Texas - Say What You Want

Along with Aztec Camera and Fairground Attraction, Texas was another great band to come out of Scotland in the eighties. They had a big hit with "I don't want a lover" off their debut album in 1989 but it wasn't until 1997 that the track they would be most remembered for, "Say what you want" was released and became an instant hit with vocalist's Sharleen Spiteri's achy, longing voice the main engine for it's popularity. A very engaging slice of pop that begs to be dug out every now and again.

Long Live Starkid

What's there to say about Adam "Starkid" Spears? Vibrant, talented, gifted, tragically cut short. Adam came to fame at just eighteen years old when his inspired track "Crayons" was featured on Global Underground Reykjavik. Already a prodigy with a feel for melody, he was on the cusp of becoming a respected electronic musician when he was fatally injured in a car crash near his home in July 2004. Even though Adam is no longer with us, "Crayons" endures, still gets played out a lot, is one of the most sought after records by DJs and fans alike and it still moves people. I can't think of a better legacy.

Read more about Starkid at Longlivestarkid.com.

Download a mix by Starkid as well as tribute mixes from Dave Dresden and Jay Epoch here.

Keep the memory of Starkid alive. Listen and download his tracks here.

Rickrolling the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade

Who would have thought it'd go this far?

Props to Rick for fronting up and keeping it alive even though he looks as confused about why people still find it funny as I do.

Save the Net, Save the World

For Australians, you may or may not know about the somewhat misguided plan by the government to force ISPs to use a government endorsed filter to filter out bad stuff. This is all fine and well except the implementation of it isn't particularly well thought and certainly not thought out by somebody with any experience with the modern internet.

"Testing has already begun on systems that will slow our internet by up to 87%, make it more expensive, miss the vast majority of inappropriate content and accidentally block up to 1 in 12 legitimate sites."*

While I applaud the government's efforts to shield children and such from inappropriate material, this internet filter that they plan to implement is not a particularly good solution. It will be easy to sidestep and crippling Australia's already weak internet infrastructure even further will serve only to punish the average internet user.

I encourage people to go to Getup.org.au and sign the petition speaking out against the government plan. Get your friends to consider signing it too!

* Taken from the Getup Save the Net campaign.

Aztec Camera - Good Morning Britain

Aztec Camera was an eighties New Wave band from Scotland that really only consisted of one guy, Roddy Frame. "Good Morning Britain" was a single released on their fourth album "Stray" in 1990 and was a collaboration with Roddy's personal hero, Mick Jones from The Clash. Despite being overtly political and exclusively about the U.K., it's inspirational message of hope and tolerance resounded greatly with people, British or otherwise. Although not Aztec Camera's biggest hit (that honour goes to "Somewhere in my Heart") "Good Morning Britain"'s universal theme of positivity made it just as memorable.

Röyksopp

I've just noticed that Röyksopp, an organic sounding electronica duo from Norway, has joined Vimeo just last week and they have pasted up 3 of their music videos from their first album, Melody AM. Although these videos aren't in HD, sound and picture wise they're still heaps better than the quality on Youtube. Enjoy!


Poor Leno from Röyksopp on Vimeo.


Remind Me from Röyksopp on Vimeo.


Eple from Röyksopp on Vimeo.

ANJ - Gorbachev

GORBACHOV: THE MUSIC VIDEO - BIGGER AND RUSSIANER from Tom Stern on Vimeo.

"Megadeth after five bottles of Russian vodka" is how these guys from Moscow describe themselves and their music video is one of the most entertaining I've seen in years. Zombie Stalins, scantily clad big chested girls and Mikhail Gorbachev turned He-man, a collision of ideas that could only have come together in the post soviet metal playground that is the Russian Federation. ANJ's pop metal homage to Russia's Nobel Peace Prize winning bringer of Glasnost is fantastic entertainment.

Big props to Tom Stern who put the video together on his mac.

Legacies: Womack & Womack - Teardrops

Husband and wife musicians, Cecil and Linda (daughter of Sam Cooke) Womack recorded this great synth powered house inspired pop song in the late eighties. The single was their most successful track reaching number one in multiple countries worldwide including Australia. It's been covered by several musicians to date with Australia's Kate Alexa's version the most recent.



