While not getting into too much detail, life has not been all the great as of late. (yes I realize that rhymes) That's because i'm the Rhymenoceros. :) (see flight of the concords for reference)
Maybe I'll update with a new post soon.
you can however always check me out on my other blog (updated almost every wednesday)
http://wisedirect1.wordpress.com/
and with that I leave you with this video
Monday, April 20, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
It's been over 5 years and I still really miss this band. :(
I wish that one day they will get back together at least for one night.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Announcement
So..I've made some changes
This blog will now be used for life updates and writing stuff, I've picked up poetry and short story writing again. So I'm devoting this blog to personal updates and to that, My new music blog will be at http://wisedirect1.wordpress.com/.
Both will have weekly updates every wednesday (hopefully).
Till next time blogosphere readers!
This blog will now be used for life updates and writing stuff, I've picked up poetry and short story writing again. So I'm devoting this blog to personal updates and to that, My new music blog will be at http://wisedirect1.wordpress.com/.
Both will have weekly updates every wednesday (hopefully).
Till next time blogosphere readers!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Swing, Swing, Swing!
I'm making glenn miller proud, cuz the blog today is all about swing and big band!
Joke of the day
Q: How many IT guys does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: None, that's a Facilities problem.
(Being an IT I can make this joke)
For years I've been a big fan of swing, way back in the day I used to go to a club called bricks (now called sound) for their swing night. We would learn a couple moves and then take it out to the dance floor to give it a try. Swing gets you movin and shaking and the dance sequences are amazing.
Let's start off with a classic
Tex Beneke and the Glenn Miller Orchestra-In the Mood
Benny Goodman & His Orchestra - Sing Sing Sing
The verb "to swing" is also used as a term of praise for playing that has a strong rhythmic " groove" or drive.
Swing music, also known as swing jazz or simply swing, is a form of jazz music that developed in the early 1930s and had solidified as a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States. Swing uses a strong anchoring rhythm section which supports a lead section that can include brass instruments, including trumpets and trombones, woodwinds including saxophones and clarinets or stringed instruments including violin and guitar; medium to fast tempos; and a "lilting" swing time rhythm. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise a new melody over the arrangement.
-Taken from Wikipedia
Tex Beneke and the Glenn Miller Orchestra-In the Mood
Benny Goodman & His Orchestra - Sing Sing Sing
The verb "to swing" is also used as a term of praise for playing that has a strong rhythmic " groove" or drive.
Swing music, also known as swing jazz or simply swing, is a form of jazz music that developed in the early 1930s and had solidified as a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States. Swing uses a strong anchoring rhythm section which supports a lead section that can include brass instruments, including trumpets and trombones, woodwinds including saxophones and clarinets or stringed instruments including violin and guitar; medium to fast tempos; and a "lilting" swing time rhythm. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise a new melody over the arrangement.
-Taken from Wikipedia
Count Basie Orchestra Swingin' the Blues
Duke Ellington - It don't mean a thing
fats waller- aint misbehavin (stormy weather)
Royal Crown Revue-Somethings Gotta Give
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy-Always Gonna Get Ya
Video of the day!
Dutch Swing College Band - Swing That Music
(These guys are amazing!)
http://www.dscband.nl/index2.php?l=uk
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Who got me into music
But first a story, I think the first thing that got me into music was the breaker kids that used to come to my grade school when I was very little. Between lessons they would teach us how to break dance.
I found this video, which was a great lead in to the blog today
which brings me to what artist got me into music (well it was actually two groups)
Michael Jackson and The Jackson 5
Yep that's right the king of pop is the catalyst for my music addiction. Starting from the early years of off the wall and Dancing Machine, I was hooked. Sporting my Captain EO glasses as a kid, I would rock out to MJ tapes all the time.
For those who are not aware of what Captain EO was here's the videos
Some of his/there works that influenced me are;
Jackson 5-I want you back
Jackson 5-ABC
Jackson 5- I'll be there
Michael Jackson-Thriller (Original Version is copyrighted so I couldn't use it, but this one rocks)
1,500 plus CPDRC inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, Cebu, Philippines at practice!
Michael Jackson-Beat it
Michael Jackson-Smooth Criminal
Michael Jackson-Dangerous
Michael Jackson-Bad
Michael Jackson - Don't Stop Till You Get Enough
-Video of the day-
Till next time!
I found this video, which was a great lead in to the blog today
which brings me to what artist got me into music (well it was actually two groups)
Michael Jackson and The Jackson 5
Yep that's right the king of pop is the catalyst for my music addiction. Starting from the early years of off the wall and Dancing Machine, I was hooked. Sporting my Captain EO glasses as a kid, I would rock out to MJ tapes all the time.
