Music
October 28, 2010

Ray Charles – Rare Genius: The Undiscovered Masters [78/100]

Released yesterday, this album is a set of 10 never-before-heard songs that cover the whole range of the Genius’s abilities, from country-western to blues to funk. It was a bit of a sentimental rollercoaster to listen to, but I enjoyed it very much. Below are my notes and scores for the album.

Notes: Sound quality is exceptional given the age of the material, some of which dates back to the 1970s. From track to track you’re reminded of Ray’s ability to shine in any genre. “It Hurts To Be In Love” has tons of emotion over a funky swing sound, with little stabs of electronic piano placing it firmly in the 1980s. “Wheel of Fortune” feels like two songs in one, the swelling strings of orchestral soul on one side of the coin and a more syncopated big band sound with subtle two-part harmony that gives the song tons of character. An early favorite in this album. “I’m Gonna Keep On Singin'” Opens with tasty funk licks on bass and takes you on a trip that feels largely improvised and delightfully so, like you could feel privileged to sit in for a jam session with the Genius hard at work. Even though the whole band seems to be in attendance, for most of the song it feels quite minimal and intimate, transitioning with a bridge featuring marimbas that places the track firmly in funk. “There’ll Be Some Changes Made” is slow blues that is soulful, but with a solo that feels about 8 bars too long. His vocals seem forced but still beautiful. “Isn’t It Wonderful” doesn’t categorize well but bass and electric guitar pluck out a simple 4/4, Charles’ vocals are spot-on but the track feels very roughed-in, and in fact several of these tracks were finished posthumously by … (More) “Ray Charles – Rare Genius: The Undiscovered Masters [78/100]”

Music
October 27, 2010

Winter Is For Writing

Most of you know I thrive on projects. The more ambitious, the more I toss and turn over it, the better. Sometimes I remember projects with more fondness than I honestly had for them at the time. Writing projects can be like that, but I remind myself that this could just be important practice, training for a career in who-knows-what. This winter I’m revisiting music reviews, and trying to review one new release a week and maybe one of my favorite albums weekly or bi-weekly too. The good news is I put much more work into the details first this time, and I feel like I can make a more objective statement about the music itself than with my prior setup. I’m using a rubric much like written compositions are scored against, which you can see here. I created the rubric to cover the things I find most important, and also make it a point to reward innovation, originality, and creativity.

I’m also using high-quality headphones instead of my 5.1 surround sound system. The Sennheiser HD25-1 II is known for being neutral and true to the source, with tighter bass than other models I tried while deciding. I justify this by my experience as a music producer, and referenced the headphones with several songs I created and found the bass to be heavy but true to the sound I was trying to achieve in my work. They’re being fed into a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS sound card, and all equalizer settings between software and hardware are set to flat. With my end of things sussed I had to decide on a source. I can’t sink 10 bucks a week into a new release every week so I chose to use a music streaming service, and decided on MOG.com … (More) “Winter Is For Writing”

Blogging General Life Work
August 31, 2010

Remembering August

Rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated.

This month has been the best, busiest and most life-changing month I’ve ever experienced. Let me bring you up to speed.

Back in early August, Diana and I moved in together, which involved moving out of our respective cities and into a new town. We knew where we wanted to be, but even now as I sit here, looking out the window to see the sunset casting the Sandia Mountains red, it’s hard to believe that the hard work and determination paid off and we’re really here: Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The drive out here was an experience in itself, the first day was a long drive much like any other I’ve been on. The second, however, took us through the wind farms and hills of Western Oklahoma, the stark, desolate panhandle of Texas, devoid of life save for Amarillo, which seems to pop up from nothing and leaves you back on God’s definition of the flatlands just as quickly. After Texas was two hundred miles of New Mexico, and it included the most breathtaking driving of my life, through canyons and overlooking mesas and mountain ridges in the distance that evoked a thought I’d never had before, the thought that the landscape of where you call home could truly make you happy or sad, and maybe people are happier out here just because they get little flashes of the truly awesome in their day-to-day life. The fact that Diana and I still find breathtaking new views seemingly every week is confirmation in itself that we picked the right home, and in many ways I feel like I was always meant to end up here.

After moving quickly came work, four days after moving to a town where we knew nobody and had nary … (More) “Remembering August”

General Nerd Stuff
June 28, 2010

How to suppress idle scan notifications in Norton 2010 (Permanent Silent or Quiet Mode)

How to suppress idle scan notifications in Norton 2010 (Permanent Silent or Quiet Mode)

This post is going to be formatted a bit differently than previous entries, the good chunk of people that read this are going to be from search engines and not my serial readers. Norton 2010 was about the highest rated paid antivirus on the market, but within a few hours I got irritated with the pop-up notifications that Norton is performing an idle scan in the background. I was even more irritated when I found that there was no real way to disable the pop-ups. It doesn’t do it while I’m doing something else but it is something else I have to close every time I come back to my computer after a time, and having moved from the totally silent Kaspersky AV 2008 I’m not cool with not being able to go totally silent. Silent Mode can be used, but then idle scans are disabled entirely and you have to turn it back on every day. The happy medium is Quiet Mode, which performs scans and only alerts you during actually important things. This is limited by default to a set number of instances, like disc burning. However, you can specify that Quiet Mode remain active while certain programs are running. This is the means we will use to put Norton in Quiet Mode for as long as we like.

