The World According To PTK

Ten minutes ago I played a song I had not heard before and said, that was a good song! I should send it to Sam. But it's in WAV format so it's really big. Wouldn't it be nice if Python could convert it to mp3 to make it smaller? Ten minutes later it was done. Amazing. Here are the easy steps to follow if you would like to try it. 1. Search the internet for 'python convert wav mp3'. 2. Download FFmpeg and add it to your system path: http://adaptivesamples.com/how-to-install-ffmpeg-on-windows/ 3. 'pip install pydub', then copy some sample code from here and make slight adjustments to match your file paths and song file name: https://github.com/jiaaro/pydub 4. Run the script: from pydub import AudioSegment song = AudioSegment.from_wav("G:/Music/Rock/The I Don't Cares/Wild Stab/Sorry for Tomorrow Night.wav") song.export("Sorry for Tomorrow Night.mp3", format="mp3") 5. Email the mp3 file to Sam. And do...

This post is here because I had not added one for two-and-a-half years. In the interim, the world has not suffered from the lack of my posting. (It has suffered for other reasons, but let's not get into that. The idea here is not to be depressing, no, far from it.) Nonetheless, I feel compelled to put something here, if only to be able to say to myself, "Good job, Pete. You have done it. Let this be a start, and soon you will add many fabulous things to your blog. It will be part of a personal Renaissance. Let many flowers bloom." Or something along those lines. Something very positive and good. Anyway, music continues to be really good. You only need to look for it. One of the best ways is via YouTube. Being a reasonably intelligent person, I find a visit to the front page of YouTube demoralizing. I really don't want to even know what is popular. Knowing about popular things is a great way for me to get really discouraged. However, if you search for so...

This 2008 performance of "While You Wait For The Others," by the band Grizzly Bear, is mellow and trippy, with a muddy, popping guitar sound, a pleasing melody, sweet harmonies, and a rhythm section featuring nice snare work, quiet organ, interesting bass fills, and I say that this is a doggone pretty song. Recorded live for the show Morning Becomes Eclectic in the studios of KCRW, my old beloved Santa Monica Community College radio station. I drove many a mile around Southern California soaking up the musical and spoken sounds of this fine outlet. Long live KCRW.

Here's an example of how expensive obscure albums can be. I suppose if you had the ability to guess right, you could outperform any stock market index by purchasing selected indie rock albums. The supply tends to be relatively low, so if the thing goes out of print, a little demand can go a long way. I heard a track tonight off my latest pickup (thanks to the U.S. Postal Service for another musical delivery), a 1999 Matador Records comp (Everything Is Nice), by a low-fi punk rock band from Japan called Guitar Wolf, liked it, went to Amazon to check the price and some reviews, and found that I can have a used copy for a mere $152.80. Hmmm. I think I'll wait for a re-release -- which raises the point, of course: what happens to the value of the out-of-print original when and if the re-release comes out? Amazon link for reference: http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Wolves-Guitar-Wolf/dp/B0000036XO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294362983&sr=8-1

It just occurred to me that my CD collection, having reached 1,011 recordings, is not duplicated anywhere else on Earth. I have no proof of this, but it is entirely logical to assume that in no other place are these particular recordings together. There are too many of them. Samples from today's haul, via USPS to my door: King Crimson: Starless and Bible Black (1974, EG) Dengue Fever: Venus on Earth (2008, M80) Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan: Ballad of the Broken Seas (2006, V2)