For those who are not aware of what Captain EO was here's the videos
Some of his/there works that influenced me are;
Jackson 5-I want you back
Jackson 5-ABC
Jackson 5- I'll be there
Michael Jackson-Thriller (Original Version is copyrighted so I couldn't use it, but this one rocks)
1,500 plus CPDRC inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, Cebu, Philippines at practice!
Michael Jackson-Beat it
Michael Jackson-Smooth Criminal
Michael Jackson-Dangerous
Michael Jackson-Bad
Michael Jackson - Don't Stop Till You Get Enough
-Video of the day-
Till next time!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Gregg Gillis: Pioneer or Pirate?
PREFACE: This is a paper I am working on for english, thought I'd share it with the blogosphere for this weeks edition to the blog. First draft of the profile was due yesterday which went pretty well, final draft is due tomorrow. Enjoy!
Known throughout the world under the synonym “Girl Talk” Gregg Gillis has created an interesting career for himself. Gillis started out going to school to focus on tissue engineering while making music on the side for recreation. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Gillis has changed the face of a relatively new form of music called mash ups. In doing so he has caused waves of controversy and laid the groundwork for quite a few legislation battles to come.
(Photo taken by Michael Ray)
Though the definition has changed over the years mash ups are defined as a song or a composition created from a combination of the music from one song with the accapella from another. Mash up’s is also known as a song created out of pieces of two or more songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the music track of another .[1] Mash ups generally only hold about 30 seconds of one specific song, just enough to get your attention and then it is onto the next song. Mash ups are generally upbeat to keep the flow of the mix moving. For the most part there are about twenty to thirty songs into a single track. Most Mash ups are very complex and technically are quite time consuming to put together.
Gillis has had a long career organizing and adapting songs with his special mix treatment.
Gillis contends that his music is merely a homage to the artists songs he uses. It seems in strange irony that the record label and the Recording Industry Association of America would be the ones to question Gillis’s music and his special treatment. Gillis has stated “Most of my audience is aged 18 to 25 and I know they haven’t heard many of the songs that I sample,” he says. “They might not go out and buy a James Taylor album just because I use a bit of one of his songs, but at least a new generation now know who he is.”[2] He goes on to say “I never sample anyone ironically, and I never want to be tongue-in-cheek. I understand that some of these songs are cheesy or corny or tacky to people, but I try not to think about music in those terms any more. I feel like everything has its place. It’s entertainment. And, for me, it has always been about one thing , celebrating the world of pop.”[3] With that being said Gillis has been at the forefront of the mash up movement and has been celebrated and awarded throughout that community for his efforts. Because of his mash up style to some Gillis is viewed as “the music industry’s worst nightmare: a well revered artist on a populist and decidedly anti-capitalist bent.”[4] While this may be true to some extent, Gillis views it differently, “I spend a lot of time reading about ‘Fair Use’ on the internet,” he replies with a grin. Under this aspect of American copyright law, designed principally for teaching (and to allow journalists to quote lyrics), Gillis argues that his appropriation of existing pop songs does not deprive their owners of money, but, if anything, brings their music to a new audience.” [5]
A bit of background on this controversy known a copyright laws, copyright laws date back to 1710 but were modernized (with intellectual property) in 1994. Regarding this case the issue of criminalization of copyright infringement is brought into question. Gillis prides himself on being very up to date with what’s called the fair use act of 1976 which permits copy and distribution without permission from the copyright holder if the following factors come into play; the purpose and character of the use, the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount and substantiality of the portion of work used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole and the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. [6] Because he only uses samples of the original work and it has proven to help the sales of the original artist. Gillis believes he falls into the later two categories of the fair use act. Recently there have been some legislation hearings over the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) over-stepping their boundaries with their tactics to enforce copyright infringement (Including but not limited to outrageous monetary lawsuits). Gillis’s congressman Mike Doyle spoke out in his favor against the malicious attacks of the RIAA on Gillis and other artist similar to him. Mr. Doyle spoke positively of the adjustments that could be made in the copyright policies to further open up this newly formed genre. [7]
Even throughout all this controversy Gillis has won several awards for his mash up work including time magazine’s top ten albums of the year, Rolling stone’s top fifty albums of the year, blender magazine’s second best recording/album of 2008 and the coveted wired magazine’s rave award for 2007.
