Musicmongers

Andy Bell Sings Opera

2011-09-30T16:15:00.009-05:00

It seems like the Brits are never short on interesting ideas these days, and Popstar to Operastar is no exception. This season they've managed to drag Andy Bell (of Erasure fame) into the competition. Yes, Erasure is one of my favorite bands so this post is a bit self-indulgent on my part but still fun to see a synthpop legend gracefully fumble through Largo al factotum at 84% speed.

And here's Andy Bell when he's in his element, for better or for worse.

Phantogram

2011-04-27T15:20:00.004-05:00

Phantogram is an "electronic rock" duo with Josh Carter on guitar and Sarah Barthel on keyboards. Their wikipedia entry also lists them under "electronica" and "trip hop". I don't really know what any of those genres are really supposed to sound like so I'll just take their word for it. Whatever it is, I sort of like [some of] it.

I don't really know what else to say as it's been so long since I've run into any new music so here are the first two tracks off their debut (and so far only) album Eyelid Movies:

vincent moon

2010-07-25T18:48:00.006-05:00

vincent moon is a film guy. one of the main camera operators for blogotheque.net. his camera work is incredible. its expressive, enigmatic, visceral. hes worked with some of my favorite bands. just wanted to share some videos of some work hes done.

arcade fire: miroir noir
the song doesnt come in until about halfway through the video. the first half is admittedly a bit creepy. it makes more sense in context of the rest of the film and if you take into account what "neon bible" is about.

mogwai: burning

the national: a skin, a night (the whole film)

Arrogant sampling Adele's Hometown Glory

2010-07-17T09:32:00.001-05:00

Heard this on 92.3 'best of the street' during my drive into Chicago -

Eminem and Proof Freestyle

2010-07-08T00:30:00.003-05:00

Not sure how old this is, but from the description I'm going to guess close to 10 years ago or older.

I admit that at best I'm only mildly familiar with Proof's stuff but the guy was clearly the real deal.

summer jams

2010-05-09T19:01:00.006-05:00

hey yallz. just some tracks id like to share. summer songs. fun, sexy, smooth, thumpin.

no idea if these guys have a full length out or even an EP. but i randomly came across their site and i really like this song. you can download it for free at their website. lovelittledeath.com

LITTLE DEATH | WORLD WONT WAIT from Little Death on Vimeo.

RiP! A Remix Manifesto

2010-02-10T01:29:00.002-06:00

You could say this is a documentary on Girl Talk, but the main focus is copyright laws. I've never been good at book reports so I won't try to describe it any further, other than it's well worth an hour and a half of your time. Enjoy.

Lights

2009-11-16T18:58:00.004-06:00

Lights is Valerie Poxleitner, a Canadian singer-songwriter of the synthpop genre. I found her stuff in the wake of the seemingly sudden popularity of Owl City (who I also like but seems everyone knows about already) after his Wikipedia entry gave her a mention. Lights is maybe a couple clicks more dance-y than Owl City.

While I wouldn't go as far as putting either group in the same category (sound-wise) as bands like Erasure, Depeche Mode, OMD, etc it's nice to see that synthpop as an overall genre hasn't completely died and can even become mildly popular once in a while, heaven forbid.

yodaslap: do you listen to owl city
jeekbot: ya
jeekbot: sounds like something you might like
yodaslap: sounds just like postal service, as was confirmed in the wikipedia entry
jeekbot: postal service meets echoing green
yodaslap: just postal service meets postal service

I bought her EP LIGHTS (released in 2008) off iTunes the other day. The two singles from the EP are February Air and Drive My Soul, both of which I happen to like.

Some links:

http://www.iamlights.com/ - Official site

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lights_(musician) - Self-explanatory

http://twitter.com/lights - If you're into the Twitter thing

It Might Get Loud

2009-06-11T12:39:00.002-05:00

I'll let the trailer do the talking.

http://www.sonyclassics.com/itmightgetloud/

Jay-Z Declares the "Death of Auto-Tune"

2009-06-08T10:36:00.006-05:00

Moment of silence, please, but I'm not crying.

Jay declared war on Auto-Tune on the same stage that featured performances from prominent Auto-Tuners like Ron Brownz, DJ Webstar, and former Jay tourmate The-Dream.
After his verse from Jeezy's "Put On" remix, Jay performed "D.O.A." for the first time.

http://pitchfork.com/news/35541-jay-z-declares-the-death-of-auto-tune/

Check out T-Pain's appearance in the linked shaky camera-phone video.

compression reponse

2009-04-25T02:24:00.005-05:00

yup. thats the name of the game now. mastering engineers now are all pros at maxing out levels to the brim. most music these days is compressed to "tape." compressed during mixdown. compressed during mastering. and radiostations and TV will compress again during playback. so that your everyday pop song looks like this. with no digital headroom.

and this is a waveform of a beethoven symphony:

its one "better" than the other? not really. its just different. apples and oranges. and is compression a bad thing? not at all. its a completely necessary and very useful tool for controlling dynamics. is a lot music out there compressed to death? yup.

'More apparent volume but less dynamics'

2009-04-22T15:49:00.003-05:00

was reading about dynamic range compression on this interview with alan wilder, depeche mode member.

this video by matt mayfield is a simple illustration. here's the companion article to that, referencing deathcab member chris walla.

utada - this is the one

2009-04-11T18:32:00.004-05:00

another english release for her. while not nearly as bad as exodus, it still feels pretty poser-ish and there are a lot of copy cat sounds. probably because it came from the same grammy award winning producer pool as ne-yo, usher, mariah...etc. but utada DOES write her own material, enjoys composing, and has a hand in producing. but i dont think shell ever fit into that all natural dirty south 808 thumpin pop queen mold. because that aint her. shes a japanese international child that went to columbia. but i must say, i do like this one a lot more. beats are phatter, tunes are catchier, and lyrics are better too (if only a little).

On And On - Utada

This One (Crying Like A Child)...

Sigur Rós @ MoMA

2009-04-11T14:29:00.005-05:00

current.com

Shot live at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City on Icelandic Independence Day, Sigur Rós @ MoMA is a unique concert film highlighting new material from the band's latest album, "Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust", as well as classic Sigur Rós songs. Directed by Alex Simmons.

Track Listing:
Glósoli
Sé Lest
Við spilum endalaust
Sæglópur
Icelandic National Anthem
Inní mér syngur vitleysingur
Hoppípolla
Gobbledigook

Enough said. Go watch this.

Arcade Fire: Miroir Noir

2009-04-03T12:28:00.005-05:00

Watch arcade fire's experimental documentary. Shot by vincent moon. the main blogotheque reel guy.

available for one week only.

http://pitchfork.com/tv/#/episode/388-arcade-fire-miroir-noir/

edit: i just watched it. and i absolutely loved it. this is one band i need to go see live. if you dont want to watch the whole thing, id recommend part #5 at least.

junior boys - begone dull care

2009-04-03T00:01:00.001-05:00

preview the new album. sign in to hear the full songs.

i like what i hear. yumyumyumie. out april 7th.

Junior Boys - Begone Dull Care

marissa nadler - little hells

2009-03-22T00:49:00.003-05:00

Mistress - Marissa Nadler

some noteworthy 2009 releases

2009-03-21T17:11:00.004-05:00

Scratch Hero Game?

2009-03-18T12:06:00.003-05:00

MixMasterMike:

“Without giving away too much, I will tell you that when the game is fully completed [the peripheral is still in prototype], anyone that is into scratch DJing and beat making will be very pleased," he assured Ars. "The gameplay is designed to inspire players to be creative with the music and learn to improvise like real DJs do... Scratch not only simulates the art of scratching, but it also helps with practicing your timing and precision as a real-life DJ.”

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/03/-scratch-the-ultimate-dj.ars

Sennheiser Factory Photo Tour

2009-03-16T17:48:00.003-05:00

cnet.uk:

“We recently flew to Germany to visit Sennheiser headquarters to hear the company's latest flagship headphones, the £1,000 HD 800s, and you've been able to read our report and see our photos for a couple of days. But we also toured the factory where these headphones are hand-built.

“They're put together at Sennheiser HQ in Hanover, Germany, right next door to the farmhouse where the company was founded -- on 1 June 1945, just 23 days after Germany surrendered to the Allies. And not as Sennheiser either, but as 'Laboratium Wennebostel'.

“Bits of the HD 800s, such as the steel and plastic ear cups, and the cabling, are shipped in from other specialist companies, although some metal microphone enclosures are made on-site. All electronics, however, are assembled in-house, and by hand.”

How £1,000 headphones are made: A Sennheiser factory tour

DJ Cam: Mixmaster Mike

2009-03-15T00:55:00.002-05:00

Mixmaster Mike on a DJ cam in "Three MC's and One DJ", crazy stuff.

Action begins at 1:45

Glen Hansard

2009-03-14T09:57:00.005-05:00

Glen Hansard from the movie Once covers REM's Hairshirt.

Click the play button in the center to view inline:

Neko Case - Middle Cyclone

2009-02-28T23:11:00.003-06:00

Middle Cyclone
stream the entire album, dropping 3/3.

isn't npr awesome?

Dark was the Night

2009-02-11T10:48:00.001-06:00

http://www.darkwasthenight.com/

Tracklisting looks mighty exciting :)

Feb 17th

for emma, forever ago

2009-01-28T00:44:00.007-06:00

bon iver: mike noyce, sean carey, and front man justin vernon.

one of my favorite sites to waste time on, discover music, and experience music performed in its most raw state.

blogotheque

also, muxtape is back. but it seems like they lost what they used to be because of the law suits. so now they are purely for bands and not really for no strings attached uploading. so, like a myspace for minimalist? users will only be able to create a mix from music that is already on the site provided by each respective artist. but since i see muxtape becoming widely popular, its usefulness may still be intact.

Aerodynamic (Daft Punk Remix)

2009-01-08T01:53:00.001-06:00

A little gem (well, I like it anyway) I found while trying out Pandora again after a long hiatus.

Lupe raps over Gorillaz beat

2008-12-14T13:50:00.002-06:00

Stolen off bchiang's blog. Don't have much to say about it other than it sounds cool, and Gorillaz cartoonz are always cool to watch (altho not quite as spell-binding as the Lennon interview animation)

I Met The Walrus

2008-12-10T11:24:00.002-06:00

An interview:

In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan, armed with a reel-to-reel tape deck, snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in Toronto and convinced John to do an interview. This was in the midst of Lennon's "bed-in" phase, during which John and Yoko were staying in hotel beds in an effort to promote peace. 38 years later, Jerry has produced a film about it. Using the original interview recording as the soundtrack, director Josh Raskin has woven a visual narrative which tenderly romances Lennon's every word in a cascading flood of multipronged animation. Raskin marries traditional pen sketches by James Braithwaite with digital illustration by Alex Kurina, resulting in a spell-binding vessel for Lennon's boundless wit, and timeless message.

