Archive for the ‘Musical Instrument’ Category
Sennheiser HD25 Review
May 7th, 2010 | Author: admin
Comfort
They’re not perfect. If you have a sensitive head, you might want to try them on before you buy if you can, because they are a bit tight with both earcups on. This problem is actually the reason I got rid of my Pioneers – they started giving me headaches. The Sennheisers, which I’ve been using for a month or so, now, don’t do that. The split headband allows you to adjust this tightness a bit, but the loosest setting would still be a bit tight for people with big heads or who are prone t muscle problems.
The weight, however, is impressive. They weight under 5 Ounces. Not pounds. Ounces. They’re certainly easy on the neck.
Sound
They sound amazingly clear, with deep bass and crisp highs. Everyone who listens to them is amazed by the quality of sound that comes out of them – no one believes that headphones can sound this good. They’re an absolute dream to mix with and to listen to just about anything with. One note, though…you will hear errors in recordings. There are some old Beatles recordings where you can hear people talking in the sound booth and stuff like that. It will probably piss you off if you’re a music snob like most DJs are. The isolation is better than any headphones I’ve heard, including the much larger and tighter HDJ-1000s.
Operation
Well, they don’t work like normal DJ headphones. Instead, the left ear cup swivels on an axis that goes through your head. So, what I normally do is twist the left ear cup so that it rests either behind my ear or on top of my temple. Everything sits in place nicely and it’s actually really comfortable. Also, in this position, it’s really easy to hold that left ear cup to your ear with your shoulder…you have to be careful because you’ll snap them if you push too hard, but you don’t have to bend your neck or shoulder nearly as far to do it…if that’s your thing. One other strange thing is that the cord is on the right ear cup. I’ve never seen that in DJ headphones before, but it doesn’t make a difference. What will make a difference for some is that the cord isn’t coiled. And, It’s a bit short. If you move around a lot without taking off your headphones, you might want to look into other headphones or change your habits.
Album Review : Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars Rise & Shine
April 23rd, 2010 | Author: admin
They say every cloud has a silver lining, and if any good came out of the appalling civil war that devastated their country between 1991 and 2002, it must be Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars. It’s thought that around a third of the population fled as a result of the conflict, with many settling for years in refugee camps in neighbouring Guinea, which is where this band had its genesis.
Arriving six years after their debut album, Living Like a Refugee, Rise & Shine finds the group moving from describing what life is like for a refugee to getting on with rebuilding their lives, and directing their gaze towards more general concerns, judging by their lyrics. Thus, Global Threat addresses climate change, disarmament and food shortages, while Goat Smoke Pipe is a sly allegory about post-war corruption and inequality in Sierra Leone. And there are love songs, such as Muloma and the lovely, skanking Bend Down the Corner.
As before, a loose-limbed, semi-acoustic take on roots reggae is their default setting, but the core eight-member group (not counting ‘band mother’ Sister Grace) has several talented songwriters aside from spokesman Reuben M Koroma, which makes for a pleasing array of other styles. Gbrr Mani toys with ragga and features a rap by the youthful Black Nature, while Tamagbondorsu is a Congolese-style soukous. Dununya has a distinctly Guinean feel, and local indigenous roots styles are showcased on Bute Vange and Oruwiebie/Magazine Bobo, the latter “a blend of ‘secret society’ meeting song and spiritual incantations”, powered by the rustic plunking of a kongoma (giant thumb piano).
Three tracks feature the welcome addition of The Bonerama Horns, and there are contrasting harmonica cameos by guest Chris Velan (Bend Down the Corner) and Mohammed Bangura (Oruwiebe/Magazine Bobo), who plays with one hand, having been ‘amputated’ by thugs during the war.
Despite all the hellish things the group’s members have been through, their music emanates a life-affirming positivity. Producer Steve Berlin deftly mixes rough-and-ready studio and field recordings, punctuating the songs with atmospheric snippets of insect and frog calls, and there’s good sequencing and a variety of voices. It all adds up to a solidly engaging listen.
Album Review: Christy & Emily – ‘No Rest’
April 21st, 2010 | Author: admin
You may not have heard of Christy & Emily yet, but they get themselves noticed. John Peel favourite Robert Lloyd requested their support in 2007 after being blown away by a show. A year later Faust man Hans Joachim Irmler had the same experience and invited them into his studio: ‘No Rest’ is the result. The teaming of self-taught punk?kid Christy with Emily, a trained classical pianist, results in a restless piece of work. The Brooklyn duo’s third album captures a sticky, Patti Smith moodiness with the restraint of Cate Le Bon and is peppered with eclectic styles but never overbakes ideas. Chillwave seems contagious in contemporary Brooklyn; here’s to an album that glides above the fuzz.
Album Review: Sharleen Spiteri – ‘The Movie Songbook’
April 6th, 2010 | Author: admin
One tries to keep an open mind in this game, but honestly, Sharleen Spiteri doing covers of classic movie soundtrack songs? Why not just turn up on the NME CD pile with a big ‘KICK ME’ sign Sellotaped to your back? The sheer scale of the delusion of a woman whose name is a byword for MOR mediocrity, in thinking that she can reinvigorate classics like ‘If I Can’t Have You’ and ‘Windmills Of Your Mind’, defies the very furthest limits of human belief. The latter is a particularly ghastly desecration as Sharleen plays it all kittenish, and Berlin’s ‘Take My Breath Away’ translated into Spiteri’s signature country-lite snooze is similarly awful. Stick to making Tannoy music for upscale supermarket chains, love.
Ibanez Mikro 3/4 Left Hand Guitar GRGM21L
April 3rd, 2010 | Author: admin
The Ibanez GRGM21L is the left hand version of the Mikro 34 scale electric guitar. It is perfect for last minute rehearsals, running scales while waiting for downloads, young rockers just joining the fray or anyone who just wants a smaller neck and body. Not to be confused with other small guitars, the Ibanez Mikro is no toy. Mikro features the same construction, high quality and careful set-up of the Ibanez full size GRX and GRG models.
Mikro’s 22″ inch scale length (standard guitars feature a neck scale from 24 3.4″ to 25 1/2″) makes it the right choice for beginner players or pros practicing on the tour bus.
- Neck Material: Maple
- Neck Type: 22.2″ scale GRGM
- Body: Basswood body
- Frets: Medium frets
- Fingerboard: Rosewood
- Inlay: Sharktooth
- Bridge: Fixed bridge
- NeckPU: PSND1
- BridgePU: PSND2
- HW Color: CH
- Finish: Black
Album Review: Blacklist – ‘Midnight Of The Century’
April 2nd, 2010 | Author: admin
Post-Interpol, us Brits have churned out a succession of groups turning the dark ore of that band’s influences into a succession of inferior alloys; Editors’ bendy spoon, White Lies’ pound shop aluminium foil. New Yorkers Blacklist toil at a similar forge but retain a sense of arch grace. It might be best enjoyed with a fragile chemical mind in the company of a black-haired girl who could do with a few sausage rolls, but this tour around Bunnymen and early U2 is executed with panache; ‘Flight Of The Demoiselles’ and ‘Julie Speaks’ teeter on The Edge-style histrionic guitar flourishes. There’s no new dawn in ‘Midnight…’, but it’s a shade of the nocturnal worth embracing nonetheless.