The highly anticipated Novachord sample library from the acclaimed Hollow Sun is launched today in Kontakt 3 format, with other formats to follow very soon.
I have had the privilege to have a play with a release candidate and can tell you that this is something rather special. It’s one of those libraries where every program is an inspiration. You can find yourself getting lost in improvisation and experimentation.
A truly brilliant library that you simply must own.
Go here now….!!
http://www.hollowsun.com/shop/novachord/index.htm
In shameless X-Factor style, I am here to beg for your votes!!
If you’re not already aware, I’m a big fan of Spotify, the music streaming service that is taking the world by storm. Since it’s popularity began to rise, 3rd party sites have sprung up offering Spotify users many ways of sharing the playlists that are so easy to create within the application.
By far and away the best of these is ShareMyPlaylists.com, and at the end of 2009 they launched a competition for users to compile the very best songs from 2009 into one playlist and submit it for the chance to win a years Spotify subscription for free.
I have been very lucky to have been shortlisted from nearly 100 playlists and am now in a final battle with 5 other lists which will all be voted on by the general public.
So my plea to you all is to pop along to ShareMyPlaylists and vote for “Failed Muso’s Sound of 2009″.
To vote, you do have to be a signed up member, but it’s quick and easy, spam free and best of all free of charge. The benefit being that you have access to over 12,000 submitted playlists, categorized by genre, as well as access to your own little page where you can chat with other users, blog or just hang out and enjoy other peoples choice in music.
So, please vote for my list!! I came 3rd in their last competition, narrowly missing out on winning a PS3 console 
Thank you very much! 
Just lately I have been re-immersing myself in the whole world that is Joy Division/New Order/Factory Records/etc.. in fact, anything from that golden age of musical renaissance that was the New Wave revolution of circa 1979. This has involved re-purchasing Joy Division back catalogue, books, documentaries and films, as well as scouring the interwebs for anything remotely JD/NO related. I’ve even bought myself a ticket to go see Peter Hook give a talk on his life & times as bassist with the aforementioned bands as well as being part owner of the legendary yet doomed Hacienda night club in Manchester.
Anyway, whilst pootling about the web tonight, I came across the following video that, albeit in poor quality, shows us the legend that is Tony Wilson (co-founder of Factory) presenting a segment on a show (The Other Side Of Midnight) that has Peter Hook playing a track called “The Happy One” live, along with a bunch of synth geekery behind him. See if you can spot anything that I haven’t already seen.
I can make out an E-MU Emulator EII, a Roland D-50, Apple Macintosh SE/30, Yamaha TX-816 & Akai S900
As I’ve mentioned previously on this blog, Dan Wilson acquired a Hammond Novachord from Marc Doty in the States and has spent his time since, restoring and repairing it to as close to new condition as possible. Steve Howell at Hollow Sun was then approached to sample the beast and we can expect that commercial sample package some time in Q1 or Q2 this year.
Steve recently met with Dan at his studios near Bath to see this incredible machine first hand and captured a lot of it on camera, with Dan walking him through the complex and primitive electronics behind this most mysterious of synthesizers.
Here is that video…
For more information, check out the pages at Hollow Sun…
http://www.hollowsun.com/shop/novachord/index.htm
http://blog.hollowsun.com/blog
I cannot wait to get my hands on these
Here’s a Spotify playlist I have created with 100 tracks from 1979, arguably the last truly completely original and creative year in pop.
Enjoy
If there’s one track you MUST play at whatever NYE shin dig you are attending tonight, make it this one…
I really don’t go in for New Year celebrations. Or Christmas as a whole, to be honest. It’s just not my cup of tea. I find it ridiculous how so many people compartmentalise their lives into groups of 365 days; a group of days determined solely by our planets revolution around a dying star. To me, that is it’s only significance. The coming of a new year doesn’t wipe any slate clean. It doesn’t draw an end to all the shit you went through in the current year. It doesn’t bring about better fortune. January the 1st is just tomorrow. Like every other day of the year, it’s just the next day in a long and continuing line of days where everything remains the same.
Bah humbug? Yeah, bah bloody humbug!
