Dan Gravell has given us an unlimited version of his excellent audio tagging and album artwork finder worth $50. To win this very useful and time saving software, all you have to do is answer one simple question.

When was the first Invisible Agent podcast made available for download?

Please answer in the comments box below. Bliss is licensed ‘per fix’. This means, for every fix Bliss makes to your music library, it costs you one ‘fix’. Right now, that only applies to each time album art is saved, resized or embedded. Bliss tells you how many fixes you have and how many you need to complete its work. If you win this ‘unlimited fixes’ version you’ll be able to fix your entire collection for life. Best of luck.

Thanks to Dan Gravell, creator of Bliss for his generosity.

Are you still performing manual MP3 tagging? Want to know how to finally tame your music collection?

A few weeks ago I posted an article about ID3 tags and I recommended Easy Tag. Shortly afterwards I was contacted by Dan Gravell who was kind enough to give me a copy of Bliss. Bliss is software for tagging and organizing your music collection and it’s the best tagging software I’ve ever used.

A powerful application that saves you time

Bliss is an excellent innovation, a rule based service that allows for effortless tagging of large music collections. I highly recommend Bliss. Gone are the days of manually configuring and painstakingly tagging your music. It is simple to use but has a variety of brilliant features. Here is a summary:

• Runs silently in the background – never again will you have to worry about tagging. Bliss automatically tags and organizes your files for you. Seeing is believing, this is one of the most powerful, time saving applications I’ve used in a long time
• Works on Mac, Windows and Linux – finally a software development company that lives in the real world
• Fast and easy to use – it uses very little memory and is fast and efficient
• Web based interface – accessible from anywhere on your network, or even across the world

Stress testing Bliss

When you add or update music to your collection, Bliss automatically assesses the music against your rules, fixing what it can, and letting you know if it cannot. It can rename files, folders, assign the correct tags and even automatically embeds the proper album artwork. So lets see how Bliss handled some tests I threw at it, I was purposely trying to catch Bliss out:

• Rarities: Added thousands of rare 1930′s Jazz and Swing – within seconds Bliss was automatically tagging and finding album art for rarities and collectors items
• How does it cope with massive collections? I added 90,000 music files, spanning multiple genres and releases over the past 20 years.  I’ve been struggling to tame these files for a long time. What I hadn’t completed in 3 years of constantly and meticulously working my way from folder to folder was sorted out by Bliss in an afternoon. I didn’t have to do anything! Now I know why they call it Bliss.
• Accuracy: I dropped a bunch of creative commons music and some rare music from independent record labels. Bliss glided through them, place the correct album art, and even assigning the year and correcting the genre tag. Bliss nailed it every time.

Bliss: the music lovers personal assistant

It doesn’t matter what operating system you run or what your favorite media player is, if you love music you need Bliss.  Bliss is one of the most powerful, time saving applications I’ve used in a long time. To learn more about features, read tutorials and testimonials click here. Happy listening.

What’s stopping you from being creative?

Warren Daly - calibrating the LCD

Warren Daly from Invisible Agent and Chhan Dina presented at this years TEDx in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The event combined live speakers with TED video screenings and discussions on the 15th of October 2011. Their presentation was entitled ‘The art of virtual obsolescence‘ and they displayed a working example of an interactive graffiti and painting wall constructed from recycled electronic equipment.

What is TEDx?

At a TEDx event, TEDTalks videos and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. This years event hosted 16 speakers covering topics such as global awareness, education, Khmer Unicode and more. There was live painting, spoken word and live music with participation from the audience. The event was streamed live on the web as part of the TEDx simulcast. Click here for more information regarding TEDx Phnom Penh.

Overcoming the barriers

Chhan Dina painting on a 2 meter wide digital canvas

Dina and Warren also encourage others to dream big and to overcome the barriers restricting their creativity. They shared experiences of how they overcame obstacles restricting them from creating digital art due to lack of access to resources. Chhan Dina painted live on a virtual painting wall that was made with seemingly obsolete equipment and a WiiRemote for less then $50 (US)

Build an interactive art projector using recycled equipment & a Wiimote

List of equipment

• A 15″ LCD monitor – $25
• GNU/Linux – Debian – Free
• Mypaint software – Free
• Nintendo WiiRemote – $20
• Infrared light and torch – <$3
• 3m 9100 – over head project (OHP) found on a pile of rubbish – Free

Full instructions including plans, photos and open source software coming soon!

The Team

Warren and Dina love to use their spare time teaching visual arts to underprivileged children and orphans in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. They are constantly dreaming of new and innovative ways to explore and create art and digital media.

Chhan Dina – Cambodia painter & sculptor

Dina Chhan works in a range of media, including painting and sculpture. Themes of life, music and everyday activities have captured her imagination over the past ten years.

Warren Daly – musician & visual artist

Excursions into man-machine integration has launched Warren headlong into the world of dynamic, engaging live electronics. He is always conjuring up larger and more extravagant ideas, so keep your ears and eyes peeled.  

In January 2001, about a year after myself and Donard McCabe started Invisible Agent we went to hear a band called :undermine: play in the Temple Bar Music center in Dublin. We heard them again at the Mean Fiddler a few months later and swapped numbers and email addresses. Dublin city is not exactly a sprawling metropolis so it wasn’t long before we met :undermine: band members Ian and Dara again at gigs around town. It was an exciting time in Ireland, the electronic music scene was vibrant and the attitude of punters and producers was open and enthusiastic (and still is).

:undermine:

:undermine: were a 4 piece band with influences such as Tool, The Prodigy and releases on Rephlex and Warp record labels. The band had a unique style and certainly released a lot of energy on stage. Every time I heard them play it was an intense and unusual experience. More than you can say about most bands. In 2003 Invisible Agent net-released a 4 track EP by :undermine: and some of their tracks would also be included on our first and very popular free Invisible Agent compilation CD. They were described in the Journal of Music in Ireland as “one of the best electronic acts in Ireland”. Certainly a good start.

Lakker

At the same time Dara and Ian started a project called Lakker, heavily influenced by breakcore and noise. We heard their creations and jumped at the opportunity to help promote their talents. Not only did we release a 4 track net release by Lakker in 2003 we also released (probably not many of you know this)  a 5 track net-release by Suburban Cutting Champions (another moniker of theirs). Later they would go on to release on other fine labels such as Alphabet Set, RISC, Lazybird, Acroplane, !Kaboogie and Stasis. They certainly work hard at attracting followers with their addictive, energetic and glitchy bass heavy salvos of sound. Their intricate programming and experimental mash-ups using everything from hardware loops to crazy software configurations certainly keeps even the most lethargic listener engaged and entertained. Eo and Dara have got even more attention lately, Richard D James played 3 Lakker tracks in one of his DJ sets (July 2011), it must be encouraging to get a nod from Mr James.

Resilience

So what’s the point of this little history lesson? Well, after all this time both Eo and Dara are still creating and Invisible Agent is alive and kicking (although at times we are never sure the bilge pump will keep all the water out). I think that’s pretty neat and it gives me unmeasurable pleasure to announce Ian Mc Donnell’s first solo EP on Invisible Agent entitled ‘mnk’. Keep your ears open and eyes peeled for future releases from Eomac and Lakker. Exciting times all round.

Remember, you heard it first on Invisible Agent oh, and do tell your friends.