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| Classical tidiness | |
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4.18.2008
6:46 AM | Link |
 I recently finished some digital decluttering of my iTunes library, focusing on my classical music collection. I have close to 200 classical CDs (which was practically all I bought in college), and although I ripped them ages ago, their tag information has always been a mess. The CDDB entries for classical music are totally inconsistent, since classical works don't fit well into the usual track information, so I had tempo markings in the Artist field, movements in the Title field, and the whole thing was driving me crazy! So, I decided to take on a few albums every day, copying and pasting things the way I like them. I decided to go with putting the composer in the Artist field, since I would never search for something by performer in this case (with exceptions like Kronos Quartet). At the same time, I even grabbed a portrait of the composer from Wikipedia to put in the album art! The lesson that I reinforced to myself is that big tasks that seem like they will take forever can actually be done if you just make a commitment to do a little each day. It was actually kind of fun since I only spent 15 minutes or so each morning, and now I have the reward of nice, neat classical tracks! I'm following the same daily method of tagging all of my old blog posts, too.It's time to take my parents on a vacation again, so I'm leaving for Las Vegas today! WEBmikey posting will resume in a few days, but I'll probably say a few things on Twitter while I'm out of town. Labels: decluttering, music |
| Swing for under a buck | |
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3.06.2008
8:04 PM | Link |
 I'm really late in mentioning it, but my pal Dae, guitar player for the world famous Day Jobs from Austin's swing glory days, has put our old studio tracks on Amie Street to make a few pennies! We did this recording just before Dae moved to Los Angeles, and all of the tracks online are original compositions. On Amie Street, the price is set by how often something is purchased, so you should buy this rare album while it's only 78 cents! Of course, the Day Jobs features my pals Matt on vocals, Ernesto on sax, Dae on guitar, Ann Marie on bass (now a Grammy-nominated artist!), and myself on drums.While I'm on the topic of music, I should also announce that the Ernesto Marquez Sextet has been renamed Casa del Swanko! Since our beloved founder Ernesto has moved to Los Angeles (oh how we miss him!), we chose our new goofy name to commemorate Jonathan's house (where we rehearse), which has always been referred to as Casa del Swanko. We have lots of gigs booked through May - look for us at the Tree House Italian Grill or North by Northwest! |
| Listening to Max | |
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9.01.2007
7:34 AM | Link |
 A few weeks ago, one of my jazz drumming idols passed away, and even though I'm late in mentioning it, I thought I would take this chance to talk about the incredible Max Roach. I first heard Max when I was buying all the Verve Jazz Masters series CDs that I could, after becoming a jazz fan due to the influence of my drum teacher. Of course, I had heard many nameless drummers before, but when I heard Clifford Brown & Max Roach play in their quintet, it was the first time that I wanted to know exactly who was playing and to really listen to what they were doing! Max was one of the founders of bebop, along with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and so many others, but he was able to take that blazing tempo and make it something subtle and even relaxed. It seems like a lot of jazz newbies think of Buddy Rich when it comes to drums, but Buddy's style always seemed like brute force to me (everything is just one loud roll), while Max really made music with his sticks. Max showed me that everything, especially silence, can be another drum in the kit! I love listening to him trade fours, because he has the taste (and the humility) to let his short solos go by with empty spaces (such as on the classic Jordu, or his fantastic brush work on Joy Spring), along with just the right touch on a tom or his kick. In fact, it was by listening to Max that I learned the kick (bass drum) can work just like a tom, which sadly I'm still pretty bad at doing! His style also taught me about the important of keeping the hi-hat going - you can always his hear solid 2 and 4 no matter what else is going on, unlike some other drummers who seem to be too lazy to keep it going. Of course, he could really play some incredibly busy solos, too, but even those are filled with dynamics and finesse (something like The Blue Walk comes to mind). After the 1950s, Max went on to all kinds of other projects that I haven't really explored, since I'm so content with his bop masterpieces, but I hope to listen to more of his work someday. I can't think of any other jazz drummer I would rather sound like, and I'm happy he lived such a long life (83 years old!) and accomplished so much for the music I love.Labels: music |
| R-L-R-R-L-R-L-L | |
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6.01.2007
6:37 AM | Link |
 I've just started teaching drum lessons to my friend Eliza, and so far it's been a cool experience! Eliza is a vice-principal, so she decided she wanted to learn to play drums as a summer project during her time off from work. I've never taught before, so I was a little nervous starting out - not only because it was my first time, but since Eliza has spent her whole career as an educator, I felt funny trying to teach a teacher! Our second lesson was last night, and it's going really well. I dug up my old drum books that I used back when I was taking lessons (sometime around 1981, based on penciled notes in the books!), and I'm basing the lessons on what I remember being taught at the beginning. My drum teacher was named Richard Thompson, and I met him because he also taught the son of my school choir teacher. He was a great teacher, and taught me some important concepts that I still think about every time I play a gig. He also introduced me to jazz, and learning about that music and its drumming style has really influenced the way I play. Of course, I wasn't the best as practicing on my own, and he gave me lots of speeches about it, but I was able to get by on some kind of innate rhythm I have. I took lessons with him about two years, and then he moved to New York to teach at a prestigious school, if I remember correctly. Anyway, it's been great using the old books again and beginning to teach Eliza, since I have to practice a little to be sure I can play the exercises as well! I'm amazed that one of the books is still in print, A Funky Primer for the Rock Drummer, which is jam-packed with cool beats that I refer to (in my mind) constantly. Another nice benefit of teaching is that Chris is cooking me some fantastic meals as payment, which is an awesome break from the microwave for me!
