Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
An outstanding e-mail showed up in my inbox a few moments ago promoting the release of Donkey Kong Country 2: Serious Monkey Business . It’s a remix album from OC ReMix, the people who are famous for, you know, remixing video game soundtracks. (I used one of their Street Fighter remixes in a video review about a year ago.) But, yeah, Serious Monkey Business! The album is totally free to download, and it totally brings me back to 1995/1996 , perhaps the last year I was legitimately happy. That there video is a preview of what you can expect. I don’t know, I figured at least a few of you would get a kick out of it.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
Last year, Omega released a special edition timepiece to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo astronauts voyage to the moon. In 1969, the men in the space capsule wore Omegas so the firm decided to recreate that bit of history with a contemporary product. But what if Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong hadn’t worn Omegas at all? What if they had worn copies? And Omega knew that the men weren’t checking their timepieces, but rather an off-brand in space all those years ago. Does the big historical release make sense? What if Porsche released a recreation of the famous convertible that James Dean perished in, but in reality, he had been killed driving a kit car? What if Paul Newman didn’t really wear a Rolex, but the firm released a tribute to a knockoff on the famous actor’s wrist? Guitar manufacturer Gibson is navigating similar waters with their decision to issue a recreation of a copy. The firm has released a number of celebrity signature models over the last couple of years. Some of the instruments have proven to be very successful, while others (like the Buckethead model ) have been a bit more questionable. One of the undeniably successful ventures was collaboration with former Guns n’ Roses axe slinger Slash that produced several interesting models ranging from the couple-a-hundred-buck Epiphone to an aged-replica instrument that was an exact duplicate of the guitarist’s own instrument (all the way down to the scuffs and cigarette burns) that ran about ten grand. Late last week, Gibson made a big splash by announcing the newest model, The Slash Appetite Les Paul . Branded as the “the axe that launched a thousand riffs,” the instrument is described as an exact recreation of the axe Slash wielded on 1988’s landmark Appetite for Destruction record, all the way down to the capacitors and the pots. Weird thing is, Slash didn’t play a Gibson Les Paul on that record. The comment gallery was all over the Gibson website when this news was released. As many others have pointed out, Slash in fact played a copy of a Les Paul on Appetite for Destruction . In Slash’s 2007 best-selling memoir (co-authored by Anthony Bozza), he writes, “It was made by the late Jim Foot, who owned Music Works in Redondo Beach. He made about fifty of those Les Paul replicas entirely by hand with no detail overlooked” (page 172). In other sources, a luthier named Chris Derrig is credited with creating the instrument. Regardless, it wasn’t Gibson. All of this raises interesting questions about the psychology of collectors and the purchasing influence of a iconic association. True Slash fans know that his LP wasn’t a Gibson, so they’re not going to be fooled. They’ll judge the new Appetite model on it’s own merits. Or, they know it’s kind of a weird duck in the lineage perspective, but it’s got their beloved tone and they don’t care about anything else. And what of the more general fans? It’s hard to accuse Gibson of trying to dupe consumers because surely if you’re going to plop down the $4,728 MSRP on the Appetite model, aren’t you going to do a little homework first? And if mom and dad are rich enough to spend 5k simply because Junior likes Slash’s top hat, then there’s not much hope for them. And then when you start thinking about the fact that the Les Paul is, by very definition, a celebrity signature guitar and that now you’ve got signature versions of copied signature version and so forth, then your head might just explode. It all gets very meta.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
