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Inside Abbey Road with Google.

One of my dreams is to go to Abbey Road studios and ogle over all the working music history. The thought of having all that equipment at the fingertips to make the best of analogue and digital together makes many musicians and audiophiles drool all over their cheap soundcards.

Google has brought my dream tantalisingly closer by creating a virtual tour of the studios. The only next best thing is getting on a plane and going to the legendary temple of The Beatles, Hans Zimmer, Florence and the Machine, and many others. The tour is packed with tidbits of information for laymen and audiophiles alike. You can hear the difference in sound when the tour guide talks in different parts of the studio. Great attention to detail has made my dream a virtual reality. Go check it out and try not to get lost.

 

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Whiplash

I posted a rather rash and harsh status on Facebook the other day about the critically acclaimed movie Whiplash. I got quite a heavy backlash from my friends for my negative review because I didn’t look up the facts. “Don’t make a movie about drumming if your lead actor can’t drum for shit” was my socially retarded rant. I was wrong because Miles Teller is in fact a great drummer. What led me to believe that he couldn’t play was the discrepancies in what I heard and what I was seeing on the screen. It’s no wonder because the drumming in the soundtrack is utterly insane. It’s the kind of drumming that anyone can appreciate as difficult on a master’s level. Still, I thought the veil of movie magic could have been thicker and that’s just my shitty opinion, okay?!

The drummer Antonio Sanches (he did the soundtrack of Birdman) said it best for me in his interview with Giles Peterson:

“…I have mixed feelings. As a drummer, I didn’t like it too much. As a regular filmgoer that wouldn’t know anything about drums it’s a good movie… to me it’s more like a sports film with an athlete and a coach more than a music student and a teacher. I mean I understand you have to dramatise stuff. Probably if I was a lawyer and I saw ‘The Firm’ I would be like ‘oh come on, thats not real’. But I think the thing that I liked the least about it is that at no point in the film I saw any joy from anybody playing music. That totally defeats the purpose of playing music, so if it’s all tension and anxiety it’s not a very good message if you want to get people into Jazz.”

So if you like tension, drama, good soundtracks, good acting and thrillers, watch whiplash. If you’re looking for a beautiful representation of the Jazz industry, you’re better off watching an old Glenn Miller video.

 

 

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The Preatures – Is This How You Feel

Music isn’t only about the notes that are played. It’s also about the spaces between them. I find myself saying this a lot to anyone looking for a musical epiphany that will move their composing into the ‘less is more’ pop sensibility. This this song by The Preatures is a great example of ‘space’ being used to turn a song to gold. 80’s-esque gold.
Yes, this is how I feel.

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Tame Impala – Let It Happen

‘Let It Happen‘ has to be my highlight of the month. This song has it all. It seems like everything that Kevin Parker touches turns to psychedelic gold. The song is 8 mins long but I wish it kept going. New sounds just keep jumping on the funky train; the beautiful drum groove that sounds like it was mixed by the gods. My levels of cant-even-wait for-the-new-Tame-Impala-album have increased 100 fold. Enjoy your song of the day, lovers.

Download this song for free! 

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Sol Gems

Sol Gems at Vans Psych Night

The first time I saw Sol Gems was at a Psych Night at Arcade Empire. A three piece band always grabs my attention when it doesn’t sound like three egos pummelling into each other. There were no musical masturbatory solos or overstated attempts at being the sore thumb of acquired taste. They were a tight knit unit of simple ideas and good tone. Their sound harks to many ethereal-sounding influences like Tame Impala, MGMT and assorted 60s bands. They call it Sungaze.

This outfit is definitely one to look out for on the South African scene.

Enjoy their latest tracks on soundcloud and available for download at bandcamp.com

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Binkbeats

Live performance has become my deal breaker for many bands/artists. In the case of BINKBEATS, I am completely and utterly sold. This guy makes Jeremy Loops look like David Guetta asking his bimbo hookup for the night to press play on his pre-mix that was put together on iTunes (no offence, Jeremy, you’re swell). BINKBEATS is one of those guys that makes musicians wonder what they’ve been doing with their life and wish they have more obscure/cool/weird instruments. Eat your heart out and try pay attention, play button surfers (DJs).

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Why its okay to like weird music – Part 3

Have you ever wondered what someone from 1940 would think of the present? The popular music alone would make our time travelling friend mad with wonder. It’s perfectly normal to think that I can record a video of myself and send it to the other side of the world within a day (maybe being a little optimistic about South African internet speeds) but 75 years ago this would be deemed near impossible/downright weird. We can see a very thin line between innovation and craziness in the world of weird things.

It’s plain to see that those who innovated were alienated/just plain ignored. AC inventor Nicola Tesla was literally driven to madness by everyone’s refusal to see his brilliance. Bach was only recognised as a composer after he died. So if people look at you like you’re an alien it’s probably because you’re ahead of the times… or you’re trying to bring back heelys and it’s not working out.

Weirdness is a grey area with a minefield of “no! just no, dude” on top of “I heard it before it was cool/in the latest FIFA sound track”. Prepare to be shunned, pseudo-hipsters. Stay strong and please try to avoid the “before it was cool” line. You’ll just sound like a sore loser trying to keep cool shit to yourself. We love you for enduring the weirdness war zone for us though. At least I do anyway…

 

 

 

 

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Sunrise Projector – Tycho

Tycho is the king of a rather refreshing genre called ‘chillout’. You’ll understand what I mean when you listen to this track. It’s from one of his older albums. He has remained consistent in the quality of his releases and all his albums have beautifully crafted progression.

Today is a deadline day for me so this works just fine for working under pressure. If you also have a cool creative boss that encourages listening to music at work then Tycho will definitely help you keep a cool, focused head.

Happy Friday SOTD, friends.

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