via gajitz.com
Once used to help develop nuclear reactors, The WITCH comes out of being in storage for 30 years to be on display once again.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Up super early on a Saturday, but well worth it.
Upgraded RAM in production MacBook, Listen to The xx, created a new Disk Image of previous production MacBook, listen to some Thom Yorke. Help a customer Migrate select data from a Sunflower iMac to a shiney new 20" Aluminum Iintel iMac. Listened to house keepers of said customer franticly clean and making all efforts to avoid gorgeous, yet gigantic Golden Retriever. I have lots more to do today and It's not even noon yet.
Friday, October 09, 2009
9 Successful Techniques for Making Money from Podcasting
David Spark (@dspark) is the founder of Spark Media Solutions, specialists in building industry voice through storytelling and social media. He blogs at Spark Minute and is a regular on Cranky Geeks and ABC Radio.
For many, creating a podcast is something that’s done solely out of passion. But even among those who do it strictly for the love of podcasting, after awhile, once you’ve built up an audience, there comes a time when you think to yourself, “I can’t keep doing this for free.”
Such was the case with many of the people I interviewed in my 15-part series, “Making Money from Podcasting.” From a $50 donation to cover an afternoon of babysitting to a six figure sponsorship, the people I spoke to have been making anywhere from pocket change to lucrative careers from podcasting.
What follows is a compendium of nine proven money-making techniques for podcasters. All are successful to varying degrees and some podcasters use a combination of methods. This summary provides an explanation of all the techniques, and tips from the podcasters who have pulled them off. For more tips, advice, and to hear the full money making podcast story, make sure to read and listen to each the interviews linked throughout this article.
1. Got audience? We’ll get you sponsors
Podcast networks such as Mevio, Podtrac, and Wizzard Media welcome any podcaster that has an audience, because that means they can sell advertising against it. The networks collect shows, categorize them, and sell advertising on a CPM (cost per thousand) or CPA (cost per action) basis. Adam Curry, former MTV VJ, podcasting pioneer, and President of Mevio (interview), is looking for podcast producers that know their audience and can motivate them. Using either their show programming or social media, podcast producers promote show-specific coupon codes for their sponsors. Every time one is used, the podcaster gets paid. Of their network of 15,000 podcasters, Curry said he has three podcasters that will make between $500,000 to $1,000,000 this year.
Kevin Kastner of Alaska HDTV used to be a Mevio customer but left because he was unsatisfied with what he was being offered (he wasn’t willing to make a CPA deal) and the opaqueness of the deals. He had no idea how much Mevio was selling his show to advertisers. Curry said he splits all revenue 50/50 with podcasters.
2. Get your own sponsors
Kastner left Mevio (interview) because he believed he and his partner could land their own sponsors and make more money. They did, and in doing so increased revenue 200 to 300 percent, said Kastner. But he admits it has come at a serious cost: his workload has increased more than ten-fold.
Wizzard Media offers a hybrid advertising solution for podcasters that want to make more money by landing their own sponsors, yet still need the crutch of an ad network to fill out any unsold inventory. Royce Hildreth, co-producer of Pregtastic, the podcast by and for pregnant women, uses this Wizzard Media hybrid solution. For podcasters that get their own sponsors, Wizzard Media will insert the ads for a flat fee, explained Rob Walch, Wizzard’s VP of Podcaster Relations (interview) and host of the Today in iPhone podcast.
3. Be like public TV, beg for donations
Pregtastic’s Hildreth (interview) admits that the hybrid sponsorship alone isn’t cutting it, so he’s put up a begware button and instructed podcast hosts to say that the show costs a donation. He and his co-producing wife aren’t making a lot of money from donations, however. It’s usually enough to hire a babysitter for when they have to go to the studio to record another episode.
4. Give some away free, charge for the rest
This technique comes in multiple variations. One of the innovators of this technique is Don McAllister, host of ScreenCastsOnline (interview), a weekly video podcast of “how to” Mac software tutorials. McAllister gives away every other episode and makes viewers pay for the rest ($57 for the first six months) which includes additional bonus content and hi-res videos.
The formula has become his livelihood for the past three years, and it’s been copied successfully (with McAllister’s blessing) by Israel Hyman host of Izzy Video (interview) and producer of Rolling R’s and Paperclipping.
When Hyman and McAllister first produced their podcasts they were completely free. It wasn’t until after a few years and some success that they started charging for some of their shows. Ken Ray, host of Mac OS Ken (interview), a daily podcast about Apple news, didn’t want to start charging for his free podcasts, so he created another show, “Day 6,” which can only be accessed through a paid subscription. Ray said the “Day 6″ show is designed to pay for his daily show.
Apple doesn’t allow podcasters to charge for podcasts within iTunes, so if you want to create a paid podcast, you need to use a service such as Premiumcast.com which allows you to create personalized RSS feeds, explained CEO Paul Colligan (interview). Personalized RSS feeds allow for complete control over the podcaster/subscriber relationship, allowing you to serve different content (e.g., PDFs, video, or audio) and time the distribution, plus turn off a feed if someone stops paying.
