So I’m thoroughly embarrassed to admit it, especially publicly, but I like a few of the new Coldplay tracks on their new album. Their sound isn’t really my thing, but they have some more edgy, upbeat and interesting production on songs like Viva La Vida (my current fave song) and Violet Hill from the new album.
But when I went to their website, there was no music! Oh, except for a free song that was so poor, it was a slap in my face. NO MUSIC ON A BAND WEBSITE?? How does this kind of thing happen? Maybe it was there and I just didn’t see it? That is just as bad.
Note to major labels, if your going to jump on the ‘free song’ bandwagon, if you offer a lousy track, it is like the 30 second preview, it’s just a slap in the music fans face!
But eliminating the entire music section from an artist website? That is beyond belief.
You know the only place online you can hear more than one full length song from the new Coldplay album? ‘Illegal download’ torrent sites.
But since they offer non DRM tracks on iTunes, perhaps I will get a few songs from there… Maybe.
I’ve decided to create a widget to share my current fave songs because lately, I can barely contain myself about some of the music I have been listening to. (I’m not sure why really as no one I know or even work with really shares my eclectic and extreme range of taste in music…)
The first artist I have been really into lately is Finnish band Nightwish, which, if you listen to their older material with previous vocalist, have successfully married hard rock, opera and electronic music, no small feat. Their video for Amaranth puts to shame most north american music videos, never mind their music production. I was pleased to hear they are coming here on tour soon.
And completely different, the other track I have been into lately is M.I.A ‘Baamboo Banga’
I have put this with other favorites in my box on the sidebar to the left.
When you come back to this blog next time, check it out for my latest favorite tracks!
You can even subscribe to my fave files widget using rss if you roll like that: http://www.box.net/public/xqegzxngg0/rss.xml
Ever since I was a kid, i have loved the Cylons from the TV show Battlestar Galactica. I even made my very own super cool silver cylon mask out of paper mache for halloween once. When fan of the modern remake of BSG, and an artist I have produced, Laura Harley joked about listening to Depeche Mode’s ‘Enjoy The Silence’ and thinking ‘enjoy the cylons’, I had my fuel to create the ultimate cylon tribute video.
Over the last few months, this video has become quite a mash up. What I did is start with the remix of Enjoy The Silence by Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park. Then I edited it and re created parts so that Laura could sing over top. So that was the musical mash up, a remake of the remix of the original song.
Then for the video, I cut my favorite clips, chosen to work with the lyrics of the song, and give a good overview of the new and old cylons, and show some of the drama and conflict between the cylons themselves.
I was going to post these around a week before the holidays and yesterday I looked at the date and was like “Holy Christmas, it’s Dec 21st!” Here they are anyway:
Under The Mistletoe:
The First Noel - Tekno mix:
These songs were composed with the first successful artists I ever worked with, Emeline. We lost Emeline in 2001 after she spent many brave years battling breast cancer.
Rosie Owens is on backup vocals.
DISCLAIMER: These are very old songs. They were done over 16 years ago in 1991, back when I was still learning to compose, produce and engineer. They were commissioned by local radio station Z95.3 FM, who are the time were playing Emeline’s music frequently. You can hear evidence of this from the clips on Emeline’s memorial site. You can get more of her music here.
So these songs are a little embarrassing. But I’m trying to be humble and put them out there anyway. Hope you enjoy them.
Have a great holiday season visiting with family, good food and good friends.
In 2004, I produced a CD called Past Becomes Future, released on Pro Soul. It’s a compilation of various artists that is basically a celebration of dance / electronica / R & B through modern versions of classic pop songs from the 70’s and 80’s.
The latest track I have produced, ‘Starlight’ is a combination of retro Madonna and the kind of Hip Hop you remember, back when it was great. It was conceived for a live show after the album was released, but the chorus vocals were never recorded. I started by recording and editing together various 12″ vinyl remix records, and then had Luvva J aka Jose S. Gutierrez Jr. put down an original rap on it. Then I punched it up with some additional beats and synth. I always liked the track and what Jose did with it , so recently, I decided to remix it and have Laura Harley record the missing vocals. She did an amazing job, and we decided to put it out there for you to listen to as a free download.
This song is special for a few reasons, 1: It is basically the first, but not last, free song I have put out there, 2: It is not attached to any particular project - Those that know me know I very rarely do songs like this that are just for fun because I am so busy producing other artists songs, and 3: It is very different than anything I am producing now, and it is different than the usual style of the artists featured on it.
I hope you enjoy it! Tell your friends, and let me know what you think.
jarome | Business, Songs | Thursday, July 26th, 2007
I’ve been so busy over the last 5 years that I haven’t really been able to update my website for a long time. The last demo that was on there was literally 4 years old. But I have finally put up a completely new website at www.jarome.com thanks to the help of Vancouver musician and designer, Zenobia Salik, who I am assisting in mixing and mastering her very cool new electro funk album.
My new site has accurate descriptions of everything I do, and recent audio, music and video demos, some so recent, they are for CD’s that haven’t even been mixed yet never mind released!
So please check it out and let me know if anything doesn’t work well for you on your system.
