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With 2009 rolling in (Happy New Year to you, too), you can’t help but think about what great music will be coming out (because there’s gotta be a few good releases, right?). So I thought I’d put Google to use and pick some releases I’m stoked about and post whatever info I can on it. These albums are in order of when they will be released.

Also, be sure to click on the Hypemachine links I’ve included for each album. If you’re not sure what Hypemachine is, its a spider-like website that scans popular and not-so-popular mp3 blogs and links to new posts (usually with mp3s) for the artist you searched for. It’s a good way to stay informed on whats going on. But, like anything, please don’t exclusively use the site for new music. Continue to buy the music from the artists you love!

[January 6, 2009] Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Wasn’t able to catch much information about who’s engineering / mixing / mastering this disc (not listed on Discogs yet), needless to say that as a fan of psychadelic rock/general indie hipster nonsense, I’m excited for this disk. Strawberry Jam was a good effort, so we’ll have to see what these guys are bringing this time. [Hypemachine]

[January 6, 2009] High on Fire - Live from the Relapse Contamination Festival

I’m usually not a huge fan of live recordings put out on CD or vinyl. I’m not really a big fan of live bootlegs, either. So why should you pay attention to this disk? Because its High on Fire, duh.

If you haven’t seen this band live yet and/or if you live in a corner of the world where HoF seldom tours, I’d suggest giving this a listen to catch just a glimpse of what you’re missing. It may make you feel better or worse, but it’ll still be heavy. [Hypemachine]

[January 19 (UK), 20 (US), 2009] Squarepusher - Numbers Lucent EP

Title: Numbers Lucent EP
Release Date: 19th January 2009
Cat No: WAP258
Format: CD, 12” & digital

Tracklisting:
01. Zounds Perspex
02. Paradise Garage
03. Heliacal Torch
04. Star Time 1
05. Arterial Fantasy
06. Illegal Dustbin

If you caught Just A Souvenir, you’re probably going to want to catch this. [Hypemachine]

[January 20, 2009] Atmosphere - God Loves Ugly (Reissue)

Granted this is a re-release, but if you didn’t catch it the first time around you should be paying attention to it now.

Released in 2002 and produced by indie-hip hop super-producer ANT, this really is one of my favorite Atmosphere releases.

The re-release will contain a DVD that was previously only available on Sad Clown Bad Dub 4. It will also contain remastered tracks of the original God Loves Ugly tracks, two hours of live performance footage (including backstage antics), three music videos, and some new art on the actual release. Sounds like it’d be worth picking it up, if only for the video footage. [Hypemachine]

[January 20, 2009] Cattle Decapitation - The Harvest Floor

Everybody’s favorite vegetarian death metal crew is back with what will surely be a brutal record. Their “human as meat” imagery looks like its continuing with this album, which I can’t wait to hear.

The entire album was recorded and mixed by Billy Anderson in Oakland, CA at Sharkbite Studios. If you go to the band’s Myspace, you’ll get to see some “behind-the-scenese” studio footage of the band laying down some tracks. [Hypemachine]

[January 20, 2009] Diplo and DJ Blaqstarr - Get Off b/w Serato VLS

This is another release I haven’t been able to find much about, but…well, the presumable A-side is already leaked onto the almighty Hype Machine. It’s good. Very good. Diplo doesn’t seem to disappoint very often. The track is also produced by Switch (along with Diplo, he’s responsible for some M.I.A. tracks). Check the track out (and buy it when it’s out) here.

[January 26, 2009 (UK)] Bloc Party - One Mouth Off VLS

This single, which seems to be coming out as a digital and physical release, is taken from the band’s new album “Intimacy” (which is pretty good). If you own the album, you’ve heard the song. Otherwise, check out this YouTube clip or just visit the good ol Hypemachine.

[January 26, 2009] Lily Allen - The Fear (single)

No cover art for this, but the single was premiered on BBC a few weeks ago and has been available via digital fronts like iTunes for a week or two. The physical release (for the date above) is for the UK and, so far, no dates have been seen for a US physical release (would it actually sell?). I really liked Allen’s first album, Alright, Still, so I’m excited to see what she does with her new collection of tracks. Otherwise, check out this YouTube clip or check out Hypemachine.

