acetone studio

Age of Golden Dub new single release

2011-01-12T04:06:00.009-05:00

At last, after a long dry period a new release from ACEtone Studio. Perhaps a harbinger of an album of new dub to come in 2011? Hope so.

The track is 'Age of Golden Dub' and is available right now from iTunes, Amazon, EMusic and all of the rest...and it is goooood!

This track is the result of a collaboration of Eating Betty and Nuphlo (his version 'Golden Age Dub available soon) and draws together the diverse influences of both artists to create a new and different Dub experience.

Cornelius says: "Great dub. Perfect blend of roots and spaciness"

Dr. Strangedub says: I played the Age of Golden Dub / Golden Age Dub (Nuplo mix) back-to-back in the midst of my Christmas in Dub special. A very cool sidetrip....and diversion from the Xmas music...What a fantastic dubwise meeting of East and West!...A dubby, psychedelic trip.

Scratch Radio says: Awesome! <- And I don’t use that word much. That’s a fantastic dub...Cheers to you and Nuphlo.

And doubtless more accolades to come.

Eating Betty on Chinese TV Dub documentary

2010-06-03T15:46:00.005-04:00

Fame at last!
This is a quite watchable Chinese TV documentary (that has finally surfaced after 2 + years) featuring the talents of Eating Betty, Mad Professor, Dr. Das (ex Asian Dub Foundation), Slimmah Sound, Nuphlo, Dub Terrorist, Sweet Suzie and many more - variously expressing their take on the amazing world of Dub music.

The audio from the 'Left Hand of Dubness' performance featuring Eating Betty, Dr. Das, Slimmah Sound, Dub Terrorist and Sweet Suzie can be found here.

Like...the Most Awesome Window Display Ever!

2010-03-09T16:09:00.005-05:00

!?! I'm sure there is a perfectly logical explanation for this.

Curry Goat anyone?

2010-01-30T18:19:00.003-05:00

Mmmm...rich, funky, tasty, yummy curry goat. But how to cook it?

I have enjoyed a few different versions of curry goat, some good, some bad and rarely exceptionally delicious, which this dish certainly can be if done right.

I've sampled this hearty culinary delight in the bourgeois canyons of Manhattan (Daphne's, Golden Krust), West Indian enclaves of Brooklyn and in what is perhaps the global capital of this dish, Kingston Jamaica. Of these few efforts by far the most delicious was in downtown Kingston. Tender, juicy goat, rich brown gravy - cooked long and to the point of no clue as to what the ingredients might be - without a hint of anything that might bestow to the body anything beyond the essentials of a full belly, a sated appetite and a happy if challenged heart. So what goes into this dish?

How is it done?

I can't tell you. I refuse to google this and thus:

Here is my version:

Ingredients:
Goat: Allow at least 1/2 lb per person. (Bones fat and all that)
Onion: 1 good sized
Garlic: heaps/loads
Mushrooms: Two or three medium button per person
Black Pepper: a few shakes
Salt: Figure it out yerself
Cilantro/Coriander: A big bunch of the fresh green stuff
Curry powder: Herein is the big ?. I used Kalustyan's medium Madras but obviously other mixes and blends will yield different results, flavours, heat etc. La Flor's Jamaican curry powder is dreadful in a bad way. Shake on the goat as it is frying deliciously.
Potato: 1 will do (1/2 or less per person)

Directions:
Flee the city...erm...no. Well Where can you find goat?
In New York you will have a very challenging time finding poor people food such as goat - so take a trip on the subway to Queens or Brooklyn where you will find it at a good poor people price.
I am currently poor people by the way.
In other places, good luck to you Rockafeller...

So...
In my frying pan I put about 1-1/2 lb of black pepper and salted goat frying in olive oil on medium heat. Electric sucks. I really want gas, but such is my situation.
As goat is sizzling some ten minutes later gently add all onion. Turn the goat after about 10-15 minutes. Garlic chopped in my patented method comes next, then mushroom, cut somewhat small, then cilantro stalks cut very fine. Add all to pan.

About the time I was starting the frying pan part I had about a cup full of (any kind of) lentils boiling in what else but a few cups of H2O with some salt and garlic and a couple of the goat bones. Added to this approx 2 tomatoes from a can of Cento (or any non-watery canned version) whole tomatoes. Not too much or it will turn Italian on you. Fuggedaboudid.

When goat and onion and cilantro and fungus are turning aromatic and goat is browned fling the goat pan contents into the lentil pot. Gentle flinging of course.

Bring to boil slowly, but immediately bring to gentle simmer.
Add cilantro leaves (you remembered to leave these out before this, right?) full leafy greens.
Add more garlic. Why not?
You may need to add water, but sparingly. You want a rich goat, nah a poor one - seen?

Sit around for a couple of hours doing things you enjoy. Do not be 'waiting'. Enjoy the scent of goat. Just live your life in a positive way. Write. Watch flim. Listen to Eating Betty.
Call your west indian friend about how long goat takes to cook, but be wary of the answer. I think everybody has a different answer to all questions...such is life...
Expect dinner to be at a later time than expected!
Goat is not your lamb or beef. Gently does it...

You will be amazed! I was. Goat takes control of all that goes into the food. Incredible. The brown sauce that results is a wonder. No other meat does this, that I'm aware of.
Beautiful rich fatty brown sauce. mmmmmm!
I'm sure there are real authentic recipes for this delight, but I got lucky with my version.
Mix and match and explore...

Lynn Taitt R.I.P

2010-01-30T16:26:00.005-05:00

Some 30 years have passed since the golden age of Jamaican music.
That magical musical era is to this listener a mere span of 15 years - from 1965 to 1980. What fuelled this world changing music explosion has been addressed in numerous books, essays and reviews but never explained - and rightly so. There is no satisfactory explanation for genius, inspiration or artistic innovation.
At a rough guess, the most important figures in Jamaican music in the aforementioned 15 year period number 100 true innovators (I must give this more thought!). There are fewer of these oft unappreciated and underrated musicians, singers and producers alive with every passing year.
Ranking somewhere in the top 20 of that select few is the incomparable Lynn Taitt.
Sadly he passed on recently, but not without bestowing upon humanity a wealth of wonderful music. Credited with the invention of the Rocksteady music style, Lynn Taitt was a masterful musical arranger and the proponent of a deceptively simple guitar playing style that has influenced every reggae player to this day though they may be unaware of this fact.
One hopes that Lynn passed on knowing that he gave much and owed nothing.

Thank you Nairlin 'Lynn' Taitt'
We owe you...

Freddie McKay - Sunny Sunday Morning

2010-01-30T15:51:00.006-05:00

I'm a huge fan of the vocal stylings of Freddie McKay and I was delighted to happen upon this collection of tunes that includes two (probably) rare tracks by Freddie that I hadn't heard before. In particular 'Sunny Sunday Morning' is to these ears a very precious musical gem. 'Cheer up yourself oh my little laddie, and let your heart be glad'. Beautiful beyond compare.

Sadly Freddie does not urge the 'little laddie' to love his daddy too.

The other tracks can't hold a candle to 'Sunny Sunday Morning' but none the less are fine Rock Steady / Reggae recordings.

Thanks to youandmeonajamboree for sharing these treasures.
http://youandmeonajamboree.blogspot.com/2009/12/va-reggae-to-uk-with-love-pama-1969.html

Global War Against Fatherhood?

2010-01-29T16:16:00.002-05:00

I'll not get into my personal reasons for making this post. Suffice it to say that all is not right with the way fathers and indeed their children are treated under the law in many countries and particularly the U.S. An interesting, informative if all too saddening and disturbing paper.
http://www.childrensjustice.org/politics-fatherhood.html

Children serve as the tool or even weapon in disputes among contending parties, not only parents but government officials. Control of children brings control over adults and confers power and financial rewards on those who can successfully claim to be acting in the children's interest (Brinig and Allen 2000, 133, 156). The politics of fatherhood may thus be seen as part of a larger politics of children which is only beginning to receive scrutiny

Every Spoil a Dub review on Niceup.com

2010-01-13T14:56:00.012-05:00

I've long been of the opinion that Dub music is truly timeless so I'm well pleased that 'Every Spoil A Dub' still has a life of its own more than a year after release into the wild and can even attract a new review every once in a while.
See Tom Orr's recent excellent and humbling review in the Jammin' Reggae Archives on Nice Up dot com
There is even honourable mention of the venerable Reverbalism...
Very positive, very gratifying...might inspire me to revisit the current batch of tunes destined for dubification.

If you've a head and heart for dub, you'll want both discs in order to properly rejoice in the fact that dub of this sort is still being made. And superbly, at that - Tom Orr

Thank you Tom!

And you can buy Eating Betty releases 'Every Spoil A Dub', 'Reverbalism' and 'Eating Betty In Dub' in any and all of these places:
iTunes - just look in the olde shoppe
Amazon
CD Baby
Napster, e-Music, CD Connection, Wal-Mart(!) - anywhere and everywhere music is sold, CD or download.
I recommend buying from CD Baby because they are good people...

ACEtone ALLstars - The Dub Canon on YouTube!

2010-01-04T20:59:00.003-05:00

Disclaimer: ACEtone Studio, the ACEtone ALLstars etc. have nothing to do with this video being on You Tube - except of course for the excellent music that accompanies the interesting picture.
It is nice that someone (http://www.youtube.com/user/ajmdaj) liked the track enough to want to spread the word.
This can only be good thing...

Gasp! Big Shiny's MySpace page has been terminated!

2009-12-03T22:57:00.005-05:00

I've heard of this happening to people before and I'm sure it happens all the time. The e-mail from the subtle people at MySpace admin reads:

Your MySpace account has been deleted for violating our Terms of Service.

This is usually due to one of the following:

* Nude images, sexually suggestive or violent photos
* Covering our banner ads with HTML
* Harassing other users
* You do not meet the minimum age requirement
* Spamming the classifieds, forums, bulletins, or other sections of the site
* Attempting to artificially inflate scores
* Scripting the site

Your account cannot be restored. If you choose to return to MySpace, please follow the rules.

My reply reads:

Hmmm. I really think you are wrong about this. I don't believe I violated any of your terms.
Certainly nothing you listed.
I think you should re-instate the account.

There is more than one Big Shiny incidentally! Three that I'm aware of.

There were no nude images, sexually suggestive or violent photos (do you have any I can borrow?)
I don't recall the banner ads being covered or if they were it was completely accidental as I wouldn't know how to do that on purpose
I never harass other users, never have done, never will! Certainly not on the internet
If for some reason one needs to be **, then yes I'm underage by a couple of weeks
I never spam and don't know how to do any of the other stuff listed.
I wouldn't even know how to inflate 'scores' nor do I even know what 'scores' means
I don't know how to script

Still, no big deal. MySpace is pretty embarrassing...

Sadly, it is a no reply address at MySpace (received Mailer-Daemon failure notice) so it just bounced back to me and they will never know how terribly, terribly mistaken they were in their callous termination of one of the most beloved of MySpace pages, nay, the darling of all the internet and its all encompassing tubes, pipes, nano-arteries and dump trucks.
Where will the children play? Where will the downtrodden seek sanctuary wherefore to relieve their downwardly mobile troddeness? Verily, I say...here:
http://www.acetonestudio.com/bigshiny.html
(what! I'm not giving tunes away for free anymore? Totally forgot about that! So buy the album or a tune or two!)