5. Partial show free, full show paid
One of my favorite podcasts, Never Not Funny, is hosted by a great comedian I knew in Chicago, Jimmy Pardo. The show is 90 minutes long, but only the first 20 minutes is available for free. If you want the rest of the show, you need to become a paid subscriber ($19.99 for a season of 26 episodes in audio, $24.99 for the season in video). Like McAllister, Hyman, and Ray, the Never Not Funny podcast didn’t begin with a paid model. Pardo and his co-host and producer Matt Belknap (interview) created 100 shows for free first, and then switched to the partial show free, full show paid model. It’s paid off. Belknap estimates that 35 percent of their total listeners are paid subscribers.
6. Build your own media network of programming and sell advertising against it
Launching a radio or television network has enormous overhead. A podcast network doesn’t. Personal Life Media is an online network of blogs and podcasts that address personal life issues such as career, love, health, and finance, explained CEO Susan Bratton (interview). Unlike podcast networks such as Mevio and Wizzard Media which are just collecting a mishmash of programming, Personal Life Media behaves like a radio network that controls its programming and its overall brand. With her lineup of forty programs, Bratton can sell advertising packages by specific category that get from 100,000 to 250,000 downloads per month.
Unlike Bratton’s Personal Life Media, ESPN didn’t have to start from scratch when creating its podcast network, ESPN Podcenter; they already had a brand and a radio station. When they first began podcasting five years ago, they repurposed some radio content for the web, but soon learned that it was more effective to create original podcast programming. Now with a lineup of more than 100 podcasts, ESPN sells integrated sponsor packages across multiple media that can include advertiser images that appear on the show’s icon within iTunes’ podcast directory, said Marc Horine, VP of Digital Media at ESPN (interview).
7. Build your brand to sell your services
Marketing and digital technology coach John Jantsch is the host of the “Duct Tape Marketing” podcast (interview) which is also the name of his book and his consultancy. In his early days of podcasting, when he was a complete unknown, Jantsch would request interviews from well known social media types like Guy Kawasaki and Seth Godin. Having them on his podcast raised his profile. Since, his consulting business has increased 500 percent and is now landing him six-figure sponsorships repeatedly, said Jantsch.
Mike Auzenne, co-host of the Manager Tools podcast (interview), doesn’t charge for his podcast or take any sponsorship money. He just focuses on delivering great advice and actionable tips to be a better manager. The four-year podcast trust building exercise is working. All of Manager Tools’ clients come from hearing him on the podcast first, and as a result business has increased ten-fold, said Auzenne.
8. Sell an iPhone app along with your podcast
Elsie Escobar is the host of the podcast Elsie’s Yoga Class Live and Unplugged (interview) which is simply an audio recording of her yoga classes. Though the podcast is distributed completely for free, she’s just starting to make money with a $3.99 iPhone application. The application, developed by Wizzard Media and available to any podcaster on a revenue share basis, lets Escobar and anyone else offer value add content for their podcast. Escobar uses it to add PDFs of routine sequences and quick access to 70 of her past yoga classes. It’s an ideal platform to be on since Wizzard Media’s podcast metrics show that 85 percent of people download podcasts through iTunes. Combine that with the 50 million iPhones and iPod Touches sold and you’ve got yourself a strong podcasting platform, said Wizzard Media’s Rob Walch.
9. Integrate sponsorship with the show’s editorial
Digital audio book seller Audible is a regular sponsor of many different podcasts. It is natural for them to advertise on podcasts, since their product is usually consumed in the same place: iPods. It was even more appropriate for them to advertise via sponsored editorial placements on Slate’s Culture Gabfest, a group discussion podcast of the week’s arts and entertainment happenings, explained Andy Bowers (interview), Slate’s podcast and video producer. The Culture Gabfest’s hosts were already consumers of Audible’s product and were eager to recommend books or take recommendations from listeners. Book recommendations fit in naturally with the show’s editorial and it also has increased engagement as they continue to track their success through a show-specific promotion code.
This is just a brief summary of all the different ways one can make money from podcasting. For “how to” tips and expert advice on how to make these techniques actually work, make sure you read and listen to the interviews, linked all throughout this article.
More business resources from Mashable:
- 5 Advanced Social Media Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses
- 4 Ways Social Media is Changing Business
- 6 Must-Follow Steps for Selling in Any Economy
- 5 Easy Social Media Wins for Your Small Business
- HOW TO: Use Twitter Hashtags for BusinessImage courtesy of iStockphoto (
), Graffizone
via mashable.com
These are all great tips and, depending upon the type of podcast your doing, combing a few of them can obviously yield very positive results. For most though, building your brand through your podcast that lead to other sources of revenue is the best, most unobtrusive way to go. What are your thoughts?
-Joe
In a surprise move, Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize
"OSLO -- President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said, citing his outreach to the Muslim world and attempts to curb nuclear proliferation."
Didn't see hat one coming did ya!
Ok so now he has he worlds attention... again. So what's he gonna do with all that love?
I've got a few ideas...
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Fresh Espresso - Live on KEXP
To play mp3s in your browser, you will need to have Javascript turned on and have Flash Player 9 or better installed.
Just listened to the these cats from Seattle. They're on the underground Hip Hop Tip with a bit of an Indie/Electro flare. The tune 'Right Here' is smooth and 'Lazer Beams' has some cool live vocoder action, Aside from that it's just two guys rapping to a laptop, But man is that laptop is working it!
Learn more: http://www.myspace.com/freshespresso
Enjoy!
