MH2 Podcast #2

Here's a download to this week's MH2 Podcast. This week, I talk about Brian Eno and I show how he has indirectly influenced me even before I knew who he was.

Download Link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?lcy633qaam07cc4

Peer Comment #3

I truly enjoyed Ryan’s post on Tool. While I’ve never been a huge fan of Tool myself, Ryan gives me a reason to give them another shot. There’s something about how in-depth he gets with this post that makes them seem that much more interesting. It really shows how experimental Tool’s music is and how much thought is put into the songwriting process. His explanation of the Fibonacci sequence they used to write a song pretty much blew my mind. It’s a great post that once again shows the depth capable of musicians. It’s a good read for both fans and non-fans.

Brian Eno

In an industry where re-invention is the key to success, it’s rare to ever see anyone actually innovate so much as to create an entirely new genre. Producer and musician Brian Eno was able to do just that. It’s because of Brian Eno that we saw the birth of an entirely new genre known as ambient music in our generation. After testing the waters of the popular glam rock music scene as a keyboardist with the band ‘Roxy Music,’ Eno went off into a different, more artistic, direction with his musical abilities. As his solo career progressed his music began to become more and more experimental until he finally released the milestone of an album known as “Ambient 1/ Music for Airports”. The album was often described as a ‘sonic landscape’ that was able to paint a picture in people’s minds. Eno was a true pioneer in the genre that remains popular to this day.

Ambient music is one of the only genres that doesn’t follow a structure and isn’t about a main hook or a memorable guitar riff. Ambient music was more about being minimal and creating an atmosphere that allowed the listener’s mind to drift into its own imagination. Tracks were often long and simply built on each other to the point where an album felt like one long song. It was unlike anything that had been heard at the time and it wasn’t long before the genre caught on and created a scene for itself. To this day, many popular artists, both mainstream and experimental underground, cite Brian Eno as a big inspiration.

Along with experimenting with songwriting, Eno has also been recognized for his unique production techniques. Brian Eno was one of the first to propose the idea that a studio could be used as an instrument rather than simply just a tool to record music in his essay, “The Studio as a Compositional Tool.” His unique production style has landed him the role of producer with many big name bands such as U2, Coldplay, John Cale, Devo, and Talking Heads to name a few.

Brian Eno did not stop his innovation there, however. Eno is also partially responsible for the further development of generative music, which is now used even more than ever before to create music in video games. Generative music consists of music that is never the same and offers a unique listening experience every time it is played using computer-generated code. Brian Eno composed music for the popular video game, Spore, using this method.

As a listener, I’ve always loved what Eno has done musically and I fell in love with the genre he created before I even heard of who he was. I’ve always been more interested in painting a picture with music than writing a catchy chorus or an impressive guitar solo. I sometimes wonder where music would be right now without Eno’s innovations. His works have clearly indirectly influenced me ever since the day I started playing guitar. As a recording professional, Eno’s production value is stellar. I’m a huge fan of Coldplay’s ‘Viva La Vida’ and part of that reason is because of how big the entire production sounds. The whole album is breath taking and it takes me on a mental ride each time. Using the studio as an instrument is probably one of the best approaches to production I’ve ever come across, in my opinion.

Peer Comment #2

Ryan Boda's MH2 Blog Peer Comment

This is a pretty good blog entry that describes The Velvet Underground & Nico in good detail. If I hadn't of heard the album prior to reading this blog entry I think that I would been more inclined to listen to the album. I always like reading more in-depth about any album because they give more insight on an album and even give it a little bit more meaning. Ryan's blog entry about the album gives me just that. I don't have a lot of constructive criticism to give Ryan because it was a good post all-around. The grammar and spelling was good and the entry was easy to read and never really dragged on any sentences. It gave the information needed and gave enough background on the band that I felt more connected to their music. I keep coming back to Ryan's blog because it is really well written and quite informative.

Daft Punk

Daft Punk has left a huge impact on today's electronic music scene. They are true innovators and have managed to hit the mainstream market in ways that few other electronic musicians have been able to. They have innovated by taking sampling to another level by messing with sounds from other songs and meshing them together with their own sounds to create undeniably catchy songs. The French duo keeps a somewhat of a mysterious image, choosing to always perform with costumes and helmets on. Daft Punk first saw success in France and they have often been accredited for helping shape the sound of the 'French House' music genre by many other successful artists.

