Tune Burglers!

..But sometimes it is! Some odd soundalike songs have been bugging me, I want to know is it just me?? Read on...




CAN: Vitamin C vs 24 Carat Black: 24 Carat Black Theme

This is an odd one simply because of the disparate background of the bands involved. German prog rockers Can released the weirdly groovy Vitamin C in 1972 and then in 1973 a very similar introductory bass line appeared on the debut album of 24 Carat Black, a black american funk band signed to the legendary Stax label (home of Isaac Hayes). Can are still a pretty cult band now, let alone in 1973, before file sharing and Youtube, Can albums were hard to get even in Europe, so it is interesting that an American band, let alone a black band would have even heard of let alone ripped off Can!







Gorillaz: Feel Good Inc vs U2: Staring at the Sun

Everyone knows that Damon Albarn is now seen as some opera composing national treasure despite his former incarnation as a complete dickhead when the clown prince of Britpop. Gorillaz became inexplicably popular, mainly because we didn't have to see "Damian All-Bran"'s little ratty face in the vidz and the music made some concessions to modern tastes rather than trying to sound like The Kinks on coke. Not only that but they were "cool", doubly gratifying to "the artist formerly known as a prick" as former arch rivals Oasis slid into self parody. However amid all the middle eastern synths and guest rappers some less enticing inspiration hid like a turd in a punch bowl within the middle of "Feel Good Inc"...Check the folky melody that comes in at about 1 .05 minutes and compare to the verses of the dreaded U2's hideous Castalike "Staring at the Sun", oddly seen at the time as U2's belated repost to Britpop...






Led Zeppelin: Stairway to Heaven vs Spirit: Taurus

The mighty Zep were world famous for ripping off old blues singers and not paying them a jot, even as the platinum records mounted up, but it is less well known that they also raided lots of American psych for ideas with a similar lack of reimbursement. "Stairway" is beyond parody by now, mocked by both Waynes World (denied!), Dread Zeppelin and The Butthole Surfers with their album "Hairway to Heaven". But its famous intro is a straight steal from obscure hippy band Spirit and their instrumental "Taurus". Zeppelin toured with Spirit on their first US tour which is where they must have got the idea...By the way I have got into Spirit and their excellent album "The 12 Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus", but when I tried to convert my hip hop loving friend to it but he loathed them...don't you hate when that happens!

Texas: Say What You Want vs Marvin Gaye: Sexual Healing

Texas will occupy the same circle of hell as Simply Red and Go West, horrible horrible Ikea "soul" for people with plastic brains. Not content with writing grimly unpleasant elevator music they had the temerity to burgle Marvin Gaye's sultry classic 'Sexual Healing" for the hook of "Say What You Want"...ok then I will, this is shit! Check the bit at 0.35 in the Texas song with 0.42 in Gaye's. Some odd footnotes; apparently Gaye played all the instruments on the song and the title was inspired by a visit from co-writer David Ritz to the trailer in Belgium Marvin had somehow ended up in during his coke induced breakdown in the late 70's. Gaye had a vaste collection of dodgy porn which prompted Ritz to tell Gaye he needed some "sexual healing"...







The Beatles: Eleanor Rigby vs The Stranglers: Duchess

A lot of people at the time it was released said that the Manic Street Preachers No1 hit "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" is a steal from The Stranglers "Duchess", something I have never been able to decipher. I think "Duchess" itself sounds far more like a robbery of "Eleanor Rigby"...










The Doors: Hello I Love You vs The Kinks: All Day and All of The Night

The idiotic film "The Doors" portrayed Jimbo and his merry men as existential poets traveling into the heart of musical darkness, in fact they were as fond of cheesy garage pop as the desperately uncool Herman's Hermits (who are even mocked in the film). Trying to revive a career staggering under the weight of Jim Morrison's acid drenched ego and alcoholism they neatly borrowed the tune of The Kink's infinitely more rocking "All Day and All of The Night" and got a No1 in the states....

Blur: M.O.R vs David Bowie: Boys Keep Swinging

And bringing us full circle back to Damon Albarn and his days with Blur we have a robbery that they had to pay for. Successfully sued for the similarly between their track "M.O.R" and Bowie's "Boys Keep Swinging", the song credits now list Bowie and Brian Eno as co-writers. Thankfully for Blur the track was only a minor hit. I don't see a massive similarity myself but then I'm not a music business lawyer thank Ja!







