A Welsh View

20 Album Covers Recreated in LEGO

20 albums recreated in LEGO. [via]

1960's Electronica Created By Author Of Dr Who Theme Tune

Delia Derbyshire is responsible for creating the Doctor Who theme tune but she's also responsible for creating an electronic track in 1969 that's way before it's time.

Just today I listened to all 3 parts of the BBC Radio series 'The Definitive History of UK Dance Music' which went back to the early 1960's, but it wasn't until the late 1980's that music like Delia's track appeared. [via]

Ugly Goat Wins Most Beautiful Goat Contest

A rare Damascene goat has won the Most Beautiful Goat title at the Mazayen al-Maaz competition in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. [via] Lots more ugly goats here.

Video: Star Wars Floppy Disk

An old floppy disk drive has been programmed to play “The Imperial March” (Darth Vader’s Theme) from Star Wars. The artist is unknown. [via]

Video: Very Fast Glass Harp Player

Wow!

Related: Symphony No 5 by Beethoven

[via]

Video: Music Made From Windows XP & 98 Sounds

A surprisingly good piece of music composed from alert sounds from Windows 98 and XP.

There are also some remixes here and here. [via]

Mixing Desk Belonging To World's First DJ Goes To Auction

A home-made mixing deck, created by the worlds first disc jockey is set to go under the hammer in Boston.

Ron Diggins, who died last year at the age of 90, has been dubbed as the worlds first disc-jockey by DJ Magazine.

He created the mixing deck out of coffin wood.

It was the first mobile disco that used a 25-watt amp and a wind-up gramophone playing 78s on two turntables to entertain Land Army girls and Italian POWs at a village hall in 1947.

The equipment named Diggola is expected to rake in thousands of pounds at a sale. Link

Alice, An Electronic Remix of Alice in Wonderland

Nick Bertke, who is too clever for his own good, has created an electronic track using sounds and images from Disney's Alice in Wonderland. You can download the MP3 for free here. [via]

The Perfect Song = 2 Minutes and 42 Seconds

An interesting article on why the perfect song is 2 minutes and 42 seconds long and it also links to a collection of 2m42s songs.

Video: Utah Saints - Something Good '08

This is what us Welsh get up to on a Friday night. If you're interested, the song is the 2008 remix of Utah Saint's 1992 track Something Good. [via]

Earliest Intelligible Sound Recording Found

Thomas Edison has long been considered the father of sound but a recording from 1860 has been demonstrated that features a woman singing.

Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville's 1860 phonautogram was made 17 years before Edison received a patent for the phonograph and 28 years before an Edison associate captured a snippet of a Handel oratorio on a wax cylinder, a recording that until now was widely regarded by experts as the oldest that could be played back.

The recording will be presented on Friday along with recordings made in 1853 and 1854. Those first experiments included attempts to capture the sounds of a human voice and a guitar, but Scott’s machine was at that time imperfectly calibrated.

The New York Times has the 1860 recording.

Muxtape - Make Online Mixtapes

Muxtape is an easy way to create and share mixtape online. SImply upload your tracks and share the link.

Can You Identify A 320kbps MP3?

Can you tell the difference between a 320kbps and a 128kbps MP3?

Japanese Artist Plays Burning Piano

Famed Japanese jazz pianist Yosuke Yamashita has expressed his burning passion for music by setting his piano on fire.

On a Japanese beach in front of 500 spectators and wearing a firesuit, Yamashita played an improvised jazz piece for 10 minutes before all the strings were burnt out or snapped and the piano went quiet.

This is the second time in 35 years that he has played a burning piano. Link

[via]

Video: Vegetable Musical Instruments

This talented guy has more vegetable musical instruments here. [via]

Video: iBand

A track made from 2 iPhones and a Nintendo DS. Not bad.

The World's Greatest Music Collection?

This giant music collection consists of 3 million records and 300,000 CDs totalling over 6 million song titles. It's currently for sale on eBay with a starting bid of $3,000,000. If you can't quite afford $3m, you qualify for a $10 discount from eBay.

Video: 2008 Grammy Awards In 60 Seconds

[via]

Songerize

Type in the artist and song name and Songerize will play you a sample of the track.

Online Version Of Roland TR-909

Have some fun with this web version of the classic Roland TR-909. From Boing Boing...

This drumcomputer hits the market 1984 and was a long time the state of art in house and techno productions. Shift-Click the Step-buttons for accent triggers. Shift-Click-Move knobs for smoother resolution. Press Save to store a snapshot of the current settings to a flash cookie. Restore snapshot by pressing Load. Clear to delete all patterns and reset all knobs. Drag and drop a pattern button (invisible) to copy a pattern to a new location.

Video: Alternative Feist iPod Advert

Funny, but I still like the original.

Skreemr

SkreemR calls itself "the world's greatest MP3 search site" and allows you to search not only by title, artist, album and genre but also bitrate and length. [via]

Video: Young Korean Girl With An Amazing Voice

It's gotta be a voiceover.

