Musical

Archive for May, 2010

My house was always a noisy place with two sons and I, a music mad father I never thought this would change, the digital music revolution however has changed all this. Music has become a more private affair, one that can be compressed and in most cases does not even require a trip to the record shop. Being somewhat part of the old school of music I still appreciate my vinyl collection, for me there is nothing quite like that crackle as you crank up the volume. Seemingly nowadays people do not respect this, but I find digital music too clear, too crisp, give me my turntable over a CD player. There just seems to be more soul in these antiquated medium.

I believed this until I was given a USB turntable for my birthday last year; I have found it extremely useful and am still in the process of converting my vast record collection to my computer and MP3 player. Despite the disdain I hold for those plugged in on the morning train I still see the purpose for portable music and to be able to listen to my precious records on the move is something I value greatly. The USB turntable has honestly changed my life whilst benefiting my family immensely as they no longer have to listen to me blurting out my tunes on a Saturday morning. Now they purely have to listen to my atrocious singing as I plug myself in for an hour’s musical therapy.

My eldest son has taken to using the USB turntable himself, being a budding young DJ he has found it brilliant for transferring his tunes to the computer enabling him through some pretty fancy technical wizardry to mix and put sets together without the need to touch his decks. There is no doubt when he bought me the USB turntable for my birthday he had this in mind, seemingly kids never buy you a gift unless it benefits them in someway. I am not particularly upset about it though because, a; I am used it from my boys and b; I have actually got some use out of the USB turntable, so really I cannot complain.

The era of personal music has also brought around further benefits for my family, my youngest son who is a keen drummer and who has had a kit in the garage for a number of years has recently acquired a USB drum kit. This I can honestly say is a Godsend, not just for me but also for the neighbours. I am pretty sure they were sick of listening to his extended drum solos, nearly as much as I was. The USB drum kit has enabled him to drum away in silence through the headphones or if routed through the computer’s speakers with a much welcomed volume control. Rather than taking up a huge amount of space in his bedroom the USB drum kit also folds away to a neat size and slips under his bed, he truly could not be happier as he no longer has to go into the cold garage to drum away. His constant protest of ‘you cannot drum with frostbite’ is no longer heard ringing in my ears day and night either.

There is no doubt that both the USB turntable and the USB drum kit have made life in the house more pleasurable. Before we had three separate sources of noise all competing with each other, now with one son drumming away silently, the other becoming a superstar DJ on the computer and myself cocooned in my own musical world the house is a far quieter place. Both the wife and the neighbours are extremely grateful for the new levels of peace and quiet.

There’s new research from the University of California that states the problems surrounding older people and their sleep, while offering few solutions. This is a somewhat sad trend when it comes to research affecting the aging members of our society. When people are younger and more energetic, they will contribute to the growth and development of the American way of life. Equally important is their personal earning capacity. To maintain their quality of life, they will often pay the medical profession well. Those who are older have less to contribute and, while some do have money, there’s less that can be done to improve the quality of life when bodies have aged. Although Sarah Palin was exaggerating the threat of “death panels” to drum up opposition to reform, we have a comparable effect already in the rationing of research into the health problems of the old, and in the poor quality of healthcare services in the geriatric sector. People do have shorter lives in the US than in many other countries around the world. According to the research, about half the seniors in the US complain of difficulty in sleeping. It’s suggested that lack of sleep increases the risk of illness and early death. The question, therefore, is why seniors do find sleep more difficult. The answers are not directly related to age as such, but to the facts that older people are more prone to diseases and disorders, use more medications which have insomnia as a side effect, and find their circadian rhythms disrupted. Unfortunately, the research also finds the healthcare service is not sympathetic to these problems and fails to properly diagnose sleep disorders or give the appropriate treatment (including simply adjusting the dosages in medications probably contributing to the sleep disorder). At present, there’s no financial incentive for hospitals and clinics to divert resources to treat these problems. Although seniors can use their own savings to go to professional sleep laboratories for overnight assessment with a polysomnogram, the necessary follow-up treatments through counseling and cognitive behavioral therapy is often neglected because it’s not considered cost-effective. Necessary dentistry or, where appropriate, surgery is a one-off cost and preferred where appropriate. But, for the most part, seniors are left to fend for themselves. The University of California is unable to offer any solutions to these problems. The dominance of capitalism in the healthcare industry means service providers will make the decisions giving them the best profit opportunities. Seniors do not fit into this system. They do better under systems of socialized medicine. The result is that American seniors are driven into the waiting arms of the pharmaceutical industry. Those who worry about lack of sleep rather than adapting to a different flow of life buy ambien online. This is the cheap solution to their problems. Ambien works within about ten minutes of taking the pill and lying down. Whether in conventional form or as ambien cr, seniors can then sleep through the night. It’s not the ideal solution and the continuing cost can slowly drain savings. But, in a culture that’s relatively uncaring, there should be no expectation of entitlement to quality of life. In America, you get what you pay for.

Stereo MCs – tune ‘em in and up! When Gee Street started gaining popularity, Stereo MCs’ debut album 33-45-78 (1989) was released. Although this album was recorded on a tight budget which along with DJ Cesare had drummer Owen If and backing singer, Cath Coffey was a great hit.

Their first British hip hop single named “Elevate My Mind” was released in1990. This single belonged to Stereo MCs and was the first British hip hop single to go to the U.S. R&B chart. Also where they were based out, the indie dance scene was gaining momentum for Stereo MCs. They tied up with the Jungle Brothers. A number of hip hop tracks emerged as a result of this alliance such as Supernatural (1990), and remixes such as U2, Queen Latifah, PM Dawn, Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, Electronic and Monie Love. These producers are still very well known. Most of the remixes by them are under the name of Ultimatum.

The fame they gained through the live shows made way for their famous album Connected, which was released in 1992. On the UK Album charts, this album went up to No.2. The album contained hits like “Connected”, “Creation”, “Step It Up” and “Ground Level”. Due to these tracks, the BRIT Awards for Best Album and Best Group were won by Stereo MCs. When music publisher Spirit Songs was started by Birch and Hallam, the status of rock star was confirmed by the Stereo MCs by having taken an eternity to come out with the follow up of Connected. The reason given was that they did not want to come out with something similar to the earlier one.

For the purpose of their live shows, Stereo MCs put together a live band. This band had famous singers, Verona Davis and Andrea Bedassie in it. They were one of the very few hip hop bands who played at rock music festivals. Stereo MCs is a hip hop band in the English arena. Their very won recording studio called the Gee Street recording studio and record label was founded by Rob Birch (the vocalist) and Nick Hallam (DJ/producer). They started this endeavor with the money they were left with from leaving the flat they were living in London. Traveling on buses to early gigs carrying bags full of tapes instead of getting a backing band, the studio was set up.

Stereo MCs then released remixes of “Frozen” by Madonna and “Jungle Brother” by the Jungle Brothers in 1998. This confirmed that they were back in form and were still keeping alive in the hip hop arena. In 2000, Stereo MCs came out with a DJ mix of DJ-Kicks series for Studio K7. Another remix was done by them for Madonna, called “Music”. The album, Deep Down & Dirty was released in 2001. They then went on a tour which included slots opening for Jane’s Addiction, the band which was reunited recently. In 2005, Stereo MCs released an album, “Paradise”, the most recent one.

The Stereo MCs, with their numerous albums and remixes have gained immense popularity.