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Jan 24, 2009

AppleScript + Party Shuffle Pt. II

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We're back for another round of AppleScript and Party Shuffle. Last month I wrote about adding missing party shuffle features using AppleScript. I noticed that there was one issue with the scripts. If you selected an album that had multiple discs then it would add all the discs to the party shuffle ordered by track number. So for example, you have an album that has two discs with three tracks a piece. Then you would get this:

Disc One Track 1
Disc Two Track 1
Disc One Track 2
Disc Two Track 2
Disc One Track 3
Disc Two Track 3

This is obviously not what we wanted. I spent a little time today updating the scripts so that they behave correctly. Now if you select the same album as our example above this is what you will get:

Disc One Track 1
Disc One Track 2
Disc One Track 3
Disc Two Track 1
Disc Two Track 2
Disc Two Track 3

This of course assumes that you have properly set up the disc number and disc count for your tracks. I'm pretty anal about this kind of stuff, so my library has them all set (even Disc 1 of 1). If the disc count is not set then the script will assume that there is only one disc and won't go through the disc sorting routine. You can get the latest scripts here:

Dec 11, 2008

AppleScripting Missing iTunes Party Shuffle Features

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My name is claytron and I'm a party shuffle addict.  There, I said it.  In my opinion the iTunes party shuffle feature is pure awesomeness.  I have been using it like mad since it was introduced.  I'm still amazed when I talk to iTunes users that haven't used it.

My typical modus operandi is to set the party shuffle to a rated smart playlist (3 stars and up or 4 stars and up).  Then if i want to add an album in the mix I can select it and 'Play Next in Party Shuffle' or 'Add to Party Shuffle'.  This is where AppleScript can come in handy.  Doug Adams wrote a nifty little AppleScript that allows you to select a track and add that track's album to the party shuffle!  This really comes in handy when my eMusic downloads arrive in iTunes.  I can sort my library by 'Date Added' and then select a track from one of the newly imported albums and have it start playing next in the party shuffle.  Totally effing awesome.

So herein lies the next issue.  Let's say I just downloaded five albums and imported them into iTunes.  You would think you could highlight a track from each album and then use the 'Play Next in Party Shuffle' script.  But instead it pops up with a selection dialog with all the albums in your library.  For me this is completely useless, I have 2000+ albums.  So I went ahead and modified the script to add the album for each selected track.

After doing so I emailed Doug about the modifications.  As you might guess, he gets a ton of emails with modifications and fixes for all the scripts posted on his site and can't possibly include them all.  I also don't think he quite understood the purpose of the modification.  But since most of the scripts are licensed under the GPL you can still benefit from my mods!

There are two scripts.  The first one is the 'Play Album(s) Next in Party Shuffle'  which allows you to select one or more tracks and have each track's album be cued up next in party shuffle.  The second script is 'Add Album(s) to Party Shuffle' which does the same thing except it adds the album to the end of the party shuffle.  That way you don't have to add an album in the middle of another!

Both of these scripts require that the party shuffle is currently playing.  I couldn't find a way around that in AppleScript (but I'm still an AppleScript n00b).  The only other item to mention is that I added a property to the top of each script called 'show_party_shuffle'.  If this is true then you'll be taken to the party shuffle after adding the tracks.  If you don't want to be switched over, you can set it to false.

Jun 12, 2007

Randomly precise thoughts

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I haven't blogged in a while.  Time is not permitting.  Went camping last weekend and tried out my new hiking boots. They kick much ass.  Aircraft aluminum lacing system was an excellent idea.  Listening to The Joggers right now.  Good shit.  Isn't cake supposed to have a rarities album out some time.  I just bought a bunch of other music from eMusic and iTunes.  Hopefully just as pleasing.  I'm searching for a new car.  My eye is on a Volvo 850 wagon.  If i'm lucky a '97 T-5 with low miles and a low price will show up soon.  I should upgrade this site to use Plone 3.0 (but i'm not sure if Quills is ready for that).  /terminate rambling.

Oct 19, 2006

Canadian 'rock therapy' at the Vogue

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Broken Social Scene ... ... the vogue. .. canadian Rock Therapy. The opening band was a phenominal rush of sonic masterpiece. No words were spoken while the music was playing. And it was a really powerful performance. Then BSS came on and started with my favorite cut of of the latest album. Shoreline...... When that moment hit, the stage was in a complete frenzy of din. They went on to play amazing versions of other songs like cause = time that pushed the edge of the song and melded it into something new. Superconnected was another spectacle to behold. The stage felt as if it was one unit. Devoted to rockin' your brain for three hours.

There wasn't a song that played that didn't send vibes through my head. The band was integrating with the audience and making them seem like friends of theirs. I've never seen so much interaction with a crowd than at this concert. The venue was perfect, The Vogue. The music was amazing. It was a really powerful and playful show. My favorite show of the year so far.

Sep 04, 2006

Music makes the world go round

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A lot of music has been making it's way to my computer lately. One album (which I bought at Fnac in France and was really overpriced) is the self titled album from Feu Thérèse. They are a French Canadian outfit on the same label as Godspeed You Black Emperor. The first track, Ferrari En Feu (Ferrari On Fire), starts with three minutes of what sounds like a psychedelic version of Pole Position. Then it breaks into a coherent song which isn't too bad. It's got a kind of cheezy organ playing and drums and then a semi distorted guitar comes in and some other instruments follow. Interesting track but not the strongest on the album. The second track has a much dreamier quality to it. There is a whispering kind of sound in the background and some nice guitar sounds. Very strange album indeed.

