Jake Chen (Musefy) – Interview (Part 2)

Posted on October 14, 2009 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

This is the second and final part of the interview I conducted with Jake Chen from Musefy. You can read Part 1 by clicking here.

PART II

MUSIC & YOU

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

Oh man, I can’t remember that far back… I have to say at least before elementary school, since I was really excited during those days when you got the opportunity to try out all of the instruments. Then again, I was already set on the saxophone by then because of jazz music, and I suppose the saxophone really represented that style of music to me. As for that first album, I really can’t remember unfortunately, sorry 🙁 Continue reading →

Jake Chen (Musefy) – Interview (Part 1)

Posted on October 13, 2009 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

I have had the great pleasure of interviewing Jake Chen from Musefy, the service I covered on its week of launch. The review is split in two parts – part 1 is found below, whereas part 2 is found here.

Enjoy!

Full Name: Jake Chen

Age: 22

Startup: Musefy

Position: Founder

Mr. Jake Chen

PART I

THE STARTUP

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

I like to think of Musefy as a virtual representation of the entire local musician community, thus providing ways to branch out and meet new characters that you would normally happen through mutual friends or sheer luck. Right now it’s only in its Alpha stage, so Musefy can only set up musicians with musical groups such as rock bands, jazz ensembles, a cappellas, and so forth. But down the line it’ll reflect all of the local elements a musician or a group might want to connect with, such as friends and fans, upcoming events, performance venues, and more.

As for the idea, I came up with the concept of Musefy after looking for a band to practice guitar with and being completely dissatisfied with Craigslist’s classified ads. To me, after using web applications such as Facebook and Last.FM where information is abundant and easily to sort though, pure text classified ads like those on Craigslist just seem very backwards. And thus Musefy was conceived. It has a powerful matching and filtering system and that is what I think sets it apart from the rest of the crowd. Using Musefy, you can stack multiple requirements to filter out exactly who you need, selecting not only from obvious things like instrument, location, and style, but all the way down to experience level, equipment, to the amount of time they’re willing to devote to a new group. Continue reading →

Ego, Opinion, Art & Commerce (The Goo Goo Dolls) – Compilation Album (Part 2)

Posted on October 12, 2009 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

For a general introduction to this compilation album go here.

The CD has 22 songs. I feel it is interesting to provide you with the track list, along with the album that each song was originally found in.

Bullet Proof              (Dizzy Up The Girl)
All Eyes on Me         (Dizzy Up The Girl)
Amigone            (Dizzy Up The Girl)
Acoustic #3             (Dizzy Up The Girl)
Naked                 (A Boy Named Goo)
Ain’t That Unusual        (A Boy Named Goo)
Burnin’ Up            (A Boy Named Goo)
Flat Top              (A Boy Named Goo)
Eyes Wide Open        (A Boy Named Goo)
Fallin’ Down            (Superstar Car Wash)
Another Second Time Around   (Superstar Car Wash)
Cuz You’re Gone        (Superstar Car Wash)
We Are the Normal        (Superstar Car Wash)
Girl Right Next to Me        (Superstar Car Wash)
Lucky Star            (Superstar Car Wash)
On the Lie            (Superstar Car Wash)
Just the Way You Are        (Hold Me Up)
Two Days in February    (Hold Me Up)
Laughing              (Hold Me Up)
There You Are            (Hold Me Up)
Up Yours              (Jed)
I’m Addicted            (Goo Goo Dolls)

As you have just noticed, there is only a song apiece from their earliest releases. That is something that (from what I have heard so far) is hard to object to, especially if you climbed aboard the Goo’s train around the time of “Iris”. These songs are mere curiosities and little else.

The albums that are better-represented are the ones whose sound will win you over like “Name”, “Slide” or “Iris” did, and these songs roughly make up half the CD. Continue reading →

Ego, Opinion, Art & Commerce (The Goo Goo Dolls) – Compilation Album (Part 1)

Posted on October 11, 2009 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

(What I Learned About) Ego, Opinion, Art & Commerce

You already know how enthusiastically I listen to the Goo Goo Dolls. Maybe such a prolonged keenness was the result of buying this compilation right after having purchased their “Greatest Hits Vol. 1” CD. You see, “(What I Learned About) Ego, Opinion, Art & Commerce” delves into their studio albums one by one and offers up the best songs from each one of these CDs. In many cases, alternate mixes and/or entirely rerecorded versions are featured.

What I like best about this compilation is the way it is structured. The six albums that are featured are “Goo Goo Dolls”, “Jed”, “Hold Me Up”, “Superstar Car Wash”, “A Boy Named Goo” and “Dizzy Up The Girl”. The tracks on the CD run from back to front. That is, rather than starting with the songs from the self-titled debut and taking you chronologically to the songs included in “Dizzy Up The Girl” the CD starts with the “Dizzy Up The Girl” material and goes all the way back to “Goo Goo Dolls”. You might think that such a thing is not a big deal, but I assure you it is. Think about it, many people are familiar with the more mature sound of the Goo Goo Dolls. Arranging the songs like this lets anybody trace the way that such a sound evolved. Continue reading →

Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player (Elton John) – Album Review

Posted on October 10, 2009 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

The Album Is Named After A Remark Elton Made To Comedian Groucho Marx During A Show.

This was my first Elton John album. I bought it on the strength of “Daniel”, a song I had always been moved by. I admit that even back then, when I had no other albums of his, I had certain a feeling when I listened to it… a sort of hunch that told me “this guy can do better”. And now, having listened to Elton’s output both sides of it, I am sad to say that the record is not only average at best, but it is also the point where his work became saccharine for all the wrong reasons.

To me, “Don’t Shoot Me…” marks the instance where singles began having priority over albums within Elton’s career. The problem was somehow more evident in forthcoming ’70s albums like “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, and the ’80s were characterized by such an issue, of course.

Of course, the two A-sides here are so monumental that everything is forgiven for a minute. In addition to “Daniel” (a top 5 hit) we have “Crocodile Rock”, Elton’s first chart topper and a song where the farcical element that many saddle Elton with is put to the best possible use. Continue reading →

Storm Front (Billy Joel) – Album Review

Posted on October 9, 2009 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

Storm Front Yielded Billy Joel's Final Number 1 Hit, "We Didn't Start The Fire".

Released in 1989, this was the album that gave Billy Joel his fourth and final number 1 single: “We Didn’t Start The Fire”. The song cast such a shadow on the album that people are mostly unaware of what is included besides that chart-topper. The truth is that there are a handful of songs that keep up with Joel’s standards and craftsmanship. These are mostly segregated on the first side, and they include “I Go To Extremes” and “The Downeaster Alexa”. The former is an energetic number about bipolarity, whereas the latter is a spot-on commentary on the plight of fishermen at around that time.

Besides, the album includes “Leningrad” along with the bittersweet “And So It Goes”, a song rendered by Billy playing solo. I can’t help but notice how Elton John and Billy Joel share the same approach in some of his ’80s albums, ending them on a solo note. Elton does exactly the same on the “Sleeping With The Past” record, in which the ending track has him playing unaccompanied for a long stretch, and even when other instruments do come in the focus never strays from Elton’s piano. Continue reading →

At The Ryman (Emmylou Harris) – Album Review

Posted on October 7, 2009 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

The Album Earned Emmylou A Grammy

This celebrated live album had Emmylou backed by one of the best ensembles of her whole career (The Nash Ramblers), and it earned her a Grammy. The concert was so significant that the Ryman auditorium (which was set to be demolished) was actually preserved and remodeled.

The set Emmylou played that night paid equal debt to both classic and contemporary American tunesmiths. Songs by Stephen Foster (“Hard Times”) were played side to side with songs by John Fogerty (“Lodi”) and Bruce Springsteen (“Mansion On The Hill”).

The performance itself is not only very well-recorded, but Emmylou is charming from start to finish, interacting with the public at every turn, cracking jokes and narrating stories of her life on the road – the one before “Lodi” is one of the funniest I have ever listened to. Continue reading →

18 Original Sun Greatest Hits (Jerry Lee Lewis) – Compilation Album

Posted on October 5, 2009 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

The Killer In Action

If we were to look for a bigger hellraiser in the annals of Rock & Roll than Jerry Lee Lewis the search would never end. And if we were to look for an exuberant instrumentalist in the decade of the ’50s, the search would start and end at the Killer’s fingers. Much like Keith Moon, his personality and temperament were what turned him into a matchless musician. This compilation gathers together the singles and noteworthy tracks he put under the Sun label at the beginning of his career. That was when he saw some serious chart action, too, so a case can definitely be made that if you were to have just a Jerry Lee album this is it.

The tracks on offer include “Great Balls Of Fire”, “Whola Lotta Shakin’ Going On”, “Wild One”, “Breathless” and the theme tune from the movie “High School Confidential”. Also featured is the song that was to be his final hit, a cover of Ray Charles “What I’d Say”. All these are good, enjoyable songs that provide us with a true blueprint for every rock and roller that was to make the piano his predominant instrument. Conversely, there are covers of “When The Saints Come Marchin’ In”, “Matchbox” and “Jambalaya” that are not very enticing on record. Whether they worked better live is besides the point – here, they don’t deliver. Continue reading →

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