Joe
Gnarls Barkley cover Radiohead's 'Reckoner'
Reckoner (Radiohead Cover) by Gnarls Barkley
Download now or listen on posterous
17 Reckoner (Radiohead Cover).mp3 (5192 KB) Download now or listen on posterous
Stumbled upon this cover this morning, it comes from a performance recorded Live @ Astoria 2, London in August of 2008. Cee-Lo's vocals lay the soul on pretty thick, almost a gospel howl of sorts, while the rest of the band does a rather accurate rendition of the song. Good find! The MP3 features a bit more of Cee-Lo introducing the song and some banter afterward.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Monday, October 05, 2009
U.S. Mac Ownership Grows, But Nearly 85% of Mac Households Also Own Windows PCs
http://www.macrumors.com/2009/10/05/npd-u-s-mac-ownership-grows-but-nearly-85-of-mac-households-also-own-windows-pcs I find this to be true with about 80% of my customers. Many of whom are switchers thanks to the iPhone or simply tired of dealing with Windows virus issues. Another interesting note: Of my 80% of Mixed enviroment house holds almost half of them continue to use Windows on their Mac via Bootcamp, Parallels or VMWare Fusion. And of that 50% I'd say nearly 90% of them do so because they are in Realestate or Finance.
Sunday, October 04, 2009
The xx 'Islands & Night Time' On Later With Jools Holland 2nd October 2009
via youtube.com
The xx Play it cool on 'Later'.
Saturday, October 03, 2009
The Death of Multitasking and Rebirth of Unitasking
http://www.dumblittleman.com/2009/10/death-of-multitasking-and-rebirth-of.html You mean having Tweetie, iChat, Mail, Safari and iTunes open while I'm building a FileMaker DB is less productive? Damn! I'be been saying this for a while now, nice to have some science backing me up. What we need is focus not the constant flow of mlutiple activites and tasks.
Friday, October 02, 2009
Florence & The Machine - You've Got The Love (The xx Remix)
You've Got The Love (The Xx Remix) by Florence And The Machine
Download now or listen on posterous
You've Got the Love (The xx Remix).mp3 (6773 KB) Download now or listen on posterous
It's more of a cover really. Injecting a Two Step vibe with Romy and Oliver sparing on vocals and making this track their own. Love it.
Enjoy! JoeThursday, October 01, 2009
5-year-old boy plays "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash
via youtube.com
Cute. Take that Yo Gabba Gabba!
Ableton - Novation Launchpad - Pretty Slick Device!
via ableton.com
It's confusing to watch this in action with this tailored version of Live, but I'm curious to get my hands on it.
The Sky Drops - Truth Is
"The Sky Drops are gaze-grunge duo Rob Montejo and Monika Bullette. This Delaware twosome unearths an ocean-size of sound -- a superforce of guitar, drums and vocals. "What a Loveless-era My Bloody Valentine kicking Elliot Smith from his grave would sound like (with a twist of lemon)." - Andrew - fan of The Sky Drops"
That sums it up. I stumbled upon this duo yesterday and immediately found them to be familiar and fresh at the same time. Takes me back to the mid 90's but keeps me present with their stripped down duo sound and straight ahead drive. The vocals are really the key, they help to lift up the overall mood of the songs, they could've easily and lazily gone a more sludgy direction. They have a 5 Song EP which has another stellar song called 'Now Would Be' that is well worth checking out.
'Truth is' comes off their debut Long player "Bourgeois Beat".
Enjoy!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Where is Art & Entertainment headed?
http://www.wbur.org/2009/08/20/basement-musician John (http://johntooker.posterous.com/) sent me these two links last night... Here are some thoughts after reading them:
I agree with Amanda Palmer. She totally has the right idea. Why the hell should you not be compensated for the art you create? The idea of every artist or band being a street a street performer and saying "Yo, give me some money!" might be a bit hard for some to adjust to, but it does make a lot of sense. Marqui Adora (http://www.marquiadora.com) rarely played shows for this exact reason. We quickly got tired of haggling Promoters to get paid at the end of the night after playing with 10 other bands on a tiny stage not large enough for a drum kit let alone a 4 piece band and a shit PA. We knew we were never going to be singing with a record label and endless touring when no one knows who you are wasn't really appealing either. John and I continually said there has to be a better way. We went the music licensing route and even though we had some successes, when the well ran dry on placement opportunities, we quickly realized we had no real fan base, not one large enough to support us, and it was time to get day jobs. And although the music industry is in flux, some really awesome things are happening as a result. For one, John and I know a shit ton about how to fix and troubleshoot an Apple Computer and Danny knows how to expertly make your mouth water while preparing food in the kitchen. Howard can make a new tooth for ya. With the basement musician guy... he is just as silly to me as Jonathan Coulton (http://www.jonathancoulton.com), but he has good ideas, just like Jonathan. And for that matter so did Radiohead with their Thumbs Down webcast videos during In Rainbows. These videos got me excited to go see them live. And many bought the Box Sets. I paid five bucks for the record, even after getting the whole thing free a week or two before it's "Official" release. The key here is both artists are taking chances and go about their business in ways that make the most sense to them. Neither of their approaches will work for everyone but they will work for those who put in the time and energy to build relationships with the fans/customers. "Bob Lefsetz says it's all about the live show, what about recorded music and all the money I spent buying recording gear and the time I spent learning how to do it on my own? Does recorded music have value any more?" Good question. I ask my self that question whenever I go into my office and see 10's of thousands of dollars worth of recording equipment, instruments, computers and shelves full of 12" records and CD's. I ask myself that question whenever I think of how many times I listened to "The Downward