Not ladders

My all time favourite band of all time, Rush, are releasing their umpteenth studio album on May 1st – Snakes and Arrows. A teeny snippet has been posted on rush.com and to my ears it sound very reminiscent of their 1978 album, Hemispheres. After the over-blown, if not messy, production/mastering of their last effort, Vapour Trails, this is a very good thing indeed.

Toxicity

Recently my CD of choice in the car is System of a Down's Toxicity – played exceedingly loud. On the strength of this album I got Mesmerize/Hypnotize but I don't like them as much as this.

wishful thinking

This week before leaving the house I've gone and picked a cd to play in the car. Today's almost random choice was Wishful Thinking by Propaganda. It's the remixed version of A Secret Wish. What a stunning album. Better than the orginal, IMHO.

we have assumed microKontrol

Forget all that nonsense about wanting an Adrenalinn II… I decided it was pointless buying more guitar FX until I can play the damn thing properly.

So I got one of these instead.

That’s a Korg microKONTROL to the uninitiated and it’s totally wicked!

And now with the news that Propellerhead’s Reason 3.0 can seamlessly integrate with midi controllers, it’s even more wicked. I cannot say more as I’m under an NDA as a beta tester don’t you know.

everything is the same

Last night Davy and I drove down to London to see dEUS. Unfortunately due to the traffic from Archway to Euston Rd we missed the first two songs but they were very good. They certainly seem to be rejuvenated after a 5 year absence but considering they have 3 new members maybe that's not so surprising.

The set alternated between new songs and old stuff. The new songs all sounded good so next year's new album should be very good.

The Mean Fiddler (formerly LA2) is an awful venue. Cramped and with ridiculous sightlines, we had to stand near the back among people who talked through the whole gig. Add all the people going to and fro between the toilets or bar and it's testament to the band that we still enjoyed the evening.

sonoma farting about

I've received blog comments from employees of the company who developed Rifftracker which I mentioned in posts last week. How queer!

To be honest I'm thinking of getting my money refunded on Rifftracker coz I can't see myself using it. Once I'm good enough on the guitar to actually have ideas that I want to keep, I think I'd rather capture them in something more flexible. I appreciate that it's supposed to give you a streamlined workflow and sometimes having fewer options makes you more creative but I still don't like the user interface. I'm used to using Reason which all my other software gets compared to (usually unfavourably). When I got into DV I made the mistake of getting cut-down, limited editing software. Sure it was great for my first couple of projects but pretty soon I wanted more flexibility, more advanced options so I had no choice but to upgrade to a more professional package. I don't want to make the same mistake again.

Anyway, back to Rifftracker. While initially impressed with the InstantDrummer thing, I'm bored with it now and know that I won't use the intensity or variations feature much because of the sort of music I want to create (loop-based, ambient, repetitive).

The main thing I like about Rifftracker are the effects. For bog-standard guitar tones I already have everything I need in GuitarPort. RT's effects do give me access to weird tempo-synced effects and this is it's biggest plus-point for me. However, my dream piece of kit is an Adrenalinn II which does the same thing far, far better. When I eventually get my hands on an Adrenalinn that's going to leave Rifftracker pretty redundant.

riff raff

Had a good play with Rifftracker last night… it's well cool. In the short term it'll distract me from my proper practice (scales, chords, etc.) but it's so inspiring to use, in the long term it'll be great for those times when my interest in playing wains.

The InstantDrummer feature is great and I'll probaby end up buying more "kits" but it's the FX that really grabbed me. One of the reasons I want an Adrenalinn is to get these tempo-based modulation effects that make the guitar sound like a synth – but the FX on Rifftracker go a long way towards providing those sounds. And for a lot less money.

I still want an Adrenalinn though…

rifftastic

I bought Rifftracker this morning. Can't wait to play with it tonight. Ooh and HP's going out to a community association meeting so I'll be able to play loud for a few hours.

john peel

I’m saddened to hear that John Peel died today. I remember a period in my teens when I would religiously listen to his show every night and he introduced me to all sorts of weird and wonderful music. I clearly remember how startling it was to hear The Message by Grandmaster Flash for the first time. In later years I have collected Peel Sessions by many bands – Orbital, Plaid, Autechre, Boards of Canada, etc. I even went to a Peel Session Live concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London with a bill of Cornelius and Orbital. When Peel shuffled on stage to announce Cornelius in his own inimitable style he was afforded a reception surpassing that of the band he was there to introduce.

bad case of gas

That’s Gear Acquisition Syndrome, not wind.

I’m learning to play the guitar. I’m not as disciplined as I should be but I’m making slow progress. I have a decent and perfectly playable electric guitar – a Yamaha Pacifica. So why is it that every few weeks I have to draw on vast depths of [previously hidden?] self control to stop myself buying either another guitar or an amp. The guitar choice for a while was an electro-acoustic. Then it was something PRS-like with twin humbuckers and a trem. Recently it was anything cool-looking with twin humbuckers and a trem. And for the past few days, it’s been back to an electro-acoustic. In fact, I’m watching two of them on Ebay right now.

It’s ridiculous. I can play a handful of chords and I want two guitars. I try and justify it by saying I could have a new electric down tuned. How stupid is that? What’s to stop me down tuning my Pacifica? Er, nothing. The justification for the acoustic? HP always complains that the acoustic sound of my Pacifica is horrible (even when I’m playing it properly). Ergo I need another guitar.

Wanting an amp is even more stupid. HP wouldn’t put up with any kind of volume and who the hell am I going to play to? I am very tempted by a Roland Microcube though. Especially if I get that electro acoustic…