I’ve been listening to the newly released two-disc audio CDs of Paul McCartney’s Good Evening New York City this week and I have to say that I’m pretty disappointed by the blatant use of auto-tune (pitch correction software) on Paul’s vocals. yes, I understand that auto-tune is pretty much standard practice nowadays in the pop music industry but for an iconic voice as Paul’s, the tell-tale signs of auto-tune just ruins for me. I personally would have preferred bum-notes and all for this live document of McCartney’s July 2009 gigs at Citi Field in NYC. We all know McCartney is 67 and his voice isn’t what it used to be so we don’t expect his vocals to be perfect. So why try to artificially make it so in post-production? I can accept Sir Paul going back into the studio to overdub vocal parts because that’s the nature of the beast (and he’s done that with past releases like Wings over America and Tripping the Live Fantastic) but to utilize auto-tune (or Melodyne, another pitch correction tool) and make Paul sound like a cyborg, is a big mistake if you ask me. The tell-tale signs vary throughout the performance with some songs being more heavily treated than others. Listen for it on songs like “Got to Get You Into My Life”, “Let it Be”, “I’ve Got a Feeling” and “Paperback Writer”. Again, some folks may not know what to listen for so this may not be a bother to some ears but it sure does bother mine. I’m personally going to seek out the audio of the pay-per-view broadcast of Paul’s show in Halifax (11Jul09). From what I’ve heard, McCartney and band sounded great that night and the BIG PLUS is the fact that it’s a more TRUTHFUL document of his show with NO auto-tune to mar the experience!

But if you can get past the artificial quality of Paul’s vocals, there are some positives. The band sounds tight and it’s great to hear songs like “Mrs. Vandebilt”, “I’m Down”, “Calico Skies” and “Only Mama Knows”. And the “Sgt. Peppers/The End” combo is always a great way to end the show. You can’t go wrong there. Another positive is the fact that the CD isn’t mastered “loud”. No signs of brickwalling here, thank goodness.

Before I end this, I DO have to mention one more thing which has to do with Wix’s synth patches. Wix has been with Paul since the 1989 tour and from the sound of it, he hasn’t updated his keyboard sounds since that time. I assume that sampling technology has progressed during the time since then but his “horn” samples in songs like “Got to Get You Into My Life” and his “sax synth” solo during “Lady Madonna” sound just like it did on the first tour. In other words, the synths sound dated now. ..and a bit cheesy. Weird, since I’m sure Wix can afford all the newest gear. so what gives?

I haven’t had a chance to view the DVD in any detail but I suspect the visual aspect will help take the focus off the auto-tuned vocals. Well, at least I hope so, anyway.

RetroGrade: C (for the audio CD)

Good Evening New York City
Released: November 17, 2009 (U.S.)
label: Hear Music/Concord Music Group

Tracklist of the audio CDs:
Disc 1:
1. Drive My Car
2. Jet
3. Only Mama Knows
4. Flaming Pie
5. Got To Get You Into My Life
6. Let Me Roll It
7. Highway
8. The Long And Winding Road
9. My Love
10. Blackbird
11. Here Today
12. Dance Tonight
13. Calico Skies
14. Mrs Vandebilt
15. Eleanor Rigby
16. Sing The Changes
17. Band On The Run

Disc 2:
1. Back In The USSR
2. I’m Down
3. Something
4. I’ve Got A Feeling
5. Paperback Writer
6. A Day In The Life / Give Peace A Chance
7. Let It Be
8. Live And Let Die
9. Hey Jude
10. Day Tripper
11. Lady Madonna
12. I Saw Her Standing There
13. Yesterday
14. Helter Skelter
15. Get Back
16. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band / The End

Here’s the “I’m Down” clip from the DVD. (a strange decision to mix the Beatles’ 1965 Shea performance with Paul’s, in my opinion…)

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This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of LeapFish Inc. All opinions are 100% mine.

This nicely done video trailer for the new search engine leapfish should remind us all of how the internet is a constantly changing environment. Just think back to the beginning of the decade. Not a lot of us were blogging back in those days. The web was made up of static webpages created by programs like Frontpage and Dreamweaver. In those days, search engines could get away with not re-checking certain sites for weeks since updates and changes were few and far between. But as broadband connections found its way to more and more homes, the internet integrated deeper into our daily lives. As blogging, youtube and social networking became mainstream, the flow of new web content exploded. sharing photos, videos and music have become as simple as sending email nowadays. And now with iPhones and the wireless web, updates on twitter and facebook are at our fingertips. With this constant flow of information coming and going, the internet has actually become the “living web”.

