Music: latest additions

After watching them on Jools Holland’s Later, I decided to buy a couple of CD’s

Seasick Steve : You can’t teach an old dog new tricks

It’s a good Seasick Steve album, so if you liked his previous work you will like his latest album.    Little bit of everything you would expect, slow tracks, fast tracks and a little chat at the end….

Friendly Fires: Pala

I had the impression the Friendly Fires were kind of soft rocky kindof vibe…  but the album is pretty consistently smooth, soulful and pretty laid back.   My main criticism is that there is no one standout track, its all pretty similar.   I do actually like the whole album, but is more a CD you would play at a family party for background or a bit of jigging about to perhaps.   I’ve only listened to it a couple of times, so hopefully it’s a “grower”

Whilst I was in the CD shop, I also came across a couple of CDs in the bargain bins so bought two Scissor Sisters albums as well

Scissor Sisters: Ta-Dah

Bit disappointed with this album.  It’s got a couple of the classic tracks, but the rest are OK to mediocre.  It was worth the £4 I paid for it though,

Scissor Sisters :Night Work

Again got a couple of classic tracks which are great, but mos tthe other tracks are also pretty decent, so overall of the two Albums, I think this the better one.  Also a great bargain at £3

Music: Katy Perry and Kate Bush

What do Katy Perry and Kate Bush have in common ?

So far as I know nothing, other than similar first name and that I bought their CDs on Monday    (I seem to be buying a lot of Female Solo artists recently… must be my age or something)

Katy Perry : Teenage Dreams

What can I say about Katy Perry’s album ?  Well,  I was already familiar with 4 of the 12 tracks, so the album was exactly what I had anticipated…. a good pop album with catchy tunes and a little edge to some of the tracks, so happy with this one and if you like Katy Perry then you’ll like the album

Kate Bush: Directors Cut

I like Kate Bush and am old enough to remember seeing her on Top Of The Tops.   I knew this album was essentially a remix of some tracks from “The Sensual World” and" “The Red Shoes” albums, but have not previously heard either so was all new to me.    

All the tracks are well produced, well played and well sung (as you would expect) but was actually quite disappointed with the album.   For me it lacks the drama and sparkle of the songs I remember and the albums I have (The Whole Story and Lionheart)

I’m sure it will be a big hit with Kate die hard fans, but for casual acquaintances like me, I wish I had waited to hear some of the tracks and read reviews before buying it……

Music: Adele 21 album

I’d previously only really heard the single from this album, but having liked the previous album “19” was relishing my first listen of this new album.  

Each track is recognisably “Adele” but there are a good mix of rhythms and styles to make the whole album very listenable.  Vocally and musically very good throughout and wasn’t disappointed at all.

Great album and worthy addition to any album collection.

Music: Jessie J, “Who you are” album

I’ve been looking forward to listening to Jessie J’s “Who you are” album for ages…..  first I had to wait for the album to be released, then had to wait nearly a week to get it delivered… but finally I got it into the CD player (bit old school I know but hey… )

Jessie’s singing talent is beyond doubt and certainly her voice sounds excellent on each track.   Having seen her on various live shows and really only heard “Do it like a dude” and “Pricetag” singles she seemed to me very much hard core, out there, street type sound and image, so was quite shocked to find that a lot of the album tracks are pretty, flowery, soft R&B style (think Maria Carey)

The tracks are a mixture of different styles, which is a mistake (in my view) as I’m a bit confused what her style really is….  (a mistake Gwen Stefani also made on her solo album)   I guess Jessie is trying to be “different” and show how versatile she is, but for me it seemed more like a compilation album of different R&B artists, as sung by JessieJ, rather than the exciting raw sound I expecting.

Don’t get me wrong, overall it is a good album and nicely put together… but  just a little disappointing for me.

Music: Marina & the diamonds album

I haven’t bought any music for a while, so took the opportunity of receiving a HMV gift voucher to take a serious look around and buy something.

In the end I spotted the Marina & the diamonds (myspace) album “The family Jewels” for a bargain price.   I had seen and heard a couple of Marina tracks before and quite liked them, so took a chance.  

The most recent time I’d seen her was the Isle Of Wight gig, covered by ITV 2   The coverage itself was very poor, but the tracks they showed were at least pretty good generally.   Marina herself put in a reasonable performance so thought I’d buy her album :-)

I’ve only heard it through once so far, but was a little disappointed that all the tracks seem to sound very similar vocally as she uses the same tone/tricks on every track (so it seems) but there is certainly nothing wrong with the album overall and hopefully it will be a “grower” as I get more into the lyrics, etc…

Certainly don’t regret buying the album and if you like her “famous” songs (“I am not a robot” and Hollywood”) then you should also like the album as well.

