Happy in the knowledge that I've secured tickets to their only Melbourne show, which will also feature Ben Harper, I'm know eagerly awaiting the release of Pearl Jam's 9th studio album, Backspacer, due on the 20 September.
Here's a taster from the new album, with the video of the first single, the Fixer. I like it.
Every great song deserves a great music video, and that principle definitely applies to Beyonce's Single Ladies. Now, this may seem a little controversial, and don't get me wrong, her video is good... just not great.
Fortunately, thanks to the power of YouTube, an alternative film clip has sprung up. This little puppy is guaranteed to haunt your dreams for years to come...
If you had to describe the TV show Flight of the Conchords in one word, what would it be? I'm going to have to go with "quirky". Even though I hate that word, it's the first one that pops into my tiny under developed brain.
If you've never heard of the show before, allow wikipedia to provide you with a nice little synopsis.
Flight of the Conchords is an Emmy Award-nominated television comedy series that follows the adventures of the Flight of the Conchords, a folk duo from New Zealand, as its members seek fame and success in New York City. The show portrays a fictionalized version of the real-life duo, Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, who play themselves.
Anyway, it just so happens that I also have a David Bowie fascination. So what happens when Flight of the Conchords have inter-relations with David Bowie? This...
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Coldplay have found themselves smack bang in the middle of another plagiarism bun fight. Guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani has claimed that Coldplay have copied elements of his 2004 song "If I Could Fly" for their track "Viva La Vida".
In an interview with Musicrader.com Satriani stresses that he was motivated by a desire to protect his art.
"Everybody's assumes I'm trying to go after these guys in Coldplay, as if I'm doing this with malice," he says "That's the furthest thing from my mind. I'm just doing what I need to do as an artist, to protect what's mine, to protect those feelings I put down in song.
"I did everything I could to avoid a court case with this situation. But Coldplay didn't want to talk about it. They just wanted this whole thing to go away. Maybe they figured this little guitar player guy will leave them alone after a while, I don't know.
Now at this point I would love to include the video that was posted on YouTube that compared to two tracks so that you could have a listen for yourself, and make up your own mind, but that's a little difficult for me to do now because EMI, who happen to be the Coldplay's record company, have asked that YouTube to remove it. So instead of the comparison video, and nice little mashup at the end, you get this message:
This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by EMI Music
EMI don't seem to have a problem with the massive number of other Coldplay videos on YouTube so conspiracy theorists can read into this how they like. Would the record company remove the clip if that didn't think there was anything in it? (more...)
Maths has always been a big part of music, and I'm not just talking about 'math metal' (or prog rock or whatever label you want to give it). There's long been a school of thought that a number of musicians and composers have used both the "golden ratio" and the Fibonacci Sequence to compose music.
This Binary Universe, an experimental album by Brian Transeau (aka BT), includes a track entitled "1.618" in homage to the golden ratio. The track features musical versions of the ratio and the accompanying video displays various animated versions of the golden mean.
Pearl Drums positions the air vents on its Masters Premium models based on the golden ratio. The company claims that this arrangement improves bass response and has applied for a patent on this innovation.
Now follow me, as we look at how modern day songs can be dissected via maths.
Firstly, let's take a look at how Meatloaf's "Anything for Love" can be broken down in graphical format.
Here's another simple graph, highlighting the simplicity of the Kelis classic.
I wouldn't classify Rick Astley as math metal, but maybe I've been wrong all these years.
Right Said Fred, broken down into percentage of sexy.
Ok, this isn't strictly maths, but it's a flow chart, surely that's very close to maths?
Another, not really maths, but maybe you could call it a bizarro Venn diagram or something.
And finally, Evita for dummies.
That is all. Have a good day.
If you dig it, digg it.
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In case you're a Nine Inch Nails fan, or music fan in general, and haven't already heard. The latest NIN album 'Ghosts I-IV', and instrumental double album, has been released. You can download the first 9 tracks from the NIN.com now.
I've ordered the double cd set, and in doing so got the 'one time'Â link to download the entire album in mp3 (320kbps) format.
First impressions are that it's a solid, ambient/atmospheric collection of instrumentals, that sound like they could have quite comfortably come from the Fragile recording sessions.
The 36 track collections is available for immediate download from Amazon.com. You can download Ghosts I-IV in its entirity for $5! That's a freakin good deal!
Here's a handy little offer for the music lovers of the world, well mostly for the US based readers, unless someone knows something I don't and are willing to share 
Napster are offering a 7 day unlimited use trial of there service. All you need to do is check out the following link:
Get 7 days of Napster for FREE
Napster seem to have an interesting setup going. This is from the site:
"You may play any particular song up to three (3) times, after which you will need to subscribe to Napster or purchase the song to play it in full again."
Sounds good to me. Unfortunately at the moment, that service doesn't extend world wide, and plebs like me have to settle for the first 30 seconds, iTunes style. All that being said, where ever you're from, Napster would be worth a look if you're after an iTunes alternative.