But how do we harness all this new information in “real-time”? Traditional search-engines aren’t currently geared toward real-time access. With twitter feeds and status updates, news can spread in an instant. A great example of this is how word spread on the web about Michael Jackson’s passing before traditional media made the announcement. We’re on the brink of a revolution. We just need some online tools to help access the speed of “now”.

Leapfish is the first that I’ve seen to merge traditional search with social networking. Their online portal integrates all the important tools that we use on a daily basis into one spot. Keep up with all your favorites including twitter feeds, flickr feeds, facebook and Digg without having to constantly surf to different sites. The search portal is definitely a step in the right direction.

It’s fascinating to see how the ‘net has evolved over the years. Our lives have permanently changed because of it. I look forward to the next “game-changer” that’ll once again shake things up on the web.

Last night’s Dancing with the Stars results show proved to us all once again their uncanny ability to stretch what could have been done in five minutes, into a full hour. man, that was painful. viewers had to wait what seemed like eternity to simply confirm the obvious choices for the finale – Donny, Mya and Kelly. And in my opinion, Mya is going to take the trophy home … unless Donny’s faithful fans push him over the top in the end.

Other than getting to the final three, there really wasn’t much else. Obviously there was a bunch of time to fill so they had three musical acts and a dance showcase for the upcoming film Nine.

Alicia Keys screeched her way through her new song “Try sleeping With A Broken Heart”. and then Leona Lewis lip-synced to her new song “Happy” which was a bit of a disappointment since she actually has a great singing voice.

and just when I thought the show couldn’t get any worse, they trot out the two remaining Gibb Brothers to perform “You Should be Dancing”:

yikes! They should simply outlaw anyone over 60 from singing disco music in high falsetto!! it’s definitely hazardous to the ears!

But on the other hand, it was nice to see Cheryl Burke and Chelsie Hightower on the show dancing again. They’re both a treat for the eyes.

as a matter of fact, if it were me, I’d rather watch Chelsie, Cheryl, Lacey Schwimmer and Edyta Sliwinska in those skimpy outfits for an hour and be done with it.

This is a sponsored guest post written by Justin Germino on behalf of Rock Along Productions. Post powered by Sponzai.

Want the very best in local and national music news, events and more? Rock Along Productions is the best online source for everything music related. Great articles, relevant discussions, contest, best in upcoming events and much more. The site is jam packed with music at its best. The site features monthly artist from all over. The company also puts on local concerts in which members of their mailing list can receive special offer and discounts on admission. They also offer up to date music news with Rolling Stone’s Rock N Roll Daily report. The site features an up to date events calendar in which you can find things to do in music and art. Interesting videos and tons of media makes this site one that you can visit everyday to discover new things.

Around this time every year, the market is saturated with Christmas albums done by well known recording artists. From rock to country, jazz and R&B, it’s highly probably that your very own favorite performer released a “seasonal album” at some point in their career. Hell, even Bob Dylan put one out this year.

Not to be outdone, British rock icon Sting has recently released his own seasonal recording titled If on a Winter’s Night. Thankfully Sting didn’t go the typical route of covering the same ol’ yuletide fare that countless of other artists have done over the years. He dug deep and unearthed ancient carols, folk-songs and lullabies from the British Isles. It’s an intriguing collection that challenges the listener with, at times, dark imagery and a somber mood.

If you’re looking for sugary-sweet holiday music, look elsewhere. But if you want thought-provoking and an ultimately rewarding meditation on the winter season, be sure to pick this album up.

On a related note, Sting is also releasing a live performance of the new album on DVD titled Sting: A Winter’s Night… Live from Durham Cathedral. Filmed this past September near his hometown of Newcastle, Sting performs the bulk of “If on a Winter’s Night” along with some extra material not on the album including “Ghost Story”, “Bethelehem Down” and “I Saw Three Ships”.

Deutsche Grammophon will be releasing the 2-DVD set on November 24. Purchase it here via CDUniverse.

