September 19, 2007

Iron Man

Best. Trailer. Evar.

Posted by stu at 04:27 PM

September 04, 2007

Rick Rubin on new music distribution

via John Gruber

Rubin: “You would subscribe to music,” Rubin explained, as he settled on the velvet couch in his library. “You’d pay, say, $19.95 a month, and the music will come anywhere you’d like. In this new world, there will be a virtual library that will be accessible from your car, from your cellphone, from your computer, from your television. Anywhere. The iPod will be obsolete, but there would be a Walkman-like device you could plug into speakers at home.”
Gruber: To argue that subscriptions are the future of music is to argue that DRM is the future of music, and the evidence points to the contrary.

I don't think this necessarily requires DRM. The point is that people would pay to have streaming access to an unlimited library anywhere they were. This would require pervasive, high-speed wireless Internet access. Which, at least in urban centres, has begun to be a reality.

Combine this with a social observation: music tastes are ever changing, fragmented, and time-irrelevant. While some may still focus on radio hits, I find it increasingly hard to pick out a "song of Summer 2007", for example. I've heard some say it was Rhianna's Umbrella (at least the most over played), or Kelly Clarkson's new one, etc. But that's so far from the reality for those who adored Nine Inch Nails' Survivalism, or White Stripes' Icky Thump, or Linkin Park's What I've done. This was the year that I rediscovered Skinny Puppy, for example, which lead me to predominantly listening to circa-1987 through 1992 music that sounds fresh and original even today. In early August I discovered the Montreal band Unexpect, who blew me away. The best concerts this summer were Lamb of God, still touring for a Summer '06 album, Emperor, who "broke up" in 2001, and The best concerts this summer were Lamb of God, still touring for a Summer '06 album, Emperor, who "broke up" in 2001, along with Skinny Puppy and VNV Nation's tours for their 2007 albums.

Further, with people having home, work, and portable computers, it's a pain in the ass to manage a collection of music across all of these hard drives. One has to ensure synchrony, deal with duplicates, and not forget anything because you can't re-download it from iTunes.

So, the solution would be -- provide an unlimited library of music available any time, anywhere. If you need to download ('cache') the song, go ahead. Or you could just stream it. The subscription you're paying for is the management of storage across all these bloody devices. It's not the iPod that becomes obsolete, it's "mandatory syncing".

P.s. I recommend reading the whole NY Times article on Rick Rubin. I've liked his work for 20+ years, since I was in grade school (!)...

Posted by stu at 12:02 PM

June 13, 2007

Sopranos

I just wanted to say, I really did love the way the Soprano's ended. The whole episode was very reflective of most of the Sopranos -- real life goes on, there are no real book-ends. There is resolution of a sort (the NY war). But Tony & family "goes on, and on, and on, and on...." It reminds me of an episode in Season 3, where Patsy Parisi threatens Gloria with a gun mid-episode, and then ends the episode picking up groceries.

Yes, the cut to black was jarring.
Yes, I thought my cable cut out.
When the credits rolled, I laughed.

But, what a scene -- every trick in the book was created to raise tension, to get the viewer into Tony's state of mind. Everyone entering the diner was a potential hit man. Externally, he was just Tony: "focus on the good times". Inside, he was a knot of paranoia. And so were we.

I felt frustrated, but also relieved.
And then, I thought back, and liked the journey.

The ending works, not because it was a cop out, but because it makes you feel. It celebrates the utter ridiculousness of life, like Meadow's inability to parallel park, the weirdness when surrounded by strangers that keep looking at you, and those moments of clarity that happen in the silliest places, like, oh, when you're in a diner, groovin' to a Journey song.

Don't stop believin', indeed.

Posted by stu at 09:27 AM

February 26, 2007

oscar! oscar!

I'm an Oscar nut. I think I've watched every one of them since I was 2 years old. I find they're long and can drag, but otherwise are a fabulous Sunday night. As fun as watching the Superbowl. Yep, I guess I'm odd.

