Electronic keyboard player Ronald Jenkees has parlayed his status as YouTube phenomenon into a website with music downloads and physical CDs. He’s even contributed music to the score of an independent film.
Check out my favorite, “Stay Crunchy”.
Synth Wiz Ronald Jenkees Keeps it Crunchy…and Smooth
10 Mar 2013 Leave a comment
in General Posts Tags: ronald jenkees
Fascinating Photos of Famous Musicians in Their Studios
09 Mar 2013 4 Comments
in General Posts Tags: artists in their studios, musicians and their studios
(Source: Flavorwire)
By Tom Hawking
We’re constantly fascinated with the creative process…and one of the most important components of that process is the space in which it takes place. For musicians, at least as far as the recording process goes, this place is the studio, and as such we thought we’d take a look at the studios of some of our favorite musicians. The contrasts on display are intriguing, from the endearingly chaotic to the pristine and very expensive, from analog to digital, from minimalist to decked out in all sorts of crazy-looking gear. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
The Chemical Brothers
Tom Rowlands on the bridge of the Chem Bros’ spaceship.
Steve Albini
Electrical Audio in Chicago: a space as austere as the man who owns it.
Daft Punk
We’d love to believe that Daft Punk really do dress up in their helmets when they’re recording…
Lindstrøm
…and we’re delighted to see that Lindstrøm sports his trademark bucket hat!
Flying Lotus
All that mess would probably make us scream, too.
Dr. Dre
Avec gigantic keyboard.
Brian Eno
Back in the 1970s…
Brian Eno
… and now.
Lee “Scratch” Perry
Shortly before he burned his studio to the ground. No, really.
Radiohead
Who says Thom Yorke doesn’t have a sense of humor?
Lenny Kravitz
Of course Lenny Kravitz has a crazy-beautiful studio.
Bob Moog
And of course Bob Moog has a gazllion amazing-looking synths.
Jimi Hendrix
The Jimi Hendrix Experience at the newly opened Electric Lady Studios on West 8th Street in New York.
J Dilla
With Peter Adarkwah from BBE Records at his home studio in Detroit. Look at all that vinyl!
Animal Collective
More controlled chaos.
Phil Spector (with Ike and Tina Turner)
Before the crazy.
Sly Stone
Before the crazy (II).
Johnny Jewel
We’re amused and entirely unsurprised to see that the Chromatics and Glass Candy producer’s neo-disco aesthetic extends to his workspace.
King Tubby
The great Jamaican dub pioneer at his self-built home studio in Kingston.
Aphex Twin
He even looks terrifying in the studio.
Daphne Oram
Female electronic pioneers, take one.
Laurie Spiegel
Female electronic pioneers, take two!
Pharrell Williams (with J. Cole)
It’s kind of reassuring to see that Pharrell isn’t above using cheap MIDI keyboards.
Michael Rother
Suitably spaced out, some time in the mid-1970s.
Tom Waits
And finally, the only man who can make a tiny toy piano somehow look cool. Bless.
Songs You May Have Missed #357
09 Mar 2013 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: i walked, wanderlust
Wanderlust: “I Walked” (1995)
Philadelphia’s Wanderlust made one album in 1995 that deserved a better fate, as did the band, who were dropped by RCA Records while recording a follow-up.
I won’t get carried away with the “lost masterpiece” talk of some, but if you’re a fan of 90’s rock I would suggest you give this one a try. “I Walked” (their single) and “Wanna Feel New” (see link below) should be enough to give you an impression of this forgotten band’s talent. Used copies of the out-of-print Prize CD can be found online for under a buck.
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2012/10/21/songs-you-may-have-missed-202/
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2025/01/27/recommended-albums-93/
Songs You May Have Missed #356
09 Mar 2013 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: derek webb, this too shall be made right
Derek Webb: “This Too Shall Be Made Right” (2007)
The most instrumentally spartan cut on Derek Webb’s Ringing Bell album is also its most searingly direct. The song is an indictment of many, including the singer himself, but it’s also a restating of Christ’s words about His father’s kingdom, and the divine justice that will set all things right. Thought-provoking. Chilling, even.
I don’t know the suffering of people outside my front door/I join the oppressors of those I choose to ignore
I’m trading comfort for human life/And that’s not just murder it’s suicide/And this too shall be made right
Songs You May Have Missed #355
09 Mar 2013 1 Comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: richard & linda thompson, wall of death
Richard & Linda Thompson: “Wall of Death” (1982)
The last album Richard and Linda Thompson made together has been called “absolutely perfect” and “a harrowing masterpiece” by critics, but it’s no lighthearted affair. Chronicling their crumbling marriage, the record is full of metaphors and double-entendres for the painful dissolution of a relationship such as “Did She Jump of Was She Pushed”, “Walking On a Wire” and “Don’t Renege On Our Love”. The tension is the grooves real; the tour in support of the record, which Linda insisted on fulfilling despite Richard’s involvement in a new relationship, was full of onstage malice and kicked shins.
But the album ends with a note of affirmation: “Wall of Death” uses carnival ride metaphors to suggest that life is, after all, better for having taken the risks:
You’re going nowhere when you ride on the carousel/And maybe you’re strong, but what’s the use of ringing a bell?
You can waste your time on the other rides/But this is the nearest to being alive/Let me take my chances on the Wall of Death
Ironically the Shoot Out the Lights album was a breakthrough of sorts in America for the soon-to-divorce British couple. Rolling Stone ranked it #9 on a 1989 list of The 100 Best Albums of the Eighties. The Village Voice ranked it as the #2 album of 1982.
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2012/10/06/songs-you-may-have-missed-187/
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/10/15/songs-you-may-have-missed-489/
John Lennon and the Spectacles Man
08 Mar 2013 Leave a comment
in General Posts Tags: john lennon statue
John Lennon has a permanent chill-out session on a park bench in Havana, Cuba, The Park in Vedado district is called Parque John Lennon, and it was Fidel Castro himself who in 2000 unveiled the life-size bronze statue of the Beatle. Unfortunately, John’s glasses were stolen immediately afterwards, and then stolen again, and so the Cuban government had to find a Spetacles Man who lurks behind the trees and the bushes with John’s glasses in his pocket, and every time someone comes to meet John Lennon the Spectacles Man pops out and puts those famous Lennon glasses on the nose. – Walter de Camp
Every Moment Has A Song 