Spiral" , "Broken" and "The Slip"; or the number of times I walked to school listening to "Disintegration", "Pornography" and that Ethyl Meatplow record; or the time I spent dissecting "Fook", and the many drives to anywhere just to listen to "Either/Or" and "XO"; Or how about the trips to Orlando with "Ruby Vroom" or "The Bends" as the soundtrack or the number of times I just sat down with headphones to take in "In Rainbows" or even most recently "xx". Of course these recordings have value! Look at how much use I got out of them! I see the music landscape becoming more interesting everyday and I think the value of recorded music is still there and is expanding in the form of royalties through services like Spotify. Not that Spotify is the end of the line, but it's a big step in the right direction when it comes to this topic. Which leads me to my next topic... Ownership vs. Access. As for Art and Entertainment as a whole, I feel really comfortable with the idea of owning very little but having access to everything. I've been doing that for years with Movies (The Theatre, Netflix, iTunes etc.) and now with Spotify I'll be doing it more so with music (don't worry eMusic, I still love you). The People who really want the access will pay for it via subscription or buy the Album/Song/Movie out right, those who don't will tolerate the Ad's because really, they don't care that much anyway, otherwise they would own the record/movie themselves. I feel the same applies with Books, TV, Radio and all forms of art that can be digitized. When on demand services mature and every play/stream/download is accurately accounted for and reported to the rights holders and collections services, the amount of revenue generated as whole will be insane, even at fractions of a penny per download. And of course Labels, Publishers and Movie Studios will find their place again by delivering prominence and front page placement. It will all level out You can't buy the Statue of Liberty, but you can pay admission and see it in person... while you're there you can buy a print, a postcard, a t-shirt, go home and download the screen saver or desktop img, etc. This applies to the Album and seeing a band live. You can't own the band (well, ok maybe you can), but you can own a copy of the album digitally, a t-shirt, a poster, blah blah blah. And there will always be diehards who want a collectable, like a CD, Vinyl or A Super Duper Blue Ray ultra amazing 5.1 more real than real Audio/Video 3D DVD 128 Page Full Color (to big for your book shelf and takes up so much space on your coffee table that you can't actually place a cup of coffee on it) Enhanced Box Set Thingy. We (bands this means you) just have to stick around long enough to capitalize off of all the changes ahead of us. -Joe
Where is Art & Entertainment headed?
John sent me these two links last night...
http://www.wbur.org/2009/08/20/basement-musicianHere are some thoughts after reading them:
I agree with Amanda Palmer. She totally has the right idea. Why the hell should you not be compensated for the art you create? The idea of every artist or band being a street a street performer and saying "Yo, give me some money!" might be a bit hard for some to adjust to, but it does make a lot of sense. Marqui Adora rarely plaid shows for this exact reason. We quickly got tired of haggling Promoters to get paid at the end of the night after playing with 10 other bands on a tiny stage not large enough for a drum kit let alone a 4 piece band and a shit PA. We knew we never going to be singing with a record label and endless touring when no one knows who you are wasn't really appealing either. John and I continually said there has to be a better way. We went the music licensing route and even though we had some successes, when the well rain dry on placement opportunities, we quickly realized we had no real fan base, not one large enough to support us, and it was time to get day jobs. And although the music industry is in flux, some really awesome things are happening as a result. For one, John and I know a shit ton about how to fix and troubleshoot an Apple Computer and Danny knows how to expertly make your mouth water while preparing food in the kitchen. Howard can make a new tooth for ya.
With the basement musician guy... he is just as silly to me as Jonathan Coulton, but he has good ideas, just like Jonathan. And for that matter so did Radiohead with their <a href="">Thumbs</a> Down webcast videos during In Rainbows. Those videos got me excited to go see them live. And many bought the Box Sets. I paid five bucks for the record, even after getting the whole thing free a week or two before it's "Official" release.
The key here is both artists are taking chances and go about their business in ways that make the most sense to them. Neither of their approaches will work for everyone but they will work for those who put in the time and energy to build relationships with the fans/customers.
"Bob Lefsetz says it's all about the live show, what about recorded music and all the money I spent buying recording gear and the time I spent learning how to do it on my own? Does recorded music have value any more?"
Good question. I ask my self that question whenever I go into my office and see 10's of thousands of dollars worth of recording equipment, instruments, computers and shelves full of 12" records and CD's. I ask myself that question whenever I think of how many times I listened to "The Downward Spiral", "Broken" and "The Slip"; or the number of times I walked to school listening to "Disintegration", "Pornography" and that Ethyl Meatplow record; or the time I spent dissecting "Fook", and the many drives to anywhere just to listen to "Either/Or" and "XO"; Or how about the trips to Orlando with "Ruby Vroom" or "The Bends" as the soundtrack or the numbers of times I just sat down with headphones to take in "In Rainbows" or even most recently "xx". Of course these recordings have value! Look at how much use I got out of them! I see the music landscape becoming more interesting everyday and I think the value of recorded music is still there and is expanding in the form of royalties through services like Spotify. Not that Spotify is the end of the line, but it's a big step in the right direction when it comes to this topic.
Ownership vs. Access.
