Posts Tagged ‘music’
September 4th, 2006
Well, what originally looked like it was to be a quiet weekend turned out out to be more eventful than expected.
On Saturday Penny was working and I was tasked with tinkering with her computer to make it better and…well.. to make it work. I had a go at it but decided in the end to hand it over to a shop to finish off for me. Hopefully I’ll hear today as to what state it’s in.
DS2:BW Is pretty much more of the same as DS2, a perfectly adequate Diablo 2 clone. The new expansion adds a new character race (the dwarf), two new character classes (the Fist of Stone and the Blood Assassin) and an extra chapter of story. The race is pointless apart from if you liked the visuals of a hairy midget to represent you in the world of Arranna. The two new classes though add a certain amount of depth to characters that make it quite fun, particularly at higher levels. This actually succeeds in adding some more replayability to the game. The story is a little weak but perfectly adequate as you only really pay attention through the first time through. It’s a lot more depressing than the storyline of the main game which fits quite nicely. In the main game you ventured out all hero-like and caused a cataclysm and the deaths of thousands. In the expansion you must deal with the consequences of your short-sighted heroics.
Overall rating: Four cups of coffee out of seven
Saturday night, Penny’s friend Rhea came around for an evening of conversation, vodka and very alcoholic hot chocolate which was very much enjoyed.
On Sunday morning we decided to have a day out in London, principally to see A Scanner Darkly which isn’t showing at any of our local cinemas.
But before we got to the cinema we had a wander down Regent Street, which was all blocked off and rammed with people for the
Regent Street Festival – A Walk Through Spain. Basically it was a huge advertising party for the Spanish tourist industry, but it was well done with festive clothing, regional music, food and dance etc. Virgin Radio also had a live music stage where we saw
Paolo Nutini, currently in the charts with Last Request. Not really my bag, but it was there so we watched.
From there, it was off to the Odeon Covent Garden, via a brief sojourn to Forbidden Planet.
A Scanner Darkly, the
rotoscoped adaptation of
Philip K. Dick’s novel of drugs, identity, reality and paranoia was an excellent film. The rotoscoping worked excellently for the thematics and even managed to help Keanu ‘Wooden’ Reeves emote. It’s not a mass market film really; It doesn’t have a ‘neat’ ending as such, though the ending works well, and some people will not be happy about the reality warping. But I think it’s a very good film indeed and worth watching.
Oh and it looks like the news of the morning is that the crocodile hunter
Steve Irwin is dead. Never one to come high in the ‘Likely to die peacefully in his bed at a ripe old age’ charts, it seems like the crazy croc baiter, snake wrestler and spider fondler has succumbed to the dangers of a remarkably placid sea creature. It just goes to show that if you expect there to be danger you can plan against it, as Steve himself did professionally, but sometimes shit just happens.
July 27th, 2006
US rock star to record Bond theme
Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell is to write and record the theme tune to the new James Bond film, Casino Royale.
The theme for the 21st Bond film, in which Daniel Craig will debut as 007, is titled You Know My Name.
A film spokeswoman said Cornell’s music was “both soulful and tough” and “the perfect complement” to the film.
Casino Royale will receive its world premiere in London on 14 November. The film is released three days later in the UK and US.
US rocker Cornell was previously the singer with Seattle rock group Soundgarden.
tags:
bond,
audioslave,
soundgarden
July 14th, 2006
It took five working days to clear down all the unreads in my
RSS Reader! I am now informed and up to date.
So tonight it’s time to go and see Pirates of the Caribbean 2. Do we go to see the plot? The special effects? No. We don’t even go to see it for Keira. (Well…) We go to see Captain Jack Sparrow. Pirate, rogue, rum drinker and inspiration to us all. May he lead us astray, afloat and amused.
Oh, and as for this weekend, interlopers beware! We have a
guardian!
