1.
Album
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Album, is a collection of audio recordings issued as a single item on CD, record, audio tape, or another medium. Albums of recorded music were developed in the early 20th century, first as books of individual 78rpm records, vinyl LPs are still issued, though in the 21st century album sales have mostly focused on compact disc and MP3 formats. The audio cassette was a format used from the late 1970s through to the 1990s alongside vinyl, an album may be recorded in a recording studio, in a concert venue, at home, in the field, or a mix of places. Recording may take a few hours to years to complete, usually in several takes with different parts recorded separately. Recordings that are done in one take without overdubbing are termed live, the majority of studio recordings contain an abundance of editing, sound effects, voice adjustments, etc. With modern recording technology, musicians can be recorded in separate rooms or at times while listening to the other parts using headphones. Album covers and liner notes are used, and sometimes additional information is provided, such as analysis of the recording, historically, the term album was applied to a collection of various items housed in a book format. In musical usage the word was used for collections of pieces of printed music from the early nineteenth century. Later, collections of related 78rpm records were bundled in book-like albums, the LP record, or 33 1⁄3 rpm microgroove vinyl record, is a gramophone record format introduced by Columbia Records in 1948. It was adopted by the industry as a standard format for the album. Apart from relatively minor refinements and the important later addition of stereophonic sound capability, the term album had been carried forward from the early nineteenth century when it had been used for collections of short pieces of music. Later, collections of related 78rpm records were bundled in book-like albums, as part of a trend of shifting sales in the music industry, some commenters have declared that the early 21st century experienced the death of the album. Sometimes shorter albums are referred to as mini-albums or EPs, Albums such as Tubular Bells, Amarok, Hergest Ridge by Mike Oldfield, and Yess Close to the Edge, include fewer than four tracks. There are no rules against artists such as Pinhead Gunpowder referring to their own releases under thirty minutes as albums. These are known as box sets, material is stored on an album in sections termed tracks, normally 11 or 12 tracks. A music track is a song or instrumental recording. The term is associated with popular music where separate tracks are known as album tracks. When vinyl records were the medium for audio recordings a track could be identified visually from the grooves
2.
Mike Watt
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Michael David Mike Watt is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. CMJ New Music called Watt a seminal post-punk bass player, in November 2008, Watt received the Bass Player Magazine lifetime achievement award, presented by Flea. Watt was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, when he was young, Watts family moved to San Pedro, California, where he became good friends with D. Boon. Watt and Boon picked up bass and guitar, respectively, Watt was a fan of T Rex and Blue Öyster Cult, while Boons exposure to rock music was limited to Creedence Clearwater Revival, another Watt favorite. In 1978, Watt and Boon formed a band called The Reactionaries with drummer George Hurley, after signing with SST Records in 1980, Minutemen began touring constantly, releasing a number of albums along the way. Their music was based on the speed, brevity and intensity of punk, but included elements of jazz, folk, in 1984, Watt met Black Flag bassist Kira Roessler during a Black Flag/Minutemen tour. They soon became involved, and subsequently began collaborating on songs. They also formed a duo, Dos, and have since recorded and released three records. Minutemen ended tragically on December 22,1985, when Boon was killed in an crash while driving to Arizona with his girlfriend. Their fifth full-length album, 3-Way Tie had already scheduled for release at the time of the accident. Minutemen were also planning to record an album with the working title 3 Dudes,6 Sides,3 Studio,3 Live as way to counteract bootleggers. After Boons death, Watt was profoundly depressed, he and Hurley initially intended to quit music altogether, Watt cites this period as critical in inspiring his post-Minutemen career saying, The first thing I did was Thurston asked me to play bass on Evol. That was a big highlight, man, like, What, you want me to play without D. Boon. Subsequently, Ed Crawford, a Minutemen fan who drove to San Pedro from Ohio, after three releases on SST, Firehose was signed to Columbia Records by A&R man Jim Dunbar. Shortly after the release of 1993s Mr. Machinery Operator, the decided to call it quits. Watt and Kira married in 1987, but their marriage ended not long after Firehoses break-up, however, both their friendship and Dos have remained intact, they even recorded their third album, Justamente Tres, not long after their divorce. After working with Firehose, Watt began a solo career and his first album, Ball-Hog or Tugboat. The album and its tour were Watts first taste of mainstream fame
3.