Just to be complete, here's the absolutely unnecessary No Angels version which is a soulless and cynical attempt to cash in on a classic tune.



Perhaps the cover that even remotely comes close to the original is Lovestation's, first released in 1998.



Lastly here's Joey Negro's (incidentally, he's probably better known under his Jakatta or Raven Maize aliases) 12 inch mix of the Lovestation update. It's a nice retro dancefloor version that does the original justice.

The cool kids walk to school

Rarely do I talk about anything political or motivated on this blog because it's my intention to keep it solely about the music. People are wondering though, how is it possible that I can find enough hours in the day to listen to all the music I'm constantly on the hunt for? Part of it is being unemployed. The other big thing is public transport.

I haven't owned a car in 5 years although I do use my parent's one but for the most part it's trains, buses and my own two legs. Being 15 minutes away from the nearest bus stop and 20 to the nearest train station makes for a lot of empty space to fill in with music, glorious music. In the last 5 years, I've learned to get away with not having a car. I intentionally chose apartments close to my place of work so that I could walk everyday rather than drive. I shopped less because I knew I had to carry all that stuff back to the house. Biggest of all, I think I reduced the amount of carbon I produced in a year by about half. That's maybe 2 or 3 tonnes of carbon a year for really not that much effort.

Now that's where the beauty lies. It's daunting to make the switch I know and it's not possible for a lot of people and I'm not asking for people to run away to the hills to live out their lives hugging trees and smoking pot. I love my tech gadgets like this nice plastic and aluminum laptop I'm typing on just like the next guy in the street. All I'm saying is with a slight modification in lifestyle, one can make a difference. To be honest, it's not that noticeable a difference in an everyday environmental sense, the smog won't suddenly clear up and rainbows appear but the difference it makes to how you live life is, on the other hand, great. You walk more. Talk more (to random strangers of course!). Have a pace of life where you dictate the terms, not the other way around.

Lastly, it all comes back to the music. So much time to just tune in and really listen. Anything that gives me more time to rock out is good thing.

Read more at www.worldcarfree.net (World Car Free Day was an idea started by Adbusters, a magazine with roots in the punk scene in Vancouver, Canada).

Save some trees at www.coolearth.org (tree hugging for urban hipsters).

Aimee Mann - Longshot

Crunchy guitars, Aimee Mann's unique vocals and her off the wall lyrics. What's there not to like about this indie rock number? "Longshot" is one of the few songs that singer Aimee Mann really rocks out on. More popularly known for "Save Me" and it's acoustic guitar folk sound, Aimee shows some of her punk band roots with "Longshot". Both "Longshot" and the album it came on "I'm with Stupid" received critical praise at the time of their release but the album was doomed to be bargain basement filler. What contributed to this was the copious amounts of the F-word in the lyrics of it's rather unique first single, "Longshot" and it never really did get the commercial radio air time it deserved when it was released in 1995. In desperation, Aimee's record label Geffen released a version with all the F-bombs carefully removed. They knew they were onto a hit but how to get onto the airwaves? Unfortunately it was too late and sadly, the success Aimee so rightly deserved never eventuated (but it did later when "Save me" became a big part of Paul Thomas Anderson's "Magnolia" sound track) and "Longshot" remains to this day a buried gem of nineties rock.

Oleg Chubykin - The Tourist

Oleg Chubykin - "The Tourist" ("The Tourist" , 2007) from Chubykin on Vimeo.

Here's some interesting Russian Pop I found the other day. I have no idea what the guy is singing about but it sounds pretty good and the clip, made from old postcards of Vladivostok is the coolest thing since fairy bread. I'm kind of partial to Vladivostok since I used to live a few hundred kilometres and one direct flight away from there in Hakodate, Japan. Yes, even closer than Sarah Palin's house.

Far East Movement's New album streamed live this Tuesday

Far East Movement, an Asian flavoured hip hop outfit from Los Angeles has just put the wrap on their new album "Animal". To celebrate the album's launch, they're going to be playing all the new tracks this Tuesday November 25th at 9pm PST in a streaming broadcast on their site, www.fareastmovement.com. Far East Movement are possibly one of the best independent hip hop acts there is, just have a listen to some of their past tracks at their Myspace page and you'll see why. Perhaps the track they're most noted for is their contribution to the Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift soundtrack. Watch it here at Youtube. And yes, they really are unsigned. This is not from lack of offers from the major labels, FM simply choose to be this way. Much props to them.

