Friday, July 06, 2007:
Receiving a transmission, captain.
--Onscreen.
[Onscreen: a trio of Japanese travelers in a steampunk spaceship, stars and planets floating distant in the viewport behind them, contextless and serene. They begin to speak. Their words, constellations of sounds, also float: unmoored, drifting, supremely calming. They are not cosmonauts but monogatarinauts.]
--Ensign, decode.
The computer can not understand it fully, captain. ... CRM 114 ... C57D ... 1701 ... Baratu.
[The transmission ends. Captain raises his eyebrows.]
I will attempt to reestablish contact.... No response, sir. Records indicate the transmission arrived from Audiogalaxy.
--I wish to know more, ensign.
I'm sorry, Captain, there is no further information.
--Then let us hear it again.
[Anyone know anything about this band? Please post it in the comments.]
9Seven for IV 121 -- Before Finish
9Seven for IV 121 -- Before FinishReceiving a transmission, captain.
--Onscreen.
[Onscreen: a trio of Japanese travelers in a steampunk spaceship, stars and planets floating distant in the viewport behind them, contextless and serene. They begin to speak. Their words, constellations of sounds, also float: unmoored, drifting, supremely calming. They are not cosmonauts but monogatarinauts.]
--Ensign, decode.
The computer can not understand it fully, captain. ... CRM 114 ... C57D ... 1701 ... Baratu.
[The transmission ends. Captain raises his eyebrows.]
I will attempt to reestablish contact.... No response, sir. Records indicate the transmission arrived from Audiogalaxy.
--I wish to know more, ensign.
I'm sorry, Captain, there is no further information.
--Then let us hear it again.
[Anyone know anything about this band? Please post it in the comments.]
Labels: electronica, indie, is fiction
posted by Tuwa @
00:18 | permalink |
4 comments
|
Friday, June 01, 2007:
Le Tigre -- After Dark
Is it a hyperacute critical sense or a complete lack of critical sense that leads to judging everything harshly, to watching a brilliant film or listening to a complex and demanding album and thinking it mildly interesting? What changes to cause a reassessment, to allow a three-year-old album or an eight-year-old album to register as what it is rather than what it was seen as needing to be? And why is that, in all the characteristics a work of art can be judged by, fun is typically considered the least pressing or, by some dour critics, even something to be merely tolerated? Why honor this Puritanical streak insinuating that only the unpleasant has merit, that life is duty and nothing more? Wouldn't (couldn't) humanism serve as a useful antidote?
A constellation of questions, all ones I don't know the answer to and put to myself more than to anyone else.
Which is by way of saying I've only just discovered I very much like these two bands, and I'm sad that Le Tigre is on hiatus but I'm happy they've left behing some discs worth listening to. And there are more from Komeda to search out.
[What Makes it Go?]
[This Island]
I don't know if anyone is still reading this site, especially given the sporadic nature of posts lately. I'd like to blame it on a new job and moving, but the truth is that I've become unsure of what I'm doing with the space or why. I remember having a clear purpose when I started (way back in the 13th century internet days of 2004)--to put together the kind of playlist I'd like to hear on the radio--and that still holds, but more and more I find I don't know how to write about the music I like the most. And so I find myself gravitating towards approaches which might not make any sense to anyone else, which leads back to fundamental questions about art and communication. I'm not ready to pretend solipsism.
Readers, what do you want from this site? Why do you read it? Which posts did you like and which did you dislike?
Swedish pop and riot grrrls: in celebration of fun
Komeda -- BinarioLe Tigre -- After Dark
Is it a hyperacute critical sense or a complete lack of critical sense that leads to judging everything harshly, to watching a brilliant film or listening to a complex and demanding album and thinking it mildly interesting? What changes to cause a reassessment, to allow a three-year-old album or an eight-year-old album to register as what it is rather than what it was seen as needing to be? And why is that, in all the characteristics a work of art can be judged by, fun is typically considered the least pressing or, by some dour critics, even something to be merely tolerated? Why honor this Puritanical streak insinuating that only the unpleasant has merit, that life is duty and nothing more? Wouldn't (couldn't) humanism serve as a useful antidote?
