Oh What a Year

Okay, this was supposed to be a songwrite blog originally, but I've re-appropriated it since I have not done much songwriting this year. Although, in fairness, I must make a note that I've done more songwriting this year than I have in the past six years, which is a nice re-start to one of my favorite activities.

I wrote a song earlier this year for my lovely wife, called "Love's Coming Down", and I gave it to her for her birthday. It's a pretty good song, and the first love song, like TRUE love song that I ever wrote. She loved it. Not sure what to do with it, as it really wouldn't work in a band setting, but it's in the collection nonetheless.

The next song was written a couple of months later, and it's called "Disappointed One Track Mind", which is not a great title, but the song came out just fantastic. It's not much of a rock song either, but it has a nice Elvis Costello ditty-vibe that I like, something that could have been on "King of America" or something (nice compliment to myself there). That one is a very good song and gives me hope for the future of my writing abilities.

Anyway, I'll try to post more about songwriting, when the fact is that most of my days these days are spent working on marketing, and blogging in other places about SEO and Digital Advertising.

But I'll be back as much as I can to talk about music... my first love.

Have a great December and a Happy New Year!

Boomient Consulting for SEO and Web Marketing Intelligence

Just a quick announcement to promote my new company, Boomient. I started it this year following a career of 18 years in the advertising and marketing industry, where I worked for large agencies. Now I'm doing my own thing as a small Digital Marketing and SEO consultancy. I take on small to large businesses and help them define their Internet Presence and increase their marketing and communication footprint on the web.

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check out my site if you get a chance, and send any clients my way!
Thanks,
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Here's the website:
SEO ROI and Digital Marketing

I almost forgot, here is the link to that story about the Beatles themed barbershop

Beatles Barbershop on Penny Lane

Penny Lane, there is a Barber showing photographs

I just read a really fun Beatles story.  It seems that the famous Penny Lane in Liverpool, has never had a barbershop on it, despite the famous lyrics to the contrary.  Well, one enterprising Liverpudlian has decided to cash in on the idea and open his barbershop on Penny Lane.  Sounds like a good enough idea, but apparently the bloke has been literally inundated with eager fans wanting to get their hair cut on Penny Lane, and naturally, to also have him take their picture and post it on the wall so that he can be true to the idea that he will be "showing photographs of every head he's had the pleasure to know".

This has got me thinking that there are probably dozens of other ideas within Beatles songs where one could start up a business in Liverpool based around a particular location.  Although I suppose Strawberry Fields is not open for commercial business.

Anyway, anyone who follows this blog knows that I've written quite a bit about the new Beatles USB Apple product that came out in December, which contains high-resolution showing files of the entire Beatles box set.  Apparently, the files are what they call DRM free, at least the MP3 files are, so you could buy the product, and then return it to the store.  The perfect crime.  I suppose some people don't feel any twinges of guilt having already paid for the Beatles catalog one or two or three times throughout the history of recorded music.

Anyway, I have made a few updates to my review of this audiophile Beatles product, and you can check out my page here: Beatles USB Box Set

one more link:
Granite restoration – Boston and North Shore

I am He as You are He as You Are Me

Geez, I have so many personas going on these days I don't even know what to think and who to be.  I am doing a variety of things to keep myself busy, but blogging about music has not really been one of them.

I can only offer this humble reco for today.  If you are a math-rock fan, do check out a band called Battles.  They are quite amazing and have a level of sophistication for both instumental and lyrical music that I haven't heard from a modern band in a long while.

Hope to be back with more Beatles analysis soon.




Best Albums of the 00s Decade

Let Me Take You Down, Cuz I'm Going....

There is lots of Beatles news going on these days. Rumours are that Paul McCartney is getting married this year in a secret ceremony to his new American sweetheart. Ringo has a new album out and has apparently found God after many decades. The John Lennon museum in Japan is closing down after 10 years. And George... well, okay I don't have any George news.

