Audio = Ground Zero

Setting the standard in 2022: LG Tone Free FP9 earbuds

It is 2022 and cords are widely perceived to be a nuisance no matter the reference when it comes to enjoying the emissions of portable audio devices, resulting in earbuds  mushrooming in all forms and shapes.

While I do not necessarily mind cord at home, for exercise and while travelling I prefer earbuds , so attributes like being pocketable, lightweight and the ability to not only actively cancel noises at different ambient  levels  but reproducing musical nuances rank high on my agenda. While the aforementioned tick the boxes of basic features, additional features that not only come in handy for daily use but ones that reinvigorate older gear are more than welcome.

Enter LG’s Tone Free FP9 earbuds.

With a charging case  that offers the capability to become a Bluetooth transmitter making non-wireless devices Bluetooth compatible, e.g. your old radio, turntable, iPod or in-flight entertainment, simply by connecting the included USB-C to 3.5mm headphone jack cable into the earbud’s case and plug the 3.5mm end into the headphone jack of the device you want to use as a sound source. The result comes remarkably close to a true Bluetooth connection and proves to be reliably stable.

However, what makes the charging case truly remarkable is the fact that this compact smooth plastic little number has a sanitising UV-C light built in it so when the earbuds are charging, they are bathed with UV that aims to render them bacteria-free.

Size-wise, the LGs Tone Free FP9’s short stem size nestles perfectly in my ears with their medical grade silicone and ear tips aiding to further customize the fit, so they do not pop out even during more strenuous runs.

Via the complementary free Tone Free FP9 feature-packed companion app, the finer nuances of the LG’s robust multi-faceted soundstages and audio profiles, of which the widely open immersive setting is my preferred one, can be tweaked and saved in two settings to further elevate the audio experience via through the customization of EQ levels and other more granular details.

With a solid battery life of ten hours, a fast charge feature and a back-up of an additional twenty-four if using the case for recharging, the new LG Tone Free FP9 earbuds got me seamlessly door to door from terra australis to my German destination and with its
active noise-cancelling, which can easily switched to transparency mode, it made travelling a breeze – especially given the fact that due to the comfortable fit was able to sleep well with them still in my ears.

Mic-wise, there is a tad room for improvement when it comes to background noises, which is only a trivial criticism and a niggle that only stands out because the FP9’s perform so well in every other regard. 

I do dig their smart whisper and text-to-speech voice-alert modes, which offer the opportunity to give your conversations a bid of a stealth dimension – a feature that will hopefully be used on the regular by those prone of making calls on public transport.

Summa summarum, the stable yet comfortable easy-to-pair LG Tone Free FP9 earbuds in their totality are much more than the mere sum of their individual intuitive features might suggest and set the standard for 2022, thereby making them an easy recommendation for anyone who commutes / travels a lot and is concerned with more than mere sound quality.

If you are interested in a set, outline in twenty-five words how you’d put the FP9s functionality to best use and send to [email protected].

In the realm of eyewear, it is interesting to witness a deliberate move away from the use of crude oil and plastic towards using more eco-friendly and sustainable materials, with wood and specifically bamboo being highly renewable resources and ones that lend themselves well not merely because of their versatility when it comes to shaping an designing them, but also in terms of its qualities to enhance looks in the style departments. 

The fact that both source materials have a unique feel to it due to their texture and their distinct patterns paired with being lightweight yet sturdy and thereby comfortable to wear, only adds to the appeal.

What I learned to love about bamboo glasses is the fact that due to the nature of the material they are bound to be handmade starting with the curation of the evergreen perennial flowering plant, via the cutting to the final stage of moulding.

A local company that not only recently delved into the crafting of robust bamboo sunglasses but put emphasis on paying homage to their Australian heritage is Koalaty – who does not like a good ole pun?

Having had its focus set on partnering with conservation organisations to protect local landscapes since its inception in 2019, the team behind Koalaty has channelled their love for the outdoors in the creation of uniquely and meticulously, hand-drawn designed quality shades the production of which enacts a positive impact on the wider world around us.