As for Art and Entertainment as a whole, I feel really comfortable with the idea of owning very little but having access to everything. I've been doing that for years with Movies (The Theatre, Netflix, iTunes etc.) and now with Spotify I'll be doing it more so with music (don't worry eMusic, I still love you). The People who really want the access will pay for it via subscription or buy the Album/Song/Movie out right, those who don't will tolerate the Ad's because really, they don't care that much anyway, otherwise they would own the record/movie themselves. I feel the same applies with books, TV, Radio and all forms of art that can be digitized. When on demand services mature and every play/stream/download is accurately accounted for and reported to the rights holders and collections services, the amount of revenue generated as whole will be insane, even at fractions of a penny. And of course Labels/Publishers/Movie Studios will find their place again by delivering prominence and front page placement. It will all level out
You can't buy the Statue of Liberty, but you can pay admission and see it in person... while they're there they can buy a print, a postcard, a t-shirt, go home and download the screen saver or desktop img, etc. This applies to the Album and seeing a band live. You can't own the band (well ok maybe you can), but you can own a copy of the album digitally, a t-shirt, a poster, blah blah blah. And there will always be diehards who want a collectable, like a CD, Vinyl or A Super Duper Blue Ray ultra amazing 5.1 more real than real Audio/Video 3D DVD 128 Page Full Color (to big for your book shelf and takes up so much space on your coffee table that you can't actually place a cup of coffee on it) Enhanced Box Set Thingy.
We (bands this means you) just have to stick around long enough to capitalize off of all the changes ahead of us.
-Joe
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Thom Yorke and Flea... didn't see that coming.
From Radiohead.com
"hi
in the past couple of weeks i've been getting a band together for fun to play the eraser stuff live and the new songs etc.. to see if it could work!
here's a photo.. its me, joey waronker, mauro refosco, flea and nigel godrich.at the beginning of october the 4th and 5th we are going to do a couple of shows at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles.
we don't really have a name and the set will not be very long cuz ..well ...we haven't got that much material yet!
but come and check it out if you are in the area. we've also got locals Lucky Dragons playing.
all the best
in the past couple of weeks i've been getting a band together for fun to play the eraser stuff live and the new songs etc.. to see if it could work!
here's a photo.. its me, joey waronker, mauro refosco, flea and nigel godrich.at the beginning of october the 4th and 5th we are going to do a couple of shows at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles.
we don't really have a name and the set will not be very long cuz ..well ...we haven't got that much material yet!
but come and check it out if you are in the area. we've also got locals Lucky Dragons playing.
all the best
Thom"
This could be interesting. I know Flea is way into Jazz and Mauro Refosco is from Forro in the Dark which is a worldly affair, Joey Warnoker is a well established session drummer (Beck, Smashing Pumpkins, Elliot Smith, R.E.M, etc.) and Nigel Godrich... well, he's helped Radiohead sound cool since The My Iron Lung EP. So... yeah I'm curious to hear these shows.
Joe
Monday, September 28, 2009
Light Peak transfers at 10 Gbps & could be the only connector your need.
via macrumors.com
So you're telling me that I could have one cable that handles handles everything? Cool, Bring it!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Drum processing with Depeche Mode
via ableton.com
I found this interesting, especially since I just saw Depeche Mode a few weeks ago. What's most interesting is the number of processes the drums will go through before it reaches your ear.
When I saw the band I thought for sure the drums were sampled, meaning the drummer was triggering the drum sound from a sampler every time he hit the drum. From a live performance standpoint using ableton in this way is certainly a better option than playing triggers. To be able to have that processed sound with a live kit is really the best of both worlds and allows a drummer to have a much more expressive palette to play with.
Of course now this means I have to tear down my electric kit, set up my acoustic, plug in bunch of mics, run them to an interface feeding Ableton and then run the signal out to a PA. Sounds like a lot of work... "Hey John..." :)
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
5 Crappy Musicians Whose Music Will Get You Laid
Kick ass music and having sex do not go hand in hand. Any guy whose high school girlfriend would not let him so much as touch her without Boys II Men crooning their cardigan-flavored R& B in the background can attest to this fact. Face it; you just can’t coax a lady into your carnal thunderdome (aka your parent’s basement) to the strains of Black Sabbath. But here are some horrific “music makers” who’ll get the job done.
Jimmy Buffet
Why You Hate Him
If you’ve ever walked into a room where Jimmy Buffet music was playing you may have asked yourself, “Did a dog just shit in here?” Finding Buffet music is exactly like finding a pile of poo in the middle of the living room carpet. Also, very much like dog crap indoors, Jimmy Buffet music is a shameful act perpetrated by a creature who should know better.
Buffet is a self-described “pirate”, “beach comber” and super easy going dude. He’s also a two-faced, money-grubbing, baby boomer jerkweed (a rarity, we know). While Jimmy’s wailing on about the pleasures of the simple life, he’s about as corporate as you can get. His turned his song “Margaritaville” into a chain of restaurants. He partnered another restaurant concept, “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” with the Outback Steakhouse people. He has a beer made by Anheuser-Busch. Got a company retreat coming up? Jimmy will play it, bringing that slightly salty taste of laid back oceanic breeze to your corporate gathering. It’s the perfect way to wrap up your day long lecture on how to use Twitter to market cigarettes to 14-year-olds.