And be sure to catch a special edition of this concert as part of the Great Performances series on PBS on Thanksgiving night (Thursday, November 26, 9pm EST, local schedules may vary).

here’s the tracklist for the new DVD set:
Disc 1
1. Intro (Sting/A Winter’s Night Concert)
2. The Snow It Melts The Soonest
3. Gabriel’s Message
4. Soul Cake
5. There Is No Rose Of Such Virtue
6. Lo How A Rose E’er Blooming
7. Christmas At Sea
8. Now Winter Comes Slowly
9. Cold Song
10. The Burning Babe
11. Ghost Story
12. Team Spirit
13. The Hounds Of Winter
14. Cherry Tree Carol
15. Balulalow
16. Bethelehem Down
17. Coventry Carol
18. Lullaby For An Anxious Child
19. I Saw Three Ships
20. You Only Cross My Mind In Winter

Disc 2
1. Intro (Sting/A Winter’s Night Documentary)
2. Italy
3. Newcastle
4. Durham
5. The Ship Inn
6. The Gosforth Hotel
7. Durham Cathedral
8. Christmas At Sea

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Until recently, I was one of the last remaining holdouts from the glorious world of the iPod. I didn’t like the fact that Apple forces all iPod owners to use their proprietary software (iTunes). I personally hate being restricted in that sense and have been using alternative mp3 players these last few years. But while on a recent trip to CostCo, the sleek new design of the fifth generation iPod nano finally lured me over to the “dark side”. Plus, CostCo had the 8GB model at a price-point that I couldn’t resist. I’m pleased to report that the user interface as well as the sound of the new nano are both superb. The color screen is bright and sharp and the video camera is a nice added feature. The placement of the camera lens is a bit odd but I guess I’ll get used to it.

Since I’m your typical music buff with a blog, I’m constantly listening to music. I’ve already filled my iPod pretty much to the gills with my current music collection. perhaps, I should have sprung for the 16GB edition. Anyway, I’m now looking for an iPod-ready speaker system for me to use so that I don’t have to constantly wear my Bose in-ear headphones around the house. The recently released Yamaha PDX-60 is currently on the top of my list of affordable docking systems. The neat thing about the Yamaha system is that you can dock your iPod on a wireless base and the music is streamed to the main speaker unit. With the wireless feature, you can basically lounge back and change playlists right on your iPod without having to get up like you would on a typical docking system. The unit utilizes the proprietary yAired technology in which the music is transferred uncompressed that ultimately helps keep the sound full, rich and detailed.
I’ll have to hear the unit for myself before I can make my final decision but reading through preliminary reviews, it seems the unit is capable of providing a full and balanced soundscape for a broad range of music styles.

here are the specifications for the PDX-60:
Supported iPods: iPhone 3G, iPhone, iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod nano and iPod (5th generation)
features: iPod charging, remote control, wireless technology
speakers: Bass-reflex
Frequency Response: 60 Hz–20 kHz
Woofer: Dual 3-1/4″ full-range cone
Product Dimensions (W x H x D) : 13-3/4″ x 4-1/4″ x 4-7/8″
Product Weight (lbs.) : 3.7

Here’s an interesting rock news item. According to this morning’s press release, guitarist extraordinaire Nuno Bettencourt has agreed to be part of Rihanna’s live band. Talk about a head scratcher. But I guess in this economy, even a “rock guitar god” has to seek out these types of opportunities in order to pay the bills. Evidently, playing in Rihanna’s band is more lucrative than doing another tour with his main band, Extreme. Ya can’t blame the guy for trying to earn some bank … but really, with Rihanna? I’m not hearing a lot of scorching guitar leads in her music, at least in my mind. who knows, maybe Nuno’s presence in her band will completely change her sound…

here’s the official announcement – November 16, 2009
Guitar virtuoso, Nuno Bettencourt, has joined forces with Rihanna and will be her 2010 world tour lead guitarist. The unexpected combination of Grammy Award winning R&B artist, Rihanna, and Rock guitarist, Nuno Bettencourt, has in fact become what Nuno says, “A great opportunity to blend our talents to create a high energy experience”.

Nuno is best known for his work in the multiplatinum rock band Extreme, where they were Grammy nominated for their Billboard Chart topping hit, “More Than Words”. Nuno has worked on many projects including, multiple solo albums, film scores and has also worked with notable artists such as Janet Jackson, Perry Farrell, Robert Palmer and many others.
Rihanna’s choice to have Nuno in her band is a great surprise, and Nuno assures that her live sound is really complimentary to his “style”. When he heard the direction Rihanna wants to go in a live setting Nuno said, “Wow, this rocks! It’s heavy and funky, and it hit me that this is ‘my’ thing, this is ‘my’ style…”

Once Nuno and Rihanna blended their talents and began the first round of rehearsals, Nuno stated, “…it did not disappoint. Even better than what I expected because she also has the most incredible band, and I get the privilege to add to their wall of sound. It’s gonna be fun. Come see and hear it for yourself!”