God of War III comes out today (YES!), and with all the hoopla surrounding it, I thought this would actually be a good time to recommend/pay tribute to the other God of War games. I’ll explain. I’ve always considered myself to be a hardcore gamer — up on the big new releases, aware of what’s going on in the industry — but for some reason, I completely missed out on God of War and God of War II . I have no idea why. I hadn’t really slacked off in my gaming at all. (Maybe I was still collecting all those dumb shards in The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker . That took forever.) Yet I didn’t buy them when they were first released, and I didn’t really know anything about them. Anyway, sometime in 2007, the Wii was my current system of choice, and I was making my way through Paper Mario . It was alright: It controlled well, it looked nice, and it was cute. But I’d continually be asking myself, “Am I having fun?” I really was becoming jaded and disinterested in games at that point, I’d realized. One day I found myself at a Best Buy, and saw God of War for PS2, now a Greatest Hits title, priced at $19.99. I still really had no idea what it was about or what type of game it was. I just knew the name. What the hell, I thought. Let’s do this. All hyperbole aside, I was truly blown away. I’d never seen anything like God of War — the music, the graphics, the scale, and the sheer fun of it all. The brilliance of Kratos’ weaponry, combos, and pace gaining new powers. I thought about Paper Mario — and not to throw Nintendo under the bus, because I truly love that company and its games — but this was way ahead of anything the competition was doing, especially something like Paper Mario. And I wasn’t impressed by just the game; the bonus making-of documentary was fascinating and, most importantly, brutally honest. Kudos to Sony for including it. Overall, the experience completely reinvigorated my love of gaming and led me to rethink the possibilities of the medium. I bought God of War II the day after finishing God of War . It was also quite excellent, if slightly weaker and sloppy in the story department, but was still a great entertainment. So yes, I’m excited for God of War III. But if you, like I once was, are unaware of the God of War franchise or what all the hubbub is about, trust me. Pick up the God of War Collection (an HD remastered package of the first two games) for PS3. It’s a great way to get up to speed, and you will be amazed; if you care about games or gaming history — or just want to experince Greek mythology on steroids — it’s essential.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
Roland just started shipping the AC-33 Acoustic Chorus Guitar Amplifier. This cool gadget is world’s first battery powered amp built specifically for acoustic guitar. With a 30-watt amp and 5 inch speakers, you’re not going to rock Knebworth with this thing. But if you’re trying to impress the college girls at the local coffee house with your re-interpretation of “Your Body is a Wonderland” or if you’re staking out a corner in the local subway station, then this baby is for you. It uses eight AAA batteries if you’re not plugged into the wall, weighs only 10 pounds, and carries a street price of $558.50. At that price, you’ll have to accumulate a fair number dollar bills dropped into your guitar case, but hey, can you really put a price on coffeeshop immortality?
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Friday, March 12th, 2010
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
There was an interesting debate on today’s Ron and Fez that speaks to a subject we’ve been whinging about for some time now: digital delivery of content, specifically of music. Pink Floyd has won a court ruling that will put an end to places like iTunes selling its songs individually. The band feels that their music can only truly be appreciated in the album format, from start to finish, and it never liked people being able to pick and choose what songs they wanted to download. I will say this right now: I’m not a Pink Floyd fan. I have nothing against them, but when kids were starting to get into bands like Pink Floyd, say around age 13 or 14, I was busy playing Final Fantasy . It’s a case of not being exposed to their music, and at this point, I’m not going to bother. My loss, I suppose. But don’t cry for me, because that’s makes me especially suited to write this story—I have no emotional attachment to the band in question. The gist of the ruling—The High Court in the UK, to be exact—is that EMI, the band’s record label, won’t be allowed to sell individual songs from its catalog online. That means, from now on, you’ll only be able to buy The Wall as a full album online, and not merely “In The Flesh?” and “The Thin Ice.” Yes, I had to Wiki that. Again, I wouldn’t know a Pink Floyd song if [insert cliché here]. That’s the debate: should consumers be allowed to buy whatever song they want without having to buy an entire album? One side says, “Yes, consumers should be able to pick and choose whatever song they want without worrying about what any band says. Just because a band ’says’ its music can only be appreciated in album form doesn’t make it so. Is There Will Be Blood any less valuable when you’re watching the Blu-ray on your 60-inch plasma instead of at an actual movie