How He Will Get You Laid
Jimmy Buffet encourages drinking, which fits because Buffets’ music is the kind you’d only consider stomaching if you were really drunk. Plus research shows traumatic experiences bond people to each other. Once that special lady has had enough of Jimmy’s blunt force trauma delivered to her ears. All she’ll want to do is get drunk, cuddle and try to forget. At that point, you’re well on your way to wasting away in Coochieville, if you know what we mean. (We mean you’ll be fuckin’.)
Jack Johnson
Why You Hate Him
Before you kids get too cocky about how much the Baby Boomers suck, take a good hard look at Jack Johnson, because he’s our Jimmy Buffet. The guy is so damn chill he won’t even wear shoes. He comes from Hawaii, a place only fictional characters like Magnum P.I. or Dog the Bounty Hunter come from. Not quite rocking, not quite funk, Jack’s music aspires to nothing more than background, like audio wallpaper. The kind of music that insidiously slips it’s blandness into your subconsciousness while you’re dining at Red Lobster. Like Mad Cow Disease, it gestates in your brain over decades until one day in your middle age you have an unstoppably psychotic need for Tommy Bahama wear. “I NEED SILK PALM TREES AND HULA GIRLS ON MY BODY NOW!” you’ll unexpectedly scream in the middle of the mall, your teeth bared, mouth foaming and eyes wild. “THAT WAY EVERYONE WILL KNOW ABOUT MY ‘NO WORRIES’ ATTITUDE!!!” you’ll cry, right before sinking your teeth into a puppy.
How He Will Get You Laid
Sensitivity by association. A woman hears you cranking Jack Johnson in your hybrid and assumes you are a gentle and conscientious lover instead of the twice convicted sex offender you are.
Maroon 5
Why You Hate Them
There is something about the music of Maroon 5 that makes you want to punch your penis. Repeatedly. It’s a sensation you can’t really describe, but you suddenly just hate your penis so much you can’t stop punching it, which strangely enough makes your voice approximate the tenor of Maroon 5 front man Adam Levine. But you can’t argue with Maroon 5’s success. After Ellen DeGeneres, Adam Levine is the most successful lesbian in showbiz.
How They Will Get You Laid
Maroon 5 is the ultimate suburb rock; suburban girls draw to it like America Eagle moths to Jamba Juice flames. You see, the typical “suburban girl” may have all the same parts as a regular girl, but she’s far more skittish than a regular lass. Safety is this girl’s ultimate aphrodisiac. She wants some soulful rock that’s not as hard as Nickleback and not as ethnic as Stevie Wonder. Something you can crank in your PT Cruiser convertible after a meal of BONELESS SWEET CHILE GLAZED WINGS™ at the TGIFriday’s in the Galleria. Back in the Cruiser, you two park outside the Target and talk. She opens up her deepest secrets– like this one time she came in contact with a homeless person and how even thinking about it now still really scares her. She’ll fall asleep as Songs About Jane makes its 127th spin on the car player. You won’t have sex but back at school on Monday you’ll tell everyone she totally gave you a BJ and when she gives up denying it she’ll tell everyone you tasted like Axe body spray.
Justin Timberlake
Why You Hate Him
Remember when Michael Jackson was in every teenager’s bedroom. Stop; let me try that one again: do you remember when Michael Jackson was in every teenage girl’s bedroom…in poster form. Ever since Billy Jean, a jaunty tune about child abandonment, a generation of Swatch-wearing, Blossom-dressing, converse wearing girls wanted to toss away their chastity like losing scratch tickets.
Then Michael Jackson became well, Michael Jackson and the world’s female population thought they’d never love another white, thin-boned, falsetto singing, non-threatening dancer again.
Then came Justin Timberlake.
You can’t hate on JT too much. After all, he had the good sense to suck all of the talent out of Britany Spears and discard her on the side of the road, leaving Kevin Federline in his Geo Metro convertible to find her deflated, lifeless carcass and declare, “I’d like to put my penis in that!” A pro for JT: his music definitely gets your girl hot and bothered. The downside: he’s probably having sex with her right now.
How He Will Get You Laid
Justin Timberlake can’t stay and do your girlfriend forever. Eventually that tour has got to move on to Buffalo, and when it does your girlfriend will be totally crushed. JT’s absence will leave a great sucking hole in her heart, a hole you can fill with delusional pity sex. Ah yes, sweet pity sex.
Van Morrison
Why You Hate Him
The first time you heard Van Morrison’s “Moondance” coming over the car radio your dad said, “your mom and I used to be into this song,” which was dad’s way of saying, “I used to get into your mom while we listened to this song. Bottom line: I fucked your mother.” Now you can’t listen to “Brown Eyed Girl” without imagining your pasty parents smashing their doughy bodies against one another while conceiving your brother, whom you also hate. Also, he used to be a Scientologist.
How He Will Get Laid
Van Morrison songs, or audio ruffies as they are also known, have long been a sure fire way to cajole young women into salty, awkward sex. Every teenage boy once owned a Van Morrison Greatest Hits CD placed strategically within his domicile so when his chaste girlfriend came over to “study” old Van was spinning in no time. Like magic, Mr. Morrison’s spongy Irish-soul would have Missy NoSex clawing the guy’s back in procreative fervor. “Oh my God,” she’d scream right before biting into his bare shoulder, “this is the kind of inoffensive soft rock everyone at the office can agree on. I need you inside me NOW!” Van Morrison acquires so much tail for young men in the English speaking world, if you never pitched woo to a girl over the strains of “Moondance” you’re a gay Eskimo. Morrison creates the kind of sweet memories of high school and college sexual conquests you’ll pine for once you’re married and your wife has refused you sex for leaving a wet towel on the bathroom floor. Still that Scientology thing blows. Once you know the best erotic experiences of your life were powered by L. Ron Hubbard, it kinda sucks the joy out of it.
