Time to come clean about my new addiction – Blip.fm

Posted on by
2

Blip.Fm.Logo

The idea of social networking mixed with music is something I’ve been doing since before the Internet existed.  In high school and college, I often made connections with people based solely on a shared love of music.  And then we would start the process of sharing and educating and expanding.  It goes on and on to this day and, hopefully, for the rest of my life.

So the idea of a computer-based social network platforms based around music is a no-brainer.  But I’ve also been a bit slow on the uptake for how these platforms work.  I never had a MySpace page and my troubles with Facebook are well-documented.

Things changed a bit when I got brave enough to start posting on the Progarchives forum.  This was a great idea for (a) wasting time and (b) getting news about prog fast.  I wasn’t looking to make friends and didn’t.  Some of the other posters had a display at the bottom of their posts which showed what they were listening to.  In order to do the same thing, I got an account with Last.fm.  This looked a lot like Facebook, so i dodn’t get into the social aspect – no friending for me.  But at least it cataloged all my listening habits, which I thought was pretty cool.  But there was one more step getting that information integrated with the ‘signature’.  Apparently, I had to join something called Twitter.

So, in March of 2008, I created a Twitter account, solely for the purpose of making images like this one.  Between March of ’08 and June of ’09, I tweeted exactly ten times.  Since then, it’s been about 560.  Suffice to say, I like Twitter.  It’s beautifully disorganized; the users make the rules; there are no ads; and it’s a good syndication tool for blog posts and other important pieces of information.

So this brings me to the recent discovery of Blip.fm.  It’s not perfect.  It has ads (ugh!), it runs slow, the musical selections are surprisingly limited, and the posting of track on my various websites (and Twitter) is not nearly as elegant as what I can do with Grooveshark.  But where as Grooveshark is useful and more comprehensive, Blip.fm is downright fun.

It’s a game.  You’re a DJ and you’re trying to get listeners.  In that regard it’s a bit like Facebook and Twitter with ‘friends’ and ‘followers’, but there is an extra element of silliness at Blip – ‘credits’ and ‘props’.  In addition to seeking listeners, I’m also seeking props.  Other users (DJs) give me props if they like my selection.  I can get credits by getting props (1 = 1) or by getting other DJs to reBlip my selections.  So, I’m looking for artists with similar taste, or with taste I want to learn more about (I’ve discover Chali 2na!), and I’m bouncing around, blipping selections, re-blipping, giving out props, adding listeners to my favorite DJs list and hoping to get added to others.

So far, I’ve connected with some pretty impressive musical tastes and I’ve even accumulated a few props and listeners.  It’s all good fun, and it’s built to look like Twitter, so the interface is pretty easy for me to get started.  I still need to have continuous playing (listen while you search) and an iPhone app and more complete selections (like Grooveshark), but I’m still having a blast.  Wanna see what I been blippin’?

Check it out!

First thoughts on Transatlantic – ‘The Whirlwind’ (promo version)

Posted on by
Reply

While getting ready for various Court appearances preparing documents to be filed, I’m not in the best environment to evaluate the ‘promo copy’ of Transatlantic’s The Whilrwind, but I am able to make the following observations:

  1. I happy to say that I already paid for the album and bonus disc, so I have no hesitation about enjoying this promo version nearly a month before the album comes out.  It should be noted that this copy does not have the bonus material, although those of us who pre-ordered got an advance download of ‘Giant Hogweed’ and it’s just great, extra giant.
  2. The promo copy is separated into 12 separate tracks.  That’s not supposed to be the case with this record, and I’ll be pretty disappointed if that’s how the official version turns out.  The whole deal was that they were going to hit us with a 70+ minute single track.  In my mind that’s exactly what they should be doing – go BIG or go home!  Is it kind of a dick move that forces you to by the ‘bonus disc’?  Sure, but everyone’s free to pass on the extra expense and just make themselves comfortable for over an hour every time they want to listen to any part of this new work.  Personally, I admire their prodigious marketing ability
  3. Which brings us to the promo copy itself; they have ingeniously ‘watermarked’ it with vocal interruptions that remind the listener this is a promo copy and not the real deal.  This is a great example of how to front load all your marketing and hold on tight to the finished product until the last minute.  These guys know that, once it’s out there, it’s gonna get passed around like a hot potato, and that’s just the way life is right now.  I’m not going to be the guy to put it on bittorrent or rapidshare, but I’m pretty sure I know exactly who will, and I don’t begrudge them that conduct.  Until the artists can find a way get their fans to actually want to pay for music, the file sharing and downloads will continue.  Transatlantic have done a great job – they’ve got my money, don’t they?