I’ve had a tumultuous fourteen or fifteen months on a personal level. It has often meant that I have neglected this blog and for that I apologise. Why has it been tumultuous? Well, the biggest thing has been my day job. This time last year, after being told two months previous that myself and four of my colleagues were at risk of redundancy, I had been through a re-interview process and been successful, along with two of my colleagues. That resulted in two friends losing their positions. One was fortunate enough to find another vacancy within the company, albeit a different career. The other was not so fortunate and went through the pain of losing their job and having to wait till April to get something else. The hardship is quite unimaginable.
So for myself and my colleagues, we were the “lucky ones”. Except for two of us, that is. Me & my friend were only given six month extensions till June ‘09, subject to review. So, for six months, we were safe-ish. In May, that six months was extended by a further six months to today. That was until November. We were expecting to either be both laid off, or both hired permanently. As it turned out, we had to both re-interview yet again for just one position. I can’t begin to tell you how that feels. To go head to head with someone you admire and respect, knowing that one of you will have a job and the other won’t.
The process was brief, for which I think we were both thankful and, as it turned out, I was the successful candidate. But there was no joy, no elation, just relief followed by a lot of sadness.
“So, you should be happy”, I hear you say, and of course I am happy that I have, for the moment anyway, secured my immediate future, but I can never escape the heartache and stress the whole process caused both of us. Yes, it is validating to know that I was chosen above a man who I believed to be far superior to my own talents in our chosen industry. Yes, it is validating to have interviewed for my role three times now and to have been successful every time, but at the expense of three good friends.
So, from my job point of view, it’s all been a bit shit. But that will hopefully change in the coming weeks and months.
Musically, well, again, a bit all over the place. These last few months have seen the completion of a track in collaboration with Micky Dodds & Lori Cunningham which is an achievement in itself, given that we have never physically met and there are at least 5000 miles between me & Lori, with Micky much the same! “Where Are You Now?” has been well received and even got airplay on real life radio!!!
My studio hasn’t developed much at all. No new equipment to speak of but that will change soon too. I am seriously considering acquiring a new drum kit. I already have a Yamaha DTXpress Mk.1 which currently languishes in the garage. However, now that I have some certainty in my job and I know I’ll be home for most of that, I fancy playing live again, and so I’d like to get back into drumming. Also, I hope to lose some weight in the not too distant future and drumming is very good exercise
The only downside is that to fund this purchase I will have to sell off some of my beloved synthesizers. So, I have identified those I rarely use now and will be auctioning them off very soon. Watch this space for links. They will probably be my Yamaha DX27, CS1x, RM1x and SU-10 as well as my Roland PMA-5 and a Marshall Keyboard amp. That lot should hopefully raise enough for an Alesis DM-10 Pro kit, which I can get at trade price through my contacts there.
I was supposed to see Depeche Mode in May of ‘09 but due to Dave Gahan’s brush with cancer, that gig was postponed till Feb. ‘10 so I have that to look forward to. I did get to see Gary Numan again, on his Pleasure Principle ‘09 Tour and as ever, he was awesome. February of next year will also see me going to a night with Thomas Dolby & Friends, an exclusive one off gig with people like Edi Reader, Trevor Horn & Bruce Walley in attendance. Very exciting. I am also hoping to go and see Peter Hook (of Joy Division & New Order fame) at a lecture on his time in both of those bands as well as the ill fated Hacienda night club.
As for other people’s music, there has been a lot I’ve been impressed by and a lot of dross too. On the plus side, there have been great album’s by Muse (The Resistance), Prince (Lotusflow3r & MPLSound) Robbie Williams (Reality Killed the Video Star), Imogen Heap (Ellipse), Yeah Yeah Yeahs (It’s Blitz), The Mummers (Tale To Tell), Little Boots (Hands), La Roux (La Roux), Tara Busch (Pilfershire Lane), Menya (Various EP’s), Jay-Z (The Blueprint 3), Lady Gaga (The Fame Monster) and Ellie Goulding (Under The Sheets). Plus there have been some great re-releases & retrospectives such as St. Etienne’s “London Calling”, Gary Numan’s 30th anniversary edition of The Pleasure Principle, Thomas Dolby’s “The Flat Earth” & “Golden Age Of Wireless”, The Beatles Remasters & Kraftwerk’s remastered albums.