A constellation of questions, all ones I don't know the answer to and put to myself more than to anyone else.
Which is by way of saying I've only just discovered I very much like these two bands, and I'm sad that Le Tigre is on hiatus but I'm happy they've left behing some discs worth listening to. And there are more from Komeda to search out.
[What Makes it Go?]
[This Island]
I don't know if anyone is still reading this site, especially given the sporadic nature of posts lately. I'd like to blame it on a new job and moving, but the truth is that I've become unsure of what I'm doing with the space or why. I remember having a clear purpose when I started (way back in the 13th century internet days of 2004)--to put together the kind of playlist I'd like to hear on the radio--and that still holds, but more and more I find I don't know how to write about the music I like the most. And so I find myself gravitating towards approaches which might not make any sense to anyone else, which leads back to fundamental questions about art and communication. I'm not ready to pretend solipsism.
Readers, what do you want from this site? Why do you read it? Which posts did you like and which did you dislike?
Labels: electronica, indie, swedish pop
posted by Tuwa @
12:16 | permalink |
12 comments
|
Monday, April 16, 2007:
Morningbell has a new album out. It's a Choose Your Own Adventure album; the adventure I chose was to listen to the tracks in numerical order, and then to give it some time and listen again. I'm happy for the ways it shows the group stretching out, expanding their sound, and while there aren't any tracks on it I dislike, I think the two being promoted are not the two I would have picked: my money is on "Utopian Fantasy at the Center of the Earth" and "The Octopus Walks Across the Coral."
I've written about Morningbell twice before, once for kicks and out of general excitement, and once as part of a failed experiment. What I haven't written much about is octopuses.
What can you say about octopuses that doesn't involve ink or the lack of a skeleton? They can camouflage themselves amazingly well, sometimes to ambush a shark; they can open jars for food and climb onboard boats to get at food stored in the hold; they can walk on two legs, six arms wrapped around them so they look like a coconut taking a stroll, or hold the other six arms up, twisted about so they look like algae. They can also regrow an arm, unless the budget doesn't allow it. And they can play the guitar but not the bagpipes.
[Morningbell's site]
[Morningbell's MySpace page]
[This was a Team Clermont promotion, but I would have picked it up anyway given my fondness for the band.]
The Octopus Walks Across the Coral
Morningbell -- The Octopus Walks Across the CoralMorningbell has a new album out. It's a Choose Your Own Adventure album; the adventure I chose was to listen to the tracks in numerical order, and then to give it some time and listen again. I'm happy for the ways it shows the group stretching out, expanding their sound, and while there aren't any tracks on it I dislike, I think the two being promoted are not the two I would have picked: my money is on "Utopian Fantasy at the Center of the Earth" and "The Octopus Walks Across the Coral."
I've written about Morningbell twice before, once for kicks and out of general excitement, and once as part of a failed experiment. What I haven't written much about is octopuses.
What can you say about octopuses that doesn't involve ink or the lack of a skeleton? They can camouflage themselves amazingly well, sometimes to ambush a shark; they can open jars for food and climb onboard boats to get at food stored in the hold; they can walk on two legs, six arms wrapped around them so they look like a coconut taking a stroll, or hold the other six arms up, twisted about so they look like algae. They can also regrow an arm, unless the budget doesn't allow it. And they can play the guitar but not the bagpipes.
[Morningbell's site]
[Morningbell's MySpace page]
[This was a Team Clermont promotion, but I would have picked it up anyway given my fondness for the band.]
posted by Tuwa @
02:28 | permalink |
6 comments
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Monday, March 12, 2007:
Fuzzed guitar, booming drums, singalong melody, banjo mixed low: this song is like a three-piece hemp suit, the fabric woven just rough enough to be distinctive but tidy enough to get you into a nice restaurant.
Of God and Science are from Albuquerque and are Matthew Dominguez on guitar and vocals, Jeremy Fine on bass, Julian Martinez on piano, guitar, pedal steel, vocals, and banjo, and Ryan Martino on drums. They have an album coming out on May 1st.
