Saturday, October 10, 2009
Pearl Jam - Backspacer: Album Review
Here is my short review of Pearl Jam's latest album, Backspacer. I'm reposting this from my forum entry at PhilMusic.
So after weeks of waiting, I finally got the CD. The lyrics are included (typewriter font) with surreal artworks.
"Gonna See My Friend" is a scorching intro that sets the pace of the first three songs. Classic rock inspired with hints of punkish elements (a la Ramones). The rolling drums and guitar intro of "Got Some" have that old school rock and roll feel. Going to a happy feel then exits to a guitar solo on the background. The third song, "The Fixer" is similar to the feel of the first two songs; Catchy and optimistic.
"Johnny Guitar" is not as catchy as the first 3 songs but with a very nice guitar works. "Just Breathe" is a love tinged folksy song. Reminiscent of Eddie Vedder's solo album (Into The Wild soundtrack). "Amongst The Waves" is an ode to surfing. A ballad with an anthemic guitar solo. In "Unthought Known", the inclusion of keyboards bring some fresh notes. The song starts slowly then segueing into mid-paced instrument interplay and exits slowly.
Another classic rock-like song is "Supersonic". A short and fast-paced song with a brief slow interlude and lots of wah. The next song, "Speed Of Sound", is slow song with introspective lyrics. And like "Unthought Known", the keyboards add some nice flavor. "Force Of Nature" makes me want to just sit back and relax. The last song is aptly titled, "The End". The song is about a dying man saying his goodbyes to his family. And yet he doesn't want to go yet. The simple guitars and hint of string section give a very somber feel.
This album is a fun album in general. No powerful tracks like "Black" and catchy anthem like "Daughter". Traces of Vitalogy and Yield experimentation can be heard. The lyrics are more personal and less political. My rating (if I have to give one) is 4 out of 5 stars.
Enjoy!
Track list:
1. Gonna See My Friend 2:48
2. Got Some 3:02
3. The Fixer 2:57
4. Johnny Guitar 2:50
5. Just Breathe 3:35
6. Amongst The Waves 3:58
7. Unthought Known 4:08
8. Supersonic 2:40
9. Speed Of Sound 3:34
10. Force Of Nature 4:04
11. The End 2:57
Labels: Backspacer, Music, Pearl Jam
Friday, May 22, 2009
SX Vintage White Precision Bass
Another GAS extinguished. Have to see/feel/experience by myself what is all the rage about SX basses. Last night I got my vintage white SX Precision Bass at JB Music Park Square (Thanks Lee!). My initial impressions:
Nice fret works, no sprouts or sharp edges.
Neck to body joint is superb.
Surprisingly, the thickness of the neck is comfortable.
Tuning pegs and bridge are pretty standard quality for the price range.
The pick up is quiet but the volume is a bit soft.
Stock strings, well, it is light gauge :) I'll buy some Olympia flats this weekends.
Here are some pics:
All-in-all, this is indeed best value for our hard earned money :) More inputs to come once I have practiced/gigged with my band.
Nice fret works, no sprouts or sharp edges.
Neck to body joint is superb.
Surprisingly, the thickness of the neck is comfortable.
Tuning pegs and bridge are pretty standard quality for the price range.
The pick up is quiet but the volume is a bit soft.
Stock strings, well, it is light gauge :) I'll buy some Olympia flats this weekends.
Here are some pics:
All-in-all, this is indeed best value for our hard earned money :) More inputs to come once I have practiced/gigged with my band.
Labels: Bass Guitar, Music, Precision Bass, SX
Monday, January 14, 2008
Java And Other Cup of Updates
I was able to resolve the issues regarding getting some information about JVM. I had to set the $JAVA_HOME first, then execute the the simple query. Why am I getting these information? I'm doing a simple installation auditing and dumping it to a text file that can be parsed by PHP. Part of this is also getting the server's date of installation. Utilized the simple line below to get the '/' date of creation:
dumpe2fs -h `df -h | awk '{print $1}' | sed -n '2p'` | grep Filesystem\ created | sed -n '2q;1p' | awk '{print $3,$4,$5,$6,$7}'
On a separate note, I gave my wife the information about wget. She have a list of files from different http locations and she needed to downloaded them at once. Using '-i' option of wget did the trick:
wget -i list-of-files.txt
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I've been experimenting with my ZOOM B2.1u bass pedal and loving it more. I found some information on easily editing the patches. I have the 'cheat sheet' but forgot to bookmark the site. I'll be posting the site as soon as I googled it again :)
dumpe2fs -h `df -h | awk '{print $1}' | sed -n '2p'` | grep Filesystem\ created | sed -n '2q;1p' | awk '{print $3,$4,$5,$6,$7}'
On a separate note, I gave my wife the information about wget. She have a list of files from different http locations and she needed to downloaded them at once. Using '-i' option of wget did the trick:
wget -i list-of-files.txt
-----------------------------------------------
I've been experimenting with my ZOOM B2.1u bass pedal and loving it more. I found some information on easily editing the patches. I have the 'cheat sheet' but forgot to bookmark the site. I'll be posting the site as soon as I googled it again :)
Labels: Java, Linux, Music, Scripts, Zoom Bass Effects
Friday, November 30, 2007
QrooniX Quickies
I have a set of files (500+) to put on archive. The files from different directories were generated by script from a bug tracker. The pathnames we saved into a text file. To archive those files, I used the following command:
tar cvzfT archivename.tar.gz file-list.txt
A colleague created a patch/hack in order to have bulk closing function on Eventum. I'll be posting here some screenshots and code snippets regarding the function.
Due to my not so recent re-kindling of music interest, I procured a Zoom B2.1u Bass Effects Pedal. Looks and feels solid. The available patchsets and other functions are abundant. Once I get the hang of it, I'll be posting a more detailed review/information.
Zoom B2.1u Bass Effects Pedal
tar cvzfT archivename.tar.gz file-list.txt
A colleague created a patch/hack in order to have bulk closing function on Eventum. I'll be posting here some screenshots and code snippets regarding the function.
Due to my not so recent re-kindling of music interest, I procured a Zoom B2.1u Bass Effects Pedal. Looks and feels solid. The available patchsets and other functions are abundant. Once I get the hang of it, I'll be posting a more detailed review/information.
Zoom B2.1u Bass Effects PedalLabels: Eventum, Linux, Music, Zoom Bass Effects