Maningrey

"Tune Burglers!" > read the full post

VUVUZELA? Maybe Not!

The 2010 World Cup kicked off in great style and colour on the 11th of june in South Africa to the joy of many a football fan across the globe...that is until the droning sound of bee swarms officially known as the Vuvuzela vibe threatened to marr the experience for those of you who'd never experienced watching football matches televised in Africa. If you feel desperate and want a solution provided to tackle this media niggle then look no further as WAVES yes waves have come up with the ultimate World Cup saving Plug-in. Used as instructed this plug-in will subtract that Bee-hive ambience that you perceive when matches are in play as well as providing a boost to the commentary and other stadium sounds. To read more on this article visit the link below.

Waves Vuvuzela Noise Reduction Solution

"VUVUZELA? Maybe Not!" > read the full post

Euro Dance Metal!

As bad as you think it's going to be.....

"Euro Dance Metal!" > read the full post

Preview of Ohm Studio - The Internet DAW

Here is a preview of Ohm Studio - a standalone DAW/sequencer that will allows music collaborations all over the world via the Internet. This video shows the Ohm Studio prototype and some of its real time features in action.



If you're interested in taking part, you can apply for the beta-test here.





"Preview of Ohm Studio - The Internet DAW" > read the full post

Free Battery Kits from DevineSound

"Two different sample packs made almost exclusively with the mighty Cwejman S1 synthesizer Kit one by Richard Devine, kit two by Josh Kay.

A strange collection of percussion one-shots, hits, pulses, and other unclassifiable noises. Feed your drum machine weird things!"

DevineSound has last week released two free Cwejman S1 Modular Battery Kits. The sample pack (256 samples, 38MB) is available as a free download from their website.



"Free Battery Kits from DevineSound" > read the full post

Slash "Attacked"

Guitar hero par excellence Slash, he of the shaggy hair and perma shades has been "attacked" by an over enthusiastic fan...



I am not sure if this was a hate crime or simply over excitement by a stage diver, but half way through Slash's solo on Sweet Child O' Mine some nutter leaps on him and smashes his "axe" to the ground. My theory is that he was hired by Axl Rose or that the fan was driven to take action by the hideously out of tune mangling that passed for the solo...Commendably Slash picked the moaning guitar up and played on but frankly it was hard to tell the difference between the solo before or after the incident...

VIEW IT HERE!







"Slash "Attacked"" > read the full post

All You Need Is Love!

I have been working my way through an excellent music documentary on 4OD recently....





All You Need Is Love is a documentary made in the 70's chronicling the history of popular music. It ranges from Delta Blues up to Alice Cooper. Features loads of cool footage including Cooper being hanged as part of his stage act and Jerry Lee Lewis doing all sorts of unholy things to his old Joanna..

Features lots of bad 70's shirts and is notable for featuring the legendary rock scribe Lester Bangs (as featured in the nostalgia fest Almost Famous)in the "Glitter Rock" episode where he basically says that rock has become shallow, vacuous and consumed by money and egotism...if only he had lived to see X Factor!


maningrey



"All You Need Is Love!" > read the full post

The Itchiest Rhythm Guitar licks...volume 1

Like Pedro the pooch there are some guitar licks that just make you want to scratch behind the ear with your hind claws...read on...






In Indie music the rhythm guitar player is the friend of the bass player and does what he is told, see Bone Head from Oasis...strummy strummy AAAA GGGG DDDD all the way to the bank...In Funk and Disco rhythm guitar is a vital itch inducing ingredient to a funky brew, here are me n' Pedro's favs...


Sly and the Family Stone - In Time

Great opening lick from the under rated Freddie Stone on a track that was a favorite of Miles Davis. His spidery interlocking riffs can be heard to best effect on the albums "Fresh" and "There's a Riot Going On".

See also: " You Can Make It If You Try".




James Brown - Funky President

You could pick virtually any classic period James Brown track and find a wealth of brilliant guitar work but this is my favourite!

See also: "Brother Rapp/Ain't It Funky Now" medley live.

