Mizar 6: Steely Dan and the mu (μ) chord

If you get a bit deeper into Steely Dan - and you should - you will eventually face the mu major chord. μ.

Mizar6 has a nice article on the chord here:
http://www.writingaffairs.com/blog/mizar6/?p=844

Yes, you may not play any instrument, you just enjoy listening to music. Still... It's nice to have at last a bit of a knowledge about the chord in question.

And while you're there please check out all the other stuff on the site!

What a hopeless package!

A while ago I got my copy of 200 Motels - The Suites. A great recording! But how can it be so hard to design a package that will allow you to get the discs and booklet out in an easy way?

Get me right: The music and musical production is fantastic, and the gatefold cardboard CD sleeve is beautifully designed and the booklet has some really interesting information.

But try to get the CD's out without making fingerprints. Take my advice and take an extra break before the next task - to pull out the neat litte booklet. How the **** did they get it in there in its little pocket in the first place? I know the answer: by force! After carefully pulling the little booklet out I found that someone must have had a hard time to get it into its place. It looked as if someone had been sitting on it...in a sofa.

I bought my first CD in 1987. The it was jewel cases only. Then came packages as digipak and mini cardboard sleeves, each type with its benefits...and disadvantages.
The CD format has been on its way out for several years now, but isn't it strange that the business never succeed in inventing a decent package.

S.H.

Steely Dan's "The Dan Who Knew Too Much" 2016 tour dates announced

Thirty dates are official as of today. Running April to July:

     Apr 18    The Capitol Theatre
                    Port Chester, NY        
     Apr 19    The Capitol Theatre
                    Port Chester, NY
     Apr 22    New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
                    New Orleans, LA
     Apr 24    Legacy Arena at the BJCC
                    Birmingham, AL
     Apr 27    Toyota Oakdale Theatre
                    Wallingford, CT
     Apr 29    Seneca Niagara Events Center
                    Niagara Falls, NY
     Apr 30    Borgata Event Center
                    Atlantic City, NJ

     Jun 07    Riverbend Music Center
                   Cincinnati, OH
     Jun 08    DTE Energy Music Theatre
                   Detroit, MI
     Jun 10    Four Winds Casino Resort New
                   Buffalo, MI
     Jun 11    FirstMerit Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
                   Chicago, IL
     Jun 13    Red Rocks Amphitheatre
                   Morrison, CO
     Jun 14    USANA Amphitheatre
                   West Valley City, UT
     Jun 16    Shoreline Amphitheatre
                   Mountain View, CA
     Jun 18    Hollywood Bowl
                   Hollywood, CA
     Jun 19    The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
                   Las Vegas, NV
     Jun 22    American Airlines Center
                   Dallas, TX
     Jun 23    Starlight Theatre
                   Kansas City, MO
     Jun 25    Verizon Arena
                   Little Rock, AR
     Jun 26    Chastain Park Amphitheatre ASO
                   Atlanta, GA
     Jun 29    Cruzan Amphitheatre
                   West Palm Beach, FL
     Jun 30    MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre
                   Tampa, FL

     Jul 02    PNC Music Pavilion
                  Charlotte, NC
     Jul 03    BB&T Pavilion
                  Camden, NJ
     Jul 06    PNC Bank Arts Center
                  Holmdel, NJ
     Jul 07    Xfinity Center
                  Mansfield, MA
     Jul 09    Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
                  Bethel, NY
     Jul 10    Saratoga Performing Arts Center
                  Saratoga Springs, NY
     Jul 12    Jiffy Lube Live
                  Bristow, VA
     Jul 13    Veterans United Home Loans Ampitheater
                  Virginia Beach, VA

Leaving plenty of room for the usual autumn tour.

Steve Winwood joins the fun June 7.

On a side note this tour is the first to just link from steelydan.com to the Steely Dan facebook page for information. One more sign that Facebook and not your own domain page is where you connect with your fans these days...

Once on facebook.com/SteelyDan you can click your way on to the tour dates. Just one Tickets link is alive so far, but if you click that one you'll get a nice info page from the integrated Bandsintown app that wants you to sign in so they can keep an eye your Facebook life. From there on you may get on to the tickets. We don't know, since we decided to not click "OK" to Bandsintown's request.

Tickets for the opening night in Port Chester cost between $65 - $225.

Happy Birthday, Walter Becker!

Inspired by the cover to Downtown Canon and good ol' Ingmar Bergman.

Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker is 66. Born on this day back in 1950.
And as the group is getting ready to tour in 2016 we can look back at his latest solo album Circus Money. It is eight years old this year. Notice that we hopefully did write "latest" and not "last".