Via SvN

Common ft. Barack Obama

2008-12-09T11:45:00.003-06:00

Okay, maybe not quite yet. On the other hand, here's how he thinks the President Elect will influence hip hop.

Common on the Tonight Show

2008-12-06T12:47:00.003-06:00

Check out Common on the Tonight Show Thursday night:

Common performs Universal Mind Control - Jay Leno

There some more pics from the show on Common's blog.

Another Coldcut Video Mixing Performance

2008-11-12T01:11:00.003-06:00

I guess we can always just use Youtube...

The performance is almost 6 minutes long but well worth the watch if you have time, and cool to even just listen to. I watched thru it twice just now.

Goodbye, Muxtape

2008-09-28T14:19:00.001-05:00

Back to the drawing board?

http://www.muxtape.com/

Muxtape Improvements

2008-06-30T14:11:00.008-05:00

Muxtape released some new improvements this week, which means you should now have a better time listening to the music we're posting about. Hopefully, this release squashes the playback bugs that caused muxtape to skip songs and other annoyances. So far it looks promising.

There are also some more features with the redesign, including:

favorites have been doubled to 24
muxtapes now show who their creator has favorited
much better error recovery for broken streams
support for Linux, Solaris and any Unix that runs Flash

Here's the update announcement: http://muxtape.tumblr.com/post/40423464/muxtape-update
Here's our mux, as usual:
http://musicmongers.muxtape.com/

Happy listening!

sigur ros - með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust

2008-06-20T01:21:00.008-05:00

i dont know where to start with this one. i listened to it for the first time a few days ago and i was blown away. ive fallen asleep to this album everyday since then.

their fifth full length album holds many firsts for icelandic group, sigur ros. this is the first time theyve produced an album outside of iceland. the last track is sung completely in english. track seven was recorded live with a full orchestra and a boys choir. they collaborated with mark ellis (another premier british producer whos worked closely with alan moulder on many occasions).

i love these british producers.

i also feel like this is the most human work theyve done. i feel like their past works were very celestial and cerebral. dense with elaborate soundscapes and abstract emotions. but with this album i feel like the emotions i feel are less complex and the soundscapes they create are more accessible. timeless if you will. with upbeat songs filled with exuberance. even the slow songs have a feeling of peace and hope.

i anticipate a pitchfork rating of 8.3
*update* actual rating ended up being 7.5. in general though, i feel like theyve always underrated sigur ros's work. always gotta take pitchfork ratings with grains of salt.

anyway, give it a try.

Ronald Jenkees

2008-06-12T01:26:00.008-05:00

Saying that Ronald Jenkees is one of the most interesting musicians I've ever stumbled upon would be quite an understatement. In a severely under-descriptive nutshell, he's a hip hop beat producer and keyboardist. Simply listening to his tracks is only half the story. They sound like the instrumental beats of a rap song you might possibly hear on the radio. You might even think (as I admittedly did when I first heard an mp3 of his before knowing anything about him) "no big deal, the beats are good but not THAT spectacular... I don't get it".

Then, all that went out the window when i watched a video:

What a riot huh? After that first one I couldn't stop watching his videos, some of them many times... just can't get enough. His overflowing genuine enthusiasm is incredible, and pretty inspiring to me as someone who has dabbled in music on and off throughout my life. He's also probably the only person on the planet who can get away with calling people "youtubes" and not be lynched for it.

... and here's a couple more favorites:

Peace out y'all!

Peter Adams

2008-05-17T12:30:00.001-05:00

hi mongers, it's been a long time. i shouldn't have left you without a dope beat to step to. actually haven't been listening to much lately or anything new but wanted to join in on the posting fun.

peter adams hails from cincin, ohio - i don't think there's a wiki entry for him either. he just released his 2nd album, which you can download at your own price or purchase the cd for 10.98 all inclusive. i think it comes with a poster.

he cites radiohead/beatles/flaming lips/neutral milk hotel (?) as influences. upon first listen, i'd say there's also a bit of buckley and a lot of gypsy. it's instrumental/noise heavy, your typical not-all-there indie lyrics, creative, and not another love song. i don't think he smiles even once throughout this youtube interview though.

Priscilla Ahn

2008-05-11T14:30:00.003-05:00

She's not famous enough to have a Wikipedia entry yet, nor do I know anything about her beyond that she's a girl, she sings, plays guitar, harmonica, and sometimes the kazoo but this video has caught my attention:

Ok, so I admit that initially it was because of the editing, or lack of editing necessary, as this was all done in one take both by her and by the camera person. However, the more I watched it (which eventually transitioned to just listened) the more I became captivated by the song and less so by the camera work. The song is simple, maybe even too soothing, yet commands my attention from start to finish. Also, anyone who can competently work a loop machine has my utmost respect.

The studio recording of the song is apparently on the Disturbia soundtrack, and from listening to the 30-second iTunes preview clip it doesn't quite have the same dramatic impact as it does in the video. I've also watched a few other videos of her other songs but I generally lose interest rather quickly when it comes to watching videos of live performances so I probably never gave them a fair chance. Maybe later.

blonde redhead - 23

2008-05-07T16:18:00.010-05:00

this post is long overdue for me. 23 is one of my favorite releases of 2007 and has been frequenting my playlists for about a year now.

blonde redhead essentially is a trio based out of NY consisting of kazu makino and twin brothers simone and amedeo pace. kazu and amedeo are married which is a bit weird to me. especially since they're in the same band. is it because he plays guitar and sings? so hes cooler than simone the drummer?

in the past, blonde redhead has worked with producers from NY indie-punk-rock legend sonic youth and also DC post-hardcore sensations fugazi. their latest album 23, emerged from their underground roots and was produced by premier british producer alan moulder who has worked with familiar names such as u2, NIN, smashing pumpkins, just to name a few.

blonde redhead has steered away from their no wave beginnings to create a more accessible, glossy, and sonically pleasing sound largely due to moulders involvement. i really dont mind this because i cant get into the noisy, experimental no wave sound. their previous two albums "melody of certain damaged lemons" and "misery is a butterfly" are kind of their transition albums where they begin to recreate their sound (and are worth checking out). i feel like with 23 they finally got it.

check it out

NIN: The Slip

2008-05-06T02:05:00.002-05:00

For anyone interested in Nine Inch Nails material, their latest album can be [legally] downloaded for free. I listened thru some of the songs, which I'm guessing will either take a really long time to grow on me or never will. But hey, just because I don't end up liking it doesn't mean no one else will. Plus, did I mention it's free? The album is free.

So far I've taken a mild liking of Head Down.

Ampersand EP

2008-05-05T08:23:00.005-05:00

Here's a recommendation that comes to us via friend of musicmongers, Jimmy Jih.

Husband and wife Derek Webb (of Caedmon's Call) and Sandra McCracken have collaborated on a few songs to create Amersand EP. Derek brings a Christian Alternative/Indie sound and Sandra brings a little bit of country with a voice that reminds me a lot of Dolly Parton. I think that's a good thing, hopefully I didn't just ruin the album for Jimmy.

Interesting to me is what they say about their writing process and how they have very different big-picture vs details-oriented approaches. Although they've both have produced many projects over a number of years, it wasn't until now that they've finally made something together. Sandra writes on their webpage, "The truth is that even though our musical tastes are totally compatible, we approach songwriting from completely opposite directions. I'm very conceptual and abstract. And Derek is very meticulous and intentional. Down to each and every conjunction."

The liner notes encourage us to enjoy, copy, and share the music, so we are. I've uploaded my two favorite songs to our muxtape: When The Lights Go Out, and a Dylan cover, If Not For You. And for download, here's a third song Valentine.

m83: saturdays = youth

2008-04-21T22:56:00.011-05:00

so to kick things off is a post of a band ive posted before. but their (or his, anthony gonzalez) new release is just so good that its worth a mention. i also think its okay to post new releases of music weve posted in the past. itll help us keep up to date without having to do all the research on our own. m83 started out as a duo but for the past few releases, its just been gonzalez and him teaming up with various artists and producers.

m83 is known for lush textures and layers of synth sounds that are reminiscent of the 80's era. this album especially is a homage to his teenage years and is less soundscapey and less of a concept album than his previous releases. some songs are good ol' sing-a-long, foot tappin' songs. yet they still retain that big cinematic epic sound m83 has become known and loved for. i already anticipate this being one of my favorite releases of 2008. i also love the cover art. as much as ive never really felt a connection to 80's music and 80's fashion, this album has me mystified by the angst and magic of it all.

jiaran and i already have songs from saturdays = youth in our own respective muxtapes, so i uploaded two different songs for the musicmonger muxtape. enjoy!

Gonzalo Silva

2008-02-17T13:07:00.006-06:00

i recently heard about Silva through a friend who used to live in Boston where Silva started out as street musician at the T (Boston's subway system). at first i thought my friend was talking about Jose Gonzalez, a pretty well known classical guitarist, but as the descriptions went on, i realized 'gonzal-' was where the similarity starts and ends. most obviously, Gonzalez has a thick head of curly hair whereas Silva is bald. Silva also plays a 'headless' electric bass instead. what hooked my friend was Silva's style - it wasn't the filler bass or jazzy bass that we were used to hearing. coupled with the whole street concept, my friend went as far as creating an unofficial website for Silva that eventually became official. you can read about Silva's life as a street musician from the liner notes on Busker or listen to all the songs here.

Linford Detweiler

2007-10-22T20:35:00.003-05:00

I'm Gonna Deal with You Someday

Over the Rhine - Firefly

Linford is part of the husband/wife duo, Over the Rhine. They may be the most interesting thing to emerge from Ohio, but that's for another post, another time.

you can hear him pushing on the pedals and breathing in the background. it's very good. so good that i'm only posting it here because not a lot of people know about/remember this site.

if you are free on Sat, 2007-11-24, i highly recommend catching one of their two all ages shows at the old town school of folk music. tix are $22 ($26 including all fees) for adults, $18 for sr/kids. not that it matters, but griffin house is opening.

doesn't he look like that dexter cartoon here?