For those in Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane, you can catch the show at 4pm Wednesday 26th.

For those in Perth, you can catch the show at 2pm Wednesday 26th.

Jose Amnesia & Karen Overton - Your Loving Arms (Jose Amnesia sunrise mix)

Let's get one thing out of the way first. Karen Overton's vocals do not, in any way, hold a candle to Billie Ray Martin's. She does a great job but she's no Billie Ray. There's absolutely no point in comparing them, Karen's an understudy, Billie Ray, a diva. If one was to judge this 2008 update on the 1994 classic based solely on the criteria of the vocals, the original would win, hands down, in every aspect. But let's not do that because Jose Amnesia hasn't done a bad job at all in reworking this huge mid nineties classic for the post trance generation. The track has a very prominent Ibiza after clubbing buzz to it, chill enough for those who have had enough but dancey enough for those with the energy and compulsion to keep on partying. It does a great job of conjuring up images of the sunrise on a beach somewhere, making you wish you had taken that plane trip to Ibiza for the summer after all.

The Brilliant Green - You & I

Time for some J-pop from The Brilliant Green just to break things up a bit. Normally I loathe J-pop for the sickly sweet marketing machine that it is but sometimes I cave and dig out my old J-pop CDs I bought when I first arrived in Japan in 1997 and had yet to discover the rather huge underground scene that Japan has. "You & I" was the B-side to one of their more famous tracks "There will be love there." Just in case, you can't make out the lyrics to the song through vocalist Tomoko Kawase's cutely mangled English, here they are, courtesy of the inside flap of the CD case.

Tu tu ru...

Let's do a movie or a long afternoon drive
Or going nowheres just fine long as you are here
Doing nothing never has been so much fun
If it's with you love well than anythings alright

So we can watch the morning sunrise you and me
Stay with me darling come on let me keep you near
Till the early dawn warms up to the sun
It would be so nice baby stay with me tonight

Cause time with you is soft and warm
And happiness is here just being alive

So hey let's "you & i" oh you're with me now
And baby it just gets better
I got you in my life

Tu tu ru...

I used to worry that I'd always be alone
Embracing rainy days and lost inside my fear
To worry 'bout it never did me much good
My life it turned when you happened to me

Now that love is you everything is right
And loneliness is the other side or the world

So hey let's "you & i" oh you're with me now
And baby it just gets better
I got you in my life

You give me something so new
It will never get old
You got this place in my heart
Yes, life would be dull
Oh without you around

So hey let's "you & I" oh you're with me now
And baby it just gets better
I got you in my life

All i say and all I do
Yes I'll always love you
All I say and all that I do
I will always love you

Help an Artist out

Jean Shin takes the things that other people throw away and makes unique sculptures out of them ala "Sound Wave", her take on what happens to old music mediums when newer ones come out, which was featured in a previous post. I received an e-mail from her yesterday, she's putting together a new sculpture called "Everyday Monuments" for an exhibition in Washington DC. The sculpture will consist of old trophies and she's reaching out for people to help donate their old trophies for this project.

So, if you live in the Washington or New York area, help a sister out by dropping off any old trophies you may have before December 13th. You'll also be able to see your contribution when the sculpture is exhibited at the Smithsonian in May 2009!

For more information where you can do this, contact Jean directly at info@jeanshin.com.

For more information about the project, click here.

To see more of Jean's work, visit her website here.

Smash the Control Images, Smash the Control Machines

WARNING: Some disturbing images in this Youtube clip.



It's with this sample of a monologue from William S. Burroughs (who also features prominently in the clip) that Ministry's "Just One Fix" opens, a collaborative effort with the aforementioned spoken word poet/social critic that was released in 1992 on Ministry's most successful album "Psalm69: The way to succeed and the way to suck eggs."