Talking Head - Moon Rocks

David Byrne was always an overlooked player, despite being nominally a punk group his playing had little of the bar chord blasting of his contemporaries instead drawing inspiration from such source as Bohannon, Fela Kuti and Parliament.

See also: "Found A Job".





The Temptations - Shaky Ground

Great scene setting riff that sounds like it was played on barbed wire, then leads into one of the best bass riffs of all time. In an attempt to make the suit wearing Temptations catch up with the new psychedelic funk movement of Sly Stone their producer simply hired Funkadelic, the freakiest and most spaced of the competition to play the backing track. The guitar player is Eddie Hazel, the bassist Billy Nelson.

See also: "My Girl" intro riff.




Fela Kuti - Zombie

Talking of Fela Kuti here is a groove as long and strong as a python and guitars as needling as a tsetse fly. All of his music features crazy guitar that sounds like the meeting point between Funkadelic, Captain Beefheart and Steve Reich minimalist music.

See also: " Lady".






Cameo - Freaky Dancing

Before they became a synth driven new wave act Cameo had ten members and vied with the mighty Ohio Players for the worst hair and silliest vocals in funk. None of this would have mattered if they had not also cut some shaggy haired monsters from the funk lagoon like this..

See also: "Rigor Mortis".





Norma Jean - I Like Love

The shimmering opening riff is the work of legendary producer/songwriter and session player Nile Rodgers. Having worked with Bowie, Madonna and Duran Duran, he also produced this little know gem from a former singer with his band Chic.

See also: "Lost in Music".




Betty Wright - Clean Up Woman

Perennial classic riff, one of those songs, like "Satisfaction", where the riff rather than the song is what people remember.

See also: "Shoorah Shoorah".





Chaka Khan - Fate

Infuriatingly I can't find this track on Youtube so you will have to make do with the introductory guitar sample as robbed by Stardust. Spotify the original as its great!

So also: "Clouds".





Average White Band with Ben E. King - Star in the Ghetto

Again no joy on Youtube, but I first heard the opening lick as used by N.W.A on "If It Ain't Ruff", see below, and then spent years looking for what it was(before Whosampled came into my life) then stumbled onto it on this obscure AWB collaboration..

See also: "Cut the Cake".






Main Ingredient - California My Way

As sampled on "Things Done Changed" by Biggie Smalls, an absolute killer cut...

So also: the rest of the album "Euphrates River".





Jean Knight - Mr Big Stuff

Nice 'fro and trouser suit Ms Knight! I feel sorry for Mr Big Stuff, I bet he didn't get any good loving that night...Classic riff sampled by Beastie Boys and Heavy D (the real life Mr Big Stuff) and a hundred others..

See also: no more hits for Jean unfortunately so we will go for the similar "Shame, Shame, Shame" by Shirley & Company.




Defunkt - Make Them Dance

Cult band who virtually invented "punk funk", they played their quirky free funk in mainly punk and new wave clubs in New York, they were lumped in with the "No Wave" movement rather than funk, and had lyrics written by a Hungarian poet in exile from Communism, three things that probebly held them back. Amazing guitars though, one of them is Vernon Reid later in Living Colour but don't hold that against them...

See also: two great albums on one CD, "Defunkt-Thermonuclear-Sweat"





Can - Moonshake

Lovely German disco from the band that specialised in lovely German disco...and horrible prog rock freakouts...brilliant weaving guitars and a middle that sounds like someone playing with a lighter and one of those bird calling thingermyes...

See also: "One More Night".




Marvin Gaye - Got To Give It Up

Sounding weirdly not unlike the Can track above, the first half of this disco epic is dominated by the almost avant garde musings of James Jamerson's bass line, then at about the 7.00 minute mark the dueling guitars come in. Gaye himself say "don't stop, this is the best part of it" as the players wiggle around the groove. As none other than Lou Reed said "most players would give their left ball to play like that", I wouldn't necessarily go quite that far, maybe just my little finger?

See also: "I Want You".





Mandrill - Fencewalk

Some righteous swaggering wah wah action from these latin funk masters, like Santana but ermmm good...Managed a rare fusion of funk and rock that actually worked. Would also make any list for most shrieking guitar solo...