Punk rock
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Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed in the early to mid-1970s in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in 1960s garage rock and other forms of what is now known as proto-punk music, Punk bands typically produced short or fast-paced songs, with hard-edged melodies and singing styles, stripped-down instrumentation, and often political, anti-establishment lyrics. Punk embraces a DIY ethic, many bands self-produce recordings and distribute them through informal channels, the term punk was first used in relation to rock music by some American critics in the early 1970s, to describe garage bands and their devotees. The following year saw punk rock spreading around the world, for the most part, punk took root in local scenes that tended to reject association with the mainstream. An associated punk subculture emerged, expressing youthful rebellion and characterized by distinctive styles of clothing and adornment, by the beginning of the 1980s, faster, more aggressive styles such as hardcore and street punk had become the predominant mode of punk rock. Musicians identifying with or inspired by punk also pursued a range of other variations, giving rise to post-punk. At the end of the 20th century, punk rock had been adopted by the mainstream, as pop punk and punk bands such as Green Day. The first wave of rock was aggressively modern, distancing itself from the bombast. According to Ramones drummer Tommy Ramone, In its initial form, unfortunately, what happens is that people who could not hold a candle to the likes of Hendrix started noodling away. Soon you had endless solos that went nowhere, by 1973, I knew that what was needed was some pure, stripped down, no bullshit rock n roll. In critic Robert Christgaus description, It was also a subculture that rejected the political idealism. Technical accessibility and a DIY spirit are prized in punk rock, in the early days of punk rock, this ethic stood in marked contrast to what those in the scene regarded as the ostentatious musical effects and technological demands of many mainstream rock bands. Musical virtuosity was often looked on with suspicion, according to Holmstrom, punk rock was rock and roll by people who didnt have very many skills as musicians but still felt the need to express themselves through music. In December 1976, the English fanzine Sideburns published an illustration of three chords, captioned This is a chord, this is another, this is a third. The title of a 1980 single by the New York punk band Stimulators, inscribed a catchphrase for punks basic musical approach. The previous year, when the rock revolution began in Great Britain, was to be both a musical and a cultural Year Zero. As a Clash associate describes singer Joe Strummers outlook, Punk rock is meant to be our freedom, were meant to be able to do what we want to do. Scholar Daniel S. Traber argues that attaining authenticity in the identity can be difficult, as the punk scene matured, he observes
4.
Concept album
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A concept album is an album unified by a larger purpose or meaning to the album collectively than to its tracks individually. This may be achieved through a central narrative or theme. The exact criteria of a concept album varies, with no discernible consensus, in the 1960s, several well-regarded concept albums were released by various rock bands, which eventually led to the invention of progressive rock and the rock opera. Since then, many albums have been released across many different musical genres. Concepts are general ideas, thoughts, or abstract notions, there is no clear definition of what constitutes a concept album. Fiona Sturges of The Independent stated that the album was originally defined as a long-player where the songs were based on one dramatic idea –. A precursor to this type of album can be found in the 19th century song cycle which ran some of the same difficulties in classification. The extremely broad definitions of an album could potentially encompass all soundtracks, compilations, cast recordings, greatest hits albums, tribute albums, Christmas albums. The most common definitions refer to an approach to the rock album format. AllMusic writes, A concept album could be a collection of songs by a songwriter or a particular theme -- these are the concept LPs that reigned in the 50s. The phrase concept album is tied to the late 1960s. Author Jim Cullen describes it, a collection of discrete but thematically unified songs whose whole is greater than the sum of its parts, sometimes assumed to be a product of the rock era. Author Roy Shuker defines concept albums and rock operas as albums that are unified by a theme, in this form, the album changed from a collection of heterogeneous songs into a narrative work with a single theme, in which individual songs segue into one another. Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman considers the first concept album to be Woody Guthries 1940 album Dust Bowl Ballads, the Independent regards it as perhaps one of the first concept albums, consisting exclusively of semi-autobiographical songs about the hardships of American migrant labourers during the 1930s. Singer Frank Sinatra recorded several albums prior to the 1960s rock era, including In the Wee Small Hours. Sinatra is sometimes credited as the inventor of the album, beginning with The Voice of Frank Sinatra. According to biographer Will Friedwald, Sinatra sequenced the songs so that the created a flow from track to track, affording an impression of a narrative. First pop singer to bring a consciously artistic attitude to recording, the author Carys Wyn Jones writes that the Beach Boys Pet Sounds, the Beatles Revolver and Sgt
5.
