Via Scott Kurtz on twitter:
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Fun with the Roku LT
After a few days with my Roku, it has found a new home. Its tiny size allowed me to locate it above the tiny LCD TV in our kitchen. You don’t even know its there. At least until you want to catch something on Hulu or Netflix while you wash the dishes…
More edrum adventures
Akira Jimbo has slowly taken over. He plays mostly smooth jazz, so it’s not like I want to replicate his music. I just want to be able to do what he does. His facility on the drumkit is outstanding, but the melodic things he does are what I really want to move into these days. To this end, I picked up a DTXreme IIs module and am learning its ins and outs. It’s a tedious process, turning dials and figuring out what goes where but I think the end result will be something special. At the very least, it’s interesting when playing time on a kit just isn’t anymore.
I’m probably wrong, but…
I think there will be no iphone 5 this year. With Jobs out of the picture, the recent release of Verizon’s iphone 4, and the white iphone hitting shops in a month or so, I think Apple will ride the wave through the rest of this year and release a truly next gen phone in 2012. It’s unlikely, but it just seems plausible.
Can we stop now please?
Up alone on New Year’s while the family slept, I found myself watching a TV compendium of Daryl Hall’s online show. Pretty entertaining couple of hours, and one of the bands on there, Fitz and the Tantrums, made an impression. Unfortunately, listening to their recordings was a disappointment. Here’s yet another soul band, and a good one judging from the live show, whose records sound old (meaning shitty) on purpose. It’s a shame because the music has enough character that it stands up and I would love to actually hear it.
Old stuff doesn’t sound good because it’s old. It sounds good because labels like Motown were trying their damnedest to MAKE them sound good. They were writing the best songs they could, playing the shit out of them, and using the best technology available to capture them.
If you are lucky enough to make a recording that gets heard by the world at large, it seems a waste to make it sound like it was pulled out of a dustbin 30 years before you were born. If you are good enough, stop using emulation as a crutch. It’s boring, but more than that, it just gets in the way of the listener.
This listener anyway.
Rush
As they get older, this band keeps getting looser and louder. Released as a digital single, Caravan serves as a preview of their upcoming album and is a great example of late era Rush. Cohesive melodies, loud guitars, nice showcases for each band member but especially a now 58 year old Neil Peart kicking holy ass on the drums. Recommended.