Music: Elkie Brooks at Camberley

On Saturday we went to see Elkie Brooks at the Camberley Theatre with Simon and Lil

I know of Elkie, mainly through her Vinegar Joe albums, so wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but within 30 seconds of her starting to sing, I knew we were in for a good night of music !

Elkie was singing brilliantly, with complete disregard for her age… and was also bounding round the stage like a youngster :-)

The first hour of the set was mainly the classics, which were great… the musicians and Elkie singing were fantastic, but after the break they focused mainly on the blues and in my view was even better

Only problem with such a great performance is that I will now have to take a look through her back catalogue and get a couple of albums !

Music: Glastonbury 2008 and subsequent CD purchases

I didn’t go to Glastonbury myself, but recorded a load of sessions from BBC TV coverage.   Have finally caught up and seen all the recordings and thought  The Verve were definitely one of the highlights of the whole weekend.   For me, JayZ was the lowlight and didn’t deserve all the hype but there you go….

Having seen some good bands that I haven’t previously encountered, obviously decided to buy some albums, so ended up getting

The Ting Tings
elbow
Editors
The Raconteurs
The Pigeon Detectives

Also got  Kaiser Chiefs and The Best of REM CDs whilst in the shop as they were cheap ! (obviously like the bands as well!!)

Have only listened to The Ting Tings so far, which is a great album and glad I bought it…. just got to listen to all the others now… as I only get to listen to one album a day (one I get around to putting them onto my iPod) it will take a little time, but will hopefully be worth it

Music: GuilFest 2008

Went to GuilFest 2008 for the first time yesterday (Saturday)   We had hoped to go by train, but the last train back was at 11pm (and the station was around 30 mins away) so didn’t work out and we had to drive.   The weather forecast was bright but with sudden downpours and as there was a monsoon style shower around 8am on the day, we decided to go prepared for rain and shine !

The car journey there was relatively easy and the queues to get wrist bands were negligible (in contrast to the Reading experiences)  so were in the site by around 2pm. 

 We had a walk about and soon found the site to be reasonably sized with lots going on.  GuilFest seems aimed more at families and definitely has a more laid back feel.  Apart from the main stage, there was a mini version up the hill, plus four tents for bands (various sizes)     Even the toilets seemed more civilized, although by mid-afternoon there were perpetual long queues for the ladies!

After our trawl around the site, we settled down at the main stage for a rest in the lovely hot sunshine and to watch “Little Man Tate” who were quite good, “Hoodoo Gurus” who were a bit better, then we saw 3 songs of “Wills and the Willing” before I got fed up with them and we went off to find something more interesting to watch.

We ended up watching “South Parade” in one of the tents who were young but were pretty good.  The only thing I didn’t like was that they did a cover but perhaps they didn’t were too new to have enough songs to do a whole set !   We also caught a couple of tracks from “Nylon Sky” who seemed to think they were Limp Bizkit (particularly as they covered one of their tracks) but weren’t all that great.

After eating our squashed sandwiches we made our way back to the Main Stage for the two groups I was particularly looking forward to seeing

Kula Shaker came on at 7:50pm and did a great set of all the popular tracks, plus a few new ones.    The were great and sounded really good… with Crispian Mills putting on a good show, make me pleased I already got their previous albums as I want to listen to them again!   Will probably get their new one as well !     When they went off I was quite surprised, but looking at the time, they really had played an hour already….

There was a bit of a break until headliners Blondie came on, but were well worth the wait.     They played for over their allotted 85 minutes… more like 100 minutes.   They played most (or all) of “Parallel Lines” (which is now released) and Debbie Harry was wonderful and got the crowd going with her interaction and bouncing around the stage.    When you think of Blondie, you tend to think of Debbie Harry’s singing, but the band were really on good form in the show as well.   Overall, an oldie but definitely a goldie !  (probably buy the album as well)

GuildFest itself was well organised, lots of things to do and see and was worth going to see for sure.  The only slight irritation was getting out the car park at the end, but not enough of a problem to stop me wanting to go again sometime.

Music: SliceThePie.com

I have recently taken up with SliceThePie.com which is a site that allows you to make money by listening to music and reviewing the tracks... what a fantastic idea :-)

The artists are all non-signed (the idea for the bands is to get finance) and you only get 3p per track to start with... but it is great if you want to get into new music. I have done around 50 reviews now, in around 2 weeks of occasional use, and am now a 2 star scout, which means I now get 5p per track review. At this rate, I will make a tenner by the end of the year :-)

The quality of the music is pretty high most of the time. The issue at the moment is that there is a mix of genre in the scouting room, and you have to review tracks randomly assigned to you and anonymously, so you have to listen to all sorts of stuff... country, rap, folk... although mostly indie rock so like a lot of it. I have discovered a couple of tracks which I would not otherwise have bothered to listen to but actually really like (one rap, one weirdy foreign one) so is opening my eyes ot a wider range of music..

