M Is FOR MASHUP - April 24th, 2013
The Many Mashups Of Alan Black
By DJ Useo & the Useoettes
I'm somewhat familiar with the bootleg mix output of
Alan Black
( www.alanblack13.com/ )
having heard earlier albums, and even a few singles on various mashup compilations. I'd observed that he had a strong handle on the production end of mixing, and also wide tastes in source artists. Over the past few years, Mr. Black staked out his own audience territory, offering high-quality releases that re?ected well on his abilities.
Early on in his net appearances he presented solid, inventive albums like the 'TOTEMIC" albums 'Totemic I: The Love of Opiates and Totemic II: The Opiates of Love'. The mixes were immediately recognizable as aside from the mainstream, while they still succeeded in pleasing large swaths of the mashup audience.
Alan Black continued to release occasional singles, while the albums also attracted praise. The Album "INCEPTION/ EXCERPTION" led to "CHAOS" to "RUIN" to "END". Notice a pattern there?
As he progressed through the months Alan developed as one would expect with someone of his obvious intelligence. Recently, I became more aware of his modern albums, Sets 04-06, "ANKLEBITERS", "BAIRN a'BROOD", and "CHIEF AND CARDINAL".
Now, I'd already heard splendid mashups from him, but in these newest albums, I found mixes that grabbed in a ?rmer way than even before. The mixing and production is ?nest kind, with musical pairings that sit well among the best of the entire scene. There's even more albums than I mention here.
While I've been consumed with the trio of set albums, he's been busy crafting many new singles. I saw a batch at the FACEBOOK site MASHUP PRODUCERS that I still haven't heard. One thing I'm certain of is that they'll be worthwhile listens and great choices for replays.
I realize this is a lot of praise, but it's genuinely warranted. I've been playing the Set albums again on shuf?e while I write, and they con?rm my written assessment. Alan Black is making excellent mashups with many more to follow. Don't get me wrong, I love a good club mashup, but Mr. Black's tracks deliver deep mood, incredible melody, and often exotic rhythms that one rarely finds in an AVICII vs ADELE mashup, as ?ne as they can be.
All the above albums are hosted at no charge (as are most mashups) at
his regular site
( www.alanblack13.com/ ) and will provide you vast amounts of ful?lling listening. More new mashups coming next week. Warm up your mp3 players!
Mix Of The Week
Budtheweiser kicks ass with 2 & 1/2 hours of amazing ska and 2-tone tunes. It holds up to the end.
Listen here
( www.mixcloud.com/paul-buddery/licensed-to-dance/ )
Mashup Tip
Bright reverbs can flatter vocals, but may exaggerate sibilance. As an alternative to de-essing the vocals, try instead de-essing the feed to the reverb unit, so that sibilance is removed before the reverb is applied. (Thanks to Paul W. )
Latest Useo Thing
'Drain You De-Luxe' (
Lush vs Nirvana). Kurt sings over true Lush-ness. Mashup for demonstration purposes only.
( of?cial.fm/tracks/DLoo )
( www.groovytimewithdjuseo.blogspot.com/2013/04/lush-vs-nirvana-drain-you-de-luxe.html )
Animated cover here
( i85.photobucket.com/albums/k67/useo8/DJ%20Useo%20Covers%202/djuseo-drain-de-luxe_zpsf54431c5.gif )
Podgornio, The Mashup Psychic Predicts
Someone will mash some dance music soon
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Road Rage Karma (YouTube)
Ricardo Rivera: 5 Heartwarming Stories to Restore Your Faith in Celebrities (Cracked)
#5. Tom Cruise Saves Real Lives (Routinely)
Sadhbh Walshe: "Exonerated while black: America's guilty secret about convicting innocents" (Guardian)
Seeing how the US justice system treats the people it mistakenly locks up, you'd have to call it a racial injustice system.
Paul Krugman: Very Sensitive People (New York Times)
When it comes to inflicting pain on the citizens of debtor nations, austerians are all steely determination - hey, it's a tough world, and hard choices have to be made. But when they or their friends come under criticism, suddenly it's all empathy and hurt feelings.
LYNN STUART PARRAMORE: Meet the grad student who upended the GOP (Salon)
The party has long relied on a single study to justify austerity measures. Then Thomas Herndon crunched the numbers.
Joseph Bennington-Castro: "The psychology of hating food (and how we learn to love it)" (io9)
Kids who hate stinky cheese and greens often grow into adults who can't get enough of them. Why do our tastes seem to transform in our teens? And can we change our tastes deliberately as adults? Here's what scientists know so far.
8 TV Episodes That Qualify As Psychological Warfare (io9)
Some TV episodes entertain us and enliven our evenings. But other seem primarily designed to break a viewer psychologically, and take bloody bites out of our sense of well-being. Today, we'll be looking at the latter.
Terry Pratchett: 'Fantasy is uni-age' (Guardian)
Despite his Alzheimer's diagnosis, Terry Pratchett is still marvelling at the world and still writing. He tells Stephen Moss about his new scientific direction, battling Hollywood executives - and why he doesn't fear death.
