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Synthesiser Patel

Music, Synthesiser Patel
Music Of The Month
29.06.11 | Permalink | Comment?

Every month I will pick four newly catalogued albums that have been on heavy rotation in Teen Blog Towers and give them a slightly longer review. Because they deserve it.

Body Talk pt.1 by Robyn. The first in a series of three mini-albums (we have part two here) from Sweden’s pre-eminent electro-pop chanteuse and arguably the best. Though short in length at only eight tracks, it does guarantee an extremely favourable “Killer” to “Filler” ratio as every song is worthy of “hot jam” status. Features appearances from dancefloor faves Röyksopp too.

James Blake by James Blake. Following the NME approved indie-dubstep trail blazed by fellow Londoners the xx, whilst harkening back to the trip-hop of Massive Attack et al., James Blake has crafted a debut that seems tailor made for cold winter nights in. Which is perfect timing really - the days have shortened somewhat. Well played, James.

Upside Down, The Best Of by The Jesus And Mary Chain. Jim and William Reid’s noise rock band, The Jesus And Mary Chain lasted far longer and exerted much more influence than critics originally expected (and, presumably hoped for). Characterised by caustic performance and confrontational walls of sound, the brothers eventually evolved the band into a mainstay of alt-rock radio, leaving behind an indelible lo-fi blueprint for the Dum Dum Girls and Best Coasts of the world to study.

Born This Way by Lady Gaga. Though this album was almost unquestionably the most anticipated of the still young decade, Lady’s (it’s cool if I use Lady as her first name, right?) stadium-sized persona was threatening to outshine anything she’d achieved musically. Lucky then it doesn’t disappoint. This collection of songs is the pop event of the year, the giant eggs and meat dresses are merely window dressing.
Music, New, Synthesiser Patel
New Music: New Zealand Edition
18.06.11 | Permalink | Comment?

Man On Wire – PNC
Evidently quite
proud of Palmerston North roots,
changed name to show it.

Means - Street Chant
All girl guitar pop
trio’s debut entry in
to the indie soup.

Flags (Deluxe Edition) – Brooke Fraser
The same as before
only now there is more. (these
rarely rhyme, so yay!)

System Remix – Shapeshifter
The same as before
only not really, because
remix equals change.

Our New Life Above Ground – Avalanche City
Where were they before?
Down with the mole people? Are
they mole people? Yikes!

Jam Pac’d – Various Artists
Pasifika jams
pack this compilation. Hence
the title I guess.
Music, New, Synthesiser Patel
New Music: International Edition
14.06.11 | Permalink | Comment?

Blood Pressure – The Kills
Boy/Girl duo’s brand
new adventures in lo-fi
minimalism.

Blood Mountain – Mastodon
Mammoth species
lived from the Oligocene
through to Pleistocene.

Born This Way – Lady Gaga
Temporarily
banned in Lebanon due to
controversial themes.

BTR – Big Time Rush
Manufactured band
with a TV show. Is there
any other way?

Vices & Virtues – Panic! At The Disco
Two members exit
and the punctuation mid
band name reappears.

Glee, The Music: Volume Six
Placeholding series
of syllables, no further
insight to offer.

Where Did The Night Fall – Unkle
Unkle can always
be relied upon to make
great videos, see.

Moment Bends – Architecture In Helsinki
Neoclassical
features adorn buildings of
Finland’s capital.

Coming soon, New Music: New Zealand Edition
Isn't that cool?, Music, Not Library Related, Synthesiser Patel
Synthesiser Patel’s Synthesiser Of The Week
09.06.11 | Permalink | Comment?

This week I was going to write a post about the regular theremin, but after finding the video below, that post can wait.

This man, Ken Moore, has made a homemade theremin out of a wiimote, LED gloves and a Roland synthesiser. It’s that kind of forward thinking that earns you the title of “Synthesiser of the week”. He has a blog here with more theremin related goodness.

If you’ve now been inspired and you’d now like to build your own theremin, you can! This mini theremin from Make magazine is very reasonably priced and cute.
Music, New, Synthesiser Patel
Hot New Jams
02.06.11 | Permalink | Comment?

Glee Presents: The Warblers
A cappella glee
club from a fictional school
down in Ohio

Sparks Fly – Miranda Cosgrove
iCarly starlet
follows Hannah Montana
blueprint to success

Helplessness Blues – Fleet Foxes
The follow up to
an eponymous debut,
released to acclaim

James Blake – James Blake
Dubstep goes Chillwave.
Electro goes Minimal.
Trip-hop, I suppose.

This Modern Glitch - The Wombats
Marsupial-themed
cynics’ sophomore effort
adds some bpm

Love? – Jennifer Lopez
American Idol
judge capitalizes on
re-found relevance

Greatest Hits – Bon Jovi
Those old dudes that were
at the stadium last year
re-package, add four.

Major Flavours 2011 – DJ Sir-Vere
Hiatus over,
Sir-Vere again mixes, cuts
up and destroys tracks
Music, Not Library Related, Synthesiser Patel
Synthesiser Patel’s Synthesiser Of The Week
31.05.11 | Permalink | Comment?

