Podding the Tunes 2
The post highlights various podcasts worth exploring, including Rockenteurs, Ongoing History of New Music, Bureau of Lost Culture, and others, emphasizing their unique storytelling and music industry insights.
Keep readingGetting the best music gifts
The post explores alternative music purchasing options beyond vinyl, including Super Deluxe Editions, artist subscriptions, music-related books, vinyl care kits, and collectible artwork, providing insights for enthusiasts.
Keep readingGetting the best vinyl gifts
Buying vinyl gifts involves understanding collector preferences, special editions, limited runs, and artist signatures. Knowledge of indie stores is also essential for unique finds.
Keep readingSpeaker Upgrade – how I decided what was good
The author shares their experience upgrading to acoustic speakers, discussing sound quality improvements, speaker performance factors, and recommending specific music to test high-fidelity systems.
Keep readingMoby at the O2 London
Moby’s 25th-anniversary tour featured a nostalgic atmosphere, strong performances, and a talented band, despite dated visuals and less energetic theatrics.
Keep readingAnother avalanche of music from Ryan Adams?
All the signs are that we’ll be seeing another avalanche of material from Ryan Adams in the new year. Adams is incredibly prolific. But unlike the steady flow of releases from, say Van Morrison (1 or 2 every year for the last 10+ years), or Tangerine Dream (120 releases if you include all their soundtrack).,…
Keep readingPeter Gabriel I/O
Peter Gabriel, after two decades of silence, has been releasing a new song each month for the past year. Each one comes with two mixes, The Bright Side and The Dark Side. The songs, while distinct, form the coherent album, I/O. This slow drip-feed of tracks has sparked an interesting listener experience, and though it’s…
Keep readingRecommended Listening
I’ve always had a fascination for pirate radio. A chance to hear non-mainstream playlisted music – that Peelsque subversiveness. My inner DJ may not be John Peel, probably closer to Lauren Laverne and Jo Whiley with the geekiness of Paul Gambaccini, but here are some suggested playlists …
Keep readingCrazy streaming music service idea?
I don’t often write about music, but this demented idea came to mind largely because Mrs Monster is more of a visual person whereas I prefer to have music on. The obvious intersection is music videos, so why can’t Spotify keep the metadata for videos on you tube. If you play a song on Spotify…
Keep readingUnkle at Royal Festival Hall
An Unkle performance is always going to be a little unusual given James Lavelle is very eclectic crossing many genres such as the groundbreaking Psyence Fiction album. The first half of the performance was very much DJ lead by James at a desk and decks, live drums, keyboard/guitarist and Cello. This instrumentation alone really shows…
Keep readingBlue Notebooks
Whilst Sonos might be great for convenience, and Spotify for freedom and trying music out you still can’t beat well produced physical media (those round silver or black things) on some separates HiFi. I don’t have an extravagant setup, but what I can do with Max Richter’s The Blue Notebooks Anniversary Edition makes the hairs…
Keep readingPodding the Tunes
I track a lot of podcasts because I find they can be a great way to catch up on news and ideas or listen to interesting discussions. This is great when travelling (if you can block out the ambient noise with some good earphones) when sitting and working isn’t so easy (standing on a commuter…
Keep readingPassion of Music
With Christmas we get some time off with the family and slowdown abit. Even indulge in things less technical. It’s been a while since I’ve blogged on the subject of music. I’ve been meaning to share the following TEDx presentation. I wish I could say that it reflects my personal manifesto… https://youtu.be/NmczY5Y3NC8 Sadly very few…
Keep readingMusic on the move
It has been a while since I have written about music or gadgets, so I thought I would hit both in one go. So I have a trusty 64GB iPod classic for a fair few years, and loved it, the ability to take a sensible chunk of my music with me – what’s not to…
Keep readingFaithless live
Faithless performed at Alexandria Palace last night in support of their new remix compilation album. When they performed the big hits the place was pulsing, but in the chilled numbers the audience seemed to lose attention – shame really as it took the edge off a good performance. More photos available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mp3monster/sets/72157660900174080
Keep readingTori Amos – Unrepentant Geraldines
So after 20 years Tori Amos has in many respects come full circle returning to the musical style of Little Earthquakes with her latest album Unrepentant Geraldines. It isn’t a complete return, as in life a forty something can at best mimic themselves as a twenty something. After 20 years you’re going to be a…
Keep readingSpotting an audiophile with 1 question
I recently changed my car, and in the process of sorting all the various things out (removing CDs etc from my previous car) lead me to a thinking about a question I have seen often mentioned in music blogs, biographies and other books. That simple question ‘When you get a new bit of audio kit,…
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