David Bruce: Wise Up! Authors (Athens News)
Harold Ross, publisher of The New Yorker, once said, "I asked Ring Lardner the other day how he writes his short stories, and he said he wrote a few widely separated words or phrases on a piece of paper and then went back and filled in the spaces."
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog
David Bruce's Lulu Storefront
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has approximately 50 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
wrote:
replied:
said:
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny, warm.
Coalition for a Safer Maine
Stephen King
Stephen King and his wife have made a donation to a Maine group advocating for stricter gun control laws.
King says the gift was "five figures" but doesn't want to say more about it because "charity's supposed to be a private thing."
The Coalition for a Safer Maine says King is a gun owner and a defender of the Second Amendment who supports expanded background checks on gun sales and a ban on the sale of high-capacity ammunition magazines. It says the "substantial contribution" from the "Salem's Lot" author and fellow author Tabitha King will help fund its advocacy efforts.
After the deadly Newtown, Conn., elementary school shooting in December, Stephen King wrote a best-selling e-book called "Guns," discussing his thoughts on gun control and gun rights.
Stephen King
'Holy Grail' Of Video Games
Family Fun Fitness: Stadium Events
A North Carolina woman stumbled across a rare find, when she purchased an old 1980's video game from a Goodwill store for $8. That may not sound like such a great deal. However, it turns out that the game, Family Fun Fitness: Stadium Events, may be worth as much as $38,000.
Video games are not like a fine wine; their value diminishes rapidly with most gamers lucky to get a few dollars of store credit when attempting to trade-in their used games.
Now, it may come as a surprise to some that a game released in 1986 for the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), is drawing such interest, currently set at a $12,000 asking price on the site Game Gavel.
Only 2,000 copies of the game were ever produced, with just 200 of those ever making it into the hands of customers before the game was recalled.
Family Fun Fitness: Stadium Events
2013 International Prize for Arabic Fiction
"The Bamboo Stalk"
Kuwaiti author Saud Alsanousi has won the 2013 International Prize for Arabic Fiction for his portrayal of the lives of foreign workers in Gulf countries in "The Bamboo Stalk".
The 31-year-old Alsanousi became the youngest winner in the $50,000-prize's six-year history for the story seen through the eyes of Issa, the son of a Kuwaiti father and a Filipina mother.
On returning to his father's homeland as an adult, Issa finds himself in a difficult position.
Rather than the mythical country his mother has described to him, he discovers he is caught between the natural, biological ties he shares with his father's family and the prejudices of a traditional society, which views a child of Kuwaiti-Filipina heritage as socially unacceptable.
Alsanousi's work has appeared in a number of Kuwaiti publications, including Al-Watan newspaper and Al-Arabi, Al-Kuwait and Al-Abwab magazines and he currently writes for Al-Qabas newspaper. He wins $50,000.
"The Bamboo Stalk"
Hospital News
Maya Angelou
One of Maya Angelou's doctors says the poet and author is recovering at her North Carolina home following a brief hospitalization.
Dr. Jeff Williamson of the Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., says in letter dated Tuesday that, as leader of Angelou's medical team, he has ordered the 85-year-old to forego any travel for the next three to four weeks.
The letter was sent to Angelou's speaker's bureau, MacRae Speakers & Entertainment LLC. A message seeking further details was left for the Pembroke, Mass.-based company.
Butler University in Indianapolis announced Angelou had cancelled an appearance scheduled for Thursday after being notified by the speaker's bureau.
Maya Angelou
Kansas Judge Blocks Use Of Files
'In Cold Blood'
A judge ruled Tuesday that investigation materials from the 1959 "In Cold Blood" murders kept by a Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent at home may not be auctioned off or publicly disclosed until he's had a chance to review them.
Shawnee County District Judge Larry Hendricks said the state could face "irreparable harm" if the materials found in Harold Nye's home became public.
The materials include Nye's personal journals, which mix notes from his KBI work with notes about personal matters, according to lawyers. The items also include copies of records and other materials about the investigation that inspired the Truman Capote classic. Crime scene photos in his possession were returned to the state last year by his son.
Ronald Nye, of Oklahoma City, kept the other materials after his father's 2003 death and gave them to Seattle memorabilia dealer Gary McAvoy to auction off. But the Kansas attorney general's office contends the materials belong to the state, and it sued last year to get them back. Another hearing in the case is scheduled for November, to determine when it will go to trial.
'In Cold Blood'
Expansion To Start With Harry Potter
Universal Studios Hollywood
NBCUniversal plans to begin construction this summer on a $1.6 billion, 25-year expansion of its Los Angeles-area theme park, offices and production facilities.
The company owned by Comcast Corp. announced Tuesday that it would start building The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at its Universal Studios Hollywood theme park, along with upgraded TV production studios and office space on the studio lot.