Looking ahead, the new Hot Chip album, One Life Stand, looks set to break these boys in a massive way, as does the upcoming album from French Horn Rebellion.
And of course, I have rediscovered and found music from way back, such as Joy Division and John Meyer Trio to name but a few.
Movie wise, I can’t say much has stirred me except Inglourious Basterds. Not even Avatar stirs my loins to go see it. I’m not sure whether it’s because I’m losing interest in film, or whether there is just not many good films anymore.
So, there’s a bit of a retrospective and a look forward. I’m hoping that I can dedicate more time to the blog very soon. You can always follow me on twitter (link is on the right of this page) and please do come back often. Hopefully Steve at Hollow Sun will be supplying me with his Novachord samples to test soon, so expect lots of that in the early part of the year. And of course, should I get my drums as planned, there’ll be plenty of that to report on.
So, enjoy tonight. And here’s to tomorrow, and all the other tomorrows we will face…
Peace & love to you all xxxxxx
Courtesy of our friends at ShareMyPlaylists.com, there is a whole years subscription to Spotify Premium up for grabs!!
All you have to do is compile a playlist of between 10 & 100 songs featuring what you believe to be the best tracks of 2009. On December 30th, all submitted lists will be judged and the winner will get one years subscription to the premium version of Spotify which will give you, over and above the free version, absolutely zero ads, 320kbps quality streaming, offline access to your songs, access to loads of special offers and pre release material as well as allowing you to use the Spotify Mobile service on your Symbian, Android or iPhone smartphone!
So well worth entering! I will be entering too, so may the best man/woman win 
And don’t forget to avail yourself of the completely free services of ShareMyPlaylists.com for all your Spotify playlist needs. Share your playlists with others and enjoy what other people have compiled for you, including some very famous contributors, as well as join up with groups of like minded music lovers!
Masturbate…, sorry, MASS DEBATE!
Can’t beat a good one (either one will do)!
At this time of year, with the X-Factor final truly upon us, one particular debate often ensues. That of the legitimacy of such shows and the people contained therein. Are they being exploited? Are they any good? Do we really care what Cheryl’s dress is like? Could Simon Cowell appear anymore smug? Do any of us really give a flying fuck?
But amongst the world of musos, the main topic of debate when it comes to these types of shows is the quality of the music and performers, or lack thereof. And this debate has risen, yet again. But this year, I have been involved in it via Twitter rather than around the water cooler in the office. And there has been one protagonist in my selection of Twitter follows in particular. I’m not going to mention names, or give links, but suffice to say, this individual is most vocal on the subject. In fact, out of all the people I follow on Twitter, he is by far and away the biggest X Factor twitterer I know. Which is strange because he actually detests it. With a passion. With such venom and bile that Hitler’s hatred of the Jews fairly pales by comparison.
Now, let me say that I am no fan of the show either. It’s exploitative in it’s early stages. The producers deliberately pick the freakish and bizarre to satisfy the viewers lust for people who are “worse then themselves”. Then, once it gets to the “boot camp” phase, we get the heart rendering sob stories of hardship, suffering, bereavement and pain that will endear these individuals to our hearts for the next 12 weeks or so. And then ultimately, we get the finals stage, where Simon gets to be mean, Louis gets to be camp, Danni gets to be angry and Cheryl… well, Cheryl just gets to be Cheryl. And one by one, these poor modern day equivalents of circus freaks are booted off in favour of some headline grabbing loon until we are left with 3 reasonably capable singers, belting out covers in the hope to be that years Xmas No.1.
So, hopefully, dear reader, you are under no illusion that my personal opinion of the show is not entirely favourable. But do I care about it? Do I let it keep me awake at night? No. Not in the slightest. and why should I? What is there for me to be so upset about? It’s just entertainment, no?
You see, and here is where I finally get to the subject in the title of this post, my opinion of X Factor matters not one jot. Because, whilst there is an audience for it, and fuck me is there an audience for it, it is making a lot of people happy. The contestants are willing. None of them are there against their will. Everyone’s a winner, aren’t they?
