Music in me: longest album titles ever

Have you ever wondered what was the longest music album title ever?

Until today, I thought the record belonged to Fiona Apple. It did for a long time and was even mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records for 2001. Ladies and gentlemen, it's When the Pawn!

When the pawn hits the conflicts he thinks like a king
What he knows throws the blows when he goes to the fight
And he'll win the whole thing 'fore he enters the ring
There's no body to batter when your mind is your might
So when you go solo, you hold your own hand
And remember that depth is the greatest of heights
And if you know where you stand, then you know where to land
And if you fall it won't matter, cuz you'll know that you're right.

You can also listen to it here, told by the author herself - I recommend checking it out.

Fiona Apple held the record for quite a few years, until 2007. Then came Soulwax with an album of remixes, Most of the Remixes, with a title of 552 characters:

The following year, Chumbawamba went even further, 865 characters in The Boy Bands Have Won:


I only quoted the first one, as the two others have pretty clear covers (or you can read them on the Wikipedia pages). Plus, Fiona's one is way more creative: it's a real poem with lots of rhymes, structure, and most importantly, a deep message. Soulwax's title is like a long explanation of what to except from the album, written in a very casual tone: I except more artistic value and sweat and tears in the creative process. Chumbawamba is not poetic either, but definitely does carry a message, and an interesting one, although the words "the boy bands have won" almost discouraged me from reading the rest. (Last time I listened to a boyband was when I was eleven and a friend made me a mix tape, then I totally moved on to the Spice Girls, so I don't really feel like the boy bands have won anything with me.)

Giving your album a very long title is an easy way to attract attention to it (honestly, I have never heard of Soulwax before and here I am blogging about them), but it doesn't make it automatically remarkable. To me, Fiona's one is definitely the longest great album title ever.

Geek gets guitar!

Hello, World!

I am thrilled to announce that I am now the happy owner of a brand new electric guitar: a Viper 200FM:


And to go with it, Hubby bought a Rolland Cube 20-X:


So I'm learning to play the guitar again. I can play a few chords so far.

No complaints from the neighbours have been noted yet.

Flacs are coming!

I was just browsing 7digital and saw this:


That's an album in flac! Flas as in:

...Free Lossless Audio Codec.

Personally, I'm pretty much deaf and 256k mp3 are perfect for me. But many of my beloved ones have been blessed with a good hearing, some to the point of not tolerating any quality loss. So I'm happy for them. And I'm happy to see the market going towards better quality. And mostly, I'm happy that DRMs got their lower frequencies kicked.

An extensive search showed that this is the only flac album on 7digital so far. So that's just a start, let's see how things go, but I really like the way they're going so far.

How much music can you buy in 3 days?

So I was saying I bought half a GB of mp3 recently. Well, there's more.

Two days later, I went shopping for a present for Boyfriend. I didn't get it, but I got 11 albums! Here's the list:

Bought half a GB of music (again!)

I'm a happy geek with a great job and a brand new hard drive. What's to do in such a situation? Buy music!

Since I bought Amy Studt's album on 7digital I got very fond of this shop for its simplicity, wide range of avaliable music and affordable prices. So when I got this new drive I decided to fill it with some new music. So here's what I got back then:

Make Some Noise by Krystal Meyers

Be Not Nobody by Vanessa Carlton

N.B. by Natasha Bedingfield

Noise From The Basement by Skye Sweetnam

Because I Can by Katy Rose

The Very Best of 7digital indiestore 2008 by 7digital indiestore

And here's what I got today:

Breathe In by Lucie Silvas

Dear Frustrated Superstar by Nerina Pallot

Smile...It Confuses People by Sandi Thom

Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield

Harmonium by Vanessa Carlton

Plus a few singles.

All in all, I purchased 157 Tracks that take 1180Mb on the new drive.

Are DRM dying?

Lifehacker reported that Rhapsodhy is going DRM-free. So did Amazon not so long ago. That's a lot of DRM-free music and that's music to my ears. You know how I love DRM. I wish them death: a long and extremely painful death. Well, actually, not long, and not painful for the users, but I'm sure you get my point.