Now, I know what you’re thinking… This doesn’t seem to resemble the missing entries on Egypt at all, does it. Well, I do have an excuse, I just won’t bore you with it.
Now, just before my trip to Germany I went to the
O2 Wireless Festival (link to pictures) in Hyde Park with Tim and Alex and a good time indeed it was! I mainly went to see Massive Attack and DJ Shadow, in that order of preference, but these things never go how you’d expect. It turns out that even though I missed the last 10-15 minutes of the set, DJ Shadow really was the best show in town, even despite the comedy stereotypical rappers for part of the set. The pleasant surprise was by
Terry Callier which was very enjoyable indeed.
Gnarls Barkley was somewhat predictably fluffy, despite whacking up the bass and volume for the one track everyone actually knows. The Flaming Lips were fun with their bizarre stage set and their comedy cover of Bohemian Rhapsody. Damien Marley proved that he was jammin’, he was jammin’, he was jammin’ to his dad’s music mostly. I’m glad I got to see
Massive Attack, but a) I was too far away to really feel it and b) the field was full of people who got free tickets and thought they’d have a look-see at a band they’d heard of and then spent the time nattering to their mates. Such a shame for the headline act to be ruined so. Overall though I’m really glad I got to go and was thrilled to get to go with Tim and Alex, even though they mostly made me feel like a musical dunce once their awesome combined knowledge of all things musical was unleashed.
April 26th, 2006
As further elaboration to DeathOwl’s
Pandora post, I hereby ask: Wouldn’t it be nice to link your
LastFM/AudioScrobbler list with Pandora?
Well, you can! More info here:
Pandora and Last.fm get together
And, more for my reference than anything else, while we’re on the topic of music tools, don’t forget
Shazam. Their blurb: Call Shazam on your mobile (2580). Hold out your phone to the music. The phone will hang up after 30 seconds. We send you a text telling you artist name & song.
It doesn’t matter what tariff you’re on, it costs 50p to tag a track on the 3 Network, O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Vodafone – plus your standard call charges.
Their newest feature is that you can log into their website and buy the tracks that you have ‘tagged’, to use their terminology.
Or, you just go to
MP3search.ru and download it for $0.10!
February 24th, 2006
So, this summer Penny is going to three different concerts. She’s going to see the Foo Fighters, the Chillis and Radiohead. I’m very happy for her, but I was somewhat grumbley since there was nothing that I was desperate to see or could make time for.
Then I saw it in this morning’s Metro. The O2 Wireless Festival 2006:
Friday: Massive Attack and DJ Shadow
Saturday: Zero 7 (which even makes up for James Blunt being there)
Sunday: Depeche Mode, Goldfrapp and Bauhaus
Genius!
Then I catch the dates, and it’s the 23rd to the 25th of June.
I’m in Germany. Aaargh!
There’s no justice in the world.
Update: There might be a way around this: Go to see Goldfrapp at the end of March and then just go to the Friday afternoon/evening part of the O2 festival to see Massive Attack and DJ Shadow…
It’s a crazy idea, but it might just work! Now just to check whether or not I’m booking one lot of tickets or two…
Update 2: Goldfrapp tickets booked, and just waiting to see if Alex & Alison are joining me for Massive Attack. Nice!
February 9th, 2006
So, Pioneers of the Inevitable LLC, creators of
Winamp, have created a new media player called
Songbird. It looks quite pretty, much like Itunes, and has as it’s major selling points that it can\will be able to access multiple online music stores and can play lists of music on a webpage directly as playlists. Neat.
Technologically, it’s built on the Firefox UI engine making it very solid and extensible.
Features missing so far are the very necessary CD burning & ripping and of course extensions themselves. The former is a must before I convert (for I surely shall), and the latter could make Songbird a real must. I’d want an extension for web\satellite\DAB radio, PSP synching and an interface into
www.mp3search.ru (yes it’s still legal and will be until September so get your cheap, downloaded, DRM-free music fast) and (and this bit’s a little sad) good visualisations including a party mode where the machine is locked but still playing the playlist.