This termination is a travesty and an outrage and an insult to the toiling multitudes, a slap in the face of the great unwashed and a cordial invitation to the opening of the floodgates of myriad plethora of cliches, timeworn truisms, jerry-built gee-gaws and internet memes heretofore unseen and likely a detriment to the cognitive dissonance of the commonweal, post-interneticly, nervously sweatingly, conjectured by many respected authorities, to be a travesty and and outrage...
When cornered and pressed (diced, starched, peeled, marinated, stewed, A/Bed) on this issue Doctor Gealach Moore, museoanthrophilologolist, said predictably; 'It is indeed a travesty and an outrage'

Seriously though, some of this Big Shiny stuff is still so damn good. A pity it is so ignored!

Every Spoil A Dub review in the venerable Beat magazine

2009-08-06T23:44:00.005-04:00

I wouldn't have known about this had it not been for 'Trusty' on the Roots Archives forum alerting me to the review.
Nice to be mentioned in the venerable Beat magazine.

It reads:

Nice!

Good and Strong FREE EP out now!

2009-07-14T15:22:00.004-04:00

At last, here's the latest release since 'Every Spoil A Dub'. It's a FREE five track EP featuring different vocal takes, instrumental parts and multifarious mixes.

Download top quality 320kbps mp3s for free and read about it here:
GOOD AND STRONG EP

A big, big, big-up to Idren Natural for his vocal contribution and also to Callum for being instrumental in making it happen.

Melodica Malfunction Revisited

2009-06-29T11:27:00.004-04:00

Some time ago I wrote about the sticky key issue I experienced with my super-cheap Hohner Student 32 Melodica and the steps I took to correct the problem.

Since then I have played a few parts on a few different tracks and have found that the problem has returned, but in a less drastic way. While the keys do not now stick when depressed, they stick when not played. Depressing the keys unsticks. The part of the key in the interior that closes the gasket now sticks to the gasket. With a little playing the problem lessens but it is still irritating and impedes fluid playing. I'm no melodica virtuouso but I suspect that any player whatever his level of proficiency would find this unacceptable.

At the moment I have no idea how this can be corrected. Clearly the yellow rubber foam can't be replaced as it is moulded very specifically to the shape required to make an airtight seal.
Nothing that comes to mind (a silicon lubricant? talcum powder?) strikes me as a viable solution.

Any tips or recommendations are welcome.

Apart from that, the keys are really too small on this instrument and when funds are not so tight I hope to buy a bigger, better melodica made from superior materials. Recommendations invited!

It has been a while!

2009-06-19T15:00:00.004-04:00

As the recently added begging letter notes, times are financially hard at ACEtone Studio. I do hope some of you reading this will be moved to buy some tunes to help out and ensure that ACEtone Studio can continue releasing quality original music.

As to what is currently in the works, a new net-release of a reworking of 'Be Strong Dub' from 'Every Spoil a Dub' will be coming soon, but there is still some work to be done. Just a bit of tweaking on the mix.
The plan is to feature three versions of the track:
1. Good and Strong - vocal by Idren Natural
2. Good and Dub - Melodica instru-dub
3. Untitled (still trying to think of a good title) - Organ Instrumental

The inspiration for this release was prompted by Callum (Culture Reggae/Sama Sound) who kindly provided Idren Natural's vocal take and encouraged me to do a further dub.
The organ version was something I had been meaning to do for a long time - not specifically for this riddim - but it all fit together really nicely.

Currently working on melodica, hand-drum, guitar over-dubs for Dougie of Conscious Sound's reggae version of 'Sound of the Crowd'.
Yes, that 'Sound of the Crowd' - the original version of which ironically has as its main hook a very typical 1970s roots melodica type melody though played on a Moog or some such synth.
Pretty easy to play, even with the sticky melodica keys.

It is very nice to be asked to do over-dubs, I must say.

Microsoft determined to make everything crap, including Music...apparently

2009-01-23T01:48:00.006-05:00

I came across this article at Ars(e) Technica recently and was fascinated...in a disturbing way.
Microsoft is soon to release (or maybe has already released) a software, uh, thing to enable people to sing into their Pee Cee and have the software automatically create a backing track. Sounds...like...a...great...idea...yes?
Before I proceed, let me say that I am absolutely all for any and every new technological development with regard to music (and most other things).

The writer Erica Sadun seems pretty enthusiastic about the process of destroying music and goes through all of the hoops to make her track, though we never get to hear it. But by her description alone, this 'Songsmith' software is a true horror. The retro-equivalent might be the 1950s home organ with built in rhythm box (bossa nova!). I personally defend the right of the musically inept and tone deaf to do whatever they want with regard to music - what I object to here is the abject lack of decent musical backing for the awful vocals.

To illustrate here is a selection of demos made by some crazy person
Apparently it is not enough that the backing is rudimentary, bad sounding (think 80s), but Songsmith doesn't even get it right! The wrong progressions and chords are glaring. This is for the tone deaf, no doubt.

Songsmith is technically interesting but musically it should have been held back until it actually had something. So...it is toy software. Garageband is toy software, yet if I needed to I could make it work for me. Songsmith is not competing with Garage band - despite the slant in the article. Songsmith has no competition, because it is utterly useless. Thank you Microsoft for further proving the MS irrelevance market niche. Irrelevant product - irrelevant people! They automatically buy our crud so let's just pile it on. Here's a music 'product' you will love (buy).

Songsmith is frankly, musically meaningless. Unless I get to use it and find myself sorely mistaken - at which time I'll plead amnesia and delete this entry...
When MS brings out an OS X version of it I'm sure I could have fun with it, but I'm sure that afterwards I would feel dirty.

Here's my favourite use (abuse) of this rubbish (get ripped and reverse karaoke with your idiot friends!!!):
Hear how horribly shitty the sounds are?
Enough of this crap...

Highly unlikely hypothetical/fictional situation involving musician's need to resort to Songsmith:
I'm in a small hotel in Prague. Staying there for a couple of days for a really cool Dub conference. There is a need for me to do a little improvising at the seminar next day, but my luggage has been lost and due to various factors there is nothing else available to me besides a horrible Dell laptop running some form of Windoze and a copy of Songsmith. After a good hour of software updates, anti-virus scans and updates and ads...
I give it a try...I try again...it is useless. I'm not really a singer, but I can sing in tune when I have a track to sing along to. But that is not possible. Only a beat is possible. Sing over the beat in tune. But the chords are all wrong. The beat is wrong. The SOUND is wrong...help!
Headline in Prague morning papers:
'Musician throws self out of window - suicide note says - throw yourselves out of Windows, for the love of all that is sane and rational'

Striker Lee gets a nod of approval...

2009-01-23T01:24:00.005-05:00

A little late noticing this, but apparently Bunny 'Striker' Lee has finally been given a little positive recognition by the Jamaican government in the form of the 'Order of Distinction' (back in Oct. 08). I won't say congratulations because I'm no great supporter of such trifling belated pats on the head. Surely he deserves a bit more than that!

The article from the JA Gleaner is interesting and adds a few details that may interest the more deeply obsessed reggae/Dub afficionado. While I wouldn't expect such an article to go into too much depth it is certainly worth a read glaring omissions apart...

He has also worked with Mighty Diamonds, Bob Marley, Gregory Issacs, Glen Adams, Roy Shirley, Dawn Penn, Derrick Morgan, The Uniques, Linval Thompson, Leroy Smart, Barry Brown, Joe Gibbs, Dennis Alcapone, U Roy, I-Roy, Prince Jazzbo, U Brown, Dr Alimantado, Jah Stitch, Trinity, Tappa Zukie and Beenie Man, when the dancehall 'doctor' was only 10 years old.

Where is Johnny Clarke in this list? And the all important link with the King himself, Osbourne Ruddock? Of course a complete list would have left no space for anything else!
Also a nice pic included of Bunny looking distinguished and dapper...

I am intrigued by the note that he may write a book about his life experiences - I won't hold my breath but to my knowledge this is the first hint of a real home grown account of the rise to prominence of Jamaican music - rather than the musings of well meaning outsiders. Write the book Bunny! Or start Blogging! This is something that is needed...
Wishing Bunny many more years of health and happiness...

Every Spoil a Dub in Rice Radio Reggae TOP TEN!

2009-01-15T22:58:00.004-05:00

Not sure if this means the top ten CDs for December 2008 or for all of 2008 but either way it is very nice to be included. Thanks Scottie!

Rice Reggae Radio Top Ten CDs December 2008

Steve Barker reviews Every Spoil a Dub in Wire magazine

2009-01-09T00:18:00.004-05:00

Well, this is a cause for great jubilation. In the January 2009 issue of Wire magazine 'Every Spoil a Dub' is glowingly reviewed by Steve Barker (On the Wire BBC, Wire contributer and all around nice chap).
Again, thanks a heap Steve.
And thanks Joe for buying all three CDs on the strength of this review!

Check this snippet:

Overall an excellent third album, but the top track is definitely 'New New Dub', a ouija board studio collaboration with Joe Meek, opening with an irresistible mix of piano and organ. - Steve Barker

Music Thing - obituary

2009-01-07T11:19:00.005-05:00

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?

Jennifer Lara - who knew?

2008-12-10T01:08:00.005-05:00

Well, the answer to that is: people who know more about Studio One than I do.

Now listening to the 'Studio One Presents Jennifer Lara' album. She can hold a note which is no mean feat because many of the singing JA daughtas I have heard sing terribly unlistenably flat.
There is a little deja vu of the incomparable Susan Cadogan (who sang quaintly flat in a manner acceptable to these ears!) for producer Lee Perry, but this is from a different time - maybe five years in the difference - and of course this is a Studio One collection. Late 70s stuff this - which means Mr. Mittoo was spending most of his time in Canada and most of the ruffest and tuffest of the Studio One session lads were off doing something else...

Hence some of the familiar riddims are done over (again) in a generally accomplished and fairly enjoyable way though most appealing when the actual backing tracks featuring the original players were employed. This familiarity gives way to a jazzy soul feel that seems to work very well on 'Our Love' though this is a style I'm not overly enthused by - and it basically doesn't sound Jamaican or like reggae, for that matter.

I detect the hand and musical direction of Pablov Black in much of this production. Not a bad thing, but he could never fill the magical gloves of the aforementioned Jackie Mittoo. Obvious to my ears but perhaps not to others.

This is good stuff, but it is Studio One past its musical prime. Mittoo, Sibbles, Frater, Sylvan Morris etc. all gone.

Exception: Stand out track is 'A Change is Gonna Come'. A riddim that may have been done especially for Jennifer Lara (though I doubt it - I just don't know it from elsewhere) and it is over as soon as it began...clocking at 2:18!

I do have to wonder about the album cover photo - poor Jennifer Lara looks not like she is lovelorn but suffering from a case of gastric trouble and a bathroom break is urgently required. Unfortunate, because in previous years so many of the Studio One album covers were highly stylized and very cool indeed. Could just be the reproduction on this...

I mean no unkindness in this appraisal. Just my take on someone I should have known about before, but due perhaps to the quality of the material had no real need to hear. I enjoyed hearing it, but I'm not sure I will be listening to it much. I do find it very sad that Jennifer Lara passed on at the criminally young age of 52 a short few years ago and hope that whoever she has left behind will benefit in some way from her musical efforts.

