The Birth Of Tweetagrams

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Orange Tweetagram

Few marketing campaigns have been as successful as the one run this summer featuring good Old Spice. Both punters and critics loved the antics of the muscle-bound chap who went as far as proposing to a woman for someone who didn’t have the courage to do it personally. It was only a matter of time before other marketers would try and up the ante.

Tweetagrams could be deemed as a direct evolution of the Old Spice concept. It was presented by UK-based company Orange, and it let people send tweets to be set to music and recorded by retro grip group The Rockabellas

Those tweets had the hashtag #singingtweetagrams, and they were reviewed by Orange’s marketing department. That is, not every tweet had the honor of being recorded. There was a pre-selection process.

The ones who got selected became downloadable from Orange’s website, and people were able to do whatever they wanted with them. This included setting them as their ringtones, and sending them out to friends. Continue reading →

Joy Tunes – Let Your Kids Learn Music By Playing Games

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JoyTunes

Name: Joy Tunes
URL: http://www.joytunes.com

All the musicians I’m acquainted with tell me the same story: the more their parents sent them to teachers to learn how to write, read and play music when they were kids, the closer they were to disdaining it forever. They also tell me that the moment they became independent and could say “no” to mum and dad was the moment they discovered the deep love they could feel for music.

That only makes too much sense. No matter how wonderful something is, if it is imposed it becomes a source of frustration and it is resisted to the bitter end.

Yet, what can parents who want their children to learn music do? Is there a way to have their little ones learn how to play an instrument without boring them to death? Continue reading →

Rob McCullough (Clean Tab) – Interview (Part 2)

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This is the final part of the interview I conducted with Rob McCullough from Clean Tab. You can read the first part right here.

PART II

MUSIC & YOU

When did you become interested in music? What was the first album or single you ever purchased?

I have always loved, and felt a special conncetion to music. I started playing guitar seriously when I was about 14. My first album was Alive by Pearl Jam.

Are you in a band yourself, or have you been in a band in the past? Is there a clip on YouTube or elsewhere we could watch?

I have never played in a full band. I have played various coffee house style shows with friends. Unfortunately, I don’t have any live videos on youtube. But, I do have a SoundCloud account for anyone interested in my personal music. http://soundcloud.com/mybbor

Musical likes and dislikes? Favorite artists?

If you can name a genre, I can probably name a relevant song that I enjoy. I like to mix up my styles depending on my mood. When I am coding. I absolutely love listening to electronic music. Boards of Canada was the soundtrack to my time working on CleanTab. Continue reading →

Rob McCullough (Clean Tab) – Interview (Part 1)

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Rob McCullough (the founder and developer of Clean Tab, a cool repository of tabs just reviewed on MusicKO) was kind enough to answer all my questions regarding both his startup and his musical background.

Without further ado, this is the first part of the interview. And the second (“Music And You”) can be accessed here.

Clean Tab

Full Name: Rob McCullough
Age: 25
Startup: Clean Tab
Position: Founder/developer

PART I

THE STARTUP

Tell us a little about your startup. How was it conceived? What are its most distinctive features in your opinion?

CleanTab is an automated guitar & bass tablature search engine. We fetch tabs from all over the internet, clean them up, and display them with our customized font. CleanTabs have videos, and they are just as gorgeous printed on paper as they are in the browser.

What was the original launch date?

June 28th, 2010

What has been the response so far? In which countries has it been more successful?

The response has been great! There is only a small amount of resources available to me for for advertising. So, I am working really hard to grow organically and through word of mouth. We are most popular in the United States. But, Australia is not far behind.

What features can we expect to see implemented in future revisions?

I just implemented some new tweaks to the printable version of our tabs. Also, within the next few weeks we will begin updating our tab archive with new material daily! Finally, there is a lot of behind the scenes work going on to make sure all our our data is correct. We are removing duplicate tabs, and trying to fix up song titles that were skewed by their orginal creators.

There is a certain tendency to demonize the Internet in the music industry. I think it is all a matter of perspective – it all depends on the uses it is put to. What is your opinion? In which areas has the Internet left an unquestionably positive mark?

In my opinion, the internet itself, and the rapid speed at which we can access information, is an unquestionably positive thing! Human progress relies on our ability to learn from, and then adapt to, the findings of those that came before us. The internet has given more people access to more information at instant speeds than ever before in history. Any monetary loss to those who were unable, or unwilling, to adapt to the changing world is a miniscual set back.

What advice could you give to anybody who is launching a music-related startup in the future? What are the obvious mistakes that should be avoided?

A few things. First, time management is crucial. Strictly for music related start ups, be aware of copyright laws and how they will affect your business. Avoid doing sloppy work with the intention of fixing it later.

Continue to Part 2: “Music & You”.

Lady Gaga & Justin Bieber Are Both Close To Having 1 Billion YouTube Views

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Lady Gaga Alejandro

VS

justin bieber u smile

As I am sure you remember, just a couple of months ago Lady Gaga became the first online artist to have 1 billion views across all online video platforms.

Well, now she is nearing 1 billion views on YouTube alone. That’s an amazing feat, and a good reminder why she is called “The Internet Artist”.

However, she is not alone.

Justin Bieber is hot on her heels. And although experts are sure that Gaga will get to the milestone first (it is said she will reach that milestone on October 20), Bieber might have the last laugh. He averages 3.98 million views daily, and Gaga is pulling off just 2.04 million. If that pattern is unbroken, Bieber will eventually overtake her.

Just for the record, Michael Jackson is the third artist with more YouTube video views. But he is no threat to Gaga or Bieber at this point. As of this date, he has about 600 million video views.

The Kids Are Alright (The Who) – Original Soundtrack Album

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A Double Album, "The Kids Are Alright" Collected The Best Music On One Of The Rock & Roll Movies Ever

A Double Album, "The Kids Are Alright" Was The Companion Piece To One Of The Most Memorable Rock & Roll Biopics Ever

The soundtrack to Jeff Stein’s highly-adored biopic is a double album made up of live highlights. Of course, the terms “live” and “highlight” are the bywords when we are talking about The Who with Keith Moon sitting behind the kit.

The version of “A Quick One” at the Rolling Stones’ Rock & Roll Circus leads the charge. The Who stole the show that day, to the point that the Stones (aware that they had been outplayed) later tried to sell the movie to The Who so that they could release it as their Rock & Roll Circus. Personally, I like the version which is included on the “Live At Leeds” album even better. But in any case, both cuts showcase what a demolishing live band The Who was during the “Tommy” period.

That is also underlined by the three songs from Woodstock which are included – all three are “Tommy” numbers (“Pinball Wizard”, “Sparks” and “See Me, Feel Me”) and they are all terrific. They can also be found on the original “Woodstock” soundtrack. The version of “Sparks”, incidentally, is also featured on “Almost Famous” – it is the song that makes the main character realize his destiny of becoming a music journalist.

Likewise, the album includes the cataclysmic performance from “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” that earned Moon the moniker of “British Patent Exploding Number”. It is not really a “live” number (they are playing over a track which was prerecorded), but it has the full dialogue introduction in which the guys drive Tommy Smothers crazy.

And three songs are featured from two concerts which were specifically scheduled for the film. The first took place at Kilburn and it was a major disaster. The one track from that concert which found its way here proves it, as the band struggles through “My Wife”, arguably John Entwistle’s best stage number alongside “Heaven & Hell” and one that they seldom got wrong. For years, fans have joked that the live version of “My Wife” recorded at that gig was only included on “The Kids Are Alright” as a way to show that the band could have days off, just like everybody else. Continue reading →

The Social Network Gets Its First Video Parody By Jay Kila the Viral Rapper

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“The Social Network” Opened To Glowing Reviews Despite Being Labeled By Those In The Know As Inaccurate

“The Social Network” Opened To Glowing Reviews Despite Being Labeled By Those In The Know As Inaccurate

What do you get when a movie that was as hyped as “The Social Network” finally launches? You get lots of coverage on tech blogs, you get reviews by critics, you get user reviews on sites like Rotten Tomatoes… but most of all, you get music parodies.

This rap by Jay Kila the Viral Rapper is one of these. The song is named “CEO (The Social Network Rap)”, and the lyrics are so funny that I have embedded them below along with the actual clip.

Enjoy!

CEO (The Social Network Rap)

They call me Young Zuck just a punk
Tryna be in finals clubs no girls showin’ me love
But I don’t give a fuck
I was made to be great facemashin’ all my dates
As I crash the network — college aged Bill Gates
Not really a creep — okay, maybe social geek
You can check out my blog I’m telling it when I speak
Programmin up in my sleep I don’t got many peeps
For friends — Eduardo he was one of them
I guess — yes, well lemme get this off my chest
I believe I’m the best when it comes to CS
Facebook — yo, that was my idea
Don’t let them Winklevosses tell you that I steal
For real. I got the Napster as my bro
And he knows that this thing is about to blow
So I’ma hop on a plane to Palo Alto
Call up Peter Thief and well…you know