So, those are my thoughts for now, or my meta-thoughts.  The audio reminders are annoying, but they are strategically positioned to cause minimal interruption to the flow of music.  I’ll hold off on any deep thoughts and observations about the drama, the poetry and the goosebumps, but, knowing this crew, that’s coming soon with the real copy of The Whirlwind, touching down on October 27.

Give me forty-three minutes and twenty seconds: Mixtape 01 is here

Posted on by
7

IMG_2654

This is a project I have been thinking about ever since I started to collect the incredible mixes available over at ParisDJs.  And while those folks have mad performance skills behind the turntable, I have had to settle for a very deliberate (and slow) process of compilation and tweaking using Apple Logic 8.  I am, however quite pleased with the overall sequence, levels and imaging of the music.  I’ve only taken liberties to enliven some of the older recordings and keep overall volume constant.

The good folks at ParisDJs present their mixes as a single file, and I’ve done the same here.  In selecting these tracks, the only unifying theme was to have ‘all killer, no filler’, and hopefully to present you with things you mostly have not heard.  The selections span forty years and come from numerous styles (Jazz, Prog, Rock, Electronica, etc.) and regions (Canada, Brazil, France, India, UK, US, Poland, Sweden).  Future mixes will be more focused by genre and/or artist.  There are definitely Zappa and Tangerine Dream mixes in the pipeline.

Feel free to stream right here (Hostrocket has hooked me up with LOTS of bandwith) or download and enjoy at your leisure.  Two of these titles are found on full length items posted at Blogerantz, so I’ve included the links.  Here’s what we got:

1. Invocation/nonsense – Mpomy (2009)
2. 10538 Overture – Electric Light Orchestra (from The Electric Light Orchestra (No Answer) 1971)
3. Get Your Snack On – Amon Tobin (from Supermodified 2000)
4. Hummin’ – Cannonball Adderley (from The Country Preacher 1969)
5. Willie – Cat Power (from FM broadcast of Cat Power & the Memphis Rhythm Band, Berlin June 11, 2006)
6. Malandro Quando Vaza – The Ipanemas (from the collection Gilles Peterson Brazilika 2009)
7. Transfert – Sylbat (from Mara 2008)
8. Sunrise – SBB (from Iron Curtain 2009)
9. On and On – Gungfly (from Please Be Quiet 2009)
10. Pasanana’s Love – Trilok Gurtu (from broadcast (?) of North Sea Jazz Festival, July 2002)
11. High Water (For Charley Patton) – Bob Dylan (from the collection Tell Tale Signs 2008, but the recording is from 2003)

Stream:  [audio:http://mpomy.com/Music/mixtape01.mp3]

or download:  IMG_2654

As always, your feedback is appreciated.  Enjoy.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

It’s a READING frenzy!!

Posted on by
Reply

After having (finally) finished Jay Lake‘s stunning new book, ‘Green‘, I’m all charged up to do some serious reading.  Em is out of town for the next two nights, so it will just be me and the four-letters.  Right away, there a ton of decent-looking selections close at hand.

Firstly, I have to give a special shout to John Scalzi’s ‘Big Idea‘ project. On his ancient blog ‘Whatever‘ he’s been highlighting a veritable cornocopia of tasty sci-fi, fantasy and more. I would never have heard of ‘Green’ or ‘W.W.W Wake‘ if it hadn’t been for Scalzi. And, as of today he’s now featuring ‘The Big Idea’ on his Twitter feed, so check it out.

The next novel I’m reading comes right off that list and tells the story of a Louisiana detective who uses demons to help her solve crimes. I’m not completely sold on the premise of the appropriately titled ‘Mark of the Demon‘, but it’s a good choice for Halloween and the reviews are very positive so far.  Plus, Scalzi hasn’t really steered me wrong yet.

In a piece of conceptual continuity, a great mystery writer whom I enjoy is taking up a great all-time graphic novel character. Ian Rankin of Rebus fame has written a nice fat graphic novel in the John Constantine series for Vertigo called ‘Dark Entries‘. As if that weren’t enough to get me on board (it is), the story puts Constantine, paranormal investigator, in the midst of a reality TV show – Brilliant!

In addition to those items, I’ve picked up ‘Sandman Slim’ by Richard Kadrey for after ‘Mark of the Demon’.  I think this is an urban fantasy about revenge from beyond the grave.  Again, it seems to fit in nicely with the theme I’ve got going.