He still has his domain walterbecker.com up and running, and a quick look there does show us that the latest thing that has happened on the news page is yearly postings of links to Steely Dan tours. But! For 2016 there's a link titled Random Notes that links to the site theuselessweb.com. Make of it what you want:

Oh! And on the front page there is another new link;  They're Heeeeere ... | or are they?
Which links to an at the time of writing blank 2016 tour page over on steelydan.com:

Paul McCartney's Valentine Emojis for Skype

So, as a Skype user, how many emojis did you post on February 14? And how many of them where one of the ten brand new Love Mojis that Paul McCartney's written for the voice call/video chat/message app?

Here' what they sound and look like:


And here's links to more about theproject:

http://www.paulmccartney.com/news-blogs/news/paul-writes-new-music-for-skype-love-mojis

http://www.paulmccartney.com/news-blogs/news/behind-the-scenes-of-the-new-skype-love-mojis
 

February 14 video: Jon Herington - Valentine's Day

Weekend video: OK Go vs gravity

The band OK Go has made some very visual and playful videos over the years. Here's the latest one. Titled "Upside Down & Inside Out" and self explanatory.

If you after you've watched it would like to know more about it, please click the link below the video!

Click the pic OR the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/okgo/videos/10153210535420683/

Behind the scenes of the video.
And more here.

Steely Dan at the Hollywood Bowl June 18, 2016

Here's another date to the 2016 tour for Steely Dan. We've already told you about the April 22 show at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, so it looks like a spring/summer tour this year.

More on the Hollywood Bowl gig here.

Wild Man Fischer album finally on CD

An Evening With Wild Man Fischer, one of the oddest releases that Frank Zappa took part in, will finally be re-released on CD.
Wild Man Fischer or Larry Fischer was a mentally unstable street singer in Los Angeles in the 60's that caught Zappa's attention. Zappa recorded and produced a double album with Fischer, an album that maybe can be classified as dada rock. Most of it is Fischer a capella, "singing" his strange but still somewhat fascinating songs and telling stories about his (miserable) life.

Some people thought it was in bad taste and that Zappa should not have exposed the unhappy Larry Fischer to the ridiculed by a larger audience. Others claim that Zappa wanted to show that the hippie world was not for everyone, that the hippie movement was elitistic and would not accept people who were not cool and beautiful, even if the hippie view of beauty was different than what you saw on TV and in magazines at the time.

The album is owned by the Zappa Family Trust but Gail Zappa (that passed away in 2015) did tell media that she would not release it on CD.

The 2 CD set will be released on the Gonzo label:
http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/product_details/15895

Oxford Street today: Elton John's first record signing there in 43 years!

Just posted on Elton John's Instagram is this picture of him signing his 1973 album Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player.
Today he's doing the same for his new one; Wonderful Crazy Night, and writes that it's been 43 years since he last signed albums there.

Oh. And it's not actually out in the street he'll be signing the record, it's in the HMV store on said street. Today.

Its been 43 years since my last UK album signing, looking forward to meeting fans at HMV Oxford Street today. Will be signing copies of my new album "Wonderful Crazy Night". 43 years?!?!?! 😳😳😳😳@RocketEntertainment @hmvinstagram @IslandRecords #WonderfulCrazyNight

A photo posted by Elton John (@eltonjohn) on Feb 3, 2016 at 12:59am PST

Live365 (and Radio Dupree) shuts down!

Live365 has closed down. That means around 5 000 online stations - including Radio Dupree - has gone silent.

To be perfectly honest we haven't stayed on top of the news and we've seen no information in our mail from the company (*), but what's happened is basically this:

The licensing royalties set by the U.S. government’s Copyright Royalty Board announced new rates in mid December with streaming rates being raised by 20%.

Just before New Year's the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009 expired and there was no word from SoundExchange which collects royalties on behalf of record labels, about a renewal or new negotiations. So the law that had protected low-revenue stations with a special way of calculating below-market rates was no more.

All of the above made live365's business modeluntenable.

Live365 laid off most of its staff and lost its investors at the end of last year. And January 31, 2016 was the last day the webcaster station platform was online.

Now there's this short message and links to alternatives for all listeners and broadcasters that used live365:

"Seventeen sweet years ago, it was something of a revolution to let
anyone launch their own station. Anyone with something to say or play.
Live365 provided the tools. Their talent brought the audience.

We were one of the first. Happy we are not the last.

The spirit of 300+ employees over the years, our hundred thousand
webcasters, and their hundred million dedicated listeners lives on.

THANK YOU for being here."

So what about Radio Dupree? We're pondering the situation. An update will follow in a few days.

-- Neb & Siggy

(*) Apparently some broadcasters got mail information from live365 a couple of weeks ago, but Radio Dupree's mailbox did not.  Here's a quote from the mail that live365 sent to broadcasters:

“We are sad that we are closing our doors at the end of this month. There are always possibilities that we can come back in one form or another, but at this point in time, January 31, 2016 is the last day that Live365’s streaming servers and website will be maintained and supported.”

More on this over on RAIN News.