theater?” (I’d say no, it’s not any less valuable, especially since I can control the viewing environment when I’m watching the Blu-ray—no having to worry about loud idiots texting back and forth with their mates.) The other side says, “Well, Pink Floyd made the music, and only they know how it can be appreciated. If they intended for the songs to be listened to as an album, we as consumers should appreciate their artistic wishes.” While I side with the first opinion, the fact is I really don’t care too passionately one way or the other. The band wants you to buy albums? Fine, whatever. But surely Pink Floyd understands how music is consumed in the year 2010: people put their iPhone or iPod or Zune HD or whatever on shuffle mode, run on the treadmill at the gym for 20 minutes, and hear “ Poker Face ,” “ Run This Town ,” and “ Lay in a Shimmer ” all in a row. Young people ask, “What’s an album? I only listen to my Spotify playlist when I’m writing about what I did on my summer vacation.” Don’t expect to see this trend—going back to album-based music sales—continue beyond Pink Floyd. The music industry knows people are already used to buying this or that song from iTunes, and it’s in no position to say, “Actually, we want album sales now. Sorry.” It’s grateful that people are buying music at all, let alone expecting people to buy entire albums. This is where I throw it to y’all: is Pink Floyd in the right here? Should a band be allowed to dictate how its fans listen its music? Or is this a giant “who cares?” debate?
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
Harmonix has officially announced that Green Day: Rock Band will hit retail on June 8th of this year. Interestingly enough, Green Day frontman Billy Joe Armstrong confirmed that the band was working on the game in a radio interview back on June 8th of last year . Mind? Blown. The game will be priced at $60 on PS3 and Xbox 360, $50 on Wii, and there will also be a $70 special edition game for PS3/Xbox 360 that “Includes special packaging, export and six Green Day DLC tracks ($22 total value),” according to the press release . You’ll have 47 tracks to play with, all of which will be exportable to Rock Band, Rock Band 2, and Rock Band 3 when it’s released. The game also features “the three-part vocal harmony technology Harmonix introduced with the award-winning The Beatles: Rock Band .” Coming Soon: Green Day: Rock Band [RockBand.com]
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
Fresh from EA, here’s the very first screenshots of Medal of Honor , currently scheduled for release this fall. It’s quite modern , if you catch my drift. The game was on display at the same EA event where Jimin and I played FIFA World Cup 2010 last week. There’s very little point in spending many words describing the game, primarily because I’m very much beginning to feel that all these modern shooters are going the way of the music genre: you can only pump out Guitar Hero (or Modern Shooter ) so many times before people are like, “Yeah, I played this a few months ago.” Not to say that the game won’t be good (who knows how the final package will turn out), but the source material is wearing a little thin, I think. But you know what they say about opinions.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
Who would have thought that all that practice blowing on NES games would pay off? Now all I have to do is learn how to play the harmonica really well, and I can finally quit this blogging business and begin the exciting and lucrative life of the hobo! There are three harmonicas and three harmonicas only, people. Choose from Super Mario Bros 3 , a gold Legend of Zelda , or Dick Tracy . Amazingly, SMB3 has the highest bid right now. I would think all those glamorous harmonica players would want to rock the gold. The actual game PCB is included with the sale, though I’m not sure it’s a good idea to try to make it work without the cartridge. I’m just superstitious like that. [via GoNintendo ]
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
Acoustica’s Mixcraft 5.0 is a multi-track recording studio that allows you to record audio, use pre-defined loops, create videos, and more. They like to call it a kind of “Garage Band for Windows”, and it certainly does let you do a lot. Anyone familiar with multi-track editing won’t be intimidated by this, but even if you’re new to the party, you should find the learning curve to be reasonable. The musician in me wanted to delve into a new song right away. Fortunately, this was not a problem. The Library tab at the bottom contains about 2000 sounds, ranging from your typical acoustic guitar, bells, and strings, to vinyl, vocals, and even bagpipes. You can preview each one without adding it to your project, while a double-click will create a single track with a single