They’ve Arrived!!!! Reason 5 & Record 1.5!
Much trouser tumescence here at Failed Muso Towers with the arrival today of Propellerheads Reason 5 & Record 1.5!!
Reason 5 & Record 1.5
Not much to say right now until I get these babies home and installed. After that, expect a full assessment! 
What I’ve been listening to of late….
Been getting into some great new music just recently. Most notably, American group Band Of Horses, whose album Infinite Arms is a work of sheer bloody brilliance!
Then there’s been the revelation that has been the new album by Tracey Thorn. Love & It’s Opposites is a beautiful collection of songs that are brilliantly and intelligently written and performed by this lady who possesses one of the finest voices ever heard.
Check out this video of Tracey where she’s making excellent use of a Suzuki OmniChord
Here are some other current faves of mine….
The Radio Show!
Well, it’s been a few weeks since I posted anything but since my last few posts, I have settled in quite nicely to my new slot on Radio Thetford, a small web based community radio station for the town of Thetford, on the Norfolk/Suffolk Border. It’s something I used to do some years ago and one of my cohorts from those days gone by got me into it again. I’ve done four shows so far and things are going really well! I’m getting some of the best listening figures on the station, so I am told, and I’m having fun to boot. Which is nice 
Because we are web based, it means that you can listen to us anywhere in the world, so please do log in when you can, especially if you can make it between 7pm and 9pm UK time on a Monday evening, and please do interact via email, SMS, Facebook, Twitter or use the shoutbox on the Radio Thetford homepage!
I may be able to put a permanent link over on the right to help you find us at some point
Buggles – The Lost Gig – Details announced
So, here are the details of the one off Buggles gig I mentioned here….
Buggles – The Lost Gig – 28.09.10
At last, ticket details for the technopop gig of the year. Trevor Horn and Zang Tuum Tumb present The Buggles – The Lost Gig. As previously announced, Trevor has regrouped The Buggles and gathered some very special guests to perform their ground-breaking début album, The Age of Plastic in full for the first (and quite possibly only) time ever.
Date: 28th September 2010
Venue: supperclub London (12 Acklam Road, London W10 5QZ)
Time: 7.30pm (VIP), 9.30pm (gig only)
Tickets: £300 (VIP), £100 (gig only) from www.seetickets.comA special venue for a special event: The Lost Gig will take place at supperclub london. Following renown venues in Amsterdam, LA and Istanbul, supperclub is an “experimental creative platform,” which owner Bert van der Leden describes as “a mix of food, music, performance, art… an evening at supperclub has been successful when all your five senses have been tickled.”
A special cause: This event is being staged exclusively to raise funds for the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability. All proceeds both from The Lost Gig and accompanying online auction will be donated to the hospital. Active since 1854, the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability has a simple but very important mission: to add years to life and life to years.Tickets: Two ticket options are available. VIP tickets (£300 + booking fee) include entry at 7.30pm for a three-course dinner, a bed from which to watch the show and the full supperclub experience of entertainers in advance of The Lost Gig. General admission tickets (£100 + booking fee) covers entry at 9.30pm for The Lost Gig only.
Strictly limited: with only 100 VIP tickets (many of which are already allocated) and 200 general admission tickets, please book early to avoid disappointment. Tickets go on sale from 9am on Saturday 28th August, exclusively through Seetickets.
Trevor Horn: “The Buggles are finally going out to play our first live gig, only 30 years since we first got together… As part of The Lost Gig, we’ll play The Age of Plastic in full for the first time, and I’ll be joined by some special guests to help make this night a truly special evening… The Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability is a very special cause, one that’s close to my heart, and I hope we can use this unique event to raise a great deal of money and to increase awareness for their great work.”
Now, I don’t begrudge the exclusivity and the very worthy cause that these ticket prices will contribute to, but I’m terribly disappointed. Being on the dark side of minted, this is well out of my reach and justification, no matter how big a Trevor Horn/Buggles fan I might be.
If the gig were to be held at Islington’s Union Chapel, as Thomas Dolby did back in February (and where TH performed) you could sell 800 tickets for £50 a pop and still make £40,000, only £10k short of the current venue. You could then sell a bunch of aftershow tickets with VIP access to the band after the gig and make up the shortfall, or just sell the tickets for £65 and make £52,000. I have no doubt whatsoever that you could sell 800 tickets to a one off Buggles reunion gig.