Read more from Cole Gamble at his site, Fun With Cole.
via funnycrave.com
Just ridiculously funny.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Music: The xx - Crystalised
via youtube.com
Kristen and I are loving this record. It's like Tricky meets all of your favorite 80's and early 90's goth/progressive bands (The Cure, Echo & The Bunnymen, Sisters of Mercy, Siouxsie and The Banshees, etc.) The Songs are relatively simple and some show signs of modern R&B influences on the vocals which raises a caution flag for me, but all in all it works together alarming well. It's passed the repeat listen test and is now moving into the obsessive listening phase.
Pitchfork has a review and the whole record streaming via Lala: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13400-xx/
more on the band can be found here: http://thexx.info/
Enjoy!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Place a phone call -- via Twitter... This could get interesting.
via macworld.com
I'm not sure how this will play out with the Cell providers, but I kinda like the idea of being able to reach people in so many different ways using one handle. more at the link above.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Music - Jim O’Rourke, Once an Insider, Worked Alone and on the Outside for ‘The Visitor’
SINCE 2005 Jim O’Rourke, the once perennially busy American musician and producer, has lived in a small apartment in Japan, keeping to himself. He had flown there for work at least 50 times in earlier years; every time he returned to the United States, he said, his mood sank. At first his relocation was on and off, during the long process of acquiring an artist’s work visa. Now it seems pretty permanent. “It’s the only place I’m happy,” he said during a recent telephone interview, with a perfectionist’s mordant cackle.
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Drag CityThe American producer and musician Jim O’Rourke, whose new album “The Visitor” was made in his home studio in Japan.
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Official Web Site: Jim O'RourkeBlog
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Mr. O’Rourke, 40, is about equally known for his own music — albums like “Eureka,” “Insignificance” and his remarkable new one, “The Visitor” — as for his work for other people. For about 10 years, starting in the mid-1990s, Mr. O’Rourke, based in Chicago and then New York, saw his craft, knowledge and legendarily selfless work ethic connect some far-apart poles in music: pop, improvised music, contemporary classical and noise.
Sure, most music connects over time. (This is where people start talking about hive-minds and the genius of the marketplace.) But Mr. O’Rourke put in the work for those connections to happen faster and deeper. During that period he produced, engineered or wrote arrangements for rock bands like Wilco and Superchunk, as well as acts with more cultish followings: U.S. Maple, Smog, Aluminum Group. He worked with some of his older heroes, including John Fahey, Tony Conrad and the Red Krayola. He recorded a new version of the composer Toru Takemitsu’s 1962 “Corona for Pianists” for Columbia Japan.
He toured as a musician with Merce Cunningham’s dance company. For four years he was a full-time member of Sonic Youth. He played on the soundtrack of Werner Herzog’s documentary “Grizzly Man,” sharpened the musical skills of the child actors in Richard Linklater’s “School of Rock” and wrote a soundtrack to Koji Wakamatsu’s “United Red Army” for no pay.
But something in him changed over the past few years. Back in Chicago he was the most animated advocate for little-known or underrated music that I’d ever met; he knew everything and connected the dots for you. Now, he said, “I don’t know that guy anymore.” He feels he’s learned what he wants to learn. He works mostly for and by himself and doesn’t hang out with many musicians in Tokyo.
“I don’t think they’re interesting,” he said. “I don’t really listen to music much anymore. I haven’t had a stereo for the last three years.”
It was 1 a.m. in Tokyo when we talked. He’d just come home from playing a concert with Alan Silva’s 18-piece, free-jazz Celestial Communications Orchestra. “Music-wise all I do are these improv things,” he said. “I have so many old friends here, and now we can just play together, casually.” He’s been spending more time, he said, working with filmmakers and writing film criticism for Japanese magazines like En-Taxi, Expo and Studio Voice.
That, and working on “The Visitor,” released this week by Drag City. It’s a nearly orchestral, fully instrumental album, his first in eight years. He made it alone in his home studio — except for the piano tracks, which he recorded in a rented rehearsal space — so it takes its place alongside the small number of other high-level pop records made completely or mostly by one person, including Todd Rundgren’s “Something/Anything?” and Stevie Wonder’s “Music of My Mind.” Mr. O’Rourke gives the sense that its gingerly dynamics were dictated by thin walls and respect for his neighbors.
“The Visitor” is so easy on the ears that it disguises its density. “There are parts where there are almost 200 tracks of instruments, but I didn’t want it to sound difficult,” he said. “I didn’t want it to be virtuosic.”
Consisting of one 32-minute track, “The Visitor” took three years to make, including a year to mix. Mr. O’Rourke had exhausted his savings, and for one of those years, he said, he was prevented from earning an income in Japan because he didn’t have a work visa. (It finally came through early last year.) He lived off royalties from his past albums, some of which have sold upward of 50,000 copies in America.