While most people seem to think the track is about heroin use, I've always thought it was an allegory, comparing addictive drug use to out of control consumerism. On the CD single, an alternate mix featuring more of William S. Burroughs spoken word follows the original track. He talks about a coming alien invasion where the invaders want basically everything we have, comparing our situation to that of the Native Americans at the time of frontier settlement. He's basically saying that successive ways of living destroy the cultures and traditions that came before them and the modern, consumerism driven lifestyles enjoyed by more developed countries is the latest example. He ends the monologue with "cut word lines, cut music lines, smash the control images, smash the control machines."

I do think most Ministry fans would disagree with me, but I believe the track really is about the greater need for controlling the urge to spend money, not to consume mindlessly, to control the craving for "just one fix."

Of course, William S Burroughs was widely known to be addicted to opiates, so maybe the song really is just about shooting up heroin after all.

Guru Josh Project - Infinity 2008 (Klaas Vocal Edit)

Let's face it, Guru Josh "Infinity" was cheese but god damn, did we dance to it in 1990. This re-make is cheese too but that doesn't mean that it's not likeable in the same way as the original. What is it about that haunting synth lead that makes you look beyond the corn and get right into the tune? I don't know but it must be some kind of magic. Props to the Guru Josh Project for bringing this classic old tune back to life. Guru Josh is back!

Splogged Again!

Yep, it's happened again. This time it's a celebrity site that's been on the net for 9 years now and they've taken my short piece about Dido's new album. They have taken the text but they left a link to my site so it's ironic that it's leading people to the blog. On the other hand, it would have been nice to have contacted me before hand before copying and pasting my text, as I probably would have said okay. I love these dodgy sites, there isn't anyway to contact them on any of the web pages! although by using Whois.net, I know the name, address and contact details of the domain owner. I won't post the direct link to the site this time as I don't want to indirectly give them any hits.

For Bloggers: Check my earlier post to check if your content is being splogged and what you can do about it.

For Sploggers: Please, please, please write your own content or ask me for permission before ripping off mine.

Mazzy Star - Fade into you

This unexpected hit was what really put Mazzy Star and vocalist Hope Sandoval on the map of pop music consciousness when it was used in a number of TV and movie soundtracks, most notably "Starship Troopers" which had the track playing over a bar fight in an ironic, tongue in cheek twist.

Powered by Hope's amazing, unforgettable vocals, "Fade into you" is one of those rich, ethereal tracks that never seems to age even though it was first released in 1993 on the album "So that tonight I might see". When the Rough Guide to Rock described Mazzy Star's music, "comfortably numb" were their words of choice. I think it's a pretty accurate description.

Check out Mazzy Star Boulevard for more information about Mazzy Star.

Connections part 1 Johnny Cash and Nine Inch Nails

Who doesn't love Johnny Cash's swansong and his most enduring cover, a song that transcended music genres and was universally popular? How did he come about to choosing a cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" that would cap off a career that lasted almost half a century?

"Hurt" was the final track off "The Downward Spiral", NIN's seminal concept album that really put Trent Reznor on the map of alternative industrial music with it's blend of heavy metal guitars, synthesizers and unexpected, otherworldly samples. "Hurt" was also the swansong for the album's anti-hero protagonist, a moment of realization that he/she could only escape the downward spiral by ending his or her own life. Surely Cash had listened to the whole album before deciding on doing the cover. Perhaps he saw a similarity in his own life with that of the un-named anti-hero with his/her constant struggle with sex, drugs and music on his/her descent to rock bottom.

"Hurt" remains one of the most emotive and moving pieces of modern music that's ever been heard. I had always loved the original NIN version since it's release in 1994 and didn't think that such a masterful track full of raw emotion could ever be topped by another, but here we are with cash's version which takes it to another level again. Truly a fitting song and legacy to end a great career from an artist on pop music's less urban fringe.

Click here to listen to NIN's original at Youtube.
WARNING: some disturbing imagery revolving around the theme of death.

Dido's New Album "Safe Trip Home" is released today

Yay for Dido, her new album "Safe Trip Home" is officially released today. Click here for a long and informative article about Dido's background and her life before music and fame found her. For instance I never knew her name was Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong, that she was named after the queen of Carthage and that she used to practice her instruments intensely, up to seven hours a day. With that amount of dedication, it's no wonder her albums always seem to be so classy. Definately a must read if you're a fan.

If you're not familiar with Dido's particular brand of pop music, check out "Stoned" from her last album "Life for Rent."



