For the do-it-all preamp fan, Focusrite's ISA line now features the 430mkII, updating the original 430. From the spec list, I can only say... "overkill." Doesn't anyone like clean and simple anymore? I do. In fact, I'd rather take one of these.

Nice audio-related article: Pentium M Tests. I want an amd FX processor...

Phil Spector produced a few tracks on this album... But I've noticed, via a few interviews, that this is news the band is playing down. Doesn't anyone like Spector anymore?

Tapete, part of the 1999 edition of Projeto Hyper, features vocals by Marion Velasco. There's also some great work by bass player Leandro Adriano.

This morning the song was at position 16 -the sole Brazilian representative on the top 20 - on the current electronic charts, which are constantly being updated. Garageband is a strange forum where insane people critique your music to earn free stuff. That's how you move around on their charts, via the insane-person point-casting system. So I feel honored to have made it to the “upper echelon of the electronica genre.” Congrats to the talented people whose performances are featured on the song.

This morning I was looking through the 30 unread reviews for Tapete and there were actually several interesting comments. Some people liked the "Foreign Lyrics," with some thinking it was Japanese. Japanese? One person from Switzerland guessed, "is this Portuguese?" Can't fool those Swiss. And another thought Tapete was "too cool for English." My fave, however: "I wouldn't buy it, but I'd sleep to it in a book store."

where is it now?

So, in keeping with this week's theme - which, in case you haven't guessed, is "mainstream pop" - I'm listening to the just-released Nelly Furtado album. Torontonian-Portuguese Furtado was here in Brazil many months ago and spoke some modest Portuguese with the country's big talk show host, Jo Soares. The impression I got was that the girl's intellectual ability was comparable to Chandra Kandi's. Much like a Nicole Kidman interview I once saw on the Letterman show, Furtado sorta seemed like she was high during the entire show. She wouldn't stop laughing.

Folklore has me confused because, as far as "mainstream pop" goes, it's pretty cool. It's organic, with lots of ethnic percussion and instrumentation. It can get orchestral, but most of the time you hear a bunch of people playing real instruments. And her lyrics even cross over into convincing Portuguese here and there. In fact, there's a very nice track with the participation of Caetano Veloso, who Furtado describes as her "musical idol."

Her first album gave me the impression that somewhere along the line she'd decided to be an alternative R&B/hip-hop artist. It now seems she's decided to go for something more unique. That's good, no? Now, I did read a review where someone mentioned she was taking herself too seriously. I guess that's fair. But some people still like straight-faced music, right?

No, this isn't going to become current listening and I'll probably only play it a couple more times, but it's nice to hear someone trying to be different. Not all pop is evil.

What could I be thinking? Listening to Spears' whole album (twice) was one of the most anguishing experiences I've had in a while. Worthy of a David Blaine stunt. Don't try this at home kids!

To recover, I submitted myself to something with an equal potential for serious brain injury: Justin Timberlake. Joeblack recommended the album, so I figured it was safe.

Of course, the catch is that he's being backed up by some serious production, including the Neptunes. Some songs are not bad and the performances sound good... damn, this is about when I should be exercising extreme nastiness.

The album is not brilliant, by the way. Most of the songs sound tailored for Britney's crowd, although production throughout is pretty clean. And every once in a while it becomes clear that he hasn't forgotten his N'Sync's fans.

But as much as I hate to say it, the album sounds hip. (disclaimer: my kindness may be attributed to me being in a coma after submitting myself to Britney.)

Cool kindergarten lyric: “You’re out of this world except you’re not green.”

Vroom Vroom... I'm back on the road. Driving on the roads of Porto Alegre, that is.

"Let It Be... Naked" is a rerelease of the original album of the same name, but now stripped of Phil Spector's production. It's a transparent work that focuses on the band, the sound of people in an actual room making music. I really like Spector's work, including his versions of these songs, but this album sounds more honest. Here and there you hear different performances, or notice details hidden by the mixes which were supervised by Spector. And the overall result is amazing... the songs sound very current, right at home with most of the hip rock bands out there.

"Let It Be" (the song) is basically the original minus the orchestration, and it sounds really clean. "The Long and Winding Road" is mixed differently, features different performances and a different arrangement of the lyrics. In fact, everything on the album has been re-mixed. I'll be listening to this one for some time.

The album's site is awesome as well. You can turn the pages...

Korg has these humoungous (at least compared to their competition) dedicated-hardware recorders. The D32XD is, like, a giant Roland VS. I don't get it... these things have tons of drawbacks, and are especially suited to home-recordists on limited budgets. So they should be small, no? Where's the musician going to put this thing in his living room? Take a closer look...

I was mentioning an interesting device to a friend the other day, so I'll post some info about it here. Muse Research has put out the Receptor, a 2U hardware module that runs VST plug-ins. Effects and instruments. Yep, one can now take 16 channels of VSTs to stage, or better, run them independent of a computer in the studio. Now this makes having hardware cool again.

