Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Where do you get yours?

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  • Russell Brown, in reply to Simon Grigg,

    The tips I find on DJ History are always worthwhile once I get past the Balearic references to obscure Fleetwood Mac records.

    The DJ History group on Soundcloud is a good follow too.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg, in reply to Russell Brown,

    DJ History

    As you're aware Russell, Bill Brewster is in town - he's asking for pointers here.

    Somebody needs to introduce him to some of our local crate digging legends over a beer or three.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Stephen Doyle,

    Amazon's Kindle department for me. Books not music.

    Stillwater • Since Nov 2011 • 28 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg, in reply to Hebe,

    I had no idea it is well regarded.

    Lennon's response was:

    To this day, I have no idea what [Aeolian cadences] are. They sound like exotic birds.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • SteveH, in reply to Emma Hart,

    Since Sep 2009 • 444 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    Just to point out that if you acquire music in lossless (flax/wav) you can transcode to anything easily. Converting between two compressed formats isn't recommended.

    So I try and buy everything in Flac / Wav at the fastest bit rate available.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    aeolian cadences!

    When you listen to birds as much as I do – and when you have the exceptionally good hearing that I do-
    you realise that birds sing to and with the wind – as well as with each other- and with other sound factors* in their world-

    most of us are sound-numb/dumb- we lack what we should be hearing/sharing
    because we listen to auditory crap from an early age-

    * insects, especially cicadas, are often incorporated in tui song. Cicadas are reciprocal- but both tui & korimako will use tropes from other intruiging sounds
    (telephone rings!) - for a while-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen, in reply to Islander,

    One thing about e-reading I never thought of is, if I have to take my glasses off for one reason I can just make the font bigger. It sounds trivial but it really isn't.

    I love books, physical ones I mean but you can take my e-book from my cold dead hands - on second thought not even then

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • Islander, in reply to Bart Janssen,

    Bart – despite a cataract operation in my dominant left eye (which has given me better vision than I have ever had before – waua! waking up and actually being able to see! Right now!) I havent craved any kind of e-reader.

    I just relish enhanced sight in my dominant eye (and cherish the close-up vision I still have in my right eye.)

    Cheers!

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Bevan Shortridge,

    Movies are my main online purchase. I check a couple of different sites, for example Rewind, for a comparison of features in different regions. A lot of Region 4 DVDs will miss out commentaries and featurettes - of course a lot are either delayed in release here or never released here. Some are specific requests from relatives who are less inclined to buy online (other than trademe) so ask me to do so for them, either they've found them online already or they want me to locate them too.

    So amazon (US but mostly UK, their prices tend to be better once they remove VAT for the foreigners). In past have also used ebay - Australia, US, UK and once ebay Belgium (thankfully his English was better than my Google Translate, especially since I translated into Dutch). Mightyape and Arovideo (in Wellington) for NZ-released R4 material I cannot locate in person via Real Groovy, Marbecks, JB HiFi, or The Warehouse (which has the oddest things turning up in its bargain bins-often discontinued UK stock).

    Amazon too for music as well (actual CDs), after checking stores locally (price may come into it), iTunes for convenience. YouTube to check a song I heard part of and want to see if I actually do like the whole thing (Hypem for the same thing, or mp3skull). To alert to new music (or music I missed that isn't particularly new) probably National Radio, both its shows but also the pieces played between the shows and before the news.

    Also for new music (or not new), er, Fridays here. Both recently since heard a snippet on RNZ this week of what I thought was Opossum on RNZ but nothing I found matched it. Lo and behold, I find "Opossom" here!

    Books from fishpond, amazon, abebooks for second hand, Whitcoulls online very occasionally.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 122 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle, in reply to Simon Grigg,

    Nah, nah, nah: With The Beatles is it I’m afraid.

    Hrm. Unorthodox - but interesting - choice. On the shortlist for most kickass unappreciated opening song:

    Plus some of the best of their covers in 'You Really Got a Hold on Me', 'Please Mr Postman' and 'Money'. And is 'All My Loving' the first instance of McCartney's exuberant walking bassline thingummy?

    In sum, I disagree, but I declare your opinion valid. ;)

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen, in reply to Islander,

    and cherish the close-up vision I still have in my right eye

    May you keep it a long time. I'm now both short and long sighted :(. It was just a feature that I hadn't ever though of as being useful and for me it is a great boon.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg, in reply to Danielle,

    Hrm. Unorthodox - but interesting - choice.

