Obsessed with JD McPherson's 'Signs & Signifiers'

I don't cover a lot of music on this blog. When I do, it's usually to bitch about the state of the music industry, or to complain about everything being over-compressed. However, every now and then, an album drops which slaps me in the face. 'Signs & Signifiers' is one such album.

I heard a couple samples off the album during an NPR interview, and bought the album instantly. The concept and execution is just so deliciously retro. McPherson has crafted a near perfect throwback to the sounds of the 1950's, a time before "Rock-n-Roll" had fragmented into R&B, Blues, Rockabilly, Punk, Hard Rock, and Country. A time where you could imagine going to a concert and seeing Buddy Holly, Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Ritchie Valens all in the same night.

'Signs & Signifiers' does a fantastic job of paying homage to these classic musical influences, while still presenting us something new. It's not a collection of covers, and it definitely showcases an aggressive modern energy, but the collection of songs included could easily be confused for vintage.  Jimmy Sutton's production work (also the bass player) and Alex Hall's mastering (also the drummer) clearly illustrate McPherson's passion for the musical era.

Lastly, and maybe one of the reasons I'm so drawn to this work, to match the vibe of the music and writing, the trio decided on an analogue style of recording to produce the sound they were after. Watching McPherson bellow into an old school ribbon, and hearing the tape distortion and mic maxing out, it's pleasing. It's what we like about older classic recordings. They've absolutely nailed the technical challenges, merging the benefits of modern producing with the constraints of analog gear.

I'm crazy late to this party, the album dropped the end of 2010, but I'm making up for it by playing the shit out of this CD.


Shop for 'Sign's & Signifiers' on Amazon, and you'll be supporting this site at no additional cost to you!

The Nokia BH-905i Bluetooth Headphones - A Nice Refresh to an Already Great Pair of Headphones

I FINALLY got my hands on a pair of Nokia BH-905i's!

One year ago, I reviewed the original BH-905's. I really liked them, and had very few caveats for those looking for a versatile pair of wireless headphones.

Well Nokia has refreshed the line, so lets take a quick look at what's changed!

At their core, these are a very familiar pair of headphones. Thankfully not much of what I liked from the original 905's has changed. The most immediate difference is the redesigned headband. The strange tapers on the sides are gone, in favor of a more traditional headband, and you'll no longer look quite as much like a Cyberman. Fit and finish are still fantastic. High quality materials, solid feel to joints, and extremely comfortable ear pads.

The case has also undergone a redesign. Accessories are no longer held by elastic straps inside, but now have their own pouch to reside within. The Swiss Army knife collection of adapters is still included, and they've added a new y-adapter to connect to computer headphone & microphone ports, and a special cable just for iphones (because iphones are NON-standard like that).

On the software side, Nokia has expanded support for different audio players. Most notably, new profiles for enhanced bass and stereo widening. The widening effect gave music a great stereo feel. Unfortunately, the 905i's bass response is still on the lean side, so playing club tracks with my Android phone and engaging a mega-bass profile made music feel a little muddy.

I have no way of verifying, but I think Nokia has managed to make the noise reduction even more aggressive than the last generation of 905's. EIGHT microphones are on board to sample sound around you. Turning on NR on Ventura blvd managed to make all the cars in traffic sound like hybrids. Frequent fliers and commuters will certainly appreciate the amount of audio isolation these headphones provide.

Pairing has been seamless with an Android smartphone, a PS3, and a Windows 7 laptop.

The last change worth mentioning?

The BH-905i headphones' street price is $100 cheaper than the original 905's.
This puts 905i within $30 of the miserable Bose On-Ear headphones, and is $100 cheaper then the Bose QuietComfort 15's. The QC15's might have slightly better bass, but are wired only headphones, so they wont have bluetooth, and to my ear I think I like the noise reduction in the Nokia's better.

That was really the biggest obstacle for me with the original 905's. I had a hard time fully justifying $300 for a pair of headphones, even a really good pair of bluetooth headphones, but at $200 the 905i becomes an incredible buy, especially for travelers and commuters looking to remove separate audio solutions from their day to day gear.

