Usually i don't like covers versions or songs with samples of tool's music in them, they never seem to capture the brilliance of the original composition, but this however... this is... well its fucking amazing.
Tool's 'Lateralus' for 8-piece koto ensemble.Beautiful.
This is the video for Pogo's new track called Upular
The music and video was composed using chords, bass notes and vocal samples from the Disney Pixar film Up.
Pogo is an emerging electronic music artist in Perth, Western Australia. He is known for his work recording small sounds from a single film or scene and sequencing them to form a new piece of music.
I have to say, I love his work, very clever. I'd posted one of his videos last year, but unfortunately its been taken down off youtube now.... grrrrrrrrrrrr
From Charlie Brooker
At the time of writing, it's not clear whether the 2009 Christmas No 1 will be The Climb by Joe McElderry, or Killing in the Name by Rage Against the Machine. I've just done my bit to inch the latter closer to the top spot by downloading it – something I'd resisted doing until now because I initially thought there was something a bit embarrassing about the campaign. After all, as every other internet smartarse pointed out, both tracks are owned by Sony BMG – so no matter which one sells the most, Simon Cowell wins. In other words, even by raging against the machine, you're somehow raging within it.
But profit isn't the point – or at least it's not the reason I downloaded it. For one thing, I happen to think Killing in the Name is an excellent song, so I've already got something out of it. Most importantly, it contains genuine emotion. Even if the climactic repeated howls of "Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me!" put you in mind of a teenager loudly refusing to tidy his bedroom – as opposed to a masked anarchist hurling petrol bombs at the riot squad – there is at least an authentic human sentiment being expressed. Zack de la Rocha is audibly pissed off.
Compare this to the pissweak vocal doodle that is Joe McElderry's X Factor single. For a song whose lyrics ostensibly document an attempt to gather the spiritual strength to overcome adversity and thereby attain enlightenment, The Climb is about as inspiring as a Lion bar. It's a listless announcement on a service station Tannoy; an advert for buttons; a fart in a clinic; a dot on a spreadsheet. Listening to it from beginning to end is like watching a bored cleaner methodically wiping a smudge from a Formica worksurface.
But then nobody's buying The Climb in order to actually listen to it. They're buying it out of sedated confusion, pushing a button they've been told will make them feel better. It's the sound of the assisted suicide clinic, and it doesn't deserve to be No 1 this Christmas.
This isn't mere pop snobbery, by the way. I'd rather see Girls Aloud at No 1 than Editors. But The Climb is a lame cover version of a lame Miley Cyrus song. If X Factor can't be arsed to do better than that, its grip on the yuletide charts deserves to be broken.
Anyway, while I'm happy for Rage Against the Machine to be enjoying the sales and publicity, I can't help thinking we could've organised a slightly better protest ourselves. Chances are the X Factor will try to kick back extra hard next year – perhaps by actually releasing a song with a melody in it – so it's best to start planning the resistance now.
The temptation might be to pour a lot of time and effort into creating a catchy anti-X Factor anthem, but the smartest counter-move would be to release something short, cheap and throwaway that isn't even a proper song at all. I propose a track called Simon Cowell: Shit for Ears, which consists of a couple of eight-year-olds droning the phrase "Simon Cowell, shit for ears" four times in a row in the most deliberately tuneless manner possible. It should last only about 15 seconds or so. Quick enough to register; brief enough not to outstay its welcome.
Then we release it online at the lowest price possible. What's the bare minimum you can charge and still be eligible for a chart position? It could be as little as 2p. Because the track is just recorded on to a cheap mic, and released without the assistance of any record label, 100% of the profits go to charity.
Dot-eyed CGI judge and omnipresent hair product spokeswoman Cheryl Cole recently complained that the campaign against McElderry's single was "mean", adding "If that song – or should I say campaign – by an American group is our Christmas No 1, I'll be gutted for him and our charts."
She's missing the point. It's not mean: it's funny. If the Christmas No 1 turns out to be an angry, confrontational rock track that concludes with an explosion of f-words, it'll be precisely the shot in the arm the charts have been sorely lacking the last few years: something that puts a genuine smile on the face of millions of people; sensitive people, thoughtful people; people alienated by the stifling cloud of grinning mechanical pap farted into their faces on a weekly basis by cocky, clattering, calculating talent shows such as X Factor. It would give these people hope. Maybe only in a very small and silly way, but still: a tiny spoonful of hope. And what could be more Christmassy than that?
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Well now we know Rage is No.1 in the Christmas charts... but does anyone really care?
It hyped up the xfactor for a bout 30 seconds... but no one really cared.
I'm not jumping on the Lady Gaga bandwagon at all, but I love the video for Bad Romance to borrow a phrase from a friend of mine "she is a fucking lunatic"
Still dont get her music, I like the singles she releases, but I've tried to listen to her album/s an I keep skipping to the singles.
Sometimes people think they have a "handle" on my musical tastes.
I like to dispel that myth every so often...
This is one of my all time FAVOURITE songs
Taken from Jason's All Over Creation Album which i seen him tour with in Limerick TWICE, both gigs blew my mind, as the 2nd time he played here, Jason got off the stage, unplugged his guitar an turned off his mic for the entire show and played to the 20 people in attendance like that as long as we sat round him in a semi circle.
