Cohen spins vinyl on a Clearaudio turntable.
(Credit: Clearaudio)Every year, the major record companies produce more miserable-sounding recordings. I'm not surprised by this. The labels know most folks listen to music with iTunes or streaming audio, and sound quality is a low priority for most music listeners. My weekend poll is ample proof of that.
Lyor Cohen, CEO of recorded music for the Warner Music Group, cares about sound, at least at home. He admitted, in so many words, to being an audiophile on the pages of the September 20 New York Times Sunday magazine. The media has been alerted! It's like learning that a fast-food bigwig is a wine snob.
Cohen was Run-DMC's road manager in the 1980s, and he now works with Jay-Z, Madonna, and the Beastie Boys. In the article, Cohen said his hi-fi is his "favorite possession." The Clearaudio turntable pictured in the article is a very high-end German model that "won a gold medal at a consumer technology convention a few years ago."
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(Credit:
Dan Ackerman)
What's the best way to get the word out about your upcoming video game? If you're displaying your wares at E3, it's a time-honored tradition to hire a few celebrities to, if not downright endorse it, then at least to stand near your product and mention it a few times.
We saw this at Microsoft's press conference, featuring Paul and Ringo, along with Steven Spielberg and Tony Hawk; and later at Ubisoft's press event, with guest appearances by James Cameron and Pele (yes, the soccer player).
Microsoft's evening press event, featuring The Beatles: Rock Band, plus playable demos of Halo: ODST and Left 4 Dead 2, continued the celebrity theme. We got a chance to play "Back in the USSR" and "Taxman," but the real excitement started when we left the stage and were replaced by the unlikely combo of Dhani Harrison and Christopher "McLovin" Mintz-Plasse.
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If you enjoyed Eric Franklin's post on 8-bit NES-style hip-hop, you'll definitely enjoy Team Teamwork's "The Ocarina of Rhyme." It's a mix tape of mashups that combines hip-hop tracks with the score to the Zelda game Ocarina of Time.
Team Teamwork produced the mix, which features unique tracks by Spank Rock, Common, Aesop Rock, Clipse, and my personal pick: MF Doom. Most of the songs fit well with the background score; for example, in "Fumbling Over Words," artist Edan Portnoy's intensity melds seamlessly into the rumblings of the "Battle" music from OoT, but other tracks, like Common's classic "I Used to Love H.E.R.," just sound too silly over the theme from the Hyrule Marketplace.
Stream the album above or download it here, and let me know what you think in the comments!
Just a plain old NES. I'm no good at Photoshop, so this is all you get.
(Credit: Nintendo)Well, other than the fact that both Mega Man and Jay-Z were pop-culture icons of their respective eras (yes, people, Jay-Z is that popular), they now each have 8-bit, NES-style music associated with them.
Video game music from the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) era had a very distinct style. Even music on other 8-bit consoles like the Sega Master System could not match it.
Anyone who at least played an NES back in those days (pretty much every kid, at least in the U.S.) will immediately recognize the style of that sound after just a few bars.
It's not surprising, then, that some very talented individuals have begun experimenting with that distinct sound and applying it to contemporary popular music. In this case, specifically, hip-hop--or at least rap (the difference between the two as I see it should probably be saved for another blog).
Anyway, hip-hop--8-bit NES-style--is here, and according to the story at Shot Then, all the remixes were created by one Jesse Tugboat.
Check them out below. And if that doesn't remind you how much the memory of those old gaming days clings, take a look at the video below. It's a game intro for "The Dark Knight" produced as if it had been done on the NES. I especially liked the "by Sunsoft" touch.
Will the JayZ headphones bear any relation to this guy?
(Credit: Rock-A-Fella Records)Motorola's "JayZ" headphones passed FCC muster (PDF), though we don't yet know if they're in any way connected to the rapper/music impresario/Beyonce husband of the same name. (Given the recent arrival of the Dr. Dre headphones, we wouldn't be surprised if they are).
The Federal Communications Commission filing reveals that you can use the JayZ headphones with your Bluetooth audio device and Bluetooth cell phone simultaneously. If you're listening to music and your phone rings, you can transfer the call to your headphones. Hang up the call with a push of a button and your music automatically continues to play.
That's all we know for now. Stay tuned...
(Credit:
Roc-a-fella Records)
With sales for digital singles outpacing CD sales, it's hard to imagine an artist overlooking any avenue of digital distribution and revenue. Yet with the exception of a handful of tracks, American rap icon Jay-Z has resisted releasing his 100-song catalog as ringtones--until last week. That's when most of the remaining tracks streamed into the digital media marketplace. Most. Through August, ten of the artist's smash singles have been earmarked for only one site.
Starting Monday, those hidden hits, including 'Can I Get A', 'IZZO (H.O.V.A.)', and 'Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)', became exclusively available on Thumbplay.com. Thumbplay, a mobile content company with an estimated worth of $400 million, now carries 101 prepackaged Jay-Z ringtones, including the coveted 10 (see the exclusive titles below.)
But will ringtones continue to sell in a hobbled economy? Mitch Rotter, Thumbplay's Vice President of Content Acquisition & Merchandising, thinks they will. Ringtones are about social expression, he said in an interview. To a youth demographic, "they're a fashion accessory," and therefore a worthy buy for teens proving their cool to peers within earshot.
Thumbplay's Jay-Z titles:
1-900-Hustler, The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (2000)
-Can I Get A, Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life (1998)
-Encore, The Black Album (2003)
-Excuse Me Miss, The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse (2002)
-Girls, Girls, Girls, The Blueprint (2001)
-Heart Of The City (Ain't No Love), The Blueprint (2001)
-IZZO (H.O.V.A.), The Blueprint (2001)
-Jigga What, Jigga Who, Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life (1998)
-Roc Boys (And The Winner Is), American Gangster (2007)
-S. Carter, Vol. 3: Life and Times of S. Carter (1999)
Just in time for Thanksgiving, the Vice empire has cooked up some snarky rhymes, headphone-wrecking, apocalyptic beats from some of the label's best and most recent reworkings for you to devour. Courtesy of Vice Records, all the remixes you see below were sliced and diced from hipster favorites Justice, Spankrock, The Streets, and Bloc Party. Download it, pass it around, play it at your parties. This music is meant to be heard (and danced to). Happy gobble gobble!
Britney Spears "Me Against the Music" Justice remix
Britney can sound listenable with the right producer--in this case, Justice implements a C&C Music Factory-reminiscent synth stab to spice things up. You'll wish they'd all met a long time ago.
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The much-anticipated release of Jay-Z's new album American Gangster was released this past Tuesday, and while I personally feel it's a better album than his previous effort Kingdom Come, I have to ask, "Who is responsible for picking these beats?" I'd say half of the tracks are worth listening to and the rest are in serious need of a remix. Hova's lyrics are solid as usual, which is expected, but his delivery is borderline annoying.
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