Special Guest Rock Reviewer The Reverend Ron
As perceived by Peabody’s no more! This review is community work as a healer, as in a spiritual Repo man wearing, a suite and carrying scythe reaper style advisor, all in black spreading seeds of sizzle to give back
Providing everyone to come up, bringing awareness an instant light bolt of energy. Master Street advisor putting together the garden foundation for the seeds of sizzle. What is sizzle? All kind os shit, the energy of a smile deep quantum physics, providing to be at ease. What is sizzle? a cure, an antidote of whatever sickness of emotion that you don’t understand, a self antidote in any temple of your mind or soul from the starting of time
and now the review ...
TeJano and the Boyfriends
Rock blues good and natural with a beautiful Asian goddess singer, she’s a female samurai singer, kind in her demeanor with a natural flow on stage. She’s backed by ol’skool country looking dudes laying down a jazzy backline. Nice feel and ability they’re good at their craft.
Thisaoe
Heavy hard hitting ability, consistent t in how they sound, singer had good range and a voice that is clear. The music was like a giant sea that just drags you in, all the while providing a smile. They have Deon Sanders flashiness, sidestepping in your face ,,,wut?
Custom Built Empire
Play well together consistent hard and loud, truly are a musical family playing a long time together - all pro James Bond crew bitch …wut? Sizzzle master themselves since they are all engineers and filter sickness wearing black boots and white shirts like country cracker Homer Simpson style, but they don’t go to the Cracker Barrel to shop … oh no … they have their custom built version of how to make it ... so your life depends on what they make in the lab, so it truly does prove that you don’t fuck with musicians.
Melvoy Mouthrop
Heavy in sounding rock fast pace sound level well for loud rock vox come crisp good in their abilty in playing together dresses all in black loud and fast
UniteD High
Hard rock hitting with tight rap -bay sizzle 6 folks all got their bay in full effect
Shit hitten bitch wut? All flows like the wind... impressive!
Slippery People
MOD kindof 80’s rock sound consistent in playing
HitWall Brothers
Very gracious in spirit and generous in giving
Obi Oneism and Ghandoffism care take for the temple, providing healing for the orphans of the rock temple of cisco sizzle- they provide seeds of sanctuary for the cisco sizzle to blossom to come, roots of origin from Santa Cruz and Sonoma… providing country healing for concrete
God bless all !
Get sideways to the next light
Keep getting your sizzle on from Mr. Frazzle himself
- The Reverend Ron
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Pissed Off Petes
Just heard about a new place in the city to play a rock n roll show. Pissed Off Pete's is out in the Excelsior on Mission st. Apparently the names is pretty descriptive as the owner Pete has a penchant for ass whopping.
At least one of the Yelp reviews confirms this. All of which is to say the club does sound pretty rock n roll
At least one of the Yelp reviews confirms this. All of which is to say the club does sound pretty rock n roll
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Umphrey's McGee. The Deal is...?
Listen, I don't care what your point of reference is for jam-band /virtuoso-rock. Maybe it's English Prog, maybe it's Phish, whatever. You have probably heard of Umphrey's McGee before, or maybe even seen them at some festival 4 years ago and thought they were allright, but I'll bet you didn't really understand what all the fuss was about.
There is considerable fuss surrounding this band, as I recently found out when they played The Regency Ballroom in SF. (Originally slated for The Warfield, the gig was moved to the Regency for some reason. more about that later). I had only just found out about UM, from Pandora of all places, when they came up on my Phish station. I was driving at the time, and being rather new to the backlog of Phish music, I thought it was phish I was hearing, and I thought it was the coolest damn Phish song I'd ever heard. So when I read their name (WTF is up with the name "Umphrey's McGee" anyway? first question anyone in their right mind wants to know) I went online in search of some explanation as soon as I got home. I downloaded 2 albums and started developing my own opinions about them pretty fast.
Namely, that these guys are fucking crazy-talented musicians. (never did find out about their crazy-dumb name) I couldn't stop talking about them for about a week after I first got into their music, and herein lies one of the first rubs I encountered about UM: I couldn't find anyone who really digs them. All the musicians I knew had heard of them before, maybe even seen them at a festival 4 years ago or something, but everyone I talked to about them was like "meh, they're OK I guess".
So when I found out they were coming through town in January, The Missus & I got tix. Actually, she got us the tix, and I should mention that she had considerable reservations about it. We only got them because they went on sale when my birthday was happening, and every time I would mention that she's gotten us tickets to an Umphrey's McGee show she was always quick to qualify by saying "HE really wants to go".
So the night of the show, as luck would have it we both worked all day & were pretty exhausted, but it doesn't take much energy to suck down a couple whiskeys and check out some proggy, folky power-rock, (I thought). I'd never been to The Regency Ballroom before, and I have no idea what made them switch the show to that venue, but first thing we noticed was that clearly, the Regency was having trouble accommodating the crowd. We arrived almost an hour and a half past the time the doors were slated to open (8pm) and still the line wrapped around the block. WAY around the block. And it was pouring rain. And there were some particularly mean homeless guys picking arguments with anyone who wasn't giving away their money as we waited in line for about 30 minutes. At least I got a good look at the other people lined up waiting to go in, and from what I determined they were overwhelmingly 25-35 year-old males with ironic facial hair and expensive t-shirts who seemed to enjoy baiting homeless guys; some middle-aged music-fans with no sense of fashion at all, and some crusty-looking neo-hippies who may have actually been on tour following the band (!). Not too many ladies in that line, and the few I did see seemed to not really care about whatever band they were going to see, more about the party that was erupting around them.
Jesus Christ, what a strange party it was. And this is maybe the defining point between fans of Umphrey's McGee and non-fans: the way they party. At Phish shows there is a mellower vibe, possibly an older, more "Greatful" vibe, but definitely a kinder, gentler vibe. Clouds of potsmoke, sure. Some crazy folks tripping their balls off & dancing like mad, definitely. At the UM show, it was much more of a chemical-vibe, I couldn't tell what weird shit these people were pouring into their brains, but they were definitely altered. And boldly asinine. I wanted to be up front to watch the music and we were essentially elbowed out by the end of the first set by sweaty, obnoxious hooligans with incredibly bad BO and absolutely no social couth. I wanted to say 'wait a minute bro, I thought this was a jam-band, didn't you see all the hippies out front?' Somebody did pass a blunt over my way but it was terrible tasting, I was suddenly worried that maybe I'd just taken a toke of something creepy and dangerous, because everyone around us seemed pretty creepy and dangerous.
The band were actually exactly what I expected, but not one bit more. Great players, tight arrangements, precise and explosive lighting. (Phish set the bar high on that count - you can't be a touring virtuoso-rock band without incredible lighting anymore) Why did I want to sit down then? They weren't very fun to watch for one thing, they all look like frat-guys in baseball caps and jeans, barely moving at all on stage. Considering how dynamic much of the music actually is, they might as well have been bagging groceries for all the energy they put into performing. (possible exception being the drummer, who was mostly hidden from sight but seemed to be both ambidextrous and killing his kit whenever I caught a glimpse)
I looked at my wife and she gave me the "I'm ready whenever you are"-face, and we split after the first set. As a musician, I would've stayed and watched the second set just to marvel at their chops and well-rehearsed delivery, but no point in putting someone I love through another set of the mayhem we found in the crowd. When we were on the way home and comparing notes it seemed clear that she is partial to the way her tribe parties at a Phish show, and couldn't get past the idiocy of the crowd. UM drew a lot of guys like me, music-heads standing in awe of the control & power a live band like UM has when they're in top form. But they also attract a young, gritty, fucked-up bunch of social deviants who don't seem to care what kind of music is going on around them, and god help you if your standing-in-awe gets in the way of how they rage a fuckin' show, man. For me, I'd rather listen to the albums at home.
So after doing just for a few weeks now I can honestly say that I think the music itself is lacking something fundamental, call it originality. When I was describing their music after I first heard it, I kept hearing myself referencing so many other great bands, but it never seemed like UM were venturing into any new territory. They are masterful at synthesizing all the best elements of things we've already heard before, but standing on the shoulders of giants does not a giant make.
A final note about the Regency: it's the number 1 place you don't want to be in the event of a fire. The incredible slowness of getting into the show was dwarfed by the unbelievable clusterfuck trying to escape.
- buzzsaw
There is considerable fuss surrounding this band, as I recently found out when they played The Regency Ballroom in SF. (Originally slated for The Warfield, the gig was moved to the Regency for some reason. more about that later). I had only just found out about UM, from Pandora of all places, when they came up on my Phish station. I was driving at the time, and being rather new to the backlog of Phish music, I thought it was phish I was hearing, and I thought it was the coolest damn Phish song I'd ever heard. So when I read their name (WTF is up with the name "Umphrey's McGee" anyway? first question anyone in their right mind wants to know) I went online in search of some explanation as soon as I got home. I downloaded 2 albums and started developing my own opinions about them pretty fast.
Namely, that these guys are fucking crazy-talented musicians. (never did find out about their crazy-dumb name) I couldn't stop talking about them for about a week after I first got into their music, and herein lies one of the first rubs I encountered about UM: I couldn't find anyone who really digs them. All the musicians I knew had heard of them before, maybe even seen them at a festival 4 years ago or something, but everyone I talked to about them was like "meh, they're OK I guess".
So when I found out they were coming through town in January, The Missus & I got tix. Actually, she got us the tix, and I should mention that she had considerable reservations about it. We only got them because they went on sale when my birthday was happening, and every time I would mention that she's gotten us tickets to an Umphrey's McGee show she was always quick to qualify by saying "HE really wants to go".
So the night of the show, as luck would have it we both worked all day & were pretty exhausted, but it doesn't take much energy to suck down a couple whiskeys and check out some proggy, folky power-rock, (I thought). I'd never been to The Regency Ballroom before, and I have no idea what made them switch the show to that venue, but first thing we noticed was that clearly, the Regency was having trouble accommodating the crowd. We arrived almost an hour and a half past the time the doors were slated to open (8pm) and still the line wrapped around the block. WAY around the block. And it was pouring rain. And there were some particularly mean homeless guys picking arguments with anyone who wasn't giving away their money as we waited in line for about 30 minutes. At least I got a good look at the other people lined up waiting to go in, and from what I determined they were overwhelmingly 25-35 year-old males with ironic facial hair and expensive t-shirts who seemed to enjoy baiting homeless guys; some middle-aged music-fans with no sense of fashion at all, and some crusty-looking neo-hippies who may have actually been on tour following the band (!). Not too many ladies in that line, and the few I did see seemed to not really care about whatever band they were going to see, more about the party that was erupting around them.
Jesus Christ, what a strange party it was. And this is maybe the defining point between fans of Umphrey's McGee and non-fans: the way they party. At Phish shows there is a mellower vibe, possibly an older, more "Greatful" vibe, but definitely a kinder, gentler vibe. Clouds of potsmoke, sure. Some crazy folks tripping their balls off & dancing like mad, definitely. At the UM show, it was much more of a chemical-vibe, I couldn't tell what weird shit these people were pouring into their brains, but they were definitely altered. And boldly asinine. I wanted to be up front to watch the music and we were essentially elbowed out by the end of the first set by sweaty, obnoxious hooligans with incredibly bad BO and absolutely no social couth. I wanted to say 'wait a minute bro, I thought this was a jam-band, didn't you see all the hippies out front?' Somebody did pass a blunt over my way but it was terrible tasting, I was suddenly worried that maybe I'd just taken a toke of something creepy and dangerous, because everyone around us seemed pretty creepy and dangerous.
The band were actually exactly what I expected, but not one bit more. Great players, tight arrangements, precise and explosive lighting. (Phish set the bar high on that count - you can't be a touring virtuoso-rock band without incredible lighting anymore) Why did I want to sit down then? They weren't very fun to watch for one thing, they all look like frat-guys in baseball caps and jeans, barely moving at all on stage. Considering how dynamic much of the music actually is, they might as well have been bagging groceries for all the energy they put into performing. (possible exception being the drummer, who was mostly hidden from sight but seemed to be both ambidextrous and killing his kit whenever I caught a glimpse)
I looked at my wife and she gave me the "I'm ready whenever you are"-face, and we split after the first set. As a musician, I would've stayed and watched the second set just to marvel at their chops and well-rehearsed delivery, but no point in putting someone I love through another set of the mayhem we found in the crowd. When we were on the way home and comparing notes it seemed clear that she is partial to the way her tribe parties at a Phish show, and couldn't get past the idiocy of the crowd. UM drew a lot of guys like me, music-heads standing in awe of the control & power a live band like UM has when they're in top form. But they also attract a young, gritty, fucked-up bunch of social deviants who don't seem to care what kind of music is going on around them, and god help you if your standing-in-awe gets in the way of how they rage a fuckin' show, man. For me, I'd rather listen to the albums at home.
So after doing just for a few weeks now I can honestly say that I think the music itself is lacking something fundamental, call it originality. When I was describing their music after I first heard it, I kept hearing myself referencing so many other great bands, but it never seemed like UM were venturing into any new territory. They are masterful at synthesizing all the best elements of things we've already heard before, but standing on the shoulders of giants does not a giant make.
A final note about the Regency: it's the number 1 place you don't want to be in the event of a fire. The incredible slowness of getting into the show was dwarfed by the unbelievable clusterfuck trying to escape.
- buzzsaw
Monday, February 1, 2010
A Saturday in the Life
I went to the Hemlock Tavern on Polk St. on Saturday night to see a show. My wife's friend from college plays drums in the band Social Studies, who are from SF I think, and they were first on the bill. I like their shows, partly because they always attract an enthusiastic crowd. It's fun to watch cute hipsters and dolled-up fashionistas stare at Natalia, the bands singer & chief visionary as she leads the band through a tidy set of edgy, poppy tunes. Very clean sounding, even in the tiny backroom at the Hemlock. Social Studies had by far the biggest draw of the 3 bands playing, it was jammed in there for their 10:00 set, and people were even singing along. A douchebag up at the front actually hissed at my lady to shut up as she was talking (between songs) because he was so utterly under their spell. (or maybe he was just a miserable twat) Anyway, their music is good, they definitely know what they're doing. Check them out if you can, www.myspace.com/socialstudies101 .
Second up were a foursome from LA called The Parson Red Heads, who have a nice vocal-thing happening, with 2 and 3-part harmonies over some nice strummy melodies and 2-part guitar-riffery reminiscent of Television. And a good-looking woman on drums is always fun to watch, especially when she's a tasteful player that can actually hit the things with force when necessary. And the band had some power, but excelled particularly in terms of the restraint they showed. They never overplayed, and they let some really nice songwriting shine through. Really nice guys (& gal), too.
Last up were The Donkeys. www.myspace.com/thedonkeys It's tough to headline a small show when you're from out of town, (San Diego). Unless you have the hype-machine working for you, you don't get a big draw, and because you're on a shitty little tour and trying to live up to a rock n' roll ideal that is unhealthy and utterly void of substance, one tends to drink heavily. Playing last at a rock show means you have had plenty of time to get royally hammered before you go on, and this did not bode well for The Donkeys on Saturday night. They opened with a rollicking instrumental replete with sitar (?) and keys, but the next 2 tunes were so sloppy and drunken-sounding that I had to cut-out & save my eardrums. Better luck next time guys.
The Hemlock is fucking ridiculous on a Saturday night. The performance-space in the back is not very big, but one expects to be elbow to elbow at a rock show, so whatev's. But the bar was insane. What the hell is everyone doing there if they're not seeing the show? $4 for a 22oz. PBR is a pretty cool deal I guess, but the attitude on the 3 bartenders was thick and they were perfecting the practice the art of taking orders from the cutest people while avoiding the gaze of the patient, thirsty ones who have been waiting longer. And the noise was out of control in there. Emerging onto the sidewalk for a smoke or just a pressure-release from the bar was necessary - about 5 times for me. But what can I say, they must be doing something right.
Second up were a foursome from LA called The Parson Red Heads, who have a nice vocal-thing happening, with 2 and 3-part harmonies over some nice strummy melodies and 2-part guitar-riffery reminiscent of Television. And a good-looking woman on drums is always fun to watch, especially when she's a tasteful player that can actually hit the things with force when necessary. And the band had some power, but excelled particularly in terms of the restraint they showed. They never overplayed, and they let some really nice songwriting shine through. Really nice guys (& gal), too.
Last up were The Donkeys. www.myspace.com/thedonkeys It's tough to headline a small show when you're from out of town, (San Diego). Unless you have the hype-machine working for you, you don't get a big draw, and because you're on a shitty little tour and trying to live up to a rock n' roll ideal that is unhealthy and utterly void of substance, one tends to drink heavily. Playing last at a rock show means you have had plenty of time to get royally hammered before you go on, and this did not bode well for The Donkeys on Saturday night. They opened with a rollicking instrumental replete with sitar (?) and keys, but the next 2 tunes were so sloppy and drunken-sounding that I had to cut-out & save my eardrums. Better luck next time guys.
The Hemlock is fucking ridiculous on a Saturday night. The performance-space in the back is not very big, but one expects to be elbow to elbow at a rock show, so whatev's. But the bar was insane. What the hell is everyone doing there if they're not seeing the show? $4 for a 22oz. PBR is a pretty cool deal I guess, but the attitude on the 3 bartenders was thick and they were perfecting the practice the art of taking orders from the cutest people while avoiding the gaze of the patient, thirsty ones who have been waiting longer. And the noise was out of control in there. Emerging onto the sidewalk for a smoke or just a pressure-release from the bar was necessary - about 5 times for me. But what can I say, they must be doing something right.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Is your axe insured?
After reading Lambo posts on "What is SF Rock?" Thought I'd put a list of together of rehearsal spaces in the area since it's the most likely place you will hear SF rock. While doing it I stumbled on RHL Rehearsal Spaces. Haven't ever been in any of there rooms so I can't say too much about them but they do have a page where they list a buch of places to get insurance.
Now I tend to fall on the more trusting side, but i've been around long enough to know there are plenty fuck knuckle shit stain ass wipes who would take another mans axe. I believe karma works most of those things out in the end, and the low life trolls get theirs... but hey no sense in not getting a little extra insurance to make sure your rock is not interrupted. Sounds like a good idea anyway ... one of those things I always tell myself to do but haven't gotten around to it.
Hmmmm.... wonder if I'll do it now that I've added the links below
Musicproinsurance.com
Now I tend to fall on the more trusting side, but i've been around long enough to know there are plenty fuck knuckle shit stain ass wipes who would take another mans axe. I believe karma works most of those things out in the end, and the low life trolls get theirs... but hey no sense in not getting a little extra insurance to make sure your rock is not interrupted. Sounds like a good idea anyway ... one of those things I always tell myself to do but haven't gotten around to it.
Hmmmm.... wonder if I'll do it now that I've added the links below
Musicproinsurance.com
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
So what is SF rock?
So what is SF rock? orr better, where is SF rock? The reason I ask this is it seems every time I go see a local band in this town I feel like I'm at a burning man decompression party.
Gimmie a fuckin break!
This is it? Quirky combos with old drum machines and trombones? Fedora hats and 1890's circus ring leader facial hair? Striped pant wearing 'artists' playing bicycles? Maybe I'm missing something here.
Sure, all kinds of bands come here on tour. There are plenty of great shows to be taken in but how does the local 'scene' expect to make a blip anywhere else (let alone here) if that's what we're made of? How can we expect people in the bay area to come out and support if that is the bulk of what's offered?
Four or five years ago I thought it was kind of cute. But not cute enough to go out of my way to see more than once. Now in 2010, most of these bands are still doing the same thing -though the pants are tighter and the sideburns grayer. The music has not evolved in the least. Yeah, new bands come along and mix in some different flavors of cheese but it too often comes off as a well rehearsed spoof.
Sure there is an electronica scene, and every town has some decent pop, but that aint rawk. right?
So where is SF rock? Simple.... in the rehearsal rooms. Just stroll the halls of a multi room rehearsal complex and you're bound to hear some great bands of all types. Adventuresome collectives that hit hard. So, where are they playing? I already told you where ---- the rehearsal rooms. In other words -for the most part, not in the clubs.
Okay, that is a bold generalization but somehow it seems to fit and It feels like it's been that way for far too long.
You may notice that I haven't picked a specific genre of rock because it doesn't matter. What matters is other cities, some smaller, don't seem to have this problem.
Who's to blame? The clubs? The patrons? Maybe we're all too cool to go out and hear something that doesn't have a ringleader and vaudville dancers. Maybe those things are 'it' and I should shut the hell up but it seems that if that stuff hasn't flown this many years down the line, it most likely won't.
Surely the clubs will book any band that fills the room and sells beer. Simple economics
Now, how do we get people out to see local shows? ummm that's a subject for another day
until then,
see ya on the playa -bro
-lambo
see ya on the playa -bro
-lambo
Monday, January 25, 2010
digitizing cassettes sucks, but I did it anyway.
Recently I got a wild hair to hear the track "Beyond Babylon" by the 80's hair metal band Rock City Angels. Why is not important, but before you go casting stones about the shittiness of hair-metal (the words butt-rock will not be tolerated on this blog, 'k?) I'm sure we can all agree that in the late 80's when the cassette was king and we all had craploads of tapes, and the shiny new compact disc that was looming over the horizon seemed like an exiting new option and everything, but there was no WAY we were gonna replace all of those tapes with CDs. If you're like me, you still have a box or a suitcase (or both) full of tapes somewhere. I even have a glovebox full of awesome mix-tapes in my van that spill out periodically, even though the tape-deck hasn't worked in 4 years. Man, those tapes are awesome.
There are albums that I have bought 3 or 4 times in my life already, first on vinyl, then the tape, then the disc, and most recently the mp3. what a shitty deal, since I can't ever really own a song after all that. The platform continues to change, and it's current incarnation (mp3) is all encoded and shit, so you don't really have access to the tracks like you do with a CD. I haven't owned a functional CD player in years either, but I have hundreds of those shiny chunks of plastic garbage crammed into my crannies. You do too.
What do you do with these things that were once loved, and now have been replaced? You fuckin' pack that shit away for a rainy day or something! Well look outside now, it's raining buckets and you can't buy the Rock City Angels first album (Young Man's Blues) online anywhere because it's been out of print since the year it was released (1988), and the LP is going for $45 on Amazon - no thank you. Time to figure out how to digitize cassettes since I'm just sitting around indoors getting stoned anyway.
It's actually really easy to do if you have a Mac. Just make sure you have a tape-deck that works, and this is harder than you expect. I think the clock ran out on tape-decks sometime about 3 months ago, because the one you have in the basement or at your mom's house has most likely shit the bed already and you just won't know this until it's pissing rain and you have a hard-on to start digitizing tapes whilst smoking bongs. My advice is to have a sacrificial cassette at the ready to stick into that old deck before you proceed with anything else, (maybe not the bong, you can go ahead and smoke the bong). My girlfriend had a Paula Abdul tape for some reason (?!?), so that's what I used. Who on Earth would care if a Paula Abdul tape gets munched by a decrepit old piece of obsolete technology? not me, and you sure don't want to put the tape you care about into a dinosaur's mouth, right?
I had to repeat this exercise with 3 different tape decks by the way, and I amassed a pile of "e-waste" in the process (that's electronic-waste kids, you can't put this dead shit into the landfill anymore, now we ship it overseas for slave-labor-people to pick apart and sell it back to us. it's awesome). It was a boombox that finally came though for me, and the fucker still plays CD's too. this particular boombox probably dates from the early 2000's because it's shaped like a piece of space-age dogshit, all silver and futuristic molded-plastic with lights that don't mean anything on it, but it works. (you can also still buy a cassette deck at Radio Shack for about $40 that's a total piece of garbage that you will hate, but in a pinch, you do what you gotta do I guess. I was ready to kill & die by the time the third tape-deck I had borrowed & tried failed to actually play a tape, and the goodwill stores etc. didn't have any for sale, but I was determined not to buy a new one because WHO THE HELL BUYS A NEW TAPE DECK IN 2010?)
Ok. So now you need to figure out the cord situation, which you probably already have in a drawer somewhere because ipods have made it so everyone has stereo-mini everything. you just need to plug that stereo-mini cable into the input of your computer and make sure the setting is for a line-in instead of the built-in mic on your Mac. (god help you if you use a PC, I have no idea how they're supposed to function and you should probably just give up).
Now you need the most important thing, a freeware program called Audacity that allows you to change audio files a variety of different ways. Audacity is kind of confusing, but also kind of intuitive if you have ever screwed around with audio software before, or even a 4-track. Screw around with it, you'll figure it out. Audacity needs to be in record-mode (with the pause-button pressed) in order for your tape player to come through the speakers on your computer. check the levels, cue that shit up and record it. Then export it, (Audacity will prompt you to download their mp3 converter called LAME, which you will need if you want to make an mp3. you can also do this in iTunes). Now you name it move it to it's new home in the ether and have a beer or 3.
