Strange Charm

I added some Gary Numan covers to the Beta 3 Lounge lineup today, from largely unknown bands, Harmonic Comotion and 5. There was an album of Numan covers a few years back called Random. It was okay. These other bands warranted my attention for being just bizarre enough to make me feel something when I listen to these well worn songs from days past.

A Presence Called Fred covered Metal live, and though a little rough around the edges, I thought it was worth a listen by the sheer nerve these guys had, playing in an auditorium of around 1,000 seats, to an audience of rock fans.

I keep getting emails from bands that don't fit the mood I'm going for with Beta 3 Lounge. Heavy Metal shock rock doesn't cut it for me, though I get an mp3 in the mail every couple of days from that kind of band. Actually, I received only one or two cold call type emails that seemed interesting enough to play. Unfortunately for them, I only play music from my library.

My listeners expect something better, whether I convey that to them or not is unclear, but I expect it myself, and that is enough to let me know what fits the play list and what doesn't. If it isn't good enough for me to listen to, it isn't good enough for Beta 3.

It's been a couple of months since Inference Patterns was released, and now that The Visitor has gotten some exposure, I've been able to relax a bit and listen to them after some absence.

I probably should have spent more time mastering Inference Patterns, though the overall feeling I get from it is pretty much what I was shooting for. Considering the investment in time and treasure, these two albums have been a great success.

I'm still in production, though at a slower pace than the last two efforts. My next item will be called Little Bits. Bits of it are playing on my radio station now, so that I can guage how an audience reacts to them.

Check out my recordings at Amazon:

Happy birthday to Clay Broome. He is a musician and friend of mine from around my neck of the woods. I forget if he is older or younger than me, but we are around the same age.

I have a birthday coming up in a couple of months. I'm starting to not want to count them, so I hope I've not done Clay any harm by mentioning his annual thing.

Good music just doesn't really age. It might conjure up some memory of a time past, but I don't get tired of some music. Some classical music, some rock, some post-punk electronic whatever. I just don't get tired of some things. Beta 3 Lounge is an internet radio station that plays space age rock, and some electronic stuff. It seems to be gathering momentum, with people marking it in their station presets. I try to pick music that ages well, and it is an eclectic selection of music, much like a college radio station. Check it out if you need some mood music or if you like streaming audio. It's one of those things that just gets better with age.

Different Spheres

Up on the mezzanine level, Charlie and Emmy wait for me, but I'm still down here in the studio, working on things. The institute changed ISP's last week, and that has been keeping me down here on a fatter pipe than we currently have upstairs.

Do we dare borrow ideas from others? Sure, we do it all the time. But in my opinion it was in extreme bad taste that Ray Kurzweil patented Dr. Richard S. Wallaces AIML (ALICE) software in 2003. The patent claims to bring some improvements, but they are nothing that hackers haven't done on their own to the free software for years.

My opinion of Kurzweil is pretty low right now. What a truly bankrupt individual it takes to try and profit on a good man's ideas, let alone try to profit from something that was free and remains free, and is in the pubilc interest to remain free. Shame on you Ray!