Ah well, unless there’s such a thing as a fairy godmother or I find £100-£300 lying in the street, this is one gig I will have to miss 
I guess the gig is just not for fans, which is a shame. However, I’m sure it will be a fab night, with a shed load of cash raised for a very worthy cause. If you go, please feel free to furnish me with reports, pics and videos 
)
Roxy Music – In Every Dream Home a Heartache – Live 2010
For those of us in the UK, we recently lost one of our televisual institutions, the “Friday Night with Jonathan Ross” chat show. Now Jonathan was one of those people who completely divided and polarised opinions. You either loved him or you hated him. No one ever said, “You know that Jonathan Ross? He’s ok…. I can take him or leave him”. He was, and still is, a massive media figure here in the UK. A massive child at heart, with an unhealthy obsession for comic books & Japanese culture and a gorgeously talented wife with amazing breasts!! A very big family man, but never one to shy away from controversy.
Anyway, after the last controversy, Ross’s tenure at the BBC on a lucrative contract (funded by the licence fee payer) became increasingly difficult to justify, by both the BBC and Ross himself. Also, the sharp focus applied to anything Ross said or did was a form of censorship and something Ross would never stand. So, Ross resigned, respectfully, and much to the sadness of the millions that watched his shows and listened to his radio programme.
As a leaving gift, the recently reformed Roxy Music (minus Eno) offered to play on his last show. Ross asked on Twitter what they should play. I suggested 2HB, Ladytron, Street Life and In Every Home A Heartache. Much to my disappointment on the night (and probably Ross’s too, as his list was almost identical to mine) they played Virginia Plain & Love Is The Drug, both great songs, but not those early classics we love so much.
But it would seem we didn’t see everything from that night, for as Ross thanked each member of the band, they broke into In Every Home A Heartache much to the obvious delight of the host!
Now, courtesy of Mr Ferry, we can see this for oursleves. Enjoy
Failed Muso – Now with added radio show!
Further to my appearance on Radio Thetford the other week, I was subsequently invited to host my own two hour show on Monday nights. Being suitably honoured, I accepted and starting this Monday, 23rd August 2010 at 19:00 BST (UK) I will begin my series of shows!
Radio Thetford
It’s been some time since I hosted a radio show, having started off on hospital radio in Bury St. Edmunds with Radio West Suffolk. Back then, we had a captive audience and a lot of ambition. I sadly had to leave due to relocating back to my home city of Norwich, but always wanted to do something similar again. When my career in training took off, regular trips away from home meant that I couldn’t even contemplate committing to such an endeavour, but since my role has changed to a more office based, consultancy role, this is now once again possible.
Radio Thetford is a community radio station for the small Norfolk market town of Thetford. It’s a very important place, not only for Norfolk, but also for America, for it was here that Thomas Paine was born, one of America’s Founding Fathers and a man whose writings influenced the construction of that country greatly. It was also the royal seat for Boudica, Queen of the Iceni. And it was also the location for the filming of much of the classic BBC sit com Dad’s Army. I worked in the town many years ago and my family have always visited here as my maternal side lived just down the road in Attleborough and used to visit Thetford for shopping trips and to partake of it’s immense forest and associated amenities. My aunt went to school there too. So Thetford has many memories for me and it’s a pleasure to now be serving it again.
However, Radio Thetford is a web based radio station, so it reach is global. And for this reason, I’d love to invite all my readers to “tune in” to listen and partake in the event each Monday. You can interact with me via email, SMS (+447938 209412), Twitter & Facebook as well as the chat room and shoutbox available on the Radio Thetford site itself.
My self imposed criteria for the show are those that will have me playing a wide range of music, but focusing on the music you tend not to hear on mainstream radio. There’s no theme, no time in history restriction, just good, original music that warrants airplay. There’ll also be chat and interaction with listeners, so please do get involved.
So, I hope that you can join me online every Monday night and join in another level of interaction with me
New single from OMD – If You Want It
The first single in MANY years from legendary electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. This is taken from their forthcoming album “History Of Modern” and it just goes to prove that Andy McClusky & Paul Humphreys can still, to this day, write catchy pop songs better than most. Looking forward to this album VERY much
Be warned, this video stream is supposedly only live for 24 hours! Watch whilst you can!
A limited 7″ version is also available now. The single is officially released on September 6th 2010.
OMD – If You Want It
Uploaded by BangOn. – Watch more music videos, in HD!
Also, here’s some stuff they posted on SoundCloud, including an interview…
RootMusic BandPage by OMD Official
Must say, I’m also loving the Peter Saville designed album sleeve…
History Of Modern
Failed Muso on the radio!