But it's time to re-invigorate the intent of this blog as a music appreciation source, and what better than to pick up where I left off with the Beatles.  I wrote an article claiming that the Beatles' Sgt Pepper is the most overrated album in the history of music, and I've received a lot of flack for that.  But I stand by my statements: Beatles Sgt Pepper Overrated

However I've been listening to Pepper a lot and I think it's time I sung it's praises a bit as well, lest my readers think I am not the Beatles-bleeding fan that I actually am.

It's not that 'Pepper' is not great, it's just that it's got a few holes that need fixing, next to the bright spots.  Let's talk about those bright spots.  "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" is easily one of the best Beatles songs, a truly inspired (and drug-induced I suppose) wonder from the fertile minds of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.  There are some other songs from the 60s that paint this sort of colorful dreamscape, but none do it with the panache and combination of childlike wonder and professional songwriting sophistication that you find on this track.  And unlike some other Pepper tracks that I have a problem with, LSWD is served perfectly by the production stylings and overuse of stereo on this track, as it is meant to shock and surprise the listener by virtue of its sonics as well as it's lyrical imagery and melodic bouncing.

Another track on Pepper that is not widely discussed is the opener of Side 2 (back when there were actually sides), and that is the brilliant George Harrison composition "Within You, Without You".  Many people are bored by this tune because it is really not a Beatles song (none of the other Beatles even played on it), and doesn't quite fit the rest of the album because it is so exotic-sounding.  However, as I've gotten older this track has really seeped into my soul, for reasons having to do with the complex musical mix going on in it, as well as the spiritual and holistic message of the words... "you will find peace of mind is waiting there.... life flows on within you and without you".  I always thought he meant "without you" in the breakup sense, but now I realize he just meant inside and outside, in a spiritual sense.  It's a wonderful lyric, and the indian music combined with a decidedly Western pop sensibility makes this track unique and special among any music made by the Beatles or by any other band I can think of.

Why aren't there any artists around anymore who even attempt to make music this way, by virtue of experimentation with new instruments, odd song structures, served up in a melodic pop context.  Can you even name one?  There's lots of little indie bands that I love who write tuneful music, but no one seems to pursue the grand ambition that the Beatles had... maybe there's not a market for it anymore, or maybe the record companies talk them out of it.  And to think... the Beatles were putting out a record every 6 months at the time they made Rubber Soul, Revolver, and Sgt Pepper.




Beatles USB Box Set

The Soothing Sounds of TOOL

Is it possible that Tool is actually an easy listening band? It's weird, I don't normally like anything metal or too aggressive, and there are tons of crappy bands who churn out this sort of LA heavy rock that I just can't stand.

But Tool is in a different category to me. They are intelligent, deep, almost alien, and do not neatly fit into the "metal" category, despite the intense razorburn guitar sound and mammoth production style. I actually find them soothing. Maynard's voice has a lilting quality to it that is oddly comforting, and the wash of bass and guitars working with his voice, over a strange math-rock rhythm, just makes me feel like I'm listening to music that improves my brain.

All Hail Tool!

They are on my best of the decade list, which you can see here:

Free Quality Link Directory

Radiohead: In Rainbows, an Appreciation

So I've chosen Radiohead's In Rainbows as the #1 album of the past decade. Not a huge suprise to many rock fans, at least those who have moved into this century with us and are listening to modern rock bands like RH to begin with. However, many best-of lists have put Kid A at the top, and I love that record, but going back and listening to both I think that In Rainbows deserves the top honor.

Kid A was a revolution for many music fans, not only a great record but also a moment in music when a band that had been given the reigns of rock decided to take us all in a deliberately different direction. Kudos to RH for that, and the album is gorgeous, spacious, colorful, and very at home in the new century.

But In Rainbows represents something more... it is a synthesis of everything RH did on Kid A, combined with lessons learned from the ensuing decade, and their excellent followups Amnesiac and Hail to the Thief. While Kid A was a lab experiment, In Rainbows represents the Masters thesis, using the full palette of what RH can do on one album. Guitars are back, mixed in with the digital bloops and blips, and sometimes disguised as them. The luxurious production is there, and so is the wonderous rythymic stew that RH do so well. The opening track "15 Steps" is so perplexing from a rhytymic perspective, that I often amuse myself with the puzzle of trying to count along with the beat and know exactly when the guitars and vocals are coming in.