Spoon

2007-08-05T21:23:00.002-05:00

spoon's much anticipated latest album "ga ga ga ga ga" (named after the sound from their song) dropped last month. you can hear the entire 30 some minutes streamed here. these guys have been around for a decade, and most people regard their '02 album "kill the moonlight" as some of their best work. they're widely praised for producing strong 'no filler' albums.

i first heard of Britt Daniel (the lead) because of his collaboration with Conor Oberst (bright eyes) and another group, i love you but i've chosen darkness. hehe. since then, they've popped up in wedding crashers, stranger than fiction, and this jaguar commercial.

sometimes artists go overboard trying to make their pieces really complex and engaging, only to turn out something 'interesting' at best. and sometimes you have to research about a piece of art to appreciate its historical value and whatnot, but generally i like music to speak for itself. Spoon has a lot of good qualities - it's thoughtful and detailed, controlled, experimental, naturally evolving. i like the music because it's fun to listen to. this album is a toe tapper with bits of flair, funk, and volatility. maybe because their producer is also their drummer. plus i'm partial to egg shakers, tambourines, and mariachi horns. still, it never gets too silly, emo, or plain weird.

ga starts off with the political 'don't make me a target' (the band hails from texas)
Thugs and stick and bats and balls
for nuclear dicks with dialect drawls
they come from a parking lot town
where nothing lives in the sun

'you got yr. cherry bomb'

peaking in the middle with 'eddie's ragga' and 'the underdog' (its video is just one long, continuous shot).

finally, it ends with a delicate 'black like me' that is reminiscent of wilco. it's strange, but britt can go from sounding like jeff tweedy to kurt cobain (like on 'me and the bean'). enjoy britt as gospel singer in 'bring it on home to me' sam cooke cover.

they make a lot of direct/indirect references to chicago. in 'black like me' they mention spending the night in the map room. could it be THE map room in chicago?

[btw, i kept typing 'snoop' instead of 'spoon'. have i got rappers on my mind? sry yoda, the next one will be electronica, i think. ]

the twilight sad

2007-07-01T06:39:00.000-05:00

hello music mongers!

the twilight sad is a post rock quartet that hails from scotland. this is their debut album, "fourteen autumns & fifteen winters" released off fatcat records (múm, sigur ros) and engineered by paul savage (mogwai). so that can give you a little idea what to expect.

like good post rock, their music takes you somewhere. often times starting slow and quiet only to bring you into a raging sea of thick, lush guitars. sometimes to the point where its just a wall of white noise.

from what ive read online, from the booklet art, and from reading the lyrics, it seems their music is often about childhood/adolescence. thats why the lyrics are sometimes whimsical with strange imagery.

i guess what i love most about these guys is the sound they get. id love to see them live. theyd be blaring loud and epic. so much so that id have to block some of the awesomeness out so i dont damage my ears.

try some! best enjoyed with the volume UP!
the twilight sad - cold days from the birdhouse
the twilight sad - and she would darken the memory

**disclaimer**
the first time i heard them was in my roommates car and i didnt know he was speaking english. thats how heavy his scottish accent is. so if you need the lyrics written out then go here. although im not even sure those are correct

Shiny Toy Guns

2007-06-28T20:55:00.001-05:00

Shiny Toy Guns is an indie rock/electronica band from Los Angeles, altho that doesn't even begin to do their wide scope of styles any justice. Randomly pick 3 songs from their latest album We Are Pilots and chances are they won't sound like they came from the same artist, let alone album.

The band was formed in 2002 by Jeremy Dawson (bass/keyboard) and Chad Petree (vocals), and presently also includes Mikey Martin on drums and Carah Faye Charnow on vocals. The songs on We Are Pilots feature a somewhat even distribution of one vocalist or another, or both on the same track, further adding to their diverse styles.

While a lot of their songs admittedly have synth-sounding elements to them (from occasional subtle reverb effects to all-out no holds barred foot-stomping dance beats), you will be much more likely to confuse Petree's vocals with Billie Joe Armstrong's or Deryck Whibley's than with Andy Bell's or Neil Tennant's. Sounds like an odd compromise, but it works. At least for me.

Chemistry of a Car Crash - My favorite track, and ironically also happens to be the most deviant from my usual tastes. If you can only be bothered to listen to one song, try this one. I know you guys are a tough crowd.

You Are The One - Opening track of the album, so you know the band is putting their best foot forward on this one. It's got high energy, whilst refraining from going down the dance beat route.

Rainy Monday - A little dancey, but worth checking out IMHO.

Once

2007-05-10T01:59:00.000-05:00

winner of the World Cinema Audience Award for a dramatic film at this yr's sundance film festival. Once is a sort of modernized musical set in Ireland, feat. The Frames frontman Glen Hansard and newcomer Marketa Irglova. directed by John Carney, Glen's former bandmate. high def trailer here. US release set for May 18th.

The Frames formed in 1990. they tour in chicago (the metro) quite often, and i saw them open for nadasurf. they were surprisingly good for an opener- full sound, improvisational, conversational. glen seemed really approachable and funny. he did a couple medley covers of bob marley and johnny cash. i'd rec the songs 'fitzcarraldo', 'lay me down/ring of fire', and 'the swell season' from glen's solo debut album of the same name. glen reminds me of that umbrella mark in sheet music (forgot its name) bc he stretches out words and syllables just as how violins are played sometimes. full sweeps. as for similar artists, i'd say matthew good, maybe even the less polished stuff of counting crows.

from the Once official US website:
Marketa: "We have been working together for the past six years. We met in the Czech Republic, where I am from, when The Frames were over to play a few gigs."

"Glen got me up for a song and I started playing piano and then we started to write songs. It was very slow and very natural process. Then we recorded an album a year ago."

Glen: "It was released around the same time as we started to work on the film. When I met Marketa it was immediately obvious how remarkable she was, and so for me, there was a whole new breath of creative life to be working with someone who could give so much to the music. I am very lucky with my band, they are incredibly creative, but when I met Mar it added a whole new area, a whole new voice, a whole new contrast to what I did. I think John [Carney, ONCE director] caught sight of that."

you can hear all the songs on that website. i like the opener 'falling slowly' and near the end 'all the way down'.

Colbie Caillat

2007-04-11T00:47:00.000-05:00

More pop music. Well, not pop in the traditional media sense, but in the MySpace world.

Colbie Caillat doesn't have any songs on the radio and still no word on exactly when her album will be completed yet (should be soon) but the songs on her page each have a few million plays logged. She was also on Carson Daly's show earlier this year. With her pop friendly songs, the growing fan base, and her looks and presence there's little doubt that when her album finally is released, she'll be a "proper" pop star in no time.

She has an easy, rich voice that reminds me very much of Corinne Bailey Rae. Here's a video of a live performance of the song "Droplets":

If you like that video, you'll like the song "Bubbly", which is sure to be a radio single. Play it on Colbie's MySpace page.

Speaking of Corinne Bailey Rae- check out her performance at the Grammy's with John Legend and John Mayer that Olivia played for me.

some local talent

2007-03-22T19:30:00.000-05:00

Toy Soldiers
recently written by mike yee and sarah lee, and dedicated to her step brother and another friend who are in Iraq. lyrics.

Turning of September
also original. mike's intro: "...most theologians would concur that Jesus was born sometimes between September and November..."

sarah once said that she didnt know guitars could talk until she met mike. the tone of his guitar is amazing live, and so is her expression. i'm not sure, but i think mike's playing a Martin OM-28V w/ an extra bridge pickup.

there's a better recording sound quality wise of 'turning of september' here. it's steve lu on vocals.

they're actually competing in an upcoming talent show and experimenting with curtis on percussion, so i will post that once i get a chance.

EDIT: i switched the toy soldiers to a better live performance.

Cat Power

2007-02-27T21:07:00.000-06:00

aka Chan Marshall. a lovely voice with a warm 70's vibe. one of those artists that fare best with a simple piano/guitar and lyrics, nothing fussy or too dressed up, bc you just want to hear that voice. her vocals create this visual of sun kissed fields, much like this video cover of 'wonderwall'.

early in 2006, she entered rehab for alcoholism. in an industry that can make an illness seem glamorous or worse, trite, she talks candidly in an interview about that time in her life.

in light of that, it gives a bit of new meaning to her song, "good woman" which happens to be my top pick. her albums are generally well received by critics and fans alike. one is entirely dedicated to covers ('the covers record' duh).

troubled waters off of 'the covers record'
where is my love off of 'the greatest'
here she performs 'the greatest' live on jools holland.

good woman is off of 'you are free'

(sorry, the rest of griffin's stuff bored me so i wont elongate that post.)

Griffin House

2007-02-07T21:11:00.000-06:00

i was watching wheel of fortune the other night and this Rembrandt commercial came on. it's pg13, but i found myself turning away and unable to watch it. the song that played caught my ears though, and it's called "waterfall" off of Griffin House's "lost and found" album. it's a nice song. easy, easy like sunday mornin'.

i know what you're thinking- no, this is not pete yorn, but from these youtube videos it seems he's just as stoic live as pete is. too bad. here he and matt kearney cover tom petty's "learning to fly", but it's a little rote and forgettable. i hope it's just inexperience, and that after a few shows, he'll connect with his audience more. side note - he wears a Guster shirt in some of the videos. and he's from ohio so of course he is friends with over the rhine on myspace.

sorry so short, will finish later!

múm

2007-01-17T02:41:00.000-06:00

another great group from iceland. 'summer make good' was their last full length released back in 2004. its been official for a few months now. that will be the last album made with one of the founding members. the delicate, haunting voice of kristin anna will no longer be a part of múm. she however, will not stop making music as she is exploring a solo project under the name of kria brekkan. she also recently toured with her husband avey tare who is a part of the icelandic band animal collective.

múm is awesome. and im not kidding. their sound is extremely unique and innovative. they are genius in creating and composing with electronic sounds. they are talented musicians. their music embraces what is eerie, beautiful, sad, hopeless, quiet, haunting, brooding...etc

this isnt pop music. its not easy listening. its a bit dark. its introspective. its creative in a way that is sometimes hard to grasp. hard to notice. and theres something i love about that. music like this gives parts of me a home to live in.

off summer make good:
múm - the ghosts you draw on my back
múm - weeping rock, rock

all their releases have notable tracks. i just picked summer make good because its their most recent lp. if you like this, id could recommend songs on their other releases to try.

I love pop music

2007-01-14T21:30:00.000-06:00

In the past few weeks, my music has been controlled by what I'm doing at work. Normally my commute to work is podcasts- music, talk, daily news. At work, when the coworkers get a little too exuberant in their conference calls, the headphones go on and the music blocks out some noise and hopefully I can get back into the flow of debugging or coding. The playlist of choice is a mostly instrumental mix of post rock, trip hop, and hip hop to provide a background for coding.

On my way home, I'm unwinding with just about any kind of music. But when there's extra stress like in the past few weeks, I need something to really help me take my mind off of work and get my brain switched off. Hello, pop music!

