Do you have a 'favourite' song?

Its weird, for years and years I didn't subscribe to having a 'favourite' song. After all, I listen to so much music, from so many different genres, styles, eras and cultures, that how could I pick one measly little song over all the others? It didn't make sense to me.

But then again, I realised the other day that I do have a favourite song. Want to know what it is?

Lovely bit of sound design

I don't normally post random videos, but this one was too good to pass up!

How to react to a difference in opinion

Trolling, argument, disagreements...all to common with music, eh? I'm sure we've all had that lengthy argument with someone who won't back down from their opinion, or perhaps you felt very strongly about something and refused to give in?

These differences in opinion can lead to interesting debate, but they can also lead to hurt feelings; some people feel very passionately about the music they love, so insulting their music is like insulting them. I've had outbursts that have stopped people from talking to me for a while, I've also had some really good discussions with people where we've identified that we disagree and both for very good reasons.

So is there a way to control or avoid the arguments and keep it all to intellectual discussion?

Back!

So its been almost a year since I posted here.

Why did I stop? I thought being an opinionated elitist was a bit 'mean' of me - hypocritical and self-defeating in its purpose. Then I decided that...y'know what? I enjoy it, and at the end of the day its still my opinion. So what if it offends people? I like writing this stuff, even if nobody reads it.

So expect more rants, reviews and words about noises and maybe some music.

Keep lovin' music ;)

Vinnie

Music as Meditation - Introspective and Dedicated listening

Do you ever use music to relax? I'm betting most people do, in the form of some background music whilst they read a magazine or work on their computers. But do you ever really focus on what you're listening to, getting lost inside it and using it as a form of meditation?

In this post I'm going to share some of the methods I use when I really want to relax or listen closely to a piece of music. I'm not saying that this is how it should be done, or that this is the best way to do it, but its just what works best for me and what I like doing.

I made an Ambient album, and its completely FREE to download

If anybody wants to hear the kind of music that I make, this is a sample from my more relaxed side. Its a collection of pieces I've made over the past year, some structured and others experimental exploration. I've divided it into two 'EPs' so to speak - The first one (Windowledge Doll EP) is shorter, more relaxed and consisted mostly of Pianos, keyboards and string arrangements. The second (The Red Noise EP) is darker and, despite only having two tracks, is longer than the former (mainly due to the first track clocking in at 30 minutes!). The title track was made mostly using iPhone apps as instruments, whilst the second is based on my favourite JFK speech.

The link is HERE if you want it.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think ;)

Any form of competitive music is complete and utter bullshit

I'm not just talking X-Factor/Idol and Eurovision, I'm talking Battle of the Bands as well. Little things like this have absolutely no meaning with regards to quantifying the quality of music, as is well demonstrated by the almost universal hatred of all the "winners" of competitions such as these, despite how many thousands of people there seem to be who cause them to "win" this pretty much useless competition.