In short, watch this space and I’ll give you a review of version 0.2 when it’s out, for version 0.1 shows immense promise but there’s no point for me yet.
January 9th, 2006
The last week
Music
This last week I’ve been listening to the
Arctic Monkeys a lot. I know I’m a good few months behind the times, but not listening to the radio a lot meant that I didn’t really hear their best known track “Bet you look good on the dancefloor” until New Years Day in Andy’s car, where Radio 1 was playing the most successful tracks of 2005. It’s a cracking track.
TV
Okay, I’ve not really been watching it on TV, but the principle is there. I’ve been enjoying Lost immensely. I caught the first 3 episodes when it first came on telly, but then missed the next three, at which point I gave up. You’ve really got to watch all the episodes concurrently. However over the last week I’ve been watching the episodes I’ve acquired. I’m up to episode 17 (Hurley’s past and the mysterious numbers) and can’t wait to watch more. Then I get to watch them all again because Penny wants to see them now.
Books
Penny’s been reading Memoirs of a Geisha recently because she wants to watch the movie next weekend. She’s been enjoying the book a lot and is hoping the film will do it justice. Me, I’ve been reading rubbish in the form of a couple of re-released
Flashman novels. Good fun, historical pulp fiction that’s entertaining and occasionally educational. The ones written in the seventies are the best though, the style goes downhill after that.
Graphics
Sadly nothing, though I’m looking forward to the next
Desolation Jones when it comes out this week.
Christmas
Movies
A bumper crop this Christmas just past. I went to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire again, because my dad is a huge fan of Harry Potter films. In terms of DVDs, as previously stated I got Existenz, Memento and Appleseed from. I watched Memento with my parents, but it really wasn’t to their taste, unsurprisingly. I love it though and I’ve still to watch the other two movies, both of which I’ve yet to watch.
Graphics
Violent Cases was my graphic novel gift from Penny. The first collaboration between Dave McKean and Neil Gaiman, and what a treat it is.
Last Year
Last year was a good year for music and films. Here are some of my highlights.
Movies
My favourite cinema movie of the year had to be Sin City. Honourable mentions should go to Batman Begins and Harry Potter.
My favourite independent movie of the year, regardless of format, had to be
MirrorMask, which I was fortunate enough to see at the London Film Festival.
Music
What a year in music! There was music in the charts that was actually worth listening to! What’s that about?
Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, Kasabian, Killers, Razorlight… All good bands. Album of the year has to go to Green Day with American Idiot though.
Authors
I can’t really decide on which were my favourite books of last year, but I thought I’d mention that I was very pleased to have met both Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman and got them both to sign my stuff.
December 9th, 2005
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Song sites face legal crackdown: “The music industry is to extend its copyright war by taking legal action against websites offering unlicensed song scores and lyrics.
The Music Publishers’ Association (MPA), which represents US sheet music companies, will launch its first campaign against such sites in 2006.
MPA president Lauren Keiser said he wanted site owners to be jailed.
Guitar licks and song scores are widely available on the internet but are ‘completely illegal’, he told the BBC.
Mr Keiser said he did not just want to shut websites and impose fines, saying if authorities can ‘throw in some jail time I think we’ll be a little more effective’. “
Next: Music Ass. of America jails teenager for singing in shower without paying royalties.
October 10th, 2005
‘Real’ books
I need something fairly brainless in the mornings to read, so I bought the newest Tom Clancy paperback, ‘Teeth of the Tiger’. If I’m reading for quality, I steer away from Clancy, and his politics do often grate with me, but it’s a fairly decent techno-thriller that you can read with only half of your brain switched on. When I finish that one, I’ve got a collection of H.P. Lovecraft’s work. All praise Great Cthulhu! After that I have ‘Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell’ by Susanna Clarke to read. I didn’t really get into it last time, but I’ve got enough time in the evenings to dedicate to it now.