Given the aforementioned, Koalaty is obviously a telling name and their attention to detail does not merely stop with the polarised sunglasses, but extends to the accompanying durable bamboo cases, travel pouches, etc. thereby making their glasses a fun and stylish accessoire that proves to be particularly suitable for adventurous outdoor activities.

Inspired by a lack of progress in the realm of sunglass design and frustrated by the dominance of lacklustre plastic frames, Vilo Wooden is a family based business that started to venture into using wood as a source material to allow them to underline and substantiate their idiosyncratic designs with the innate warmth of timbered source material.

Taking distinctness and the creation of a sense of individuality to the next level, each model is unique and intentionally crafted in a manner as a one-of-a-kind piece of art that will never be repeated. The fact that a tangible connection to nature comes as part of the package only adds to the appeal.

Vilo Wooden’s sunglasses do not lack an iota of stylishness as they use laminated wood, allowing them to design nimble yet sturdy frames that come with all the trimmings of elegant top-shelf sunglasses, including high clarity lenses made from cellulose plants, sun protection of UV400 filtering and polarised lenses.

I specifically like Vilo Wooden’s classic shade designs – think shapes reminiscent of the unconquered wayfarer frame with accentuated wood highlights, which are not only distinguished statement pieces but fit perfectly due to their spring loaded hinges to accommodate no matter size one prefers.

Same goes for Vilo Wooden’s optical frames, which accommodate both prescription and bluelight filter lenses, all of which come with a custom laser-engraved eco-friendly bamboo case for safe storage and making each purchase feel good with 10% of all proceeds being donated to A21, an organisation dedication to the elimination of slavery and human trafficking.

Mayhem

Summit Music Hall

Denver, CO

3.12.22

As with many cities, it’s been a long, long drought for any significant live shows in Denver, Colorado. The bright promise could be seen on the faces in crowd as well as the faces on Mayhem as they said their goodbyes from the stage. Artist or audience, It feels great to be together again.

Mayhem never fail to put on a great show, and Saturday night was no exception. Their set comprised of essentially three acts. The first being the newer material - from 2019’s Daemon and reaching back to 1997’s Wolf’s Lair Abyss. Act two was dedicated solely to De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas and the final act devoted to the band’s legendary first release, the Deathcrush e.p.

As always, the unholy theatrics of vocalist Attila Csihar make an already brutal experience all the more visceral and unforgettable. 

The Sanguine Sodomy of North America continues through April 3. Sadly, without Watain who had to forego the tour due to unforeseen visa issues.

The Formative Years – King Crimson

There was a period as a teenager where I despised anything that was even remotely associated with progressive rock, well, until I was introduced to King Crimson through Rorschach’s cover version of 21st Century Schizoid Man.

The cover version intrigued me enough to take a punt and purchase In the Court of the Crimson LP second-hand, following the thinking that what served as a source of inspiration for Charles Maggio, Thom Rusnak and gang, should be interesting or at least educational for me as well.

And educational it was, for the sheer musicianship that through Brian Wilson’s fantastic production takes psychedelia and polyphonic experimentation to new heights, to culminate in shaping their own microcosm via their orchestral arrangements. 

It took a couple of spins during which my appreciation evolved to the point where my mind was blown when I finally grasped the extent of what King Crimson channelled: The album encompassed the building blocks of classic rock, classical grandeur and mixed it with a seemingly effortless freely improvised approach, which seemed to follow nothing but the respective band members’ instincts. It was a level of sheer boundless musical sophistication, simultnenously eccentric, refined, orchestrated, diabolical and wonderfully absurd, I had so far not encountered before.

It was good to hear Kanye West sample 21st Century Schizoid Man again for his song Power in 2010 and thereby injecting it into the ears of younger generations, which resulted in me diving down into a King Crimson rabbit hole to experience their other fantastic albums as well, down to their new wave-tinged album Discipline from the early 1980s.

Given that their magnus ops album has not lost an iota of relevance in now fifty-three years since it was released speaks volumes about the quality. I have yet to hear a prog-metal band that has not in some form directly or indirectly been inspired by a band that was aeons ahead of its time.

In the Court of the Crimson King was a prototype never considered for mass production and thereby serves as a fundamental cornerstone of artful rock.

