http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Wed, 20 Oct 2004 00:38:58 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/10/20/003858.php Michael CroftListening to Orbital is like going to a wine tasting. It's fun, each offering has subtilely different effects, and if you don't take notes it's hard to remember which ones you liked or disliked, much less why. The Blue Album has a minimalist approach to liner notes. Other than a track list and the required credits, it's got a pretty picture on the cover and that's about it--A hydrogen atom's electron orbit but no notes. In some ways that's too bad, because I would have liked to know more about how they chose the songs for this album. The CD has been marketed as the last one they would release prior to the band's breakup. If the CD were broken into sides, the first side would be almost a different record from the second. It's not clear to me if there was a planned divergence at track 5 or if they just used the material available to them to get the record out. It would also be interesting to know which tracks they worked on prior to their decision to split.The first half of the disc really is where I think it's weakest. While "Pants" and "Tunnel Vision" and "Lost" are marginally different from each other, they seem repetitive. The tracks start with that nice Orbital layering sound effect, where sounds build upon each other in an scheduled regimen of construction and deconstruction that really shows off the musical underpinnings of the work. If it had more variety or stretched in different directions, it would be great. As it is, I don't really care or notice which of the songs I'm listening to. I don't imagine listeners choosing one of these songs over any of the others.The second half is a departure from the first and (if you're still with the brothers Hartnoll at this point) where you'll find yourself rewarded with the best and worst tracks on the album. It's too bad it takes so long to get started, but the meat is there.Three of the tracks in the second half have vocals, or more precisely three of the tracks use voices (only "One Perfect Sunrise" with Lisa Gerrard is a traditional "song") and for better or for worse they stand out. "Acid Pants" used the phrase "when the laugh track starts then the fun starts!" in a loop, gradually manipulating it over the course of the tune to sound like laughter. While in some ways this was the most innovative and experimental tune on the disk, I found it uncompelling. Yes, it's possible to clip, stretch, and bend vocals to turn them into something else, but if the end result is just a technology demonstration, I don't need a five minute track of it to get the point."You Lot" includes a Christoper Eccleston screed from The Second Coming in an otherwise typical Orbital song. Around a half hour into the disc, I was certainly glad to hear something spoken. I didn't think the screed was a perfect fit for the music, but it wasn't out of place, either. The tunes "Bath Time" and "Easy Serv" were the most enjoyable tunes on the album, and not just because they were more than minor variations on the first 4 tracks.Three tracks I liked, one I didn't, and five that bored me. As long as your music player of choice doesn't force you to listen to the whole thing at once, there are enough worthwhile moments to make this album worth a listen, especially if you're a fan of dance music. Music21186@blogcritics.org Wed, 20 Oct 2004 00:38:58 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/09/08/174032.php Michael CroftI don't really know the story behind Ride This! by Los Lobos, but I have theories. The album is a companion to The Ride, and it covers 7 songs by Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Ruben Blades, and others. One track (Marie, Marie) is live, from 1999. The tracks are originally by artists who are either longtime partners with Los Lobos are by artists with whom they recorded songs on The Ride. My theory is that they put on the originals of these songs when they were producing the album as reference tracks and they decided they liked them so much that they recorded them and decided 'hey, we've got something here...' It's probably not how it happened, but it could have...Like a lot of people, I was introduced to Los Lobos through two cover projects they were involved with. The first was La Bamba where they showcased the seductive latin sounds hidden inside the 1950s rock of Richie Valens. I also liked their contribution to the Stay Awake CD, a nice cover of I Want To Be Like You from the Jungle Book. I don't know what Los Lobos really want to be as a band. The album isn't just latin and it isn't just rock and it's not what's traditionally thought of as "latin rock". There are elements of all of that, but in the end, it's almost defiantly "none of the above". I've always known that Los Lobos could do excellent work with cover material, and this album is no exception. It really does a good job of showcasing the versatility of the band. It turns out that I am unfamiliar with about half of the material Los Lobos were covering. Sure, Elvis Costello and Tom Waits and Richard Thompson were artists I knew, but I was really familiar with the Blades track, or Dave Alvin or Thee Midniters or the Bobby Womack cover. That's not bad. I like discovering new things. It just makes it hard to do the expected cover/original comparison. I'm not sorry about that. It lets me treat the songs as themselves, which fits for a "none of the above" band.Rubén Blades Patria is a very pretty norteño-sounding track that reminds me of the kind of music I'd hear on the radio poking around Austin or San Antonio and a quiet political statement about the nature of one's "Homeland". It manages to clearly and concisely distinguish between "love of one's country" and "jingoism" and it does so with images and stories rather than bombast. It's a "show, don't tell" message that's well done, and well performed.It'll Never Be