Graphic Novels
I recently acquired, as part of my monthly post-payday Amazon purchase the second ‘Global Frequency’ book and ‘Mr Punch’, a Gaiman/McKean collaboration. I had read GF2 before, but it was quality, so I had to own it. I haven’t read ‘Mr Punch’ yet as it requires a fairly awake brain. I’m getting frustrated that ‘Desolation Jones’ is only bi-monthly and the first (assuming there’s more) storyline is supposed to be six episodes long and I’ve got three of them already. So for those weak in arithmetic, that means I’ve got to wait half a year to finish reading the story. Grrr….
Bryce very kindly brought his library graphic novel acquisitions with him to the game so I had something to read on Sunday morning while everyone else was still asleep. The first was a Constantine book, ‘Highwater’, which was good, and firmly re-establishes Constantine as someone not to be messed with. I quite enjoyed the other book he brought, but am ashamed to say I can’t remember it’s name.
Music
My AudioScrobler profile (see link on right) is slanted. The WMP plugin only records what you actually play using WMP, not what you transfer to your MP3 player. If I’m playing music from the computer, it’s likely to be mellow Sunday morning stuff, or occasional weird stuff, so there’s by plenty of Lamb, Massive Attack, Mr Punch, Goldfrapp etc. However, my MP3 player, which I actually listen to most often, is mostly filled with rockin’ tracks as I’m listening to it on the move and want something to get the adrenaline flowing.
Aside from that, this month’s Amazon purchase included the classic album ‘Moon Safari’ by French electronica outfit, Air.
Films
Haven’t seen any movies recently, not being around in the evenings much. I’ve been filling my time, as mentioned below, watching the second season of 24. However, films I want to see, hopefully are: The Corpse Bride, Nightwatch and Serenity. Next months DVD purchase may include Batman Begins.
September 6th, 2005
We all like music, if you’re reading this you have an internet connection, we of course have a desire to obey copyright law, we hate copy-controlled music downloads and we resent having to pay £6.99 for an ‘album’ of music from a legal download site when we could probably get it cheaper on Amazon.
So what’s the alternative? Well a Russian site,
MP3Search.ru is selling tracks for $0.10 each with 10% off if you buy a full album. Sounds dodgy? Sure. But is it legal? Amusingly yes. Or at least it will be for another year until the Russian Federation changes it’s laws to appease the RIAA and other similar groups.
The legal loophole is that Russian law counts the internet as a broadcast medium, in the same bracket as radio. And if it’s broadcast the company doesn’t have to ask the permission of the copyright holder to broadcast it, they just have to make royalties available to them. This means it’s possible to buy Beatles tracks (illegal outside of the UK) as well as Metallica (who only license their music to be sold by album, not individual tracks), both of which cannot be found on US or European legal music download sites.
Couple this with the fact that in the UK, US and elsewhere it is the distributor of the music who breaches copyright, the consumer is entirely legally entitled to the music they download from MP3Search as long as they don’t share it with anybody else.
And the risk of credit card fraud? Well the company has been going for over a year and there have been no reports of fraud, but apparently (I’ve yet to verify this) it’s possible to buy gift vouchers through a trusted source and use those instead of giving the company your credit card number.
I’ll certainly be giving this a go. Apparently the library is massively extensive and vastly more reliable than some of the more… illicit music download options. Alledgedly. I heard.
Update (April ‘06): Well, I’ve been successfully using mp3search.ru for a number of months now and I’m still very happy with it. No fraud, no performance issues and loads of DRM-free, legal, cheap MP3 downloads. The site is weak when it comes to audiobooks but very strong when it comes to new content. And I do prefer actually owning the MP3 rather than renting it via Napster.
There are only about four months left in this site, as the law in Russia changes then, but until then it’s worth it for topping up your music collection. And at about $1.50 per album you’d be silly not to.