Well, sort of pop music. I put Imogen Heap and Utada Hikaru into a playlist and I've been pleased with the results. Imogen Heap provides the vocals for the group Frou Frou and she has a handful of solo albums herself. You might remember Frou Frou from the Garden State soundtrack. And Utada Hikaru I started listening to after ernie's post, of course, and I discovered I really like her. (Dan enjoys reminding me that I share this in common with many teenaged Japanese school girls).

While I was in Taiwan I bought two of Utada Hikaru's albums- Deep River and Ultra Blue. Since Utada has already been posted about, I'll write a little about Imogen Heap.

Imogen Heap is from Essex, England and is a classically trained musician. She started writing songs at a young age and soon turned her attention towards alternative pop rock and electronica. She taught herself sequencing and production and signed a record contract at 17. Her debut album "I, Meagaphone" was released in 1998.

In 2002, Frou Frou released the album "Details". Their song "Let Go" is on the Garden State soundtrack and is one that caught Grace's ear when it played during the credits. Heap's second solo album "Speak For Yourself" was released in 2005 in the UK. Songs from the album were featured on The O.C. After her album was released internationally she appeared on a couple of US late night talk shows. Heap performs by herself on stage singing and playing the guitar over music controlled by an Apple laptop.

What does her music sound like? It's singer-songwriter with plenty of layers of various instruments and electronic music. It's pop-rock but not overly sugary sounding. Have a listen:

Speak For Yourself - Daylight Robbery
Speak For Yourself - Goodnight and Go
Details - Let Go

Rachael Yamagata

2007-01-08T20:28:00.000-06:00

hap·pen·stance adjective: a circumstance especially that is due to chance.

here's another once chicago local - 28 yr old freckle faced Rachael-with-two-a's-Yamagata - the hottest talent to emerge from the halfie community since kristin kreuk. at least since kt tunstall? has she been featured on grey's anatomy yet? seriously.

according to wikipedia, happenstance is her first full length album, produced by the same guy behind mayer, dmb, and ben folds. (currently she's in studio working on number 2 with the guy behind rilo kiley and bright eyes). she's already collaborated with a slew of artists like mraz, ryan adams, and mandy moore. speaking of whom, mandy and zach braff are in her top 8 on her myspace. please do not hold this against her. self described as 'Janis Joplin meets Fiona Apple' - you can definitely hear a little fiona in 'letter read'. her other influences include jeff buckley, carole king, and a somewhat expected smattering of her peers, i.e. regina spektor. some ppl liken her to maria mena, but i think here is a distinction between a girl and a young woman.

"I try my best to write of love and pain and explore how we humans treat each other, and what our souls are trying to get out at the same time. Performing is my meditation; writing my traveling companion. These songs are as truthful and in the moment as I could be at this point in my life. They are observational, touching, but with a sense of hopefulness that every piece, and each bit of pain had a reason. So that nothing is wasted. The never can be happenstance."

"I think honesty is the most important thing for my songwriting which leads me to live a lonely existence of rehashing the muddy waters of my faults and love tragedies. I'm definitely hung up on wanting life to be fair and everyone's full story to be told and understood truthfully. I will never be a great educator because of my intelligence for facts or analytical skills, however I'm pretty damn compassionate and will probably draw people to me for some sense that 'I've been there too…' Life is not always heavy and dark, but I do spend time swimming in those areas. Go fish. "

i would like to see her branch out of love/love sick songs, but maybe that is what she means by her 'compassion'. ppl are drawn to her for it.

hard to choose just a couple samplers...

moments with oliver - just over a minute of instrumentals

i'll find a way
feels like joni mitchell and damien rice (she did cover joni's 'river' which can be heard on her myspace, another good cover 'jesus was a crossmaker')

letter read
fiona applish

even so
" you're gonna question whether you really know me at all
you will revisit every smile, and where it fit into the day"

listen only:
fireflies (duet with rhett miller)
streaming

be be love
indirect link to her myspace

reason why
indirect link to her myspace

30 Seconds to Mars

2006-12-29T00:33:00.000-06:00

I was at sackielife's house the other day when i stumbled across a rare artifact: an actual album in Compact Disc format. It belonged to his sister, and after poking at it for a while, my curiosity finally got the better of me. I figured, if someone, anyone, finds a CD worth paying for in this day and age, it's gotta be pretty alright. I ripped the CD after hearing part of one song and I've been liking it more and more ever since.

30 Seconds to Mars features actor Jared Leto as the lead singer. I did not know this initially, but for some reason I liked them even more after I learned that little tidbit. He's not my favourite actor or anything; I've only seen 4 movies with him in it and only specifically remember him being in one of them. I might have to go back and rewatch a couple of them now, but enough about that... this isn't Moviemongers.

I think part of the appeal is that I finally ended up listening to a celebrity band (even if unknowingly so), as I have always generally and admittedly unfairly associated them as being glorified high school bands with a big name attached to it and therefore have never given any of them a chance thus far. 30 Seconds to Mars has definitely shattered that stereotype for me, altho I'm probably not going to go hunt down Russell Crowe mp3s anytime soon. One step at a time.

A cool bit of trivia is that they're the first "American rock band" to have a music video shot in China in its entirety. It gets a bit weird at some parts but the impact of the scenery is undeniable. The intro makes the most sense to viewers who understand mandarin.

As of now I have only listened thru their latest album, A Beautiful Lie. I skimmed thru a few samples from their first and self-titled album but nothing really caught my ~~eye~~ ears.

And last but not least, the links

A Beautiful Lie
The Kill
From Yesterday | video

Rob Dougan

2006-12-13T23:50:00.000-06:00

Rob Dougan is a composer who is perhaps best known for the electronica-esque classic "Clubbed to Death", which appeared in The Matrix soundtrack. He has also contributed two more tracks to The Matrix Reloaded, and has done remix work for big names in dance music like Moby and Kylie Minogue.

Rob Dougan also hates electronic music and thinks remixes are a waste of time. In fact, he's not really a big fan of modern music in general, which shows thru in the extra bit of complexity that sets his "electronic" songs apart from the rest of the genre. That's strange too, because he aims to write "antigenre" music. As far as I'm concerned, he succeeds.

A somewhat amusing quote from Rob D:

"I'm associated with dance music, with electronica, which makes me feel ill. I only learnt all the boring computer crap as a means to an end. Virtually all musicians these days use computers, but if you write a book on a computer, nobody calls it electronic writing; the format you use doesn't necessarily affect the outcome. And rock'n'roll is electronic music par excellence - it's based on using electricity."

The following tracks all have the following in common: it features an electronic beat, as well as a real-life full sized string orchestra. Two of the tracks features his own vocals, which would not sound too out of place in an alternative rock song with comparable lyrics to match. So what sort of music is this, you ask? Give it a listen and decide for yourself :)

Clubbed to Death
Furious Angels
Born Yesterday

edit: I like this one too now

Nothing at All

Explosions in the Sky

2006-12-12T21:25:00.000-06:00

these guys seem very normal and reasonably silly. possibly still broke. they have a bunch of road trip like photos on their site that appear to have been taken by a lomo. that's the next item on my 'to buy' list. it keeps getting shafted by things like toothbrush and mittens.

anyway, i found these guys in a very random way. i was looking up lyrics to find another song but got them instead. (fret not, i still found the other song.) it was their titles that caught my attention, things like "the earth is not a cold dead place" or "how strange, innocence" or "those who tell the truth...". their songs feel similarly intimate and dynamic, and i do mean feel.

as part of the instrumental genre, listeners may need to ease into them. if you enjoy 'the album leaf' or 'mogwai', i think you may enjoy them too. i like the moodiness of this genre bc it brings back the movements of classical music. sometimes the simplest sounds stir something within. it's so interesting to listen to.

on their site, you can click on each album, and there are free mp3s for dl or stream. but guess what? the bit rate is 192! gasp. no grounds for dismissal here. (edit: ok i lied - some are 160)

go check these out for a taste:
the earth is not a cold dead place (album) - your hand in mine
this song is gentle and hopeful to me.

the rescue (album) - these songs are titled days 1-8. i like days 5-8, but one of the earlier ones has a not as sleepy drumming.

lastly, they also have an upcoming concert at the metro:
EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY
ALL AGES
METRO
3730 N CLARK - CHICAGO
WED MAR 28 2007 6:30PM

tix are $12 for general admission - but after all the fees and taxes, it comes just shy of $22 per person. you can get them at ticketmaster.

Anything Box

2006-12-03T22:03:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite bands, Anything Box is best known for their 1990 dance single Living in Oblivion and has since developed their own brand of "Elektrodelic" sound. Synthpop with deviant tendencies, if you will. I like them in part that they're not afraid to push the envelope of the genre while refraining from turning too weird (in a bad way).

In 2003 they released a free compilation album online in mp3 format only, complete with downloadable CD sleeve insert. The album has since been somewhat dismantled, altho some of the tracks are still available for download on their website. These remaining tracks are a decent representation of their more recent material. [Warning: 128kbps]

Binaural Repeats: 1993-2002 (or at least what's left of it)

... and one more song that was originally part of Binaural Repeats but no longer downloadable. Because it's my favourite :)

Blue Little Rose

DJ Babu

2006-11-19T15:01:00.000-06:00

... and as long as everyone is on the topic of crack cocaine, here's mine.

DJ Babu (who also goes by the name The Turntablist) is the DJ for the hip hop group Dilated Peoples. "DJ Babu in Deep Concentration" is the closing track of their 2004 album Neighborhood Watch and features DJ Babu delivering clean, straight forward scratches over a catchy laid back beat. The samples used include the recognizeable 'ahh', 'fresh', and *beep* and sounds very simple (albeit deceptively so) and is an absolute pleasure to listen to if you're in the mood for some good ol' fashioned scratching.

My favorite moment of the track occurs at 1:58 with a perfectly executed *beep*-'ahh' 1-2 punch. It doesn't get much better than that, folks.

DJ Babu in Deep Concentration

edit: by *beep* I mean an actual beeping sound, not censoring anything.

Mad World

2006-11-14T20:58:00.000-06:00

Full marks to whoever was in charge of the bgmusic for this ad, definitely as perfect an example as any of music's unmatched ability to dominate mood. The ad wisely refrains from employing the bastard child of death metal and electronica, and instead lets Michael Andrews' solemn cover of "Mad World" expose the weary soul of a war-hardened soldier. It's quite possibly the most unlikely of pairings, yet it's perfect... or maybe thus, it's perfect. The fitting lyrics don't hurt either.