Off my wishlist: Amy Studt's "My Paper Made Men"

I finally managed to get Amy Studt's new album "My Paper Made Men" I mentionned a few days ago. Man, was that a journey!

iTunes didn't let me buy because I'm from Poland. HMV (link works in IE only, sorry) didn't validate my card. No Polish mp3 store had the album, as it has only been released in the UK. 7digital was tricky because the album didn't appear on Amy's page, so I went there quite a few times, throught it wasn't avaliable and closed the page before finding it. But I finally did, paid with PayPal, and got wma files. While I was there, I also downloaded four b-sides.

The wma files turned out to be DRM-protected and Winamp wouldn't let me validate them. Windows Media Player did, but didn't let me burn a CD. Well, as it turns out, DRM removal is way easier than coping with DRM. That's the type of security I adore - the one that causes more problems to honest paying users than to pirates. But, there's no point in ranting, the point is that I got the album legally, contributed to its charts positions and most of all, that the music is simply delightful.

On my wishlist: a few CDs

First, Amy Studt's new album "My paper made men" was just released yesterday.

She released an album called "False Smiles" a few years ago that had great teenage lyrics (and great music as well - Amy's parents are both musicians and she can play 3 instruments: the guitar, the piano, and something else I don't remember). Now I have grown out of teen stuff, but so has she. The LA Times said to "ignore any dim memories of her midteens pop phase a while ago", so the albums seems great (as you can tell from the singles).

Now I just have to get this album somehow. So far, it's only been released on UK iTunes, let's see if it lets me download it and if I can play the files on my Nokia 770, which is clearly not an iPod. Until now the only mp3 I have bought over the internet were Paramore's albums from the Fueled by Ramen store, which was a very positive experience: no one care which country I was from, as long as I could pay by PayPal, my technical issues were fixed within hours, and I got plain and simple mp3 files, which is exactly what I wanted.

Another important position on my wishlist, Primsleur's Arabic course:

I found it through this Metafilter thread, and the reviews are very enthousiastic (more on Primsleur's approach here). According to their site, it's what spies use to survive and cope overseas, and the courses are now used by the FBI, CIA, and business professionals everywhere. Plus, the approach is scientific, which is illustrated by this picture:

Geeks love scientific stuff and know nothing more convincing than the picture of a man dressed in white looking though a microscope to find a scientific way of teaching languages. I'm buying it.

They offer two versions: Eastern and Egyptian Arabic. So far, I've been learning Modern Standard Arabic, but here, I'd choose Egyptian. Another Metafilter thread clarifies this issue.

[Pictures source, source.]

Music in me: Gnarls Barkley

As you can tell form my last.fm profile, I'm a big fan of Gnarls Barkley. I am not crazy about the sound, which is neo-soul and reminds me mostly of the 60's. But I am a lyric freak and I'm obsessed about the lyrics. What I like about the music is that it is not overdone and you don't get bored, so you can enjoy the lyrics over and over. But by "not overdone" I don't mean boring or anything: this duo has its own, distinctive style, and the song "Storm Coming" has one of my favourite beats ever.

They started two years ago with an album called "St. Elswhere", which had pretty much everything to make a lyric freak like me happy: something I can relate to on the bad days (Just A Thought, Who Cares), something really original (Feng Shui, Necromancing), some excellent writing (Storm Coming, Feng Shui, and basically the whole album) and some positivity (Smiley Faces).

The bad stuff is not emo, not deoressing, not "feel sorry for me", it says what it's supposed to say without getting too emotional or whiny:

And I've tried
Everything but suicide
But it's crossed my mind (just a thought)

The good stuff is not too sweet, realistic and really motivating:

And I can tell you know how hard this life can be
But you keep on smiling for me.

Until yesterday, I listened their album "St Elsewhere" obsessively. Then the new one came out and soon came in my mail:
I'm not disappointed. The sound is a bit more old-school and the lyrics a bit differently written: instead of many words that sound alike brought together, you'll more likely find AABCCB rhymes. Still, it's the same old good Gnarls Barkley. Going On is a really motivating song (I suppose it will be released as a single, so you'll see what I mean), and Neighbor shows jealousy in such a way that you automatically apreciate what you have instead of envying others:

Now my neighbor likes my clothes
But hadn't seen me with my scars exposed

Trivia: A reverse edition of the album, retitled eplouC ddO ehT, (the entire album fused into one 38 min track played completely in reverse, starting with the album's last song) is legally available for download free of charge at fronttobackbacktofront.com. Now I gotta reverse it back and see what it really features (reportedly no vocals, so I'll have a karaoke version).

