Digidesign’s New Groovemaking Instrument in
Free Preview

Slicing, remixing, looping, "live performance-oriented features" … this is Digidesign we’re talking about, right? Digi’s Advanced Instrument Research (A.I.R.) unit, the fruits of the acquisition of Wizoo, may have a pretentious name, but they’ve been doing some pretty great work on new instruments. The new project, Transfuser, will have to enter some crowded waters. Loop slicing and handling already works pretty nicely in Ableton Live (especially with Live 7’s drum racks), in instrument form in FL Studio 8’s awesome Edison and Slicex, and in tools like fxpansion’s GURU. (Superficially, at least, Transfuser bears more than a passing resemblance to the latter in its overall UI layout. And then there’s the fact that the knobs look like they were lifted directly from Live.)

Of course, Transfuser isn’t for FL Studio users. As with previous AIR releases, the Digi-owned Wizoo now make plug-ins for Pro Tools only. And if you are a Pro Tools user, you don’t have to listen to me or try to squint at the screenshots: you can take Transfuser for a test drive free. Download the plug-in for Pro Tools (LE/HD/M-Powered) before June 25, and it’ll operate for three months, no restrictions.

Transfuser Preview [Digidesign]

I can already see from these shots that this isn’t quite the way I’d want to work, personally, let alone enticing enough to make me deal with Pro Tools as a host. But "groove-making" is different for different people, so I’d be very eager to hear what someone else thinks. If you’d like to write up a mini-review for CDM, let us know.

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New Kayo Dot - "Blue Lambency Downward"

Earlier this week we posted a couple MP3s from Gregor Samsa, the multi-city minimalist collective that shares members with Kayo Dot. Now we turn our gaze toward KD. Led by Toby Driver and Mia Matsumiya, the NYC sextet just released their third album Blue Lambency Downward on Isis man Aaron Turner's Hydra Head records. The opening, title track is a mysterious 10-minute meandering of bells like crickets, bursts of patient guitar, jazzy drum fills (kept to a toppling spaciousness), electronic pulses, and chiming vocal melodies. It kinda feels like a psychedelic boat trip piloted by Ghost, albeit it with bigger "pop" tendencies.

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Ableton Does Orchestras; Which Section Would a
Good Lutheran Get

Ableton announced that they’d be doing an orchestral sample library — called, logically enough, the Orchestral Instrument Collection — way back when Live Suite came out last year. But Orchestral Instruments actually didn’t ship then. As of this week, it is shipping.

You can buy the whole library for US$599, or you can pick up sections a la carte for $189 (or, oddly, $159 for Orchestral Percussion). Like the Essential Instruments Collection, the samples come from SONiVOX, with high-fidelity and low-fidelity (read: lightweight for performance) versions. There’s also something new called "SmartPriming" for system resources. I haven’t yet gotten my hands on this, so I can’t comment yet; obviously, it comes down to how important Live integration is to you, or whether you’d prefer a third-party orchestral library.

The a la carte sections, though, makes me think of Garrison Keillor’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra skit. (It’s Classical Music humor. My apologies.) One way to choose sections: think about which God would want you to buy. Excerpt:

But for a Lutheran who feels led to play in an orchestra, the first question must be: are you kidding? An orchestra? Are you sure this is what you want? Do you know what you are getting into? Opera. Is that anyplace for a Christian? Don Juan and Mephistopheles and Wagner and all his pagan goddesses hooting and hollering, and the immorality — I mean, is anybody in opera married?

Not to give away the punchline, but not surprisingly harps and percussion (think about the patience required to be an orchestral percussionist) win out, so that could theoretically guide your purchase decision here. Just remember:

The French Horn takes too much of a person’s life. French horn players hardly have time to marry and have children. The French horn is practically a religion all by itself.

Software is different, of course. A Young Lutheran’s Guide to Music Software, anyone?

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Guitar Rig Software, Hardware Bundle Available
Soon On The Cheap

Native Instruments is releasing some cheaper ways of getting at their software guitar modeler, Guitar Rig, in the form of a cheaper software version and a hardware bundle:

• Guitar Rig 3 XE is a "lite" version of Guitar Rig, focused on the basics — 5 guitar/bass amps, 12 cabinets, and 21 effects. It also some of the "helper" modules from Guitar Rig, including a metronome, tapedeck, and tuner — but no looping module, which is one of my favorites. (See the full list.) US$99 on its own.
• Guitar Session bundles the LE software with Cubase 4 LE, some pop drums for KORE player via a soundpack, and the Session I/O audio hardware. US$250 for the bundle, available June 1 worldwide.