And if you buy the Nokia BH-905i Bluetooth Headphones on Amazon using this link, you'll also be supporting this site!

Lost Photos - The Joy Formidable: Live Acoustic Set from SXSW

I totally thought I had lost these pics from South by Southwest!

Caught a great live set from Welsh band The Joy Formidable, and got a couple decent pics.









Here's the vid for their single "Cradle". I liked it a lot, an upbeat alt rock group with a great female lead. Dig it.

You can get both of their albums "The Big Roar" and "A Balloon Called Moaning" on Amazon!

Holy Crap! I Got to Meet Rock Photographer Robert Knight!!!

You know that really famous pic of Hendrix burning the guitar?

Yeah.

Of course you do.

That's Robert Knight, and he pretty much single handed-ly created the modern idea of rock and concert photography as we know it today.

While at the SXSW trade show I crashed the Nikon meet up (I shoot Canon, tee-hee), and while there Knight gave a talk on shooting events.

I was pretty twitterpated. Can't lie. I squealed a little...

Many thanks to Tech Blogger Extrordinaire ZOMGitsCJ for schnagging the shot of me with Robert, and if your curious about his work check out Robert Knight's Gallery on the LimeLight Agency site, or you can watch a recent documentary about Knight's work called "Rock Prophecies".

I Got to See Chris Cornell at the Belmont in Austin - AKA SXSW is Rad...

I know this is primarily a voice over blog, but I did have a brief flirtation with recording music, and since I'm at SXSW I'm going to share this one with you guys.

Because it was BRILLIANT.

Getting to hang with the Nokia crew here in Austin has been a blast, and I'm enough of a gear head that the Interactive panels and discussion have been super geekery fun, but last night I got a VIP pass to see the very first show of Chris Cornell's acoustic tour.

And it was FANTASTIC.

If you grew up when I did, bands like Soundgarden probably had a significant impact on your music tastes. I never had the opportunity to see them live though, and I always regretted that. When I heard I was going to see him live, solo, and unplugged I actually got a little nervous.

What if he wasn't as good now?

It's really satisfying in this day and age when a performer you admire, sans accoutrement, can not only live up to your expectations, but exceed them. It's rare in this age of editing that someone can genuinely sound better live than they can in a studio album.

According to the Chris Cornell website, his shows for the tour are already sold out, but if there's any way you can sneak in I would HIGHLY recommend it.

Much thanks again to WOMWorld/Nokia for bringing me out to SXSW.

I will be updating tech news on YourTechReport, and I'll be posting on two movie premiers I was able to attend over on Movies You May Have Missed.

Rock Sugar throws down the best mashup of all time: Metallica + Journey

Rock Sugar just became my favorite mash up band of all time! It's connection to voice over you ask? Front man Jess Harnell is animation ELITE! No really click on his name there. His IMDB page is as long as my torso...


Anywho, just a little fun to start off the week. Here's Rock Sugar's "Don't Stop The Sand Man".
Enjoy!




To pick up their album head on over to http://www.ROCKSUGARBAND.COM!

Unhelpful Robot Remixed into a Song!

So, two years ago I recorded a series of cell phone alerts I titled "Unhelpful Robot", and they were pretty popular for a while. I haven't checked in on them for a while, but apparently people have still been downloading them, which is pretty rad.

Well I just received a message from a DJ in Amsterdam who has used Unhelpful Robot in a club track, that he's actually played FOR OTHER PEOPLE. I can't tell you how exciting this is for a lowly sound designer like myself. I cut my teeth recording club tracks, and I wasn't that good at it, so having someone else not only enjoy your work, but SHARE it with you, is pretty rad.
So now I'll share it with you!

"What Dave Does" by Save and Sound:

Save and Sound feat Some Audio Guy - What Dave Does by Save and Sound

Download the original Unhelpful Robot alerts!
SomeAudioGuy on Freesound!

YouTube Users Lash Out At Warner Music

Two things are clear in the YouTube/Warner Music scuffle. 

First, neither side is 100% right. 

