Dead Kennedys- Live. 1984.

Dead Kennedys, Jock-O-Rama. An all time punk classic and this is surprisingly good recording of it dang it. Check out the crowd just boiling over literally. I wrote a essay on this song for one of my high school english classes and got a mo freaking A on it you know.

Have another from the same set. What the hell.

Music to drive you mad.

The centuries-old struggle to play in tune. - By Jan Swafford - Slate Magazine

The gods are laughing at their little joke on musicians. When it comes to the tuning of instruments, especially keyboards and fretted instruments, nature drops a giant hairball in our path. Here's a short course on the arcana of tuning. It will take us to the meaning of a celebrated collection of keyboard pieces: J. S. Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier, humankind's greatest musical riposte to the laughter of the gods.

In dealing with tuning, there are two main terms to know. One is interval. It means the distance between notes. The basic science of intervals was laid out in ancient Greece, perhaps first by the mathematician Pythagoras. The first notes of the C major scale are C, D, E, F, and G. The note E is the third note up from C, so the interval C-E is a third. The note G is five notes up, so C-G is a fifth. So musical intervals run second, third, fourth, fifth, and so on. (Some intervals can be major, like F to A, or minor, like F to A flat.)

Modern Music thoughts

Interview With The Austin Chronicle for SXSW on Musicians and Social Media | Dave Allen of Gang of Four's Music and Media Blog

DA: I think it’s completely pointless to simply release a CD. Think of that 8 year old girl I mentioned earlier – does she want a CD? I doubt it. So what’s required is first and foremost the release of music as an “event.” Do not follow the traditional, worn out methods. Reinvent the idea of what a release of an “album” should now be. Cirque De Soleil is a far cry from Barnum & Bailey’s…

How to get Music Free Legally!

So since the nesting instinct has reared it's head here at the compound we went out and bought a new Receiver system. So far so good, get some speaker wire to replace the cheap crap it comes with but it sounds ton's better then my previous system. The previous system being computer speakers.... so uh yeah. Back story time! I have not had a "stereo" system since 2003. I had a Bose system from the 1980's prior to that so I am not exactly a audiophile. Once I made everything digital I just went for computer speakers and airports around the house. But I have been missing the better sound quality and the wife loves her movies so we went for some surround sound.

Anyways, had a old fashioned MP3 get into the playlist last night I had to run screaming to skip the track. Most of what I have is AIFF ripped from the CD collection years ago. But some Mp3's wormed there way into the library over the years and while they work on computer / low end speakers they sound like screeching monkeys on acid on a decent system (I won't pretend this system is high end).

So this lead us to talking about the best way to get DRM free lossless files. Which it turns out you can not buy. Damn. If we could buy them, we would, we are lazy. If a album comes on random that sounds like ass, BAM, download the better version. But alas, the music industry has it's heads firmly lodged up each other's asses and won't allow this. So being stubborn as well as lazy we started trying to figure out the best to to get AIFF's of music. First point, Buy the CD's, rip the CD's, the sell them to a used CD store. So we get the AIFF's cheaper then the Amazon mp3's and the itunes drm crap. Then we though, just buy used CDs and return those. Even cheaper! But then we can up with the winner.

We are going to the Library this weekend.

Avoid ASCAP

So many, many years ago I signed up with ASCAP in a band that was doing OK. I have been trying to get out of that contract for the past 6 months now. I did not weven know I was still in the contract. Which it seems that they clutch in their demon like hands to pour over and review while they are training for Satan Lawyer School. So after months of trying to get an answer I get this gem:

This means that since you have a first quarter election date for your writer membership, your effective resignation date would be April 1, 2011, and your Resignation Notification Form must be received in the P.O. Box listed on the bottom of the Resignation Notification Form between July 1, 2010 - Oct.. 1, 2010.  If your form is received before or after the relevant date for your writer membership, it will not be considered timely and will be returned to you.

So not only is their outdated business annoying, but trying to get out of the contract is right out of dealing with the devil. I have to wait till July to send the forms in and then I won't be out from under them for another 14 months! Awesome. ASCAP is a horrible place.

Avoid ASCAP for any music business.

International Grey

international Portrait Shot a portrait for the band in the danklife studio. You can also find more info on us here:

International Grey on Facebook.

International Grey on MySpace.

And the main site here.

We just finished tracking 6 songs in the studio and are hoping to release a EP by the end of the month. Or the start of the new year.

Music

Dear Musicians – Please Be Brilliant or Get Out of The Way | pampelmoose Dave Allen of Gang of Four's Music and Media Blog

I have long argued that musicians need to drop the notion of making money from CD sales through record labels and concentrate on making money from the experiential awareness that surrounds their brand; a brand they own, no one else. The downside to this for musicians is that they need to get organized and work hard, or arrange for what I call the “fifth Beatle” to help with online communications, selling merchandise etc. Consider this from Russell Davies

Creating music is only the first step to creating something valuable and timeless. For instance, David Byrne played a building. Music released as part of an event is the future – Radiohead’s release of In Rainbows was the first step toward the album release as event, if it’s an album at all.. How it’s done is also important. The container has changed forever. Remember what Rishad Tobaccowala has to say to advertising agencies trying to embrace the social web – “The future does not fit in the containers of the past.” It is no different for bands.