    No so unorthodox - one of those pointless Mojo thingies also named it thus, as did the fabulous but sadly late Roy Carr in his just as fabulous The Beatles - An Illustrated Record way back when.

    Mostly it's the originals that do it for me (with the exception of the Smokey tune which betters the OG).

    On the shortlist for most kickass unappreciated opening song:

    It has the most kickass opening quartet of songs - never matched IMO.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Bart Janssen,

    It sounds trivial but it really isn't.

    like many access features.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Islander,

    Bart – despite a cataract operation in my dominant left eye (which has given me better vision than I have ever had before – waua! waking up and actually being able to see! Right now!) I havent craved any kind of e-reader.

    I was talking to my mum this morning -- of course -- and she'd been to my great uncle Dave's 99th birthday party. The family had feared he'd been fading, but a cataract operation has taken years off him -- he was even back to leading the singing, which is a big part of that side of the family's culture. Looks like he'll do the ton.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg, in reply to Islander,

    Cicadas are reciprocal- but both tui & korimako will use tropes from other intruiging sounds

    In Bali there was a bird that I'm convinced was recycling the incessant dominant local racket - the whine of low CC motorcycles. I have no idea what it was but it did it very accurately in the early morn.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Islander, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Great!
    -cataract ops are very quick, and generally totally successful. It was wellworth putting the $5000 plus on my mortgage (because I was no longer able to drive safely, and driving isnt a luxury in a remote area....and while I was near the top of the list, the opthalmologist reckoned it would be at least another 3 months before
    the job was done.)

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Islander, in reply to Simon Grigg,

    n Bali there was a bird that I'm convinced was recycling the incessant dominant local racket - the whine of low CC motorcycles. I have no idea what it was but it did it very accurately in the early morn.

    I have a crackly tape that sounds remarkably like a chainsaw starting up - until the tui lets loose with a few chonks & bell-notes-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe,

    To the e-reader users: what is better and why: e-reader or a tablet? IPad or Android?

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Chris Waugh,

    I've been wondering over the weekend if some of the really ugly sounds some Beijing birds make are connected to the constant rumble of traffic punctuated by the large bangs and crashes of demolition, construction, and, occasionally, fireworks. But out the window I can hear quite cheerful chirping.

    But then again, one of the things I've always liked about China is how the elderly can be seen everywhere either chasing after their grandkids or sharing in various passtimes, and as well as Chinese chess and cards and raising pigeons, many elderly Chinese men like raising songbirds, and they often take their birds out for walks - yes! - you see them carrying their birdcages down to the local park or whichever greenspace, perhaps even just a corner of a road, and hanging their cages up in the trees, and while their birds happily sing to each other and swap songs and they chat or play cards or chess. So even among all this constant noise they manage to keep their birds singing beautifully.

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 2401 posts Report Reply

  • chris, in reply to Chris Waugh,

    I love the passion with which some of those folk slam their cards down onto whatever surface they're playing on, very cartoonish. a beat for the birdsong.

    Mawkland • Since Jan 2010 • 1302 posts Report Reply

  • Chris Waugh, in reply to chris,

    Yeah, and the smack of wooden chesspieces on a wooden chessboard with the player doing his best "Take that!" pose, only for the game to go on another half hour. Meanwhile, in the background you hear a couple of people practicing their erhu and others singing Chinese opera. China strikes me as a great place to retire.

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 2401 posts Report Reply

  • chris, in reply to Chris Waugh,

    Attachment

    Yes all the live music on the streets and in the parks and compounds is chaotically beautiful: view out the window.

    On Topic - taobao.com

    Mawkland • Since Jan 2010 • 1302 posts Report Reply

  • Scott Chris, in reply to Simon Grigg,

    In Bali there was a bird that I'm convinced was recycling the incessant dominant local racket - the whine of low CC motorcycles. I have no idea what it was but it did it very accurately in the early morn.

    Possibly a relative of the incredible lyre bird. This Attenborough clip showcases the lyre bird's talents, including such natural forest sounds as the camera shutter and more poignantly, the chainsaw.

    Has to be seen/heard to be believed.

    Auckland • Since Feb 2012 • 167 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    All the Chris’s – Chris W, Chris, and Scott Chris – thank you so much for making my evening – China soundscapes & a lyre-bird – so excellent!
    (Wonder if we could ever organise a meeting between tui&korimako&lyre birds & a troup of indomitable older Chinese with the birds & the games?
    Be such a memorable soundscape!
    NB: tui can be trained to imitate both human voices & calls…)

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

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