"Safe Trip Home" has been 3 years in the making and has had big names such as Brian Eno, Mick Fleetwood and ,of course, her brother Rollo, helping out with it. The album was co-produced with Jon Brion who has produced albums from a wide range of artists such as Aimee Mann and The Crystal Method.

All tracks on "Safe Trip Home" can be previewed at Ilike.com. Just click on Dido's name on the right under "Exclusive World Premiere."

Motorcycle - As the Rush Comes

Not since the Shamen's "Ebeneezer Goode" with it's "E's are good" chant has there been a song that has achieved so much mainstream success yet was so blatantly obvious that it was about taking drugs.

"As the Rush Comes" was released in 2003 and had worked it's way up to number 11 on the U.K. charts by 2004. Who was responsible for this now classic trance-lite track? The duo of Gabriel and Dresden of course, also responsible for Andain's "Beautiful Things" that same year. Despite my personal reservation about it's lyrics reducing the entire trance music genre to basically "taking drugs to music", it's still a well written and catchy trance tune and deserves it's place today as a classic.

The Wine Cellar part 2

Time for a self-indulgent post.

So I spent a few hours cleaning up the wine cellar and trying to arrange my music collection into something coherent this week.

Here's a pic from before the clean up.


And here's two more from after I finished.



The empty wine racks actually do a really good job of breaking up the sound. Where's all the wine? it's there, just out of shot in a section not visible from the angle of the picture.

Here's a picture of the mixer with the lights on.


And with the lights off.


I still don't a have cost effective solution for all the CDs. They're just sitting in boxes at the moment and there's yet more records which need a storage home of some kind. There's also a distinct lack of beanbags down there too. Two things that I still have to work on in the future.

Miriam Makeba - Malaika

It was sad news this week when it was known that Miriam Makeba had passed away while walking off stage at a concert in Italy. Mama Afrika has had a long career of performing her unique blend of traditional African vocals and melodies mixed with modern day jazz. Beyond her career as an artist, she was thrust onto the world wide stage when she testified against Apartheid in 1963, earning her a three decade long exile from her home country of South Africa. She spent most of that time untiringly singing about and campaigning for freedom. Eventually she was able to return at the invitation of then president, Nelson Mandela in 1990 and at the news of her passing a few days ago, he had this to say:

"She was a mother to our struggle and to the young nation of ours. It was fitting that her last moments were spent on a stage, enriching the hearts and lives of others - and again in support of a good cause. "

MGMT - Kids

MGMT aka the Management recently signed on with Sony's Columbia record label last year. With some stellar endorsement from Rolling Stone magazine, their debut album found great success world wide and especially here in Australia where the album had extensive air play time from local alternative radio station Triple J. Although there are some punters who resent the recent glut of eighties synthesizer motifs in indie pop (ala Ladyhawke, Van She, The Presets among others), for most of those in their thirties who grew up being bombarded with songs like Van Halen's "Jump", it's a like catching a second wave of synth pop nostalgia. So here's MGMT's "Kids" with it's catchy synth riff.



Investigating MGMT a little further, I discovered they're anything but new, being active in the New York area since around 2002. The single "Kids" too has been around the same length of time. Just goes to show how some great tunes by unsigned artists can lie untapped for years or even go completely undiscovered.

Check out this next Youtube clip from 2002/2003 with MGMT performing "Kids" live.


Props to Teddy Gage for posting this rare and personal video clip.

Some thoughts about fair use, the DMCA and supporting independent artists

About 70 unique visitors came to the blog on Saturday when I posted my short article introducing Goh Nakamura and his new album. Among those 70 were a few secretive visitors who arrived via proxies hiding where they really came from. They also had cookies turned off so I couldn't see how long they were viewing the blog. I was intrigued and through Statcounter, I was able to see who these mysterious visitors were. I won't name any names but they were large corporations associated with media copyright and distribution. But why were they visiting me? I soon realized they had discovered my blog through TotallyFuzzy when I advertised that I had an important update to my blog ie the one about Goh. So basically they came around secretly to see whether I was distributing any copyrighted material solely because I had advertised that Goh's new album was available as a free download.

