http://www.soundfreak.com Sounding off about music, media and current affairs Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:06:13 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en [caption id="attachment_288" align="alignright" width="105" caption="Ironic Host Peter Kaye"][/caption] Watching the annual BRIT awards last week, a few thoughts struck me which I thought I would share with you. Firstly, in the current economic climate, is it really a good idea to have the event sponsored by Mastercard? The majority of the audience ... http://www.soundfreak.com/2010/02/25/whats-wrong-with-the-brits/ Propellerheads Reason programme has been at the forefront of music technology for years now, providing a self contained electronic music package that has been used by millions of home producers as well as a host of professional artists and producers. With its intuitive interface and powerful synths and samplers, Reason ... http://www.soundfreak.com/2010/02/05/reason-record-review/ If you’re a fan of 60’s influenced psychadelic and garagey music, look no further than Bristol based band The Transpersonals. http://www.myspace.com/thetranspersonals This unique and talented 3 piece manage to blend retro jam band influences with a thoroughly modern lyrical sensibility. Their songs reference recent popular culture and politics sprinkled over eastern-tinged rocking ... http://www.soundfreak.com/2010/02/02/the-transpersonals/ If you haven’t yet witnessed one of Mark Thomas’s live shows, I strongly recommend you try and catch him next time he plays a town near you. He truly is one of the most original performers you will ever see. For the uninitiated, his act consists of a unique blend ... http://www.soundfreak.com/2010/01/22/mark-thomas-%e2%80%93-many-a-true-word-spoken-in-jest/ This year’s Celebrity Big Brother is allegedly the last so I’ve been watching it despite my best intentions. For once, it’s quite an interesting group of people; some of them actually have brains, and are quite famous! Interestingly enough this particular group seem to be responding to the format in ... http://www.soundfreak.com/2010/01/21/celebrity-big-brother-2010/ September 09 saw the release of Logic Pro 9, the latest complete home studio software from Apple. This has everything that a music producer could need to create professional sounding recordings, whether you are a dance producer using MIDI instruments, or you have a live music set up you want ... http://www.soundfreak.com/2010/01/18/logic-9-review/ [caption id="attachment_260" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Mark Perry with John Peel"][/caption] Few people can claim to have been the spearhead and true instigator of a scene. The birth of Punk is usually attriibuted to Malcom McLaren and the Sex Pistols, but there is a person who was the true underground voice of punk; ... http://www.soundfreak.com/2010/01/13/forgotten-heroes-mark-perry-and-atv/ [caption id="attachment_256" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Digger, Keith and Jammo"][/caption] There are a few bands in the world who completely encapsulated the mood of their time and influenced a host of other musicians, but who sadly never achieved a place in the global public consciousness and never reaped the rewards they should have ... http://www.soundfreak.com/2010/01/08/forgotten-heroes-world-domination-enterprises/ I’ve been wondering something lately; as computer technology and the internet develop, are they impacting on our mentality and physiology in ways we didn’t envisage? Humans originally developed as a pack animal, designed to give their optimum performance in extended family groups of around 20, where each individual would have ... http://www.soundfreak.com/2010/01/06/the-internet-as-hive-mind/ I’ve been asking everyone I know in the music business the same question now for over 5 years… ‘how do you think the availability of free music on the internet is going to affect the music business?’ I received a variety of responses but they’re consistent enough for me to ... http://www.soundfreak.com/2010/01/04/you-cant-eat-music/