That’s right, my dulcet tones will once again grace the airwaves tomorrow night (Wed. 11th August 2010). Some 15 years after I last presented a radio show, I am to be the guest on Roy Wilders show on Radio Thetford. Roy and I both used to be presenters on Radio West Suffolk back in the day
Roy’s show is focused on the 80′s music wise, so that suits me down to the ground. I’ve been asked to bring a selection of tracks to play, including my own, so tune in to listen between 7pm & 9pm.
Radio Thetford is an online broadcaster so you can listen to the show wherever you are in the world
We look forward to your company tomorrow night, and do join in the interactive webchat too
Update on the Buggles event!!!
This just in from ZTT/Trevor Horn, following on from this post…
Trevor Horn and ZTT Records is proud to announce the return of The Buggles, live on stage for their first ever full live gig… a mere 30 years after their international #1 hit single Video Killed The Radio Star kick-started a generation of electronic pop.
Trevor will reconvene the original Buggles line-up, including Geoff Downes (Yes, Asia) and Bruce Woolley (Camera Club, Grace Jones), to preform their ground-breaking début album – The Age of Plastic – in full.
Buggles
No tour is planned, no DVD or live CD will be released… The Buggles – along with some very special guest artists – will perform live on stage for one night only on 28 September 2010 at at a special and intimate West London venue.
This unique event is being put together to raise funds for London’s Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability. Active since 1854, the hospital has a simple but very important mission: to add years to life and life to years.
Further details – including surprise guests, support acts, and pre-show exclusives – will be announced soon. But to avoid disappointment, please click here to register your interest in what is set to be one of London’s – and technopop’s – hottest tickets of the coming months…
EXCITED, MUCH!!!!!
Naturally, I have subscribed for info One wonders how big the “intimate” venue might be and therefore how many tickets will be up for grabs. Also, the fact it is a charity do might mean higher than normal ticket prices. We will have to wait and see.
Either way, this is going to be a very special night. I wonder how much Trevor was inspired by the Thomas Dolby “Circumnavigating The Flat Earth” gig at the Union Chapel earlier this year, where Trevor and Bruce guested on a performance of Airwaves.
Counting the days!
Binaural Audio
I’m sure I’ve talked about this before in this, or some other blog, but I have this love for binaural recordings.
Binaural sounds like it might be quite complex but really, it is anything but! It’s such an easy thing for anyone to do. Let me explain the process and how it all works.
Recording live music binaurally
We, as human beings, hear sound through a pair of ears, located either side of our head. These ears are separated by about 5-8 inches on the same horizontal plane. They capture & shape the audio, and focus it on the ear drum which in turn vibrates tiny bones and the brain interprets that as sound. So, the binaural method simply places 2 microphones about 5-8 inches apart and on the same horizontal plane. These each occupy one of two tracks that, when played back through stereo headphones, give the binaural effect. The left mic feeds the left channel and the right feeds the right, therefore the sound that is recorded is recorded the same way we hear it.
Nuemann KU100 Binaural Microphone
Of course, the drawback is that you have to listen to binaural recordings through headphones to get the best effect. Listening through regular stereo speakers pretty much loses the effect. The best bit about binaural is how it recreates the full three dimensional soundscape that we experience in real life. Because of the way our brain decodes incoming audio to the ears, it places all sounds for us in the three dimensions. Because binaural recording accurately replicates this method of audio capture, when you listen back, the brain performs the same processing and it decodes the hidden spatial information and it feels like we’re actually there. Sounds that happen above the mics, when played back, appear to be occurring overhead, even when there is no speaker there! It’s simple, clever stuff.
Binaural Microphone
You can easily make your own binaural recordings by acquiring two microphones, wiring them up so that each one feeds one channel of a stereo pair and then placing them in the right position and plugging into a recorder. Some people use elaborate dummy heads that have replica ears, with all the pinae and a mic buried where the ear cavity is. Some just attach the mics to their shirt collars or their regular headphones with crocodile clips!
Recording binaurally out in the field
So, what prompted me to write this post was finding this group on SoundCloud…
Choc full of some lovely home made binaural work, there are some proper little gems in here.
But for some really awesome binaural stuff, check out Bilocation by Steve Marshall. This 41 minute piece is a blend of ambient sounds, music and general audio joy. It is available on regular Binaural stereo CD or in DTS 5.1 on DVD. On this version, Steve used transaural processing to utilise the 6 speaker configuration of most home cinema set ups. Listening to the 5.1 version requires you to sit in a “sweet spot” but you are freed from the shackles of headphones. Steve wrote an article for Sound On Sound that better explains the processes he used.
So, whack on some headphones and have a listen to the recordings offered over at SoundCloud, and then, if you feel inspired, go out and make some of your own! There’s no clever jiggery pokery involved!