See also: "Ape is High (and so and I!)




Slave - Slide

This is a bit of a cheat actually, while it features a master class of slinky interlocking rhythm riffs its the mental guitar solo that so unexpectedly leaps from the funk strumming that makes your hair stand on end!

See also: "Drac is Back".




Betty Davis - He Was A Big Freak

Girlfriend of both Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis, she introduced Jimi to Jazz and Miles to rock...nuff said...

See also: "Your Mama Wants You Back"




Jimmty "Bo" Horne - Dance Across The Floor

Got this from the sampled used in Da Lench Mob's "Freedom Got An AK", one of my all time fav rap tracks. Written by KC of Sunshine Band fame...

See also: everything else he did was rubbish so go for "Get Down Tonight" by KC and the Sunshine Band.







Maingrey with help from Pedro de Dawg

"The Itchiest Rhythm Guitar licks...volume 1" > read the full post

Jay Kay likes cup noodles.....

Oh dear.......

See what all your illegal downloading of music has led to?

Here's Top Gear champion and funky hat wearer Jay Kay selling Cup Noodles in Japan......

Apparently it translates as "I am hungry, I am hungry, I like cup noodle, I don't need another one".

Head here to the Cup Noodle site if you need to see more....

"Jay Kay likes cup noodles....." > read the full post

Free reverb plugin time

Martin Eastwood is giving away his MVerb reverb plugin.....

It's available as Mac and PC VST, as well as AU, and very light on your processor. Head to Martineastwood.com to download it.

"Free reverb plugin time" > read the full post

Worst @**%ing Songs of All Time - part 1

We played a series of songs to Bingo the Chimp to determine which were the worst in history. We then left him in front of a type writer for a few years and he wrote down the results...read on to have your illusions shattered...



1) Every Breath You Take by The Police





Staggeringly unpleasant, not to mention boring, song about Sting creeping up some ex lover by stalking her. Maturely adding to the endless list of songs about why "women are dirty" he sings in a tone seemingly meant to suggest huskily dangerous sexuality but ends up sounding as alluring as Ted Bundy with a migraine (see above)...Anything that was remotely interesting about The Police, the intricate drumming, the ringing chords, is subsumed under Mr Tantric's leering vocal. This is, when all said and done, an AOR equivalent of "To Kill A Hooker" by N.W.A...

2) Yellow by Coldplay



So bland it actually starts to become a little frightening, like the nice quiet neighbor who "liked a drink and a chat" and then ends up blowing away half a village. I am almost certain that anyone as cheerily right on as Chris Martin will be unmasked as a pedo, at the very least the "One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest" inmate drummer (remember you heard it here first)...Apart from George Milton and Lennie Small (see above) the rest of the band look like those disabled kids who fell down mine shafts only to be rescued by Gentle Ben...Oh as for the song? Well it's a bag of gowl innit?

3) Baby Hit Me Baby One More Time by Britney Spears



Sometimes you think surely the world is not that cynical and manipulative?? And then all your worst fears are confirmed as prostitutes are dismembered and dumped in bins, oil slicks fill the beaches, David Cameron gets elected and someone goes, "hey guys, lets write a song that implies a teenager prefers a good slug in the mouth to her boyf dumping her and then make a video that implies pedophilia, that will be a hit!". Rhianna certainly enjoyed a good beating...


4) Police and Thieves by The Clash



Generally revered for their Punk/ white reggae fusion (which led to The Police and UB40, cheers for that...) and terrible teeth, The Clash's first attempt at a reggae cover was more skunk than skank. Charging at the tune like the petrified bull in the art work above (by bassist Paul Simonon, fulfilling his rebel pose by becoming a sub sub Jack Vetriano) the end result is a writhing hair ball of mullets (Mick Jones), out of tune guitars and vocals (Joe Strummer) and a rhythm section that doesn't know if they should be on or off the beat (the other two)...It wouldn't be so bad if the original by Junior Murvin was not such a beautiful shimmering sound...Even the original songs producer, Lee Perry, thought the cover was shit...


