Not a fan of swing music? Think again

 Stumbled across this crazy site called Music Machinery that uses Python code to turn popular songs into "swing" versions by "taking each beat and time-stretching the first half of each beat while time-shrinking the second half."

I always thought the original Guns N Roses lineup was the best because of the way drummer Stephen Adler swung and gave the band a loose but punchy sound -- particularly on songs like "Sweet Child O' Mine" -- but Adler has nothing on this altered over-the-top version. 

"Enter Sandman" and "Money for Nothing" also sound good in their new incarnations, but, to me, "Don't Stop Believin'" is a dud.

This studio gimmickry is the kind of stuff that made Robert "Mutt" Lange famous, although he was less obvious in tweaking Def Leppard rhythms to drive the beat in radio-friendly ways.

Close your eyes ... it's The Beatles

The Fab Faux - Abbey Road Side 2 (mostly) from The Fab Faux on Vimeo.

The Fab Faux are a group of East Coast studio musicians -- including bassist/vocalist Will Lee of the David Letterman Band -- who gathered to record an amazing live performance of Side 2 of the Beatles' "Abbey Road" album.

What makes the performance amazing is it was recorded live and is a nearly note for note replica of the original Beatles songs. If you're a musician or recovering musician, you know how difficult an undertaking this was to pull off live.

And it wasn't just the notes that were replicated -- duplicating the audio environment was part of the challenge as well. Check out this video of the Fab Faux learning recording tricks from legendary Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick.

Sharon Jones + Southern soul + analog = good times

Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings are popping up all over the place in advance of a new album hitting stores next week. That's a good thing.

Jones generated critical acclaim a few years ago with the release of "100 Days, 100 Nights," a throwback to mid-60s Memphis soul. The Dap-Kings earned some fame on its own, backing Amy Winehouse on her hit "Back to Black" album.

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings give old-school soul a new twistJones and the DK's will release a new album "I Learned the Hard Way" next week. NPR is streaming the entire album for free until then. After one listen, I can't say "Hard Way" knocked my socks off like "100 Days" but it's still top-notch soul worth follow-up listens.

And I'll be listening more closely after reading Jim Fusilli's band profile in The Wall Street Journal today that reveals the new album was recorded using analog equipment at a homegrown studio (as opposed to the digital formats that represent 99% of all music released today). Such techniques, favored by people like Jack White of the White Stripes, provide a warmer sound than the harsh, compressed digital recordings so common in modern music. It's a perfect match with Southern soul, a genre known for punchy, passionate arrangements.

Jones was so into the analog thing that she herself wired the electrical sockets in building the studio. Can you imagine any star other than Jack White tackling dirty work like that?

If you're a glutton for more, head over to NPR/all songs, which is streaming a recent Jones/DK gig at SXSW. I say the more the merrier.