Pleasantly musical madness

Another out-of-the-ordinary release coming from Ninja Tunes: Zero dB's Bongos, Bleeps and Basslines.A right royal mash-up of zero dB's influences to date, musical, life and other - everything from dark, poignant hip-hop, through down and gritty hip-swaying BraziLatino dancefloor bangers, to beats they broke themselves, out and into laidback sunshine jazz - all built from the basslines up. For a teasing taste of their release (about 11megs) go on their website.

An Autumn Italian Sojourn

I have to say that during this summer I missed going to the classical concerts with the frquency that I did during the school year. But I got back into it with a easy-to-listen concert "An Italian Sojorn" by the Albany Symphony Orchestra led by David Allen Miller, a very energetic and funny young conductor. The program: Respighi - Gli Ucelli; Vivaldi - Autumn and Winter; Mendelssohn - Symphony No.4 "Italian" and a young italian composer (F. Antonioni) with a Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. This last piece and the two Vivaldi ones beneffited also from the participation of a talented violin player from Italy (Lorenza Borrani). It was a full house in Troy and the concert was in line with the expectations aka very good.
Funny perk: I recognized an aria from Mendelssohn's Symphony No.4 (II. Andande con Moto) in a collaboration piece between a romanian (Cheloo) and austrian (Texta) rap artists. To be seen if they really got there inspiration from this; it sounds though perfectly alike so I wouldn't be surprised.
However, Cheloo and Mendelssohn??:))

My first IMAX experience

IMAX is the ultimate movie experience. With crystal clear images up to eight stories high, and wrap-around digital surround sound, it literary takes you to places presented on the screen with its 3D technology and superior sound.

At MDSCI, the gave out an oldie but a goodie: SuperSpeedway. Released in March 1997 and seen by over 6.0 million people worldwide, this movie delves into the death-defying world of Indy Car racing and weaves together the stories of some of the masters of the highspeed track. SuperSpeedway puts audiences in the cockpit of an Indy car and catapults them into world championship auto racing at mind-bending speeds in excess of 230 miles per hour. Narrated by Paul Newman, the film was produced with the participation of the Newman-Haas racing team and the sponsorship of Texaco and Kmart. (source: www.imax.com)

A tiny well deserved break

Last Wed I left for Maryland in a mini-break of 5 days till Monday. The primary reason is my girl's birthday on Sept 27th (and I had a big load of presents from all over the places that I've been this past summer for her) while a secondary one could be the fact that I haven't seen her in four months. Everything was great (the flight, the schedule, the weather) except the part when I went back home:)). The flight: again Southwest, this time 97 bucks round-trip (wow! The only downside to it seems to be the inherent delays from Baltimore Wash Int to Albany Int because the plane comes from another place). The schedule: free as a bird, we basically did whatever we felt like doing and that was neat; however I feel a bit bad because I didn't get the chance to visit again stuff in DC. However, Baltimore was nice; the Maryland Museum of science and the harbor area also. Besides that a visit to some friends and a walk on the beach were valuable also. The weather was exquisite; although not as worm as desired (the summer is gone, after all) there was plenty of sunshine making everything more attractive. Overall, a good breath of fresh oxygen.
I will post some pictures also but on a photoblog; now I am deciding which one to use since they don't seem so reliable.

Musical regression

I just got my hands on the debut album of The Cinematic Orchestra -Motion- released exactly 7 years ago. Seven tracks, great stuff, just in the purest TCO manner. The Japanese version has two more additional tracks basically two mixes from Hefner and Four Tet. I knew half of the tracks from other mixes or remixes of different Ninjas like DJ Food's Solid Steel turntable exercise. Still, an Excellent release!!
Released: 27 September 1999
Genre: Jazz/Electronica/Downtempo
Length: 51:09
Label: Ninja Tune
ZEN45 (LP)

Old school stuff

Another incursion in Liam's dark matter; reminded me a lot also of the Dirtchamber session LP. He goes back to the roots and shows a little of his favorites (which also come in Prodigy's tracks sampled or remixed sometimes, otherwise just as influences). A "De Gustibus!" (some will find it interestings; others will just hear a bunch of old records brought together in a debatable manner) mix of hip-hop, rock, punk, raggae and beats in Liam's well known style that starts with an original prodigy track (Wake ** up).

Anniversaries

It is mandatory today to post a Happy Birthday! to a very special person (you know who you are!). May you enjoy this day and the ones to come even more that you did prior to this day; if that it possible, of course:)). Perhaps 26 is indeed a magical number..
Moreover, it seems that another thing was born on this day also. Google, the most popular search engine, is reaching the wonderful age of 8; a nice kid that likes to play and is a good child all the times. On top of that, I know another person celebrating her bday again, today, and that is interesting. At one point in time I also knew 3 others that were born on the same day as I was, but still, although I am a believer when it comes to the weekly/monthly/yearly horoscope (not so much the daily though!) they were pretty different from me. Again, maybe it will be interesting to run a regression using all the background variables and the DNA stock from the parents to tease out the true impact of the sign you are born under.

Stata Reloaded

Back doing the same things. I am trying now to take a crash course in Stata and applied econometrics at the same time and the hard thing is that I am doing that on my own. Still, I start to like it; however, the more you learn the more realize how ignorant you are in it; there are so many things to learn and so many questions to ask..

Dance Movies Series (# 5)

Anothe EMPAC event in the series of Dance Movies. The rain drove the projection inside Sage hall; however, I think (for the sound, maybe) that indoor it's better anyways. The quality was OK, more than half of the movies were excellent and original; the rest maybe too experimental for my taste:).
Keep it up, guys!

DANCE MOViES 5 program:
*Break, 2005, 14' (New Zealand). 2005
Written, directed and choreographed by Shona McCullagh
Performed by Ursula Robb, Thomas Kiwi and Arlo Gibson
Music by David Long
* The Art of Weightlessness: excerpt, 2003, 4' (USA)
Directed by DB Griffith
Performed by Bill Shannon


* Alt I Alt (All in All), 2005, 5' (Norway)
Directed by Torbjørn Skårild
Performed by Knut Eivind Reinertsen
Sound by Nina Skogtrø
* Tra La La, 2004, 3' (UK).
Choreographed, directed and animated by Magali Charrier
Performed by Allison Rees-Cummings, Barbara Lindenberg, Barbara Pallomina
Music and sound design by Jules Maxwell
* Montevideoaki, 2005, 5' (Uruguay).
Directed by Octavio Iturbe
Based on the solo While going on a Condition, created and performed by Hiroaki Umeda.
* Counter Phrases (2), 2000, 27' (Belgium).
Directed by Thierry de Mey
Choreography by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
Based on the stage work "(But if a look should) April Me"
Performed by ROSAS (dance) and the Ictus Ensemble (music

A Re-Fried Dubwise Musical Lunch

The ultimate remixed collection from the Washington DC based duo features 18 dubbed-out versions of songs from The Doors, Sarah McLachan, Astrud Gilberto, Wax Poetic feat Norah Jones and many many others. It also includes a new original Thievery corporation track featuring the reggae legend Sister Nancy. Another perk is track #2 (Damien - Habanos Days) which has Romanian lyrics!!:) As the promo says: Another stellar addition to the ever expanding Thievery Corporation catalogue..
TRY IT with confidence! your doctor would agree.