Mainly the songs are better on In Rainbows, just a better set of writing, lyrics, melody, etc. It's almost as if RH is inching back to a place where they can make a true followup to OK Computer, with a full embrace of rock, mixed in with Thom Yorke's sad Arias and musings on emptiness, presented as a group of songs rather than a breakthrough in studio wizardry.

Either way it's like comparing your favorite cake with your favorite pie... all RH to date, going way back to Pablo Honey, have been top-notch accomplishments, and each one represents a step forward in one way or another.

For more on my top 10 album picks for the past decade, Look here for reviews of those albums

And here are the urls i am working on these days... ...http://www.squidoo.com/toptenalbumsofthe00s.http://www.squidoo.com/buy-beatles-usb.http://www.squidoo.com/n-scale-model-train.http://www.squidoo.com/model-train-repair.http://www.squidoo.com/scale-model-train-layouts.http://www.squidoo.com/z-scale-model-trains.http://www.squidoo.com/make-money-stuffing-envelopes-at-home

Additions to Best of the Decade List of Albums

In scanning iTunes I came across some honorable mentions that are important to include. Again, no particular order... I'm not even comfortable ranking the top 10, but I did do that, so here are some more that come somewhere after 10:

Creeper Lagoon: Take Back the Universe...

Ranier Maria: A Better Version of Me

Ryan Adams: RocknRoll

Badly Drawn Boy: About a Boy

Bright Eyes: Cassadaga

Arcade Fire: Neon Bible

Belle and Sebastian: Dear Catastrophe Waitress

The New Pornographers: Electric Version

The Postal Service: Give Up

Stars: In Our Bedroom After the War

Zwan: Zwan

Film School: Film School

Kanye West: Late Registration

My Morning Jacket: Z

The White Stripes: Get Behind Me Satan

Band of Horses: Cease to Begin

Eddie Vedder: Into the Wild (Soundtrack)

M.I.A.: Kala

Ryan Adams: Easy Tiger

Wu Tang Clan: 8 Diagrams

happy new year again! Here's the link to my original top 10 list:
Best Albums of the Decade

Best of the 00s

I've gotten some good response and feedback on my top ten list for the decade. So much so that I've created a Squidoo lens to really fill out the info, show the album covers, and provide links to Amazon to buy the records. If you want to see what I've done, go to this site:

Best Albums of the 00s Decade

I'm particularly proud of the write-ups on Amy Winehouse and Tool, both of whom made albums this decade which maintain a special place in the heart of my iPod. Tool in particular is a band that deserves a more full discussion. I saw them in New York once and it was a mind-altering experience. I have never been hit as hard by a band as I was by Tool, with the possible exception of Nirvana, who were also pretty damn loud.

Anyway, I've gotta do some specific blog posts on each of these albums, and I will, as I'm trying to get back to the purpose of music appreciation for which this page was created. Until then, enjoy this list, and the site with the detail on each album.

http://www.squidoo.com/toptenalbumsofthe00s

Until next time, have a great decade...

Happy Celebration of the Decimalization of Time!

So I've been thinking about the past decade in music, and I figured I should put up my own personal list, to add to the myriad of "best of the decade" lists out there. Before I start, I must honor my late, great, wonderful father by pointing out, as he would have, that it is not actually the end of the decade yet, and that we'll all have to wait another year before doing the best of the decade lists. Most people don't consider the fact that there was no Year Zero, and therefore each decade of ten years begins with the "1" and ends at the end of the "0" year, so really 2010 is the last year of the decade.

But no matter!! The mass media feels otherwise, and so I will indulge those who want to look back on this first "completed" decade of the new century and talk about what it all meant. Among all the incredibly fucked-up things that occurred over the past 10 years, thankfully there was some great music, and here is my list of the top 10 albums of the decade (sorry, Dad)!