Second, users are very, very angry that their videos are being pulled down or muted when they contain background music owned by Warner Music...

read more | digg story

Mixwit is Shutting Down

Biggelow is SUPER SAD about this...

It's too bad really. First Muxtape being bullied, now this.
These types of services are going to be vital for music industry growth, yet I'm sure RIAA lawyers have a list ready to execute.

Music is a community experience.
We define and relate to others through music.
How are we to find new music?

From Mixwit (via email to the MixWit community):

We regret to announce that Mixwit will cease to exist at the end of the
year.The website and profiles will be turned off around Dec 27th and
all embedded widgets will stop playing before the end of December.

We’ve put a year of work into Mixwit so this choice wasn’t taken lightly. I
won’t go into the details of our situation but state simply that we
boldly marched into in a position best described as “between a rock and a
hard place.” We’re very grateful to be have been part of the mixtape
revival of ‘08 and are satisfied to be able to to bow out while things
are still good.

You guys are all amazing. It’s clear that all of you put a ton of time and
effort into your mixes. For me personally, I was looking forward to all of
the designs people created for their tapes. There was a lot of basic tapes
and many lovely photos, but the designs and artwork - WOW!

We’re very sorry that this has to end. We’re going to try to figure out
some way to archive the artwork and playlists, if for nothing at least
historic value. As for now, everything needs to be shut down by the end
of the year just to make sure we’ve got a clean start for 2009.

We’ll return early next year with a new company and new toys. Until
then, enjoy the holidays and please take good care of yourselves,
your families, and your friends =)

- Radley & Mike

Batman Theme Composer, Neal Hefti, Passes Away at Age 85

MOST POPULAR SUPERHERO THEME EVAR!!!

BBC News is reporting on the passing of Neal Hefti who also worked on The Odd Couple and Barefoot In The Park.

The iconic music, which Hefti described as the "hardest piece I ever wrote", was a Top 40 hit and won a Grammy Award in 1966 for best instrumental theme.

Easily still one of the most iconic themes ever written. Thoughts and prayers (and a SOCK!POW!ZOK!) to his family and friends.



Neal Hefti Passes At 85 (via BBC News)

How the Music Industry Spent the Summer Killing Itself

Yup, I'm a bitter consumer.

Ad Age takes a look at the backwards thinking the Music Industry employs in its constant march into irrelevance.
They seem focused on preventing customers from hearing new music, making it harder for customers to easily purchase music, and driving potential customers to file sharing.

It's been a depressing summer for the delusional record industry. We're seeing a total disconnect between labels' unrealistic, old-school revenue expectations and what the market can bear. On the streaming-music front, the sad reality is that advertising revenue may never fully support the music industry's wishful-thinking profit margins.

read more | digg story

Learning to Play Bass Guitar - Online Resources?

So, I'm keeping to at least thirty minutes of practicing a day, and so far so good.

I've found a couple online resources that have helped.

StudyBass.com and CyberFretBass.com both have incredible resources to help reinforce your studies.

And for those of you on six strings, you should really check out Songsterr.com.

Are there any other resources you guys have stumbled on?

Britney Spears LOVES The Autotune...

My title is implying that she can't really sing, and it takes a whole host of electronics to make her sound presentable when she "performs".

If only we could separate her mic feed from the rest of her concert audio...

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Bass Guitar Update - Probably the Last Update Here...

So yeah, I practiced for an hour yesterday, and sadly the first TWENTY minutes were spent just tuning the damn thing LOL. My right hand is killing me just from walking the strings.

This might take a while.

Just to keep you guys from having to suffer through my general "suckitude", I'm going to move my updates over to my Twitter feed. I've been trying to figure out what to do with that thing anyway LOL.

Some Audio Guy on Twitter

So Begins My Musical Re-Education...

After years of playing the clarinet and the contra-bass clarinet, it's time to shake things up.

I've always wanted to learn how to play the bass guitar. 
For B-day #28, I'm starting now, and the goal is to "not suck" by B-day #29.

I'll let you know how it goes, and if any of you have advice, links, suggestions please send them my way!

