On sound and memory

It’s said that scent is our most vital memory retrieval agent. If that’s so, then it seems to me that sound must be running a millimeter or so behind in a close second place.

My memories are so incredibly affected by, and evoked in the presence of, the sounds and music that were in the air when I formed them, that even now I can reduce myself to a pudgy, nervous teenager by listening to Alanis Morrisette (also Metallica and Nirvana), or a babe in arms by listening to Simon and Garfunkel (but also Profokiev, and the Eagles – my mom had good taste, but it was definitely Soft-Rock/Classical taste).

(Whenever I hear this, not only am I a badass hacker, but also a thirteen-year-old watching Robert Redford teach me what it means to man)

It’s odd, isn’t it? the things you forget until you hear the sound that went on in the background? It’s like our genetic blueprint was made for synesthetics. I hear Peter Frampton and suddenly I smell cookies, vanilla and Murphy’s Oil soap on hardwood, the smell of my aunt’s house. When I was staying there she would have us clean top to bottom once weekly – and Do You Feel Like I Do was in heavy rotation on the ‘music to clean by’ mix CD.  ^^

(Frampton was never so pussyfied as when used for silver polishing montages)

I can remember my first kiss or my first breakup like it was yesterday just by hearing the songs I heard then. My first job comes back just fom listening to one of the (like five) songs they played on loop. (It was an awful job)

I wonder when we’ll learn to tap into this amazing memory sink and figure out how to create ‘mind symphonies’ as an aid to memorization, like we do already with ‘mind palaces’.

 

What music reminds you of your youth? What scenes does it evoke? Let me know in the comments section. ^^

Ev’ry Day I’m Shufflin’.

The apocalypse that is Party Rock has arrived. I don’t know whether to be amused or terrified(NSFW). Either way, all I know is, ev’ry day I’m shufflin’.

Ok Go – Watch this beautiful one take video.

And then watch this one because of  the music. These guys are really GOOD.

This kid can PLAY.

He sounds like he’s playing a huge pipe organ. He sounds in a lot of ways like he’s playing Beethoven or Bach (The Fifth or Tocatta and Fugue in D minor, for instance) – I don’t know the piece, but what I do know is that doing that type of music on a regular keyboard (88 keys) is extremely difficult, especially at high speed. This kid is lightning fast and doing it all on at least twice as many keys – while pushing a damn bag in and out in precisely controlled, extremely dexterous movements.

Gawd-damn, what a show.

I feel like I should be doing something with my life that shows the passion, dedication, and sheer cussedness of nature that this kid shows in three minutes of wailing away. His love for his instrument, life, and the music he creates is evident in every motion of his body.

I can’t explain it any better. so watch.

The Mother Of All Mashes

Youtube. home of . . . well. . . whatever you’re looking for, as long as it ain’t porn, and ain’t the printed word, you’ll find it (probably) on youtube.

Some brilliant man decided to take all of that user-submitted content and mash some of it into a new music video, somewhat in the style of AMVs (Anime Music Videos) or mash-ups (no explanation necessary; they’re both on Wiki) but subtly different.

That difference is simple: He made us the star. His mash-ups are a paean to everything laudable about Youtube, and therefore, to us, the people who make Youtube what it is.

Plus, it ROCKS. Here’s a link to the site where I was turned on to this groovy wonder, and here’s the video that wowed me:

A new video for the steampunker furry set ^^

This is one of the oddest little music videos I’ve ever seen. That said, I think the unusual methods used to animate it, and the merits of the song itself, are compelling enough to show this to my viewers. For some reason it reminds me of a dark(er) and (more) surreal descendant of Smashing Pumpkins’ ‘Tonight, Tonight’ video, seen here.

More probably though, this music video can trace its cinematic roots to this video, ‘Megalomaniac’, by Incubus.

Either way, you have a very respectable pedigree of influences. Not a very original music video, but certainly eye-popping and surreal, which is something I like to see in music videos.

New Favorite Serious music video

This song is hypnotic, powerful, subtle, and haunting. The setting is perfect, living up to the music, and vice versa. I don’t know who came up with the idea of filming where and how they did, but it’s an inspired idea, and probably saved a huge amount of money to boot… money that could not have improved this perfect frisson one nano-ounce.

My absolute favorite video… ever.

Beatbox Fame Game
Uploaded by loranger. – Click for more funny videos.

Yeah. It’s that good.

The Reactable… silly name, Interesting technology.

I have it on the best authority that not only does the technology exist, but it’s being produced and sold. This is no demo.

Don’t let the silly European techno culture distract you from this incredibly glitzy and brilliant piece of computer engineering. It is an intuitive leap forward for the way we view music and music creation (or it will be, anyway, if the price drops). They even have a newer model that’s supposedly more durable and easier to use, for installation in public institutions such as children’s science centers and music/arts learning centers.

Pandora, the best thing for music since the electric guitar!

Bitch was right ^^ open the damned box!

Yup.
I went there.

And don’t say a word, I know what you’re thinking… ‘What about the synthesizer, the vocoder, the CD… the mp3??‘ and all I have to say is…

Shut up.
Shhh. Look, the synthesizer was mostly about replicating sounds created elsewhere and making it easy for anyone who could punch keys to make music. That’s not how it turned out, but that was the intention, and they failed utterly. And if they had succeeded… *shudders*

Imagine your eight-year old brother getting lauded for his emotionally moving masterpiece titled ‘My Brother Sucks And I Hate Chores’.

So the synthesizer is out.

The vocoder is there to make people who can’t sing, sing… the same objection applies. except this time it works. Look at my post on Symphony of Science if you don’t believe me…

Numbers three and four are easy. The CD is a nice format, but has its drawbacks, and really didn’t revolutionize much. and the MP3 allows millions of people all over the world to stiff the artists and labels who produce the music… so F**k the Mp3…

Which brings me to Pandora. It’s basically radio with a brain. I know there have been attempts in the past, but this one actually works.

Type in a few artists, albums, or songs, and you’re off… I’ve discovered so much music I never even knew existed, music that places like iTunes and Amazon, comprehensive as they are, don’t have… and there have been very few times that a song has not been what I want out of the station I created. It’s actually a little creepy.

Beyond that, Pandora is a creation of the Music Genome Project. The Music Genome Project seeks to understand music and clarify what makes some music differentfrom other music, as well as what makessome music similar.

The project is about typifying and indexing the DNA of music. Who better to create a radio site dedicated to finding the music similar to what you said you liked? ^^

Oh, by the way, here’s the website, and a link:  http://www.pandora.com/