Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Moving right along...
I am glad to announce that this blog will now cease to be updated so all attention can be placed on my new podcast and it's associated blog. The new site is The Unheard Music Podcast blog and can be accessed here, so all further updates will occur there. As for when the podcast will go live, I'm hoping to have the first "real" episode ready in early May, so just another week or two. By the way, I note the first episode as being "real" because I made a demo which, while I think is good, has some rough edges that I'm trying to polish. I might redo that demo or feature parts of it elsewhere in the future, but the focus is now on the new. So follow me at the new blog, which as of now is barren, though that shouldn't last long, and of course please follow me on Twitter as @unheard78. Thanks for sticking with me and we'll get the ball rolling again shortly.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
my final words on the Nick Cannon thing
Last night I made some very loud, angry statements about Nick Cannon's promotional stunts for his forthcoming album, White People Party Music. I thought the title of the album was offensive, much in the way it would be if a white rapper named their album Black People Party Music, but I never thought much of Mr. Cannon to begin with so I let it go. Then I saw he'd dressed-up in whiteface and spoke in a "surfer" voice to further promote the album, and that offended me. As I stated earlier, I spoke very critically of Mr. Cannon and used foul, unintelligent words to do so, though nothing racially degrading as I don't use such language. The worst I said was "Fuck Mr. Mariah Carey", which I think is funnier than it is offensive, though it could be said that I'm denouncing his manhood. In retrospect, I shouldn't have said any of that. Instead I should have articulated my thoughts clearly without rambling angrily. So...
Simply put, it's extremely offensive the way white actors used to dress in blackface to portray stereotypes of black people, most commonly so the studios didn't need to hire black actors to play the roles in question. Of course, exceptions will be mentioned, like Robert Downey, Jr.'s character from Tropic Thunder, it being a twisted parody of Hollywood tropes and stereotypes, but in general, it's racist and wrong. On the other hand, black comedians like Eddie Murphy and Dave Chappelle dressed in whiteface but always had intelligence and nuance behind their actions, making them funny and something to think about. Even the Wayans Brothers, while not displaying the same depth as Eddie or Dave, still made people laugh. But Nick Cannon is simply mocking white people to sell his record. How is that any better than the long history of white actors dressing in blackface and stealing black actors' work?
This is the internet, and once you say something here it doesn't disappear, no matter what you do. With that said, I regret not having thought through my statements. Regardless, what is done is done. I don't delete my comments so I'll have to live with it, though I'm okay with it as I know I didn't call Mr. Cannon anything offensive or terrible, ala anything racially motivated. If he's offended by being called Mr. Mariah Carey, he's just going to have to bring that up with the whole world. Besides, his album is going to flop and no one will remember it in two weeks.
Simply put, it's extremely offensive the way white actors used to dress in blackface to portray stereotypes of black people, most commonly so the studios didn't need to hire black actors to play the roles in question. Of course, exceptions will be mentioned, like Robert Downey, Jr.'s character from Tropic Thunder, it being a twisted parody of Hollywood tropes and stereotypes, but in general, it's racist and wrong. On the other hand, black comedians like Eddie Murphy and Dave Chappelle dressed in whiteface but always had intelligence and nuance behind their actions, making them funny and something to think about. Even the Wayans Brothers, while not displaying the same depth as Eddie or Dave, still made people laugh. But Nick Cannon is simply mocking white people to sell his record. How is that any better than the long history of white actors dressing in blackface and stealing black actors' work?
This is the internet, and once you say something here it doesn't disappear, no matter what you do. With that said, I regret not having thought through my statements. Regardless, what is done is done. I don't delete my comments so I'll have to live with it, though I'm okay with it as I know I didn't call Mr. Cannon anything offensive or terrible, ala anything racially motivated. If he's offended by being called Mr. Mariah Carey, he's just going to have to bring that up with the whole world. Besides, his album is going to flop and no one will remember it in two weeks.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Yes, I'm still alive.