I thought this was pretty strange. First of all, Goh's latest album is self published. These organizations don't represent him at all. Secondly, I contacted Goh directly regarding embedding mp3s of his tracks and also putting up a download link to his album and he, being the very nice guy that he is, had given me permission. All of this was prior to publishing it on the blog. Of course, because they did not represent him or even if they did, I'm sure they would not have bothered to ask him about it.

I'm a feeling a bit bothered about this as I've done nothing wrong. I had the express permission of the owner to help distribute his work. Yet here I was under suspicion for a non-existent crime. I find it a pretty absurd situation where the watchdogs are watching so intently they believe everybody is a criminal. Guilty before proven innocent.

So this brings me to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and fair use. According to Wikipedia, fair use is determined by:

1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

So, you can see there are no real hard and fast rules for what determines if something is fair use or not. Ultimately it is up to judges on a case by case situation whether something has been fairly used or in violation of copyright laws. Now this law from the U.S. is basically an accepted precedent world wide and it covers not only written text but also movies, music and images including the album covers and artist pictures I have liberally sprinkled all over my blog.

This got me thinking. Am I indeed doing something wrong? I searched around the net for information whether I was in the clear or not regarding the Youtube links and pictures I so love to use. Well, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, I'm in the clear. My blog is non-profit. The links and pictures are for informative purposes. The lo-fi nature of videos on Youtube and the smallish size pictures are really just portions of the originals. Now, the last part, am I effecting the market value of the material? Damn right I am, but definitely in a good way. Music blogs bring attention to artists and their work through the magic of the internet where anybody can access this information easily. People are using music blogs to discover new music, swap opinions and make informed choices about music purchases. Music blogs are the viral in viral marketing.

So why all the hate and suspicion on the part of the music copyright owners to secretly spy on music blogs to see if they're enabling the piracy of music or not? Why this pre-emptive first strike on people who just simply like music, enough to put aside hours a day to write about it with no other ulterior motives outside of sheer passion.

The internet is the greatest tool for disseminating information there is. Without the many small music blogs I would not have discovered countless great artists and bands. Music blogs in the millennium are what word of mouth was in the time before the internet. Really, they're just an extension of asking your friends "So, what music have you been getting into lately?"

The irony in all of this is that the heavy handed nature of the copyright owners' reprisals on media "pirates" is that I've moved away from mainstream music releases and have turned more towards more obscure self published artists. Now I'm giving less of my money to the large organizations that own the copyrights and more directly to the artists, completely by-passing the revenue system they have been trying so hard to protect.

For sure, one of the factors for the reduction in CD sales is most definitely piracy via file sharing but another one that I think cannot be dismissed is that with the widening of the access to knowledge, such as the reading of online music blogs, consumers are being turned more towards alternative sources such as self published artists like Goh.

The state of music and music distribution is in a moment of great transition right now. How will we access music in the future? Will it be one where we cut out the middlemen and give directly to the artists? I sure hope so.

Fairground Attraction - Perfect

Anybody who was born in the seventies and grew up near a radio or TV in the eighties are sure to remember Fairground Attraction with their number one hit debut single "Perfect". The video clip was quite memorable in that it showed the band in their very student like outfits playing along with the track while sailing down a canal on a little barge. The clip was also interspersed with little snippets of urban U.K. life in the eighties. The video clip makes a great time capsule of that not so distant time and place.

Click here to watch the clip on Youtube (embedding has been disabled on this clip but the good news is that it has high quality sound and video).

For a very informative site about Fairground Attraction's short lived stint as a pop band go here.

Where is Eddi Reader, the lead singer, now? she's still around, recording and touring and generally being active as an artist. Recently she was awarded an honorary doctorate and just recorded a new album to be released officially in 2009. Catch up with Eddi at her homepage or listen to some of her tracks at her Myspace page.

An Interview with Goh Nakamura regarding his new album "Ulysses"

Goh was gracious enough to agree to an interview by e-mail this weekend. It's pretty insightful to the background and origin of his sound. Listening to "Ulysses" this Saturday afternoon, the subdued percussion, soothing vocals and laid back guitar strumming/arpeggios remind me of another largely acoustic band, the Kings of Convenience from Norway. So if you find yourself grooving along with Goh's album, be sure to check out the Kings of Convenience too. Both are great accompaniments that suit sunny Saturday afternoons with friends perfectly. Anyway, onto the interview.