beat for your sound. There is also a mixer where you can set the lows, mids, and highs of each track, as well as a nice set of effects that you can use , like compression, distortion, reverb, and a set of DirectX effects. Since the sample sounds won’t always match the pitch or tempo of your project, it’s actually quite simple to set each one to match the settings for your project. You can record directly to a track, either with a microphone or other input device. This works well, and it’s nice to be able to start editing and adding effects as soon as you’re done recording. The only real problem I had with managing my project was with the scrollbar that spans the length of the tracks. Unlike Acid 7.0, there is no way to click the edge of the scrollbar and expand or compress it, which would allow you to get a more detailed look. You can use the plus or minus signs on your keyboard, which technically does the trick, but there’s a little less flexibility here. While you can add video tracks to your projects, and mix projects down to create AVI or WMV files, there didn’t seem to be a lot of things you can actually do with the videos, other than adding a soundtrack. An assortment of video effects would have been nice. Product Page
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
It has been suggested that the album is dead. That’s a bit hasty, I think; such an established musical tool can only be detonated when both the patron and the artist turn the key. What people are seeing is that the patrons (i.e. distributors and labels) have turned their key, and are now looking significantly at the artists, who aren’t quite sure yet. In fact, some are trying to talk the other guy down. Ever since Bach slipped some lesser-known works into a concert intended to gratify the public’s need for a saucy sarabande, the single has been the unit of promotion for larger musical works. Yet those larger works always remained distinct; the single was often a part of something larger, enjoyable as a whole or in its constituent parts to be sure, but the thing is there was a whole to speak of. That may not always be the case for much longer. As Nicholas notes, iTunes LP sales are pretty poor . Sure, they’ll look nice on an iPad and sure, having a good official version of the video is nice, but music is simply taking another tack these days, and a big premium package doesn’t fit. Digital distribution means the album is an eccentricity — to distributors. The thing is that not every artist is ready to change that — they call themselves artists for a reason, and to completely abandon the album is, I presume, for them like admitting they’re just making a product. Hey, depending on your opinion of a lot of the music out there today, you may or may not think that’s true already, but the artists are the ones making the music and it’s for them to decide when they’ll stop making albums. I’m sure there have been scuffles along these lines ever since iTunes became popular and contracts started getting renegotiated to accommodate 99-cent track downloads and such. In fact, it seems ridiculously late for Pink Floyd to jump down EMI’s throat about offering its tracks up for sale individually, which they claim is a breach of contract. EMI contends that that clause only applied to physical albums. It’s being hashed out as we speak, but it’s a fun little conflict, isn’t it? I’m rooting for Floyd. If they leave EMI after 40 years over this, I’d freak out. Probably not possible. Whether or not it’s a breach of Pink Floyd’s particular contract is immaterial in the end, though — the question is whether the artist should even have the ability to say “No – no singles, no individual tracks, no videos. Album only.” —or some variant thereof. I mean after all, almost all of Dark Side of the Moon flows one track into the other, to say nothing of albums from some of my favorite artists, from Sigur Ros to Deerhunter to Hotel Hotel. In fact, much of my favorite music has an album structure or concept — and I would argue that it’s because having that kind of concept indicates more care and craft taken with the music, more time and more planning. Shouldn’t they be able to say no to individual track availability, even at the cost of overall sales? But I digress; this isn’t a music blog. The question that will soon be answered is whether any artists will pull the trigger. There’s going to be a stigma to overcome (that of a mere songsmith) but when we’re already seeing iTunes exclusives and stuff like that, it doesn’t seem so far off. I support Pink Floyd and personally I wouldn’t want to buy their tracks one by one, but that’s a whole other era of music. Distributors are embracing the new system; how long can it be before artists start to do so as more than a fluke or experiment? [image: Lost Highway Records ]