Right click the Norton icon in your system tray and select Open Norton Anti Virus (or Open Norton Internet Security).

Under the Computer section, hit Settings.

Click the tab for Miscellaneous Settings.

Under Silent Mode Settings, click Configure next to User-Specified Programs.

Click Add.

Navigate to C:\Windows and double-click explorer.exe.

Click OK. You’re done!

Simple enough, and as far as I can tell it’s working … (More) “How to suppress idle scan notifications in Norton 2010 (Permanent Silent or Quiet Mode)”

Nerd Stuff Work
April 20, 2010

I thought I was following @BestBuyPaducah

Alright, I need to address this if I’m going to be posting on that particular Twitter account again. If you’re receiving this blog post via Facebook you’re more than welcome to ignore it. So from August last year to January this year you’ve been reading the Twitter feed from BestBuyPaducah, which has been my endeavor to get my workplace a bit more presence on the web while also being personable, relatable and generally a store you don’t mind reading about on Twitter. Several months ago I was told that Twitter was going to be made a mandatory thing for stores in my district (an area from around Cape Girardeau in the north to Nashville in the south). I’d been posting essentially because I wanted to, no pay, just for fun. With it being mandatory, it also became something that another department would handle, for hourly pay. This didn’t sit well with me for reasons I believe you can understand. After much arguing and being threatened with legal action and my job (you’re a great group of folks but a Twitter account isn’t worth my job), I caved and changed the name and let them do what they want with the BestBuyPaducah name.

So, let’s get some things straight:

I’m not a manager, I can’t do discounts via Twitter, promotions, or any of that stuff, and I won’t be involved with it if/when the time comes.

The opinions you see on the renamed account, DanielBBPaducah, are obviously mine and may not (and probably don’t) reflect on the opinions of Best Buy as a company. This is the same logic that applies to my opinions working on the floor, i.e., just because I think Canon makes the best digital camera on the market doesn’t mean corporate agrees.

I really like helping customers, … (More) “I thought I was following @BestBuyPaducah”

Fragrance SoTY 2010
February 9, 2010

SoTW 1/31/10 – 2/6/10

Hello and welcome to Week 1 of the 2010-2011 Scent of The Year experiment.  This first week has been all about finding the simplest way to process all the data, and to figure out what exactly we’ll be tracking over the next year.

So let’s take a step back, for the uninitiated.  Scent of The Year (abbreviated to SoTY) is a yearlong exercise, reading the daily Scent of The Day threads and compiling all that data to one central spreadsheet, and seeing what conclusions there are to be drawn from it.  You’ll be receiving regular updates for every week (SoTW), month (SoTM), quarter (SoTQ), half-year (SoTHY) and finally the big SoTY rundown, which will happen right around February 1st, 2011, to coincide with my other project, the lead-in to Basenotes March Madness.

Why, one could conceivably ask, would someone take on the tedious, dull, boring and exceptionally un-fun work of reading other people’s fragrance selections and type them into a book with other people’s fragrance selections?  I’ve got two reasons, the first being I get restless without a good long-term project to work at, and the second being that I do get a lot of enjoyment out of playing with data, and seeing what can be really gathered from it.

I harbor no such illusions, however, that you enjoy statistics quite to the level that I do, so I’ll try to keep it interesting, entertaining even, but hopefully informative as well.  If I start drifting off-course, please send me an email, PM, or tweet and let me know, or take me by the shoulders and gently steer me back in the right direction.

To work, then!  The first step when you start collecting data is, obviously, determining exactly what you want to collect; the fragrances themselves, of course, … (More) “SoTW 1/31/10 – 2/6/10”

Fragrance
October 9, 2009

Bond No. 9 Lexington Avenue

First: a word about art and money. Mediocre works with outrageous price tags are going to get (deservingly) harsher criticism. (Looking at you, Soup Can Man!) Arrogantly priced houses should be held to a higher standard. One as expensive as Bond No. 9 ($205 for 100mL) had better be bottled transcendence. I’ve tried a dozen or so of theirs, most of which weren’t anything special, and precious few could justify their price tag. That being said, I’d fork over the cash for this masterpiece in a New York minute.

It’s been compared to Serge Luten’s aggressively spiced Feminite du Bois, but Lexington Avenue strikes a balance between invigorating and comforting. Resinous blue cypress paired with fennel, similar to anise or licorice, for a bracing foundation. They balanced it with cozy gourmand notes of toasted almond and “crème brulée” over creamy sandalwood. Neither side of this spectrum would work alone, but together the result is incredible! A little olfactive alchemy and you’ve got creamy spiced woods woven with traces of peony. Perfectly wearable with a fascinating something that surprises you, catches your interest, and keeps you coming back.