[Of God and Science's official site, record label, and Myspace page]
Barton Carroll -- Scorched Earth
Brushed drums and violin, melody in leg-irons, a quiet charm to a forlorn track: the kind of thing that reveals itself slowly, weary but determined, hurt but not bowed.
[Barton Carroll has more tracks up at his site and at his Myspace page. His Love & War is on Skybucket Records.]
Of God and Science, Barton Carroll
Of God and Science -- America's QueenFuzzed guitar, booming drums, singalong melody, banjo mixed low: this song is like a three-piece hemp suit, the fabric woven just rough enough to be distinctive but tidy enough to get you into a nice restaurant.
Of God and Science are from Albuquerque and are Matthew Dominguez on guitar and vocals, Jeremy Fine on bass, Julian Martinez on piano, guitar, pedal steel, vocals, and banjo, and Ryan Martino on drums. They have an album coming out on May 1st.
[Of God and Science's official site, record label, and Myspace page]
Barton Carroll -- Scorched Earth
Brushed drums and violin, melody in leg-irons, a quiet charm to a forlorn track: the kind of thing that reveals itself slowly, weary but determined, hurt but not bowed.
[Barton Carroll has more tracks up at his site and at his Myspace page. His Love & War is on Skybucket Records.]
Labels: folk rock, indie, PR, rock
posted by Tuwa @
00:02 | permalink |
0 comments
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Monday, March 05, 2007:
Lylas -- Tiny Echoes
It's possible that Lylas have more than a passing acquaintance with Alan Parker and that they most like Paul McCartney's work on the white album. It's also possible (always possible) that I'm wrong but that, even when you're tired and hungry and don't understand the lyrics, you can walk around in a relatively good mood humming this melody.
[Lylas' site]
[Lylas' Team Clermont page]
[Lylas @ Myspace]
Conner -- Cold Feelings
Conner were born at the intersection between danceable New Wave and artsy alt-rock, producing head-bobbing smile-making music that sounds like a summer road trip.
[Conner's site]
[Conner's Team Clermont page, with additional mp3s]
Candy Bars -- Violets
This song is dark and cold and beautiful, like a Polish winter landscape seen from indoors. If it were a film it would be Decalogue Eleven: make a joyful noise unto the Lord. In this film Candy Bars would strive for, and never reach, catharsis, the film's text implying that pain is perpetuated in its expression, its cultural context implying the reverse: the audience would experience catharsis, happy to have known about the pain but not lived it, able to turn off the television and go make a sandwich.
[Candy Bars seem not to have an official site or Team Clermont page.]
...
Team Clermont sent me these songs; I don't always remember to say who sent me what but I think I have labeled all the IODA/promonet, band-sent tracks, and other PR (or partly PR) posts here, in case anyone's interested.
I'm not always prompt about looking over tracks sent to me but I do try to give them all a chance; and I'm always happy to find new (or new-to-me) good music.
Lylas, Conner, Candy Bars
Got behind; now I'm playing catch-up. Here are three from the mail bag (more tomorrow):Lylas -- Tiny Echoes
It's possible that Lylas have more than a passing acquaintance with Alan Parker and that they most like Paul McCartney's work on the white album. It's also possible (always possible) that I'm wrong but that, even when you're tired and hungry and don't understand the lyrics, you can walk around in a relatively good mood humming this melody.
[Lylas' site]
[Lylas' Team Clermont page]
[Lylas @ Myspace]
Conner -- Cold Feelings
Conner were born at the intersection between danceable New Wave and artsy alt-rock, producing head-bobbing smile-making music that sounds like a summer road trip.
[Conner's site]
[Conner's Team Clermont page, with additional mp3s]
Candy Bars -- Violets
This song is dark and cold and beautiful, like a Polish winter landscape seen from indoors. If it were a film it would be Decalogue Eleven: make a joyful noise unto the Lord. In this film Candy Bars would strive for, and never reach, catharsis, the film's text implying that pain is perpetuated in its expression, its cultural context implying the reverse: the audience would experience catharsis, happy to have known about the pain but not lived it, able to turn off the television and go make a sandwich.
[Candy Bars seem not to have an official site or Team Clermont page.]