Obviously I am a big fan of synthesisers, it is after all how I got my name! So it gives me great pride to present to you perhaps the most unusual synthesiser of them all, the Oramics Machine.

Daphne Oram from Setla Productions on Vimeo.

Designed by Daphne Oram in 1957, the Oramics Machine uses strips of 35mm film that shapes can be drawn on to create sound. The shapes modulated light that was then captured by photocells and, well, I can’t really explain the science, but pictures make the sounds! There is only one Oramics Machine in the entire world and it will soon be on display in the London Science Museum, book your tickets I guess.
Librarian's Choice, Music, New, Synthesiser Patel
The Haiku Machine
19.05.11 | Permalink | Comment?

Give the drummer some - Travis Barker
Claims made of “no one
genre” are false. I know nu-
metal all too well.

Hurley – Weezer
Michael Cera guests,
to play the hurdy gurdy.
- Source, good ‘ole wiki.

Body Talk pt. 1 – Robyn
Now is as good a
time as any to link to
Librarians choice

Body Talk pt. 2 – Robyn
Of course we also
recommend this, the second
installment highly.

Upside Down: The Best Of – The Jesus & Mary Chain
Scarlett Johansson’s
first backing band’s previous
career chronicled.

Attack & Release – The Black Keys
Ably assisted
by a man dressed as a mouse
who provides keyboards.

Euphoric Heartbreak – Glasvegas
Contradictory
band names deserve album names
to suit I suppose.

Clubbers Guide 2011 – Ministry Of Sound
Back cover uses
type that causes Bs to look
exactly like Ds
Music, New, Synthesiser Patel
Gold Soundz
10.05.11 | Permalink | Comment?

Deerhoof vs. Evil - Deerhoof
Cuddly avant garde
popsters fight evil forces.
Yoshimi redux?

Basic Instinct – Ciara
First Lady of “Crunk
‘n B” rounds bases, covers
all with hits. Home run.

The People’s Key – Brights Eyes
Conor Oberst’s band
name reminds me of Bonnie
Tyler. Can’t help it.

Crack The Skye – Mastodon
Mammoth riffing from
prehistoric pachyderm
namesake metal band.

Wasting Light – Foo Fighters
Dave Grohl and his pals
finally deliver on
long made promises.

Wounded Rhymes - Lykke Li
Sweden takes further
monopoly on pop songs
worth blogging about.

Endgame – Rise Against
This week in angsty
radio punk broadcasting
from America.

Now That’s What I Call Music 35 – Various Artists
Currently these are
the songs EMI Records
are calling music.

A State Of Trance 2011 - Armin Van Buuren
Not hypnotism
related, rather it is
dance music instead.
Music, New, Synthesiser Patel
The Music That Has Most Recently Arrived
19.04.11 | Permalink | Comment?

The Best Of – Nelly Furtado
Has she now – like a
bird – flown away? Or is this
a stop-gap album?

Queen – Queen
How many dudes do
you know that rocked a mic stand
like this? Not many.

Awesome As F**k – Green Day
Apparently their
live shows are more awesome than
most everything.

London Sessions – LCD Soundsystem
I will miss you James
Murphy. Like, a whole lot. Is
this really goodbye?

Angles – The Strokes
Former coolest band
in world returns from lengthy
hiatus to rock

Femme Fatale – Britney Spears
Nico reference
excepting, it’s not really
that avant at all.

The King Of Limbs - Radiohead
All summaries pale
compared to animated
.gifs, see example.

Wonders Of The Younger – Plain White Ts
Essential wardrobe
items release another
album. Their sixth.

Seasons Of The Soul – Rumer
“I’d have these moods in
my soul that would come around
like seasons” – Rumer

No More Idols – Chase & Status
Polished dubstep from
United Kingdom duo, plus
many, many guests.

Build A Rocket Boys! – Elbow
Well received alt-rock
featuring nostalgia as
the major motif.

F.A.M.E. – Chris Brown
Forgiveness rhythm
and blues record? Fans are my
(his) everything.
Music, New, Synthesiser Patel
Mo Music, Mo Poems
06.04.11 | Permalink | Comment?

Ritual - White Lies
Grandiosity
fills every second of
available songs

The Drums – The Drums
Heir apparents to
eighties indie empire start
out pleasingly strong.

No Boys Allowed – Keri Hilson
She only wants men.
I think that was the main
takeaway at least.

Aha Shake Heartbreak – Kings Of Leon
Before they cut their
hair and shaved their beards, the songs
were much, much better?

Youth & Young Manhood – Kings Of Leon
Does this make them the
music version of Samson?
Yes, actually.

Lasers – Lupe Fiasco
Light amplifica-
tion by stimulated e-
mission of photons.

Burlesque – Soundtrack
Christina Aguil-
era sings most of the songs
but Cher chips two in.

Tarot Card Rock – Barnaby Weir
Vaguely predicting
people’s futures through the rock
and roll medium.