. Got a chance to spend some time with fascinating people (like my good friends Guy Langué and David Mobio) who make Montreal’s African music community what it is.
Some seem to disagree on my observations but I feel this community is quite unique in that musicians cross any line to play and feel together. Appropriate tribute to Diabaté who was a «rassembleur» (bringing people together). In fact, Diabaté was the first person with whom I worked for my master’s degree research. Through this work, I eventually met with Madou Diarra who became more than a friend for me.
Un vidéoclip Sarko-phage.
I do hope they realize it. The infamous, and famously exploitative, lobby group for “intellectual property” is ultimately going to lose.
Signs of their ultimate demise abound in the actions of both the RIAA and the MPAA (as well as equivalent lobby groups in other North America and Europe). These people just don’t get it.
Been laughing out loud at some comments about the recent debate over the alleged benefits of extending British copyright for performing artists over the fifty years that anyone in their right mind would think is fair. Even some musicians are revealing the lack of breadth in their argument: they just want to be able to live off the money from their recordings from the late 1950s and early 1960s. That would stimulate innovation how, exactly? The fact that it took these people that long to realize that copyrights are meant to be temporary is preciously funny. “Oh, wait! I thought I was supposed to keep my monopoly over these recordings forever.”
Also funny is the stance of Apple Corps. and the remaining Beatles over what should be done with their music. Their first recordings will come out of copyright in the UK (and several other places) in a few years. Instead of taking advantage of the situation by making sure that the last people who by their music get added value, they prevent online music stores from selling their tracks and release a set of anachronistic remixes. Weird.
Been thinking for a while about a type of “two cultures” theory. What Larry Lessig calls “Free Culture” on one side and “Commerical Culture” on the other. The meaning of “culture” used in those cases can be relatively close to anthropological concepts, though it’s also about “creative culture,” including arts and entertainments. In the U.S. of A., Lessig’s primary target, “free culture” seems to be under attack. Elsewhere, it florishes. In any way we think about it, “free culture” is more beneficial for the greater group than a “closed culture,” whether it’s based on commercial value, on jealousy, or both. If we think competitively, there is little doubt in my head that “free culture” will eventually win and that U.S. “commercial culture” (or “permission culture,” as Lessig calls it) will collapse, bringing down a large part of U.S. society.
That is, unless some people finally wake up.
The iTunes Store always has some free tracks and TV shows. Fairly recently (maybe I didn’t notice it before) they added a page where users can see all the free content. That’s convenient.
Direct Link (U.S. store).
Actually, with two free tracks a week on the U.S. store and one free track a week on the Canada store, I’ve been able to find a few interesting songs.
Of course, those tracks and TV shows are still protected with the FairPlay DRM, which has negative consequences. But it’s still cool to have a few things to play with.
Other sites, including CalabashMusic, also have free music, usually without any DRM copy-protection. The advantages of iTunes have mostly to do with the integration between the store, the software, and iPods, but these other stores are well worth checking out.
Promotional video on Dan Levitin’s book:
[youtube=http://youtube.com/w/?v=JvBoHohvQ54]
YouTube – This Your Brain On Music: Punk
About the title of my new book: Most people born before 1984 or so and raised in the U.S. remember a PSA (public service announcement) that ran for many years as part of the government’s “say no to drugs” campaign. In that ad, which has been parodied many times from “Married With Children” to Weird Al Yankovic, a man holds up a single egg and says “This is your brain.” he then cracks it onto a frying pan and as it cooks, he says “this is your brain on drugs. . . any questions?”
The title of my new book is a nod to that old Reagan-era ad, because of new research that shows that music activates many of the same pleasure centers as drugs do. Also, there is lots of new research on how people use music in their everyday lives; many people use music for mood-regulation, and for self-medication. We use music the way we use drugs such as caffeine and alcohol – to help us get out of bed in the morning or finish an exercise workout, to calm us after a stressful day, or to ease social interactions. As a fan once told Joni Mitchell, “before there was Prozac, there was you.”
Real World Remixed | Favard’s Remix Of Shock The Monkey
You can listen to the remix, rate it, and comment upon it.
Favard‘s a Swiss duo (Denis Corboz on trumpet, Vincent Jaton on keyboards) playing an interesting style of Electro-Jazz-Chill-Lounge.
Semi-disclaimer: Vincent is a good friend of mine. But he’s also a well-rounded musician and that shows up in his playing.