...
Team Clermont sent me these songs; I don't always remember to say who sent me what but I think I have labeled all the IODA/promonet, band-sent tracks, and other PR (or partly PR) posts here, in case anyone's interested.
I'm not always prompt about looking over tracks sent to me but I do try to give them all a chance; and I'm always happy to find new (or new-to-me) good music.
posted by Tuwa @
21:52 | permalink |
2 comments
|
Wednesday, February 21, 2007:
This song is a tricksy time machine. You start it up and the melody and the harmony take you back to the nearest time when everything was okay: for some it was last night, everything accomplished, stretching out, drifting to sleep smiling; for others it's decades, unraveling the years, the conflicts and disappointments, the heartbreaks which will not be silent, to arrive at 6 minutes 21 seconds of bliss. And then the present returns.
It's a salve, a temporary fix, requiring inattention to the lyrics expressing that same loss the listener had hoped to escape. In a Philip K. Dick world some might hack the song into a permanent fix, programming it to repeat ad infinitum, increasing exponentially in volume and intensity in a doomed hope of shortcircuiting all conflicting thoughts, of rattling the skull so hard the words don't make sense, just the lullaby.
Christopher Porter/Suburbs Are Killing Us posted this track in mid-April 2004, and I'm only just now catching up to the CD: it had been half-forgotten (not the melody; no, that stays) until I recently stumbled onto it again, used and in great shape.
Ghosts of the Great Highway has been re-released recently with six bonus tracks, and allmusic.com considers the alternate version of "Carry Me Ohio" better than this one. Have any of you heard it? Thoughts on how they compare?
Sun Kil Moon -- Carry Me Ohio
Sun Kil Moon -- Carry Me OhioThis song is a tricksy time machine. You start it up and the melody and the harmony take you back to the nearest time when everything was okay: for some it was last night, everything accomplished, stretching out, drifting to sleep smiling; for others it's decades, unraveling the years, the conflicts and disappointments, the heartbreaks which will not be silent, to arrive at 6 minutes 21 seconds of bliss. And then the present returns.
It's a salve, a temporary fix, requiring inattention to the lyrics expressing that same loss the listener had hoped to escape. In a Philip K. Dick world some might hack the song into a permanent fix, programming it to repeat ad infinitum, increasing exponentially in volume and intensity in a doomed hope of shortcircuiting all conflicting thoughts, of rattling the skull so hard the words don't make sense, just the lullaby.
Christopher Porter/Suburbs Are Killing Us posted this track in mid-April 2004, and I'm only just now catching up to the CD: it had been half-forgotten (not the melody; no, that stays) until I recently stumbled onto it again, used and in great shape.
Ghosts of the Great Highway has been re-released recently with six bonus tracks, and allmusic.com considers the alternate version of "Carry Me Ohio" better than this one. Have any of you heard it? Thoughts on how they compare?
posted by Tuwa @
11:03 | permalink |
5 comments
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Thursday, February 15, 2007:
The Machine of Death is an upcoming collection of fiction about a rather terse machine predicting how people will die. Ruby Isle have got their entry in early.
As the Machine of Death site says:
"I called my baby, said 'baby, the end is coming'; she said
'Na na na na na, na na na na na, naa naa naa naa, na na na na na.
'Na na na na na, na na na na na, naa naa naa naa, na na na na na.'"
Ruby Isle's narrator is distraught (this is a horrible time to die). Ruby Isle are not (this is a great time to party).
[Ruby Isle's MySpace page and Fanatic Promotion page]
Ruby Isle -- Atom Bomb
Ruby Isle -- Atom BombThe Machine of Death is an upcoming collection of fiction about a rather terse machine predicting how people will die. Ruby Isle have got their entry in early.