Marty Scorcese gets his well-deserved Oscar. I think The Departed was by far the best movie of the year, followed by The Queen. I think Little Miss Sunshine is good, but not that good. Pan's Labyrinth had a better screenplay. But at least Pan's got three well-deserved golden dudes.

I liked Ellen. She started off nervous, but seemed to improve, with only a few bad jokes. The Jack Black, Will Farrell & John C Reilly skit was hilarious, as were Steve Carrell & Greg Kinnear, and even Jerry Seinfeld was ok.

The Oscars this year seemed goofier, quirkier, more self-aware that all the glam and pomp is just a front. Which does seem a bit like Ellen's personality. It was a long night, dragged at times, but felt a bit livelier than last year (though I enjoyed Jon Stewart).

Posted by stu at 09:51 AM

January 10, 2007

Pearl harbour for World of Warcraft

Ironforge was near-completely destroyed by High Lord Kruul on Dalaran server this evening.

Live footage:

.

Thousands dead

The burning crusade has come... (i love this game ;)

Posted by stu at 10:53 PM

July 16, 2006

Emperor reunion in New York City

A friend and I took a weekend jaunt to B.B. King's in New York City to see Emperor play one of four exclusive reunion dates in North Amerca.

(courtesy Flickr)(courtesy Flickr)

While I continue to think Opeth is mandatory listening for anyone who likes either heavy or progressive music, Emperor is not for the faint of heart. It is moody, atmospheric, and rather frightening at first. Progressive song structures, huge, layered guitars, spooky (and slightly cheesy) keyboards for atmosphere, and obscenely fast drumming. The closest I can liken it to is a very dark, disturbing series of audio Jackson Pollock paintings, arranged into a theme focused in stages around a particular riff or overarching and faintly discernable minor keyboard melody. The vocals sound like alternately like a screeching witch or a marching viking warrior. Fun for the whole family! Compared to most mainstream music, it takes complexity and layering to a different place. One way to think of it is a combination of Mercyful Fate (or King Diamond), Celtic Frost, and Kill 'Em All -era Metallica.

Anyway, the show was fabulous, everything I expected: fast, loud and heavy, but with tremendous musicianship, even though co-founder & guitarist Samoth couldn't make it due to immigration holdups. Ihsahn impresses with his stage presence and sincerity. He's one of the few musicians in death or black metal (along with Mikael Akerfelt) that conveys a passion for epic music tempered with a dose of humility and a strong interest in outside genres.

Posted by stu at 04:19 PM

February 26, 2006

Metal documentary

Metal: A Headbanger's Journey is playing in several Canadian cities: Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal. It's a great documentary and touches upon most of the aspects of Metal as a music genre, and has a good sense of history. Naturally, it doesn't cover absolutely everything, but I think it really captures the aspects of the music that I find so fascinating.

Posted by stu at 07:09 AM

Opeth Chronology - New York City

A friend and I flew to NYC to see Swedish progressive death metal act Opeth play at the Town Hall theatre near Times Square. The venue was quite impressive - well maintained, smallish multi-level theatre, with great views of the stage all around, and the sound quality (finally!) was decent. Too often I've felt that their stage sound was muddy, but this time, other than some relatively minor level issues, it was much clearer than on past tours.

This event was part of 3 special shows, "Chronology MCMXCIV - MMV, A live Observation by Opeth", in NYC, LA, and Chicago -- seated venues, where Opeth would play a 2 1/2 hour set going through their 12 year album career -- all 8 albums.

Here's the setlist. Ballet Deviare opened, which was entertaining - four dancers strutting to Opeth's Deliverance.

(The following is a variation on what I wrote on the Opeth message board). It's been a great time watching Opeth grow into a world class live presence. I remember in January 2003 watching Opeth play Toronto's Opera House, and they were so nervous.. in such a short time they've gotten so much more relaxed, tighter and confident. (All that's left is hoping that their main drummer, Lopez gets better!)

