Music Thing - obituary

Tom, creator of the Music Thing blog has decided to down tools and will devote his time spent online to his new day job. I certainly wish him well in this but hope that he can be convinced to leave Music Thing online. I've certainly enjoyed it and it has pointed me to plenty of interesting music related 'things' I might not otherwise have found.

And why not keep it going and just post every once in a while?

In Search of African Vinyl

I don't know much about this film/music project apart for this trailer, but it looks to be intriguing and very enjoyable:

update: more here http://www.trotroproductions.com/Works-in-Progress.html
and Frank has his own blog here:
http://www.voodoofunk.blogspot.com/

Jamaica has still not been depleted of its vinyl musical treasures from decades past (the major difference being that in JA they are still repressing vinyl from original masters - in Africa this seems to be not the case), and it appears the time is right to save as much as possible of the vinyl output from the African nations - I would guess that the hot period for this Frank guy in the video would be the mid to late 60s and early to mid 70s. What I've heard from that time can be quite mind blowing.

The suggestion by Frank that that all western music comes from African music is a bit silly - but the fusion of existing folk songs, rhythms and melodies with imported funk and soul from the US and European pop that these African musicians made often transcended and in some ways improved on its influences. Reggae did more or less the same thing which is probably why I personally see and hear the parallel. And then some of it is just plain original and ground breaking (JA or Africa!)

Looking forward to the full length film whenever it turns up.
Looking at Frank's blog it is clear that the man is very much healthily obsessed with this music and I find the enthusiasm and the artwork for the albums and the sheer scale of his endeavour a great encouragement to hear more African music of the time.

Much to his credit Tom at Music Thing linked this video back in July. Thanks Tom.

Note: vinyl is apparently virtually indestructible certainly compared to tape or hard drives, so if you have anything nice and rare, hold on to it and look after it. And rip it (high quality) and share it...

All Records Sound the Same?

...in reference to this good piece by Music Thing wordsmith Tom.
Noteworthy and quite a well rounded bit of writing - but it misses a few things:

I will try to address a few of them:
When you record sound, the sound you record is not the sound that happened. There is a chain of hardware, cables, electronics, ears. Whether a sound is authentically 'captured' or not is a matter of taste and debate. Ears, perception (or should it be peraurtion - it'll cost you $50 to use it!) It doesn't matter how fancy the microphones or anything else in the chain. Does it sound good?

Tape by its nature compresses sound. So the 'great' sounds of yesteryear were compressed before they even got near the ears of an 'expert' mastering engineer. Heaps of arbitrariness in this equation.

Don't turn on the radio!

Ignore big record labels.

Do not look to the good ol' U. Arse of A to hear good new music...

White coats? Sounds like Stalinist life control to me. Coming to the USA soon. Why should meticulous placing of mics be even noted in this way? Yes, place the mics for the best sound, but white coats...? (hairnets and latex gloves just to be sure that the proletariat does not besmirch the expensive machinery with grime and dust and dandruff. The machines were built to last a thousand years - the 'technicians' are expendable). People still do lots of mic placement, even for jams and rehearsals.

There must be more. But Tom did a good job for the lay man and frustrated this music head a bit more than I would have liked.
Sounded like it was written to appease a certain readership rather than challenge current practice and norms.
A thumb and a half...