[January 27, 2009] Johnny Cash Remixed

I’m not really sure what to think about people remixing Johnny Cash. It’s not that his music is holy to me or anything, but it’s Johnny Cash. His songs (most of them anyway) are classics and unfuckupable. So why would people want to remix them? This could either be interesting and range from decent to great or it could be an unbelievable mess. I hate to be pessimistic, but  cmon…

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So that’s it for January. Some pretty decent stuff coming out this month. I’ll be doing a post for each month (February coming at the end of the month) so stay tuned for that.

Variety is reporting about todays Golden Globe nominees for all categories, but I’d like to post about the ones relevant to my (and your’s) interest.

Alexandre Desplat - “The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button”
Clint Eastwood - “Changeling”
James Newton Howard - “Defiance”
A. R. Rahman - “Slumdog Millionaire”
Hans Zimmer - “Frost/Nixon”

Seeing names like James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer are expected…but Clint Eastwood? Did he really compose the score Changeling? If he did, he really is tackling all aspects of movie making, isn’t he?

Other not-so-common names (at least to me) are those of Alexandre Desplat and Bollywood-heavyweight A.R. Rahman. Click their names and check out their IMDB profiles for their credits.

“Best Song” category is rather boring.

“Down To Earth” from “Wall-E” - Music By: Peter Gabriel, Thomas Newman; Lyrics By: Peter Gabriel
“Gran Torino” from “Gran Torino” - Music By: Clint Eastwood, Jamie Cullum, Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens; Lyrics By: Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens
“I Thought I Lost You” from “Bolt” - Music & Lyrics By: Miley Cyrus, Jeffrey Steele
“Once In A Lifetime” from “Cadillac Records”
Music & Lyrics By: Beyoncé Knowles, Amanda Ghost, Scott Mcfarnon, Ian Dench, James Dring, Jody Street
“The Wrestler” from “The Wrestler” - Music & Lyrics By: Bruce Springsteen

Further proof that Clint Eastwood has his hands in some of the audio production for his films. Also nice to see Peter Gabriel on the list.

Aside from the slew of Golden Globe nods yesterday, I found some good news surround the Dark Knight “Best Score” debacle I previously wrote about. The Academy has reversed its decision thus making the Dark Knight eligible for the “Best Score” Oscar! As Reuters reports:

After reviewing the submission, [the academy] concluded that Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard were the main composers and deemed the duo’s work for Warner Bros.’ Batman blockbuster as eligible. The academy said that since ballots had not been mailed, the decision would not affect the voting process.

Good news for all the people involved with the score for the Dark Knight. So far, from what I’ve found, there’s no list of Oscar Nominees for 2009, but as soon as there are, I’ll post the “Best Score” nominees.

Since my current job is in said industry, I figure’d I’d write a quick something about how to work with in-house hotel A/V companies (many of these things can be applied to outside A/V companies).

1. Please don’t bring in your own equipment and expect it to work. Typical scenario: client comes in; client wants to use In-House AV Co.’s laptop but has their own projector they like to use; presentation goes south; client mad. It may sound like a cheap sales-pitch, but PLEASE, if you’re going to rent something from an A/V company, rent everything. The reason being is that the techs for said A/V company tend to know their aresenal of gear better than they know your stuff: they’ve dealt with their gear plenty of times, know the ins/outs as well as all the weird quirks gear sometimes have. That being said, if you want to bring in your own stuff, see #2:
2. Be patient…at least for a little while. Problems happen with gear. It’s just the way it is. Techs are there to help you with your problems. So when your PowerPoint isn’t showing up on the tripod screen and you’re not sure why, give the tech a second to figure it out. I, and every other tech, understand that most meetings are stressful: you’re expected to give a professional, working presentation on-time to your guests. Just do us a favor: don’t get pissy right away, don’t offer up your own solutions (unless you really know what you’re doing),  and don’t ask us why it’s not working. Your problem will be fixed.
3. Respect Union boundaries. If a tech can’t run audio, power, or do something like that, ask them why. If it’s because the hotel you’re in has a Union presence, then leave it at that. Ask the tech if they would kindly call the electricians (or whatever other department you need) to run power, etc. Don’t yell at them because they’re not doing something they’re not supposed to do. We have to respect the Unions and the work they do, and you should too. There aren’t a lot of union-heavy hotels around anymore, but they do exist.

So there you go. A few small tips that might help you interact with your in-house/outside A/V company. Keep in mind, however, that the above tips should only be excercised if the tech you’re dealing with is a decent person. If they’re not, well, then I don’t know what to tell you.