Flashback Charts Helps You Look Up the Billboard #1 Song For ANY Day in History

This is pretty sweet.
A guy by the name of Josh Hosler has taken it upon himself to catalog the Billboard #1 song for every day going back to 1892!

Have you ever wondered what the #1 song was on the day you were born? Day you got married? Day your kids were born? Day you graduated high school? Left home? Met your best friend? Bought a Wii?

Check out the Flashback Charts!

FYI, 'Magic' by Olivia Newton-John was #1 the day I was born. Yeesh...
 

Erik Weiner Googles Himself. Do You? (Maybe a little COMPLETELY NSFW...)

I've written about Erik before (actor, rapper, writer, voice talent extraordinaire).
He's a pretty fun guy.

This video made me "EL-OH-EL".
It's pretty dirty though, so no watching at work.



Famous Last Nerds (dot) Com

The Microphone Collection Grows - I Just picked up a Shure SM56!

So a while back I wrote about finding and restoring a Shure SM56 for a studio I was working at. It was a GREAT find, as it's not every day you find a 40 year old mic stuck in a box, and not only does it work, but it sounds great.

Unfortunately, no one liked using it.

Cuz it was old looking.

I brought it up with the studio owner, and he was fine trading it for an SM58 I had lying around. I jumped on it, and had the SM58 in his hands the next day, LOL. Now I own two SM57's and an SM56. Very cool stuff.

Now, this isn't a great VO mic. Like it's brother the SM57, it's a great studio and stage all-rounder. For any given application, there are probably other mics that might sound better, but I've never encountered a microphone that moves from application to application as seamlessly as the SM57/56.



It's silly, but this is a mic that I keep bouncing around. Getting into recording, it was one of the first mics I used in Albuquerque. Lately I seem to keep running into it, seeing it used in Johnny Cash's 'At Folsom Prison' and Jimi Hendrix's 'Live at Monterey'.


And now I own one!
someaudioguy microphone recording some audio guy music voice over studio classic vintage

Woot!

Reverend Run Records an Audiobook.

WHO'S HOUSE???

RUN'S HOUSE!!!

Ok, we all know reality TV is anything but real, but I gotta say Run's House is becoming a guilty pleasure. It's WAY setup, and this clip is no exception, but I blog about VO and narration and junk, so it was just too hard to pass this one up.

Apparently Rev Run wrote a book about his family, and will be doing his own narration for the audiobook. I found this bit to be HIGH-sterical, as Run acts like he's NEVER been in front of a microphone before.

Of course nothing goes as planned [cue up sitcom music cue - WAAH WAAAAAAHHHH].



Hey, I think that's an Audio-Technica AT4040 he's on there. Neat, but what the crap is up with the engineer's FORTY track mixer there for ONE mic?

Anywho, I call shenanigans. Tomfoolery. Antics. Mischief. Hijinks. Malarkey.
During the "recording" session he seems really bored and stiff, very unnatural, almost like he's waiting for people to come in and interrupt him.

Like his kids.
Spontaneously.
Just at the same time he's reading passages in the book that are about them.

Right.

Also he's MUCH better at narration than this. How do I know? Well, see, he has this adorable candle lit, bath time, "Dougie Howser" style episode recap with his BlackBerry.

Which he narrates.

Really well.


audiobook voice over narration recording tv reality hip hop

Before the Music Dies

This is pretty powerful stuff.

I've written before about the "quality" of modern music, but usually in the context of the technical aspects of recording, winning the "Loudness War", etc. This documentary does a very good job of examining the history of the music industry, how we got here, and where we might go.
Moving interviews with Dave Matthews, Quest Love, Erykah Badu, and scores of other performers,  journalists, and critics painfully contrast with "man on the street" interviews of people talking about their current fave pop acts.
If you care about your "art", be it Film, TV, Music, Theatre, New Media, etc, this is a great look at what happens when the BIG money rolls in.

A film narrated by Forest Whitaker, 'Before the Music Dies' lays out a cautionary story about the deteriorating state of the music business, and argues that the quality of music is going downhill. This is a must-see for anyone who cares about music. Out since 2006, it's steadily gained a following and has achieved critical acclaim.

read more | digg story

And here's the trailer: