Music & People | Hauschka And His Prepared Piano

One part crazy German. Check.
Two parts interesting. Check. Check.
Then a liberal amount of doubt that this piano will be remotely close to listenable. Check.

I create amazing sounds with un-amazing things. Be amazed.

I present to you Volker Bertelmann, or as he's known - Hauschka and his prepared piano. If you don't know what a prepared piano is, you soon will. If you want to skip the history lesson and just see this German do his thing, then jump down to the bottom to the Vimeo player. For those that want to see some other stuff, stick it out up here, because there's another guy I have to talk about: John Cage.

This is John Cage screwing a piano. Honestly.

If you know anything about John Cage, then you know a little something about prepared pianos, and that this guy was a pioneer of experimental everything. I can list all the stuff he's done, but Wikipedia has done such a good job it would break my heart to NOT use that as an excuse to not write it all. I have finals to study for!

The video below is a recreation of the prepared piano John Cage used for this particular piece - which is from Cage's "Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano."

Now after a brief history lesson: Enter Hauschka, who has taken the idea of a prepared piano to new heights; incorporating elements of electronica and new age sounds to the experimental nature of the prepared piano and has created some great pieces of music which can be found on his MySpace page.

Below is the video from his visit to NPR's studios in November 2010. If you aren't really interested in the set up of the piano, skip to 4:25 for the improvised song.

Taken from NPR:

Listening to a piece by Hauschka can be deceiving: What sounds like an ensemble of musicians and instruments is just one man, performing at one piano. His real name is Volker Bertelmann, and he hails from Dusseldorf, Germany, where he works with his "prepared piano." He wrests disruptive sounds from the instrument's 88 keys by outfitting the strings or mallets with objects such as ping-pong balls, aluminum foil and leather. His new album is titled Foreign Landscapes, and he recently visited NPR's studios to demonstrate his craft.

In this piece, Hauschka uses a random assortment of props just presented to him by host Guy Raz to rig the piano and improvise a song.

Sean Doran

Music & Internet | Daft Punk Mashup Visualized

Have you ever listened to a mashup song and wondered what it was fully composed of, and when all those pieces stopped and started? Well, Cameron Adams completely dissected a Daft Punk mashup made up of 23 songs, and for kicks, he programmed a real time audio visualization that matches up with each track that's playing.

This man deserves a beer.

By the way, did I mention that it's all completely coded in HTML and CSS? There's no fancy application behind any of this, just a mangled mess of code that churns out pure beauty that tickles the senses. The purpose of it all was to experiment with the new HTML5 capabilities, but also to tackle deciphering a mashup song. Here's what Mr. Adams says for himself:

The art of the mashup has come to the fore in pop culture of recent years, but beyond Biggie Smalls crooning over Elton's keys I feel that the general public understands little of the nuance that goes into constructing a complex mashup from tiny pieces of songs.

So go ahead and take a trip down the rabbit hole with this awesome slice of the Internet.

Sean Doran

http://daftpunk.themaninblue.com/

La Blogothèque | Take-Away Show: Battles - Wall Street

Quick. Fast. Artistic. Organic.

This is the way La Blogothèque handles filming these live musical performances called Take-Away Shows. Started in 2006, La Blogothèque is the result of Vincent Moon yearning for a new way to experience and share music, and with the Take-Away Shows, he did just that.

In usually only one take, they film an artist in an unorthodox location, such as Andrew Bird strolling down the street with his violin, or the Fleet Foxes finding the most reverb-laden room in the world.

Here's one of the latest Take-Away Shows done by the math-rock band Battles, featuring their new slimmed down line-up and new song Wall Street from their upcoming album, Gloss Drop (June 7th).

Sean Doran

MEISA Update & Billboard Music Awards

Hello friends!

Just a friendly reminder, MEISA elections for next year's executive board are tomorrow! So please show your pretty little faces because it's an important one.

The Spring Concert has been canceled due to some miscommunication, but we will be back in the fall with something for your eyes and ears!

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Also, did anyone happen to check out the Billboard Music Awards yesterday? Who were your favorite performers? Besides the kiss heard around the world, (J. Biebz & Selena Gomez, duh. My roommates might have rewound the DVR one too many times), Beyoncé (aka Queen B, Beysus as some blogs like to call her) KILLED IT. Myself and my roommates were absolutely floored at this performance.



She is definitely coming back strong promoting, 4, which will be out 6/28. I have to be honest, I did not like "Run the World (Girls)" the first few listens, but after seeing some extraordinary performances like the one above, I have warmed up to it quite a bit! It's refreshing to see someone that has been in the business for a long time to be able to still create things that still leave people speechless. Not like Beyoncé needs my approval or anything, but she is definitely a superstar and I am looking forward to her new album!

See you all tomorrow!

Tran

PS. If your mouth is hanging open from the above video, here is another from one from Oprah:

Music | Minus the Bear Give Away Free EP

Don't you love it when a band gives you a nice warm fuzzy feeling inside for just being a fan of their music?

I sure do.

Minus the Bear has decided to give away a six song EP out for free, with all they request is an email address. If you're interested in what the download contains, have no fear, as I have the track list right here:

1. Hold Me Down
2. Broken China (A B-side from OMNI)
3. My Time (Live)
4. Into The Mirror (Live)
5. Hold Me Down (Dangerbird Studios Cut)
6. My Time (Thomas Mitchener Remix)

Now that all the details are out of the way, go and download away to your auditory delight.

Go on - Tell your friends.
You'll be the cool one that knows everything.

Sean Doran

Music & Internet | Jazmine P

So you thought Rebecca Black's Friday was the lowest music could get?

Well, thanks to the nature of the Internet, an even worse abomination has been unsurfaced after laying dormant for the past six months: Jazmine P

Now, I'm guessing this song is called "A Beautiful Day", but there is honestly nothing to be found about why this song exists, who Jazmine P is, or how she is apparently suffering from schizophrenia - literally.

Figments of her imagination - Jazmine P lives out a second life.

First off, she starts talking about her mom making cookies - BOTH OF WHICH NEVER SHOW UP. Neither the mom nor the cookies say hello to us during this 3 minute and 22 second smorgasbord of deception. We should know that something isn't quite right with that, but we continue enduring the awfully robotic auto-tuned vocals that spout lines that we'll continue to quote for years to come, such as "I don't know what to do-ooh-ohoh," and "The rain has stopped and everybody going inside."

Yes, you read that correctly, "The rain has stopped and everybody going inside."

This song's lyrics make less sense than Rebecca Black's "Friday" storyline.

For as much as this kid talks about how much it's raining, did you notice that it's sunny as hell out in this video? Also, she sings about how it's 3 o'clock and it's time to head home because it's late out. The thing of it is, that it's clearly 3 PM and all these unsupervised kids are still outside playing, not giving the slightest damn, and stealing bikes.

Maybe this music video is a poignant social commentary on homeless children with mental disorders that are only striving to live day by day?

I bet my kidneys that it's not.

Watch out, Cousin It's red-headed baby brother is right behind you.

At the end of the video, we're just left with Jazmine running towards the ocean, apparently forgetting that it's Sunday, school is tomorrow, and her mother and those cookies are both still M.I.A.

I just want an explanation about this entire video - who wrote this song, who thought that all of this was a good idea, and who in the world is Jazmine P? The world makes no sense.

Sean Doran

Powa

"Powa" is a standout track from the tUnE-yArDs's latest album, W H O K I L L, and is one of the grooviest odes to a good night's sleep I've ever heard. A soft ukulele and the ticking of a clock set the scene as tUnE-yArDs's leading lady, Merrill Garbus, wails lines like, "It rocks me like a lullaby." Merrill's ambiguous singing voice makes the track that much more intriguing. W H O K I L L is the strong sophomore effort from the New England based band. I give this track 4 out of 5 buckeyes.

tUnE-yArDs can also put on a hell of a live performance.

dredg: Chuckles and Mr. Squeezy

After two years, dredg, the California progressive alternative rock band has released their fifth studio album, Chuckles and Mr. Squeezy, to follow up the well received The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion. Known for having deep lyrics and experimental tendencies (yet still maintaining grounded musical sensibilities in an alt-rock fashion), dredg strip down for this album as they take a more straightforward approach in producing what they call "dark pop."

Left to Right
Dino Campanella (Drums), Mark Engles (Guitar), Gavin Hayes (Vocals/Slide Guitar), Drew Roulette (Bass)

For old dredg listeners, Chuckles and Mr. Squeezy will surely divide them into factions, as some will embrace this "dark pop" and others will yearn for the atmospheric and cutting edge band they used to know. And in a recent interview with the website Antiquiet, Gavin Hayes talked about how the band's approach to Chuckles was from a completely different mindset compared to their other albums that revolved around a concept:

We’ve been a band for well over a decade, we’ve put out an array of records... we’re always trying to push ourselves to do something different, and you know, the last thing I want to do was regurgitate a record. It just bores me as an artist and bores us as musicians (source).