Groovy Plugin Alert: For the PC, the Tascam GigaStudio. For the Mac, the Motu MX4 soft synth and Emagic's Space Designer.

Late Groovy Plugin Alert: Antares' Tube, which isn't that new, is amazing.

Two onboard 15" touch-screens.

Direct connectivity to DAWs via firewire, so forget that nifty new audio interface you were going to get.

It's built around a dedicated Intel chip running a "special" WinXP OS. So it can run VST plugins.

It'll also get USB ports and perhaps external monitor support...

It's not exactly cheap, but for most medium or small recording studios looking for a high-end console, it's pretty cool. Can it compete with the Sony DMX-R100? It sure makes an interesting alternative.

Of the several new units, the MK-461C (damn, just MK4 would have sufficed) offers the most features. You can count the "9 sliders, 12 knobs and 10 buttons" yourself. But the only cool new thing here is the "drawbar mode," which lets you use those 9 sliders as drawbars on you favorite soft-b3.

The UC33e is nifty however. It's a keyless controller with tons of knobs and 9 faders. Yes, those 9 faders also support "drawbar mode." Simple, cheap (I'm guessing around U$200) and compact.

Overall, it's a nice album: the music sounds sharp and Mary turns out beautiful performances. Yeah, the songs aren't consistently captivating and some instrumentals get repetitive, but a few are precious nonetheless.

Mary J. Blige was involved in the writing of 17 of the 18 songs. Production was handled by Sean "Puffy" Combs, and guests include Dr. Dre (also doing some producing), Method Man, 50 Cent, Eve and Jay Z.

There's a rehearsal studio near my home? While visiting some friends near here, I discovered Backstage Studio. I'm not going to comment on the quality of the facility... but it sure is convenient.

Paula, who I'm teaming up with for the production of an online radio show for trocando ideia, was visiting yesterday. I'll post a link to the show when we're finished. That's her in the picture...

So this is my humble new site. Took me a while to put it together, and yes, I did put it together. :) Call it my hobby.
(what, another hobby???)

These things sound great on kick drum and have been made by the DIY crowd for many, many years. They capture very low-end information, which is great for adding presence. Thus they're also good on guitar amps, acoustic bass, some percussion (like djembe), or just for experimentation.

A modern, hipper version of this idea has been released by Yamaha. The SKRM-100 "subkick" mic looks cool, comes with nice mounting hardware, and in the opinion of Mix Magazine, sounds pretty good too. I don't think I'll be seeing any of these in Poa anytime soon, though.

So this coming week I'll be back at the game. And, perhaps, if they'll let me, I'll kick the ball around as well. Let's see just how much I can embarass myself.

Now, I don't feel sorry for her because she'd be laughing all the way to the bank. Check out her concert dates on her site. This chick works alot. And she gets a good workout on stage too, so she's a healthy one.

Which brings me to the important lesson I learned today... when in doubt if the venue will let you in with your digital camera, take it anyway. Heck, from the balcony, you could see many little camera screens in the crowd. And when she decided to climb up onto the mezzanine, around the several balconies (and right past me), then climb back down to the stage, I couldn't help thinking "this would make a nifty snapshot."

So, let me describe the show in a way that would make any photo seem superfluous...

Just kidding.

Groovy tool alert: the Roland mv-8000, meant to be an mpc killer. Coolest feature: when you record with the mv, then connect to your computer via usb, you can access the mv's 40gb drive as if it were an external unit. Instant connectivity. But there are plenty of cool features to choose from, like support for linking to an Edirol video workstation, a cdrw, pads (forget velocity sensitivity, these things have aftertouch), sequencing, sampling and more, more, more! You know you want it…

I, on the other hand, want one of these.

Winamp has been feeding me with "Room on Fire," the second release from the Strokes. Dirty, o.k. music that's short and to the point. Perhaps the work of talented artists.

But, like many icon-wannabes, they also suffer from over-posturing. Is it all about being OD'd on rock attitude? Listening past the over-compressed, gritty quality of the vocal track, I hear... nothing too impressive. I can't help wondering how obnoxious the Strokes must be in person.

Like most people, I'm thinking about the White Stripes, and they happen to be sitting in my playlist as well. If the Strokes sound like a Hyundai Scoupe (with little flames painted on the sides) then the Stripes sound like an ugly Pontiac GTO.

Of course, the zillion people who are badmouthing the Strokes are probably the reason they're so famous. Proof that bad press is good press, Room on Fire is bound to be another hit.

the Matrix, Revolutions! Went to watch the event with the gang, and it's actually better than Reloaded. Not that making something better than Reloaded would be difficult. But still, I was afraid they'd totally destroy this last film.

Here I am looking at Type, the latest magazine produced in poa. I can't say I've become a fan, but I was impressed with the work of some friends and acquaintances. And the overall design and layout is beautiful as well.