"the music creates such a psychadelic mood!" -Heavy Nutz the Bastard

Mad World

Faultline

2006-11-12T23:14:00.000-06:00

i still remember listening to coldplay's clocks for the first time. it sent a chill down my spine, and i wished for some better headphones. i got a similar effect when i listened to faultline's 'your love means everything, pt 2' featuring chris martin of coldplay.

faultline currently has two cd's out, their debut 'closer colder' and 'your love means everything'. according to their site -"Your Love Means Everything' is an equal mix of songs and instrumentals, the songs featuring guest lead vocals by Chris Martin of Coldplay, Michael Stipe of REM, Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips and Joseph Arthur". they also have one w/ keane. mostly new creations, they did cover 'wild horses' tho. y.l.m.e.pt2 still stands out the most.

if you are a coldplay purist - you didnt like nelly furtado/chris martin's 'rocky' duet - you may not like this either. this is darker, more haunting, and involving more wrenches. there's plenty of reverberating echoes and hollow sounds. sometimes i even hear trip hop.

they have music streaming from their site.

Faultline - Your Love Means Everything, Pt 2 (feat. Chris Martin)

Free The Robots

2006-11-11T10:56:00.000-06:00

Spin mag says these guys are a "California-based production team" (read "these guys are a group of DJs"). They've produced one album called "The Prototype" which is an eclectic collection of sounds and genres mixed with the ears of a DJ. It's pretty cool stuff. You can listen to it in the player on their myspace page or buy it for $5. There's also a bit more about them at http://elsewherestudios.com/.

They are featured on a track in Spin.com's cheekily named Hey This Is Awesome section. Cities is an fairly uninteresting college rock band from North Carolina. However, they put out a remix album of their self-titled debut. The remix album is called Variations and Free The Robots' slicing and dicing of the song Capitol is the reason for this post.

I'm not sure why, but this track is like crack cocaine to me. The original version of the song is not bad but this freebase form produced in the Robots' lab is likely to destroy families and might need to be banned.

Please use caution as you listen:
Cities - Capitol (original version)
Variations - Capitol (FTR remix) (updated 11/12)

Switchfoot

2006-11-11T08:54:00.000-06:00

I'm sure you've heard of, or at least have heard, Switchfoot. In my personal quest for good music by Christian artists people have mentioned them more than once. But after scanning a couple of tracks, I dismissed them as being too poppy. Well, they haven't stopped making pop songs but I'm giving them a second listen.

I've thought the mythical kind of band I would love to listen to and support would be a great rock band whose members "just happened" to be Christian. What happens in reality is, either a Christian band tries to crossover losing one audience while gaining another (like Sixpence), the band or artists flop (too many to name here), or the band has no identity as Christians and they might as well be any other band. Commercially, DC Talk might be closest to "living in the balance" that I listened to (Jesus Freak went double Platinum- people were definitely listening), although I can't really say they made much of an impact in terms of public mindshare.

Switchfoot is a band that is successfully playing to that secular/sacred balance. They achieved some success on re:think/Sparrow Records but after their role in the movie "A Walk To Remember" with Mandy Moore, and moving to major label Columbia is when they started really making a splash.

Two different groups of people have to relate to their lyrics and I think they do a decent job of writing lyrics that are broad enough that anyone can identify with them while being honest and not completely watered down. See what you think.

Daisy is an interesting song from their latest album Nothing Is Sound, and the Goo Goo Dolls-y Dare You To Move is an earlier radio single from The Beautiful Letdown.

Daisy - Nothing Is Sound
Dare You To Move - The Beautiful Letdown

missFlag

2006-11-09T08:25:00.000-06:00

missFlag is a band from Isreal who I stumbled upon when I was looking for a fix of coldplay/keane type music. That should give you a good enough idea of their sound and the such. So far they've only released a 5-track EP, with a full album due out in November (not sure on the release date).

One thing that's kind of odd is reading their blog, and the lead guitarist (Assa Bukelman) is writing about how he was teaching a guitar lesson and walking the dog. Such "regular" and "ordinary" things. All this while in possibly a years time they could be a huge band, given the successes of keane and coldplay to date and their similiar sound.

Their live reviews are good, but they've only played a handful of US shows in Minnesota and LA. If myspace is any indication (36763 friends), they're gaining steam.

Check out their official site and use the built in player there to stream the first single "to infinity".

Laffy Taffy Rots Your Teeth

2006-10-26T00:58:00.000-05:00

Free Speech is an LA rapper who is dedicated to producing music that is free of additives and artificial flavoring. In his web page manifesto, he decries artists who "don't innovate, elevate, or challenge standards for fear of estranging themselves from the record-buying public" and says he "can't stomach the shame of whoring my culture and myself for money, maybachs, and mistresses."

It's not too hard to figure out the kinds of "artists" Free Speech is talking about. This year he and Ro Blvd produced a 10-track album called "Laffy Taffy Rots Your Teeth" that they are distributing on the web for free. The intro track video features Dave Chappelle sound clips and Chris Rock talking about black people vs niggers over pictures of blackface minstrels and D4L's Laffy Taffy music video. Ouch. That's a harsh indictment.

Preaching aside, the album is great to listen to. It's well produced and is a great example of what's possible to do in terms of recording, production, and distribution without a label in the new era of music with the internet.

So check out the web site- http://www.laffytaffyrotsyourteeth.com/. Download the album and give it a listen.

the album leaf

2006-10-18T01:30:00.000-05:00

the album leaf is jimmy lavalle. although other musicians are involved, this is jimmy's solo project and he is the heart of it. and even when there is a synth aspect to his music, it still sounds very organic. if i were to paint a picture of what i hear, it would be of oceans and of mountains in a smear of gentle hues and earthy overtones.

one thing im not a fan of is his singing and his lyrics (im sorry jimmy). as "honest and brutal" as they are, they just seem a little generic and amateur. but thats me and its different for everyone. im sure they mean a whole lot to jimmy and thats completely great. so more power to him.

to make his music, he pretty much rents out a studio somewhere in seattle and in that way lets his music evolve. to really have all the resources a studio has at your disposal while creating your music makes a HUGE difference in how an album would come out. these arnt the kind of songs that you can write in your bedroom and then all you need to do is hire musicians to churn out the sheet music. this is thoughtful. this takes time. this is personal. and this method is more capable of creating something intrinsically beautiful and meaningful. this method is really what allures me to sound and music. i like it when its really all about the music. but im aware ill probably have to compromise quite a bit on that in my career that has yet to get started

here is a video that documents some of the creative process behind his latest album 'into the blue again': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWYxeslLagk

and here are a couple tracks to try:
the album leaf - red-eye (you can hear the obvious influence and collaboration of josh eustis from telefon tel aviv who worked with jimmy on this album.)
the album leaf - into the sea (beautiful. hopeful. warm.)

and if you like this stuff then look into his earlier works too. as theyre just as good.

Wilco

2006-10-15T23:34:00.000-05:00

ok so i was going to wait until i saw Jeff Tweedy in concert at uiuc before posting, but that's still not for another couple of weeks. (Wilco as a whole will be playing in chicago on 11/24. more info at their website.)

some may be familiar w/ this group already as they're a local band. i even saw Tweedy the lead singer/writer at Guitar Center on Halsted with his son who was banging on the drums.

i havent done any research, but i got into them when a friend referred their Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album. Uncle Tupelo was their earlier incarnation. as any good rock band, they've had their share of artistic differences and member shifts. their songs are interesting to listen to though, lyrically and soundwise. tweedy's voice seems awfully flat at times but that's likely purposeful. i was annoyed by chris carraba's whiny voice at first too, but 3 dc concerts later, cant say it bothers me much anymore. not really sure how to describe the certain sounds they employ but i guess i'd call it a white noise. ppl who like instrumental music and maybe elliott smith appreciators may like him.

i'd rec almost any song on either album, but these are just two randomly from each:

Summerteeth:
nothing'severgonnastandinmyway(again)
pieholden suite

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot:
poor places
Jesus, Etc.

Apoptygma Berzerk

2006-10-08T18:03:00.000-05:00

With the possible upcoming demise of one of my music download sources, I've been semi-frantically downloading stuff (with some semblance of selectiveness) in an effort to use up my remaining balance before the site up and disappears one day.

... which brought me to these guys, a synthpop band from Norway.

Now before you navigate away, don't worry. I'm not posting synthpop. This particular album is a departure from their usual sound, which im not super familiar with since I've never heard of these guys before a couple hours ago (but I listened thru some of the old stuff.. nothing particularly exciting). The tracks from 'You and Me Against the World' (not to be confused with 2pac's 'Me Against the World') are somewhat scattered all over the map in terms of genre/style but some of the songs I like reminds me of what BP defines as "glam rock" but with a slight touch of synth-y-ness.

From what I've listened thru so far, my favourite:
In This Together

Here's a more electronic-sounding one (sorry). I also like this one.
You Keep Me From Falling Apart

junior boys

2006-10-02T02:37:00.000-05:00

i was just about to give up on you guys and here you guys are posting again!

ok!

heres something you guys might like. its chill. its got this 80's-ish synth sound. its the junior boys!

one reason (among others) that turns me off to a lot of 80's music is the weak synth sounds. theyre not as complex and layered as latter day synths. i know that is just the nature of it and some people love it. but not me. but here are the junior boys throwing a modern day twist to it all. and they have good sounds. yes they do.

this is their second release that was just recently released to the masses. the first one is quite good too. however, i feel their second release has a little more personality. a little more bite.

dont know what else to say!

try it:
junior boys - the equalizer
junior boys - in the morning

Skye - Morcheeba

2006-09-30T18:12:00.000-05:00

Here's some more cover music. This is an example of a artist taking a song and transforming it into something different that is their own. "Reinterpreted" as Nic Harcourt puts it. From KCRW's Music Exchange, Skye performs a very cool live cover of Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc. Available in iTunes or on KCRW's web site. If you want to skip right to the song it's about 4 minutes into the podcast.

Skye, aka Skye Edwards, is the frontwoman for the trip hop/electronic band Mocheeba. Morcheeba is a band from London formed in the mid-90s. They have a cool, laid-back sound that I think readers of this humble blog will like. I like Tricky but he can be so laid-back that he sends me to sleepytime. And I never really ventured into trip hop beyond Tricky and Massive Attack. Skye has a light, sweet voice that keeps you engaged just enough.

In 2003, Skye left the band and she has just released a solo album last month. It's called "Mind How You Go" and has the same chill sound. Here's a track from it:

Skye - Love Show

Check out more from Skye on her website, including a couple of tracks in the media section. Morcheeba also has a website and you can watch some of their music videos on youtube as well. Here's the song Otherwise from the album Charango.

