Well it’s been ages since the last post…but I have a valid reason for my absence. I was busy with final exams in university – I passed – YEYYYYYYYYY!!! \o/
I’m officially an educated fool now.
Anyway, I should have a little more time on my hands for posting rubbish on my deserted blog now.
All in all, it seems I was not fit for blogging and lacked a bit of dedication.
You know, the regular posting schedule discipline, interesting topic radar, incredible typecraft some bloggers have – it seems I am not the person for that kind of stuff.
All the topics I neatly layed out in my head seemed so very trivial and unimportant so I didn’t even bother to type them out. The things I did type out seemed weak in comparision to the work of other bloggers. Well, you gotta start somewhere. After all I am a musician, not a blogger.
So instead of mimicking other bloggers I was thinking about trying something new and experimental. This is what I’m good at.
In the light of all this, I relaunched this blog with a new face and hope you stay tuned in.
Ok, are you ready for the next round in the wednesday
link sharing?
Here goes…
PETER, PAUL & MARY – “Stewball”.
So this is christmas…and what have you done?
Well it seems I finally found the inspiration for Johns christmas song.
Maybe not new to you if you are from the US, as the song Stewball is a rather popular folk-song over there. Was new to me though, being born in the Hinterlands of Germany, seldom exposed to the music of the class enemy.
Well at least folk songs.
I was shocked upon the discovery. Not for long, that is. There is really nothing wrong with covering a song that you like.
And it is not that John just covered, he also added a bridge, keychanges, a counter-melody and a transcended meaning (imho).
Well after this shock, time for a blues to stew in one’s own misery.
Enjoy the Beatles Demo version of Yer Blues.
Frankly, I like this demo recording better than the original. That is the way of demo’s – they are much more intimate, in the sense of being more close to the artist, adding familiarity.
This is from the Esher Demos which The Beatles recorded in George’s House in Esher (called Kinfauns) prior to the White Album sessions in May 1968.
It was there, according to the almighty Wiki, that John and George had retreated from their first LSD trip in 65.
Anyway, the Beatles used George’s 4-track tape recorder from Ampex, which probably looked like
this…
Astounded at what an amazing sound it produced. For more information about old recording techniques you could hop over to reel2reeltexas , they have a great selection of photos with description of vintage equipment. And the vintage 60s ads are very entertaining (for a change).
That website also features pics of Bing Crosby and Les paul in the studio, omg !!
While we’re speaking of George Harrison, are you familiar with his All Things Must Pass demos? The bootleg compilation of that demos is called “Beware of the ABKCO”, which means Allan B Klein Company and is George’s pun on the late Apple Co. CEO and his (perceived) greedyness.
Well I guess without him, the Beatles would have been broke in 1969, as John Lennon stated himself in 1968.
Anyway, the demos were recorded in May 70 for Phil Spector with whom George was going to work for the ATMP Album. I find most of these demos astonishing and again I like the acoustic versions much more than the album versions. But maybe that is just me.
Have a look at the playlist on youtube and listen to the whole album yourself! (Thanks for uploading, btw!)
Give props!
Further back in time…1958..rockabilly time! And another Buddy Holly tune: “Girl on my mind” !
Apparantly, this song was written by Jim Denny, rendering Buddy interpret in that one, but he does a
great job.
It was released on the “That’ll be the day” album in ’58, so chances are that the young Beatles listened to this very song too, as their first recording also happened to be a cover of “That’ll be the day”.
Many biographies mention John Lennon’s adoration for Buddy Holly and admiration of the fact that a rock’n'roller could wear glasses without remorse of being “uncool”.
This had a profound effect on him I think. Apart from the music of course.
Now fast-forwarding to 2008. Time to feature some formidable, yet unknown contemporary artists.
This is the british based band Younger Brother, they produce transcended electronic / folk / experimental music in the style of Pink Floyd. I really like their song “Ribbon on a Branch”.
A new category born out of boredom – yey! \o/
I thought I’d share some of my favorite bootlegs / rare recordings / peculiarities that I’ve found on various platforms on a weekly basis. Let’s see how long I can keep this up.
Elvis Presley – At the Hop / Back Home To The Stage
This is a home recording from 1959! I think he was stationed in Germany that time.
It is amazing listening to the King singing one of my favorite songs. Well sort of. But being able to witness the King stomping the piano makes this piece a truly remarkable gem.
Elvis Presley – Earth Angel
Again a home recording of the King in 1959. Normally not into ballad stuff and I kind of dislike the original Marvin Berry song, but this has something (the King )
Elvis Presley – I got lucky
Not really a home recording, but I can’t get enough of that song. Judging from the style, you know the country-ish, R&R easy going, pointless lyrics kinda style, it must be early in the 60s.