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| Ten Cool Tunes 10.2006 | |
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10.14.2006
5:22 PM | Link |
 Well, I've been getting progressively later in putting out a monthly mix, and usually the reason is that I was limiting the amount of Jpop, since I've been creating iMixes of these on the iTunes Store. This month I'm tossing that idea! This month's mix is full of relaxing, mellow stuff - definitely not all ballads, but everything has a laid-back feel. The first track is the best song from an amazing album by Keane (which I heard for the first time at church, believe it or not) - Hopes and Fears is full of fantastic songs like this one. After that, it's all Jpop! Yes, even Heartsdales and Morning Musume can contribute a song to this peaceful mix (actually, there are several down-tempo MoMusu songs I love, but Stay is the only Heartsdales song that I know that fits here). Several of these songs are of the "begins with a solo piano" variety, but I mixed them up with some Koda Kumi jangly guitar and an Anna Tsuchiya power ballad. The last track doesn't even have a name, but it's hidden on Sasuke's single of Eien no Natsu (another great song). It's a nice sentimental love song with easy to understand Japanese, so I listen to it all the time. I've been listening to this mix a lot today, and I really like it!10.2006 Mix (Song / Album / Artist)
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| Ten Cool Tunes 09.2006 | |
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9.01.2006
10:51 PM | Link |
 It's fun coming up with a ten track mix every month, but it's getting difficult to decide how I should put them together. I like to have a flow or a theme, but I also like most of the songs to be available on iTunes (even though there are only four of those this month). This mix is a little moody, but it contains some stuff I've listened to over and over. Great Expectations is a movie I really like (even though some other folks I know think it's terrible), and the soundtrack is cool, so after a quick classical intro, Pulp starts the mood. Sakura Mankai strays a little, but I had to include it since I've only recently become addicted to this song! The next four songs are all old, but all emotional in different ways (I've always thought All Her Favorite Fruit sounded like a stalker ballad). You'll have to forgive the Hilary Duff track, but it really fits here (definitely not her usual mindless pop). She Said is a truly amazing song from Kamikaze Girls (Shimotsuma Monogatari), and this re-mix of Life in Mono is one of the few cases where I think a re-mix is way better than the original.09.2006 iMix (Song / Album / Artist)
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| Ten Cool Tunes 08.2006 | |
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8.01.2006
7:55 PM | Link |
 Hello August! Here's my iMix for this month, and it's a little bizarre. Several songs are here just because I happened to think about them recently and made impulse buys from the iTunes Music Store, and others I just picked from among the "hits" in my library. I used to be a huge Queen fan, and I heard Don't Stop Me Now playing at A-Kon (of all places), which made want to buy it right away. I had to include the latest Morning Musume single out of loyalty, and just when you thought you could forget it forever, here comes Rock Me Amadeus. My tutor and pal Kazki just released his original EP on iTunes - it's a lot different from his current style, but Your Love is Strange is a cool track! Counting Blue Cars is kind of ancient, but I used to really like that song, and it marks the point where this mix mellows out. The Step Into Liquid soundtrack is simply amazing, and Windshield Wipers is a thoughtful, relaxing tune. After a brief trip to the 80s with Duran Duran, Daft Punk ends the mix with my favorite song of theirs. I'm not sure why Something About Us is so great - there's just something about it.08.2006 iMix (Song / Album / Artist)
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| Ten Cool Tunes 07.2006 | |
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7.09.2006
11:13 PM | Link |
 July is already a third over and I completely forgot to make a mix this month! So, here's my overdue Ten Cool Tunes for July. Just like last month, my listening habits have been almost 100% Jpop, so I went through my iTunes library to find some older favorites to put together (I had to leave Morning Musume's single in there, since I've probably listened to it about 150 times recently!). Actually, I was pretty surprised that the iTunes Music Store has so few of these tracks available, but I'm sure you can find them from other sources if you want. Kids in America (probably my favorite 80s pop song) kicks things off, and then the feel lightens up a little to settle into the 6/8 goodness of Gordon's Gardenparty, and then things steadily stay up-beat, making room for Spin Around (Josie & the Pussycats is the best soundtrack for the worst movie combination that I know of!) and one of Shone Knife's best covers.07.2006 iMix (Song / Album / Artist)
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| Ten Cool Tunes 06.2006 | |
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6.01.2006
11:46 PM | Link |
 Welcome to this month's Ten Cool Tunes! Truthfully, I've been listening to almost nothing but Morning Musume all month, but since none of their music is available on iTunes, I'm only including one of their songs in the mix (which I love to sing!). As it is, only six of these tunes are in the iTunes Music Store, but at least you can see more of WEBmikey's favorite stuff. This month I have instrumental bookends (closing with the awesome 5/4 spy music of The Incredibles), with plenty of groovy and moody tracks in the middle. Out Here All Night was a free track from iTunes (I may have to buy the whole album!), All for Leyna is my favorite non-hit Billy Joel song, and Toxic is an undeniably great tune even if you hate Britney. I think the flow of this month's mix is much better than last month!06.2006 iMix (Song / Album / Artist)