Notes fluctuate but none of them take over or fade away completely. Generally the more resinous elements stand out in the opening, and softer gourmand side sets the tone hours later. Bond No.9’s eau de parfum formulations are even richer than the average edp, so the longevity’s wonderful, lasts 8 to 10 hours easily. Sillage is moderate on cooler days, but in warm weather that spice can fill the whole room. It’s hard to test due to Bond No.9’s limited distribution, but if you find Lexington Avenue, just close your eyes, pretend you didn’t see the hideously kitsch shoes all over the bottle, spritz, and experience … transcendence.… (More) “Bond No. 9 Lexington Avenue”

Fragrance
October 8, 2009

Dirty English: Me Versus The World

It was fairly early into my exploration of fragrance that I realized I particularly enjoyed a few notes, more than others.   At the top of the list was cedar, and I’ve come to enjoy it in all it’s shades and nuances.  Perfumery mainly uses two species, the Virginia Cedar, which is the sharp, resinous, woody scent that most people associate with hamster bedding or pencil shavings.  There’s also Atlas Cedar, which is a more distinguished, camphorous smell, beautiful in it’s own right for entirely different reasons, and used in entirely different applications.   Rarer are the perfumes that use cypress, which is a nice balance of the qualities of both and was used, along with Atlas cedar, in Juicy Couture Dirty English.  I have said for a long time now that this is the most underrated fragrance of 2008, missing the ballot altogether for Best New Fragrance in the 8th Basenotes Awards entirely, replaced instead with things like Diesel Fuel For Life and Lancôme Hypnôse.

But enough reminiscing.  Dirty English opens in a very unusual way, in that it blends sweet citrus notes with spicy cypress and caraway seed.  Let me take a step back and say how much I enjoy the addition of spice notes to fragrances, and what a difference they can make.  The black pepper note in Ralph Lauren Romance Silver saves it, it gives character and strength to Burberry London, it turns the entire composition on it’s ear in Cereus No. 7, it…well, you see where I’m going.  The maneuver is a good one, and it’s a very distinct spicy opening.  The edges of the sweetness and spice fade, and the drydown is much like the opening, but with the growing presence of moss and leather to esconce it firmly in the masculine category.  Where … (More) “Dirty English: Me Versus The World”

Music
September 25, 2009

Five Finger Death Punch – War Is The Answer

This sophomore offering from Five Finger Death Punch features the same line-up as the sound that gave you The Way of the Fist, which provided “The Bleeding” and “Never Enough”, the two songs that propelled them into regular airplay on rock stations.   If you’ve been in your local Best Buy recently, you may have heard their first single off the album, titled “Hard To See”.  The thing with 5FDP, though, is they truly do aspire to be more than prefab, mass-consumable rock.  I listen to this album, and I hear some flashes of talent that extends beyond what they’re known for, and I feel their strength is in a heavier vein of metal than what is usually acceptable on your major radio stations.  At the same time, the album as a whole feels scattered and loose; you go from catchy, inspired rock in “Hard to See” to a very traditional, melodic metal offering in “Bulletproof” with an unclear message. The angry, defiant “Burn It Down” seems included as an afterthought and was quite powerful, which goes back to their strength, which is raw, melodic metal.

I’m not gonna lie, I think Ivan Moody, their lead singer, makes the band.  This guy will have work in the industry for as long as he chooses to rock, and in this album he does get to try some new situations, and while the talent’s there in his growls and screams, he needs to work on control when he has the opportunity to sing cleanly, I was cringing all the way through “Far From Home,” if he can improve his sense of pitch in clean sections it’s going to do wonders for their sound and versatility.

Viewing the album as a whole, I’ll call it an acceptable effort by some genuinely talented … (More) “Five Finger Death Punch – War Is The Answer”

Music
September 25, 2009

How Music is Graded (My 100-point scale.)

Tone/Overall Sound: 20 pts
How do the instruments interact with each other, and how is the end result aesthetically? This also includes vocal qualities, though not lyrics (covered under Theme).
Melody/Harmony: 20 pts
Does the artist display technical prowess by utilizing melody and/or harmony effectively?
Rhythm/Syncopation: 20 pts
Does the rhythm of the piece contribute to the sound as a whole? Have they searched beyond the standard rhythms or utilized different percussion instruments?
Mixing/Production: 20 pts
How polished is the album on execution? Are effects, samples, and dynamics used effectively to improve the overall quality of the album? Does the flow of the album from track to track feel natural?
Theme/Concept: 10 pts
Is there an overarching theme to the album as a whole? Are the lyrics meaningful, well-presented, and well thought-out?
Presentation: 10 pts
Do the artwork and packaging reinforce the story of the album? Does the presentation fit the image of the band, and vice-versa? How is the quality of the artwork?

Originality, exceptional execution, and innovation are all rewarded heavily.… (More) “How Music is Graded (My 100-point scale.)”