And, a special tip for outside A/V companies working in a hotel with an in-house A/V company: don’t be dicks to the in-house guys unless they’re not treating you with respect. We all work in the same industry, we all have similar interests, we all have similar stories to tell. Put your bullshit ego aside, and hopefully the in-house guys will do the same.

Chances are, if you went to see a movie this summer, you probably saw the Dark Knight. It is, in my opnion, an extremely well crafted film from start to finish, and that includes the score within the film.

Problem is, while Dark Knight will at LEAST be nominated for a slew of Oscars (Best Supporting Actor and on), it will NOT be nominated for “Best Score.” Why? There were too many people involved with it.

There were five people involved with the score: Hans Zimmer (duh), James Newton Howard, music editor Alex Gibson, ambient music designer Mel Wesson, and composer Lorne Balfe.

The five above signed an affadavit citing that Zimmer and Howard were the two primary composers. But by adding Gibson, Wesson, and Balfe to the cue sheet, Zimmer and Howard ensured that all would recieve royalties acrued from the use of the score. However, the downside is, according to the Academy, there were too many people involved directly with the score thus disqualifying it from the Oscar nod for “Best Score.”

I wasn’t able to find out exactly how many people can be involved on a score while still keeping their work in contention for the Oscar, but from what I gather anything more than two is generally frowned upon by the Academy.

This wasn’t the first time in recent memory a score has been DQ’d: There Will Be Blood was unable to recive a “Best Score” nod due to the use of some pre-composed material within the score.

The moral of the story: by Zimmer and Newton not being total dicks and including the core crew invovled with the score, they ruined their chances of a “Best Score” Oscar this year. Oh well.

NHK Science and Research Labs received a 600 channel Fairlight Constellation console in April for research on their 3D surround sound system (22.2).

The format is just one half of NHK’s Ultra High Vision (UHDTV) which features high resolution video alongside 20 speakers and stereo subs.

The resolution for the video is outstanding: 7,680 x 4,320 (4320p) which is four times that of existing HDTV (resolution of 1,920 x 1,080). NHK hopes for this to be the international standard for ultra hi-def by the year 2015. Seeing as it’s a good way into 2008 and HD is just becoming affordable enough for the average consumer to afford, is 2015 really accurate for something of this magnitude? I guess we’ll see!

Its said that 4320p will be able to scale with 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p, and 2160p. The codec that NHK has developed (and used during their most recent tests) was able to compress video from 24Gbit/s to 180-600MB/s (that’s a pretty broad range, maybe its a VBR codec?), while audio was compressed from 28MBit/s to 7-28MBit/s.

Now, to what us audio nerds really care about: the audio component to this new HDTV standard. Its 22.2 and is made up of three layers: upper, middle, and lower. The upper level is nine speakers above ear level; the middle level is ten speakers at ear level; the lower level is five speakers below ear level. Check out the breakdown:

• Upper Level:
• Top Front Center
• Top Back Center
• Top Front Left
• Top Back Right
• Top Side Left
• Top Side Right
• Top Back Left
• Top Back Right
• Top Center

Just in case you haven’t heard, the 125th AES Convention is going to be held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco!

The technical program(s) will go from Thu. October 2 to Sun. October 5th, while the exhibiton part of the convention goes from Fri. Oct 3 (the day I graduate) to Sun. October 5th. You can check out the website for the convention here.

See you there!

According to this article on Variety, overall album sales are down (from midpoint 2007) by 11% in 2008. Keep in mind, it’s only July. How much further will sales decline in the remainder of the year?

Digital sales appear to be climbing (still). CD sales are down by 16% from 2007, which was down from 2006 and so on.

You can read the entire article over at variety, but here’s a quick rundown of this years top selling albums (currently) and who they’re distributed by (only the three majors are considered):

• Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III [1.5m copies - Universal]
• Jack Johnson - Sleep Through the Static [1.2m - Universal]
• Mariah Carey - E=MC2 [1.1m - Universal]
• Coldplay - Viva La Vida [971k - EMI]
• Leona Lewis - Spirit [830k - Sony BMG]
• OST - Juno [828k - Warner Music]
• Usher - Here I Stand [806k - Sony BMG]
• Madonna - Hard Candy [570k - Warner Music]
• Danity Kane - Welcome to the Dollhouse [510k - Warner Music]
• Lenny Kravitz - It’s Time for a Love Revolution [213k - EMI]
• Lady Antebellum - s/t [165k - EMI]