The audio hardware, of course, is the highlight of the bundle. It’s USB 2.0, has some nice converters (Cirrus Logic), and has 2 inputs, 2 outputs — both mics do line and Hi-Z for guitars and basses; one also has mic in with phantom power. 24-bit / 192 kHz is probably overkill for the guitar hobbyist target market — it’s overkill for me, too. But I’ve been really happy with NI’s recent audio hardware, as have the other folks I know, particularly those who have tried their Audio 8 DJ interface. (DJ Tech Tools just did a review.)

Guitar Rig Session Product Page

In fact, there’s nothing that means you have to be a guitarist to get this bundle. Guitar Rig sounds very nice as a general-purpose effects suite; I’ve used it on everything from drums to sitar, and it’s especially nice on keyboards. And the audio interface comes at a nice price.

If you can afford spending more, though, it could be worth it. Guitarists (and others, too) will likely miss Guitar Rig’s foot pedal control, and the tape loop module is one of the gems of the suite. Also, NI’s Audio 8 DJ and Audio Kontrol 1 each have assignable headphone outs for monitoring a separate headphone mix. But for what you pay, this is a pretty good deal for someone. It’ll just have to stand up to competing budget solutions from Line6 and IK Multimedia — there’s some really intense competition in this market.

Oh, and "XE" is at least a step forward from everyone else using the letters "LE."

Didn’t intend for this post to go on this long. Now you know what it’d be like if I worked at Guitar Center and you had to talk to me. (I imagine lots of customers awkwardly walking away, or pretending to get a mobile phone call.)

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Mariah Carey's Wedding Was Just A Video Shoot

Mariah Carey managed to keep her wedding plans a secret from even her closest friends by convincing them all her trip to the Bahamas with then-boyfriend Nick Cannon was all part of her video plans.[...] Read more!

Read The Full Article:
http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2008/05/09/mariah_carey_s_wedding_was_jus
t_a_video_

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New Ariel Pink Video - "Gray Sunset"

This new Travis Peterson-directed Ariel Pink video for The Doldrums tune "Gray Sunset" involves more than a little luxurious hair flitting, Ariel vamping, '70s dissolves, golden lighting, and sundry blouses. We're told it was shot in Chinatown, Los Angeles a few days ago, but the location is less important than the fact that AP is the new Davey Havok.

Or Heather Locklear. He should do a frame-by-frame remake of this video to accompany his Madonna impersonation.

The Doldrums is out on Paw Tracks.

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Trace Adkins Records Opening Song For 'Black
Gold'

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Trace Adkins, a former oil roughneck, has written and recorded a song called ''Black Gold'' that will open an upcoming truTV series of the same name. The show, which premieres 10 p.m. EDT June 18, follows three drilling crews in their quest for oil in West Texas.[...] Read more!

Read The Full Article:
http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2008/05/09/trace_adkins_records_opening_s
ong_for_bl

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T.I. Became Friends With Eminem After Legal
Troubles

Rapper T.I. has formed a strong bond with Eminem in recent months after the hip-hop mogul reached out to the star to offer his support during his legal woes.[...] Read more!

Read The Full Article:
http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2008/05/09/t_i_became_friends_with_eminem
_after_leg

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You In Color

Photo by Briana PurserIt's very true that you can't judge a book by it's cover, except that sometimes you can. Consider the artwork that accompanies Directions To See A Ghost, the new album due next Tuesday from Austin, Texas' Black Angels. Rare is it that a record's visuals so accurately describe that which is contained within.

First there's the colours. Reds and greens that aren't quite fluorescent but are definitely intense. Combine that with the design, radial lines arranged in concentric circles that could be exploding outwards or sucking inwards, or perhaps both at the same time. It's more than enough to jump off a shelf or make you dizzy like the opening credits to Doctor Who and then when you pick it up, there's the kicker. It's EMBOSSED. Congratulations, your mind has just been blown and you haven't even left the store.

