Zazen Boys - 'Zazen Boys 4'

Title: Zazen Boys 4
Artist: Zazen Boys
Date: 2008
Genre: Math Rock, Indie Rock

Total length: 44 minutes, 8 tracks

Main personnel:
Mukai Shutoku: Vocals, Guitar, Synthesizer
Yoshida Ichirou: Bass
Yoshikane Sou :Guitar
Matsushita Atsushi: Drums





Rating: 7 - Good
Adapting to a more electronic and funky sound, Zazen Boys 5th album moves even further away from the defining alt-rock sound it had during its early stages. The sound is still very much math rock, but it varies between taking one dance, punk or funk characteristics.

Tokyo Jihen - 'Sports'

Title: Sports (スポーツ)
Artist: Tokyo Jihen (東京事変)
Date: 2010
Genre: Jazz Rock, J-Pop

Total length: 47 minutes, 13 tracks
Top Chart position: 48 (yearly Oricon album charts)

Main personnel:
Ringo Shiina (椎名・林檎): Vocals
Ukigumo (浮雲): Guitar, backing vocals
Ichizo Izawa (伊澤・一葉): Keyboard
Seiji Kameda (亀田・誠治): Bass
Toshiki Hata (畑・利樹): Drums


Rating: 8/10 - Very Good
Tokyo Jihen never stayed in one place, three years after the unorganized Goraku comes this well-structured concept album. This album has been my introduction to the entire world of J-pop, and I was oh-so-wrong to assume it was representative of the humongous Japanese pop-scene. Like TJ's previous albums and Shiina's solo works, this one doesn't quite fit in with the conventional J-pop scene. 

The Beatles - 'Revolver'

Title: Revolver
Artist: The Beatles
Date: 1966
Genre: Psychedelic Rock

Total length: 35 minutes, 14 tracks

Main personnel:
John Lennon: Vocals, guitar
Paul McCartney: Vocals, guitar, bass
George Harrison: Vocals, guitar, bass
Ringo Starr: Drums, vocals





Rating: 10/10 - Masterpiece
For quite some time I have been a big fan of the Beatles. At first, I liked their catchy tunes as I was just getting into music a couple years back. As I started listening more, I discovered something new with each listen. Something clever about the lyrics, or perhaps how a certain bass line creates a perfect harmony. And to be honest, I haven't quite stopped discovering yet; It's like a journey without end. 
Today I felt like dedicating some of my time on what is perhaps their greatest piece -- Revolver. I haven't written a decent review for quite some time now, so please bear with me as I try to express why I think everyone should listen to this album.

Repairing a pair of HD 205's

A friend of mine pushed a pair of broken HD 205's in my hand. When I inquired what's wrong with them, he stated that I should give them a listen. I promptly found out that the mids were completely gone - usually a result of faulty wiring. He then gave them to me for free, so naturally I couldn't refuse the challenge to try and fix them.

The building of a Beta22 part 1

Somewhere in October I decided to build a 2-channel Beta22. It has been almost five months since then, and a lot of money. Currently I have spent about  €540 ($725) and about 50-60 hours on this project.
The best part is: I'm not even done yet.

In this blog post I will describe what I have done up until now, including the painfully long hours of troubleshooting.

Repairing a pair of Beats by Dr. Dre Studio

Someone recently came up to me asking whether I could repair his headphones. I was expecting it to be the typical bad connection on the jack, but it turned out to be something more difficult.
Thrilled by the challenge I accepted the offer of repairing his headphones and I took them home.

The problem turned out to be more difficult to solve than I anticipated, but I did end up solving the initial problem. However after came to the conclusion that the right driver is messed up, most likely irreparably.

10 of the greatest anime Openings/Endings

Let's stretch the definition of a music and audio blog a bit to accomodate for my third passion: anime (and manga). In particular the openings and endings of anime, which are practically just music videos almost always 1:30 in length. It seems strange, but a good opening and ending can make or break an anime in my opinion. Kanon (second version) for example is an excellent anime, but the horrible OP/ED ruined it for me.