The project would eventually include a hotel and retail outlets, adding nearly 2 million square feet to the studio complex. The plan initially called for nearly 3,000 residences, but that was dropped last year after objections from local residents and politicians.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors tentatively approved the plan Tuesday, unanimously directing its lawyers to prepare documents for final approval.
Universal Studios Hollywood
Bieber's Monkey Going Nowhere
Mally
German customs authorities said Tuesday that Justin Bieber's monkey is going nowhere for now even though the singer has apparently asked that it be removed from an animal shelter where it is staying and be placed in a zoo.
Mally, a 17-week-old capuchin monkey, was seized by customs authorities March 28 when Bieber failed to produce the required papers after landing in Munich while on tour.
Judith Brettmeister, spokeswoman for the Munich Animal Protection League shelter, where Mally has been kept since then, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that her office has since received two emails from a representative saying he was with Bieber's management company.
Brettmeister said she could not confirm that the emails were really from the management company, "though they appear to be." Bieber's representative did not immediately respond to an email requesting confirmation.
Brettmeister said the first email asked how long Bieber had to provide the paperwork before the monkey would be euthanized. The Animal Protection League replied that animals aren't euthanized in German shelters.
Mally
Time Capsule Opened
Oklahoma City
The First Lutheran Church of Oklahoma City dug up and opened its Century Chest, a time capsule that was buried under the church 100 years ago.
The artifacts inside the copper chest were remarkably well intact. Credit for that goes to the church's Ladies Aide Society, the group that buried the capsule a century ago. The group buried the chest in double concrete walls and under 12 inches of concrete, according Fox News. It also left guidelines on how to unearth the capsule.
The chest was full of treasures. Among the finds: a newspaper from the day the capsule was buried (April 22, 1913); a dress; a telephone; a flag; a pen used by President William McKinley; a camera; and a pair of women's shoes that still had their shine. Perhaps most remarkable was a phonograph record featuring voices of citizens from the era.
Experts from the Oklahoma Historical Society worked with the church to make sure the objects were handled with care. All of the items will be displayed at the Oklahoma History Center.
Oklahoma City
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for April 15-21. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.
1. "The Voice" (Monday), NBC, 14.45 million.
2. "The Voice" (Tuesday), NBC, 14.16 million.
3. "Dancing With the Stars," ABC, 13.4 million.
4. "Dancing With the Stars Results," ABC, 12.73 million.
5. "American Idol" (Wednesday), Fox, 12.71 million.
6. "NCIS" (Tuesday, 9 p.m.), CBS, 12.61 million.
7. "American Idol" (Thursday), Fox, 12.42 million.
8. "60 Minutes," CBS, 11.91 million.
9. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 11.43 million.
10. "The Big Bang Theory" (Thursday, 9 p.m.), CBS, 10.89 million.
11. "Castle," ABC, 10.18 million.
12. "Survivor: Caramoan," CBS, 9.99 million.
13. "NCIS: Los Angeles" (Tuesday, 8 p.m.), CBS, 9.39 million.
14. "The Amazing Race 22," CBS, 9.16 million.
15. "The Mentalist," CBS, 9.1 million.
16. "The Good Wife," CBS, 9.02 million.
17. "Body of Proof," ABC, 8.94 million.
18. NBC News: "Terror in Boston," NBC, 8.79 million.
19. "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 8.79 million.
20. "Person of Interest" (Thursday, 10 p.m.), CBS, 8.62 million.
Ratings
In Memory
Allan Arbus
U.S. actor Allan Arbus, best known for his role as Army psychiatrist Sidney Freedman on the 1970s hit television series "M*A*S*H" and as the husband of the late photographer Diane Arbus, has died at the age of 95.
Arbus, who gave up his photography for acting, passed away from congestive heart failure at his home in Los Angeles on Friday, his second wife Mariclare Costello Arbus told Reuters.
"At 95, doctors didn't want to do surgery and Allan didn't want it at all," said Costello Arbus, an actress who married Arbus in 1976.
Arbus' first major acting role came as Christ-like figure Jesse in director Robert Downey Sr.'s 1972 cult film "Greaser's Palace," which also starred the director's young son, Robert Downey Jr.
He shot to prominence the role of the acerbic psychiatrist Sidney Freedman on "M*A*S*H" in 1973, a year after the Korean War comedy-drama began.
Arbus' final credited television role was in an episode of comedy "Curb Your Enthusiasm" in 2000, according to Hollywood database IMDb.com.
Arbus was born in 1918 in New York and began his career as a photographer in the 1940s and served as an U.S. Army photographer during World War II.
In 1941, he married Diane Nemerov - who later earned artistic acclaim for her photos of marginalized people. The couple started a photography studio together which shot photos for magazines Vogue and Glamour, among others.
The couple separated in 1959 and divorced a decade later. Diane Arbus committed suicide in 1971.
Arbus is survived by his three children; Amy Arbus and Doon Arbus from his first marriage and Arin Arbus from his second.
Allan Arbus
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