In the realm of shorter works, the incredible Aliette de Boddard has just published a short story over at Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show.  This site takes the traditional sci-fi fiction journal and puts it online.  I paid about $2.50 for the September issue and I get de Boddard’s On Horizon’s Shores, which is the featured work, and a number of other tasty looking goodies.  It’s actually a novelette (as opposed to short story) and after just reading the first few paragraphs, I know it’s going to be great.

The other shorter work I’m excited to look at is a crazy-looking new wave script from 1980 that was linked on io9 today.  The Tourist would probably have made a great movie if it hadn’t been for infighting and development hell.  In present day (well, 1980, anyway) Manhattan, there are aliens living among us, in disguise.  In real life they look like amazingly icky H.R. Giger creatures, because he was brought in (following the groundbreaking success of Alien) to do the concept art.  There’s a link that lets you download the script and I’m hoping for something partway between Cronenberg and The Hunger.

A Police Shooting Case

Posted on by
Reply

I am exhausted. I guess I left the settlement memo for the last minute, thinking that, in cases like this, settlement conferences, like the one scheduled for next week, are a total waste of time. These cases are HARD, and the city invariably does not want to settle, especially considering that Philadelphia has no money.

Here’s the deal. A mother and her fifteen-year-old son are at home. The son is a troubled guy who has been away for a few months at a residential facility for kids who are having a tough time with conventional public schooling. Anyway, the kid is giving mom a hard time and she calls the cops.

Two officers arrive and, to make a long story short, the kid is at the top of the stairs with a clothes iron. A moment later, one shot is fired and the kid is fatally wounded in the chest. He eventually dies in front of his mom, right there in the living room.

So, the only question in my civil case (this is not a criminal matter) is whether the shooter believed there was an imminent threat to his life. The cops get huge leeway in this situation, and they should. Would you want their job?

So, I figured this case is just going to trial and that’s that. Why should I worry about the settlement conference? But the more time I spent reading depositions and looking at evidence, the more I thought we might get somewhere with this one. I mean, an iron? Come on!

I ended up working late and putting together something a bit more complicated and detailed than I had originally planned. Who knows? Maybe we can find some justice out there yet.

PA State budget compromise is going to put a new strain on the arts

Posted on by
Reply

Here is Mr. Pf’s recent letter:

Do you take blog request? ‘rantz request? Today I’m worked up about
our balanced budget and thought I should write mpomy, the
Blogerantzer, to ask what he thinks about the PA strategy of
balancing the city budget with new taxes on the arts.

Personally, I think it’s nice the Arts are being recognized as a
source of revenue. And naturally I respect that we won’t be burdening
the common man who requires affordable entertainment from the Phillies
(am I spelling that right? spellcheck says no) and the Eagles and
Hollywood. But if we tax the performing arts, won’t we make it harder
for the arts to generate the tax revenue they’re supposed to generate?
Well, I suppose it’s only the cultural elite who actually pay full
price for the tickets anyhow — and if you’re a member of the elite you
might as well be asking to be slapped with a sin tax. But I just can’t
help thinking that the other group who ought to care about the attax
on the arts — the kids of the Philadelphia School District, since they
are a non-elite beneficiary of the educational programming by a lot of
local arts institutions. Hmm, maybe there’s logic that says they
deserve a sin tax, too, for being low-income city residents getting
mixed up with the activities of the elite?

Anyhow, I’m just trying to be a gadfly to get you to blog about this,
if you’ve got it in you.

Pf, as usual, has hit on something here.  There are two things happening around these parts lately.  The one I’ve been flipping out about has to do with how the City of Philadelphia is going to pay its bills.  That has been worked out, sorta.

The other thing, that I haven’t been sounding off so much about, is that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has failed (up until this weekend) to come up with a deal for the state budget.  That situation is also reaching some kind of resolution, but, as with the city, all is not well.  Mr. Pf notes that a large portion of the burden required to balance the state budget will be placed on the arts.  That’s not good.  the stifling affect will ripple trough our community and we will reap a bitter harvest in the not-too-distant future.  Follow this link to the Philadelphia Cultural Alliance to see what you can do.  Harrisburg needs to hear from all of us.

For a better explanation, I recommend this blog post from Ben Waxman of ‘It’s Our Money’.  If you are not outraged yet, you will be after reading about what’s NOT being taxed.