Over For Me, is a lush song. It evokes a smoky jazz bar and a velvety voiced singer describing the kind of tenaciousness in a relationship that commonly earns someone a restraining order and a reputation for creepiness. It's smooth and entertaining and straight in the middle of the tradition of "love songs it's best not to think about the words of". Thee Midniters are like a 1960s version of Los Lobos, so it's a natural choice.It's hard to pick a stand-out on this album, I like all the songs. I think the live version of Marie, Marie may be my personal choice. It's a straight-up rocker that is reminiscent of B.B. King or Chuck Berry. It has the live energy that I've come to expect from hybrid acts. It sounds fun. It doesn't have to be complicated to make my sing along. And that's what I'm looking for. Music19617@blogcritics.org Wed, 8 Sep 2004 17:40:32 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/07/09/192811.php Michael CroftKatie Melua's Call off the Search is servicable. If you heard her singing while you and a date ate a romantic meal, you'd be perfectly satisfied. She has a good voice, a fine instinct for jazz infused pop vocals, and enough presence to be interesting. Interesting is necessary but not sufficient to carry the performance above "good" on the meter.I could be acccused of damning her with faint praise, and it wouldn't be too far off the mark. There's very little that is wrong with this album and most of the pieces are right, but they never come together in a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts. It looks like an airplane, but it never takes off.My only serious complaint, other than 'it should do more for me', has to do with the song choices. Whoever chose these seems to have been thinking 'I've found the perfect song for Katie's voice', without noticing that the song isn't perfect for Katie. The two songs that trip the 'what where they thinking' breaker are The Closest Thing To Crazy and My Aphrodisiac Is YouThe Closest Thing To Crazy suffers from bringing up her youth. "Feeling twenty two, acting seventeen" and "How can you treat me like a child?" are unfortunate lyrics for a nineteen year-old singer who is clearly not much more than a child. It's not just a matter of paying dues, it's a matter of being credible when you're singing about life and changes. It jarred me out of the story, which is the wrong way to get my attentionMy Aphrodisiac Is You also seems to be unsuited to a nineteen year old singer. It could work for an older singer, but I tend to think "doesn't need chemical stimulants to be horny" is the standard case for teens. The biographical material sent with the album makes a great deal of her youth, but it's not the unalloyed advantage that they seem to think it is.Aside from that it's a "good" album. It's the kind of thing you'll like if you like this kind of thing and I hear potential in her voice. It's easy enough on the ears, but it doesn't command attention. There's no compelling factor musicially or lyrically that would make you annoyed at your tablemates at the bar for talking. That's too bad. Maybe the next one will be stronger. Maybe it won't be such a safety play. I'd prefer that. This is good, but good isn't good enough. If you're looking for pop/jazz, try Buddhacrush. Tim's vocals are raspier, but they fit the songs he writes. Music17288@blogcritics.org Fri, 9 Jul 2004 19:28:11 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/18/103514.php Michael CroftIf you're using Movable Type, you may be aware of a bit of controversy over the new licensing terms. Six Apart has now requested that users tell them how MT is used.I'm composing my personal reply from my site, but it bears noting that I am also an infrequently active blogcritic, a proud member of a 1 blog, 400+ User award-winning non-commercial review site with an open recruitment policy.This is an excellent opportunity for users to provide feedback to Six Apart on how their tool is being used. I encourage all blogcritics to reply. Even if your blog is on another tool, you're an MT user here. Culture15755@blogcritics.org Tue, 18 May 2004 10:35:14 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/10/29/101628.php Michael CroftFreshly Unemployed: Blogger Michael Hanscom joined the ranks of the unemployed on Monday, because Microsoft Security objected to his blog entry Even Microsoft wants G5s.The blog entry had a picture of a truck delivering some boxed Apple G5 computers and mentioned where Hanscom worked and what building it was in.His manager told him that "Microsoft has the right to decide that because of what you said, you're no longer welcome on the Microsoft campus."I agree with Hanscom that the post is pretty innocuous. As a Microsoft customer buying software for MacOS computers, I'd be really annoyed if they weren't testing them on the latest and greatest Macs. Especially since Virtual PC doesn't run on G5s yet. Microsoft employee and corporate blog evangelist Robert Scoble says Microsoft encourages employees to weblog. Microsoft has been, in recent months, ahead of the corporate culture curve with respect to blogging. It's my hope that this is a mistake or the result of one branch of the company not knowing what other branches are encouraging. Even if Hanscom shouldn't have posted this picture, this solidly moves Microsoft into the "mixed message" category on blogging, which while not great, is still better than many companies.I've contacted some Microsoft bloggers for comment. If I get any replies, official or unofficial, I will post them here.Cross-posted to Ones and Zeros Culture9602@blogcritics.org Wed, 29 Oct 2003 10:16:28 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/10/03/014256.php Michael CroftRex "Wrecks" Bell, who played Bass behind Townes Van Zandt and Lightnin' Hopkins, runs the tiny but excellent Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe in Galveston (Rex ran the Old Quarter that Townes recorded in from 1966-1973, closing