After trying out the whole guitar-driven band with a couple of rock tunes and becoming bored with the concept, the duo disbanded their rock band, 'Darlin' and went onto to trade in their guitars for drum machines and synths. They wanted to go beyond making music that everyone had already heard. Daft Punk was able to take old songs that had already run their course and bring them back to life in a completely new light. Their highly successful "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" was a direct sample off of Edwin Birdsong's 1979 song, "Cola Bottle Baby". While many people haven't even heard of Edwin Birdsong, Daft Punk was able to take the hook of the song and make it highly successful. Something Edwin Birdsong wasn't able to do as well as Daft Punk did.

Some may argue that sampling is cheap. Some may argue that it isn't even real music. The proof is in the numbers, however. People really liked what Daft Punk had to offer. They were taking songs that didn't do entirely too great in the past and giving them a second chance. Daft Punk has had a huge influence on the electronic music scene and all sorts of musicians are drawing creativity from their music. Daft Punk was even asked to create the entire soundtrack to Disney's latest blockbuster film, "Tron". Being asked by Disney to create a soundtrack in an industry where composers have to work hard for years to even be considered to create the soundtrack for a half decent movie is not an easy feat. Clearly, Daft Punk has something innovative going on for them.

As a musician, listener and recording engineer, Daft Punk definitely speaks to me on many levels. They are both musicians and producers in the sense that they can take old songs and bring them to life in a totally different perspective. They really know how to sample a song without stealing it. They make the song theirs. Their production value is like ear candy and just gives you something fun to listen to the entire ride through the song. Daft Punk is definitely a milestone in electronic music.

Kraftwerk

Kraftwerk was one of the first acts to ever make completely electronic music on an internationally successful scale. While most people, at the time of their arrival, were still stuck on listening to bands and singers backed by a complex arrangement of instruments, Kraftwerk was trying something radically different. They began making music while the Krautrock scene was beginning to take off. Some might say that Kraftwerk looked like a somewhat futuristic group due to the way they presented themselves on stage. Everything was organized and uniform and nothing was on stage apart from synthesizers and four men. The sounds that were produced, even early on, from them were definitely ahead of their time. We now live in a world flooded with synths and electronic music. It's almost impossible to hear a single on popular radio that isn't driven by synth. Down to their concept albums and the whole futuristic feel of their music, Kraftwerk definitely looked and sounded ahead of their time.

Kraftwerk really began to take off as a group after the release of Autobahn (1974). This concept album really pushed the experimental boundaries and opened up with a 22-minute song named "Autobahn". The album was also one of the first times they decided to use non-electronic instruments. Despite it's experimental factor, the single version of "Autobahn" still did really well on the sales charts. Kraftwerk continued riding on the success of their concept album and followed it up by another one named, "Radioactivity". It featured both German and English lyrics throughout the album. This album was a milestone for them because it was entirely produced and recorded by the two leaders of the band, Ralf and Florian. Throughout the years, Kraftwerk continued their success with the release of Trans-Europe Express (1977), the Man Machine (1978), and Computer World (1981), each time bringing something new to the table and innovating the electronic music scene.

Kraftwerk made an impact on the electronic music scene by creating music that very few were creating at the time and doing it in style. While most would normally look like they were pulling off some sort of fluke when creating a new sound, Kraftwerk looked and sounded like they knew exactly what they were doing from the start. Their concept albums strengthened the fact and gave even more meaning to their music. I can imagine that people felt as if they were listening to the future when they listened to Kraftwerk in their early years. Looking at how big electronic music has become today, that thought feeling might not have been too far fetched.

Kraftwerk has definitely influenced me in one way or another. Although I'm not too big into electronic music, it has become a big part of today's industry and it is important to acknowledge their contribution to music as a whole. As an industry professional, I am pretty impressed with the electronic sounds that they were able to craft at the time of their birth as a group. I love and respect people who aren't afraid to experiment with new sounds and ideas. Their production value was top-notch. The self-produced and recorded, Radioactivity, proved that to me as well.

Revolver Podcast

Take a listen to this podcast I did on The Beatles' 'Revolver' album to listen to some insight on how much this album has had an impact on today's modern pop music.

To download, wait for the QuickTime player to load or just download the file for free by clicking "Download this file".

http://www.zshare.net/audio/8040252121c6f100/