As the Machine of Death site says:
The realization that we could now know how we were going to die had changed the world: people became at once less fearful and more afraid. There's no reason not to go skydiving if you know your sliver of paper says "BURIED ALIVE". The realization that these predictions seemed to revel in turnabout and surprise put a damper on things. It made the predictions more sinister -- yes, if you were going to be buried alive you weren't going to be electrocuted in the bathtub, but what if in skydiving you landed in a gravel pit? What if you were buried alive not in dirt but in something else? And would being caught in a collapsing building count as being buried alive? For every possibility the machine closed, it seemed to open several more, with varying degrees of plausibility.Or, as Ruby Isle would have it,
"I called my baby, said 'baby, the end is coming'; she said
'Na na na na na, na na na na na, naa naa naa naa, na na na na na.
'Na na na na na, na na na na na, naa naa naa naa, na na na na na.'"
Ruby Isle's narrator is distraught (this is a horrible time to die). Ruby Isle are not (this is a great time to party).
[Ruby Isle's MySpace page and Fanatic Promotion page]
posted by Tuwa @
12:10 | permalink |
1 comments
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Wednesday, February 14, 2007:
Odawas -- Alleluia
Titles are treacherous things, conjuring up images of what they will, regardless of what songs they're affixed to. I suspect this one slipped away in the night and found itself a home more to its liking.
If it's a song of praise, I have either never properly heard praise or never recognized it. It's a song of spare beauty, of echoing in a cave, of "this is all I have, stop it, this is all I have." Perhaps it's a song of resignation, of guilty relief, of a friend's death after protracted and painful illness.
Odawas have a website and a myspace page and an album due out March 6.
...
A fascinating discussion on the general American acceptance of rape in prison and what it says about the psychology of people accepting it.
...
I've recently noticed people accessing the site through proxies skirting censorship. It's useful to remember that there are always more than one; and in some cases there seem to be networks of them. In any case, here are some additional tips on how to access banned sites (like blogspot.com and typepad.com) from within India, Pakistan, and China, (and presumably also Iran and many other countries) and some more tips on circumventing censorship.
Odawas -- Alleluia
Odawas -- Alleluia
Titles are treacherous things, conjuring up images of what they will, regardless of what songs they're affixed to. I suspect this one slipped away in the night and found itself a home more to its liking.
If it's a song of praise, I have either never properly heard praise or never recognized it. It's a song of spare beauty, of echoing in a cave, of "this is all I have, stop it, this is all I have." Perhaps it's a song of resignation, of guilty relief, of a friend's death after protracted and painful illness.
Odawas have a website and a myspace page and an album due out March 6.
...
A fascinating discussion on the general American acceptance of rape in prison and what it says about the psychology of people accepting it.
...
I've recently noticed people accessing the site through proxies skirting censorship. It's useful to remember that there are always more than one; and in some cases there seem to be networks of them. In any case, here are some additional tips on how to access banned sites (like blogspot.com and typepad.com) from within India, Pakistan, and China, (and presumably also Iran and many other countries) and some more tips on circumventing censorship.
posted by Tuwa @
19:55 | permalink |
4 comments
|
Tuesday, January 30, 2007:
Schuman the Human -- Tow That Line
Schuman the Human is an alt-country band unafraid to experiment. On their debut they serve up a strange and wonderful mix of sounds, from the pop bluegrass "Klutz," to a banjo-accompanied children's singalong reinterpretatiing of the Northern Soul "Oh How Happy" to the lighter-tempting violin-and-backbeat "Dark Regrets."
"Tow the Line" is one I like for its reverberating guitar, elliptical vocals, let's-all-hold-hands protest, and hints of mournfulness giving way to joyous hoedown.
Schuman the Human are Mark Foster on guitar and banjo, Chili Gold on vocals, Mick Frangou on drums and Gordon Maguire on bass and keyboards. Their CD is on SVC Records, record label of Simon from the returned-from-hiatus Spoilt Victorian Child.
[Schuman The Human]
[Schuman the Human's MySpace page]
Also missed, and also returned: Tofu Hut.
Schuman the Human
Schuman the Human -- Tow That Line
Schuman the Human is an alt-country band unafraid to experiment. On their debut they serve up a strange and wonderful mix of sounds, from the pop bluegrass "Klutz," to a banjo-accompanied children's singalong reinterpretatiing of the Northern Soul "Oh How Happy" to the lighter-tempting violin-and-backbeat "Dark Regrets."
