Category: Series of posts
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The Core is Getting Soft.3: Room For Space
There’s one reason I like plug-in software that’s really pretty straightforward: Room for Space. Not sonic space: I mean space in my small apartment. I could never fit the hardware all the stuff I have emulations of I like in my bohemian garret, and I don’t want to spend money renting a stinky practice space…
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Secrets of the Temple.1: More Than A Doorstop
The operations of the Federal Reserve board are notoriously shrouded in mystery. Technocratic decisions on monetary policy that supposedly need to be protected from the fickle pressures of politics are carried out by an appointed board of governors who like to operate behind closed doors. William Grieder set out to demystify this institution in the…
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Other John Davises.3: The 1946 Newark Eagles
In this third in a series of posts on notable folks who have been housed under my ubiquitous name, I hereby pay tribute to a star of the 1946 Newark Eagles, who were one of the great all time teams of the Negro Leagues that existed in the apartheid days of Major League Baseball. They…
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The Core is Getting Soft.2: Unreal Reels
Continuing this series of posts on software and plug-ins, today’s post has praise for the one I use more than any other: Universal Audio’s Ampex ATR-102 plug-in. (On sale through the end of december for $299, or $499 as a bundle with the complementary Studer A800 24 track emulation, also mentioned below.) While I’m critical…
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The Core is Getting Soft.1
I’ve been thinking about starting a new set of posts for awhile about various kinds of music software – plug-ins, virtual instruments, etc. Digital doesn’t tend to get a lot of love in the indie world, historically speaking. Even the word “soft” carries negative connotations in a genre that followed in the wake of hardcore.…
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Top 40 Over 40.10: Bill Dixon
In this series of posts on artists who inspired me to start recording again by doing first-rate work on or after their 4oth birthday, Bill Dixon is an anomaly. Most of the folks I’ve written about were known for an early body of work done in their 20’s, and managed a “return to form” after…
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Top 40 Over 40.9: Jandek….live?!?!
I didn’t pay much attention to what was going on in the undie music scene during the aughts. I listened to some things that were current, but mostly I was just writing lyrics on my own and listening to a lot of modern classical music. When I started lending an ear indie-ward over the last…
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R.I.P., MCA.1
I’d like to express my respect for the late MCA’s work by sharing some thoughts his passing brought to mind about an aspect of his life that many of referred to but few focus on at length, which is his interest in and practice of Buddhist teachings. I didn’t learn about Buddhism from MCA, and…
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Top 40 Over 40.8: Scott Walker’s hat trick
Sometimes pop artists you associate with youth surprise you with a new vocal persona that suits them as they get older. (Think Robert Plant on Raising Sand.) But in the case of Scott Walker, he never really sounded like a young man to begin with. Sure, he was a teen idol back in the late…
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Top 40 Over 40.7: Egypt by Youssou N’Dour
This album was one of a few that made me want to try putting strings on my next record. I don’t like how strings are often used in western pop as a soft bed of sound in the background. I do like how they carry the lead parts on much of this album. The Egyptian…
johnhdavis / inundation records 