The man knows what he wants.


And what we get is an interesting album where the influence of Dan the Automator, co-producer of the debut Gorillaz album, is apparent. Dan had a huge hand in this album, as he wrote songs and parts of tracks with the band, and the programmed drums are his most noticeable contribution.

Chuckles and Mr. Squeezy Album Cover

It all starts off with an R&B infused alternative track called "Another Tribe," and the lyrics seem to set the tone for the rest of the album:

Here we go, go again // Following all the trends
It's become an obsession // Yet it's time to accept it, yeah

This just hurts. One doesn't have to dig deep for meaning in those couple of lines, and I wish it wasn't true. The song passes by with only some memorable moments.


Luckily, "Upon Returning" kicks it up a notch with a harder and edgier song that is the most reminiscent of dredg's previous material with some punchy bass and bombastic guitar-work that is punctuated with the atmospheric and melodic synths. It's by far the best song on the album.




Skip ahead a bit, and "The Thought of Losing You" will throw ya for a loop. Dance synths, shouting choruses in the background, robotic drums, and a meandering vocal line doesn't really deliver in any area you want it to. I applaud they're efforts to change it up, but I can't agree on the result.


One of the highlights on Chuckles and Mr. Squeezy though is "Kalathat," a mainly acoustic track that breaks dredg down to it's core. With an ever-descending guitar line and the lyrics unfolding a narrative of a man that has become tired with the rat race of life, a subdued existential crisis with a powerful message in such a delicate song. The accent of the quietly wailing guitar helps to give the song a fuller body while emphasizing the lines Hayes sings. If you're going to listen to any track off this album, make it this one.


dredg's foray into a more mainstream production has its hits and misses, leaving the listener in a cloud of ambivalence of not being sure of what to make of it. Their vision of creating a more to-the-point record isn't something to automatically turn your nose up at, but it isn't what fans of the band have come to expect, which could be the point.


Also, there is Dan the Automator, who's total contribution is unknown, but he definitely made his mark, for better or for worse.


But, by taking a step back and seeing how they can expand their fan base with this record by attracting people who would've never even heard of them could make it all worthwhile. With their previous works, they seemed to sit on the fringes of many genres, making it hard for those that love to categorize - but with Chuckles and Mr. Squeezy, there is a more focused effort on keeping within the constructs of easily accessible tunes. Time will only tell which path dredg will take next.

dredg will be touring the U.S. promoting their new album from now until the end of May, with the closest place to Columbus being at the Grog Shop in Cleveland on May 16th. Supporting acts are The Dear Hunter, Balance and Composure, and The Trophy Fire.

Sean Doran

Recommended Listening from Chuckles and Mr. Squeezy

• Upon Returning
• Sun Goes Down
• Kalathat

Make Some Noise

"Make Some Noise," off the Beastie Boys' forthcoming album, Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, is like a quick history lesson. Quick beats, quicker lyrics, and a cowbell remind today's hip hop enthusiast why the Beastie Boys were so successful more than 20 years ago. Beastie Boy Ad-Rock's line, "Here we go again, give you more, nothing lesser / Back on the mic is the anti-depressor" sweeps you into the song and gives off the air of a victory lap. Beastie Boy member MCA recently celebrated overcoming mouth cancer and Hot Sauce Committee Part Two will be the group's eighth studio album. While just a single, "Make Some Noise" has me very excited for the album drop this Wednesday, May 3rd. I give this song 4 out of 5 buckeyes.

Also: the music video has more stars than the night sky.

Beastie Boys - Make Some Noise - Free Music Videos - Top Songs

We're Back!

Hello Blog World!

It's been a while, but hopefully we will be consistent with our updates starting.....now.

Meetings this quarter are on Tuesday in Central Classroom 209.

This week Matt Crumpton will be speaking with us. He has had practiced entertainment and music law in Columbus for the past few years and will be sharing his experience with us. He is president of a local non-profit Music Loves Ohio, and is hosting Musician Inc. this Saturday at the Ohio Union right on campus! Musician Inc. is a music conference featuring local and national music industry professionals. This is the perfect chance for MEISA members and non-members to learn about the different careers offered in the music industry.

For more details here is the Facebook Event page:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=151909414868217&index=1


Don't forget to fan us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for current updates!

Coming soon: MEISA members will have the opportunity to share stories about internships, concerts and any other ramblings they might have (Music related of course!).

If there are any inquiries about getting involved with us, or us getting involved with you please e-mail us: OSUMEISA@gmail.com

- Tran