Where the Streets Have No Name

2006-09-27T00:32:00.000-05:00

What a great song, so it should come as no surprise that there are tons of covers out there. I've compiled a small collection of ones that I like/find tolerable/interesting (don't worry, I skipped out on the elevator versions).

U2 - Where the Streets Have No Name
Original [non-live] version, duh. I highly doubt anyone doesn't have it but the link is there anyway. Afterall it's the "title track" of this post :)

Chris Tomlin - Where the Streets Have No Name
I think most of you know who he is. This version is pretty much a carbon copy of the original, give or take (at least it's in a different key). That said, you can't really go too wrong, and Tomlin's voice pulls it off pretty decently. This track is off the album "In The Name Of Love: Artists United For Africa", a compilation of U2 covers by Christian artists.

Kane - Where the Streets Have No Name
Kane is a Dutch rock band that I've never heard of until I ran across this track. Off their cover album "With Or Without You", this live recording also stays fairly faithful to the original except they add their own bit of flare to the vocals here and there (37 pieces perhaps?).

Silverbeam with Ann Louise - Where the Streets Have No Name
Not really sure who Silverbeam or Ann Louise are, and a half-hearted search on them yielded pretty minimal results. I guess you can call this the [dreaded] dance version but the vocals are pretty decent.

Pet Shop Boys - Where the Streets Have No Name (Can't Take My Eyes Off You)
I'm ashamed to admit this, but this particular version is my first exposure to the song. The saving grace (if you can call it such) is that I knew from the beginning that it was a U2 song from reading the liner notes (which I was planning on posting but I can't find my CD). This is the overall most deviant rendition of the bunch, as they tacked on the chorus of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" by Frankie Valli. Being a synthpop fan, I thought the guitar translated rather nicely into a driving synth bass line.

Vanessa Carlton - Streets Have No Name
A hard-to-find track that was only available as an mp3 download or on the Japanese version of the piano-playing pop singer's latest album "Harmonium". A great cover thanks to her vocals and amazing piano skills used with stunning effect. Enjoy.

debt AIDS trade africa

2006-09-23T10:07:00.000-05:00

To finish the thought on U2- Bono is known not only as the rock star front man of the Irish band, but also as the rock star social and political activist for the restoration of Africa. He helped convince some of the world's richest nations to cancel billions in debt and help poorer countries begin to break the never-ending cycle of debt as part of the Jubilee 2000 campaign.

In 2002, he founded DATA (debt AIDS trade africa). It's an organization that works to increase awareness of the top issues plaguing many countries in Africa- unpayable debt, AIDS, and unfair trade rules that hurt the poor. For more information, check out the DATA website: http://www.data.org/whyafrica/

Earlier this May, Bono had an interview with NBC news in Africa. In this 35 minute show, he talks about what's going on in Africa and what are the things that need to change. It's available as a free purchase on the iTunes Store. The updated store now has bigger 640x480 shows. (You don't need to wait for the download to finish, you can start watching right away.)

You can also find out more from his 2002 appearance on Oprah, or in this 2002 Time magazine cover story.

September 11, 2001

2006-09-07T20:49:00.000-05:00

After the tragic attack of September 11, five years ago Monday, U2 considered cancelling the last US leg of their Elevation tour. Many other performers and entertainers at the time sought appropriate responses in the wake of the attack. U2 decided to continue and they finished the tour at the end of the year.

After finishing off the tour, U2 capped it with a memorable tribute to the victims of 9/11 at the XXXVI Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans.

Super Bowl halftime show (Part 1)

The show begins in true Bono style as the personable front man strides up to the stage. He's right where he's most comfortable- in the midst of thousands of screaming fans.

Super Bowl halftime show (Part 2)

In second half of the show, the Irish rockers show their solidarity with the people of the United States with a medley of "MLK" and "Where The Streets Have No Name". A gigantic projection of the names of those who died scroll above them as they play. The songs are meaningful and touching without being cheesy or overdone. In fact, they rock pretty hard.

This show is a testament to why Bono and U2 are such huge rock stars. Even more than that, it shows that they realize there are things even bigger than they are.

MLK - Where The Streets Have No Name

Sleep
Sleep tonight
And may your dreams
Be realized
If the thundercloud
Passes rain
So let it rain
Let it rain
Rain on me

O Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall forth Thy praise. (Psalm 51:15)

I wanna run
I want to hide
I wanna tear down the walls
That hold me inside
I wanna reach out
And touch the flame
Where the streets have no name
I want to feel
Sunlight on my face
I see the dust cloud disappear
Without a trace
I want to take shelter from the poison rain (I want to dance in the Louisiana rain)
Where the streets have no name

Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We're still building
Then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do

The city's aflood
And our love turns to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Trampled in dust
I'll show you a place
High on a desert plain (Where there's no sorrow or pain)
Where the streets have no name

Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We're still building
Then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do

Love, love, love
Love, love, love

sufjan stevens

2006-08-21T21:23:00.000-05:00

most of you or all of you probably have heard of soof-yan by now. hes revived indie folk and is generally loved by critics. he travels a lot. he plays many instruments. he researches many things. hes talked about writing an album for each state though thats hardly a practical idea. im sure he knows that. so far hes done michigan (hes from detroit) and illinois. hes on a tiny label (asthmatic kitty) thats only got a few employees. but theyre very polite and respond to emails. theres some good info on sufjan if you go to their website that is located on the internet.

this album is extras and outtakes from the 'feel the illinoise' album. i love the sound. i love the spacing. i love how it sounds like hes in a little room and youre right there with him. i love the instrumentation. the recording and mixing behind his albums are nothing short of brilliant. nothing.

the michigan and original illinoise album have pretty much the same sound as this one. both are great f'n albums with some great f'n songs on them. i can only upload so many songs. so ill upload songs from 'the avalanche.'

enjoy your sufjan:
sufjan stevens - chicago (adult contemporary easy listening version)
sufjan stevens - no man's land

Pearl Jam - Self titled

2006-08-19T13:03:00.000-05:00

Pearl Jam's self-titled album released earlier this year marks something of a return to the spotlight for the band. After their 1998 album Yield, the band released Binaural and 72 "bootleg" live albums recorded during their Binaural tour. In 2000, their tour ended tragically with the death of nine fans crushed by the crowd rushing to the front and the band seriously considered retiring. The 2002 release Riot Act was not a commercial success.

The recent June 29 issue of Rolling Stone features a cover story The Second Coming of Pearl Jam. There's also a nice section reviewing the "best of" the Pearl Jam bootlegs.

This post is a little late in coming. I suppose it's because I wasn't sure how much I'd like the new album. But it's turned out to be every bit as awesome as Pearl Jam was in the 90's and it's definitely renewed my interest in the band and all the great songs they have created over the years.

Here's the music:

Alive (Seattle, November 6th, 2000) - Back on a US tour after the tragic end to their European tour, Pearl Jam refused to play this song until the tour's final night in their hometown.

Nothingman - From Vitology (1994)

Life Wasted - From Pearl Jam (2006). One of the few music videos the band has made over the years (since 1993, only this and Do The Evolution).

hopesfall

2006-07-28T01:38:00.000-05:00

post-hardcore screamo anyone?

im not really into this genre. but when i heard the emotional drive behind their music i was allured. the screaming suddenly complimented the music. it no longer sounded unnecessarily crude.

their first full length was back in 1999 (the frailty of words). they started out as a christian band but according to wikipedia, they havent considered themselves a christian band since 2002.

they then released an EP in 2001 (no wings to speak of) under a different label that made a splash in their genre. yes, it is hardcore and screamo. yet its so melodic and beautiful. the picture you see is the cover to 'the satellite years' which is the full length they released after 'no wings to speak of' that followed suit in sound and style.

they did release another full length in 2004 (A types) but they lost a lot of what they were known for. there is hardly any screaming in it and fewer instrumental breakdowns. they lost a good portion of their fanbase with the release of it.

try some off 'the satellite years' if you want:
hopesfall - andromeda (the album opener. an instrumental track to get you in the mood)
hopesfall - dana walker
hopesfall - the bending

Rob Zombie and the MPAA

2006-07-24T22:59:00.000-05:00

Here's an interesting interview with Rob Zombie I ran across today.

Rob Zombie has produced two horror movies, House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects, and he's working on a third, a remake of Halloween. He was interviewed by Claude Brodesser on the KCRW podcast "The Business." They talk about making movies, especially the process of getting a rating from the MPAA. It's an interesting peek into a part of the movie making process.

The rest of the podcast is an amusing interview with Rock Galotti, a weapons specialist and consultant to movie makers. The Business is a weekly half-hour podcast about the movie and entertainment industry.

Have a listen to the interview on the KCRW site.

For a music-focused podcast, check out "On The Beat" weekly with Celia Hirschman. The June 28 podcast was a tribute to Arif Mardin, the legendary producer who passed away last month. Or see my previous post on podcasts.

telefon tel aviv

2006-07-11T23:20:00.000-05:00

a duo that originated in new orleans but relocated to chicago according to wikipedia. theyve got two full lengths out. the cover you see to the left is their first and is without vocals: "fahrenheit fair enough". its laid back electronic music and i like it better than their later release, "map of what is effortless". the later release is styled more toward eletronic jazz and r&b and has vocals. while i still like the music, i dont really like the vocals on the album.

with the first track on "fahrenheit fair enough", it seems telefon tel aviv has so much potential. i really wish the creativity they put into that song carried out through the rest of the album. while the rest isnt bad, it just doesnt measure up to the first track; to me at least. i love the first track. its mad awesome.

try some, its yummeh:
telefon tel aviv - fahrenheit fair enough (put on some headphones, turn it up, and close your eyes. do it!)
telefon tel aviv - john thomas on the inside is nothing but foam

prefuse 73 did a remix of fahrenheit fair enough on telefon tel avivs EP "immediate action #8". good stuff on the EP too.

José González

2006-07-04T10:48:00.000-05:00

José González is a singer-song writer from Sweden. He has released a number of EPs but Veneer is his full-length debut album. It was released in the UK in 2003 and more recently has been released in the United States.

He plays a classical guitar in a laid-back, soothing style. He has a sound and voice similar to Nick Drake, who he seems to be compared to quite often.

Here's a couple tracks for a listen.