1. How are you?

I'm good. I'm happy that Barack Obama is going to be our next president. How are you?

2. Were you always into music from a young age? How did you get your start in music? Did you have formal training? If so, where did you study?

Yes, I always into music as a kid. My mom would often play Chopin on the piano at night, and sometimes would sing and play folk songs from the 60's on the guitar. I always had a turntable, though I was mainly listening to stuff like Batman audio comic books and the Star Wars soundtrack. Around the age of 8 I got my first Beatles album and I got hooked. My first band was in junior high, I played keyboards and sang, but didn't play guitar yet. I didn't really have any ability on the keyboards either to be honest, but I could sort of play by ear.

I started guitar lessons and really got absorbed in the instrument, with the intention of becoming a rock virtuoso. It was the late 80's and that was the thing to do.

My formal training was at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

3. What were the reasons behind naming your new album "Ulysses"?

I have no idea, there was a mysterious voice in my head telling me to name the album "Ulysses." One reason might be because I had an early draft of the song that had the lyrics "you listen..." I guess that phrase turned into "ulysses"

In hindsight, it was quite a long journey to finish the album. I recorded and mixed it across 4 different studios, and it ended up sounding much better than I could have dreamed. There were many fascinating and brilliant people that I met during the process, at the right time and place, so it's journey I will always look back on fondly.

4. Where do you draw inspiration from for your songs?

Dreams, memories, and possibilities.

5. What artists/bands have been influential in the formation of your style?

Lyrically - Elliott Smith, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Aimee Mann, Joni Mitchell, Ron Sexsmith, Elvis Costello are huge influences on me. I'm really loving Randy Newman and Harry Nilsson these days. Melodically and texturally, probably my biggest influences are Bill Frisell, Miles Davis, and The Beatles as mentioned before.

6. Have there been any influences outside music that has had an effect on your songwriting?

Definitely stories and interviews. I love the stories of Raymond Carver and Haruki Murakami, and am constantly blown away by the breadth of their creativity and precision of description. Comics too. Check out Adrian Tomine and Derek Kirk Kim. I like to think that songs are kind of like audio comic books, except you have to translate the action into notes instead of lines and shapes.

7. Do you have any tips for new artists regarding songwriting and self publishing your work on the internet?

I don't really believe in tips, but I like to keep a notebook by my bed and jot things down in a semi-awake state. If anything, it can be pretty comical. The internet thing is always changing so fast, that I can't keep up with all the hip new bands and places to pimp yourself out... I guess the obvious thing would be to say copyright your songs and get them out there.

8. Is there anything else you would like to add?

Yes, I'd like to thank you for blogging about my music and taking the time to contact me. The final leg of the "Ulysses Journey" is to sail it (the album) around the world and meet new people and make new friends. I really believe that there is a something for just about everybody on this album, so please put some wind into it's sails and pass it around!

http://gohnakamura.com/2008/10/ulysses-a-call-to-arms/

Cheers,

Goh Nakamura

For those who missed the last post about Goh, you can still download the Ulysses album as 128k mp3s for free or purchase it as a nicely packaged CD at Goh's homepage.

Click here to download free/purchase the "Ulysses" album.

Again, another big thanks to Goh for taking the time to answer these questions.

Goh Nakamura - Somewhere

Goh Nakamura is a one man band from San Francisco. An acoustic guitar and a computer are his only sidekicks, Goh shows that you don't need much equipment wise to be successful in music. I know that's not a very good picture of him but I thought it was cute. Actually, I take that back, it is a very good picture because it really does look like him.

Although you might not have heard of him but chances are you've probably heard a track or two by him if you've seen American Gangster or Body of Lies, which both featured some of Goh's work. Some people have likened him to Matthew Sweet who I used to like back in the day. Check out the first track "Somewhere" from his new album "Ulysses".



Goh's entire new album is available for download as 128k mp3s direct from his site coupled along with 16 tracks of his favourite bands, including the likes of Asian-American folk singer Annie Lin. Actual CD media and higher quality mp3 versions of the tracks are also available for purchase.

Click here to download free/purchase the "Ulysses" album.