Buddy Holly – Dearest (v2)
This is from the Apartment Tapes he recorded in late 1958. Just Buddy and his guitar. Wonderful. Blocked in Germany, by the way. But there are ways to bypass censorship.
If you click a bit through Youtube, you can also find a phone call recording of Buddy speaking to the manager of DECCA. It gives a little insight of business procedures concerning the music industry. How the artists back then were treated is a shame (and most of them are treated that way still). You can also find some rare home videos of him and his friends. Gives you a strange Fly on the wall feeling though.
Buddy Holly – Slippin’ and Slidin’
Along with a lot of people (John Lennon and the Beatles included) I’m in love with that song. Obviously a studio recording with overdubs, but it got that something, it grooves. The drums are so subtle, it reminds me a lot of Ringo’s drumming. Not like todays in-your-face drumrolls.
(blocked in Germany again…)
Ok, that’s enough for today. Stay tuned and use comment section to drop a line or share some of your own favorites!
Ever clicked on a link to see a video only to be told that it is not available in your country? It is damn annoying, isn’t it?
I made a video to show how I feel about it.
Luckily, there is (still) a way to bypass censorship. If you’re using Firefox browser, just install the Addons Stealthy and Proxtube.
They work like any other proxy, but you don’t have to bother with background knowledge or begin looking for a server list yourself – it is all automated. Just click the button – very convenient!
Now, from a businessmen perspective it might seem logical to pursue such a restrictive content access policy. I found a nice article that deals with that topic.
As a matter of fact, this stance is only hurting a business in the long run. Think of all the clicks you won’t receive from certain areas in the world – the unfortunate ones that are blocked.
Think of how the customer feels when he/she is rejected this way, given no exact explanation of why he is blocked. Just for living in the “wrong” country?
And think about the consequences to the long term customer loyality or whatever it is called. Less clicks mean less traffic, less traffic means less advertisment income, which hurts those businesstypes the most.
Than think about the small ventures, start ups, middle class business’ that can’t afford the fee’s for content rights most of the time. Their business will be a lot harder, while the big corporation’s business will be a lot easier with less competition.
It is said that we live in the information age, yet they limit certain nations from access?
Why am I not allowed to listen to a song that was uploaded by the record company of the star itself, on their official youtube channel? Example for this would be Lady Gaga – not that I listen to her stuff – just checked her channel, and the videos are blocked in my country.
Now that is only entertainment stuff, nothing serious. I could live with that, though it would be annoying. The internet is international – without borders. It should stay that way.
The fun stops when censorship is political motivated.
The german government managed to block a video on youtube, where our financial minister Schäuble was talking about the role of the banks in the crisis, and how they were putting pressure on the goverment for bailouts. This was highly controversial political + economical information that would have been crucial in the ongoing debate but people from Germany weren’t allowed to see that interview – they were blocked.
This shows the true intention behind censorship. Once lawfully legitimated, it WILL be abused. It happened before.
The reasons given to justify the laws always seem noble.
Battling against copyright infringing filesharers, evil childpornhoster and what so ever. But don’t let that reasons fool you.
Those new laws are not about copyright or protecting children – they are about censorship and control.
It is no coincidence that acts pop up all over the world in the same time. The arguments are used for a reason. They want to emotionalize the debate, making valid arguments impossible. Infatuated, your brain ticks off the logic.
You can’t make an objective judgement anymore and will accept the dismantling of freedom in the process.
Because it is the lesser evil. Or so you’ve been told.
Acta, Pipa, Sopa, Elena, Indect – those laws will shift the world towards more orwellianism and less freedom.
It is not what most of the people want, but the wet dreams most of the so called neo-feudal “elites”.
Oh well, I have been running off the topic which was censorship of the content mafia. But this topic is so deep and involves many social aspects it can’t be discussed without adressing those. Sorry for the “inconvenienche”.
Well, I promised that this blog would also cover some of my favorite game musics, so here we go.
These tracks are from the 1995 DOS
Game Ascendancy by The Logic Factory.
I always loved the dreamy, relaxing, melody driven background music of those strategy games back then, like Master of Orion 1 & 2, Master of Magic, Reunion or Ascendancy.
The original files were 16bit mono wave files (176kbit/s, 11khz), and many of them were garbled with background hum & noise & occasional crackle when I extracted them from the original game data (cob-files). While ingame, all those years ago, I never recognized it and it wouldn’t bother me but with better audio equipment came the need for audio quality improvement. I guess times do change.
Well, now for the restoration I tried my best to reduce the noises and eliminate the crackle. I then aimed to make the audio sound more stereo. I also converted the audio to 320kbit/s & 48khz.
With the video I was aiming to show the best qualities of the game to the interested audience – like a little advertising campaign if you will – and yes I was hoping for a sequel to this game! ASAP!