All in all, if you have a spare half hour here and there during the week, like listening to music generally and have the patience to listen to then review the tracks, then you may find this interesting yourself.

More info on the FAQ page at http://www.slicethepie.com/About/Default.aspx

Music: Newly aquired CDs

It has been a while since I bought some new CDs, (although am sure I bought some more recently than last year ! http://sceaga.blogspot.com/2006/06/music-recent-additions.html)
but have been listening to the 5 CDs I recently purchased in the car over the last few weeks, so can now reveal whether they were sound investments or not (pardon the pun!)

Keane : Hopes and Fears
Good CD. Lots of the songs on it you would recognise..... mainly laid back and some inspirational tracks. Overall well worth the listen and has longevity

Lily Allen : Alright, still
Heard a few Lily tracks on various music shows on TV, etc... so knew some of the songs. The first time I listened to the album, I found it amusing but was worried I'd get bored with it after a few listens... as its quite basic structure to the tracks and quite naive sounding production. I needn't have worried, as after several listens I still enjoy a lot of the tracks (have got bored with some though...) I am just worried about poor lily's state of mind, as the lyrics are quite vicious in places !
Overall a good buy and still happy to listen to it

Hazel O'Conner : Breaking Glass
Always liked this soundtrack, takes me back to my youth :-)
Songs are still relevant today and music is pretty lively in the main. At on £2.99 great value as well

Muse : Black Holes & Revelations
Fantastic album, been meaning to buy it since I saw Muse on TV playing some tracks from this album... Great inspirational stuff....songs are spinning round in my head when not actually listening to it :-)

Arcade Fire : Neon Bible
Heard couple of tracks on radio and TV, slightly wacky but very likeable. Problem with the album is I only like the two tracks that they keep playing on the radio and TV... the other tracks are not all that good (in my view)
The one album of the five I could do without

All in all some great music to listen to, must get my music budget sorted out so I can buy albums more regularly

Music: Bullfrog band

Simon and Lil came over for dinner this weekend and had happened to see that there was a Rythym & Blues band playing at the Four Horseshoes, so suggested we go over for a swift half and see if they were any good

As it turned out, the band was great and all had a really good time watching the band

Their web site is at http://www.bullfrogband.co.uk/ if you want to check them out

Music: Converting vinyl album collection to CD / Digital

I was on the cusp of ordering the Ion USB Record Deck (http://www.ion-audio.com/index.php) when I came read a review criticizing it for it's price, when an alternative is to simply plug in your existing Record Deck to your PC. I guess this wouldn't appeal to most people (and didn't originally appeal to me) but having unexpectedly bought my new Dell PC with Vista and Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic card (http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&product=14066&subcategory=208), combined with the fact that I was trying to get rid of my old HiFi..... suddenly it dawned on me that I probably had everything I needed already. The only inconvenience is the size of the Amp and Record Deck, but then the USB record deck is not going to be small.... so I set out on my mission

I found some step-by-step instructions this URL (http://www.br0wn.co.uk/vinyltocd.htm) Ironically I knew I had the converter for Phono to 3.5mm jack, but couldn't find it.. so bought one from Maplin for a couple of quid (http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=34196&doy=11m4)

I connected up my record deck to the Amp and then the Amp Tape out sockets to the 3.5 jack on my Creative Soundblaster Xtreme card (see photo above) I also ensured I had selected Phono as the recording output and I think that is it.....although of course the phono cable wasn't long enough so had the Amp and record deck on the floor, but ordered another cable from Maplin !! (http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=31700&doy=11m4)

Having got the hardware sorted out, I downloaded some software as per the step-by-step guide.... but then suddenly thought I probably had some creative software already installed.... so a quick search discovered the software (see screen shot above) so just had to figure out how to set it up.

Used the THX Setup Console to switch to Audio Creation Mode mode and got the groovy looking screen when I launched the Console Launcher. I then started playing the record and heard my Album through the PC speakers !! Wow that was easier than I thought !

So now to record an album to PC I need to do the following:-

- Launch Creative Console Launcher

- Make sure I remembered to switch on the Amp

- Cue the record to start playing

- In the Console, set the Monitor to "Record" (to make sure I am in the right view)

- Hit the REC button in the Console as I lower the needle to the record

Once captured... I want to dump the output to CD, for which I simply use the Roxio Easy Creator Suite also included with Vista. I can edit the WMA files with WaveStudio (also included :-) ) if I want to... I did first time in order to split up the tracks, but not sure I am that fussed really.... will see how that goes

All in all, Windows Vista and Creative combined have made the task actually quite easy (in my view) !

For my birthday I am getting a Creative MP3 player and Belkin Wireless transmitter so I can listen to more music in the car.... really getting into this technology lark now :-)