“The Visitor” runs through chapters of folk, chamber-pop, progressive rock and jazz bucolia, and it’s crazily broad: a Leo Kottke fan might like it, a Pat Metheny fan might like it, a Morton Feldman fan might like it. As the piece moves along, holding together with its long-form logic, it can be difficult to discern that most of the music relates back to the album’s simple opening chords and theme. That theme develops through different rhythms and arrangements for an array of instruments — piano, pedal-steel guitar, organ, cello, banjo, clarinet — some of which he learned how to play for the purposes of this record.
The trombone, for example, which comes in after about 20 minutes, took six months of practice before Mr. O’Rourke could play the lines he’d written for it in a perfect take. (He kept a no-edit rule.) The trombone is mixed low, but it’s the loudest instrument he used; when he was ready to record it, he waited until his next-door neighbor left for her grocery run.
Mr. O’Rourke’s production style is precise and dry; he creates a sound picture in which tiny sonic details matter. But where his Drag City records are concerned, everything matters: the pacing, the length, the sound, the cover images. For this reason he won’t allow “The Visitor,” or any of his albums, to be sold as downloads, on iTunes or anywhere else. He’s taking a stand against the sound quality of MP3s; he’s also taking a stand in favor of artists being able to control the medium and reception of their work.
“You can no longer use context as part of your work,” he said, glumly, “because it doesn’t matter what you do, somebody’s going to change the context of it. The confusion of creativity, making something, with this Internet idea of democratization ...” he trailed off, disgusted. “It sounds like old-man stuff, but I think it’s disastrous for the possibilities of any art form.”
His record company approves, perhaps a reflection of his being one of Drag City’s best-selling artists. “Frankly I’m really pleased about it,” said Rian Murphy, the label’s director of sales. “It may affect the way we’re able to promote it, and it may affect the wider range of listeners that come to get the record — if they can’t point and click to it — but it’s good to have someone standing up for that.”
Mr. O’Rourke’s music is full of sly reference and disguised intention. On his albums with vocals, the lyrics drip with misanthropy, which has upset some listeners. He loves the concept of the unreliable narrator, though he thinks many listeners aren’t ready for it. (“People want to believe that music is coming out of the creator’s soul and all that nonsense,” he complained. “I mean, I’m going to express myself whether I want to or not.”)
But “The Visitor” has no vocals — partly because he was tired of the reaction to his sense of humor and partly because, as he put it, “I had nothing to sing about.”
The titles of his four albums for Drag City refer to films by Nicolas Roeg, one of his favorite directors. “Bad Timing,” “Eureka” and “Insignificance” are actually titles of Roeg movies, but “The Visitor” has a more subtle connection. In Mr. Roeg’s science-fiction film “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” it is the name of an album made by Jerome Newton (an alien played by David Bowie) as a kind of goodbye message to be sent by the radio back to his dying planet.
Even after the lecture about unreliable narrators, one has to ask: Does the title signify that this is Mr. O’Rourke’s message from exile to those he’s left behind?
He cackled again. “I do enjoy that interpretation,” he said, “because it seems so pathetic.”
Sign in to Recommend More Articles in Arts » A version of this article appeared in print on September 6, 2009, on page AR19 of the New York edition.
via nytimes.com
I've loosely followed Jim O'Rourke's career since "Eureka" and I must admit his NO MP3's policy does make me more curious to hear what this new record sounds like. Brilliant Marketing! :)
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Nine Inch Nails - Get Down, Make Love (Queen Cover live w/ Danny Lohner @ the Henry Fonda 9/8/09)
via youtube.com
The set list and guest appearances from this show are ridiculous!
From the NIN Hotline
"Gary Numan, Mike Garson (who played piano for David Bowie and on The Fragile), Eric Avery of Jane's Addiction, Greg Puciato from Dillinger Escape Plan, opening act Health (joining NIN, Numan, and Avery for a cover of Gang of Four's Anthrax, "one of the most unique and interesting songs of its time"), and none other than prodigal son Danny Lohner"
Set List (From Echoing The Sound):
1. Head like a Hole
2. Terrible Lie
3. Sin
4. March of the Pigs
5. Piggy
6. Echoplex
7. Reptile
8. I'm Afraid of Americans
9. Survivalism
10. Head Down
11. 1,000,000
12. Letting You
13. Burn
14. Gave Up
15. Eraser
16. Just Like You Imagined (with Mike Garson)
17. The Becoming (with Mike Garson)
18. I Do Not Want This (with Mike Garson)
19. Mike Garson solo Down in the Park piano version
20. Down in the Park (with Gary Numan & Mike Garson) [Gary Numan song]
21. Metal (with Gary Numan & Mike Garson) [Gary Numan song]
22. Cars (with Gary Numan, Eric Avery & Mike Garson) [Gary Numan song]
23. Anthrax (with Gary Numan, Eric Avery & Health) [Gang of Four cover]
ENCORE
24. Heresy (with Danny Lohner)
25. Get Down, Make Love (with Danny Lohner) [Queen cover]
26. Mr. Self Destruct (with Danny Lohner & Greg Puciato from Dillinger Escape Plan)
27. Wish (with Danny Lohner & Greg Puciato from Dillinger Escape Plan)
28. The Hand that Feeds
ENCORE 2
29. Atmosphere [Joy Division cover]
30. Dead Souls [Joy Division cover]
31. The Day the World Went Away
32. Hurt
Link to Audio of the Show
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