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mashby

The personal blog of Michael Ashby

Category / music

BT – Emotional Technology

BT - Emotional TechnologyI’ve been a huge fan of Brian Transeau since his first album back in 1996. I don’t remember how, or where I heard it, but the first time I heard Blue Skies I was hooked. Since then, I’ve eagerly awaited each new release from BT.

It’s been over 3 years since BT released an original work (read all about it here), but it was definitely worth the wait. There isn’t a weak track to be found anywhere and in my book, this is his best work yet. From the first track to the last, BT takes you on a journey through an incredible landscape of sound. Along the way he drops some kickin’ hooks that you just can’t get out of your head.

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My God, It’s Full Of Stars

I was sitting in a cafe late this afternoon in between West End and Vanderbilt University called Bean Central. I was waiting for Holly to get off work and I was catching up on some work with my AlphaSmart Dana. I was sipping on a Bass pale ale looking out the window when I saw […]

Oh My Virgin Ears!

Naked EyesLast night I was watching TV and a commercial for Hechts department store came on and to my horror the song used for the ad was ‘Always Something There To Remind Me‘ by Naked Eyes. :O They had changed the lyrics of the hook to ‘Always something there to excite me,’ but there was no mistaking the original song.

This isn’t the first time that a company has bastardized a popular song to peddle their products. I remember back in 1987 when Nike used a single version of “Revolution” as part of a $7 million campaign to sell Nike shoes. I remember thinking at the time that it was no big deal. It was a good song, but it wasn’t part of my cultural history, so I didn’t see the harm in it.

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There’s Gold In Them Thar Low Hung Jeans

Gold JeansNothing Quite Like Alienating Your Target Demographic. When I see articles like this one, I just can’t help but get pissed off. First off, let me explain that I don’t think Napster is necessarily the greatest thing to happen to the music industry and that all music should be free. However, I do think that the music industry is the first entertainment industry to feel the brunt of the digital age. The fact that they have responded to this change so poorly is their own fault and not the fault of 3 college kids with access to a few computers.

Back in 1996 I read a book by Nicholas Negroponte entitled “Being Digital.” The basic tenant of the book was that for all the talk of the world entering the “Information Age,” the reality was that the information age was over and that we were actually entering the “digital age.” The difference being that anything that could be delivered digitally would be and that any industry that was not aware of the change and prepared for this change would face severe hardships.
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Nine Inch Nails In Church

I went to church yesterday. They played a Johnny Cash video. It’s a Nine Inch Nails cover called ‘Hurt.’ It blew me away and I cry everytime I see it. My words simply don’t do it justice. The video and about the video.

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