"Tow the Line" is one I like for its reverberating guitar, elliptical vocals, let's-all-hold-hands protest, and hints of mournfulness giving way to joyous hoedown.
Schuman the Human are Mark Foster on guitar and banjo, Chili Gold on vocals, Mick Frangou on drums and Gordon Maguire on bass and keyboards. Their CD is on SVC Records, record label of Simon from the returned-from-hiatus Spoilt Victorian Child.
[Schuman The Human]
[Schuman the Human's MySpace page]
Also missed, and also returned: Tofu Hut.
Labels: alt country, indie, PR
posted by Tuwa @
22:59 | permalink |
0 comments
|
Monday, July 17, 2006:
Here's Syl Johnson with a song about living in the ghetto. This isn't the maudlin Mac Davis ghetto, and Syl Johnson isn't most interested in mamas crying because they had a baby; he's more interested in mamas crying because they lost a baby, in couples fighting becaue they're jealous, and in people burning to death because there's no back door on the apartments. The vocals are, appropriately, not mournful but full of a simmering rage; the guitar snaps, the strings stab, the lyrics sting:
Here in the ghetto, it's a bad situation / Call it what you want to; it's just a concrete reservation.
Johnson's also known for his track "Is It Because I'm Black?" which I have by Johnson only in a version that drags on a bit too long for my interest, though Ken Boothe also recorded an impressive version of it.
"Concrete Reservation" is off Is It Because I'm Black?, which is also available in a pricy re-release with Dresses Too Short; or you can pick it up on the greatest hits comp Twilight and Twinight.
...
More HiFi finds: "I Am a Demon and Will Swallow Your Soul," "Olivia," and "Ocean Bottom," another track from The Scarring Party. It's my favorite song about writer's block at the bottom of the ocean with percussion by a typewriter.
...
Monday last week I got a promotional email for an indie rock band--not at all uncommon for an mp3blog--but the music was good, which is somewhat less common. Gentleman Caller's track "Bomb the Castle" seemed likely to be an A-B-A-B-C construction with chunky distorted guitar on the bridge, with people screaming into the mic, and it wasn't, and I liked it for it. They have other tracks up, mostly with a dreamy pop-rock vibe with countryish vocal stylings. They self-compare to Okkervil River and Rilo Kiley.
...
Secretly Canadian sent me an email about a new release from Jason Molina, and I enjoyed the track there for download, and so I'm passing it along.
...
Vindaloo, the fight song, and the response: a writer's fight song. 99/100 for that, -1 for failure to include "B.I.C."
Syl Johnson -- Concrete Reservation
Syl Johnson -- Concrete ReservationHere's Syl Johnson with a song about living in the ghetto. This isn't the maudlin Mac Davis ghetto, and Syl Johnson isn't most interested in mamas crying because they had a baby; he's more interested in mamas crying because they lost a baby, in couples fighting becaue they're jealous, and in people burning to death because there's no back door on the apartments. The vocals are, appropriately, not mournful but full of a simmering rage; the guitar snaps, the strings stab, the lyrics sting:
Here in the ghetto, it's a bad situation / Call it what you want to; it's just a concrete reservation.
Johnson's also known for his track "Is It Because I'm Black?" which I have by Johnson only in a version that drags on a bit too long for my interest, though Ken Boothe also recorded an impressive version of it.
"Concrete Reservation" is off Is It Because I'm Black?, which is also available in a pricy re-release with Dresses Too Short; or you can pick it up on the greatest hits comp Twilight and Twinight.
...
More HiFi finds: "I Am a Demon and Will Swallow Your Soul," "Olivia," and "Ocean Bottom," another track from The Scarring Party. It's my favorite song about writer's block at the bottom of the ocean with percussion by a typewriter.
...
Monday last week I got a promotional email for an indie rock band--not at all uncommon for an mp3blog--but the music was good, which is somewhat less common. Gentleman Caller's track "Bomb the Castle" seemed likely to be an A-B-A-B-C construction with chunky distorted guitar on the bridge, with people screaming into the mic, and it wasn't, and I liked it for it. They have other tracks up, mostly with a dreamy pop-rock vibe with countryish vocal stylings. They self-compare to Okkervil River and Rilo Kiley.
