Come join Organ and Drums.net - the Benevento Russo Duo's Fan Community - and meet some fans who love them as much as you do! I'm on there, my handle is dudeofmusic (like it would be anything else!).
See ya there!
the Dude of Music
I can't stop listening to the Benevento / Russo Duo. They're just too good! And that's why my music pick o' the day is "My Pet Goat" off of their album, Best Reason To Buy The Sun. Have a listen to the full length studio version here.
And check this out!
Thursday, 11.29.07 - The Nice Boys at 4PM EST / 1PM PST
Join us at tomorrow to get an insider's view into the unique style of The Nice Boys!
Portland power pop rockers The Nice Boys will host their RockMe. Session this Thursday, November 29th. According to Spin Magazine, The Nice Boys deliver “infectious pub-rock songcraft with the charmingly sloppy abandon of the Faces," and were named to the publication’s Top 50 Next Big Things to Watch 2006. The Nice Boys will be discussing their unique sound with fans, while also leading users around their favorite Web sites and sharing some personal experiences from the road.
Me.dum is required to participate in all RockMe. events! Get Me.dium here!
Today's the day! Marco Benevento of the Benevento / Russo Duo is hosting today's RockMe. Session on Me.dium. Don't miss it - it's going to be an epic Session!
Me.dum is required to participate in all RockMe. events! Get Me.dium here!
That's right, The Benevento / Russo Duo will be on RockMe. tomorrow Wednesday, November 29 at 4 PM EST / 1 PM PST.
Well, more specifically Marco Benevento will host tomorrow's Session focused on The Benevento Russo Duo’s unique musical style. David Fricke, Senior Editor for Rolling Stone, calls The Benevento Russo Duo, “One of the five bust outs from [2005’s] SXSW music fest.” Self-described as “an indie-rock band that jammed” and a “jazz-combo that rocked,” the Duo has cultivated a rapidly growing, dedicated international fan base since forming in New York in 2002.
Me.dium’s RockMe. Sessions are like sitting down at a bar and having a beer with your favorite musicians. With the web at your finger tips, you’ll tour their worlds online and find out what makes them tick. So come on in and have a beer with Marco Benevento tomorrow.
Be sure to join the chat on your Me.dium sidebar.
Seeya there,
the Dude of Music
Join us at RockMe.dium.com to get an insider's view into the launch of Waxploitation Records' inaugural Causes album series with the release of Causes 1!
Causes 1 includes exclusive and rare tracks donated by Animal Collective, The Black Keys, Bloc Party, Bright Eyes, Cornelius, The Cure, David Sylvian, Death Cab for Cutie, (International) Noise Conspiracy, The Shins remixed by Clint Mansell, Spoon, Teargas & Plateglass, Thievery Corporation and Travis.
One hundred percent of the proceeds will go to three non-profit organizations: Doctors Without Borders, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam America.
The album will be available digitally on iTunes for only 90 days beginning on November 27th. “We’ve made a conscious decision to create a sense of urgency - to mirror what is a dire situation in Darfur. It’s not just a symbolic gesture,” says Waxploitation’s founder Jeff Antebi. “These non-profits need help there now.”
Waxploitation will also be pressing a limited edition CD which can be pre-ordered by signing up at waxploitation.com
Although estimates of the number of people killed by the conflict in Darfur vary widely from 200,000 to 400,000, what is certain is that more than 2 million people have fled their homes because of the fighting, and 4 million are now in need of humanitarian assistance— making this one of the worst crises in the world today.
Me.dum is required to participate in all RockMe. events! Get Me.dium here!
Join us today on Me.dium at 4 PM EST / 1 PM PST to get into the world of House with LawnChair Generals.
Have a listen to LawnChair Generals right here.
Here's a little bit about LawnChair Generals (bio from their site).
"Seattle duo Peter Christianson and Carlos Mendoza, a.k.a. LawnChair Generals have been shaping the future of House music out of their self-made studios since 2001. Based on the brief amount of time the duo has spent manning the controls, the success they have attained is staggering. As goes the old adage, it is quality, not quantity that breeds such success. Along with their talent, both behind the decks and in the studio, and a little luck thrown in for good measure, LCG have simultaneously blazed their way into the crates, mix compilations, and ranks of the world's top DJs.
Soon after the initial jaunt into the studio, their first sonic experiments were picked up by Viva Recordings and pressed into 'The Great Escape.' Their debut EP, called a "hot house hit" by Terry Farley in Muzik magazine (issue 77 Oct. 2001), was released to widespread praise by the likes of Mark Farina, DJ Heather, DJ Sneak, Derrick Carter, Doc Martin, Rob Mello, Yousef, and many more.
Then came the infectious 'U Dirty' EP on Westbound Records, containing the underground hit 'One Thing.' This claimed there was more where 'The Great Escape' came from and that LCG were more than a passing fluke.
'The Truth' on Dizzy's Lowdown Recordings is the label's most successful release to date and is firmly planted in the crates of all of the top House jocks. Tracks from this EP have been licensed for Derrick Carter and Mark Farina's, "Live at Om" CD as well as for DJ Heather's DJ Magazine front cover CD.
Shortly thereafter, LCG's next single 'Tell You Something' hit the street running on July 15, 2004. This second release on Westbound out-did the first, having peaked so much interest when it spiked several sets at The 2004 Winter Music Conference. 'Tell You Something - Else', LCG's remix of their own title track, was chosen by JT Donaldson and Lance DeSardi for their installment of Om's "San Francisco Sessions" mixed compilation series.
LCG kicked off a promising 2005 with their hugely anticipated 5th release, "You Got To / Stop Frontin'" on the Belgian imprint Aroma, licensed to DJ Sneaks upcoming OM Records Mix CD before its release.
