This is why scientists are awesome.
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This is why scientists are awesome.
This is a great album that I think a lot of 8&5ers might appreciate. It’s incredibly catchy. It’s getting a lot of play on my iPod these days, and I’m sure I look like an idiot, grooving out in grocery stores and wherenot to beats that nobody else can hear. But you know what? It’s worth it. You can get a sampling on their official website. I got my copy off emusic.
Kraftwerk hasn’t toured in the Twin Cities since 1975 and the StarTribune wasn’t particularly excited to welcome them back. I’m not sure what Kraftwerk could have done better to impress Jon Bream, but his article seems like a rehash of a Wikipedia article with some bitterness thrown in just for the sake of being a curmudgeon. Perhaps there is a reputation to protect, who can say? The Pioneer Press critic provided a more favorable review, but he does admit to being a nerd. This may be why I enjoyed this show immensely also. Nate Patrin at City Pages also reviewed this show favorably.
This show was an exercise in precision. Here’s how it went down: I was standing next to my gaggle of folks who came to the show. We were just off of stage left standing on the main floor having drinks and chatting. It’s true, we were thrilled to be there and we were very excited to see a foursome renowned for inspiring millions of fans and thousands of artists. A soft thumping beat started a little before eight o’clock. It eventually got louder until at precisely eight the curtains swept open and there they were! Four Germans and their laptops with on-screen eye-candy for the entire show!
Every now and then the oldest one sang. Every now and then the youngest one would smirk and almost smile, but not quite. It seemed as though they were slightly surprised that they actually had a crowd of people cheering for them. The youngest one was definitely almost smiling by the end of the show.
Every song was accompanied by on-screen video and graphics. The giant road whizzing by during Tour de France even made me slightly dizzy. The lyrics to Home Computer seemed a dated (I program my home computer / Beam myself into the future) yet they are a testament to the group’s influence and vision - the album Computer World was released in 1981. This was far before people thought of tinkering with PCs without an expert.
Their setlist was indeed Musique Non-Stop right up until the curtains closed. The crowd rallied for an obligatory encore and we saw movement behind the curtains. When the curtains came back we were treated to Robots!
They closed with Musique Non-Stop with each member of the group walking to stage left and taking a final bow. I think most of them smiled when they bowed, the youngster definitely smiled.
And once the house lights came up, our group was all smiles as we raved about the excellence of the performance we had just witnessed.
From the matching Tron gridline outfits to the performing robots to the exact timing of every facet of the show, this concert experience was a musical techno extravganza to cherish forever.
Kraftwerk is coming to the Myth Nightclub in Maplewood, MN on April, 19, 2008. Not sure who they are? This German quartet influenced artists like: David Bowie, Gary Numan, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Human League, Depeche Mode, Devo, Joy Division, Telex, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Giorgio Moroder, New Order, Front 242, Cabaret Voltaire, Art of Noise, Yello, Ultravox, Visage and Thomas Dolby. Not a bad crop of artists and most certainly not a comprehensive list.
This show will take place just days before the Coachella Festival in Irvine, California so they should be honing their show. Tickets are available at the Myth Box Office or through Ticketmaster.
I’ve been playing Rock Band for a few weeks now and I’ve concluded that it’s a great social game. However, it could be improved. Here’s how:
1 Multiple instrument support. If a song has two percussionists we should be able to use two drum sets. Same for two guitar songs and especially for backing vocals.
2 Different peripheral support. I don’t just mean the keyboard device. I want dance pad support for dancers. Light gun support for security, it could be a taser to keep the crowd from rushing the stage. Camera support for gratuitous groupie flashing. Rob the Video Robot support for… well… I don’t know but you get the idea.
3 More diverse music. After looking at many of the forums about the downloadable content for Rock Band I’ve determined that I’m the only person on earth excited for the Grateful Dead pack (all 18 songs–I’d even take different live versions of each). I still want more diverse stuff though. Especially the BEATLES. I want every song recorded by the Beatles. They could be released chronologically, a couple songs at a time or as one giant pack… whatever, just give me every Beatles song.
The edited and unedited “Daughter” videos:
ATT alleges that a webcast vendor censored a lyric that was unflattering to President George W. Bush. Pearl Jam had this to say:
This, of course, troubles us as artists but also as citizens concerned with the issue of censorship and the increasingly consolidated control of the media. What happened to us this weekend was a wake up call, and it’s about something much bigger than the censorship of a rock band. AT&T’s actions strike at the heart of the public’s concerns over the power that corporations have when it comes to determining what the public sees and hears through communications media.
Pearl Jam has it nailed. Ever day something like this is allowed to occur in America, a piece of freedom dies. We must remain vigilant and alert to even the smallest erosions of liberty and free speech or one day those concepts will just be a forgotten memory.
Apparently it has become fashionable for prisoners to stage music videos and post them on Youtube. Here’s a take on Michael Jackson’s
Thriller:
Let’s say you had a one gigabyte MP3 player full of music. Using encryption one could take all of the information contained on the MP3 player and turn it into a string of numbers based on the key and equation used for the encryption.
Consider that your DNA is a string of numbers in base 4.
If one had a device that could analyze the data contained in your DNA and determine the proper encryption method necessary to result in the exact same data contained on the MP3 player one could create a storage free MP3 player. It would be some thing that decrypted your DNA is such a way that resulted in your desired playlist.
Of course this would involve reverse encryption, or encryption cracking, which we can’t do effectively yet. It may even be slightly more complicated than that, but I still think it’s a cool idea.
Now that Prince has decided to give away a free CD we know what really drives the music industry to terrorize the public.
For years, the Recording Industry has trumpeted that they are protecting the rights of the artists and helping them get the money they rightfully earned through hard work, professionalism and dedication to their craft. The Recording Industry has been so successful in promoting this message that they even have the FBI placing warnings on CD to threaten consumers with fines and jail - even though they are supposed to be focusing efforts on combating terrorism (as told to me when I went to the FBI seeking help with a problem).
So why would the Recording industry care if Prince wants to give away his CDs?
What is it they are outraged about now?
Prince is the copyright holder. He should be able to do what he pleases with his music.
The Entertainment Retailer’s Association said,
It would be an insult to all those record stores who have supported Prince throughout his career.
What kind of B.S. is that? Don’t they recall Emancipation? That very album’s existence is Prince’s snubbing of the Recording Industry as he set himself free. It should come as no surprise that Prince is willing to give away free CDs as a way of again flipping the bird to the Recording Industry greed vultures.
Lest we forget…he had been known as a symbol and was referred to by the media as TAFKAP for a period of time. This was a protest to Warner Brother’s trademarking his birth name.
Bravo Prince! Prince’s free CD offer reminds the world that the Recording Industry lawyers are not really there to protect the rights of artists. The sole purpose of the Recording Industry Association of America and other nefarious organizations of their ilk is to protect the flow of dollars to the coffers of the copyright holders.
May they all burn in hell.
If I had married Tea Leoni and starred in film and TV with Gillian Anderson, I would have the exact same problem. How many love children do you have David? - #
An 8n5 August Superbowl dream prediction: Packers vs. Jets, the Heir Apparent vs. the Air up There! - #
LCDs are getting cheaper, but this is a top-rated 22" monitor and is a sweet deal available at General Nanosystems in Minneapolis. I picked one up yesterday. (8/5) The sale is over! - #
World's first Tesla crash? Maybe... - #
This Wired commentary pretty much sums up the grind of an MMORPG. For me, the grind is a love/hate relationship. - #
The King is Dead. Maybe JT can bring spam back next! - #