Streaming Live from London, November 16, Rihanna and Nuno will be performing tracks from her album, Rated R, to a free online audience. Join in on the largest free music event of the year at: nowplaying.nokia.com/join-us/. Rihanna’s latest album drops November 23rd.

Nuno’s new endeavor as lead guitarist for Rihanna has just been one of many significant events for him in 2009. The renowned guitarist recently wrapped up dates of the Extreme reunion tour and just recently made a music video for the CBS hit comedy, “How I Met Your Mother”. In addition, Nuno celebrated his twenty year anniversary as an endorser of Washburn Guitars with the debut of his signature N4XX and also released a signature Randall half stack, the NBKING100, both to critical acclaim.

It is clear Nuno has been one of the most influential rock guitarists of our time, and will continue to do what he does best, perform. As for the future of Extreme, Nuno explains, “NO… this is NOT the end of Extreme. We have a live DVD and CD coming out in early 2010 and we will be writing new material throughout the year. We had a great run across the globe on Saudades de Rock… and we’ll be back.”

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Here’s Nuno playing “Star” with his band Extreme live in Tokyo 2008:

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Speculation is at its peak now that there’s less than a week left before the world premiere of Banana Shpeel at the Chicago Theatre. With no sneak peeks or advanced reviews, most of us theater fans are pretty much left in the dark on what to expect from the brand new Cirque du Soleil show. Playbill.com recently reported that Serge Roy and David Shiner had to make the difficult decision to rewrite the whole show to streamline the plot. Unfortunately, the two love interests, Emmett and Katie had to written out of the show. The change was very unexpected especially when the initial press events heavily featured the two actors in those roles, Michael Longoria and Annaleigh Ashford.

But I suppose the creative team was simply doing what needed to be done to live up to “Cirque du Soleil” standards. And there seems to be a ton of interest in this show since Banana Shpeel is a bit of a departure for the successful entertainment brand. Cirque du Soleil is known the world over for their complex acrobatic trapeze acts and unique contortionists but with Banana Shpeel, they’re attempting to do a twist on vaudeville in a traditional theater-type setting.

My personal favorite show of theirs is “Love” but I’m sort of biased since I’m a life-long Beatles fan. The visual interpretation of Beatles classics was absolutely breathtaking and the newly remixed Beatles music in surround-sound was simply to die-for.

I can’t wait to hear more about Banana Shpeel once the show finally opens. With the show being promoted as being “light and fun”, expect big laughs and a lot of clowning around. Zany humor, clowns and slap-stick aren’t usually associated with the usual Cirque du Soleil show but I, for one, applaud the creative team behind Banana Shpeel for branching out and going for something completely different. Be sure to head on over to the Cirque du Soleil website for show dates and ticket information.

To celebrate next week’s CD/DVD release of Paul McCartney’s Good Evening New York City, I thought I’d share some tracks from his 1990 tour. It was his first tour in nearly a decade and he basically traveled the world over to support his superb Flower in the Dirt album.

The following are from McCartney’s April 21st, 1990 gig in Rio, Brazil. A record breaking 184,000 people attended the show.

My Brave Face
Ever since you went away I’ve had this sentimental
inclination not to change a single thing.
as I pull the sheets back on the bed I want to go bury my head
In your pillow.
We Got Married
It’s not just a loving machine, it doesn’t work out
if you don’t work at it.
This One
What opportunities did we allow to flow by
Feeling like the timing wasn’t quite right?
What kind of magic might have worked if we had stayed calm,
Couldn’t I have given you a better life?
Put it There
I don’t care if it weighs a ton,
as long as you and I are here, put it there.
P.S. Love Me Do
Someone to love, somebody new
Someone to love, someone like you
Let ‘em In
Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Do me a favor, open the door and let ‘em in

The live band featured: Paul, Linda McCartney (on keyboards), Wix Wickens (keyboards), Hamish Stuart (bass, guitar), Robbie McIntosh (lead guitar), Chris Whitten (drums).

enjoy!! happy friday!!

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