Just wanted to check in since it's been forever since I updated the blog. I'm more about Twitter these days, though I haven't done much there in recent times. Anyway, I'm reading Marc Wedidenbaum's book on Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Volume II for the 33 1/3 book series, hoping by some stroke of luck my proposal is somehow accepted out of the 410 submitted, looking for work and planning stuff. I may be compiling a very interesting compilation soon. It would be a free release, though it would include printable packaging and hopefully liner notes. Won't say more for now though, as I'm waiting for the delivery or the goods. There is another, rather similar compilation I'm also looking to work on, but I've gotta knock on some doors and get back on the case regarding it. Okay, I'll be back, see you soon!
Dave3
Dave3
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
The Prince Thing aka the legal bullshit
In case you missed it, Prince has sued a bunch of blogs and websites that were sharing his live recordings. I'm not part of that suit, most likely because I didn't feature his live recordings, he wasn't the main focus of my main site, and my sites have been offline for quite a while, which is fine because I didn't want to get sued. That said, a lot of people are talking about what this means, and I figured this was as good a time as any to share some thoughts on the topic.
First off, if you haven't seen the legal papers regarding the suit, go here and do so, they're very informative. If you have read them or don't have a clear understanding of what is going on, Prince is suing the proprietors of the sites in question for a million dollars each, based on the idea that he is losing profits by their disseminating his performances, and demanding the return of the content they've shared. If that all sounds a little ridiculous, it's because it is, but that isn't to say that it is any less dangerous for the parties being sued.
Prince, unlike many other artists that perform live, doesn't give permission for his shows to be recorded and shared. You could argue he is recording them for sale at a later date or other such purposes, but as he hasn't made any concerted effort during his career to issue these recordings beyond a few live DVDs, that argument only holds water if it's his future intent, which could very well be, though it wouldn't surprise me in the least if nothing ever came of this concept. He's also suing based on the concept that these are recordings of performances of his songs, as opposed to just being recordings of his songs. What this means is that the bootleggers didn't get permission to distribute recordings of his songs, as opposed to recordings of him performing his songs. It sounds like a small detail, but he's basically claiming someone is profiting from his compositions as opposed to him performing those compositions. It's a little backwards, and probably means his lawyers didn't think he could successfully sue for the distribution of bootlegged live recordings alone. To go even further, Prince is only suing American-run websites and isn't going after anyone selling bootleg CDs or merchandise via sites like eBay, which makes the whole thing rather limited and somewhat suspect. In the legal papers he claims the websites he's suing are making a profit, which is much more difficult to prove than anyone selling bootleg CDs. I never made any profit from my sites, nor did I ever intend to make a profit, though I never advertised and refused to participate in any such activities due to the potential legalities, but even if you did let Google run adverts on your site, how much money could you have made? Not enough.
Could he win the case? Yes, but it isn't necessarily likely. Will this stop people from recording his shows and sharing them online? No, but it will certainly drive his fanbase further underground. What will this achieve for him then? Well, Prince is under the illusion that his career is his and his alone. You could argue that the YouTube generation can share just about anything it wants, but he doesn't want to be part of it unless he's making money, and even then he doesn't seem terribly motivated by his finances. He's recorded albums and made films and videos for release only to cancel them without warning or explanation, and his catalog of unreleased material, both studio and live based recordings, is enormous, though he doesn't seem concerned with that either. He has started websites where he was able to share content for a price, either to provide a variety of material in low-resolution formats or to provide almost no content despite expensive rates to join. His track record for negligent treatment of his fanbase goes back forever, and if someone wanted to use it against him in a court of law they could build quite the argument, but he also has more money than most people willing to go up against him, so the likelihood of success via that point is unlikely, albeit for all the wrong reasons.