The talent of this duo is undeniable, both as producers, remixers and DJs. They have been making dancefloor gold of other artists' work for almost as long as they have been creating their own. After dropping torrential re-workings of tracks like DJ Hal's 'Don't Give It Up' and Swirl People and DJ Heather's 'We Used To Party', LCG remixes are now on back-order.
From as close to home as Flammable @ Rebar in Seattle to as far away as the clubs of Australia and Europe, LCGs' rambunctious two-jock DJ sets have become a required experience for House-heads around the world. The LCG blend is a unique fusion of West coast and classic Chicago-style House with touches of electro, soul, and freestyle-era pop flavor. Their performances further cement the strong impression left by the music they create. And wherever the production path may take LCG, they're likely to embrace respect without forgetting their DJ roots. As Carlos puts it, 'Peter and I are DJs first. We make music we want to play.' "
As a bassist in a funk/electronica band I am constantly on the hunt for different bass sounds. In other words, I'm constantly looking to discover new effects pedals that morph and enhance the sound of my bass.
Whether it's envelope filters, octaves, distortions, EQ's, wahs, phase shifters, chorus', synths, flangers, delays, overdrives, compressors, or something I don't even know about, I've always got an eye and an ear out for new sounds. It's not easy though, it's very much a hunt.
See here's the thing: the great bass players rarely make the pedals they use public knowledge. I'm not really sure why, but it's just the way it is. Maybe it's because they had to work to figure out which pedals their bass heroes used, and it's kind of a "you have to pay your dues" type of deal. I just don't know.
Of course this isn't the case with all bass players - some of them put lists of their gear right out there for everyone to see. But for others you've really got to dig for some clues.
I have several techniques that I use when it comes to the investigation stage. They're all pretty obvious steps, so by no means do I consider myself an expert in the field. Actually in all honesty I suck at it. So you can always google the bass player's name + effects pedals and hope that some fan has somehow sneaked a picture of their on stage pedal setup. But you're lucky if you find this.
Next I'll ask someone who's a much more skilled pedal detective what they think a particular bass player is using in a certain song. This tends to be my roommate and guitarist and he usually produces good results. I don't know how he finds out, but somehow he does. If you don't have direct access to an expert pedal detective, then you can always try posting to a gear community like thegearpage.net, or harmony-central.com.
And then there is always the old fashion way of actually going to a show and trying to check out what they have on stage. You can't always tell - sometimes their pedals are obscured by a monitor, or they're too far away. But every now and then you get lucky.
Today I got lucky. Umm....in a different way than what you're thinking. My expert pedal detective (roommate/guitarist) shared his discovery with me. Again I don't question his methods - he just gets it done. Here's what he showed me.
It's an add for a bass featuring Marc Brownstein (bassist, the Disco Biscuits). If you'll direct your attention to his feet, you'll see what all of the fuss is about. There are his pedals!!!!
But there is still work left to be done. We have to figure out what those pedals actually are. Sometimes this is simple. For instance, several of the pedals that he uses are Boss pedals - they're easily identified by their shape. Furthermore, each Boss pedal has a different color. Sometimes the shades are similar so it gets tricky. So it looks like he's using (from picture left to right) a:
- Boss Super Chorus or Compressor (they're both baby blue)
- Boss Synth (silver next to baby blue)
- Boss Bass Equalizer (tan to the right of the big red one)
- Boss Super Octave (dark brown to the right of the tan one)
- and on the far right underneath the text I can make out a Boss Tap Tempo indicating that somewhere under that f*in text is a Boss Delay Pedal.
And I can determine what a couple of the other pedals are, but not all of them so I still haven't totally cracked the case of what Brownstein uses, but we've made a lot of headway.
So just wanted to share with you what goes into the music you listen to. It's not just a bass, it's also a ton of effects pedals, and other crazy gear. And let's not forget the all important and frustrating hunt for the pedals.
Oh and if anyone knows what is under that text on the right there...let me know.
Later,
the Dude of Music
Enjoy!
A friend of mine sent me this. It's pretty interesting. Check it out. Oh and here's the source.
"Pioneers 10 and 11, which preceded Voyager, both carried small metal plaques identifying their time and place of origin for the benefit of any other spacefarers that might find them in the distant future. With this example before them, NASA placed a more ambitious message aboard Voyager 1 and 2-a kind of time capsule, intended to communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials. The Voyager message is carried by a phonograph record-a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth. The contents of the record were selected for NASA by a committee chaired by Carl Sagan of Cornell University. Dr. Sagan and his associates assembled 115 images and a variety of natural sounds, such as those made by surf, wind and thunder, birds, whales, and other animals. To this they added musical selections from different cultures and eras, and spoken greetings from Earth-people in fifty-five languages, and printed messages from President Carter and U.N. Secretary General Waldheim. Each record is encased in a protective aluminum jacket, together with a cartridge and a needle. Instructions, in symbolic language, explain the origin of the spacecraft and indicate how the record is to be played. The 115 images are encoded in analog form. The remainder of the record is in audio, designed to be played at 16-2/3 revolutions per minute. It contains the spoken greetings, beginning with Akkadian, which was spoken in Sumer about six thousand years ago, and ending with Wu, a modern Chinese dialect. Following the section on the sounds of Earth, there is an eclectic 90-minute selection of music, including both Eastern and Western classics and a variety of ethnic music. Once the Voyager spacecraft leave the solar system (by 1990, both will be beyond the orbit of Pluto), they will find themselves in empty space. It will be forty thousand years before they make a close approach to any other planetary system. As Carl Sagan has noted, 'The spacecraft will be encountered and the record played only if there are advanced spacefaring civilizations in interstellar space. But the launching of this bottle into the cosmic ocean says something very hopeful about life on this planet.' "
