Irony. Indie Rock. Self-consciousness. Post-modernity = that delicious 90’s milkshake that indies can’t quite seem to outpace. I get it – everyone is rather sick and tired of turning on the Guy Smiley for the cynical critics. Well, it doesn’t really matter how you wrap it, so long as the lollipop tastes good. […]
Microsoft Songsmith Signals the End of the Human Musician
Microsoft Songsmith is new software from Redmond that actually introduces a pretty cool technological maneuver: it parses a musical vocal passage and attempts to add auto accompaniment in a variety of styles, taking cues from the user as to emotional scale ranging from happy and sad to genre based generalities like “jazzy” and “twist” and gee, I dunno, a train smashing into a muzak jukebox. […]