Well, not according to my Twitter acquaintance. If he is to be believed, X Factor and it’s ilk are single-handedly responsible for the ruination of “proper, real music” as we know it. Such is it’s negative influence that the music industry is doomed to fuckery. It’s an apocalyptic disaster on an immense scale and purveyors of (what he calls) “good” music are suffering at Cowell’s mean and wizened old hand.
Furthermore, this member of the twitterati equally lambastes any form of art that is not in agreeance with his own taste. And it doesn’t stop there. Apparently, if you eat and enjoy brussel sprouts, you have the culinary intellect of a dung beetle.
But back to the music.
The debate on Twitter rages on, with myself and a number of others challenging this individuals oft flaunted and frequently thuggish opinions. Comparisons are drawn between X Factor finalists and a number of artists who, in this man’s humble opinion, are the pinnacle of musical creativity. And there is the point.
IN HIS OPINION.
Now, we all have music we don’t like. In our opinion, that particular music is worse than the music we do like. But it is simply OUR opinion. We are all entitled to those opinions and we are all entitled to express those opinions. And if we can back that opinion up with a reasoned, respectful and intelligent argument, even better. But it still won’t change the fact that it is just an opinion. Many might share it, with varying degrees of passion. Many will disagree, but it is of no matter. The bottom line is, we all like something different. Many of us like the same things, but we each have personal tastes. I went to college with a guy who adored Napalm Death. He would eulogise about them, explain the depth and meaning behind many of their 20 second long tracks. Such was his passion for the band that I could do nothing but admire him. But fuck me, I can’t stand Napalm Death. In my opinion, it is bereft of all the things I enjoy about music. But it doesn’t make Napalm Death or their fans any less valid, relevant and worthy of contemplation than any other musical artist out there.
For those of you with children, do you recall your child’s first exploration with music? It may have been singing, or rudimentary drumming on tubs and pots. I bought my daughter a small keyboard when she was about 3, and she would often come into my studio and play with whichever synth her little legs would elevate her up to. The cacophony that ensued was at times painful, but the sheer joy it brought to her was clear for all to see. She would play me a tune, summon me into her room and show me something she had been practising for hours. It lacked melody, chord structure, tempo and any semblance of a song, but to her it was awesome. And it was to me too. Here was a little girl making her first steps into the exploration of one of the most primitive of human instincts and that song to her and to me was a masterpiece. No one else would have liked it. But we did.
So, when my old college friend played me some Napalm Death, I sat there, gobsmacked and somewhat horrified, but he sat there, sucked in and enjoying the moment. To him, and the rest of Napalm Death’s extensive fan base, it meant something.
And Olly, Joe and Stacey all mean something to someone too. And that their performances bring joy and entertainment to those people is no less important than a bunch of music critics blowing their wad over the latest Radiohead album.
And that’s what it boils down to. Everyone is a critic. But music, and most other forms of art are unable to be properly criticised. You can rave about something or slag something off, but no matter how shit you think the latest Girls Aloud album is, there are millions of people who garner much pleasure from it. And that doesn’t make them less of a human being. They can just as easily turn around and slate you for your taste in shoe wear, or the dodgy aftershave you are wearing. Recently, a music critic wrote a less than favourable review of a Chris de Burgh show. It was a pretty scathing one too. And Mr de Burgh took umbridge. GREAT umbridge infact. So much so that he wrote a well constructed response to his attacker, pointing out that the hall had been full of fans, every one of them enjoying whatever it is CdB does on stage. One critic, sees a show, hates it, writes about it, completely unaware of the thousand or so people around him ENJOYING it!! Whilst I’m no CdB fan, he went up in my estimation a lot after that.