1. In Rainbows - Radiohead

2. Back To Black - Amy Winehouse

3. Kid A - Radiohead

4. Is This It? - The Strokes

5. Turn On The Bright Lights - Interpol

6. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - The Flaming Lips

7. Elephant - The White Stripes

8. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco

9. The Blueprint - Jay Z

10. Lateralus - Tool

I can honestly say that each of these albums was very important to me, and that I explored every inch of them, many times, as a FULL album, and they became part of my soundtrack as a result.

Ok it's hard to stop at 10, so here's the next bunch, in no particular order:

O - Damien Rice

Come On Feel The Illinoise - Sufjan Stevens

Figure 8 - Elliott Smith

Her Majesty - The Decemberists

The Grey Album - DJ Danger Mouse + Jay Z

The Milk-Eyed Mender - Joanna Newsom

Relationship of Command - At The Drive-In

The Libertines - Up The Bracket

Lifted, or the Story in the Soil... - Bright Eyes

Gold - Ryan Adams

Return to Cookie Mountain - TV on the Radio

The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem

TransAtlanticism - Death Cab For Cutie

Chutes Too Narros - The Shins

Sky Blue Sky - Wilco

Amnesiac - Radiohead

Hail To The Thief - Radiohead

Greatest Album No One Heard of or bought:

Eyes Adrift - Eyes Adrift

Album I wish I had made:

Here We Stand - The Fratellis

I will have to create a site for these albums to spread the word beyond this humble blog, but if you read this and have any comments, arguments, citations, etc, please let me know. Happy Decade!

The Zen of Scale Model Trains

I have not been blogging much about songwriting lately, as I've been distracted with some job-related duties and some self-educational processes regarding digital media and marketing. To that end, I've been doing some article writing on the subject of model trains. It's a training exercise, of sorts, done for the purpose of learning more about internet marketing. In the course of doing this, I've actually become fascinated with reading about the model train hobby that so many people seem to indulge in. It's one of those hobbies that you hear about but don't realize how deep people are into it, and how much of an underground subculture exists around this topic.

Go to any scale model train forum on the web and you'll see people talking about the subject using jargon and buzzwords that don't mean anything to the average person. Who knew there was so much different equipment, train types, and ways to build the train set? I'm finding it a little difficult to write about this without knowing everything, but I'm learning at a rapid rate. Here are some of my articles, setup as Squidoo lenses:

The first one I did was about N Scale Model Trains, and it gives some advice to those working in this popular scale of model trains. Here's the link: N Scale Train Layouts

or you can also go here:N Gauge Train Layouts

The next one was on Z scale model trains, which is the next size down from N scale. This scale is popular in Japan, and among people with serious space limitations, because the trains are at a small 1:220 ratio, so you can fit a large and complex layout in a small space. The site is here: Z Scale Model Trains

Oddly, the Z Scale train page I did is receiving the least amount of traffic out of four scale model train lenses I did, despite the fact that it's been up for awhile, and that Z Scale is trending upward in popularity among model train enthusiasts. I'll have to work on ranking for this a little more.

Another lens is called Model Train Repair: Starts and Stops. This is my attempt to provide some practical advice that I've learned from my research on some of the most common problems you find in model train repair, such as derailment issues and the like. The site is here, and I particularly like how this one came out: Model Train Repair

The last is called Model Train Layouts, and it is the most general of all the resources I've put together, providing basic info geared more towards those just starting in model railroading. It talks about the differences between the scales and how to choose which one you want to work in, etc. Take a look here: Model Train Layouts.

I'll blog more about music soon enough, so stay tuned!

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Songwriter's Dilemma

About to turn 40 next week. Trying to write another song before I hit that milestone.

Let's see, if it doesn't come easy by now, does that mean I'll never do this effortlessly?

Hmm.... moon, june..... spoon?

Wish me luck.