A big thanks to Goh for letting me put his track up and linking to his download page. Keep on rocking man = )

Apologies to everybody, I finally got that embedded mp3 to work. I had google sites set to private so nobody could access the file but me! Anyway, it should be all fixed now. Enjoy everybody.

Underground Lovers - Losin' It

Underground Lovers was a phenomenal alternative band in mid 90's Australia. Although their mainstream debut album "Dream it Down" was a huge hit and incredibly influential on the independent Australian music scene at the time, they nevertheless didn't make the transition to becoming a successful rock band. In my opinion, probably a good thing because I think Underground Lovers have been and still are, a band with an impressive unique sound. Unafraid to incorporate new technology, their downbeat sound is a mixture of delicate, ethereal soundscapes and reflective, soulful vocals and heartfelt lyrics. Although the band played their last shows together in 2002, there remains a huge cult following to this day.

Check out more of their tracks at the Underground Lovers Myspace page.

Dido - Don't Believe in Love

Who doesn't love Dido? Talented in every aspect - great tunes, great lyrics, great sultry vice and that electric, moody quality she brings to everything she touches, Rollo's little sister has most definitely stepped out of her famous producer brother's rather substantial shadow to carve out her own niche in modern music.

It's been a long wait from her last released album in 2004 but the good news for fans is that work has finished on her new album "Safe Trip Home" and is set to be released on November 17th (a day later on the 18th for those in the U.S.), a mere ten sleeps away. "Don't Believe in Love" is the first single from "Safe Trip Home".

You can preview some of the other new tracks at dido's site, her Youtube page or her Myspace page.

Late Night Alumni - Another Chance (Kaskade's Homage to Roger Remix)

Here's another quality house tune revamped for the 2008, seven years after the original by Roger Sanchez burned up dance floors in 2001. In my opinion it's not quite as good as the original (but that's a rare enough occurrence as it is, so don't hold it against this remix!) but it has a nice twist with the switch in vocals from male to female. All in all, a well made update by Kaskade and the Late Night Alumni on a now classic tune.

Happy election day people in the U.S. Either way it goes, I'm sure everybody is happy it's all over.

I've been splogged!

A splog is a spam blog, an automated blog which steals posts from other people's blogs in an attempt to make it look like it's got content (so people will come there, click on ads, increase their search engine presence etc). If anybody is interested here are links to the splogs.

http://www.blogged.com/about/room-seven/

Weird, it looks like some splog about...houses. What does this have to do with me? well apparently the post I made about the Liquid Room in Tokyo, because it had the word "room" in it got it tagged. I think it's cute that they left a link in that leads to S45.

http://sweetalissa.blogsome.com/2008/10/12/the-liquid-compass-lives/

I like how random it all is especially the links that lead to other splogs which have been placed willy nilly throughout the text.

So what do I think about my new found fame? I'm slightly amused and not overly worried over the whole thing but here are some links to some good resources other blog writers might find handy if their own content is being hijacked.

http://www.devtopics.com/splogs-spam-blogs-and-stolen-content/

How do you know if you're blog is being ripped off? try this site.

http://www.copyscape.com/

Here's a lengthy and well written piece from Wired about splogs

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.09/splogs.html

Hope those links will be of use to other blog writers. They were very eye opening for me.

Apocalytica - Nothing Else Matters

I thought this was a pretty awesome cover of a classic Metallica tune, re-arranged for a string quartet. Certainly very different to the original.

Thanks to Pougee for sharing this with me.

Kevin Yost - 7th Heaven

Here's a slice of chill from Deep House legend Kevin Yost. This track is fairly different from Kevin's usual stuff which usually has a less prominent kick drum and more horns but it's still excellent for a relaxed Sunday evening lying around and wondering what to have for dinner. Enjoy.

Probspot - Blueberry

Here's a classic progressive trance track by Swedish remixer Probspot that I found while in the wine cellar the other day. It's mellow yet buoyant enough with it's deep baseline that it keeps you interested as the track moves forward.

As far as I know, it's never been released on CD or Vinyl as a single but it is possible to find the track on the first Coldharbour Selections, a really good disc if you can get your hands on it. Anyway, I hope everybody had a fun and safe halloween, here's to a good trancey start to the month of November.