In short, whatever Gnarls Barkley does is really original and reflects the members' signature style. The lyrics tell about life's good and bad times, but both are dealt with in a positive and constructive way. When I have time, I definitely will check the members' other projects.

Materialism

I've been getting quite frustrated lately over my lack of money. So, here are some thoughts about all the material stuff around that have come to my mind as a result.

First, I needed a solution to my problem. I saw two:

1. get money
2. get over it.

Number one. Asking parents was done a few months ago with a positive effect and I feel I can't really ask for more right now. Getting a job is a wider subject. I am considering it, but I have quite a bit of work at school and the only useful thing I can do right now is coding in php (or C, which I hate). Staying at home for a few more months and learning something like ASP (or Java) would get me a salary 3 times higher, so doesn't investing a little bit more time in education seem reasonable?

Number two doesn't exclude number one and can do wonders. First question: what do I intend to by and what do I really need?

1. A good mascara and a good blush. These would actually better wait a bit, like until I get a job and show my face to someone. The products I own are good enough for my couple of hours long trips to school.
2. Well fitting jeans. I brought some recently. My choice was very limited by my budget, but I found some. And besides, any skirt or dress looks better, so I don't need many pairs of jeans.
   
3. Some comfy pants for yoga. I found these among my stuff before I had the opportunity to buy some - isn't that way better?
4. Radiohead CDs, because I've heard they have great lyrics. These can wait a bit too, and in the meantime, I can listen to them on-line. This applies to other positions on my "music to get" list (Bowling for Soup, Three Days Grace...)
5. Some beads and stuff to make my own jewelry. Cool and way cheaper than actual jewelry, but I don't have time for crafting right now anyway. Again, can wait.

The conclusion is pretty obvious: I've got everything I need! This one has lead me further: for me, "hunger" means "move your butt downstairs to the kitchen", "no electricity" means "they'll fix it in a couple of hours, take your laptop to school or Boyfriend's office meanwhile". So let's take a while to appreciate all those things we've got and take for granted.

Okay, I'm slowly getting over it. I still know in the back of my head that I'm in IT and money-wise, great times will come soon. Just be a bit patient.

Besides thinking, I like reading sites with good advice, like Life Hacker (although they really abuse of the term "hacking") and Zen Habits and one day, I came across Oprah's organizing tips and among them, an article called "the urge to purge". In the article, the following advice:

"You should own nothing that is not useful, beautiful, or loved."

Sound simple and smart. But my question is: why do we own things that aren't any of the three above? Okay, there are all the mistaken gifts and free samples, but when we buy something, how do we know it's not going to fail that test? How soon until it does? No easy answers here. I got an idea, though. I try to postpone all my purchases (well, not shower gel, but you get the idea). I try living without the thing and see how it goes. Some things have been dumped and I don't even remember what they were - these are unnecessary expenses avoided!

Feel like reading more on the subject? Penelope Trunk has an interesting article, "5 steps to taming materialism, from an accidental expert", that really gives a lot to think about. My favourite part is the one about moving and having to leave almost all possessions behind.

Nerdore hip-hop: MC Plus +

So... as a songwriter, I just have to have an opinion about any sound I hear. Today, I'll blog about an artist who really caught my attention as soon as I heard of him: MC Plus +.
Picture credit: official site.
I don't really remember how it began. But soon, his entire first album (Algorythms) was on my playlist. I was like: "Whoah! geek stuff!" and a bit of "It was my idea!". Anyway, I really like this album for its originality. I'm still full of admiration the line:
Like a progress bar that's gone too far...
There's a track about my life-passion, cryptology. There's a track about Tomek The One And Only. Anyway, a great album. Go get it.
So, I decided to do a bit of search in the nerdore hip-hop (or geeksta rap) genre. The only interesting thing I found was the nick "DJ Ikstra". Besides that, well, lots of swearing a nothing I'd remember as interesting.
Then, MC Plus+'s second album came out. And let me say, what a disappointement! Taking a sample of classical music and adding a beat to it sounds good, but not on half one's album! "Sluts" from MySpace are no computer science! The dude can do much better...
Anyway, if you're looking for some nerdy music, MC Plus +'s site is the place to go.