Rain

Anybody remember that guy Ben (?) who used to hang out in the old Coffeehouse and who was a huge fan of Lennon and the Beatles (and somewhat possessive of them, if that makes sense)? Wonder if he's still around and doing well. I seem to remember he was struggling with his emotions a bit at times, and it could sometimes be difficult to stay nice to him, but still... Hope he's ok.

The Chemical Brothers - Block Rockin' Beats

Saw this short video on Facebook this morning shared by The Beatles' profile admin, Paul, and Ringo - I guess it's a preview of the little documentary - the last part of it was Lennon's voice soloed. Hit me much harder than the song with all the fluff, and to my ear, it was also more interesting. The beauty of the melody seemed more intelligible this way.

I've always been intrigued by Studio Vision from the moment heard about it and then read that Trent Reznor had used it to record Broken and The Downwards Spiral, until it failed him during the recording of The Fragile. Unfortunately for me, I would never get to experience that venerable DAW software - the first to combine MIDI and Audio - before its demise. I've also always been a sucker for old software demos, like those old Pro Tools and SAW Pro VHS. And I just stumbled upon this tonight. After a few minutes poking fun at the Opcode fellow, you get the full restored Computer Chronicles segment introducing EZ Vision and Studio Vision.

Grim Skunk - Look At Yourself (cover of the above)

Uriah Heep - Look At Yourself

I'm guessing it will be extremely polarizing - me, I am at odd with myself every time I listen to it. My initial reaction was to be creeped out, then disgusted, then moved, and I've oscillated between conflicting feelings every few seconds every time I listen to it. I like the haunting quality of the original demo, and I never saw the necessity of turning any of Lennon's demos into finished songs. To me, the definitive version of Real Love is the old demo that I was so used to. But I can also appreciate a lot of what they did with those songs. That being said, I do feel that although the song did receive "the Beatles treatment", it's a little superficial. It has all the trappings of a Beatles song, but what a Beatles song was was constantly evolving throughout their career, so they never really relied on trappings. It's a little bit like paint by numbers, or ELO who knew precisely how to evoke The Beatles, what sounds to use and all. But then again - The Beatles aren't really around anymore, so it's not like they can continue to evolve and redefine themselves. And no matter what we think, it's out now.

Nah. Scottish have folded ears.

These were just brought back to me last weekend, after years in storage back home. Music written between autumn 1998 and late spring 1999, before I finally moved into the digital realm with Cakewalk Guitar Studio. I typically ran the tape at 7 1/2 IPS, and used both sides of each reel, so that would be roughly 9 hours of music. Most of it is original, but there’s also 2 or 3 covers I think. Limitations and constraints always seem to work wonders for creativity. There’s also a few of my songs which the band recorded in the studio in 1997 for which I’d never gotten to record my guitar, because, budget... The old Sony reel to reel allowed me to at least record some very crude overdubs at home, and to somewhat “finish” those songs. That old Sony and these reels were definitely one of the best Christmas presents ever. I guess I'll have to start looking for an old reel to reel on eBay.

Obviously... Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence

The Tea Party - Silence

David Bowie - Sons of the Silent Age

I remember a member named Hans Van Even had created a bunch of them and hosted him on his cakewalk.net website. Not sure it's still active ( I seem to recall that he was getting more interested in Samplitude) but that may be a place to start. Yeah, I remember that but I can't remember what I had for breakfast.

Culture Kultür - No Surrender

Syd Barrett - Milky Way

Robert Johnson - Malted Milk

A new mix would be fantastic - although at this point, the original mix has become part of the charm of the album, and even adds a little something to it. But I'll be curious to hear whatever Mr. Iommi can come up with.

Cheap Trick - Daddy Should Have Stayed in High School.

Nirvana - School

I was surprised to see some of the people whom I'd not realized had not been included, like John Scofield, Kenny Burrell, and Paul Gilbert. A little disappointed that some personal favorites like Tommy Bolin were still left out, but I feel that this took care of the worse, most disrespectful omissions. I was also surprised to see how often one can use the word phenomenal in 13 minutes. Seriously, cool list though.

Not yet, I am embarrassed to admit. It's been on my list forever.

Anvil - School Love

Judas Priest - Between the Hammer and the Anvil

Fantastic job, mate! I remember the previous one was equally amazing (something from Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, right?), For all its quirks and despite the strange production, I am a HUGE fan of that record. Actually, even though I used to think of myself as more of an Ozzy-era purist because Speak of the Devil was my gateway to Sabbath, I am a huge fan of practically all of their records. They had some amazing singers, didn't they? Dio, Gillan, Gillen, Hughes, Martin... Not too shabby.