(Photo’s by Matthew Hickley at the Wired Rave Awards)
One might wonder with all this controversy what makes Gillis so popular. I believe one of the main reasons behind it is that his “off the cuff” performances have become the thing of legends and with a fairly young adult fan base it’s not unlikely that Gillis adheres to a more digital age. Meaning that quite a bit of the Girl Talk’s fame has arisen via word of mouth on message boards, blogs and chat rooms. It’s interesting how an individual so involved in the digital age, has had it turn against him so quickly, currently there are still quite a few companies who will not sell Gillis’s albums including itunes and CD distributor. In a recent interview Gillis mentioned, “I’m in a unique position now where I feel like I’ve gone beyond anything that I originally set out to do. Doing laptop collages as a solo performer is kind of a lonely experience. There’s no Led Zeppelin of laptop collages, you know? There’s nobody to really look up to in the medium. But I’ve been really fortunate, and I’m really happy with how the past couple years have been. I kind of have no goals from here. But that’s not to say I’ve got a lack of motivation. I’m working on new material every day, and I’m excited to branch out a little bit more every day. Maybe even get back to my roots a little bit and get into some more experimental stuff, see how that translates when I work it into my live set. “[8]
Right now Gillis is offering his new album “Feed the Animals” at a pay what you want price. So if you would like to pay nothing for it, you can still pick up the album. It’s a new way to activated creative common licenses. At present no lawsuits are or have ever come against Gillis, we shall have to look forward to see what happens in this developing story.
Known throughout the world under the synonym “Girl Talk” Gregg Gillis has created an interesting career for himself. Gillis started out going to school to focus on tissue engineering while making music on the side for recreation. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Gillis has changed the face of a relatively new form of music called mash ups. In doing so he has caused waves of controversy and laid the groundwork for quite a few legislation battles to come.
(Photo taken by Michael Ray)
Though the definition has changed over the years mash ups are defined as a song or a composition created from a combination of the music from one song with the accapella from another. Mash up’s is also known as a song created out of pieces of two or more songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the music track of another .[1] Mash ups generally only hold about 30 seconds of one specific song, just enough to get your attention and then it is onto the next song. Mash ups are generally upbeat to keep the flow of the mix moving. For the most part there are about twenty to thirty songs into a single track. Most Mash ups are very complex and technically are quite time consuming to put together.
Gillis has had a long career organizing and adapting songs with his special mix treatment.
Gillis contends that his music is merely a homage to the artists songs he uses. It seems in strange irony that the record label and the Recording Industry Association of America would be the ones to question Gillis’s music and his special treatment. Gillis has stated “Most of my audience is aged 18 to 25 and I know they haven’t heard many of the songs that I sample,” he says. “They might not go out and buy a James Taylor album just because I use a bit of one of his songs, but at least a new generation now know who he is.”[2] He goes on to say “I never sample anyone ironically, and I never want to be tongue-in-cheek. I understand that some of these songs are cheesy or corny or tacky to people, but I try not to think about music in those terms any more. I feel like everything has its place. It’s entertainment. And, for me, it has always been about one thing , celebrating the world of pop.”[3] With that being said Gillis has been at the forefront of the mash up movement and has been celebrated and awarded throughout that community for his efforts. Because of his mash up style to some Gillis is viewed as “the music industry’s worst nightmare: a well revered artist on a populist and decidedly anti-capitalist bent.”[4] While this may be true to some extent, Gillis views it differently, “I spend a lot of time reading about ‘Fair Use’ on the internet,” he replies with a grin. Under this aspect of American copyright law, designed principally for teaching (and to allow journalists to quote lyrics), Gillis argues that his appropriation of existing pop songs does not deprive their owners of money, but, if anything, brings their music to a new audience.” [5]
A bit of background on this controversy known a copyright laws, copyright laws date back to 1710 but were modernized (with intellectual property) in 1994. Regarding this case the issue of criminalization of copyright infringement is brought into question. Gillis prides himself on being very up to date with what’s called the fair use act of 1976 which permits copy and distribution without permission from the copyright holder if the following factors come into play; the purpose and character of the use, the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount and substantiality of the portion of work used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole and the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. [6] Because he only uses samples of the original work and it has proven to help the sales of the original artist. Gillis believes he falls into the later two categories of the fair use act. Recently there have been some legislation hearings over the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) over-stepping their boundaries with their tactics to enforce copyright infringement (Including but not limited to outrageous monetary lawsuits). Gillis’s congressman Mike Doyle spoke out in his favor against the malicious attacks of the RIAA on Gillis and other artist similar to him. Mr. Doyle spoke positively of the adjustments that could be made in the copyright policies to further open up this newly formed genre. [7]
Even throughout all this controversy Gillis has won several awards for his mash up work including time magazine’s top ten albums of the year, Rolling stone’s top fifty albums of the year, blender magazine’s second best recording/album of 2008 and the coveted wired magazine’s rave award for 2007.