Moving from sight and touch to sound, Ghost proves that the band is worthy of their name, taken from the Velvet Underground song, as well as offering an argument that they could have just as easily named themselves after your choice of Spacemen 3 recordings. Ghost grafts squalls of abrasive guitar, swirling organ and ominous vocals onto a monolithic and droning bass and drum groove that's as heavy as it is unrelenting - I'm talking serial killer in a horror film unrelenting - all of it sounding like it was recorded in a wind tunnel decked out as a Hallowe'en funhouse.

This style of music is never intended to sound contemporary, but those who prefer to view their retro sounds through rose-coloured glasses are advised to look elsewhere. The Black Angels do their musical scavenging in the shadows on the seedy side of town, driven by paranoia and shrouded in a narcotic haze. Easy listening or pop music, this is not. It's designed to be played loud, but my personal recommendation is that you do so via a stereo or some sort of speakers - over headphones, injected directly into your brain, it's kind of freaky trip.

The Black Angels are on tour this Summer alongside their west coast drone-merchant brethren in The Warlocks and will be at Lee's Palace on June 26.

And oh, contesting. Courtesy of Light In The Attic, I've got five copies of Directions To See A Ghost along with the limited-edition four-song EP that accompanied pre-orders to give away. To enter, leave me a comment below with your choice for album art that best matches the music it accompanies. Include a link to a decent-size image if at all possible and your correct email address - spamproofed as you see fit - in the appropriate field when posting. The contest is open to everyone, everywhere and will close at midnight, May 17.

MP3: The Black Angels - "Doves"
MySpace: The Black Angels

Drowned In Sound talks to Clinic and The Daily Collegian to Shearwater, both of whom will be in town at Lee's Palace this Sunday, May 11. Shearwater will be back for a show at the Horseshoe on June 23 and release Rook on June 3.

Chart and The Calgary Herald talk to Tokyo Police Club.

Bassist Shonna Tucker of the Drive-By Truckers fields questions from Prefix.

The Lawrence Journal rings up John Stirratt of Wilco; chats.

PopMatters discusses April, the new album from Sun Kil Moon, with Mark Kozelek.

The Colorado Springs Independent talks to violinist Rebecca Zeller of Ra Ra Riot.

The Portland Mercury profiles Kate Nash.

There's a trailer/preview of sorts for Neil Young's Archives up on YouTube.

AOL Music Canada contemplates the return of Portishead and what it means for the recently moribund genre that was once called "trip-hop". Oh yeah, Tricky is back.

A couple new albums are available to stream - the just-released Momofuku from Elvis Costello & The Imposters and Sloan's Parallel Play, due June 10.

Stream: Elvis Costello & The Imposters / Momofuku
Stream: Sloan / Parallel Play

New additions to V Fest, going down September 6 and 7 on the Toronto Islands. The lineup now features The Fratellis on day one, Ladyhawk and Cadence Weapon on day two. There was supposed to be an announcement of some consequence this week about the lineup, and all respect the the above but I can't believe that it was them.

Speaking of V Fest performers, Bradley's Almanac is sharing the audio from a Bloc Party show in Boston last Spring. They're playing the first day of V Fest.

Coldplay have two dates scheduled for the Air Canada Centre on October 29 and 30.

PopMatters reports that a new online magazine will be rising from the ashes of Harp, which ceased publication this past March. The site - to be located at Blurt-online.com - will be run by the founder of Harp along with their managing and senior editors. While this won't replace the Harp-shaped hole in my real-world reading habits, I'm glad that there'll still be fresh content in the spirit of the print publication coming our way.

And along the same lines, Reveille engages veteran music journalists from the print world in a discussion about the rise of digital publications versus the traditional medium.

Entertainment Weekly has cast shots from the G.I. Joe film, out next Summer, and all I can say is Destro - you seem to have forgotten something. YOUR BIG METAL HEAD. No, I don't care how the special effects people do it, that's not my problem. But Scarlett, Baroness and Snake Eyes, you can stay. Oh, and not pictured but do you know who's playing Cobra Commander? This guy. No idea how they're going to sell THAT.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.chromewaves.net/?itemid=3020

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Usher Joins Mile High Club

R&B star Usher once had sex in-flight - after getting physical at 32,000 feet. Unlike his new single Love In This Club, which talks of his desire to have a sexual encounter in a nightclub, the singer swapped dance floors for airplanes on one occasion.[...] Read more!

Read The Full Article:
http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2008/05/09/usher_joins_mile_high_club_

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