Columbia Records
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Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, Inc. the United States division of Sony Corporation. It was founded in 1887, evolving from an enterprise named the American Graphophone Company. Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in the sound business. Columbia Records went on to release records by an array of singers, instrumentalists. It is one of Sony Musics three flagship record labels alongside RCA Records and Epic Records, rather, as above, it was connected to CBS, a broadcasting media company which had purchased the company in 1938, and had been co-founded in 1927 by Columbia Records itself. Though Arista Records was sold to Bertelsmann Music Group, it would become a sister label of Columbia Records through its mutual connection to Sony Music. The Columbia Phonograph Company was founded in 1887 by stenographer, lawyer and New Jersey native Edward Easton and it derived its name from the District of Columbia, where it was headquartered. At first it had a monopoly on sales and service of Edison phonographs and phonograph cylinders in Washington. As was the custom of some of the regional companies, Columbia produced many commercial cylinder recordings of its own. Columbias ties to Edison and the North American Phonograph Company were severed in 1894 with the North American Phonograph Companys breakup, thereafter it sold only records and phonographs of its own manufacture. In 1902, Columbia introduced the XP record, a brown wax record. According to Gracyk, the molded brown waxes may have sold to Sears for distribution. Columbia began selling records and phonographs in addition to the cylinder system in 1901, preceded only by their Toy Graphophone of 1899. For a decade, Columbia competed with both the Edison Phonograph Company cylinders and the Victor Talking Machine Company disc records as one of the top three names in American recorded sound. In order to add prestige to its catalog of artists. The firm also introduced the internal-horn Grafonola to compete with the extremely popular Victrola sold by the rival Victor Talking Machine Company, during this era, Columbia used the famous Magic Notes logo—a pair of sixteenth notes in a circle—both in the United States and overseas. Columbia was split into two companies, one to make records and one to make players, Columbia Phonograph was moved to Connecticut, and Ed Easton went with it. Eventually it was renamed the Dictaphone Corporation, in late 1923, Columbia went into receivership
6.