One of the most amazing gigs I've ever attended, Also had the honour of talking to him after the show, such a down to earth man.
New video from gerodeo productions, i have to say, this blew me away, such a fantastic video, works with the song so well.
Always enjoy Ger's videos but i enjoy the ones with music I like even more. This has instantly become a favourite of mine. Well done Ger, I am seethingly jealous of your talent. *
* I swear Ger didn't ask me to post this, its genuine respect for talent
I very rarely just post a video JUST for the music it contains, but I felt i had to share this song with people.
I first heard this song about 7 or 8 yrs ago, sat in the back seat of a car going up to dublin to see some random band, who at the moment I cant recall.
I was given a copy of the album on tape, which I think I listened to ONCE an then lost.
And so the album and this incredible song remained lost to me, until last week, when the internet offered it up to me via a download.
I have since been rocking out to this track repeatedly.
How did i forget to post this? (trouble of importing old entries from a previous blog)
Alice is an electronic piece of which 90% is composed using sounds recorded from the Disney film 'Alice In Wonderland' and i love it, genius is what it is, pure an simple.
There is a link for the mp3 of this on the guys artist page on lastfm which is found here http://www.last.fm/music/Pogo/_/Alice
Before I got ready to go out tonight, I got an inkling for listening to some Deicide. Yeah, DEATH METAL.. what would you expect lol Anyways,I don't have my copy of Serpents of the Light with me (which is actually the ONLY album by them I like an own) So I figured, fuck it I BOUGHT the album, surely I'm entitled to download the fucker now.
when i check on its status after 3-4 minutes I saw this:
and it stayed at that percentage of download for 10 minutes...
im bouncy drunk... well i was till i was stalked by a DJ
song made me maudling...
One of my all time favourite songs an has been for nearly 10ys.
It speaks to me, an every so often they lyrics seem to mean a completely new thing.
Tonight I'm unhappy with the way a friendship has gone and its just... eh it seems to be a song that speaks volumes
Here I stand head in hand Turn my face to the wall If she's gone I can't go on Feelin' two-foot small
Everywhere people stare Each and every day I can see them laugh at me And I hear them say
Hey you've got to hide your love away Hey you've got to hide your love away
How can I even try I can never win Hearing them, seeing them In the state I'm in How could she say to me Love will find a way Gather round all you clowns Let me hear you say
Hey you've got to hide your love away Hey you've got to hide your love away
I'd missed the 15th anniversary of Kurt Cobains death.
Nirvana may not have had as huge an impact on me as some musicians however the music still had an impact. I was pretty much discovering Nirvana round the time Kurt killed himself, so his death didn't seem to have the same affect on me as it did my friends. In fact the later deaths of Dimebag Darrell and Layne Stanley affected me more.
However i always made the conscious decision to commemorate the occasion, putting on an album and remembering the genius that was.
Today I stumbled upon an article entitled: KURT COBAIN 15 Years Later: Is He Forgotten? and i realised, i had forgotten an important date. not only that but i was kinda shocked it was 15yrs, seems like only last year there was a 10th anniversary gig in Limerick, for the record I do think Nirvana and Kurt are still relevant in this day an age, the guy wrote some of the greatest songs of the 90's and some of those are the best of the 20th century (feel free to debate me on this if you want). Kurt inspired a specfic group of a generation, I dont think anyone since can really claim to be the voice of a generation as much as some would like to think they are. I know that when the voice is finally heard, i wont hear it properly, cause it aint my generation now.
A while back I posted a video of The Imperial March being played through a Tesla coil, which, for me caused a slight nerdy geeky fanboy squeeee moment to occur.
Since then I've gone looking to see if there are more of these video online, and well, surprise surprise. yes there is.
Seems to be a few "groups" that perform music this way,the main ones I've found are ArcAttack (who use backing tracks) and Dr. Zeus (who seems to rely solely on the Tesla coil for the music).
General principle on creating the music is achieved by using two identical high power solid state Tesla coils. There are no speakers involved. The Tesla coils stand 7 feet tall and are each capable of putting out over 12 foot of spark. They are spaced about 18 feet apart. The coils are controlled over a fibre optic link by a single laptop computer. Each coil is assigned to a midi channel which it responds to by playing notes that are programmed into the computer software.
In non geek terms basically, its all coming from the sparks. Still full of win however.
Lets be honest, the cool kids among us know that those are not JUST some lyrics from a Kanye West song, but also the title of a song from the brilliant Daft punk, in fact a song from Daft Punk that's been around since 2001 (yet won a Grammy only a month ago for a live recording in the Award for Best Dance Recording category )
There have been a few viral videos of this, most brilliant of all being DAFT HANDS
Which lets been honest much have been a BITCH to get right.
But now after 8 years since it 1st appeared on the airwaves the internet has finally gave us the option to create our own version of this song at http://www.najle.com/idaft its not perfect as it doesn't come with a backing track, but fuck it, find one and have 10 minutes of daft fun.
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