In my very humble opinion, there was only ever one genuine music critic. John Peel. He loved music. Not a particular type. Just music. It was his very reason for existence. And if he heard something that he thought wasn’t up to being played on his show (which was rare) he would give constructive, positive feedback to that artist. And if they tried again and succeeded, he’d give them airtime. But John’s gift was to not act as a filter. He was a facilitator and respected the listeners own judgement. It was the most incredible gift that he had, and he shared that gift and the privilege that it brought with every band whose music he played or showcased. So many owe him so much. I had the pleasure of meeting him once or twice, as he lived just up the road from me and I also went to school with his kids. He was, to the last, a music fan. Not a fan of particular artists. Just a fan of music, in all it’s wonderful glory and myriad forms. To paraphrase Luke Skywalker, if musical snobbery is the centre of the universe, John Peel was the furthest thing from it.
Artistic snobbery is a vain, vacuous, pompous form of bullying. To judge people on their artistic tastes is such a vile and shallow act that it merely confirms the lack of intelligence of the critic.
Bullies do what they do through fear. So an artistic bully is fearful of the impact of what they perceive as “lightweight, vapid” strains of their chosen art form. They fear them because they fear the attention is being drawn from themselves and so they profess to be finer than the rest. They belittle anyone outside their chosen circle of artistic peers. But they themselves are guilty of the very thing they criticise others for. They are equally infatuated and sycophantic about the artists THEY love as the others are about their preferred artist. They are equally fawning and sluttish in their pursuit of their idols. But the difference is that the “others” couldn’t give a flying fuck. They know what they like, they know why they like it and they just get on with it. No justification required. There is no evidence to support these bullies claims that shows like the X Factor and other forms of art that they would consider unworthy take anything away from other musicians or artists. In fact, the supply of new musical talent has never been so abundant. Week after week, new talent emerges, not just in the charts (which are nothing more than a guide to what pre-pubescent girls are currently spending their pocket money on) but in bars, clubs and other venues all over the UK. Commercial success comparative to those acts we see plastered all over the TV & radio is no longer important or relevant. The internet is allowing us to consume new, fresh music daily. We as consumers are now totally in control of what we are fed. If you want to listen to playlisted radio, go ahead, but services like Blip, Last.fm and Spotify are what people are flocking too now.
When panning for gold, you see it better when it is surrounded by dirt. Therefore, we need the contrast to appreciate the quality.
So, by way of conclusion, no matter what you like and what you don’t like, belittling and demeaning others for their musical tastes is a disgusting act. Subjectivity is the only true constant in musical criticism and that defeats the supposed object of the exercise of critique. When a music journalist praises or condemns a song or artist, it is nothing more than that person’s opinion. They don’t know you. They don’t know what you like. The ONLY thing a critic knows is what THEY like. And if you make your artistic consumption decisions based on a critic’s opinion, then you will never get to sample the real joys of art in all it’s forms.
Like what you like, enjoy what you enjoy and be humble, magnanimous and polite enough to respect the freedom of choice and taste of others, just like they do of you.
Typical, isn’t it! The day that Steve decides to announce the Hollow Sun Novachord library, I get a power cut!
Steve told me of this project and swore me to secrecy and silence some months ago. At that point, the Novachord he was sampling was still in America, awaiting shipping to it’s new owner in the UK. I knew of the Novachord as this “ahead of it’s time” synth from the 30’s, waaaaaay before people like Bob Moog came up with his classic and legendary creations. But I’ve never really heard one “in the flesh”, so to speak.
It’s fair to say Steve was giddy with excitement at the prospect, and from a commercial point of view, this would be a first.
Last week, Steve previewed his promo for me and as you will see, it’s a collection of nostalgic slides of 30’s technological peaks such as TV, fast steam trains, etc all leading up to the announcement of the Novachord library. Backing this was some lovely ethereal chords and textures, and I just thought Steve had whipped out one of finest sample libraries, Nebulae, and just laid some stuff down. But no! Turns out these sounds are from the Novachord itself!!! Trust me when I say it is difficult to distinguish these sounds from some of the most advanced synths today!
So, the work is in progress. I briefly spoke to Steve at about 2:00am this morning (long story!) and he informed me he was nearing completion of the first few programs and he was “visibly” excited! As a tester for his work, I am very much looking forward to getting my hands on this stuff and having a play. Here’s a teaser of the first program created….
If Steve allows, I may be able to post more previews as they become available
Anyway, enjoy the previews. There are links to the video and to the MP3 soundtrack too