J

Beatles Ear Candy

So much hullaballoo on the Web about the Beatles remastered albums. I posted on an audiophile forum with one little comment about the Beatles USB apple and I got something like 70 people clicking through to my blog on the subject. Just unreal, but I think people who know audio and who care deeply about preserving classic recordings for future generations are really interested in what the Beatles have done with their remasters.

It works like this... vinyl sucked. We all know that, despite our fondness for the records we grew up with. The feel of them, the look of those big covers, the smell of them...mmmm oh, too much.... But seriously, even back then we knew there was something inherently imperfect about a format that skipped like it did, and was so susceptible to scratching, hissing, static, pops, clicks, that weird sound the needle made when you rubbed it with your fingers, etc.

So along comes digital... the CD... and we are just happy to have it, at first. It's clear, pure, and easy to use. So we buy everything on CD. Then we get our iPods, and mp3s become the compromise that you have to live with in order to carry your entire record collection around in your pocket. But how fucking cool is it to carry your fucking record collection around in your pocket? Never mind that Neil Young tells us that mp3 is evil because it's like looking at a Picasso through a mesh screen. We want our iPods. But for some of us, and for some music, like the Beatles (and Neil Young, if he's lucky), we do want a better format. We'll carry around the mp3s, but we need to know that there is something available to us, that we can put on at home, pour a glass of wine, sit in the recliner, set the bass and treble just right, and just listen, in a way that melts the soul. No digitization, no resolution issues, and no scratchy vinyl. The Beatles, dammit, should be oozing into my brain directly from theirs... format should not be an obstacle.

So CDs weren't cutting it in that regard, and mp3s... well, we sold our souls on that one. So what's next? The fact is that all formats are going to be digital from now on. Even if you were to buy an analog format, the stuff was probably recorded in digital. You can't even find any recording engineers anymore who know how to use the analog equipment, let alone find a studio that is still using it. So it's not about format, it's about resolution. Give me my Beatles and Zeppelin in a format with as few of the bits and bytes taken out of it.

The Beatles have done the best they can so far with the USB product. Made for audiophiles who know, or for people who have the $240 and just want to buy the whole collection in one handy package, this device has all the files to all the Beatles albums in 24 bit FLAC audio, the highest resolution Beatle product ever released.

Please will someone buy me this for Christmas?

Read review here: http://www.squidoo.com/buy-beatles-usb

And if you're at it, see the other Squidoo lenses I like....

http://www.scale-model-trains.info/

http://www.squidoo.com/z-scale-model-trains

My Ezine Articles on the Beatles

Not sure what happened here, but here's a new Squidoo page I just did on model trains.

http://www.squidoo.com/z-scale-model-trains

now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country

Beatles Appreciation: Cranberry Sauce....

Hi folks,

This blog is supposed to be mainly about songwriting, but I've found myself on a Beatles kick lately because I'm so excited about the remastered albums that are out. I have not bought them yet because I am waiting for the USB product which will give them to me in 24 bit FLAC audio format which is the audiophile quality that I deserve!

I wanted to write a quick appreciation for the song "Strawberry Fields Forever", as I was just listening to it. This song is one of those gems that is so great as a song but also has the benefit of being recorded in a particularly creative way. The Beatles made this tune as part of the sessions that led up to Sgt Pepper, and George Martin has said that his biggest regret was that they didn't put "Strawberry Fields" and "Penny Lane" on Sgt Pepper, which would have totally boosted the overall quality and theme of that album (maybe they would have kicked off "She's Leaving Home" and "Lovely Rita", two far inferior tunes, to make room).

The song has 3 things I like in a perfect pop song... 1) it's short, 2) it's catchy and 3) it has unusual elements to it, making it unique at the same time that it grabs you like a good piece of pop sugar should. Like many John songs, this one has sections that are in a slightly different rhythm... the verse ("let me take you down") is a regular beat, but the middle eight section has a more staccato feel enhanced by the organ on the record. And there is not really a chorus like there is in Penny Lane or some other Beatle tunes... this is something John did a lot, in terms of just ending the verse section with the song title as a short hook: he sings "strawberry fields for-evah...". This is similar to one of my other John favorites, "She Said She Said" where he ends the section with "and you're makin' me feel like I never been born". Just the hook, tagged on at the end of the section, not a full repeated chorus like in "Lucy in the Sky" for example, or "Penny Lane".