The Ultimate Bootleg Experience

The Ultimate Bootleg Experience blog offers concert recordings from a large number of bands. The only drawback is that the files are located on Rapidshare.com which can be a pain if you are a free user of the service. [via]

Video: Can I Have An Amen?

This video is a bit too long and the narrator's voice is a little monotonous but it was fascinating learning the origins of such a well known sample.

AK47 Guitar

Bullets not included. More pics here.

Saudi Arabia Makes First Music Video

Saudi Arabia has released a music video that has been produced entirely in with the country - the first of its kind.

The video is unusual because it was made in a country where the religious establishment considers music un-Islamic and bans it in public places. And the main cast includes a Saudi woman, something rare in a work produced inside the kingdom.

But in a sign of Saudi impatience with the restrictions, "Malak Ghair Allah" or "You Only Have God to Count On" was a hit when it was launched at a popular mall in the western seaport of Jiddah last week. Hundreds of people showed up to watch it on a giant screen in the mall's main hall.

The video is expected to air on most of the Middle East's more than 30 music satellite TV channels this week. Despite fears among the Saudi clergy over the corrupting influence of music videos, the clip had implicit government approval. The credits thank "those who helped make this work a success," including the Information Ministry.

You can view the video here.

1956 to 1960 Juke Box

Listen to classic songs from 1956 to 1960. [via]

Video: The Simpsons Theme On Guitar

The Simpsons theme played on 2 guitars. [via]

90+ Essential Music and Audio Websites

Mashable has a list of over 90 essential music and audio websites.

The Wii Looping Machine

An awesome looping machine controlled with a Wii controller. [via]

Can You Identify This Track?

Can anyone identify the music that this girl is dancing to in a Nokia NSeries shower?

The Sea Organ

The Sea Organ in Zadar, Croatia, is the world’s first pipe organ that is played by the sea. Carved in the stone quayside, the movement of the sea pushes air through, and – depending on the size and velocity of the wave – musical chords are played. The waves create random harmonic sounds. Along with more pictures, this site has a sound file of the organ in action and it sounds surprisingly good.

Tourfilter

Tourfilter searches club websites and sends you email when your favourite bands come to town. The site covers around two dozen cities around the world with the majority in the US. [via]

Video: Amazing Subway Concert

A group called Naturally Seven perform an impromptu concert on a subway train. I wonder how many people missed their stops listening to the song? [via]

3 Guys Play One Guitar

3 guys play a guitar at the same time producing some good sounds. [via]

Video: Amazing Violinist

Watch this guy play awesome renditions of Owner of a Lonely Heart by Yes and Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson...on a violin! [via]

Video: Chechen Rave

These Chechen's have got some rhythm. [via]

iConcertCal

iConcertCal is a free iTunes plug-in that monitors your music library and generates a personalized calendar of upcoming concerts in your city. [via]

Jimi Hendrix Plays The Welsh National Anthem

Well, possibly. It sounds like Jimi Hendrix but so far hasn't been confirmed. You can listen to the recording here as well as read more about the background of the recording. [Thanks Joel]

11,519 Music Videos

20,000 11,519* music videos all on one page. All are hosted on YouTube and will play within the same page. [via]

* J-Walk says there are 11,519 videos on the page and being an Excel guru, he's probably right.

James Brown Dies At 73

James Brown has died at the age of 73 (obituary). A sad start to Christmas Day.

What Song Would You Want Played At Your Funeral?

Funeral providers Co-Op Funeralcare have revealed some of the more bizarre songs that Scottish people have requested to be played at their funeral. The most bizarre ones were the ITN News chimes, the God-awful Crazy Frog ringtone, The Laughing Policeman, The Birdie Song and even train noises.

The most popular song chosen was Wind Beneath My Wings closely followed by My Way and Robbie Williams' Angels.

What song/ringtone/noise would you want played at your funeral?

Worst Album Covers Ever

Some of these album covers are truly awful. [via]

Concert Beds

From Spluch (translated from this Chinese article)...

In the town of Tel Aviv in Israel, a total of 144 beds -- complete with pillows and blankets – are set up for the customers to lie on while enjoying a classical music concert. This event is set up by a mattress company for promoting its mattresses.

Top 50 Music Videos Of 2006

The top 50 music videos of 2006 - all on one page. [via]

DJ Working Rooms

A collection of rooms belonging to famous DJ's. Above is Sven Vath's. [via]

Nokia N80 Used To Record Album

about:blank is the first album to be recorded using a mobile phone, namely the Nokia N80. The free internet-only album was recorded on the N80 using dictaphone softwre from Alon Software.

After recording, the tracks were then transferred to a PC and a few level adjustments were made. The quality is surprisingly good consider they were recorded on a phone. Darla Mack has an interview with the album's creator.

Touchtone Telephone Songs

A guide to playing music on your touchtone telephone. [via]

Video: The Human Drum Kit

He sounds just like a drum kit. [via]