cee lo..........he understands the great depression

i was in a whiskey bar the other day in a hipster part of brooklyn, drinking crazy amounts of whiskey with pickleback chasers, when i got talking to a peculiar fellow who decided to sit next to me. being in a hipster bar the conversation turned to all things creative and then we started to delve into the realm of music and various artists

i was surprised that a guy who was a jazz aficionado and seemed like bit of a music snob mentioned that his favorite band was gnarls barkley. we all know that danger mouse is one mad producer and this is agreed upon by most music fans but i was particularly surprised to hear about his fondness for cee lo. i've been a massive fan of cee lo and i've always had a certain idea about where his lyrics come from but it was nice to have this idea consolidated by another intelligent person. actually when we started talking about how great his lyrics were and how we both loved what he sang about the guy then asked me "you've been through depression haven't you?"

funny enough i always felt that cee lo was a guy who explored his brain and emotions more than most. i've always been a fan of his ability to make the most depressing lyrics sound fun. unlike most other introspective artists he has an ability to create a pop song that the whole world can sing along to

the guy is true genius, disguised in a pop format

brendan o'brien

so right now i'm sitting here listening to rage against the machine and marvelling at their sound and it occured to me that brendan o'brien (producer/engineer) has been responsible for either producing, recording, or mixing a tonne of the great music that i spent my teens listening to

now i'm always going to love this guy cause he recorded and co-mixed 'blood sex sugar magik'. he made that album, which was recorded in a house sound fucking great and unique. one of the great qualities this album is that it sounds like no other that came out around that time, the rawness that comes from non-ideal recording situations makes this album come alive like so many of the great punk albums before it

now if you were in your teens during the 90's and you loved bands such as pearl jam, stone temple pilots, rage against the machine, the offspring, incubus, soundgarden, red hot chili peppers then you owe brendan o'brian your left testicle. this guy has some mad skills

i suggest checking out any of the pearl jam or rage against the machine albums that brendan was involved with if you want to hear the epitomy of the nineties rock sound

compress and compress again, and then again for volume

i'm a little concerned with the current trend to over compress music lately in order to make things sound loud. it is getting to a point where it is sucking the life out of the song

what are the main elements we look for in sound to stimulate our ears? we look for frequency response, dynamic response and clarity, amongst a bunch of other factors. when you compress a mix and squeeze the shit out if you are reducing the dynamic response and also creating distortion, thus messing with the main components that stimulate our ears and subconscious. when a musician plays his instrument and puts his energy into performing, this energy is audible to us via the dynamic range between the notes we can hear and feel. when you take this dynamic range and reduce it so much that everything almost sounds the same volume, you effectively take out the emotion that the musician was putting into the playing. and whilst distortion can be good, distortion caused by over compessing a mix can ruin it, and is only subtly heard, thus affecting our subconscious experience of the music

too many audio engineers and producers are giving into the pressure to create a louder mix which in my opinion is fucking up modern music. there are some great artists out there, producing highly creative and entertaining music. unfortunately we are giving into what the punter thinks he wants rather than guiding them into an understanding that louder isn't necessarily better. its like letting your three year old kid convince you that mcdonalds is good for them

how absurd is that idea?

delving between the arts

i was just doing some reading on françois truffaut today and how his work has influenced filmakers etc. my thoughts then meandered to other films he has had an influence on, which in turn brought my mind to artists who've delved into film but specialize in other disciplines. when i think of artist turned film maker i think of one guy, my favourite guy julian schnabel

for the record i am going to say that julian schnabel is a better film maker than any mutherfucker out there. he gets to the sensibility of the character and is able to create a beautiful aesthetic for the film to relish in. basquiat, before night falls, and the diving bell and the butterfly are all great. and if you look at how much he progresses as a director with each film it's astounding. i love this guy so much. i love his smart mouth, i love his intelligence, and i love his art. he learned french just so he could make the diving bell and the butterfly in french. that's some pretty cool shit. and if you've ever seen his pink mansion you'll just think he's crazy mad

and dont forget he made the cover for the red hot chili peppers second best album 'by the way'

ernest ranglin..........a real guitar hero

back in 2001 whilst listening to 'tourist' by saint germain i was confronted with some of the greatest guitar playing i have ever heard. this was an electronic lounge album and i never expected to hear guitar riffs that would stay with me forever. there were two guitar greats playing on two different tracks here but the one that struck me the most was the second track on this album titled 'Montego Bay Spleen'. up until that moment i dont think i had ever heard such creativity on a guitar, and to be honest i dont think i've heard anything like it since

the guitar player in question is ernest ranglin. ernest grew up in jamaica and pretty much made a name for himself as a jazz guitarist during the 50's and 60's. apart from being a jazz guitarist he's played on a tonne of regae albums and rumour has it he taught bob marley how to play guitar. not a bad reputation to have. he's worked with lee scratch perry and jimmy cliff and on his solo albums has fused jazz with regae and made it sound totally cool

i love the way ernest plays the instrument. he plays with a smile on his face and does things with his fingers you wouldn't think are possible. it's almost as though he's finding a new way to make the guitar make a noise but it always sounds musical. he plays creative scales that dont sound wanky and has the technical proficiency of a master. he's a true doyen in the musical world

i suggest if you love jazz, regae, or even just groovy international music you check this guy out. later

the album ruined by heartbreak

there are albums that have a special place in my heart, alongside some movies and great books. these albums are so special that i only listen to them on special occasions or limit how often they are played. recently i went through a dark period after a break up and i played a certain album over and over again for the catharsis it provided. but you know what? i've now spoiled any enjoyment i will get from future listens because it will always remind of that time. i wish i never tainted this perfect arrangement of music, fuck that girl for spoiling the life long pleasure i should be receiving from this album. fuck her right in the face!

ennio morricone

so today i've been listening to the soundtrack for the movie 'there will be blood' composed by johnny greenwood. its a series of beautiful pieces that according to some critics, really creates the mood which gives this film it's dark and sombre mood

it got me thinking of other film composers and one guy whom i especially love, and that is ennio morricone. ennio is probably most famous for his compositions for "the good, the bad, and the ugly" and "fistful of dollars", although he has actually composed music for over 500 film and television productions. whilst reading about this guy i found a very interesting quote in regards to the instruments he used for his scores, thus creating his unique style. "Leone hired Morricone, and together they created a distinctive score to accompany Leone's different version of the Western, A Fistful of Dollars (1964).[8] As budget strictures limited Morricone's access to a full orchestra, he used gunshots, cracking whips, whistle, voices, guimbarde (jaw harp), trumpets, and the new Fender electric guitar, instead of orchestral arrangements of Western standards à la John Ford. Morricone used his special effects to punctuate and comically tweak the action—cluing in the audience to the taciturn man's ironic stance.[8] Though sonically bizarre for a movie score, Morricone's music was viscerally true to Leone's vision."

so as you can see he used all these different sounds out of necessity due to budget restraints. its actually the use of these sounds and the way he used them musically that distinguished ennio morricone from a tonne of other film composers. i absolutely love this guy and i also love his use of the fender electric guitar, an instrument close to my heart haha

anyway if you love interesting music and composition i suggest you find some soundtracks that he's worked on and i'm sure you'll hear some truly amazing pieces