Veneer - Heartbeats
Veneer - Crosses

the mercury program

2006-06-26T00:28:00.000-05:00

this little post rock quartet is mostly instrumental. this album is very much driven by the drums and the drum sound they got for the album is phenomenal. punchy, articulate, and spacious. they also incorporate the vibraphone and a rhodes keyboard into their music which adds a certain smoothness to the music.

theyre from gainsville, fl which i can say ive been to and driven past many times. mm, not much else to say. great drum grooves, guitar melodies, and bass riffs. a cohesive little band.

couple tracks for all of yall:
the mercury program - egypt
the mercury program - gently turned on your head

The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift Soundtrack

2006-06-18T22:12:00.000-05:00

ok, before you guys ban me from this site for high treason, bear with me for just a sec. i'm only recommending one song: 'DJ shadow & mos def - 6 days remix'.

in all [reasons-to-lynch-yodaslap] fairness, i did watch the movie. the 6 days remix was the opening track of the movie, which immediately grabbed my attention. its a mashup of two songs from DJ shadow's 'the private press' album ('6 days' and 'walkie talkie') with a bit of rapping by mos def and some miscellaneous extras here and there. i find myself tempted to talk about DJ shadow now, but i'll hold off on him til another time.

from the tokyo drift soundtrack:

DJ shadow & mos def - 6 days remix'

the two songs from which the above track spawned from:

6 days
walkie talkie

utada hikaru

2006-06-17T05:15:00.000-05:00

a little about utada hikaru, she was in a sense born into fame. her mother was a famous japanese singer and her father is a producer. she is bilingual because as a child she flew back and forth between tokyo and new york due to her parents line of work. she attended columbia university but i dont think she ever finished as she prioritizes her music pretty high. and she also writes and produces a lot of her own material.

her last japanese album was 'deep river' back in 2002. after 'deep river' she released an all english album called 'exodus' that was quite different than anything shed done before because she took a hiatus from the toshiba/emi label and joined up with island def jam records. i suppose it was to be her break out album in the usa but sales werent good and a lot of fans were disappointed with it. and so was i at first but since then it has grown on me some.

and here she is again, back to her roots with toshiba/emi and back with another japanese album, 'ultra blue'. in this album she scoops up a bunch of singles that shes released over last few years and also adds a bunch of new songs. one thing ive always liked about her albums is the production. yes its large budget sound but theres always been something extra that catches my ear. from the way the background vocals blend and shine, to the way the clean, deep bass hits and rumbles, it all sounds great.

couple tracks to try:
utada hikaru - blue
utada hikaru - passion*

*passion is the theme song to the game kingdom hearts II. theres a reversed part in the song that says "i need more affection than you know." that annoyed me at first not knowing what it said so i had to reverse it and listen to it. so there you go, just in case itd annoy you too.

coldcut

2006-06-10T16:21:00.000-05:00

dance? hip hop? electronica? rap? house? yes, coldcut, the highly experimental DJ duo from the UK is all of the above. generally featuring a guest vocalist or rapper, the spectrum of their music is pretty wide, from remixing hip hop tracks to pioneering and incorporating realtime video manipulation software on top of turntables into their performances. cool.

one track you may have heard before but may not be completely aware of coldcut's involvement is the remix of eric b. and rakim track 'paid in full', a hip hop classic of sorts.

unfortunately, due to my relatively narrow taste in music i find most of their material a wee bit in the unlistenable territory. in fact, so far i've only managed to find one song ('man in a garage') that's made it into my iPod's rotation. it's got a simple electronica-esque beat, some guitar, and a very unassuming yet catchy melody. uh anyway, i'm not as good at describing sounds, layers, etc as ernie so you're probably better off listening to it than reading my pathetic descriptions.

anyway when all is said and done, coldcut's creativity and innovation have my utmost respect. i'm constantly revisiting their stuff in hopes that my horizons might broaden a bit.

a few tracks:
man in a garage
true skool
paid in full (mini-madness, coldcut remix)

and a couple of videos, showcasing their multimedia performance:
cancan mashup
some random jungle book routine

the appleseed cast

2006-06-05T19:54:00.000-05:00

here is some more indie rock because i know dan likes it. the appleseed cast. the cover shown is 'two conversations' which is their second to last release. its the one i like the most. their latest release 'peregrine' is decent but they play a little too much with effects and they create some weird vocal and drum effects that while are neat and sound quite interesting, they dont quite fit the songs they wrote.

'two conversations' is a storytelling album that does it poeticly. about relationships, friendships, and lots of ambiguous emotions that go along with them. ive listened to this album and realized how lame and cheesy it could sound if one were to be skeptical about the candidness of the lyrics. but i guess thats why i like the album. i believe in the lyrics and a lot of it does speak to me. so its real to me.

they released a double album 'low level owl I and II' that has a similar production style as 'two conversations'. so those are definitely worth looking into if you like this. also, 'mare vitalis' has its moments too. their early stuff like 'the end of the ring wars' doesnt sound too great. they try to copy the sound of the band sunny day real estate and it doesnt quite fit them. they even tried to copy the way the vocals sound.

theres also a side project of the appleseed cast front man christopher crisci that i like. a little band called 'old canes' that released 'early morning hymns' in 2004. its a mix of folk and bluegrass and is quite fun.

check'em out, yo.

couple off 'two conversations':
the appleseed cast - hello dearest love
the appleseed cast - fight song

couple off 'early morning hymns':
old canes - taxi on vermont
old canes - life is grand

arovane

2006-05-29T03:56:00.000-05:00

thanks to a certain asian ghetto superstar in atlanta, i was able to discover arovane. arovane is some guy from germany name uwe zahn. i dont even know how to say that. oo-weh zan?

anyway, this is more experimental, electronic music that has no lyrics. sounds he experiements with are analogue modular synths, digital synths, treated turntables, and such. its got chill beats and ambient soundscapes. each album hes released has different themes and different focuses. ill put up samples of his last two releases 'liles' (2004) and 'icol diston' (2002).

enjoyzor the music.

off 'lilies':
arovane - cry osaka cry
arovane - instant gods out of the box

off 'icol diston':
arovane - i.o.
arovane - yua: e

Music Trade, Vol 3

2006-05-22T22:31:00.000-05:00

Thanks to everyone who made it out and enjoyed some music trading. Sorry to those who could not make it or missed the presentation. I uploaded the outline if you're interested.

Headphones Overview

Another presentation is on the way. Hopefully Dan and I can work out the details and logistics soon. Also, there have been many requests for another repeat of the Hip Hop presentation so I will most likely give an encore at Palatine for those who have not seen it yet sometime in June/July.

For the Headphone Lab, I don't think I did a very good job picking songs that really let you hear the differences between the headphones but at least they were good songs! Here are two of the songs that I used if you want to grab them.

Pinback - Non-photo Blue
Minus The Bear - Monkey!!! Knife!!! Fight!!!

By the way, if you like Minus The Bear, also check out Sharks Keep Moving.

snow patrol

2006-05-21T20:41:00.000-05:00

okay, here is something i think people will like. =]

fresh of the cd presses, snow patrol releases 'eyes open'. while some of their lyrics and sounds are a bit cliche, they make it all sound a bit more genuine and more intimate than your average pop/rock band. after all, they are still considered indie even though their last release went multi platinum.

they did better back home in the UK than they did in the states with their previous release, but i have a feeling that will all change with this release. 'eyes open' has a few songs that i think will work well as radio singles. and this is good music for TV dramas and they have been getting a good amount of exposure that way (like on say, oh, greys anatomy).

like any good indie band, they are sonically creative with catchy hooks and moody lyrics.

i think my sister is going to see them in concert when they play at the vic next month. =]

if youve been watching grays anatomy, youve already heard 'somewhere a clock is ticking' off their 'final straw' album (which is good) and 'chasing cars' off 'eyes open' which was the song that brought season two to a close.

heres a couple more off 'eyes open' to try:
snow patrol - you could be happy
snow patrol - make this go on forever

MIT Resonance

2006-05-20T08:58:00.000-05:00

Resonance is a student a cappella group at MIT that sings and performs skits. Their songs are fun and funny covers of pop songs with faithfully reproduced from vocals to instruments as a cappella songs.

Here's a couple videos from their web page (and the original songs for comparison). Check them out. :)

Killers - Mr Brightsides

Resonance cover - The original

Maroon 5 - Harder To Breathe

Resonance cover - The original

cursive

2006-05-15T04:19:00.000-05:00

domestica. definitely not their first lp. and its not their most recent either. but its their first one that has a top notch production sound. they have some ep's that are really good and their latest lp 'the ugle organ' is decent.

this is intense indie rock. dark, poetic, emotional...etc. not surprising since they are label mates with bright eyes.

front man tim kasher is who writes most of the songs and is mostly responsible for their crazy sound. hes got a terrible voice that fits in well with the terrible lyrics and terrible sounds they create.

i dont know why im posting this. i guess im just posting music i like instead of music i think others will like.

the review of domestica at pitchforkmedia wrote this, "if youre happily linked with a member of the opposite sex, stay away from this record."

haha. so all you happy people out there can skip this one of youd like (for instance, if you just got engaged or something). =]

couple tracks off 'domestica':
cursive - the casualty
cursive - the lament of pretty baby

couple tracks off 'the ugly organ':
cursive - art is hard
cursive - the recluse

Such Great Heights

2006-05-09T21:10:00.000-05:00

A sappy song in honor of my recent engagement to the girl of my dreams, aka, Gracebot.

The Postal Service - Such Great Heights

Airy, dreamy, and upbeat. This is the single from their album Give Up which was released in 2004. An interesting headphones song.

Some trivia- The USPS sent the band a cease and desist letter but made happy after the band agreed to some promotion for the USPS and now they sell the band's albums on their web page. Now, if only Apple Computer and Apple Corps would kiss and make up too, then all would be right with the world.

Iron & Wine - Cover

This is an acoustic guitar cover of Such Great Heights that was on the Garden State soundtrack (and on a keliedescopy M&M's candy commercial not too long ago). A very different sounding take on the song- also dreamy but in a altogether different way. I think this slow, sauntering version complements the lyrics very well.

RA the Rugged Man

2006-04-28T23:14:00.000-05:00

Back to the music...

I couldn't find too much information about RA the Rugged Man. His web page has been dead since 2005 it seems.

He's from Long Island and has been in the rap game for close to twenty years working with the likes of Notorious B.I.G. and Mobb Deep. He's been signed before but was dropped apparently because of his behavior. He hasn't put out an album until 2004 when he released Die, Rugged Man, Die through Nature Sounds.

Rugged is old school. Down and dirty, spray paint totin', subway ridin', cardboard breakin' with a boom box old school. The lyrics can get raunchy at times too, so it's not exactly work-friendly.

American Low Life (bootleg) - Grizzly

I saw him on DJ Battle TV where he was going off on whack MCs and the decline of New York hip hop since the days of the grandfathers that created it. I liked him immediately. :)

http://www.djbattle.net/tv.php?tvID=11

The episode is quite big (225MB) but if you download it, defititely check out the turntable routine in the middle by DJ Klever.

