The Enigmatic Amish

From an interview with Paul McCartney on Monday, the Associated Press has reported that the Beatles’ music catalog will continue to be kept from online music services because of ongoing issues between EMI and Apple Corps Ltd., which holds the rights to the Beatles music.  It is hard to say at this point what exactly the points of contention remain to be, especially because of the recent announcement of a Beatles based rock band like game, which will, by its nature, feature Beatles music!  Also given that McCartney himself said that he thought it would be a good idea for the Beatles music to go online its hard to see what is holding up the works.

However, such is the nature of the old music system, if I am allowed a small rant:  This is clearly an instance where the old system of holding companies and record company is impeding the desires of the band and, of course, the general public.  More news on this as it develops as I for one, an avid Beatles fan, will be following this closely!

In other Beatles, but less tech/music news, a hospital pay roll sheet signed by an E. Rigby will be going to auction to support the charity which Paul McCartney donated it to in 1991.  Although Paul has repeatedly said that the song is about a fictional person, it is quite possible that the tombstone which is said to be of the same person in the churchyard where McCartney and Lennon met may have served as a memory jog.  Who knows?  However, no matter what the actual relation is the signature will probably raise quite a bit of money for the charity, which of course, is a good thing.

Maybe if the Apple holding company which is restricting the Beatles music realized there is money to be made by selling music they might be more willing to sell it online…

Tom Morello has already established himself as one of the greatest guitar players to ever live.  But if you have not listened to his solo material yet, you are missing out.  In his work as the Nightwatchmen, Morello proves himself to also be one of the most versatile musicians to have ever played.

As the Nightwatchman Morello retains his familiar rhythmic style that served him so well while with Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave but explores a new, almost folksy, style which certainly proves his continual ability to create new sounds with instruments that we all felt we knew! The closest description that I feel could do him justice would be to say that his music would be a mash up of Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix. Musically, Morello transitions beautifully from rhythmic beats that will make your feet move to softer melodies that will have you straining to catch all that he continues to do even in the softness. Lyrically, he pulls no punches and stays true to his ongoing quest for justice while crafting poetry that will have you either singing along or simply absorbing his inspirational words for social change. It provides a more subdued musical environment to absorb the words, becoming a perfect foil to Rage Against the Machine’s driving inspiration.

Fans of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave will be surprised if they turn to the Nightwatchman seeking a continuation of musicality. Instead, expect a new sound that carries with it a distinctively flavor of the previous bands but with a folksy, blues twist that showcases both Morello’s amazing gift with the guitar and his never ending quest to enact social change through his music.

As I have stated previously, I believe that musicians should never settle. Musicians, especially after establishing their talent in an over crowded market, should never allow themselves be content with what they have done so far but should continually push themselves to new limits and to new aspirations. Tom Morello by continuing his habit of coming out with new sounds and developing new limits is a perfect example of a musician who won’t stop and who won’t be silent.

This is Tom Morello, solo, uncut, and an inspiration to musicians, activists, and the common man, alike.

Pandora.com, an online streaming radio website, has recently announced its partnership with several home music system companies to allow users to listen to their Pandora stations without even utilizing a computer. This development marks yet another step in which the internet and the tools that have been created on it are leaving the “internet box” and entering further and further into the real, “brick and mortar” world around us.

I am personally extremely excited by this development. Both because of its place in the above mentioned trend, but also because Pandora is by far and away, in my humble opinion, the best online radio that I have come across, and I make it a point to try out as many as I can find!

The main selling point of internet radio is its supposed ability to customize the music a listener hears to the listener’s particular tastes. However, it is nearly impossible to require a listener to input every song or band that they would want to hear, with the addition that such a plan would lose even old school radio’s ability to introduce a listener to new music.

Instead, Pandora utilizes a very simple interface that is extremely intuitive to learn and control, to create an extremely enjoyable and unique musical experience. Upon entering the site the user is prompted to enter a song or artist which they wish to hear music by and similar to. However, rather than rely on an algorithmic approach to connect that user to music similar to their input Pandora has developed a panel of musicians, producers, and general music experts to connect into what it calls the “Music Genome Project.” Using standard terms such as: minor tonality, syncopation, etc the project tags songs and musicians describing aspects of their music. The station will then connect similar tags to create a musical experience that will connect the user to music that is actually similar to their input as opposed to the usual jumble that at least I have experienced.

To further improve the listening experience as each song is play the user has the ability to give the song a thumbs up or down, indicating whether or not they agree that the song should be played on that station. Given consistent input Pandora is able to create a musical experience that actually places similar music and becomes an extremely useful tool for finding new music. For instance, in the time it has taken me to write the above while listening to Pandora it has played two new bands which I have never heard and would like to check out as well as three of my favorite songs, all on a station for which I simply inputted the band “Fuel.”

Pandora’s simplicity and sophistication has definitely made it one of favorite web tools and a definite thumbs up. At the cost of becoming sappy I have to say that although I do not currently have any of the new music systems which Pandora has partnered with but I cannot wait to get them and so further my Pandora experience.