I thought this show put the band on a different level. Genres of music entertain in different ways. What makes Opeth special is that they have the ability to hit the intensity of death metal and also those "sublime" moments that one only gets with great progressive rock like Pink Floyd. This was the first time (for me) they hit both moments in spades. Between The Amen Corner, White Cluster, Deliverance, and Ghost of Perdition, the energy in the room was peaked. And in terms of sublime moments, I would have to say that A Fair Judgement and Closure were tops. The middle section of Closure, where Per does his keyboard solo and Mikael doodles on the guitar just elevated the show to another level, it was like watching a great Jazz band or Prog Art Rock band at work. I'm not sure how they can top this show, short of replicating it on a larger scale.

A number of older fans are complaining about the setlist lacking older material. Frankly, a lot of those old songs are repetitious, meandering, and not very entertaining to see live -- they're meant for personal enjoyment on headphones. There are lots of great Opeth songs, and the ones they chose are some of their best, including some that we haven't heard very often. Yes, there is a place for yesterday, but we are dealing with a band that is arguably getting better with every album release...

Posted by stu at 07:00 AM

February 03, 2006

Cookie monster vocals

The Wall Street Journal has an article on death metal's distinctive vocal style. Courtesy boing boing.

Though Mr. Conner from Roadrunner Records suggests that death metal acts are no longer selling, this is not to say that some artists are selling very well, and growing in popularity. One of my favorite bands is Opeth, a hybrid progresive / death metal band from Sweden, who have reached Billboard positions, and have sold Their music can be described as a dynamic mix of early Led Zeppelin, mid-70's Pink Floyd, and older Metallica, but with growling. I highly suggest them, particularly the latest "Ghost Reveries" if you like intense, dynamic music. If you just like progressive rock, give "Damnation" a try - no growling on that album.

Several of Cradle of Filth's albums have reached gold status (100k) in sales, and most recently Dimmu Borgir's Death Cult Armageddon has reached 100,000 in sales in January 2006, according to Soundscan. Dimmu is (for lack of a better term) a symphonic black metal band, in that they incorporate live orchestra with growling vocals and guitars. Some of their music was featured in the original Hellboy trailer.

And, finally, I must say that Sirius Sattellite Radio's Hard Attack is very entertaining, with a good mix of all metal genres, including plenty of cookie monsters!

Posted by stu at 09:48 PM

June 12, 2005

Pink Floyd Reuniting

Probably one of the biggest news stories in music for years: after 24 years apart, Pink Floyd will be reuniting to play the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park, London.

Tickets are lottery only via text/sms to Londoners, closing today. Otherwise I'd be on a plane.... ;)

Posted by stu at 06:35 PM

April 17, 2005

fantomas

Went to see Fantomas at the Phoenix on Friday. Wow, what a show. Mike Patton is a madman.

I commented to someone next to me that this music is the ultimate for people with attention deficit disorder. Songs take 30 - 90 seconds, generally take heavy metal as the "base form" but proceed to jumping from middle-eastern influenced folk, to children's cartoon songs and sound effects, to electronic IDM, to horror movie themes. It also is fascinating to watch live, it's much more like a jazz combo or stage band than a rock band. All of the musicans face each other, so Dave Lombardo's drum kit is to left side, Patton and his gear on the right, with Buzzo and Trevor Dunn in the middle. Patton acts as the conductor throughout the show, gesturing , yelling, counting in, or flailing his body at the appropriate times. Patton sometimes has to juggle multiple microphones, each with separate effects on them. Samples are interwoven with live instruments, Mike Patton's voice being the most versatile instrument of the bunch. From rhythms, to piercing screams, to charming melodies (with and without words), to unintelligable crunching or grunting, he's got quite a range. The link above (on the word "Songs") gives you a sample of the new album.

