Tuesday 31 January 2012

A Tale of two embeds

Recently a virtual friend of mine Ian Dewhirst released a compilation called Philadelphia International Re Edits Various-Artists.  


To quote Ian 

One reason why there has never been a package like this before is because it’s extremely difficult to improve upon perfection anyway plus the quality control standards at Philadelphia International have always been top level and generally out of reach in order to preserve the integrity of the catalogue. However, with the advent of re-edit culture and the increasing sophistication of affordable new technology, suddenly there was no longer the need to physically access the original master tapes – a costly and expensive process at the best of times. Now a re-editor could work from the comfort of his laptop and craft a re-edit at his or her leisure. This meant that rather than working in an expensive studio and compressing all your ideas into several hours or even several days, now re-edits can be done to each re-editors individual time-scales, whether they be over a couple of weeks or even a couple of years in some cases. The result has been that now a finished re-edit can finally be presented once someone has lived with it and tweaked it for weeks, months or even years. So, essentially, the disadvantages in not having access to the original multi-track tapes (and being able to isolate each track separately) can often be outweighed by the sheer time you can spend in getting something absolutely right without the time constraints of using an expensive studio. 


I applaud his efforts here and I'm pleased to see it's selling. 
Here is a track from it:


Meanwhile here is something from some time ago: : )

Soundcloud of the day Hustlin feat. Daniel G on Tenor by St Paul

Mixing, re grooving, turntablism call it what you will, but it's hard not to like this atmospheric instrumental.

Blind I for the day Saux ft. Joya Mooi

Posted a couple of Days ago on Blind I was this forth coming track from the Saux EP called "Rear Window".

Bandcamp of the day...........Lois Davina

Many thanks to Stevie Street for not only bringing this to my notice but bashing me over the head with it till I woke up out of my two week sleep of not posting.!!


Update...

Hello everybody !


My apologies for not updating, I've not felt the desire to peck out a few words or upload music. 

The big news from my own point of view is the closure of Megaupload, and the resulting fallout. Though I was a member and paid for a subscription, I always knew that it wouldn't last forever, but when it was shut down- it came as a surprise. I used Megavideo a lot for TV shows in the main but I also used the service for personal storage, though I never had anything stored on there that I didn't back up.


The piracy argument is very complex, I couldn't possibly make much sense on the topic in the narrow confines of a post on a blog that hardly anybody reads. I came to own a computer in order to record my records. I bought my first Computer with an IDE  CD writer back in 1999. Within a couple of days of buying it I'd joined the Library, and was taking out CD's to copy for my own use. I didn't even consider if this was wrong, for me it seemed perfectly natural. I quickly learned that my CD copies were pretty inferior, and that a lot of Music I'd thought about buying wasn't worth it. I kept going to the Library though because the excitement of getting hold of music this way was compelling. At the time I didn't see the copies as free, I'd bought a computer, blank CD's were expensive, and often the whole process took quite a bit of time. 


12 or so years later I came across blogs who used "one click webhosting" for whole CD's and welcomed them. Some blogs in particular changed my outlook on music, Soulmate, Lord Black, Quiet Storm, Wilforall and many others added so much value to my listening. It was more than simply going to a library and choosing stuff to copy, these people had knowledge and taste beyond mine. In time I had my own Rapidshare Account and was uploading recordings of Radio Shows to it. Many of these uploads got 500 downloads which is incredible seeing as I didn't go crazy advertising the links.


The question is was it right for me to download all this music for free ?


From my own viewpoint I'd say that I've never made a single penny from downloading music. I've never been asked to DJ, do a Radio Show, or been approached to sell a CDR. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of people who have specifically asked me for copies of anything, so I'm hardly likely to have made much money selling pirate CD's. For all the hours I've spent downloading listening and writing about music (albeit in this cack handed manner) I've hardly cemented my reputation as an expert. I'd like to think I've given some exposure to tracks that wouldn't have got much, but I'm not really certain I've done that. All I can say for sure is that I've wasted a lot of time amusing myself.