The sound quality is not great, but the source was a tape, remember? whatev's. at least it can be done. One more bit of advice, don't wait to do this because the tape-players of the world are dying faster than the polar bears, and you know you have tapes that need to change platforms before the landscape shifts again and we're all uploading playlists to bio-wave formats or something that require cranial-implants. (which would be awesome).
Dig.
- buzzsaw
There are albums that I have bought 3 or 4 times in my life already, first on vinyl, then the tape, then the disc, and most recently the mp3. what a shitty deal, since I can't ever really own a song after all that. The platform continues to change, and it's current incarnation (mp3) is all encoded and shit, so you don't really have access to the tracks like you do with a CD. I haven't owned a functional CD player in years either, but I have hundreds of those shiny chunks of plastic garbage crammed into my crannies. You do too.
What do you do with these things that were once loved, and now have been replaced? You fuckin' pack that shit away for a rainy day or something! Well look outside now, it's raining buckets and you can't buy the Rock City Angels first album (Young Man's Blues) online anywhere because it's been out of print since the year it was released (1988), and the LP is going for $45 on Amazon - no thank you. Time to figure out how to digitize cassettes since I'm just sitting around indoors getting stoned anyway.
It's actually really easy to do if you have a Mac. Just make sure you have a tape-deck that works, and this is harder than you expect. I think the clock ran out on tape-decks sometime about 3 months ago, because the one you have in the basement or at your mom's house has most likely shit the bed already and you just won't know this until it's pissing rain and you have a hard-on to start digitizing tapes whilst smoking bongs. My advice is to have a sacrificial cassette at the ready to stick into that old deck before you proceed with anything else, (maybe not the bong, you can go ahead and smoke the bong). My girlfriend had a Paula Abdul tape for some reason (?!?), so that's what I used. Who on Earth would care if a Paula Abdul tape gets munched by a decrepit old piece of obsolete technology? not me, and you sure don't want to put the tape you care about into a dinosaur's mouth, right?
I had to repeat this exercise with 3 different tape decks by the way, and I amassed a pile of "e-waste" in the process (that's electronic-waste kids, you can't put this dead shit into the landfill anymore, now we ship it overseas for slave-labor-people to pick apart and sell it back to us. it's awesome). It was a boombox that finally came though for me, and the fucker still plays CD's too. this particular boombox probably dates from the early 2000's because it's shaped like a piece of space-age dogshit, all silver and futuristic molded-plastic with lights that don't mean anything on it, but it works. (you can also still buy a cassette deck at Radio Shack for about $40 that's a total piece of garbage that you will hate, but in a pinch, you do what you gotta do I guess. I was ready to kill & die by the time the third tape-deck I had borrowed & tried failed to actually play a tape, and the goodwill stores etc. didn't have any for sale, but I was determined not to buy a new one because WHO THE HELL BUYS A NEW TAPE DECK IN 2010?)
Ok. So now you need to figure out the cord situation, which you probably already have in a drawer somewhere because ipods have made it so everyone has stereo-mini everything. you just need to plug that stereo-mini cable into the input of your computer and make sure the setting is for a line-in instead of the built-in mic on your Mac. (god help you if you use a PC, I have no idea how they're supposed to function and you should probably just give up).
Now you need the most important thing, a freeware program called Audacity that allows you to change audio files a variety of different ways. Audacity is kind of confusing, but also kind of intuitive if you have ever screwed around with audio software before, or even a 4-track. Screw around with it, you'll figure it out. Audacity needs to be in record-mode (with the pause-button pressed) in order for your tape player to come through the speakers on your computer. check the levels, cue that shit up and record it. Then export it, (Audacity will prompt you to download their mp3 converter called LAME, which you will need if you want to make an mp3. you can also do this in iTunes). Now you name it move it to it's new home in the ether and have a beer or 3.
The sound quality is not great, but the source was a tape, remember? whatev's. at least it can be done. One more bit of advice, don't wait to do this because the tape-players of the world are dying faster than the polar bears, and you know you have tapes that need to change platforms before the landscape shifts again and we're all uploading playlists to bio-wave formats or something that require cranial-implants. (which would be awesome).
Dig.
- buzzsaw
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