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| Ten Cool Tunes 05.2006 | |
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5.01.2006
12:48 PM | Link |
 Continuing my new Ten Cool Tunes idea, here's my mix for May. There's not too much here I would call "recent", except for the We Are Scientists cut (I can't stop listening to that band!). As far as a mix goes, this one doesn't really flow well, but it's a good sampling of tunes that I've been craving recently. The only theme I can find is that most of these songs have a cool guitar sound, but other than that, the mood swings between light-hearted songs and angry songs is pretty weird. Almost all of these are on the iTunes Music Store, so take a look!05.2006 iMix (Song / Album / Artist)
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| Ten Cool Tunes 04.2006 | |
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4.01.2006
5:58 PM | Link |
 I listen to a ton of music each day - in my car, at work, and nearly every waking hour at home! I don't always get a chance to review each CD I get (though hopefully I eventually get to most of them), but I still would like to capture what I enjoy here on WEBmikey. So, I've decided to start a new project (hopefully it will last) of creating a quick playlist of Ten Cool Tunes each month. Most of these should be from CDs that are new to my collection, since they're fresh in my mind, but I'm also going to throw in other "hits" (based on my iTunes ratings) no matter how old they are. I'll be making each list into an iMix on the iTunes Music Store, so you can sample if you're curious and buy if you like it! Unfortunately, only some of each list will be available in iTunes, since my list is always going to include some J-Pop that they don't have (maybe someday!).04.2006 iMix (Song / Album / Artist)
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| Thank you, Magic Toenail | |
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1.03.2006
8:30 PM | Link |
 Today is one of those random topic days. I really like to have a focused idea of something to write about, but sometimes I only have a few interesting tidbits to share. Yesterday I was still wishing it was the weekend, and then Magic Toenail by Brak started playing on my iPod, which totally made me laugh out loud and change my attitude! I miss seeing Brak on Cartoon Network - maybe I should buy some DVDs sometime. Anyway, listening to Brak get all choked up singing "Thank you, thank you, thank you, Magic Toenail" really hit the spot. Today I had a veggie sandwich with asparagus on it, and I was amazed at how little time it takes to get that good ol' asparagus pee smell (only about an hour!). My pal Matt recently posted his photos taken while I was in Japan. They are all really cool (as usual), and it's really fun for me to see some shots that I remember watching him take. I already feel nostalgic about that trip, even though it was only half a year ago! I want to eat little breakfast sandwiches and draw pictures with Nozomi-chan. Play Magic Toenail
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| mc chris live! | |
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4.12.2005
10:12 PM | Link |
 I became an mc chris fan when I heard Fett's Vette at the end of Sealab 2021 on Cartoon Network. I checked out his website, downloaded his songs, and soon I was learning his hilarious and totally creative lyrics and rapping along. mc chris (he likes it lower-case) is an average white guy geek who just happens to be a bad-ass rapper - his songs are full of pop culture references (along with the usual rap attitude, swearing, and plenty of Rated R material) that only geeks like me can appreciate (Star Wars, comics, video games, you name it)! His music is totally unlike anything else I listen to, but I love it - I guess it's kind of a release since it's so over the top!Anyway, last night I had the chance to see mc chris live at Emo's, and even though it made for a super-late Monday night, I had to go. My pal Chris went with me, and it was an amazing show! There was a huge line when we got there which really packed the place - I may have been the oldest guy there, but I think I pulled it off. There were kids there in all sorts of garb, but they all had signs of geekdom (lots of anime shirts), so even though I felt like a poser, I was among my people! (By the way, my favorite T-shirts were "Bitches & Sake" and "Unsweetened", written across some cutie's boobs, of course.) I actually found some other guy's pics from the show (with me in them) on the mc chris forum - check out the crowd! There were two opening bands, Honeypot and Yuppie Pricks (who were so funny that we had to buy their CD), and then mc chris came on. He was short, pudgy, high-voiced, but totally cool, sporting his Star Wars stormtrooper jacket - the crowd went wild! He did all of his popular tunes, and tons of people were rapping along. It was kind of amazing, because there I was rapping all the words along with some other guy with about ten lip piercings - we probably have nothing else in common, but there we were, enjoying the show like pals! mc chris got the crowd to show their pride by screaming "Nerd power!" and getting us to sing the theme song to Aqua Teen Hunger Force (now that was a moment to remember). It's tough to describe how fun it was, but it was totally worth being sleepy all day! |
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