This is one of the ways the Beatles kept their songs so short, which I believe is a real lost art these days.

Anyway, give a listen to "Strawberry Fields Forever" when you get a chance, especially if you have the remasters. It's a perfectly written tune, short and sweet, and the lyrics are about childhood memories, mixed in with the surreal in a way that only the Beatles could accomplish.

And, if you do have the remasters, you'll notice that they can finally put to rest the "I Buried Paul" controversy at the end of this song. People used to think that John said that phrase at the end of this record, and used it as proof for the Paul Is Dead conspiracy. However on the new digital remasters you can clearly hear what he is saying on the coda, and it's "Cranberry Sauce". So now the mystery is, why the heck did he say that? I'm sure we'll never know.

So there you go... Cranberry Sauce, just in time for Thanksgiving!! Have a great one. And if you want to read more about the remasters, specifically the audiophile stuff, read here:

http://www.squidoo.com/buy-beatles-usb

I Want the Beatles USB Apple for Christmas

Personal appeal to my family and friends... somebody please go to Amazon and pre-order this thing for me... I'll burn it for you i swear! DRM-free content!! Supergenius!

http://www.squidoo.com/buy-beatles-usb

http://www.amazon.com/Beatles-Stereo-Box-Set/dp/B002BSHWUU%3FSubscriptionId%3D19BAZMZQFZJ6G2QYGCG2%26tag%3Dsquid825111-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB002BSHWUU

Beatles Appreciation Day

Hello folks,

I can't stop talking or thinking about the Beatles these days. This has been quite an active year for them, especially considering the Beatles broke up OVER THIRTY YEARS AGO! They have always found a way to keep their content fresh, and stay in the public consciousness, not only because of the longevity of their music, but because Apple and EMI have teamed up to continue to produce fresh Beatle product. They have worked with Paul MacCartney, Ringo Starr, and the estates of John Lennon and George Harrison to continue to release new records and versions of things that fans are still eager to snap up.

This year saw a truly revolutionary move for the Beatles in the release of the Beatles Rock Band video game, and on top of that, they FINALLY put out remastered versions of all the classic albums. There is a box set that will give you all of these albums in a single package, or you can also get the MONO set, which will give you a taste of what the records really sounded like when the Beatles made them. Most people don't know this, but the fact is that most of the Beatle records were made in mono... meaning when the Beatles themselves were finished with them, they only had a mono product, and the stereo was done later. And the early albums were all released in mono to begin with, so that's what everybody heard at the time.

The coolest product, however, in my opinion, is the Beatles USB Apple, which comes out on Dec 8th in the U.S. and which I am eagerly awaiting to get. I'm not going to buy the remastered CDs, I'm going to wait for this USB thingy, because it contains ALL of the remastered material in the box set, plus the extras, and it has it in 2 audio formats... one is 24bit FLAC audio, which is BETTER than CD quality (CDs are only 16bit and do not have a "lossless" coding", whereas FLAC does), and it also contains the first ever official mp3 releases of any Beatles music. You still can't buy Beatles on iTunes, but you can buy the Beatles USB Apple and get a higher quality mp3 than you usually see on those download sites.

The apple has a USB port which you can use to upload or play the music to your PC or Mac. For those who don't use CDs anymore, this is the way to go, as it's all the data you'll ever need, and more, in the best-available audio format that the Beatles have ever released.

To read a great review with photos and such on this Beatles USB Apple, click here: http://www.squidoo.com/buy-beatles-usb

Or, to goto Amazon and pre-order it, Click here

Song appreciation.

Listening to Radiohead's Kid A today. I am wondering if anyone recalls an article that discussed how this album syncs up to the sequence of events on 9/11.

Spooky record. Still gives me chills, esp since I saw them at Liberty Island about 2 weeks before 9/11 happened.