I also got that Gnarls Barkley album which continues Cee-lo's trend of good music. That guy has such an incredible voice. Just makes you want to listen for ages. Let's see, I also acquired two Tunng albums which are pretty decent. If you like The Books then you'll like Tunng. The song Engine Room off of Comments of the Inner Chorus is probably my favorite. The vocals are haunting and the background music complements the voice very nicely.

I grabbed The Coup's (the coop if you are Black Thought) new album and was a bit disappointed. I think it's one of those albums that I will really appreciate later because I was expecting something completely different. It's always nice for an artist to slap you up side the head with something you weren't expecting. But I just haven't been diggin' this new material. My Favorite Mutiny is the first cut I heard before purchasing the album and in my opinion none of the other tracks live up to the voracity of that track.

While surfing the web I wandered upon a bunch of free downloads of old out of print stuff. One of the albums was Henri Texier's Varech. It's a pretty decent jazz album and Henri did all the instrumentation on it. Another French album I procured was Roçé - Identité en crescendo. I had to have Lucie buy it for me from the French iTunes store. It's a really chill hip-hop album. The whole album is backed by some really nice jazz. I have no idea what he's rapping about but it sounds good to me.

Jul 18, 2006

What the hell is wrong with Pitchfork?

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Pitchfork has really jumped the shark in the past year or so. Why do they waste their time to write a track review of a Paris Hilton song. They give it one and a half stars which in itself is retarded. Why give it any stars. You know it's going to be trash. I guess they are just trying to draw in a different crowd to their flash ad infested website. And this isn't an isolated incident with the Paris Hilton song.

Another example is their new love affair with Lil Wayne of all people. Here is what they have say about his 2005 effort Tha Carter II:

Wayne dabbles scatological throughout ("Dear Mr. Toilet/ I'm the shit"), sometimes even elaborately so ("You niggas small bubbles, I burp you/ I'll spit you out and have your girls slurp you")

What the hell are they smoking? They should seriously think about setting the pipe down and checking themselves into a clinic. They must have put an ad into the bubble gum pages looking for a new reviewer because of stuff like this. Again another review of trite pop bullshit and they give it one star. What is the point of this? On the same page they review a song by Rick Ross and give it three and a half stars. But you know that's a load of crap when you read the description.

Contrary to hater-instincts, we here at Pitchforkmedia Inc. don't get righteous boners every time a rapper mentions cocaine in a song (Lil Wayne excepted)

I just don't understand this infatuation with Lil Wayne. They need to hire some new Hip Hop reviewers that have a clue. But even if they are falling off they are still on top of a lot of good happenings in music. So I'll continue to visit until they start giving Paris Hilton songs three stars

Jul 08, 2006

Vintage consoles rockin' out

Computerized sound has always been fascinating to me. Ever since DOS played Circus for me I've been hooked. Oh and don't forget all those old mod player programs from back in the day. You know the ones where really geeky goth kids put together the latest Depeche Mode song into a mod file. Ah those were the days.

Then along came Re-Birth from Propellerheads which emulated the old boss step sequencing synth and drum machine. I can't even remember how many hours I wasted making nonesense noises come from that program. After Re-Birth there came Reason, an all in one electronic wonderland. But what about the good old days?

The good old days have come back thanks to some really cool hackers out there. Paul Slocum has been creating all sorts of cool stuff. He's in a band called Tree Wave and they make music with an old 286 computer, a Commodore 64, an Atari 2600 and a dot matrix printer. Yeah that's right. A dot matrix printer. Can't get much more old school than that! If you don't belive me go check out their gear on their website.

Paul was nice enough to create a Synthcart for the Atari which is a bit limited but still cool. There is one guy out there working on MIDI control for that cart. That would be nice! Paul has also created a Cynthcart for the Commodore 64. You can buy both of those over at atariage.

So that covers the basics but what about the NES you say? Well there is a company called wayfar that is creating a device called MIDINES. I bought the 1.0.2 version a while back and it's loads of fun. Basically it gives you MIDI control over the synth inside a Nintendo Entertainment System. Rad!

Jul 02, 2006

Germans will love this...

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Two of the most insanely stupid videos I've ever seen. What a tool!


Cover of 'Hooked On a Feeling'




Cover of 'Jump In My Car'




KITT shouldn't be abused like this. Bad Hoff! Bad!



Jun 17, 2006

Kick ass Broken Social Scene video

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This video is quite entertaining. The portrayal of a rock band as a sport is very comedic and there is a guest appearance by Geddy Lee! RAWK! Gratiuitous exclamation marks!!!

Jun 16, 2006

Sonic Youth live at the 9:30 club

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In a continuing series of live sets from NPR, Sonic Youth.

NPR has a stream of the live show at the 9:30 Club in washington DC. They also put up some pics of the show on flickr

Is it just me or does Kim Gordon look like Iggy Pop now?

Kim Pop

Feb 08, 2006

ciccone youth re-issue

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i've just stumbled across this album while importing every CD i could find onto my mac. the ciccone youth (sonic youth w/guests) album is totally whacked out of it's mind in madonna obsession.

there are some incredible songs on this album. there are also some really hilarious songs on it too. like the cover of robert palmer. overall very enjoyable.