There is so much more material from Studio One - so make your own mind up...

Eating Betty - On the Wire - BBC Radio Lancashire

2008-12-05T21:56:00.004-05:00

A nice surprise today to find that 'New New Dub' was played by the legendary Steve Barker on the BBC 'On the Wire' radio programme on November 29, 2008.
Playlist and streaming audio here.
Direct link to the audio is here.
Nice one Steve!

And just look at the all star line up - OK then, here's the playlist:

Arthur Russell – Love is overtaking me – Audika Records
Juakali – Run Babylon – Foreign Familiar pre-release mp3
Abassi Allstars – Dub answer – Deep Root
Eating Betty – New new dub – ACEtone Studios
Dead J – Cold light – Modern Sky
Lena & the Free Roots Orchestra – Cheval vapeur – Plush
Marmur – Blackbird – pre-release mp3
Christina Carter – Original darkness – Kranky
Rodriquez – Sugar man – Light in the Attic lita
Al Green – You ought to be with me - Victor Entertainment
The Brothers Unconnected – Space Dragon Ogon – Abduction
Paavoharju – Sumuvirsi – Fonal Records
Kashiwa Daisuke – Stella – Midi Creative / Noble
Goldblade featuring Polystyrene - City of Christmas Ghosts -
The Wedding Present - Holly Jolly Hoolywood - Vibrant Records
The Peggy Lee Band - All I Really Want to - Drip Audio
calvin Party - 8 Days - Eli Records
Awesome Wells - I think I Just Heard teh Hens Applauding in the Hen-house - Red Deer Club
Abe Vigoda - Live-Long - Bella Union
Hot Drop - Tell Me Dub - A QuietBump
Joker + Rustie - Play Doe - Kapsize
Madtone - WP - Blossoms Kitchen
Pascal Comleade - Contre le Style - Because
Seeland - Call the Incrediable -lOAF
Francesco Giannico / Stefano Spataro - 4 Sonatas for electroacoustic thoughts - HysM

Audio on the mp3 is a bit murky so you'll just have to buy the album to hear it properly!

New Review from Deutchland!

2008-11-27T01:17:00.006-05:00

Much respect to my dear friend and occasional Big Shiny vocalist midsch for his review.

It is indeed a good feeling to know this release is being so warmly and enthusiastically received in so many places...Minnesota, China, France, Canada, England, Germany...

yea...humbled, warm and fuzzy...

WNYU Radio: 'Dub...Phrase not Found'

2008-11-21T15:27:00.004-05:00

Looks like I'm living in the wrong town when New York University Radio's programme schedule does not include even one mention of the word 'Dub'! See very bottom of pic.

I just sent the program(me) director there a copy of 'Every Spoil A Dub' so I hope it doesn't confuse him/her too much! I'm sure someone on WNYU is playing some Reggae or Dub...just hope the CD reaches the right pair of ears.

'Every Spoil A Dub' now available at Amazon.com!

2008-11-20T11:26:00.006-05:00

OK, so now Amazon has the mp3s available for download - thankfully no longer 'discontinued'!

So go on and buy a few tracks! Or the whole album, or even all three albums!

Every Spoil a Dub at Amazon

'Love and Justice Dub' & 'Disunity Dub' on French Radio

2008-11-17T23:45:00.003-05:00

Just received a package from Prince Thierry containing a CD of the 11/11/08 Dancehall Style radio show on Radio Mega in Bourg-Les-Valence, France.
You might be able to listen to a stream of this show - or some other one - (doesn't seem to work for me) here:
http://www.dancehallstyle.net
Anyway, here's the playlist. A couple of familiar tracks in the first two slots:

Eating Betty - Love and Justice Dub
Eating Betty - Disunity Dub
Zion UK - So Hard
Cocoa T - Barack Obama
Mykal Rose - This is History
Mavado - We Want Barack
Perfect - 30 Pieces
Perfect - Pedal and Push
Clement Irie - Rebel
Jah Weise/Singing Bayley - The Legendary Bob Marley
Benaissa - Voodoo
Benaissa - Coco Nut Water
Sahra Indio - Ital Medi
Various Artists - Morning Riddim Mix
Benjammin - Mexican Bean
Ranking Joe - How You Bad So
Brother Culture - Talk to the People
Ed Rome - The Way In, The Way Out
Ft. Soom T. - Do You Really Know
Cocoa T - Raw Moon

Big Up Prince Thierry for including Eating Betty on the show!

Eating Betty 'Every Spoil A Dub' now available from iTunes

2008-11-17T23:39:00.002-05:00

That didn't take long at all - and here's the link:
Every Spoil A Dub - iTunes

So if iTunes is your preferred download service please buy the new album!

No sign of it being available on Amazon, a quick search shows that they still think it is 'discontinued'. See previous post on this.

Dub Echoes gaining wide acclaim

2008-11-12T23:51:00.004-05:00

I posted in March 2008 about this very interesting looking film on the subject of - what else? - but DUB. Looks like it is gaining traction and a DVD is due out in January. Can't wait to see it!

They also have a few new clips and entries about the various screenings thus far...

Still want to see Deep Roots, but it is very hard to get. Anyone know a way?

Dear Amazon, ACEtone Studio begs to differ!

2008-11-12T23:32:00.006-05:00

Just thought I'd search to see if 'Every Spoil a Dub' has appeared on Amazon yet and here is what I found: Amazon clearly knows the album exists but until it get the tracks up on their download system it appears to be defaulting to this mindless search result. But this is just too much wrong information! Why not just 'currently unavailable on this website' or something less final sounding!
Who ever wrote that bit of code is a bumba clat!

ACEtone Studio can assure you that 'Every Spoil A Dub' is very much NOT 'discontinued' and is absolutely, undeniably available at:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/eatingbetty3

Here is an extract from the very gratifying review (posted on CDBaby.com) by the great Dr. Strangedub (WKAI FM):

"Wow...what can you say? With the release of the 3rd Eating Betty album "Every Spoil A Dub" the bar has been raised again. Once again the sound is heavy-bottom dub with some rootical flavors, but in tradition of Tubby, Perry, Scientist and others, its the "chemist's" unique studio touch which makes this release standout... Like the often used, but still fitting analogy, it's like peeling the layers of an onion. There is not a single disappointing dub here... "

Claymation philosophy?

2008-11-09T21:08:00.002-05:00

This is worth a look any time but certainly in these times:

Eating Betty - new release - 'Every Spoil A Dub'

2008-11-05T21:48:00.007-05:00

Here is the official announcement of the release of the new CD:

Dear Dub friends worldwide,

ACEtone Studio is pleased to announce the release of the new Dub collection

'Every Spoil A Dub'

featuring 11 tracks of pure unadulterated bass bin busting Dub.

CDs and full album 200kbps mp3 downloads are immediately available at:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/eatingbetty3
(digital downloads from various online services - iTunes, Amazon, Napster, EMusic etc. - will also be available in the coming weeks)

...so turn it up and let the walls crumble and the oppressors tumble...
http://www.acetonestudio.com/eatingbetty.html
and if you like what you hear, check 'Eating Betty In Dub' and 'Reverbalism' by Eating Betty also available from CDBaby.com

Every Spoil a Dub really actually finished...

2008-10-16T23:27:00.005-04:00

...and here's the proof:
These olde worlde Cee Dees will be sent off to the distributor (CD Baby) tomorrow and hopefully by next week people will actually be able to buy one, or if they so choose download high quality mp3s from CDBaby.com.
Unfortunately it takes quite some time for digital tracks to show up on iTunes and the other digital distributors but it will happen eventually.
The next step will be to send promotional copies out to Radio DJs in various parts of the world in the hope that they can encourage some sales or at least some positive interest in this new release.
It would be so great to have less money worries, though I'm not holding my breath.

Every Spoil A Dub is indeed finished and ready for release

2008-10-16T01:03:00.003-04:00

Doubtless, the world has waited with baited breath in anticipation of the new Eating Betty release and this one will not disappoint. It has it all. It even has some nice singing on it.
The cover design is as previously posted - the design department insisted it was good enough so I had to capitulate. There is more to do than agonize over silly album art. I absolutely can empathize with a musician trying to get the best possible mix for a track or the best possible guitar, bass or whatever part, but I have a hard time slowing down for tortured designers (including myself!).

While musicians may have been justifiably elevated from the status of mere juke joint entertainers and jingle manglers in the last half of the 20th century, the similar trajectory of graphic designers in that same time period is somewhat baffling to me, though I can see the logic in certain circumstances...but then there are many musicians who do not at all deserve their fame and fortune.

It is a funny old world and clearly the hustle and the flim flam are as much a part of it as ever they were.

Every Spoil A Dub is quite apart from all of that. A collection of tracks produced almost in isolation but with complete awareness of the world and the current affairs therein. This awareness, may or may not be evident. No way for me to tell.

Musically it is just a good heaping helping of DUB.

Perhaps the long awaited Buddy Hell and the Bleeders album will be next for release.

Every Spoil A Dub

2008-10-13T14:50:00.008-04:00

While the financial world crumbles as it will from time to time and those of us who have nothing to begin with continue to have nothing, it is not unreasonable to heap scorn on those who have lost much. Fuck them. As to those who had some and are losing it all, you have my sympathy. Those who have more than anyone else to begin with...well...there is not enough of the negative stuff in this heart to do them justice. I just hope that there are people with a very great sense of justice working on that problem.

Humanity would be that much richer just being without a few of those around...

Every cloud has a David Essex.

And so, the new album is ready for launch.
Here is a draft of the cover. I just wish I could think of something. The design department appears to be on strike...

any ideas?

The track list is as follows:
1. Disunity Dub
2. Dub Invaders
3. Not an English Dub
4. Cyaan Get No Dub
5. Every Spoil A Dub
6. Love and Justice Dub
7. Live This Dub
8. Be Strong Dub
9. Goodness Dub
10. New New Dub
11. Need your Dub

Attention Bass Players: Flat Wound Strings

2008-09-19T11:52:00.010-04:00

Dear Bass Players,

in recent years you have come to inhabit an entirely different world that once saw you as the guy who hangs out with musicians. (replaced by computers?) You have also seen and heard yourself playing guitar for a time and then just gone 'back to the bass'. This in itself is very much more important than how it is said. It really is not a relegation to a lesser art - it is a mission.

Guitarists are two a penny. I ate four of them last week and got a terrible stomach ache. There's a lesson to us all. Stop using cliches. And we really don't need that much of that kind of meat.

Glibness forthcoming...many of you...go on admit it...have been playing an er...some sort of bass...I'm not talking to the guys who have the money for the custom built Whatchamahooja neckless, stringless, wearable bass - I'm talking to the guys that just play bass - in a band or otherwise. A Mexican Fender, an Ibanez Gibson knock off, an unheard of before plank of wood with the worst action ever. Help is on the way! Well not really, but my encouragement and recommendation could make the bass much better for you.

Well you got it in the header anyway, but if you want proper bass sounds and a really
flexible sound - flat wound strings.
I do not know the history of bass strings but my inclination is to think that round wound were very much the rock thing, in the 60-70s rock ruled and flat wound diminished gradually.

Whatever. They are the dog's bollocks.