So what is he doing? This is probably all the lead-up to his releasing a new album and going on tour again. It will get him press, it makes him look anti-bootlegger and all about the individual "experience". He'll probably do an interview eventually where he discusses these points, and if he doesn't it will probably be mentioned by his associates. To his die-hard fans though, it just makes him look like a penny-pinching, megalomaniacal control-freak, and one that many fans will not support. Sure, there are those who follow blindly, like any cult artist's fanbase, but many won't tolerate this kind of treatment, and Prince's following has been dwindling because of this for years. Look back to the Crystal Ball debacle, the F.U.N.K. battle, his ignoring his catalog, his not letting his previous associates use their band names without paying him, and so on. On that last point, The Family became fDeluxe and The Time became The Original 7even, despite both bands consisting of their original line-ups. So who is he a friend to these days, anyways? His fanbase and collaborators, or his bank?
Now, to play devil's advocate for a moment, in Prince's defense, bootlegging is still illegal. If he doesn't want his shows to be recorded, that's his right. Doesn't mean it won't happen, but he can try to stop it. The question is, at what point does he have a right to interfere with his fanbase? If unofficially released recordings make his presence better known, he's profiting from it, and if no one else is profiting from it, who is it hurting? Not Prince, that's for sure. Go ahead and sue bootleggers that are selling CDs, but this is 2014, and very few groups are pushing illegally manufactured CDs, at least not in the US and UK. There are groups that still do, but anyone willing to pay for a pressed CD of a bootleg, or even worse, a burnt CD-R with cheap inserts, is being lazy, because, again, and not to be redundant, this is 2014, and you can get just about anything on the internet, whether Prince likes it or not.
I love Prince's music, and I have for a long time, and that's not likely to change, though I certainly don't care for the majority of his modern output or what he does now. We never heard if he paid Dave Chappelle for the use of his face on the Breakfast Can Wait single. We see him flip-flop on his previous statements regarding old songs, the freedom of his music, etc. As far as I'm concerned, Prince's music died circa 1996, and he's been dead a lot longer. I'm happy with his catalog up to that point, with Emancipation being the last clearly inspired thing he did, though I'll simply hold onto my copy of Sign O' The Times and The Black Album as true favorites. Much like the announcer at the end of the Gold Experience version of Endorphinmachine says, albeit in Spanish, PRINCE IS DEAD. And with that, for the good of his fanbase and my future legal stance, I'll NEVER publicly share anything he's recorded ever again. Whomever he is now, he's not worth it.
First off, if you haven't seen the legal papers regarding the suit, go here and do so, they're very informative. If you have read them or don't have a clear understanding of what is going on, Prince is suing the proprietors of the sites in question for a million dollars each, based on the idea that he is losing profits by their disseminating his performances, and demanding the return of the content they've shared. If that all sounds a little ridiculous, it's because it is, but that isn't to say that it is any less dangerous for the parties being sued.
Prince, unlike many other artists that perform live, doesn't give permission for his shows to be recorded and shared. You could argue he is recording them for sale at a later date or other such purposes, but as he hasn't made any concerted effort during his career to issue these recordings beyond a few live DVDs, that argument only holds water if it's his future intent, which could very well be, though it wouldn't surprise me in the least if nothing ever came of this concept. He's also suing based on the concept that these are recordings of performances of his songs, as opposed to just being recordings of his songs. What this means is that the bootleggers didn't get permission to distribute recordings of his songs, as opposed to recordings of him performing his songs. It sounds like a small detail, but he's basically claiming someone is profiting from his compositions as opposed to him performing those compositions. It's a little backwards, and probably means his lawyers didn't think he could successfully sue for the distribution of bootlegged live recordings alone. To go even further, Prince is only suing American-run websites and isn't going after anyone selling bootleg CDs or merchandise via sites like eBay, which makes the whole thing rather limited and somewhat suspect. In the legal papers he claims the websites he's suing are making a profit, which is much more difficult to prove than anyone selling bootleg CDs. I never made any profit from my sites, nor did I ever intend to make a profit, though I never advertised and refused to participate in any such activities due to the potential legalities, but even if you did let Google run adverts on your site, how much money could you have made? Not enough.
