Not a fan of swing music? Think again

 Stumbled across this crazy site called Music Machinery that uses Python code to turn popular songs into "swing" versions by "taking each beat and time-stretching the first half of each beat while time-shrinking the second half."

I always thought the original Guns N Roses lineup was the best because of the way drummer Stephen Adler swung and gave the band a loose but punchy sound -- particularly on songs like "Sweet Child O' Mine" -- but Adler has nothing on this altered over-the-top version. 

"Enter Sandman" and "Money for Nothing" also sound good in their new incarnations, but, to me, "Don't Stop Believin'" is a dud.

This studio gimmickry is the kind of stuff that made Robert "Mutt" Lange famous, although he was less obvious in tweaking Def Leppard rhythms to drive the beat in radio-friendly ways.

170 bands, 13 stages, 1 memorable experience

It's been a day since the Rock 'n' Roots festival in Bakersfield and I'm still recovering. The thought of a one-day festival with 170 bands on 13 stages is mind-boggling, and it was truly sensory overload. There were so many stages close together that sound often bled into shows from bands two stages away, forcing my brain to work in new ways. The day was both exhilarating and frustrating.
The Chop Tops play authentic, quality rockabilly
I spent most of the day standing watch near my daughter and her friend, so didn't get to sample as much music as I normally might, as if anyone could catch all 170 bands. I would have like to have stayed to hear Lee Rocker but the three of us couldn't stay that late.

The best band I saw was The Chop Tops, a killer rockabilly trio out of Santa Cruz featuring stand-up drummer, upright bass and a guitarist who respects the roots. I heard them out of the corner of my ear while tyring to figure out which stage to hit next, and thought, "Is Phil Alvin of the Blasters here?" No, but that's OK because the Chop Tops put on a terrific show, mixing great stage presence will killer musicianship. Highly recommended (the video above is from a different show but representative). I especially like their mantra of "no scenes," the cliques that too often permeate rockabilly and punk fans, even though both have foundations rooted in individuality.  
Four stages along Chester Avenue were jammed side by side, leading to major soud bleeding from stage to stage.
Saw other good performances from Good Charlotte, Stick to Your Guns, Lightnin Woodcock, Boys Like Girls, Forever the Sickest Kids and local band Hello Friday. Not so good were an awful performance from Unwritten Law, who sound great on record but are a bloated, obnoxious mess in person.

One of the most interesting facets of the show was the booking and ticket sales. According to a friend whose son was in one of the bands playing, some -- if not all -- local bands were asked to sell at least 60 tickets at $35 per (below the $40 advance public price). The more pre-sale tickets a band sold, the later in the day they played. So, if you didn't sell a lot of tickets, you played at 10 a.m. when crowds were sparse. But pull in a big crowd and you get a nice slot.One of the stranger bands playing on a stage at the furthest reaches of the festival

So, doing some very simple math just for scenario sake: If half of the bands were asked to sell 60 tickets, and those bands sold 30 each, you have $89,250 in sales. Judging by attendance, there were many more than that jammed into Stramler Park. Sounds like a decent payday for local promoter Tim Gardea, who more typically is known for booking smaller but quality bands into places like The Dome and Jerry's, as well as venues up the valley in Fresno and Stockton.

The not too-distant future of user interfaces

Watch this and tell me if you agree with John Underkoffler's suggestion that this type of wild user-interface will be possible with home computers in five years.

I say yes, even as I grasp to fathom all the possibilities.