There's a recent interview with Patton on MSNBC. This quote from him seems to summarize the theme of the music...

[Fantomas'] “Suspended Animation” is a torrent of agitated quick-hit death metal mixed in with samples ripped right out of your favorite childhood cartoons. One listen and you’ll get sent back to sitting in front of the TV and feeling sorry for Droopy Dog. Only with Fantomas, Droopy Dog reaches out of the TV, grabs you by the neck and just keeps shaking.

[Photos are from here, copied to preserve their bandwidth. They're from a show last year in Europe, with a similar look to what I experienced Friday.]

Posted by stu at 09:06 PM

March 17, 2005

Apocalyptica

I caught this cello-based metal/rock/classical band last night in Toronto. One of the more entertaining live acts I've ever wtinessed, I can't remember grinning ear-to-ear as much. They played a mix of original songs and covers, most notably a bunch of old Metallica tunes, and a Sepultura track. They teamed up with Slayer's Dave Lombardo for select drum tracks on their last two albums, though he's not touring with them. I've been following these guys since 1996, when they released their first Metallica covers, and they've certainly risen past the "gimmick" stage, they're the Real Deal now.

Anyhow, for Americans, they're playing in Austin TX and California later in the week, I would suggest you check them out if you like heavy and fast music with a classical twinge.

Posted by stu at 11:54 AM

November 12, 2004

Google Bloodbath

Amusing.

Posted by stu at 09:37 PM | Comments (0)

January 15, 2004

iPod and standards

What's with all the newspeak going on with regards to the HP and Apple deal to produce an HP-branded iPod? I see journalists everywhere concerned that Apple will fail because they're not opening the iPod up to "competing standard audio formats", namely WMA, so they're allegedly going the route of closed and properietary that has caused their downfall in the past.

I have a problem with this. Since when is WMA an industry standard? My understanding is that MP3 is the industry standard, and that DRM-based formats are the upstarts. For some reason, journalists have inverted that relationship. This industry has already ceded plenty of standards to Microsoft, some for better, some for worse. I don't see any particular benefits of letting Microsoft have the default control on this one. They're already making huge inroads into streaming video.

The iPod certainly does support several music stores other than the iPod Music Store - music stores that support MP3, such as eMusic or Warp Records' BLEEP. It could support more, such as the Real.com store, since it's still AAC (it would just need to license the encryption technology).

The issue is whether Apple wants to really remain neutral - supporting Real's AAC format is a signal that it's trying to avoid WMA. For now, it just looks like they're trying to milk iTMS. Which isn't necessarily a bad short term move. I don't think this is the same Apple from the late 1980's. They'll open themselves up to standards if their user base wants or needs it. Today, there is no evidence of that, given the success of iTMS+iPod and relative lack of success of the other stores.

Now if only iTMS would come to Canada and actually support some more indie artists.

Posted by stu at 11:54 PM | Comments (0)

September 15, 2003

why i wear black

I wore black on Friday. That evening (Tokyo time), I discovered Johnny Cash had died.

We'll miss you, Johnny.

Posted by stu at 05:48 AM

August 24, 2003

a sad day

Wesley Willis has passed away.

Posted by stu at 04:59 PM

Music copying in Canada

... is apparently free? This could be a hilarious case of the industry not recognizing what it was getting itself into.

Posted by stu at 06:54 AM

July 21, 2003

Farmakon

A very obviously Opeth influenced band is set to release their debut album some time in August. There's a sample song available, it sounds ... well, like Opeth, but not. It ain't that bad. The melody-writing isn't as refined as Opeth's, but it's only one song.

Oh, I guess this is my first music entry. I have some fairly interesting and diverse musical tastes, but nothing too bizarre, really. I like to hover around electronic and metal music of all sorts. Anyway, from time to time I may talk about music, it's a big part of me.

Posted by stu at 02:42 PM