Record producer
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A record producer or music producer oversees and manages the sound recording and production of a band or performers music, which may range from recording one song to recording a lengthy concept album. A producer has many roles during the recording process, the roles of a producer vary. The producer may perform these roles himself, or help select the engineer, the producer may also pay session musicians and engineers and ensure that the entire project is completed within the record companies budget. A record producer or music producer has a broad role in overseeing and managing the recording. Producers also often take on an entrepreneurial role, with responsibility for the budget, schedules, contracts. In the 2010s, the industry has two kinds of producers with different roles, executive producer and music producer. Executive producers oversee project finances while music producers oversee the process of recording songs or albums. In most cases the producer is also a competent arranger, composer. The producer will also liaise with the engineer who concentrates on the technical aspects of recording. Noted producer Phil Ek described his role as the person who creatively guides or directs the process of making a record, indeed, in Bollywood music, the designation actually is music director. The music producers job is to create, shape, and mold a piece of music, at the beginning of record industry, producer role was technically limited to record, in one shot, artists performing live. The role of producers changed progressively over the 1950s and 1960s due to technological developments, the development of multitrack recording caused a major change in the recording process. Before multitracking, all the elements of a song had to be performed simultaneously, all of these singers and musicians had to be assembled in a large studio and the performance had to be recorded. As well, for a song that used 20 instruments, it was no longer necessary to get all the players in the studio at the same time. Examples include the rock sound effects of the 1960s, e. g. playing back the sound of recorded instruments backwards or clanging the tape to produce unique sound effects. These new instruments were electric or electronic, and thus they used instrument amplifiers, new technologies like multitracking changed the goal of recording, A producer could blend together multiple takes and edit together different sections to create the desired sound. For example, in jazz fusion Bandleader-composer Miles Davis album Bitches Brew, producers like Phil Spector and George Martin were soon creating recordings that were, in practical terms, almost impossible to realise in live performance. Producers became creative figures in the studio, other examples of such engineers includes Joe Meek, Teo Macero, Brian Wilson, and Biddu
7.
Ball-Hog or Tugboat?
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Ball-Hog or Tugboat. is the debut solo album by former Minutemen and fIREHOSE bassist, songwriter and vocalist Mike Watt. Without a full-time band, Watt recruited a wide variety of friends, in interviews and on his online tour journals, Watt has nicknamed Ball-Hog. The Wrestling Album, as he considered the various lineups we worked with on the album as getting into the ring with him. All three of the singles were hits on both modern rock and college radio, with Against The 70s peaking at #21 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. To date, Ball-Hog. is the biggest selling album of Mike Watts career other than the Minutemens Double Nickels On The Dime, Watt assembled an all-star grouping for his initial tour for the album in early 1995, attracting a great deal of attention from the alternative music press. Watt was backed by Vedder on guitar and vocals, Smear on guitar, William Goldsmith on drums, the tour also featured Hovercraft, and the Foo Fighters on their first national tour. Watts ensemble performed on The Jon Stewart Show during this tour, special guests such as Carla Bozulich and Perry Farrell appeared at select shows. One Reporters Opinion –3,41 Song For Igor –2,46 Tell Em Boy, - Background Vocals Tony Maxwell - Cello The album liner notes list the following performers by track, Mike Watts Hoot Page Glossary Of Pedro Slang
8.
The Secondman's Middle Stand
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The Secondmans Middle Stand was Mike Watts third solo album and the first full-length recording that he had made under his own name since the release of Contemplating The Engine Room in 1997. The storyline for the album parallels Watts real-life January 2000 bout with a near-fatal infection in his perineum with one of his favorite pieces of literature. The first three tracks of the album represent the Inferno, the three songs represent the Purgatorio, and the final three represent the Paradisio. To play organ, he enlisted Pete Mazich, who he had played with locally in an infrequent side project, The Madonnabees, which was devoted to reinterpreting the songs of Madonna. For the drum seat, Watt tapped Jerry Trebotic, who had toured with Watt in his project band The Jom And Terry Show. Both musicians, like Watt, are natives of San Pedro, California, Watt dubbed this new band The Secondmen. The Secondmen did three tours before recording a note of the album in the studio. For their first tour in the spring of 2002, the shows opened with the Inferno section of the piece, the following tour a year later added the first two songs of the Purgatorio section. A third tour later in 2003 mixed opening dates with the Red Hot Chili Peppers in between headlining club dates, no singles were released from the album, but a video for Tied A Reed Round My Waist was filmed in San Pedro by veteran video director Lance Bangs. All three of the videos in this trilogy, plus the video for Tied A Reed Round My Waist, can be streamed at Mr. Muscarellas site, http, a 2005 European release of the CD includes a DVD with the videos for Tied A Reed. and Beltsandedman. The cover is reminiscent of John Coltranes album Interstellar Space, of which Watt is a fan
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