Mar 15 2010: We did it. Doctor Squid is competing in the regional College Battle of the Bands, at the Cotton Club in Atlanta, on Saturday, March 27th. All we can say is thanks so much to everyone who helped us get there.

But now we need you more than ever to help us clench it. Come support Doctor Squid the night of the Battle. We're up against some very talented folks, and we need your help to convince the judges that we are the most worthy competitor.

The show is a private event, so the only way to get in is to be on the guest list. We're more than happy to get you on it, all you have to do is let us know you're attending by RSVPing the facebook event or sending me an email with the names of you and everyone you're bringing.

Thanks again to everybody for your help.

-Mark

Mar 4 2010: So firstly: We're doing pretty well in the Battle of the Bands. But we could really use one last big push. It turns out they're looking at play count, not rating, so please play our song a few times. Thanks!

Secondly, a nice Doctor Squid write up in today's Red & Black by Joseph Williams (featured article, too). Just please don't get the impression from it that we're any good at freestyle rap. There will be none of this at our shows. At least, I pray that there will be none of this at our shows.

And thirdly, as the article mentions, tonight is our big show at the Melting Point, featuring the long-awaited debut of our good friends and wonderful cover band Groove Tangent. We're also playing with the very talented MyNameIsJohnMichael. Show starts at 8, don't miss it.

-Mark

Feb 12 2010: A little info about the Beaux Arts Ball in Auburn: Firstly, your official source for this is their facebook event page. In addition to that, I've been told that while it's mainly a party for arts/design/theater students, it is open to the public. Ticketing info is on the sidebar there ->

Also, its a Mardi Gras theme, so if you want to fit in, you'll want to stand out. Our contribution will be a whole bunch of music. We'll play for around 2 and a half hours, and our set will be about half cover tunes. Larry and Sam will be drinking a lot of water. So if you're in the Auburn area and that sounds like something you'd be interested in, please drop by and assist the crowd in getting freaky to some good ol' fashion Athens, GA powerpop.

-Mark

Feb 8 2010: My whole life, I don't think I've ever seen a peice of software fail as hard as Lala's Music Mover. The idea is this: You show it where all the songs are on your computer, and it matches them to songs in Lala's database. That way you can listen to the songs you own from anywhere with an internet connection, without having to buy them again or slowly upload them individually. It just figures out what song it is, then adds that song to your online playlist.

Obviously, Lala has to check your files to make sure they are what they claim to be. Otherwise you could just record yourself farting, tag it as "Stairway to Heaven" in iTunes, and Lala would give you STH for free because it thinks you already own it.

Turns out Lala needs to work on this last part. Even though Doctor Squid is in their liscensed catalog (and available at online markets like iTunes and Amazon), Lala's attempts to match us up are hilariously inept. Theoretically they should at least match up to similar sounding songs.

Not so much.

"Running" is a straightforward pop-punk relationship song. Lala mistook it for "This Corrosion" by Sisters of Mercy, a dancy-synthy 80s tune that is over ten minutes long.

"When You're In Town" is a bluesy ballad in which Larry introspects on some old feelings. Lala determined the best fit for it was "Voodoo Doll" by Fergie, in which she (as best I can tell), gets possesed by the devil and insists at great length that she's "Gonna get cha".

"The Things We Chased", a nice, uplifting midtempo number, was turned into "Electric Renaissance" by Belle and Sebastian, a lo-fi, echo-laden Casio drum loop powered number. Good song actually, but not exactly a testament to the fingerprinting algorithm.

"Stop The Show" actually has the correct song, but mysteriously enough is identified as belonging to Al Green's greatest hits album (no, there are no same-titled songs on the record).

"Atomic Reaction", an energetic number with a wee-bit of a hodown feel. This was probably the closest goof, coming in as the Allman Brother's live cover of Elmore James' "Done Somebody Wrong". Not close, per se, but remotely comprable style, if you allow for 30 years separation.

"3 AM Electric" is an angsty, melancholy rocker. Unless, as Lala suggests, its actually Tina Turner's "Complicated Disaster". I gotta admit, I like this song a little bit too. Maybe Lala should be a music suggestion service.

"The Day It Rained Hot Coffee" is our big closer. 3.5 minutes of emotional balladry, followed by 3.5 more of ass-kicking epiphany-rock. Turns out this one's a Tina Turner number too, called "On Silent Wings" (this one I'm not so into). Can't imagine what made this a likely match.

In short, 7 misses out of 12 attempts. I think the idea behind Lala has a lot of promise (and apparently so do Google and Apple), but needless to say its got a good way to go on implementation. I can only hope that they don't delete my new Tina Turner tunes when they get it fixed.


-Mark

Dec 28 2009:

-Mark

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