5) Under the Bridge by Red Hot Chilli Peppers



There is nothing so bad as being maudlin, everyone has a friend where they answer every question with "oh you know" and then look sorrowfully into the distance, and you want to scream and go, "for fuck sakes at least you're not living in North Korea"...This song, from its dripping opening chords to its drippy vocal melody to its drippy lyrics, screams "woe is me!". It's the boring rock star self pity that Warren Zevon lampooned in his caustic classic "Poor Poor Pitiful Me", boo hoo I take loads of drugs, boo hoo groupies keep blowing me, boo hoo I got loads of money which is why I take loads of drugs and groupies keep blowing me...It's all a tragedy as the Chilli's had the potential to be a good little funk band, but when this hit the charts every other single became an "affirmative" ballad from hell..


Bingo the Chimp





"Worst @**%ing Songs of All Time - part 1" > read the full post

Drum Gloves

Beat on the Block is a set of drum gloves that are designed to let you drum on anything. It was created during a school project by Kristo De Pooter, Arnoud den Besten, Sam Vesters, and Thomas Leterme at the Artesis University college of Antwerp, Belgium May 2010.

The system is made up of gloves paired with a backpack speaker system with a built-in looping system. Check out the drum gloves in action......



Pretty cool as an idea that could be developed.


"Drum Gloves" > read the full post

Free VST plugin

Acustica are giving away the Acquavox preamp emulator plugin.....

It's powered by their Nebula emulation engine, and you can get it for free here

"Free VST plugin" > read the full post

"this guy... he ain't my kinda guy"

Buddy Rich was a drum legend, maybe the best that ever lived, but he was also a man with an explosive temper...





...members of his band used to record Rich flying off the handle when they made errors in performances or even, legend has it, for wearing a beard...



...and as an example of his drumming prowess...





maningrey







""this guy... he ain't my kinda guy"" > read the full post

More Herbie...

...in a classic clip from Sesame Street...



I love how the kids looks completely mesmerized by the Fairlight..the best bit is when one of the children asks if it can make the sound of an elephant..I wonder how many went on to become musicians?

maningrey





"More Herbie..." > read the full post

Herbie and Quincy...sound like geek names?

I just came across this and I must say there's been quite an improvement from the early days for fans of the wonderful Synthesizer... Just watch this nerdy pair get excited over electric signal shaping and manipulation, the legends that are Herbie Hancock and Quincy jones here and talking about the user interface of a synthesizer and experimenting with a patch or two haha...and that was then imagine what they'd be like now!

"Herbie and Quincy...sound like geek names?" > read the full post

Free Online Music Mixing Software

Another great way to pass the hour(s)... looplabs: a free online music mixing software, created by CRASH!MEDIA.

Looplabs is "the web's premier online music mixing application and platform" (MAC/PC). Features include multi-channel mixing of up to 32 channels, MP3 sampling/triggering/remixing, complete load/save/vote functionality, audio recording capabilities, sequencing, output audio to WAV/MP3 files, ring-tone creation and output, video mixing capabilities and integration, multiuser collaborative music environments, stereo FX processing, drum and rhythm pattern machine, crossfading, etc.

Ok, so I'm probably selling it for more than it's worth... but the point is, it's good fun, and a great way to waste time. Find out, here.

CRASH!MEDIA's projects are generally cool. They are an interactive entertainment agency, and it's worth checking out their website to find out what they've been and are involved in.



"Free Online Music Mixing Software" > read the full post

Techno Jeep

"Techno Jeep" > read the full post

Free polyphonic tuner iphone app!

TC Electronics are giving away a free polyphonic tuner app for your iPhone or iPad. Very nice....

EDIT: too late! After the first 50000 copes, they started to charge around £6. Still, I've given it a go, and it works really well.

"Free polyphonic tuner iphone app!" > read the full post

How to Destroy Angels - free download

Trent Reznor's newest project is How to Destroy Angels, and there's a 6 track EP free to download!

Just head here and register to get the download link.

"How to Destroy Angels - free download" > read the full post

Orange PC and Boss mouse?

So you've probably seen the Orange amplifiers OPC - a PC in an orange amplifier combo? If not, check it out here. Well, I've found the perfect accompaniment - the Roland DS-1. Looks like a distortion pedal, clicks like a mouse!

Can't find this anywhere on the Roland or Boss sites, but here it is on Music Radar..

"Orange PC and Boss mouse?" > read the full post