Megaupload is gone but I'm still watching US TV the day after it's broadcast and I'm still able to get hold of a few new CD's via one click webhosters. Nobody can truly stem that flow. 


The closure had made me stop and think though, should I switch to mixcloud and do mixes rather than reflect tracks randomly as I do in this blog ?


I'd welcome some views on this topic.

Wednesday 18 January 2012

Soundcloud of the cover version of the day

Some songs are class regardless. Even I could sing a decent version of this song, thankfully JoiStaRR asked PJ Morton instead


JoiStaRR - Nothing Even Matters Feat. PJ Morton by JoiStaRR

Soundcloud of the day -Gilbert Graef

F*cked up Disco, not my cup of Earl Grey to be honest. Yet again this is a bit perverse, low down dirty in fact. 
Gilbert Graef - Bump me (Free BoogieGee) by Box Aus Holz Records
TL Cross new(ish) EP- "The World Soul" seems on first listening a bit light on Soul, however seeing as it's on every Blogbus page, at least it's gone round the World.


First listens though can be deceptive because I really like this track, in fact it's excellent stuff !

Cover Version of the Day.... Richard Elliot

Produced by Jeff Lorber (who plays Keys) this is pretty by the numbers stuff.  Moreover the sight of "Inner City Blues" on the tracklist does make one sigh.  On the other hand it's well played and controlled without overt blandness. It's mood music, it's smooth but never slick.




The Internet: Purple Naked Ladies

A considerable amount of bru ha ha went before this release from the WGKTO collective. 


Now it's out knives have come out and in some quarters its getting a rubbishing.


I quite like it though in truth it's not very radical. It reminds me a bit of Soul ID, or listening to to Kindred and the Family Soul whilst swimming under water.


Course the title of the CD sounds amusing when said by myself in my strong Lanchasire drawl.  I'm liking this track though

Monday 16 January 2012

Sunday 15 January 2012

Soundcloud of the day Mezzz special

Thanks to Moovmnt

Gianna charles "oh my" (backinthedayzjoint prod. by mez) by mezzzz

Soia - Obtaining (produced by mez) by mezzzz

Bandcamp of the day...........Evil Needle

Random - Happy by LB Muzak

 From 2010 and posted up for no good reason other than I like it.

Thursday 12 January 2012

Strange cover version of the day ?

 ?   ?

Abstract Truth & G Lawrence Francis & Friends - I'll Bring You Flowers (Everyday)

Touch of the smooth Soul....from a CD released late last year

Bandcamp of the day...........Hello by Glad2Mecha & Ill Treats




"Spindiana Jones" : )

Sunday 8 January 2012

Soundcloud of the day Yesterday (feat. Guilty Simpson, Fatima & Olivier Daysoul)

Sublime.......


Yesterday (feat. Guilty Simpson, Fatima & Olivier Daysoul) by Eric Lau

Update

Well after a short lay off and lack of updates I thought a few words were in order. I hope my regular readers (yes you two) had a nice Christmas and New Year as did I.


The extended break with habit of posting up on here has caused me to wonder why I ever started in the first place ? The expression " a crisis of confidence" springs to mind and this blog wouldn't be called "Bipolar" if I wasn't prone to a touch of the bleak from time to time. That fact not withstanding I do have some thanks to give and some words about my favourite tracks of last year, but they shall have to wait till the mood improves in order to do them justice.
In the meantime here are a couple of links, which I hope are of interest:
http://nu-soulmag.com/musings/?p=12173
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/152267-the-best-jazz-of-2011/
....................................................................................................................................
When searching for a bit of inspiration revisit something comfortable. Way back in 1975 I saw this Band live and knew that for the rest of my listening life I'd favour this sort of music. This track was recorded live with the same line up in 1974 (thanks to WGV for the rip)