Here's another Klever routine on youtube:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=JZbnMDHvg9I

DJ Slow Kutz

2006-04-22T16:55:00.000-05:00

WaWaWaa

End of a scratch session last week. I think it's the album Slade Alive and the sound is the first strum of a guitar (start of a song). Which by the way is a pretty rockin album. They are a British band following in the giant footsteps of the Beatles. There's a little Beatles there but they are much more, what we think of nowadays as, straight Rock (less Pop sounding and experimental stuff).

In the middle where it sounds like wa-wa-wa.....that's because my crappy DM950 crossfader doesn't cut sharply enough and the sound is wavy instead of cut up. It's kind of a cool sound but on a better scratch mixer like Dan's DM1050 it sounds like cuts.

RockNRoll

From today. Slade Alive again. You can hear the area around "rock" already starting to burn out- it sounds hissy. That's after just 1 week, but then again, it's probably a 30 year-old vinyl record. You can also hear the record spinning back occasionally because another shortcoming of the crappy DM950 crossfader is that it doesn't always cut fully off.

Enjoy.

bright eyes

2006-04-17T02:40:00.000-05:00

bright eyes (aka conor oberst) has been around for awhile. he is the kind of singer/songwriter that attracts a fan base that is completely dedicated. they adore his music, pick it apart, and study it. while i read comments made about his songs, someone is always saying "this is my favorite bright eyes song" or "this song always makes me cry." i think thats pretty amazing to have things like that said about so many of his songs. most of his songs do have something to discover in them. i dont worship the dude, but i do like his music.

if you dont know about bright eyes, his songs are for the most part dark, depressing, and morbid. so be warned. sometimes i think its just something he forces on himself. when someone is under the spotlight, theyre forced to become something. but sometimes it sounds so real and so honest that i think thats just the way he really is and he cant help it. whichever though, its not really for me to judge.

early 2005, he released two full length albums pretty much at the same time. 'im wide awake, its morning' and 'digital ash in a digital urn.' the earlier falls in line with his typical production style of simple songwriting performed with acoustic instruments. the latter is an experimental album littered with digital effects and sounds. it is quite an interesting listen if youre looking for something different.

also, if you like what you hear, you can check out the band 'desaparecidos'. its headed up by mr conor oberst. desaparecidos is pretty much conor taking a hiatus from bright eyes and putting together a band and then pressing the "rock band" button. then zip zoom blipidy blop, conor is a rock star. its actually pretty catchy. the topics vary a tad from bright eyes too as its more socially/politically oriented. i guess that would make it punk then wouldnt it? wahaha.

couple tracks off 'im wide awake, its morning':
bright eyes - first day of my life
bright eyes - land locked blues

couple tracks off 'digital ash in a digital urn':
bright eyes - gold mine gutted
bright eyes - down in a rabbit hole

track off 'read music/speak spanish':
desaparecidos - greater omaha

DJ Yodaslap

2006-04-15T11:32:00.000-05:00

*wikki wikki* we're here to introduce y'all to a sound that ya never heard b'fo. DJ Yodaslap m-m-mixing the underground oldschool style, jiggaz.

yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, boyyy!

DJ Yodaslap - P Dubz

Music Theory

2006-04-14T09:13:00.000-05:00

There was an interesting question posed on the SDF bboard about music theory. Here are some of the questions and my responses.

> I tried music theory, but all the books I buy just seem to tell you WHAT, rather than WHY.

The only WHY in music is because it sounds good. It may sound facetious but it really is true. There is not exactly "good reasons" for music theory other than it is a way to construct music that "sounds good". Other cultures etc. would not use the same theories, scales, or anything. Quarter steps aren't really used in western music but are used elsewhere.

> Why are the terms major and minor so important? As far as I can see, the major and minor are just modes of the same set of intervals.

Obsolutely. Again, they are just 2 building blocks for music. They have a different sound. Minor key "sounds sad" but of course doesn't have to be.

> Why are songs said to be in say, C rather than D Dorian?

No "good" reason but convention and that's what we expect to hear. For example, when composers use the leading tone (7th) to cause "tension" that resolves into more "stable" notes (dominant, tonic)- the only reason we hear tension and resolution is because that's what we expect. That's how the music we listen to operates.

The scales C, D Dorian, and A minor all contain the same notes. The only difference is how the notes are notated and used. Sort of like how E and Fb are the same note on the piano just used in different scales and circumstances.

So the answer is just learn it. Use it. Others have done the work of creating a structure for you. Eventually you may break it/break out of it if you like and if it sounds good!

My music theory isn't great and I neglected some ideas like consonance and dissonance but I think in a general sense I didn't screw that up too much. Turntablism is certainly an area of music that breaks traditional music theory. What are your thoughts? Any interesting musicians out there breaking norms and making good music?

Phantom Planet

2006-04-08T05:40:00.001-05:00

call it rock. call it pop. but its catchy and fun. 'the guest' is their sophomoric release which i like the best. their first release 'phantom planet is missing' was okay. i dont remember much from it but i remember i liked a few tracks off it. and their latest release is their self titled release 'phantom planet'. it has a heavier sound and a more done up production. i didnt like it as much as 'the guest' but its worth looking into. it seems like they just threw it together without much real inspiration behind it. put a semi popular band with a good producer and a good engineer and youll make some money. right? well theyre supposedly in the studio again working on another release.

anyway, dont have much else to say. its rock/pop. oh yeah, i deleted the lindsay lohan post. i think people were making fun of me for it and that made me sad.

funny thing about the album 'the guest' is that it doesnt even have the song 'the guest' on it. even funnier is i cant find that track on any of their releases. and i really like it. some one tell me where that song came from.

song from no where:
phantom planet - the guest

couple songs off 'the guest'
phantom planet - all over again
phantom planet - lonely day

The Pharcyde

2006-04-04T10:11:00.000-05:00

if you're into oldschool/oldschool style hiphop and have yet to check out The Pharcyde, then i strongly suggest doing so. they started out in the early 90's in south central and quickly became a favorite alternative hiphop act though their first album "Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde" (1992) didn't really sell all that well.

if you ask me, The Pharcyde still sounds pretty fresh even today which is no easy feat. anyway, i've attached a couple of tracks off "Bizarre," one of which you may already be pretty familiar with as well as a crazy music video that was directed by Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation).

The Pharcyde - Passing Me By

The Pharcyde - Otha Fish

Music Video: The Pharcyde - Drop

Wheels of Steel

2006-03-29T16:28:00.000-06:00

Turntabling (or DJing) has evolved a long way since the mid-1970s and the birth of hip hop. What started as serving up dance hits to a disco crowd has become a performance itself. It transformed a few pieces of equipment into an instrument that is one of the building blocks of hip hop music.

The basic instrument is 2 turntables and a mixer. The mixer has two vertical faders to control the volume (one for each deck) and a horizontal crossfader to switch between the two. Add scratching and you have all you need to start creating music.

The cross fader is used to create different scratches by cutting or breaking up the sound of the scratch. Some DJ's have created a notation for scratching to help learn and document scratches.

Check out the transcriptions especially in the Advanced Scratches section:
TT Method

Here's a video of DJ Tyra from Saigon and DJ Annalyze practicing scratches:
Practice sessions

And to top it off a sick, sick video of DJ Troubl doing some juggling of Prefuse 73 (CORRECTED: This Troubl, not Scott Herren, aka, Prefuse 73):
Bedroom DJ

I really love the Prefuse 73 blend of electronic and hip hop but I love it so much more seeing how it's created. Actually, after watching the video, I'm amazed that he can turn such a strange style and blend of music into album after album of tracks that are not at all hindered by the form or the instruments, but that are instead so enjoyable to just sit and listen to. Wow.

Edit from Dan (1 April 2006): sorry, just gotta stick this link in: DJ Kentaro

nine days

2006-03-26T02:02:00.000-06:00

nothing terribly ground breaking. but i like them. they are a honest to goodness, small town band that almost made it in the big times. with all the good qualities a good small town band should have. catchy hooks, sentimental lyrics, and stories to tell. theyve got that natural sounding pop feel. theyre also one of those strange dual lead singer bands like goo goo dolls and vertical horizon.

their debut album 'the madding crowd' turned out to be their only major release. im sure most of you have heard 'absolutely (story of a girl)' more than once on the radio a few years ago. overall the release is just okay, but there are gems to find in it.

they had another completed album that was due out late 2002 called 'so happily unsatisfied'. however, it got scrapped due to label politics. i was able to find myself a copy of the album even though it was never officially released. perhaps the album saw a tiny bit distribution before sony was able to recall all the prints. i think it saw a limited release in japan as well. the sound is refined a bit from their first release. im sure sony owns most if not all the rights to the recordings which would explain why nine days never re-recorded or re-released the material on another label. sony has great production and really knows how to make bands shine, but im sure their contracts are very controlling and can make a band feel very claustrophobic. its not something every band can tolerate.

since the sony incident, nine days did release another album that saw very limited distribution called 'flying the corporate jet'. you wont see it on any shelves for us to buy. it was produced independently by the band and released under the bands own label 'madding music'. i guess thats one way to avoid label politics. but you dont get the marketing capability or distribution networks of a monster label like sony. also in the last few years, front man john hampson has taken on a solo career that never seemed to make it too far off the groud.

nine days also still has a working website that advertises the 'so happily unsatisfied' album as 'coming soon'. its like sony keeps it up just to spite them. just to prove that they can freeze you in time because they own you.

http://www.ninedaysmusic.com/

couple tracks off 'the madding crowd'
nine days - so far away
nine days - if i am

couple tracks off 'so happily unsatisfied'
nine days - good friend
nine days - still here

Go! Team

2006-03-23T23:18:00.000-06:00

Go! Team is an inventive band from the UK that released their first album "Thunder, Lightning, Strike" late 2004 in the US. It was created by Ian Parton at first with songs created from a diverse collection of samples but now with a full band of instruments just as varied.

If anything was ever infectious pop, this is. Go! Team is fronted by Ninja who's vocals are a blend of Salt-N-Peppa, cheerleader, and Jackson 5. The band has a sound that is a mash of Beck, disco, funk, pop, and hip hop. And by mash I don't mean the fad of putting 2 random albums together to make one spectacularly crappy album. I mean cutting-and-pasting, layering, smooshing together everything and the kitchen sink. You'd think the result would be a giant train wreck but somehow they manage to keep it all headed in the right direction.

It might be a little strange at first but give it a minute. : )

Bottle Rocket
Get It Together
Ladyflash video

There's a couple of live sets and an interview on the 24 January podcast of KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic.