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...
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...)
This may sound like sacrilege to some, but back in the ye olde days, I wasn't the biggest Guns 'n' Roses fan going around. I liked them, don't get me wrong, but I wasn't fanatical about them. When the band apparently folded in the early 90's, I didn't shed any tears.
I guess that's why I was surprised to find myself drawn into the hype around Chinese Democracy.
Any album that takes 14-15 years to make has to be worth a listen, if for no other reason than to see if it was worth the wait, and the expense.
To be honest, I can't see Chinese Democracy as being a Guns 'n' Roses album. To me, it's an Axl Rose solo project. He's clearly surrounded himself with some of the best hired guns that money can buy. Robin Finck and Buckethead are two names that spring to mind, and two reasons why I decided to give the album a shot. When I popped the disc into the player, I have to say I was expecting the tracks to have a more 'industrial' tinge to them, based upon the 'Oh My God' track that popped up on the 'End of Days' soundtrack.
While all the hype pointed to a sample laden, prog style rock extravaganza, Chinese Democracy does not quite go that far. Many of the tracks are traditional guitar rock, introduced by some loops or samples, with some piano thrown in for good measure. Actually, far to much piano. A few tracks leave you wondering if Axl was trying to recapture the November Rain vibe.
Here's a track by track, blow by blow run down.
1. Chinese Democracy
Fade in intro and samples run for a solid minute before the song gets cracking. Might build anticipation on first listen, but is just plain annoying the next time you want to listen to the song. Once the guitars kick in though its a solid heavy rock track. 7/10
2. Shackler's Revenge
This track sounds like it was heavily influenced by Buckethead. There's a driving industrial vibe to the track and it'd rate as one of my favorites off the album. It's more like I'd expected the album to sound. 8.5/10
3. Better
I don't know what to think about this track. It verges on pop, has a catchy hook, has a tasty guitar solo, but still leaves me feeling a little 'blah'. 7/10
(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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