Monday, March 26, 2012

It's unfortunate when people publish irresponsible and inaccurate information like that. To return MetaBeats to the firm ground of established fact and sound analysis, I offer this take on copyright law, SOPA and the economic cost of piracy.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

....i guess i should be more careful.....unless perhaps this isn't Derek....but someone hacking onto metabeats.... at any rate I hope "Derek" is correct as I would miss the boxing day ritual...
More room and selection for me at Soundscapes for me I guess. Don't believe all the crap that's on the internet.
its official cds toast later this year...the major labels will no longer make them...so long soundscapes it was good to know you....

Thursday, March 15, 2012

I like the new Rdio lay out quite a it. Navigating and building playlists much more straightforward.

Thought of our recent competition and in particular Marc's challenge that night when I read this allmusic post.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Taking awhile to warm up to the new Field Music; seems like they've been listening to a lot of Queen lately. Haven't listened to the new Bruce but I'm meh on Bruce at the best of times (ducking for cover). Bowerbirds is nice but very much a continuation of their previous discs. Ditto Yellow Ostrich, Damien Jurado, Andrew Bird. I've enjoyed their previous efforts so I should listen to them and all that but...just not psyched about doing so. Please chime in if you feel passionately about any of these and I'll give them some attention.

Thanks for the suggestions re: Soft Swells, which I'm giving my first spin right now, as well as the other suggestions.

Not sure if any of you have tried the new web-interface for Rdio but it's a nice improvement. Much closer to Itunes format, easier to create and add to playlists, and you can now shuffle through playlists, which is also nice. Still no ability to sort or shuffle by Genre, which I find a limiting, but shuffling through the collection, both online and through the 'Play Station' feature in the iphone/ipad app, are pretty cool.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Hey boys, millions of interesting new releases right now. Field Music, Damien Jurado, GBV, Beirut, Andrew Bird, Bowerbirds, Yellow Ostrich, Bruce and many, many more!! ....What's everyone been listening to?

I've also happened upon a few new artists that I'm quite enjoying Soft Swells and Bart Davenport, and the Golden Awesome (nice 'gaze music, this one).

Saturday, March 03, 2012

Ok back to the 80's for un petit peu. How do Saturday April 28 or Saturday May 5th sit with you boys? My place around 4 pm'ish. Showdown #3 about to commence.

Friday, March 02, 2012

ah yes...I went to see the monkees at ontario Place around 1982 and recall Davy Jones' unorthodox comment about the 60's "I remember those days and I remember those gays , and I'm that man" WTF? Rob and I never could figure out what that meant coming from a straight man....
Notwithstanding the incoherant between song banter I remember dearly loving that day in the sun with rum and coke disguised in a slurpy cup or something like it baking on the grassy slopes....How many shows did I see at that greatest of venues in the summer? 30? 40?.....great show by the "non-band" .....of course I cant help but to say some of their best songs .....Im a believer, Little bit me and Look out here comes tomorrow are of course by this little known fellow whom Mike G and I love...of course I could just as well of picked this photo instead..
but I digress.......
good night Davey......

Thursday, March 01, 2012

Now Kyle, couldn't you have chosen one of the countless, execrable Davy Jones' vehicles as your song to post? How about I Wanna Be Free, or Forget That Girl, or hey, how about one of the most laughable songs in the history of pop "The Day We Fall in Love"?

So yes, Davy was almost without exception absolutely godawful and horrendous. The only Monkee that couldn't play an instrument or write a song - get a load of his bass-dance in the Pleasant Valley video - OMG that is hilarious. Whereas Tork and Nesmith were bona fide musicians at least, and Dolenz learned the drums (well, that's being kind) and wrote a bunch of pretty great songs. First to die, and fair 'nough I say.

So I appreciate the chance to eulogize as I do like the Monkees, particularly the brief period after they broke away from the tyranny of those bastard record labels and fascist producers and made their own record, the outstanding "Headquarters"! Yeah baby. (well, it's pretty good anyway - four or five songs that are genuinely cool and of-the-moment). And then the follow up, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones, is filled with strong, lesser known tracks. Both those records will be featured by moi at a future music night, as a solemn memorial to Pre-Fab Four.

So, while acknowledging all of the absolute dreck that Davy Jones will be remembered for, I guess the question I'm left with is, what was his best song? Slim pickings, and many would say Daydream Believer, or, even better, this one, but not I. For me this track always packed a bit of punch very uncharacteristic of Davy's "ouevre".

(Wacky semi-live recording here too, though Dolenz isn't playing the drum part and Nesmith is only playing part of the guitar part - fair enough, he's not a flamenco expert :) ). The pure studio version sounds better but I love the visual of this one, with Davy getting on the crane.

Davy Jones RIP.
Isn't 'My Devotion is Queried' one of Robi's signature tracks? You should have seen it coming, man. Of course, having to trek out to Glencairn was likely a very discombobulating experience.

Brian, any final thoughts on Davy J?