Could he win the case? Yes, but it isn't necessarily likely. Will this stop people from recording his shows and sharing them online? No, but it will certainly drive his fanbase further underground. What will this achieve for him then? Well, Prince is under the illusion that his career is his and his alone. You could argue that the YouTube generation can share just about anything it wants, but he doesn't want to be part of it unless he's making money, and even then he doesn't seem terribly motivated by his finances. He's recorded albums and made films and videos for release only to cancel them without warning or explanation, and his catalog of unreleased material, both studio and live based recordings, is enormous, though he doesn't seem concerned with that either. He has started websites where he was able to share content for a price, either to provide a variety of material in low-resolution formats or to provide almost no content despite expensive rates to join. His track record for negligent treatment of his fanbase goes back forever, and if someone wanted to use it against him in a court of law they could build quite the argument, but he also has more money than most people willing to go up against him, so the likelihood of success via that point is unlikely, albeit for all the wrong reasons.
So what is he doing? This is probably all the lead-up to his releasing a new album and going on tour again. It will get him press, it makes him look anti-bootlegger and all about the individual "experience". He'll probably do an interview eventually where he discusses these points, and if he doesn't it will probably be mentioned by his associates. To his die-hard fans though, it just makes him look like a penny-pinching, megalomaniacal control-freak, and one that many fans will not support. Sure, there are those who follow blindly, like any cult artist's fanbase, but many won't tolerate this kind of treatment, and Prince's following has been dwindling because of this for years. Look back to the Crystal Ball debacle, the F.U.N.K. battle, his ignoring his catalog, his not letting his previous associates use their band names without paying him, and so on. On that last point, The Family became fDeluxe and The Time became The Original 7even, despite both bands consisting of their original line-ups. So who is he a friend to these days, anyways? His fanbase and collaborators, or his bank?
Now, to play devil's advocate for a moment, in Prince's defense, bootlegging is still illegal. If he doesn't want his shows to be recorded, that's his right. Doesn't mean it won't happen, but he can try to stop it. The question is, at what point does he have a right to interfere with his fanbase? If unofficially released recordings make his presence better known, he's profiting from it, and if no one else is profiting from it, who is it hurting? Not Prince, that's for sure. Go ahead and sue bootleggers that are selling CDs, but this is 2014, and very few groups are pushing illegally manufactured CDs, at least not in the US and UK. There are groups that still do, but anyone willing to pay for a pressed CD of a bootleg, or even worse, a burnt CD-R with cheap inserts, is being lazy, because, again, and not to be redundant, this is 2014, and you can get just about anything on the internet, whether Prince likes it or not.
I love Prince's music, and I have for a long time, and that's not likely to change, though I certainly don't care for the majority of his modern output or what he does now. We never heard if he paid Dave Chappelle for the use of his face on the Breakfast Can Wait single. We see him flip-flop on his previous statements regarding old songs, the freedom of his music, etc. As far as I'm concerned, Prince's music died circa 1996, and he's been dead a lot longer. I'm happy with his catalog up to that point, with Emancipation being the last clearly inspired thing he did, though I'll simply hold onto my copy of Sign O' The Times and The Black Album as true favorites. Much like the announcer at the end of the Gold Experience version of Endorphinmachine says, albeit in Spanish, PRINCE IS DEAD. And with that, for the good of his fanbase and my future legal stance, I'll NEVER publicly share anything he's recorded ever again. Whomever he is now, he's not worth it.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Rough Multitrack Mixdowns (Madonna, Michael Jackson, Queen)
Recently, I was made aware that multitracks for Michael Jackson's P.Y.T. and Scream had leaked, along with Madonna's Borderline and Lucky Star. This, of course, is the kind of thing I dream of! I'm not an engineer and have no formal studio education, but anyone can download Reaper and play around with the unmixed channels and get an idea of the hidden bits and pieces of your favorite songs. That said, I thought it would be interesting to make some very basic mixes of these songs, along with Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, to share with anyone else interested in hearing the raw tracks. I have done a little work in places which I will explain below, but each track is basically all channels live and unmixed. Let me know what you think.