When I last wrote here, I was halfway through a four-week songwriting course taught by Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes fame, facilitated by LA-based School of Song. It’s an online class conducted over Discord and Zoom – each week, participants are set a homework assignment, and join a Zoom breakout room with 3-4 random coursemates to share their music and give feedback.

By the midway point of the course, I’d produced a piece of music I was incredibly proud of. Not because it’s a perfectly polished recording or something that represents the apex of my creative ability, but because it’s something I couldn’t have conceived of writing a month before the course began. 

Taking inspiration from opium

Our second lecture was “Melody & Lyrics” and we learned about techniques like extensions (a note outside the triad of a given chord, eg. Dm9 rather than plain old Dm), appoggiatura (an added non-chord note in a melody that is resolved to the regular note of the chord) and mode shifts (eg. moving from aeolian to dorian mode, for example). Some of this was new to me and some of it was giving names to things I did without realising on guitar (my main instrument).

I bought an 88 key midi controller (like an electric keyboard but you need a computer to provide the audio) last Christmas and this second class provided the inspiration for me to write something on it. Inspired by the class, I picked out some chord shapes I already knew, then tried to add extensions and new notes. I tried to find a vocal melody which didn’t resolve to the “obvious” notes in the scale, and used a suggestion of Robin’s for finding lyrical inspiration: take lines from poems/books and find a way to adapt/translate them for your own sound.

In my case, I looked at Project Gutenberg (a repository of out-of-copyright books) and looked up Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, by Thomas De Quincey, a favourite of mine from university. I looked up a brilliant passage about the narrator’s opium-induced dream about ancient Egypt and used it as the basis for this song:

The song poured out of me and I put together three verses, a bridge and a chorus in a short space of time, feeling like I’d finally tapped into something subconscious where I knew what story I wanted to tell with the words. I recorded a few takes of the vocal but didn’t overthink it, and in the final mix embedded here you can hear a vocal outtake in the background which works well—sometimes—as a harmony/echo with the main vocal, a nice touch of serendipity. It’s not the most polished thing I’ve ever done, but the growth it represented in my work made me incredibly proud.

Great artists steal

The following week’s class was specifically about lyrics and gave us some homework themes including “the magpie”, about trying to copy certain aspects (a drum sound, a lyrical approach, a dynamic quality etc) of multiple songs and merge them into something new. I ended up writing two songs for this: one an effort to make something with the guitar riff energy of Minus The Bear, and another which tried to ape the vocal style of the Tallest Man On Earth (and let’s be honest, the guitar style too).

I was really proud of both pieces and although they’re clearly indebted to the artists who inspired them, I was encouraged that they sounded like real songs too, rather than just plain copies. One of them even got the seal of approval from Robin himself on the School of Song’s jukebox, which I was very happy with – even just the idea that he heard something I wrote was pretty thrilling, however much of a fanboy that makes me sound.

By the final lecture of the course, we were all quite emotional: a couple of thousand people had been on this course and we’d all made ourselves vulnerable each week, sharing our work with one another and asking for feedback. In the final song share, I played two strangers the song I’d written about the journey my partner and I have been on these past few years, while they shared music about a parents’ dementia and an intense, physical love for someone else. It really felt like we’d all pushed through something and built a new thing together.

The course finished a month ago now but I’ve been aiming to keep the same energy and output going: I have six complete songs, three or four which just need lyrics, and a hundred ideas kicking around in Garageband files. My aspiration is to release them as a couple of EPs or a whole album (depending on how well I can convince myself that they fit together thematically/musically). My confidence is hugely increased: I know this stuff isn’t the best music ever recorded and I’m aware I’m not going to set the streaming services alight overnight if this music ever makes it there. But I also know that by my own standards, this is the best stuff I’ve ever done, and much more than I could have imagined doing before starting the course.

The School of Song offer a bunch of other courses besides the one I did: there are guest teachers from famous indie bands aplenty, but there are also musical specialists teaching things like guitar skills, piano basics, advanced music theory and recording technique. The community is as welcoming and motivating as anything I’ve ever come across (in fact, more so) and it’s given me creative permission to break out of my comfort zone and a decade-long creative dry patch where it was easier to just play covers than do anything original. I still have a way to go, but I’m so glad I started this.