My friend and former band mate Brian let me have his 80s Suzuki Fender P Bass knock off and I had the same strings on it for years and years...and years. And it let me do what I wanted it to do with some effort and digital (both fingers and 1/0 adaptation) - I have recorded a lot with it. I love the feel of this bass and in the past through pure ignorance did not know what was missing:

Put the flat wound strings on it and it is a NEW BASS.

Regardless of sound (and this Suzuki has really crap pick ups) - it is all about the feel. Get a blister from these strings, believe me you will still want to play more from the feel of the strings. Very sensual. You are really playing bass, not a bass guitar.

Put on some flat wound strings and your bass will really FEEL like bass, not diminished guitar.

I love bass
flat wound strings are boss.

Drop D: what is up with that shit?

2008-09-19T11:52:00.006-04:00

I consider myself a capable guitarist - capable of playing what I want to play to good effect in the works that I have produced and the performances to which I have subjected audiences. For me guitar tuning is: fat string first EADGBE. That's how I learned and it works for me. Self taught, obstinate, persistent. Yet I can't help noticing more and more (over the space of recent years) references to 'alternate tunings' and how the process of retuning your axe (man) can reveal new and great (and freakin' awesome) possibilities. Being a vaguely sentient guitarist, I filed all this away in my grey mush and generally just went about my guitar playing the old fashioned way, which suited me fine during this time.

Well! have I got news for myself! And anyone reading. If certain guitarists want to tune their guitars xyzabc that is fine with me but my experience with drop D today was horrible. I mean, like, talk about gnarly (in a bad way) - bad in a bad way - nu uh. No Drop D for me mutha fuckas.

Just play the fucking thing...

And, seriously, if you want to take music beyond what has been done before; away with melody, always march on with dischord and new harmonies the brain has yet to comprehend...well then fuck off.

I like a bit of melody. Don't mess with what people like.
Though admittedly, a lot of people like the original music computer Mozart and I find his stuff impossible to listen to. Give me Haydn. Or anything else. The delicate filagrees of a Lemmy bass solo might work at this moment.
Any dub recording too.

"So, Gustave, why don'tcha tune down your bass viol so it sounds like a dive bomber?"
"Sir, Maestro, I'm already kicking out as much bass shit as I can. But what you are referring to is anomolous in our time - they might discover us... "
"Yes, a lapse on my part. Ah...VU. The noise. Alas alack the retarded EQ. All I have is this twittering matrix of Mantiovani replays played by an army of robots who can barely wipe their noses never mind understand the feeling I want to bring to the music. But I'm such a twerp and a twit, I can barely sit still long enough to...who's she?...."

So, this all goes to illustrate something: Good writing is rare and this blog will defiantly do nothing to correct that - but while conservative in my guitar tuning views, I am otherwise very much in favour of new things being done in music, with music, for music, forever. But the caveat is that it needs to sound good - not to me necessarily - but whatever it is needs to have a receptive audience - not created by a marketing company.

Rambling again and unashamed.

New Free Tracks at ACEtonestudio.com

2008-09-17T01:24:00.003-04:00

...a couple of somewhat recent free downloads available at the real website:

Insane Invader Dub
This can only be described as an outtake of a track that has developed significantly since this glitch ridden abortive mix - yet there is something to it. Very much a 60's English sci-fi or horror vibe, which is fine by me. It sounds like the mix is being invaded by some sort of audio guzzling space bacteria...or something.

and this, which is entirely comprised of sound effects from 80s arcade games. For educational purposes only...this will not be released elsewhere...
Unit Test Failed Dub
A good laugh was had by all...

Arr!

2008-09-11T00:08:00.003-04:00

Prince Alla - roots hero...

2008-08-26T01:33:00.004-04:00

I don't really know what's going on in this video but it is good to see Keith Blake aka Prince Alla doing his thing with so much energy and the positive good humour for which he is renouned and respected. Raspect, Prince Alla - I will record with you one day, fate willing...

Here's is a Soul of Anbessa promo video that is a nice little tribute to Prince Alla at his home in Kingston. All still shots but the soundtrack is the Prince in excellent voice - refreshing and exciting to hear when so many of his contemporaries are either deceased or are no longer as able as he to sing so sweetly.

Now this just blew me away - the man is such a natural performer - I usually don't go for such improvised acoustic stuff, but this is exceptional:

I think this is a high point at which to stop. respect to the man and artist Prince Alla - a heavenly voice, vastly underrated and unfortunately not often enough recorded back in the day...

Gregory Isaacs & The Roots Radics The Tube 1983

2008-08-26T01:17:00.002-04:00

I watched the Tube quite often back then and I don't remember this at all - I must have missed it. Well I haven't really missed it at all now have I because I just watched it. Interesting that the sound quality is quite good for a You Tube video. There is actually some bass happening.
Not the most compelling track on the 'Night Nurse' album by any means but nice to see Gregory and the Radics performing live in this video:

and just for contrast here is Gregory performing Slavemaster from the Rockers film. Nice suit:

The Incomparable Culture in the Studio

2008-08-26T01:03:00.002-04:00

Nice tank-top there Joseph.
My admiration for the works of Joseph Hill only increases as time goes on. Sadly he passed on recently, bless him.

Clint Eastwood and General Saint with Roots Radics 1980 video

2008-08-26T00:55:00.004-04:00

The sound quality on this is poor but the music picks up a bit as it progresses. I've known this riddim for a long time as a Scientist Dub on the 'Wins The World Cup' album (I think) - a nice spacey almost Kraftwerk-like riddim:

A Huge Vinyl Archive Up for Grabs - only $3M!

2008-08-24T02:35:00.005-04:00

Sir, may we please have a detailed inventory of your catalogue contents?
This is an awful lot of vinyl but you have to wonder how much of it is genuinely valuable. Clearly all of it should be archived and should find a safe fungus-free home, but it should also all be heard.
A setback here would be that though not available digitally in any form, most of it is under copyright and presumably pristine copies of each of those albums reside with the record companies that released them in the first place...

but, many of those record companies no longer exist and these in fact may be the only copies that have not been consigned to landfill or are not so damaged as to be unplayable.

So come on somebody. Buy the man's records. For our children and children who have children etc.

Seriously though, doesn't this pique your interest? All it would take is a syndicate of 3 million people giving one $ each to relieve Paul of his life's burden. OK that doesn't work...

sorry Paul you'll just have to give it all away and suffer terribly from your ailment. Lay off the diet soda, OK? It's as bad for you as the corn syrup shit...

I hope my facetiousness is taken in the best possible way.

Any ideas, anyone?
Can't seem to embed this so here's the link for as long as it lasts

iDrum for iPhone and iPod Touch?

2008-08-23T21:56:00.005-04:00

This looks like more fun than it has a right to be. An 808 in yer pocket anyone?
Still, until Apple opens up the iPhone to other phone companies besides AT&T there is no way I'll be getting one.

Respect to you Ronnie, the world is a poorer place without you

2008-08-22T14:11:00.007-04:00

Ronnie Drew died a few days ago...instead of attempting to do the man justice in my own inadequate words I'll link a few vids of some of his best moments - of which there were many.

This one is not great audio or video quality but it really shows the mans humour and charisma:

this one I remember lucidly from the time - a rare reason to watch Top of the Pops!

One of my all time favourites:

This is bizarre (great song of course):

Here's one you can dance to even if you have no sense of rhythm...again...the Ronnie Drew charisma, wit and unmistakable vocal delivery:

there is no video for this one - just audio - caution! LOUD! This is a great song (Ronnie's voice is almost klaxon-like in its tone...excellent!):

Russian rip-off digital distribution services

2008-08-19T16:41:00.004-04:00

I just came across this story on Torrent Freak. They have the wrong end of the stick entirely on this issue. To the best of my knowledge these services are not paying the artists at all.

Eating Betty music is available from these services but they (mp3Skyline etc.) are not licensed to sell this music.

This is just pure badness.

New Prices for ACEtone CDs and downloads

2008-08-18T01:24:00.004-04:00

Dear readers, via CDBaby.com ACEtone Studio / ACEtone Records is offering Eating Betty in Dub, Reverbalism and Kratzen Fur Das Ebenleben at new affordable prices. This applies to both physical CDs and downloads (from CDBaby.com - I have no control over iTunes et al).

I hope this encourages those of you who have been put off buying to put your hands in your pocket...

Respect...

Eating Betty's 'Love and Justice Dub' on Echo Beach Dub Radio

2008-08-18T00:52:00.004-04:00

Respect to the man they call Turntable Terrorist.
Here's the Echo Beach radio show from August 8 2008. And isn't it so sweet to be followed by Cornell Campbell's 'I 'art is Clean'? I am humbled...
...I just realised that the good TTT also headlined his show with the same track on the previous week. Nice!

so here's the August 1 show:

And here's the August 8 show with Eating Betty followed by the Mighty Gorgon...

Show Me Your Backside!

2008-08-17T02:48:00.005-04:00

To give better praise and credit to DJ Frank's Voodoo Funk project I'm linking it here again.

http://voodoofunk.blogspot.com

Lots of surprising, unusual and gratifying images, mp3 downloads and generally vibrantly wonderful African vinyl rips...and the pic here and the subject are really red herrings. I'm sure I'll treat this greatness with more respect when time permits - but this is well nice for now...

In Search of African Vinyl

2008-08-17T01:34:00.007-04:00

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...

Playlist.com?

2008-08-17T00:51:00.003-04:00

These people Playlist.com are offering ringtones of the ACEtone Allstars - I don't think they should be doing this - even in the unlikely event that someone might want to pay for such a ringtone - how are they going to pay ACEtone Records? I have no agreement with them that I'm aware of but in these days of digital distribution it is possible that I overlooked their name in some agreement I made.
Being a 'beta' and pretty new it appears I have no aggreement with them about these ringtones for sale...

The ALLstars tracks are not yet with CDBaby or iTunes so I really have no idea how they think they are entitled to sell ringtones.

Note the fact that there is no way of contacting Playlist.com by e-mail and I don't think I really want to call here * to contest what is in principle important, but in the case of ACEtone Records, insignificant:

*Farbod Tojarieh
Copyright Agent
Project Playlist, Inc.
9300 Wilshire Blvd.,
Suite 200
Beverly Hills, CA 90212

Or send a fax to the following address:

310-278-7641
ATTN: Project Playlist Inc., Copyright Agent

Or by Phone:

310-479-3202

I expect/suspect Farbod is not only the 'copyright agent' (whatever the f**k that means) but the webmaster and chief bottle washer too - the general factotum - the grand poobah of Playlist.com.

The little that this bothers me is more because of the other good people playing on these tracks besides myself who might rightfully find fault with unauthorized ringtones of their musical efforts FOR SALE - when they have happily acquiesced to giving full tracks away for free at my instigation. Not quite right is it? Another skewed picture...

If Farbod would like to explain, I would be happy to hear from him.

Dub the Old Way

2008-08-10T02:59:00.004-04:00

It is very interesting to see this kind of thing - so, big up to BattleJam who has replicated and built upon the sounds and techniques of the greats - this guy has skilz - yes indeed. One thing though - a REAL bass line would improve this kind of stuff very much.
I would be happy to provide one when I get the new flat wound strings on the bass.

Enjoy this - it is actually very good - a spring reverb and a space echo would complete the picture.
I just love to feel a bit envious of people like this. I want your board man!

Never let us forget the Korean Dub konnection

2008-08-10T02:41:00.002-04:00

nice drums...but is he really a Korean guy? Anyone? I know from personal experience that reggae and Dub are a big deal in Korea...your answers on a postcard...

Japro-Funk? Japonica don't really know what they are doing...

2008-08-10T02:17:00.004-04:00

...but it's better than they think!
It goes on a bit but actually sounds way better than I would have expected:

Media Obsolescence

2008-08-08T13:18:00.004-04:00

This story and variations on the theme crop up more often that is really necessary.
Strangely no mention of the mould that can get under the plastic on optical disks...or was that the hyped-up scourge of some three or so years ago (5, 6 years ago?)? Don't hear much about it these days.

A lot in this article is true and to the point but typically this commentator offers no suggestions for a solution. More of a jaded old gripe than a helpful article. We are at the mercy of this monster we have created. Help us oh prophets of ages past who had the good sense to make information permanent. Send another Moses, with the internet etched on tablets of hardest obsidian - carved into the stone by the hand of god his self, verily...

I do need to correct this oaf on one point. I bought a turntable just 5 or 6 years ago - specifically a DJ type turntable and believe it or not - it will play 78s - so the fact that this guy threw away 'valuable' 78s is preposterous. And if they were valuable he would have been able to sell them on e-bay. Perhaps they were just old 78s nobody wanted and not actually valuable at all.

That simplicity is threatened, even in the publishing industry. I recently completed a book, printed it and gave the manuscript to my agent. To give it to a publisher, she wanted it in a digital version, so I gave her a Word file. When she opened it on her computer, it was full of garbage characters. There had been some problem in the document conversions among several programs. I couldn't fix it.

Maaaan, is this guy a Luddite! And the publisher had no clue what she was doing. And why was he submitting a 'Word' file to a publisher?! 'there had been some problem in the document conversions among several programs' - how's that for technical jargon!!! Me no understand - too...tech...nik...al. If I were he, I'd be embarrassed to admit such unforgivable ignorance. Just ask someone who knows about these things before you go making an arse of yourself on the internet!!!

Really, people need to read the stuff they write before they publish. Or perhaps not - it is all ephemeral and no one will know 20 years from now that Russell Smith is a clod.

New Eating Betty track 'Love and Justice Dub 'pon di radio

2008-08-04T23:03:00.005-04:00

At 19:42 minutes you can hear a new track titled 'Love and Justice Dub' from the forthcoming 'Every Spoil a Dub' album by Eating Betty - here -
Many thanks once again to Dr. Strangedub for his continuing support and for playing Eating Betty so often on his radio show 'The Echo Chamber' KFAI-FM (90.3 Minneapolis / 106.7 St.Paul, Minnesota.

Dr. Strangedub's myspace page
Archive of 'Echo Chamber Shows'
KFAI audio streams

Big up Dr. Strange Dub!!!

Scientist sets the record straight

2008-07-31T22:20:00.004-04:00

Responding to allegations that he blew a music festival sound system, Scientist sets the record straight. In no uncertain terms!
This is interesting for various reasons - to me primarily because it sheds a lot of light on the kind of work that currently occupies this legendary Dub giant.
Good to know he is working away and showing the people how sound is supposed to be done.

Here is a pic of the legend in his yootful prime:

Is Cuil a hoax?

2008-07-31T21:39:00.013-04:00

http://www.cuil.com/
Certainly looks that way to me.
First clue: The claim that the word 'cuil' in Irish means knowledge is a red herring - or more precisely 'a trout of brownish colour' according to the Patrick S. Dineen dictionary. And brown trout is slang for...anyone? Two other meanings for 'cuil' from the same dictionary are 'a horse-fly, a gnat' and 'great eagerness'. The Irish language is baffling at the best of times!
With the fada the pronunciation is close to 'cool' but more precisely 'coo-ihl' - is this what they mean? It means 'a corner, nook'. Hence the goal area in ball games is referred to as 'an cuil', a goal keeper 'an cuil baire' (both 'u' and 'a' have a fada).
No definition of this word that I can find links it in any way to any meaning pertaining to knowledge. The only word I know in Irish for knowledge is 'eolas'. There are probably others but I doubt that 'cuil' with or without the fada is one of them.

I would be delighted if CEO Tom Costello or his missus Ms. Patterson could direct me to the source of his pet definition - and if it indeed it means what he says it does, I'll delete this post, humbly and happily.
Here are the relevant entries from the Dineen dictionary:

Second clue: Try doing a search. Lots of pages turn up in the search that do not exist, will not load. It does not find acetonestudio.com. Google turns up several pages at the top of the list for the same search. It's a disaster.

In terms of functionality and the 'user experience' it leaves an awful lot to be desired. This choice of three (default) or two columns for viewing the search results confuses the eye (and mind). The results vertical 'list' used by every other search engine seems to work just fine. Why change it?
Using Firefox it functions well enough, however using Safari it just does not work at all well.

The home page is...well...corny. That picture of the standing stones is just so ridiculous. If this guy is really Irish, I'm surprised by this bit of jiggery pokery. Arra shur begorra, whares the feckin' Leprehaun, mar ya?

It may well be that Cuil.com is exactly what it says it is and is at present inchoate but will in time grow to be a useful tool. Until then Google rules whether we like it or not.
They shouldn't have announced this thing it is wasn't ready. And it is not ready.

Having read more on this since I first posted I think it is worth making an additional note on pronunciation:
'cuil' (with the fada on the u) is pronounced something like coo-ihl. Not 'cool' or 'kewl'
This is such a crock of...er...um...gold? Brown gold? Brown trout all the way...and you know what that means...

Another point - cuil.com may (or may not) have the $$$ and servers and requisite technology to do as they profess that they can do - but as yet cannot and do not - but what they seem to lack most of all is intelligence and ability to deliver. Is it really intended to be a dumb search with no filtering at all? Somehow, whatever happens when you do a search it seems to do the opposite of what they claim. This is a really amateur effort...or maybe, in fact - I'm a dumbass who doesn't know how to look for something. Now where did I put my keys...?
well let's see what happens when the money dries up and the strawberries and cream have turned to white castle burgers...

If it turns out to be 'something' after all, I'll be happy to see them succeed and will eat a hat made of foie gras and caviar, served on a bed of endive and drizzled with the sweat of Nibelung. On my budget, that is as likely to happen as cuil.com lasting more than 6 months...to be bought by someone who just wants them to be the f#%k out of the way with their interfering, bungling, nonsensical algorhythms!

You read it here - just now...yeah...

Ah, the beauty of online customer reviews

2008-07-21T01:03:00.003-04:00

No idea if this Jack Mehoff (har, har) actually even bought the product he reviewed. This is mean spirited, cruel and kind of funny...
And just in case you want to know what this is all about here the good ole Wackypedia entry

A likka look inside legendary Tubby's studio

2008-06-24T23:56:00.012-04:00

Nice, Nice, Nice! Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!

If you're any sort of a fan of DUB, this clip should quicken your pulse and gladden your heart. Not only do you get to see the inside of King Tubby's studio but there's also Prince Jammy mixing on Tubby's legendary customized board, Scientist (observing and later filling the studio with ganga fumes) and Bunny Lee dancing ecstatically. Oh, what a joy!

I had no idea footage like this exists but apparently there is a documentary out there somewhere called Deep Roots from which this clip is excerpted. Must seek it out. There are many more clips from the documentary...where else?...but on YouTube...
Watch, listen and enjoy...this wonderful stuff.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
You can hear the vocal of the track (Junior Reid's 'Jailhouse Rock') being dubbed in this following clip. Never heard this before but I have a dub of it somewhere ('Harder Dub' on the Shining Dub album). The dub actually comes in about 3.50 in this clip. Which is basically what you were seeing and hearing in the preceding clip. More or less...

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
...and from the same documentary check this clip of Delroy Wilson voicing 'In A Dancing Mood' - Sweet!
But check out the 'vocal booth'. Rudimentary. But the fact that some of the very best roots music was voiced at King Tubby's and of course the incomparable dubs mixed there by Tubby himself, Jammy, Scientist and a few others prove without a doubt that it is not the equipment and the studio that matters so much as how you use these tools. Of course, being an actual engineer Tubby ensured that whatever studio equipment he employed was customized, calibrated and utilized to the best possible effect. No doubt the musical talent, personalities, vibes and herb play their hugely significant parts...

ahhh...niceness!

Anatomy of a Melodica - and repair

2008-06-20T21:27:00.006-04:00

I unzipped my Melodica case last weekend expecting to honk out a fast and dirty dub solo line only to find that almost all of the keys were sticking rendering the incredibly economically priced instrument ($30.00) all but unplayable. That was the end of that recording session. Instead it was time to get busy with a screwdriver and see what was causing the problem - and perhaps more importantly to give you the reader a look inside. A picture gallery of the Melodica in various stages of deconstruction and repair can be found here.
The Melodica is a fascinating instrument the history of which can be found here, so there is little need for me to go into any great detail. Suffice it to say that this 'toy' instrument in the right hands and with the right production can produce transcendent music (Augustus Pablo) or in the wrong hands if left untreated by a pleasant wash of reverb and a nice delay can require surgical removal!

It didn't take very long to find that an adhesive foam material used for damping the keys when depressed was the source of the problem. I had no hesitation in removing the foam and discarding it. But that left me with a pile of keys looking strangely like a disorderly heap of pulled teeth. The reed frame of the melodica resembled a huge harmonica and the brass mounting plate and reeds were and still are surprisingly tarnished.

I packed everything away for a couple of days and intermittently pondered what I would use to replace the foam. Quickly enough I decided upon felt, purchased some fabric glue and got to work. It was actually quite a simple and painless operation, the most difficult part being the feeling of trepidation that it might not re-assemble quite correctly or would not play properly. Both doubts were quickly put to rest and the melodica once again plays perfectly.

During this process I sent an e-mail to Hohner, not to make a claim of any sort, but to politely inform them of the problem with the instrument. I received a reply the next day which was heartening but I was not thrilled with the response:

Since it is a mouthblown instrument , it does depend what goes into melodica when played. Very sticky saliva etc. can affect playing. If you like, please return melodica to Hohner Inc. at address below for inspection/correction.

Two problems with this assessment: The damping foam beneath the keys would not be affected by whatever is coming out of the player's mouth as this part of the instrument is separate from the air passage that allows breath to be channeled to the reeds. It is not saliva that enters the instrument when blown (well, not through normal use) - it is breath vapour, condensation, water which should not be any stickier than what comes out of the tap. Anyway, in fairness they did offer to inspect and correct, but frankly I was not willing to wait around for them to do this - and I really wanted to have a go at fixing it myself.

I have given Hohner two further updates on my progress and hopefully my efforts will encourage them to try a better damping material in their manufacturing process.

General Pompidou: DJ with the Rock Stone voice

2008-06-13T01:11:00.005-04:00

I thought Prince Far I was the DJ with the Rock Stone voice but Pompidou seems to claim (to have claimed?) differently. Toasting over the Cornerstone Church of Music cut of Jackie Mittoo's 'Darker Shade of Black' here is General Pompidou. Never heard of him before...

Incidentally, the same riddim featured Frankie Paul singing 'Old Nigger'. I think I'm allowed to used the word in this context. A superior track by any measure.

Here's Pompidou / Pampidoo inna di dance over the Sleng Ting riddim - at one point doing a mean interpretation of a hedge trimmer!

No hits for Frankie Paul's vocal on the 'Darker Shade of Black'...

Wild Search for a Definition of Dub

2008-06-12T23:55:00.008-04:00

This is something you could easily have done yourself, but why don't you just sit back and relax and I save you a few mouse clicks...

This doesn't help much at all
It says somewhere that the Beatles were knighted...benighted more like...

This is more like it
The often wacky and out-of-whack wikipedia.org meets our approval for the most part in their succinct definition:

Dub is a form of music which evolved out of reggae in the late 1960s. The dub sound consists predominantly of instrumental remixes of existing recordings and is achieved by significantly manipulating and reshaping the recordings, usually by removing the vocals from an existing music piece, emphasizing the drum and bass frequencies or 'riddim', adding extensive echo and reverb effects, and dubbing occasional snippets of lyrics from the original version.

The entry elaborates further, quite accurately, and then goes on to say:

'Dub' has become a term for almost any musical piece that "Utilizes the remixing of prerecorded sound as a mode of artistic expression." Taking the separate entities of a musical track and remixing them into a completely new selection has become a popular process, and can be found in a variety of genres ranging anywhere from hip-hop remixes and mash-ups to metal. Many listeners do not sense the Jamaican roots, and are unaware that this technique started with Jamaican rocksteady and reggae.

And in that paragraph lies the current dub dilemma as I perceive it. Is Dub just a studio technique or a musical genre (including the elements of particular rhythms and playing styles)? Answer me that? Let's see if this issue is addressed anywhere else...
I'll add to this if the mood takes me, but this is enough for now...

Sons of Negus? (In the Event of a Power Cut) !

2008-06-11T01:43:00.006-04:00

Not sure of the provenance of this video but it for me it amounts to a good reason to play more hand drums and get more of them, by hook or by crook and feel the good feeling of playing. Maybe I just need a night with the ACEtone ALLstars to give me the right kind of jollies!

Some may have difficulty interpreting what the man say - but for me the patter was very entertaining and lucid. No fools these. Note the bit where he decries all the electric instruments. Going too far perhaps, but a fair point when the power goes off. Hello! California fairly recently. Always have with you what will keep you musically alive in the event of a massive blackout. No TV. AGH! What will I do? It will be the choice of riddim and song that will define you in those testing times! I would suggest something by Delroy Wilson or Freddie McKay - or Prince Alla or...jus' some t'ing joyful where those gathered can easily harmonize or jus' sing along.

What Do I Not Understand About Videos of Records Playing on You Tube?

2008-06-11T00:42:00.004-04:00

Can someone enlighten me about this phenomenon?
Every time I search for video of any reggae, Dub, rock steady and ska stuff I find heaps of videos of records turning on turntables with shite sound quality. Is this not absurd? I mean, the video quality comparatively is better than the audio quality. Is this not just a weird form of vanity being expressed by foolish people?

It really clutters the searches and crowds out the good video material. You know, cool stuff that people video taped from TV in the 70s, public domain stuff, amateur vids of significant people etc.

I suspect this is a circumvention of the ludicrous action taken by the search engines due to monumental force exerted on them by the mafRIAA and it's affiliates - so now that you can no longer search for audio using Google, Yahoo etc. (but there is always Baidu.com) you can search for the video with audio attached. And if you know what you are doing you can rip the audio. But isn't this just a huge wast of time, disk space, effort? Especially if the audio is rubbish?

I'd like to link some cool stuff here and not have to waste time on this.
Comments please.
Excuse what I think is justified indignation.
Is there a suppository for this repository of shite?

One of the Most Enjoyable Ads I've Ever Seen!

2008-06-11T00:23:00.004-04:00

So this is really just a big ad for VP records reissue project (launched in 2007 apparently) - they're a bit late in the game, but they have the masters and the rights so all encouragement to them. I hope they're doing a good job of remastering...
Nice to see Big Youth giving the 'VIP Tour'.
My recollection is that Randy's is now Carl's if indeed it still exists. When I was there in 2000 the Studio was devoid of any recording equipment and the walls were lined with 45s gathering dust, awaiting foreign vinyl collectors seeking a rare gem. The shop was still in operation as Carl's and incidentally Carl still likes to wax somewhat ineloquently on his cameo in 'Rockers'. One of the great things about Jamaica is that everything is still 'now' in some ways that is strange to the rest of us struggling to move forward, to progress (and I do meant to include Jamaicans who have left Jamaica in that statement too!). I can relate to it in many ways but I get itchy feet if the water starts to feel stagnant...

Carlton Barrett's Nephew 'pon drum

2008-06-11T00:00:00.003-04:00

He's got all the licks and chops but in fairness to him he'd be better with a bassman keeping time with him. Nice to hear all the old rolls and hits played with enthusiasm by the youth.

Horace Andy recording session

2008-06-10T23:38:00.004-04:00

This is fairly recent I think - not the greatest song ever but very interesting to see the recording session in Kingston in progress.
Note the allstar line up of Sly and Robbie, Sticky, Skully, Dougie Bryan, Ansell Collins. Sweet! No mention of which studio though.
Bonus Kingston street scenes too!

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad RIAA / Media Defender?

2008-06-10T13:15:00.007-04:00

Reading this will give you a good idea about whether or not you should be personally concerned about the actions and lawsuits of the mafRIAA or Media Defender.

A take-down program begins with the RIAA's list of about 700 current, popular titles of recordings owned by its member companies. The list is compiled - and continually updated - from Billboard and online music services' sales charts. The user-litigation program uses many more titles, but the RIAA won't disclose the number.

If you don't listen to the crap that the major record labels peddle then there is little to be worried about. Anyway other reports strongly suggest that they are just as likely to mistakenly target someone who has never even touched a computer. That is more of a concern.

Also note this article where the methods of the RIAA and Media Defender and their ilk are shown to be highly suspect and obviously ineffective:
Study Reveals Reckless Anti-Piracy Antics

...in May 2008, the team decided to repeat the tests, first to see if things had changed, and to discover if they could later implicate other IP’s, ’spoofing’ their presence. This time, there were almost 40% more DMCA notices, despite still not actually infringing copyright as claimed in the notices.

Tommy Mc Cook interview

2008-06-10T00:08:00.001-04:00

This is very special:

Spanish - Reggae - Surf

2008-06-08T03:10:00.002-04:00

the link is almost complete.
Bloody hell! check the finger blistering fretwork on this performance...
of course this chune is an oft adapted reggae staple. But of course you knew that, didn't you? If I could just find a Surf version I would be very happy...
It is pleasing to see that Wikipedia is ignorant of this composition. So what were the sisters at Alpha listening to and how did they get their hands on it? Don Drummond et al adapted melodies such as this and gave the world incredibly beautiful music - please comment...

Post Apocalyptic post modern 21st Century brain damage

2008-06-08T02:55:00.004-04:00

oh dear, this is a headful. Fascinating but bewildering and this was probably 20 years ago. Everything has been done. Totalitarian DJ stylee here demonstrated by the plainly deranged Cutty Ranks. Now where is my coke...oh and if this was a political big up for Manley then it's no surprise the other guy (probably) won!

Holy mother of f#$k - it's Althea and Donna!

2008-06-08T02:36:00.004-04:00

This is a real challenge in many ways! The backing chune is totally pimped up for pop TV and bears little resemblance to the excellent original Joe Gibbs/Professonals/ET production. Where is the bass? But at the same time, what a wonderful slice of a song in a certain time. They do a good job on the 'singing' and they have the khaki suit and t'ing. The hair, the glasses - spine tingling!
At the certain risk of sounding, nay being sexist, I'll take the one in the middle!

OK, that's it. I want one of these drums.

2008-06-08T02:18:00.003-04:00

My bongos just aren't doing it for me. Here is the legendary Skully just doing what he has done on about a million reggae and Dub tracks. I want that drum (someone said it is a djembe-is it?), I want that amazing sense of rhythm! I want it all - but for now, let's watch a master at work - or should that be, at play as he effortlessly Rootifies the chune...

Michael Smith lip-syncing uncomfortably

2008-06-08T02:08:00.004-04:00

This man had a big load of heavy patter on his mI cYaan bElieVe it album...listen

Mikey on the mic...not at the controls...

2008-06-08T01:59:00.002-04:00

This is stuff I thought I would never see...but here it is...crucial:

Yellow like cheese!

2008-06-08T01:46:00.001-04:00

This is surprisingly good! In the fine Jamaican tradition of monopolizing on unattractive looks and an underprivileged upbringing, Yellowman awes a captive Sunsplash crowd - well I think it is Sunsplash...good stuff

...and remember children, don't try this at home

2008-06-08T01:40:00.003-04:00

and, did you know that Dub bass can extinguish naked flames?...now there's a name for a band!

Mighty Diamonds sweet roots riddim

2008-06-08T01:34:00.000-04:00

Is iTunes tariff putting the music buyer off?

2008-06-07T14:09:00.003-04:00

Or even ripping them off?
ACEtone Studio is in the happy situation where every iTunes sale of an Eating Betty track (for example) yields ACEtone Studio 66c or thereabouts.
That goes to me. Nice. But don't get too excited. I don't sell very much!

But, major labels yield the same 66c (or thereabouts - don't know th e exact figure) and give the artist a pitiful microscopic royalty from that sale. Which they probably receive months after the actual download/sale.

So, good for me, but bad for the unfortunate music industry puppet performer.

In my case, I would be perfectly happy to sell downloads for way less. 50c or even 25c would be fine. Would Apple iTunes considere a tiered price scale?
They should give labels the choice of how much they want to sell the tracks for. Of course the major labels in their typical lack of wisdom would push for way higher prices. Personally I would rather see a greater number of track sales resulting in a greater return instead of the current rip-off price which I'm convinced is an impediment to the reluctant online buyer. They shouldn't really be charging more than $5.00 per album.

So that's What Baidu is all about!

2008-06-06T14:47:00.005-04:00

there is more behind this than reported here I'm sure.

A huge number of the ACEtone downloads in particular of the the ACEtone ALLstars tracks is through Baidu and SoSo spiders.
The top hits in acetonestudio.com webstats are from these Chinese companies. I'm actually pretty happy with this because it means that lots of people in China are hearing the music I produce. Of course I would like to be paid for it, but...it is good advertising...

Now the article does say this:

Baidu provides links only to music files stored on third-party servers. No music is stored on computers owned or controlled by Baidu.

Well, what's the problem? It doesn't say that they are hacking into any servers. Sounds to me like they are not doing anything wrong. Sounds even more like the major labels are trying to quash independent artists and make only major label music available globally, and at a price. It is my choice if I want to give this music away for free and Baidu and SoSo should be able to make it accessible as long as they are not breaking any laws. Baidu is a search engine. It is possible to find free downloads, free LEGAL downloads using this search engine. Can the record companies not understand that some things in life are free? What a jaded, cynical, stupid subspecies they are!

Here also is the Slashdot angle on the subject where some comments get it right, wrong or just ridiculously misinformed.

and for some clarification here is the Wikipedia.org entry on Baidu

Here's and amusing commentary on the use of bad words on TV. FUCK!

2008-06-06T13:29:00.003-04:00

there is so much hypocrisy about this issue it is incredible, but this ARS (e!) Technica article has an amusing take on it.

Paul McGuinness is at it again

2008-06-06T13:10:00.003-04:00

Yeah, way to go Paul you big #%^$ing @%$hole
No way is this man the least bit concerned about the artists. The sooner musicians break free of their corporate bosses the better.
This guy should just shut the hell up.

Augustus Pablo live

2008-06-04T10:10:00.006-04:00

This is really pretty impressive stuff - I never thought I actually see THE melodica man tinkling the Hohner plastic mini keys in this way - just look at the ease of execution - who is in the backing band?
They're playing Java too fast but still - very cool to see this:

Myspace Mars Planets Radio

2008-05-28T17:09:00.004-04:00

This looks...well...interesting from a promotional standpoint at least. I've submitted Eating Betty, ACEtone ALLStars and Big Shiny for consideration. It will be amusing if I hear back from them.

Whatever it turns out like, I think it is good that people are trying to make some sense of the giant smoldering wreck that is mySpace. Why not have a myspace Radio? - why not before now, damnit? Why not several?

Recording Industry vs. the People

2008-05-28T15:17:00.003-04:00

Recording Industry vs. the People's mission is to expose

...the RIAA's attempt to monopolize digital music by redefining copyright law, through the commencement of tens of thousands of extortionate lawsuits against ordinary working people.

They seem to be doing quite a good job of it too.

Copyright deal could toughen rules governing info on iPods, computers

2008-05-27T16:07:00.006-04:00

This is pretty outrageous

The deal would create a international regulator that could turn border guards and other public security personnel into copyright police. The security officials would be charged with checking laptops, iPods and even cellular phones for content that "infringes" on copyright laws, such as ripped CDs and movies. The guards would also be responsible for determining what is infringing content and what is not.

Read that last line again! This is outrageous and there is nothing pretty about it. Actually it is really disturbing and should be to any reasonable person.

I can only imagine that those frequent travellers who wish to avoid this kind of scrutiny will opt to leave as much of their electronic equipment at home as possible.

I also see an increase in the sales of small, cheap laptops purchased expressly for travelling, which owners will keep free of anything that might interest the curiosity of the inspectors. Not quite disposable but not the end of the word if a $400-$500 laptop is confiscated (and destroyed!). From what I've read, these cheaper laptops have already been becoming more popular. The crap economy is probably the main reason but this sounds like another good reason to have an extra expendable portable computer.
Provided it can do e-mail, internet etc. one of these would serve well enough for average travel purposes.
Not much good for music producers/musicians though...

The iPod poses a conundrum. What about the mp3s ripped from CDs? They're claiming that this is an infringement of copyright! In which case, as the saying goes, 'no one is innocent'. where's the sense in that?

Just for the hell of it I suggest buying only what you actually need to survive for a month (food!). Stop being consumers. See if the corporations and their government henchmen can be hit where it hurts.

KVR - Audio Plug-In news

2008-05-22T16:54:00.004-04:00

I had forgotten about about this very useful site as recently ACEtone Studio's audio software needs have been pretty much satisfied.

But is it a great resource for finding free and cheap RTAS, AU and VST plug-ins, sequencers etc.

It is fun to browse around and see what's new or not so new and it is nice that there is no perceptible platform bias.

Of course there is less stuff out there for Mac (though increasingly more has become available in the past couple of years), and really not very much at all in the RTAS (ProTools compatible) category.

Eating Betty music now available from amazon.com

2008-05-22T09:38:00.005-04:00

Eating Betty albums, 'Eating Betty in Dub' and 'Reverbalism', are now available from Amazon.com's online digital distribution service.

ACEtone Studio doesn't decide the per track price, but at $0.99 it's the same as iTunes charges. To the best of my knowledge, all tracks are DRM free so you can buy and share as you so choose. File formats is .mp3, 256kbps. Should be pretty good.

Most popular ACEtone Studio downloads ever from all participating online distributors are Urgent Dub from Eating Betty in Dub and Black Noise Dub from Reverbalism, so you might want to check those first.

The much neglected but excellent Kratzen fur das Ebenleben by Big Shiny is also available from Amazon.com. Mysteriously the per track price is $0.89. What a bargain! Files are also .mp3, 256kbps.

So, buy a few tracks and keep ACEtone Studio out of the red! And remember to share...

Crap (Annoying) Software?

2008-05-20T12:47:00.007-04:00

Here's ZDNet's 'rogue's gallery of annoying software'

Here's ACEtone Studio's response:

1. Adobe Reader: Not a problem. You'll never need to use this software if you use OS X.
I do remember it being a stinking pile of shite when I was forced to use a windows box a few years ago.

2. Apple (?) - huh? Actually they're talking about Apple versions of software for Windows. Who cares? If you run OS X (any version) you can turn the software updater off permanently and if you so choose, run whatever version you like without ever updating it. No viruses, no update patches...

3. Windows Update: Again who cares? Just get a Mac or run Linux on a Brand X box.

4. Real Player: This has always been awful. Thankfully, so little audio or video requires it these days. Just use VLC for nearly everything. Real Player must be getting close to abandonware status...

5. Java: All problems described exclusively Windows so not much to say about this.

6. Yahoo: Never use it. Who in their right mind does?

7. Norton Anti-Virus: Anything Norton sucks. Machine crippling useless garbage. Thankfully not needed when using a Mac.

8. Pre-installed Software Bundles: Again, not an issue when running a Mac.

9. Outlook / Exchange: I don't remember it being too awful - maybe that was when there wasn't really an alternative. The MS bloatware equivalent for Mac is called Entourage. I tried it out a couple of times. I think it wanted to take over my e-mail activities in a hostile manner. I'll stick with OS X 'Mail' thanks.

10. Flash: More specifically Flash based websites. They got this one right.

A list of 10 is hardly very comprehensive and considering the fact that the article is strictly Windows I'm surprised Microsoft didn't feature more times. And why they gave a Vista a free pass might point more to the fact that there is too much wrong with it - not that there is nothing to complain about!

I would suggest MS Word as both annoying and crap but I'm conflicted by the fact that equivalent word processor programs I have tried suffer by either being worse than Word (how is that possible?) or by being just too unfamiliar/different to the user to comfortably make the change. And I think the differences are what make Open Office and Abi Word for example unattractive and not viable competitors. I wish it were otherwise. But Word is pretty awful. Yet it is the default word processor program for countless millions the world over. I cringe when I get a .doc as an attachment in an e-mail especially knowing that I'm probably the only person on the planet who has a problem with that.

Internet Explorer: I haven't used it for a few years, but bloody hell, any other browser is better! At times it can seem like no browser would be better!

In fairness, I'll let fly at Apple now:
iTunes: Really there is too much going on. It takes too long to load. It takes too many preference changes to stop it from littering your 'music' folder with copies of all kinds of stuff. They should really make it so that preferences can be set to only make available the things you want to be able to do.
I also dislike the fact that it is clunky when trying to input new tag information, and how it insists on auto-filling/predicting genres for example as if I needed help in this area.
It also does a really poor job of finding duplicates which can make for a lot of wasted disk space.

Spotlight: will it please not search for anything until I have typed all of the letters and hit 'return'? It is also an annoying blue color.

DVD Player: almost completely useless. Becomes region specific after first few uses and then will not play DVD media from another region. What if...oh why bother? Just use VLC.

iPhoto: similar to iTunes it over-manages your media, in this case images and video. Slow, annoying. One useful thing it can do is quickly generate web image galleries, so it is not all bad.

Audacity: This is free software. Why knock it? Because it doesn't recognize my Digidesign mBox. I'd love to use it, but there is no point. I must assume that it doesn't recognize many other audio interfaces, so the people who wrote the code can't be very interested in making their software popular. It is also annoying in that it writes everything to .ogg files. You need to export to other file formats. A lot of time wasting in this process.

Digidesign ProTools: I use this all the time. It's great. I love what it can do, but I have so many gripes with it I should start a separate post on the subject...

Blogger: Is absolutely crippled when using Safari. But of course there is no mention of this fact in the help section or elsewhere that I could find. Forced to use Firefox, which is sort of OK, but...

Firefox: I suspect that a major reason for the popularity of Firefox is the fact that it rescued millions of Windows victims from a life of squalid enslavement to Internet Expletive and all of the pop-ups, crashes, malware etc. that such a condition entailed. It can be really slow and asks too many damn questions.

A short list of other crap/annoying software: POMS, AS400, Lotus 123, Quark XPress, Windows Media Player...

Anyone else got any suggestions?

Queen of the Blues targetted by IRS

2008-05-20T10:56:00.005-04:00

It is well known that the US tax system is skewed in favour of the the very wealthy and very strongly biased against the average taxpayer. It is also well known that the IRS seems to make a point of targetting celebrities.
The latest would appear to be Koko Taylor, so called Queen of the Blues - known for such songs as 'Wang Dang Doodle', 'Love You Like a Woman' and 'Tease Your Man'. Now, I must admit I knew very little about her before my interest was piqued by this:
This short article has a few details on the subject.

...the IRS says Taylor must pay $400,000 in back taxes, penalties and interest. Otherwise, she faces the possibility the G-men will grab most of her income, including royalties and Social Security, and maybe even her home. The feds rejected her offer to take out a reverse mortgage on that house and pay $200,000 plus up to 50% of any future net revenue, moves that would allow her to remain in her residence and live out her remaining time with her second husband.

I can't see why the IRS doesn't just take her offer. What sense is there is scapegoating an eighty year old woman who in a civilized society might be regarded as a cultural icon and treated accordingly? The people working on her case must feel very proud of themselves...

Here is the official Koko Taylor site. No mention here of the tax woes but then it is probably not something an artist wants publicized.

Here is the Koko Taylor MySpace page where you can hear a few tunes. It is indeed a hard pill to swallow...

Mindless Twaddle

2008-05-04T00:33:00.003-04:00

This video is mindless twaddle.
If anybody can figure out exactly what they are getting at - or indeed in most cases who they are, be sure to let me know.
The 'Veronica' chicks seem to be trying hard, really hard to get a thought together between them and the one on the right is gagging for a Fosters and a quick shag...not interested, frankly you're all too shite...
Before we proceed - just watch it - does it mean anything or have a message? It is awful.
Well according to Torrent Freak this is part of an anti-piracy initiative. Can't really tell what they are getting at in the video, other than - attention seeking. Never heard of you, you don't look good on camera, what's your bleeding point mate?

Anyway, it is not all on the up and up and typically the AA group responsible for this vid has mislead people. Won't be the first time obviously.
Not my problem.

New York Times shamelessly gives MSG a big-up

2008-05-02T21:55:00.005-04:00

I read this article a few weeks ago and was not terribly surprised that the 'gray hag' would stoop so low as to run a puff piece on a toxic food additive. I link it here only because it keeps on jumping back into my mind.
The Times has been thoroughly discredited in recent years so there is little point in digging any deeper.
The writer of the piece is either a fool or a shill - either way, having written for the New York Press in the past she clearly doesn't have a lot of credibility. Not much more to say about this.

MSG is bad for you...don't eat it.

Update: This article from the Guardian on the subject of MSG is much more balanced, open minded and well informed. NYT sucks!

Around the World in 20+ Dubs

2008-05-01T15:40:00.005-04:00

Eating Betty was recently honoured to be included in the selections for this Echo Beach (WLUW-FM) / Echo Chamber (KFAI-FM) joint effort. Thanks to Dr. Strange Dub and Turntable Terrorist...
You can hear the audio here (part 1) and here (part 2 includes Eating Betty)
or you can see if these buttons work:
Part 2

Part 1

Playlist is as follows:

Artist – Track – Album – Label – Year (Time)
1. Around the World in Dub Intro – Turntable Terrorist – Unreleased – 2008 (2:02)
2. USA: Subatomic Sound System – TTT Mashup of "The Chronicles" (vocals by Treasure Don) & "It's the Heat" – Heat Brings Heat EP – Subatomic Sound (Digital Only Release) – 2007 (4:01)
3. Jamaica: King Chilla – Chilla's Theme – 7" release on Dub Voltage – 2007 (3:01)
4. Mexico: Bungalo Dub – Mr. Mad – Dub Attack – Invasion/7 Records – 2007 (4:16)
5. Brazil: Victor Rice – Sun of Dubday – Dubshine – SpitShine Records – 2007 (3:36)
6. South Africa: Moodphase 5 – Paradise Syndrome (DJ Dope & Farmer Brian dub version) – In Superdeluxe Mode – African Dope Records – 2003 (5:44)
7. Australia/UK: Trevor "The Technician" McKenzie – Someone Dub – Exclusive mix "The Echo Chamber" & "Echo Beach" – 2008 (5:47)
8. Thailand: Dub Familia – Look to the East – Before The Baby Born – Net Release available on iTunes – 2007 (6:16)
9. Japan: Likkle Mai – Your Love (Spotlight Mix) – EP - Lik' Daughter - 2006 (8:42)
10. India: Midival Punditz – Chandini Chowk – Asian Massive – Six Degrees Records – 2002 (6:14)
11. Israel: Blondub Sexy Sound – Heaven (featuring Mad Professor) – Exclusive unreleased track from the upcoming "God Bless The Empress" album – 2008 (3:36)
12. Turkey: Firuzaga Soundsystem – Tekli Dub – Self-released – 2007 (3:43)
13. Sardinia: Arrogalla – Nuis Dub (Boghes de Bagamundos remix) – Arrogalla – Arrogalla Music – 2007 (4:56)
14. Morocco: Dubosmium – Waragine A Ragine – Horizontal Plane Polar Dub – Fresh Poulpe Records (net label) – 2006 (5:17)
15. Spain: Hot Drop – Hotdrop Inna Dance (featuring Ranking Forrest) – Ready – LaFamille Records – 2007 (5:21)
16. France: Fedayi Pacha – Hayduk Bey – New Dub Excursion – Sounds Around – 2007 (4:53)
17. Austria: Makossa & Megablast – Rip It Up (featuring Ras T-Weed) – Kanuaka – G-Stone Records – 2007 (8:25)
18. Czech Republic: Hypnotix – Reasoning (Wintage Remix) – Selection One – Popron Music – 2005 (5:36)
19. Germany: Tokyo Tower – I Need My Dubflash – I Need My Dubflash Each and Every Day – Upcoming release on Mutan Records – 2008 (3:47)
20. Holland: Togetha Brotha Soundsystem – Jahovia Dub – The Way of the Sinner – Self released – 2008 (5:12)
21. England: Rob Smith – Corner Dub (Blue & Red mix) – RSD – 2007 (3:23)
22. Wales: Llwybr Llaethog – Fflio Dub – Mega Tidy – Rasal Records – 2005 (4:55)
23. Ireland: Eating Betty – Dubbin' 2 Hard – Net release available for free through www.acetonestudio.com - 2008 (4:14)
24. Canada: Dubmatix – War Inna Corner (featuring Ranking Joe) – Upcoming release on the new Irie Ites label - 2008 (3:45)
25. USA: The Drastics – Kevlar – Premonition – Jump Up! Records – 2005 (5:06)

Is this a joke? Or just a(n) horrible pun?

2008-04-30T00:18:00.003-04:00

A young, gifted but impoverished actor is auditioning for a part in a cheesy flick along the lines of 'Gone in 60 Seconds' - let's call it 'Burn this Mutha Fucka', or 'Your mother sucks tail pipes in hell' - you get the idea. As to race, let's not even go there. No racism here. How could you even think it?

He is brought by the casting director to a movie studio back lot where there are three cars parked with clear cinematic intention.

The first is a way souped up something or other with a Chess theme going on, all black and white with freakin' awesome decals of kings, queens, knights and all that shit happenin'. Allroight! Chess...rawwwks! not...

The next is a super cool whatever the fuck is a cool way fast chick impressin' open top machine with a somewhat incongruous bowling theme; decals of pins, balls and all the other bowling nonsense - but it is a kick ass red metallic widow-maker of a car.

The third car is splendidly decorated with the most stylish and fanciful depictions of the house of cards imaginable, kings, queens, jacks, aces, hearts, diamonds, clubs. All beautifully wrought by hand. The paint work visible beneath the exquisite decoration is sadly the rusting brown shell of a '93 Honda.

The casting director gets into movie mode and rapidly, heatedly asks the actor:
"You're a car thief, you've got no time to lose, you need the fastest car, but it also needs to be the fastest car to get into, and you gotta hot wire it in seconds flat cos the cops gonna cap you like this" he says firing a starter's pistol and making the actor jump a couple of feet in the air - "which one?" he repeats stacatto.

"That's the one I'd jack" he says pointing at the...

I had fun thinking it up. But maybe I was just remembering something from elsewhere. Are they copyrighting jokes nowadays? Is there a JWAA - Joke Writer's Association of America?
I dedicate this joke to my brother!
There must be many more 'I'd' jokes out there.

But what brought this up in my mind was an image of a little flash movie of GWB's face morphed into that of Marlon Brando whipped brutally by Karl Malden. Screaming in pain. Yes. Why not? Whatever these deceased actors would have thought about this current regime, I think it very likely that they would have deplored and objected to these terrible inhumanities perpetrated by this government.
So can someone make that youtube movie for the world? It would be like an aspirin. Temporary relief from a whole heap of pain and misery. But it would get a point across.

How can I mix jokes and serious issues? Because I can - and life is like that...

Dub is like that...
I'll figure out how to tag this later. Kinda weird!

Derek Sivers of CD Baby sounds off on piracy

2008-04-27T21:07:00.004-04:00

Derek Sivers sounds off on Piracy and gets it right in my opinion - he even manages to be funny about it!

"More people are killed by pigs than sharks each year, but because shark attacks are more newsworthy, they seem more prevalent. Piracy gets all the attention, but I don’t think most of you in this room have lost more than $30 to piracy.” (I got a big “Booo” from the audience for this.) “Obscurity is your real enemy. Fight obscurity until you’re a household name, then piracy will be more of a problem than obscurity. Until then, worry about pigs, not sharks.”

can't break out of the block quote thing here - may need to do the wordpress thing...

I just had a thought about this. Derek makes the unfortunate use of the 'household name' thing implying that that is what one should be about. Wrong! Make yourself known, but to the people who want to know about you. Isn't the world in general sick and tired of pathetic creatures with no talent at all and all of the money backing to make them household names? Derek is rather conservative it appears. But at least he is willing to change. I'm not partial, but piracy is indeed here to stay and unless something better is offered, the music industry will fade. Not a problem for me. I'm just one of those fools who does it because he loves it...

Joy Division Limited Edition Zune (!!!!)

2008-04-22T15:20:00.004-04:00

Is there any point in asking what Microsoft were thinking when they came up with this shite idea?

It might interest them to know the origin of the band's name. Would they still be pulling this deluded marketing stunt if they knew this before hand?

I'm surprised MS haven't heard from the ZioNazis (ADL, AIPAC, Abe Foxman etc.) about this and been slapped on the wrist...

Apart from that, Joy Division are hardly a likely choice for this purpose. Much as I liked them at the time - and still do on occasion, I don't think I would want to associate my music player with the gloomy, suicidal isolation of Joy Division's music - particularly not the ultra miserable and horribly produced by Martin Hannett 'Unknown Pleasures' album.

Stuff like this just baffles me.

I can only hope someone will reveal that it is a hoax!

Shut Up! Dub

2008-04-06T02:59:00.004-04:00

Over this weekend I have had the very gratifying experience of working on a dub version of the Monks' track 'Shut Up!' Some might consider this an unlikely choice for a dub treatment, but based on the recent successful dub rendition of the Seeds' 'Pushin' Too Hard' it is not much of a stretch. 'Shut Up' is a truly great moody track, somewhat dark and negative and very minimal in every respect - ideally suited to a Dub rendering. And where better to do so than ACEtone Studio? Indeed, who else would bother? When this 'Shut Up Dub' is all mutated and mixed I'll post a link for your listening pleasure, confusion, bewilderment, outrage, or otherwise...
Loving the Dub, every minute, every hour, every day, every week, every Ear...

Adios Torrent Spy

2008-04-03T13:54:00.003-04:00

Ars Technica ran this obit recently...

Rock Steady Documentary

2008-04-03T11:20:00.010-04:00

Many of the great Rock Steady producers, singers and musicians have already passed on but it looks like they are assembling a good enough collection of those still living.

The musicians who are flying in for the film, album and concert, are singer Dawn Penn (No No No) from London, singer Hopeton Lewis (Take it Easy) from New York, and guitarist Hux Brown (The Dynamites) from California.

They will be joined on stage and in the recording studio at Tuff Gong by the legendary singers who still live in Jamaica: Ken Boothe (Shanty Town), Judy Mowatt (Silent River), Stranger Cole (Morning Train), Derrick Morgan (Conquering Ruler), Leroy Sibbles (Equal Rights), Marcia Griffiths (The Tide is High),The Tamlins and U-Roy (Stop That Train).

I thought U-Roy was no longer with us...and it was Keith and Tex who performed the great 'Stop That Train.' Desmond Dekker (Daicres) was the singer on '007 Shanty Town' - maybe Ken Boothe also has a song by that name or covered it (?). The 'Tide is High' is by the Paragons when John Holt was with them.

Well regardless of the dubious journalistic accuracy in this brief report from the Jamaica Observer, if they make a good job of it, this documentary could be great. It would be especially interesting and vastly more entertaining if they could involve some of the less well known but often more talented artists in this project.

Such as, Leonard Dillon (Ethiopians), the Melodians, Keith and Tex, Pat Kelly, the Gaylads, Lynn Taitt etc. Some of the more obscure artists from Joe Gibbs stable for example would be really great to include: Errol Dunkley, Keith Blake (aka Prince Alla), The Pioneers, Neville Hinds, Roy Shirley, Dennis Walks, Jackie Robinson, Eric 'Monty' Morris, Hugh Malcolm...
Sadly, Jackie Mittoo, Tommy McCook and Delroy Wilson, some of my all time favourites are permanently unavailable...

The brief Rock Steady period in Jamaican music is one of the richest veins of musical creativity in any culture and despite its short run its many astoundingly prolific exponents went on to be the great performers, musicians and producers of the reggae period and beyond. A truly golden era which richly deserves a fitting documentary tribute.

Piracy is OK!

2008-04-03T11:01:00.003-04:00

This pokes a finger in the myopic eyes of the MPAA!

“People today have all this equipment available at home, and it’s a simple thing for them to copy movies and music. This is the time to play on the same team as the ones who make available this kind of materials. I hope those who watch this copy will think the quality is bad, and go watch it at the movies instead.”