Rough Multitrack Mixdowns
Madonna - Borderline
The multitrack includes a "scratch" or rough vocal which sounds almost as good as the final, so I muted the final lead vocal and used the scratch. Apart from that, I increased the volume on the scratch and background vocals, but everything else, apart from the extra silence at the beginning and the end, remains unmixed and intact.
Madonna - Lucky Star
I increased the volume of the lead vocals as they were very low in the mix, but everything else remains unmixed.
Michael & Janet Jackson - Scream
The multitrack for Scream doesn't appear to be complete, or if it is, another version was later created with the synth and guitar solos from the break added. Regardless, this is clearly an almost complete multitrack and I've included two versions, one with Michael's vocals slightly edited with his and Janet's vocals raised a bit, and another completely unmixed version but without the lead Korg synthesizers present throughout the track. By removing those synths, it almost sounds like the sequel to Rhythm Nation.
Michael Jackson - P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
A second lead vocal track was included with the multitrack, though it was clearly another "scratch" vocal and didn't cover the complete song, so I edited the final lead vocal so the scratch appeared in it's place for the opening verse and increased the overall volume of Michael's vocals. Otherwise, everything else is unmixed.
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
There isn't anything terribly different about this from the final version, other than you can hear some of the instruments a bit clearer, there is a count-off, and a scrap of Brian May noodling made it onto tape. This, in my opinion, is a lot less interesting than the other tracks, but it's still interesting to hear the vocals and instruments at different levels. Honestly, this is a song you need to mess with the multitracks yourself to appreciate how much went into it. The amount of vocal work is incredible! Apart from that, this is completely unmixed.
So, how long until Sony pulls this down?
Rough Multitrack Mixdowns
Madonna - Borderline
The multitrack includes a "scratch" or rough vocal which sounds almost as good as the final, so I muted the final lead vocal and used the scratch. Apart from that, I increased the volume on the scratch and background vocals, but everything else, apart from the extra silence at the beginning and the end, remains unmixed and intact.
Madonna - Lucky Star
I increased the volume of the lead vocals as they were very low in the mix, but everything else remains unmixed.
Michael & Janet Jackson - Scream
The multitrack for Scream doesn't appear to be complete, or if it is, another version was later created with the synth and guitar solos from the break added. Regardless, this is clearly an almost complete multitrack and I've included two versions, one with Michael's vocals slightly edited with his and Janet's vocals raised a bit, and another completely unmixed version but without the lead Korg synthesizers present throughout the track. By removing those synths, it almost sounds like the sequel to Rhythm Nation.
Michael Jackson - P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
A second lead vocal track was included with the multitrack, though it was clearly another "scratch" vocal and didn't cover the complete song, so I edited the final lead vocal so the scratch appeared in it's place for the opening verse and increased the overall volume of Michael's vocals. Otherwise, everything else is unmixed.
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
There isn't anything terribly different about this from the final version, other than you can hear some of the instruments a bit clearer, there is a count-off, and a scrap of Brian May noodling made it onto tape. This, in my opinion, is a lot less interesting than the other tracks, but it's still interesting to hear the vocals and instruments at different levels. Honestly, this is a song you need to mess with the multitracks yourself to appreciate how much went into it. The amount of vocal work is incredible! Apart from that, this is completely unmixed.
So, how long until Sony pulls this down?
Friday, January 17, 2014
serious question time
So, if I were to restart the Unheard Music, how do you think I should do it? Please share your thoughts with me. I'd like to do it and contribute, but I don't want to rehash my old posts but I also don't want ignore things people would like to hear. Is the private blog thing even an option nowadays? Not that I've ever wanted to go the private route. Thoughts, please.