Chorus:
I’ll be C.E.O (yo!) x 2

Couple years go by I’m worth a couple of bill
And all these haters want a piece they jus need to chill
I look back on the site I was about to build
And never thought or dreamed that it could be this ill
I still got Asian groupies giving me brain
But now the phoenix is the name of my private plane
I abstain from doin’ drugs cuz I know cocaine
Can really cause some peeps to go kind of insane
But it’s kind of okay yea I’ve made mistakes
500 million friends ain’t that easy to make
I went from wiring in to be in Wired magazine
And there’s no AEPI when I fly Caribbean
Facebook — yo, it was meant to be
A social network expert or my destiny
jus a hacker turned legit a slacker and misfit
But my business cards say I’m C.E.O bitch

A Single Man (Elton John) – Album Review

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For The First Time, Elton Recorded An Album Without The Help Of His Life-long Collaborator Bernie Taupin

For The First Time, Elton Recorded An Album Without The Help Of His Life-long Collaborator Bernie Taupin

A Single Man was issued in 1978, two years after Elton had announced his first retirement.

The title of this album should be taken almost literally – Elton had sacked not only his entire backing band, but also his loyal lyricist Bernie Taupin. For a couple of albums, that crucial chair was to be occupied by Gary Osborne (one former half of Vigrass & Osborne, the duo that came up with the original version of “Forever Autumn”).

Technically, I find Osborne more interesting than Bernie – he has a firmer grasp on complex rhyme schemes (“Madness”), and alliterates purposefully (“Shine On Through”). In terms of content, now, his songs can be even more misguided and clueless than Taupin’s when he is not careful. You have two glaring examples here: the single “Part Time Love” (banned on some territories such as Russia on grounds of condoning underage sex) and the plain silly and puerile “Big Diper”.

On the contrary, the songs in which Osborne bites the bullet and ventures on his own instead of referencing Taupin are mostly tasteful. “Madness” is a good example, and the first truly good song that he and Elton crafted together. An anti-war protest, “Madness” is the sole foot-stomper of the whole album, and one of the songs that sticks for everybody.

The other is the aforementioned “Part Time Love”. Leaving aside the unfortunate lyrics, the song combines one of Elton’s most fluid melodies in years with one of Paul Buckmaster’s most grandiloquent orchestrations. Note that “A Single Man” was to stand as Buckmaster’s final collaboration with Elton for over a decade – they reunited for the “Made In England” album in 1995, when Elton was sold as an adult entertainer on the strength of “The Lion King” OST.

And the album also has some shades of that stylistic diversity that defined the most emblematic works of Elton during the previous decade. There is gospel on “Georgia” and some Latin percussion on “Return To Paradise” (a song which could have been way better – it ends up sounding too saturated for its own good). And “It Ain’t Gonna Be Easy” is a blues number that actually works, although not necessarily owing to Elton’s contribution – it is guitar player Tim Renwick who provides the song’s most memorable passages, aided by another fine arrangement by Buckmaster. Continue reading →

Clean Tab – Guitar Tabs For The Rest Of Us

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Clean Tab

Name: Clean Tab
URL: http://www.cleantab.com

Clean Tab is a site that will make any guitar’s player day. It collects together tabs for most popular bands and displays them using cutting-edge technology (it is the first site of its nature that I have seen which uses HTML5, for example).

Also, the site comes with full support for social networking services (IE; Facebook and its cronies) so that sharing any tab that you find and that lets you replicate your guitar heroes to the tee is a piece of cake.

The site can be browsed by genre and by artist, and the ones that are better-represented are actually highlighted on the main page for you to know about new bands to try out, although I doubt you will make any new discovery there – the artists which are showcased are all of stature, like The Beatles, The Who and David Bowie. Continue reading →

What Was The Clip Andy Partridge Was Watching When He Settled On The Name “XTC”?

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xtc
Andy picked the name XTC while watching a skit in which Jimmy Durante was looking for “the lost chord” (have you heard, Pete Townshend??). At one point, the American performer exclaimed “Dat’s, it, I’m in eks-tee-see!”. Andy failed to understand the phrase the first time around, and he only got what Durante was saying when he transcribed it phonetically. It was then he also realized what a cool name XTC would be for a band – a name that is all in capitals lends itself to cooler posters and puns. Thus, “XTC” replaced the band’s old moniker (the gimmicky “The Helium Kidz”) right away.

Just for the record, the name XTC had nothing to do with the drug ecstasy. The drug was introduced a good couple of years down the line. The Swindon band amply preceded it.