Thursday, January 31, 2008

The Wire update 5.04

I will also put this in the big The Wire post (which will be linked in the sidebar soon) but this gives me something fast to post and even a weekly post as long as The Wire s5 runs :)

Altercation On Michael's Corner
Ogun Feat. Phathead - What You Know About Baltimore

Prop Joe Visits A Florist
Barbara Lewis - Baby I'm Yours

Omar And Slim Charles
Trouble Funk - Drop The Bomb

McNulty In The Bar
The Clash - Train In Vain

Omar And Donnie
Shortie - Street Legendz

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Audacity: streamripper

Next to listening to the butload of tracks (for instance in the The Wire update) you can also record them. I've been doing this for a while with Audacity (google it, find it). The only problem I have is that it seems like the tracks need volume levelling to be louder.

Does anyone have a good alternative for Audacity (because I really like how dead-simple it works!). Or know a good (read: simple) program to do the volume levelling so if I burn tracks to a cd, I won't jump up everytime a far to quiet song is followed by a normal, and therefor without turning the volume down far too loud track.

To all the people who come by via the HBO boards or via google searches, be nice, leave a comment. You don't need a blogger account to leave a message.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Thank you for smoking OST

The review setup will be a bit different than I used to do, still linking to youtubes though, see tracklist!

Thank you for smoking

Film synopsis:
The film is about a guy who works for the tabacco industry as a spokes- and salesman. To be short it comes down to him being so good at it that he can, as a matter of speech, sell cigarettes to someone with astma or lungcancer. In debates about the risks of smoking he always ends up with the croud on his side. Down the line he starts changing his view on his job.

Soundtrack
There are a couple of things I really like about this soundtrack.
1: I heard a great deal of songs from artists I didn't knew (eg. The Kingston Trio) or only knew by name (eg. Otis redding) which gave me a reason to search for more of their music.

2: Tracks on a soundtrack should really fít a film. Almost all the tracks (excl. the instrumentals and Greenback dollar) are related to smoking/cigarettes or trying to quit (Another puff).

3: Humor, that is, in a humoristic film a part of the soundtrack should be humoristic. Listening to the lyrics of 'Smoke smoke smoke that cigarette', 'Cigarettes & whiskey' and 'Another puff' made me laugh out loud the first time I heard them, and still do.

4: Nice instrumentals. I already knew Rolfe Kent from some other soundtracks and also liked the tracks on this soundtrack. These tracks give a good sphere to the film. The only bit of a downside was that 'Intro & tobacco one' and Spanish Epilogue reviseted (halfway) sound a bit alike.

5: The soundtrack made me listen to music I don't normally listen to, and broaden my taste a bit. You won't find tracks like 'little organ fugue', 'smoke gets in your eyes' and 'Three cigarettes in an ashtray' in my daily playlist because it's not really my kind of day-to-day music. They are oldies and with oldies I mean really oldies, for instance 'Smoke rings' is from 1933! They have a slow and old sound to them. But while playing the entire cd I dó like the music.

6: As a last thing I think what makes a good soundtrack is that it enhances the feel of whatever the soundtrack was 'made' for but also stands out so that I think 'I should really get this soundtrack' instead of being completely invisible.

Conclusion:
Watching the movie I immediately liked 'greenback dollar' and 'smoke smoke smoke that cigarette' which made me search for the OST. Untill I heard 'Cigarettes and coffee' Otis Redding was one of those 'legends' I only knew by name and I found out that the Kingston Trio has been busy for more than my lifespan making great music. I listened to the soundtrack and réally laughed out loud hearing Tex Williams complain about people pausing litteraly éverything they were doing to just smoke a cigarette before continueing and Jerry Reed telling a tale about trying to quit smoking which left me with his phrase 'Boo on cigarettes'(I'm exchanging 'cigarettes' with whatever's relevant). The instrumentals, although sometimes a bit alike are all really nice. And listening to the songs which aren't really my kind of music on day-to-day basis in the playlist of the soundtrack itself, made me like them enough to keep pressing play now and then when I'm in the mood.

Tracklist:

1 Tex Williams - Smoke smoke smoke that cigarette

2 The Mills brothers - Smoke rings (this one is ancient..1933!)

3 The Kingston Trio - Greenback dollar

4 The Swingle singers - Little organ fugue

5 The platters - Smoke gets in your eyes

6 Patsy Cline - Three cigarettes in an ashtray (this is nót Patsy Cline, but someone else singing it, but he does a good job)

7 Ramblin' Jack Elliot - Cigarettes & whiskey (again, not the original. The original is better, stronger intonation).

8 Otis Redding - Cigarettes and coffee

9 Jerry Reed - Another Puff (a brilliant home made vid by someone btw)

10 Rolfe Kent - Intro & Tobacco one (this is álso the theme to the tv-series Eureka check the 2nd post in the thread)

11 Rolfe Kent - Donate it & sex back in cigarettes (at least a part of it)

12 Rolfe Kent - Joey & drums of doom (again part of it)

13 Rolfe Kent - Spanish epilogue revisited (again part of it)

Friday, January 11, 2008

Meme

I figured a music related meme couldn't harm the blog before getting around to posting the Dexter OST review.

I borrowed the idea from Rantocracy

Let’s Make a Band:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first article title on the page is the name of your band.

2. http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.
(you might have to click new random quotes at the bottom)

3. http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/
The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

You then take the pic and add your band name
and the album title to it, then post your pic.

I ended up with the band: Temple Block and it's album 'Me in my absence'
I thought the last 5 words would have been nice too: 'shoot me in my absence'.