But there may be some cause for optimism.  Pf points out that the local sports teams are enjoying an exemption under this recent state budget deal.  The Inky is reporting that the one group I love to single out for hate and vitriol (my apologies to Mrs. Pf) is actually ready to step up and help with the bail out – Good for you, Eagles fans!

Mpomy kicks your #musicmonday into high gear!

Posted on by
1

Let’s get #musicmonday started off just right with the flat-out coolest music gadget.  Go ahead, play with that browser!  WARNING – very addictive!!

Tons of great new music came in this weekend:

Paris DJs are smokin’ with a Hip-Hop/Reggae mix that is the perfect way to start your monday off with a BANG!  About one-half hour of all solid mixes, featuring Ghostface Killah and  People Under the Stairs

Other stuff includes:

  • Weather Report radio ‘cast from 1975, courtesy the Genesis-Movement Torrent site;
  • Cult / Hare Krishna inspired music from ile Oxumare, including Santana and Alice Coltrane;
  • If you pre-0rder the new Transatlantic record Whirlwind from RadiantRecords, you get a download of their take on ‘Return of the Giant Hogweed’ (courtesy Spleen Arcana‘s Tweet feed).  This is a great marketing move because the track is righteous and many proggers hate to wait;
  • Recently off the Dime – Bruce Springsteen  1973 (either radio or soundboard) and  ELP Santiago ’93 – brilliant quality right of the radio!
  • We saw The Sounds at TLA on Saturday night, this was a mighty Swedish dance-rock outfit, fronted by Maja Ivarsson, who brings the voice, the sexy, plenty of F-bombs and a blow-dried blond ‘do that would make Madonna proud.  this was a high energy show that did a nice job of bringing new-wave into the 21st century.  Check out the music and get a free download at their website.
  • Stephen Stills has two  release coming shortly; the first is a collection of Manassas outtakes, and, since the two studio albums are tremendous, this will be a must-have.  The other is a recent concert from the UK where the Stills featured solo-acoustic and full band renditions from throughout his career.  The live set is not expected until mid October, but the Manassas title is available starting tomorrow.  Here’s a taste of what the first Manassas record sounded like:

There’s all kinds of other stuff going on, including Philly budget, house hunting, a guest post/letter about some totally screwed up aspects of the state budget, Formula 1 racing going crazy, but maybe coming to New York City (?!!) and I’m finally starting to piece together my own mixtape #1 using Apple Logic.

More on all that good stuff later.  For now, we got one more music post – the link for ya!  Check out the latest talent brewing over at Fretbuzz.net.

The sky has cleared, for now…

Posted on by
1

3881178228_1ae9538346

We’re heading to the Phillies game tonight, and I think it won’t rain.  There had been some worry earlier.  There had also been some worry that about 3,000 city employees would be laid off tomorrow and that half the city’s services, including the Court system, would begin to shut down.  The tug-of-war between this city and the rest of our Commonwealth culminated today in the passage of a Senate resolution that will allow us to raise sales tax (woopty-freakin-do) and defer/restructure pension obligations for city workers (uh-oh).

So we’ll be able to get the ballgame in tonight and the city will wake up tomorrow and feel great about (hopefully the fifth Phillies victory in a row and) the fact that we’ve avoided the doomsday scenario of Plan ‘C’, but the allowances that have come from Harrisburg today do not solve the problem.  Too many city residents fail to grasp this reality.

We have done nothing more than put off paying a big bill.  Invariably, that bill will be even bigger next time, and I fear we will, once again, kick the can down the road.  This is a recipe for disaster.  We came close to feeling some of those effects this week, but the fact that Plan “C” was not implemented  means we can continue to go to Phillies games, watch reality and vampire TV and pretend that nothing is wrong.

The Committee of Seventy is trying to help us get our heads out of the mud, but people don’t want to hear this message.  A lot of residents don’t understand the issues.  The newspapers will only touch on these matters in the most tangential fashion because they are on the auction block.  This fall it will be Eagles football 24/7 in this town and no one will bother to spend a moment thinking about what this town could have looked like.  Even today, on the brink of disaster, the Daily News lead with a story about the impossibly cute Monforto family, instead of the impending doom of our town.

In the coming weeks we will see if people in this city care about where they live.  We will see if politicians can step away from their own greedy tendencies, we will see if city unions can find a way to normalize their demands for retirement that would put them on footing with the rest of humanity, and we will see if the residents can stop paying attention to Michael Vick for just long enough to show some small measure of concern for their fellow citizens.  If not, we are all doomed.