Monday, January 6, 2014
happy new year and stuff
So I've been doing all that Christmas stuff. Even when you're unemployed, it takes so much time. My step-father made a part of the experience I was looking forward to completely forgettable, while my step-mother helped make the holidays more wonderful as she always does. Other than that, my immediate family is strewn throughout the state of Ohio and it's neighbors, so I don't get to see everyone but I talk to everybody a bit. It's a holiday. Christmas just doesn't mean that much as I get older, but that's fine. All that's important is that the people I love are okay and I get to spend some time with them.
On to more current matters, I'm writing this post from my beaten laptop as the power supply for my PC is dying. It's that, or the motherboard is going, and I'm betting that's not the issue. I'm going to get it looked at on Wednesday, but until then I'm kinda going through withdrawal. Eh, what can you do? On the positive, I'm going to get the power supply replaced for free courtesy of my brother. Thanks bro! But on the negative, I can't play any of my Steam purchased games for a few days. Boo! Whatever, I'll live.
I'm feeling the itch to write about music again, but I'm going to give it a little while. I'm working on a proposal for the 33 1/3 book series about Beck's Odelay, so I'm going to pour my heart into it. I'll let everyone know what happens, and if it doesn't happen I'm going to try and write it anyway, but if I do it on my own I'll share my proposal here eventually. If this does work out, I'm going to see if I can talk to some of the other artists about albums I've always wanted more info on. The Avalanches' Since I Left You is high on that list, especially after finding an unreleased, even earlier and more complete version of the album earlier in 2013. And yes, I might post that here eventually, but if you really want a copy you should just send me an e-mail. I get the impression that Modular or whomever don't like that record being shared, despite some versions of the album not being available to the average listener, and as this version is unreleased... Whatever, I want to respect copyright holders, but let's face it, if you knew there was a superior version of something you loved, with bits and pieces that were supposed to be there but were removed because a label wanted way too much cash for a two-second sample, wouldn't you want to hear it? That said, John Oswald is also on my list, with regards to plunderphonic and Plexure. There are many more, but I don't want to get ahead of myself. And who knows, the Avalanches might eventually release their follow-up album, though that probably depends on whether anyone will pony up the funds for sample clearance.
Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know I'm still alive. I'm going to play some Prince and prepare some pork chops for dinner. As always, drop me a line if you want to talk or have any questions. Peace!
On to more current matters, I'm writing this post from my beaten laptop as the power supply for my PC is dying. It's that, or the motherboard is going, and I'm betting that's not the issue. I'm going to get it looked at on Wednesday, but until then I'm kinda going through withdrawal. Eh, what can you do? On the positive, I'm going to get the power supply replaced for free courtesy of my brother. Thanks bro! But on the negative, I can't play any of my Steam purchased games for a few days. Boo! Whatever, I'll live.
I'm feeling the itch to write about music again, but I'm going to give it a little while. I'm working on a proposal for the 33 1/3 book series about Beck's Odelay, so I'm going to pour my heart into it. I'll let everyone know what happens, and if it doesn't happen I'm going to try and write it anyway, but if I do it on my own I'll share my proposal here eventually. If this does work out, I'm going to see if I can talk to some of the other artists about albums I've always wanted more info on. The Avalanches' Since I Left You is high on that list, especially after finding an unreleased, even earlier and more complete version of the album earlier in 2013. And yes, I might post that here eventually, but if you really want a copy you should just send me an e-mail. I get the impression that Modular or whomever don't like that record being shared, despite some versions of the album not being available to the average listener, and as this version is unreleased... Whatever, I want to respect copyright holders, but let's face it, if you knew there was a superior version of something you loved, with bits and pieces that were supposed to be there but were removed because a label wanted way too much cash for a two-second sample, wouldn't you want to hear it? That said, John Oswald is also on my list, with regards to plunderphonic and Plexure. There are many more, but I don't want to get ahead of myself. And who knows, the Avalanches might eventually release their follow-up album, though that probably depends on whether anyone will pony up the funds for sample clearance.
Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know I'm still alive. I'm going to play some Prince and prepare some pork chops for dinner. As always, drop me a line if you want to talk or have any questions. Peace!
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