it some 17 years before I could drink). Now he wants to sell his own brand of beer, but Starbucks Coffee Corporation doesn't like his brand name.Now I may not be a typical consumer, but I could be a pretty typical patron of Rex's. While he does have a stage at the Old Quarter and a PA, it's easy to confuse it with a small drum riser. He likes the music and the two bands I've been with who went there had a good experience. Just not much for me to do there as the engineer. So mostly I got to sit and yak with Rex and listen to my friends play and try not to drink too much of what Rex poured. Hard to imagine a better gig for an engineer, really.Beer! Oh, yes, Beer. Star Bock Beer. The name makes Starbucks Coffee Corporation's caffeinated law corps deeply agitated. Someone might confuse Star Bock Beer with their brewed product. Could be, but really, Old Quarter patrons are more likely to confuse it with Lone Star Beer or Shiner Bock. This is partly because patrons are much more likely to be fans of inexpensive regional beers than expensive national coffee brands and partly because Rex named the brew by combining the names of his two most popular beers.I dunno, I'm not buying real consumer confusion, but Starbucks has much bigger lawyers than The Old Quarter and these are not cases that the little guy frequently wins. However, Rex is a cantankerous old coot and may prevail on attitude alone.If you're in South East Texas and you want to hear good acoustic music, Rex's Old Quarter is a good spot to go. Try the beer, whatever it ends up being named. And talk to a guy who has been a part of some of the best Texas blues ever made, too.In any case, how can you take a company seriously that's named after Dirk "Face" Benedict? via Kuff Music8865@blogcritics.org Fri, 3 Oct 2003 01:42:56 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/09/24/114218.php Michael CroftThe Register, the fun British tech news and curmudgeon site, has written about a quietly dropped RIAA lawsuit against a user accused of sharing 2000 songs.The RIAA said Sarah Ward was sharing 2,000 songs through the KaZaA P2P network exposing her, at $150,000 per offense, to $300,000,000 in penalties. But not only had she never downloaded a song, but as a Macintosh user, she couldn't even run the KaZaA software, which only runs on Windows.While there are peer-to-peer options for Mac users, this certainly lowers the credibility of the entire RIAA approach. I'm imagining a lawyer whose case goes like this. "So, my client was selected by the same team of elite information gatherers who decided that a 66 year old woman was sharing 2000 songs via a Macintosh, which could not possibly have run the software you accused her of running. What makes you think you got this one right?" Sci/Tech8628@blogcritics.org Wed, 24 Sep 2003 11:42:18 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/06/18/223233.php Michael CroftOur Fellow BlogCritic at File 13 has it covered. He looks at licensing issues on Orrin Hatch's Official Senate website and finds that it's apparently in violation of Milonic Software's License agreement. Larry has an email in to Milonic and Hatch to see if there are special terms, but if Hatch's proposals were adopted, Miltonic might be legally able to destroy the computer hosting it (also known as www.senate.gov and clinton.senate.gov, so some people would be happy). "If we can find some way to do this without destroying their machines, we'd be interested in hearing about that," Hatch said. "If that's the only way, then I'm all for destroying their machines. If you have a few hundred thousand of those, I think people would realize" the seriousness of their actions, he said."There's no excuse for anyone violating copyright laws," Hatch said.Yeah, it's probably some poor schmuck contractor who'll take the heat for this, but the irony just drips, doesn't it? Sci/Tech6295@blogcritics.org Wed, 18 Jun 2003 22:32:33 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/05/13/094432.php Michael CroftIn a press release cited on CNN.com, Microsoft claimed that the iLoo was "a hoax perpetrated by its British division."Not hackers, not a single employee since fired, but by an international division of the company.Those wacky Brits, of course the British division of Microsoft would create a hoax like this and let it stand for weeks, with much corroboration!Or maybe it was a real project that MS:Redmond closed down because it stank. Sci/Tech5260@blogcritics.org Tue, 13 May 2003 09:44:32 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/05/02/190350.php Michael CroftAbout two weeks ago I wrote about an interview with Greg Palast on Pacifica's Democracy Now! program wherein Palast claimed to be working on a story detailing how "RIAA Lobbyist Hilary Rosen" was writing the Intellectual Property Laws for the new democratic government of Iraq. There was a good bit of discussion about it in the comments here and several of us tried to get more information from the RIAA, Rosen, Palast, or the BBC, mostly without success. Eric did get a response from Cary Sherman, which was, to date, the most concrete bit of information available.Andrew Orlowski ran an article on the Palast/Democracy Now story in The Register and apparently also had much better luck getting Palast to respond to his requests for further information than I did.Per the letters column on The Register, Palast responded to his inquiry thusly (scroll to the end for this response): This story first appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Greg Palast tells us. "Hilary Rosen was talking to Grover Nordquist [President of Americans for Tax Reform] at a social discussion, and she says 'I'm writing the copyright law', and Nordquist says 'And I'm writing the tax law'".So, another step towards tracking this down. The WSJ charges for access and I'm not currently a member. Anyone want to step up and search on this in the WSJ archives? Politics5033@blogcritics.org Fri, 2 May 2003 19:03:50 EDT