Bounce

Bounce from wcrtr on Vimeo.

This is pretty old, but I’m throwing it up here for kicks. Basically, using a json file containing rhythm and dynamics data (for the song Days Bright and Blessed by Dan Giberman), I’m automating some dock icons using Dave Durbin’s little input manager hack. Pretty silly, really, but a decent way to show off how using something like a pre-determined data file to simulate real-time analysis of music without having to actually process that information in real time.

Virtual Record Releases

So people are probably right that Chinese Democracy was the last physical media CD that people would stand in line to buy on it’s release date. But I think people are probably wrong that the significance of release dates is waning. I for one, still get hopped up about news that a long awaited album is coming out, but find my options slim to none about how to channel that excitement in the virtual world. With Chinese Democracy being “released” on myspace, and Britney Spears’ thing going to be released on imeem, I find myself utterly depressed by the prospects of albums being released in streaming format on proprietary websites before they are available for consumption. By consumption, I’m not talking about having to actually buy an album, physical or digital or otherwise. I’m more talking about how the digital music industry can re-create the excitement of a album release, the feeling you got when you drove to the store and bought the CD. I haven’t bought a CD in over 2 years, opting for digital releases, but I’m still waiting for some experience to come along that rivals walking out of a store with an album in my hand, and I think that going to a site like myspace or imeem to STREAM THE MUSIC FROM MY COMPUTER SPEAKERS HOPING IT WON’T NEED TO RE-BUFFER is about as far away from that excitement as it can get. The most excitement I’ve felt to date was the Radiohead In Rainbows pay-what-you-want mechanic. It felt exciting because it was hosted on the radiohead site, and was a digital / interactive idea in and of itself, vs. a stupid stream of music with a bunch of ads next to it. It seems like albums might have to figure these ideas out on their own, making each digital distribution mechanism somehow unique, or at least compelling in and of itself, to generate any kind of real excitement.

Quickly: RJDJ

Pretty fair amount of coverage of RJDJ lately, but worth mentioning quickly, that, despite my general feeling that none of the “tracks” are that compelling, it is a mobile application that attempts in some way to facilitate the kind of “where I am now” value. Sitting at a cafe this morning working, and listening to the busy street and the 2 different sets of architects around me through this weird PD filter… is pretty nice. The “Single” echolon is my favorite, in that it basically just takes what you would be hearing normally and amplifies it as an echo chamber. Simple, sure, but more effective I think as a mobile experience than the other tracks, which all seem to sound a bit like squarepusher or something, and I can make very few 1:1 matches between my environment and the music.

TVHH LMNOP

Wow, indie ‘zine LMNOP just posted a sweet review of the new The Very Hush Hush album, giving it a 5 1/2 out of 6.

A cool, mentally absorbing album that doesn’t sound like anything else currently on the horizon

I’m excited to see the rest of the reviews start to roll in for this record.  I think the next few months should be pretty exciting.

Brian Wilson’s Crazy Rap (circa 1989)

from wfmu, this preposterously funny rap from 1989 shows Brain Wilson at his most manic.

Carrie Brownstein on Rockband

great rock band analysis from sleater kinney’s Carrie Brownstein

It turns out that the more you know about music, the less qualified you are to sell Rock Band. I get that now. Rock Band isn’t about music or about being in a band, it’s about pretending. But instead of pretending alone, as you might in karaoke or Guitar Hero, you pretend with other people. Rock Band is Guitar Hero for people with more than one friend. It’s a theater group set to music, and just as nerdy.

Japanese Melody Roads & Super Mario Note Paths

The idea of these Japanese Melody roads that have been floating around the internets remind me of the amazingly great note-paths in Super Mario Galaxy. While the note paths in Mario are melodic, and the Japanese Melody roads are more ambient sound, there’s something really powerful about the idea of generating music as you walk or drive about. This was the basic premise of my master’s thesis, although I fear that my implementation was too heavy, and lacked the simplicity & reactiveness that makes the Mario paths in particular really compelling.

iTunes guitar hero collection

self explanatory.  Get your own here.

Jonny Greenwood kind of buzzkills copyleft

It was kind of an experiment as well; we were just doing it for ourselves and that was all. People are making a big thing about it being against the industry or trying to change things for people but it’s really not what motivated us to do it. It’s more about feeling like it was right for us and feeling bored of what we were doing before.

It’s been interesting watching the blogosphere light up and champion Radiohead for their unique distribution method for in rainbows (which is great, btw). And I’m all for it, but from my perspective, which is coming largely from figuring out new ideas for our upcoming releases, this is more about a distribution model – getting music out there – than it is about some gigantic screw you to the record industry. No one is going to argue that this doesn’t kind of send that message, but I think it’s interesting to see them thinking about different ways to get their stuff out their quickly. Plus, it’s not like the 160kps mp3 files, the lack of embedded album art, etc., is a super polished experience. This album will be sold like any other, by a big record label, in big stores, come December. And then you’ll buy it then, too. This is just creating a legitimate channel, and the chance to make some money, off of what would have been the inevitable leak + file sharing cycle.

Neon Bible Interactive Video

This point and click interactive video of Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible is pretty great.  Just a short and sweet piece, with compelling video, nice subtle interactions and animations.  It’s nice to see a concept be executed well like this – it’s nothing groundbreaking, but it’s well done enough that it makes me want to see these kind of things emerge as a new form of music vid.