(Photo’s by Matthew Hickley at the Wired Rave Awards)
One might wonder with all this controversy what makes Gillis so popular. I believe one of the main reasons behind it is that his “off the cuff” performances have become the thing of legends and with a fairly young adult fan base it’s not unlikely that Gillis adheres to a more digital age. Meaning that quite a bit of the Girl Talk’s fame has arisen via word of mouth on message boards, blogs and chat rooms. It’s interesting how an individual so involved in the digital age, has had it turn against him so quickly, currently there are still quite a few companies who will not sell Gillis’s albums including itunes and CD distributor. In a recent interview Gillis mentioned, “I’m in a unique position now where I feel like I’ve gone beyond anything that I originally set out to do. Doing laptop collages as a solo performer is kind of a lonely experience. There’s no Led Zeppelin of laptop collages, you know? There’s nobody to really look up to in the medium. But I’ve been really fortunate, and I’m really happy with how the past couple years have been. I kind of have no goals from here. But that’s not to say I’ve got a lack of motivation. I’m working on new material every day, and I’m excited to branch out a little bit more every day. Maybe even get back to my roots a little bit and get into some more experimental stuff, see how that translates when I work it into my live set. “[8]
Right now Gillis is offering his new album “Feed the Animals” at a pay what you want price. So if you would like to pay nothing for it, you can still pick up the album. It’s a new way to activated creative common licenses. At present no lawsuits are or have ever come against Gillis, we shall have to look forward to see what happens in this developing story.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
"Well you must take the A train"
This Blog is dedicated to the new musical called "In The Heights"
But first a story of how i decided to do this blog today. As I was doing my great journey into work this morning I was listening to a CD I just picked up from FYE last weekend called "The fabulous swing collection" and the Duke Ellington song "Take the A train" came on. I kept thinking to myself you know I've heard this in something else recently. I took me a second and then I realized it was "In the Heights" and then I also realized it's blog day, why haven't I ever done a blog about "In the Heights" it's an amazing musical. So here we are!
Opening Number (Both video's one with pictures and one live)
Brief sysnopsis of In the Heights-
In the Heights is a new musical about three days in the life of Washington Heights, a vibrant and tight knit community at the top of the island of Manhattan. It's a place where the coffee from the corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open, and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. In the Heights is the tale of a community at a crossroads.
-From Theatermania
The score features hip-hop, salsa, merengue and soul music. The musical's 2008 Broadway production was nominated for thirteen Tony Awards and won the Tony Award for Best Musical at the 62nd Tony Awards.
-From Wikipedia
In the Heights performance at the 2008 Tony awards
Lin-Manuel Miranda (The creator and star of In The Heights) doing his preshow ritual
In the Heights also feature this guys
http://www.sethstewart.net/
Seth Stewart is a phenomenal choreographer from New York who has done everything from music video to nationwide tours.
Plans have now been made to make a movie of this musical that will be released in 2010.
http://www.intheheightsthemusical.com/
-Video of the day-
Moulin Rouge-Elephant Love Medley
Till next time folks
But first a story of how i decided to do this blog today. As I was doing my great journey into work this morning I was listening to a CD I just picked up from FYE last weekend called "The fabulous swing collection" and the Duke Ellington song "Take the A train" came on. I kept thinking to myself you know I've heard this in something else recently. I took me a second and then I realized it was "In the Heights" and then I also realized it's blog day, why haven't I ever done a blog about "In the Heights" it's an amazing musical. So here we are!
Opening Number (Both video's one with pictures and one live)
Brief sysnopsis of In the Heights-
In the Heights is a new musical about three days in the life of Washington Heights, a vibrant and tight knit community at the top of the island of Manhattan. It's a place where the coffee from the corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open, and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. In the Heights is the tale of a community at a crossroads.
-From Theatermania
The score features hip-hop, salsa, merengue and soul music. The musical's 2008 Broadway production was nominated for thirteen Tony Awards and won the Tony Award for Best Musical at the 62nd Tony Awards.
-From Wikipedia
In the Heights performance at the 2008 Tony awards
Lin-Manuel Miranda (The creator and star of In The Heights) doing his preshow ritual
In the Heights also feature this guys
http://www.sethstewart.net/
Seth Stewart is a phenomenal choreographer from New York who has done everything from music video to nationwide tours.
Plans have now been made to make a movie of this musical that will be released in 2010.
http://www.intheheightsthemusical.com/
-Video of the day-
Moulin Rouge-Elephant Love Medley
Till next time folks
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