...
Secretly Canadian sent me an email about a new release from Jason Molina, and I enjoyed the track there for download, and so I'm passing it along.
...
Vindaloo, the fight song, and the response: a writer's fight song. 99/100 for that, -1 for failure to include "B.I.C."
Labels: dance, indie, pop, PR, RnB, rock
posted by Tuwa @
21:16 | permalink |
0 comments
|
Monday, July 03, 2006:
Diamond Joe, a drunken country tune with fiddle, acoustic guitar, galloping drums, and drunk musicians. A match made in heaven. Greg Nog at Metafilter nails it: This is what whisky would sound like, if whisky was music.
["Diamond Joe" @ HiFi)]
[No site for this band? Was this a one-off? Say it ain't so, Jack; say it ain't so.]
Criminal is slow, moody, deliberate work with a subdued vocal melody. The guitar cuts in with a muted intensity like a bright painful memory announcing itself in the middle of a stunned grief. The song is not for all moods, maybe, but damn is it beautfiul.
["Criminal" @ HiFi)]
[Edlundart's site]
Light On is folksy jangly acoustic pop in waltz time, with an accordion that sneaked out of City of Lost Children so it could come pick your soul up and dust it off and straighten its tie. Everyone should have a neighbor who plays accordion.
["Light On" @ HiFi)]
[No site for Chococat?]
Making Me Nervous is a bouncy electro-pop tune rivalling "Diamond Joe" in energy, except "Diamond Joe" makes me want a beer and a concert and "Making Me Nervous" makes me want to dance down the street singing badly and making an ass of myself. I've listened to this song half a dozen times trying to figure out what it is I like so much about it--is it the snap in the percussion? The ridiculous fake bassline? The distorted guitar? The driving beat? ... Frenetic says it's ironic, which is fine, but I thought I was tired of irony and apparently I'm not.
["Making Me Nervous" @ HiFi)]
[Brad Sucks' site]
No More Room in Hell is one of my favorites so far, a jaunty tune with banjo, tuba, and vaudevillian vocals, like a cross between Squirrel Nut Zippers and Triplets of Belleville. This is the happiest apocalypse I've ever heard.
["No More Room in Hell" @ HiFi)]
[The Scarring Party's site]
Metafilter Music
A new branch of the Metafilter family: as if Ask Metafilter and Metafilter Projects weren't cool enough, mathowie recently resurrected Metafilter Music. Some picks from that, then: (I'm posting these here because Matt already mentioned high bandwidth bills and I don't want to leach off his bandwidth; if you like the tracks please consider sending the original authors a message.)Diamond Joe, a drunken country tune with fiddle, acoustic guitar, galloping drums, and drunk musicians. A match made in heaven. Greg Nog at Metafilter nails it: This is what whisky would sound like, if whisky was music.
["Diamond Joe" @ HiFi)]
[No site for this band? Was this a one-off? Say it ain't so, Jack; say it ain't so.]
Criminal is slow, moody, deliberate work with a subdued vocal melody. The guitar cuts in with a muted intensity like a bright painful memory announcing itself in the middle of a stunned grief. The song is not for all moods, maybe, but damn is it beautfiul.
["Criminal" @ HiFi)]
[Edlundart's site]
Light On is folksy jangly acoustic pop in waltz time, with an accordion that sneaked out of City of Lost Children so it could come pick your soul up and dust it off and straighten its tie. Everyone should have a neighbor who plays accordion.
["Light On" @ HiFi)]
[No site for Chococat?]
Making Me Nervous is a bouncy electro-pop tune rivalling "Diamond Joe" in energy, except "Diamond Joe" makes me want a beer and a concert and "Making Me Nervous" makes me want to dance down the street singing badly and making an ass of myself. I've listened to this song half a dozen times trying to figure out what it is I like so much about it--is it the snap in the percussion? The ridiculous fake bassline? The distorted guitar? The driving beat? ... Frenetic says it's ironic, which is fine, but I thought I was tired of irony and apparently I'm not.
["Making Me Nervous" @ HiFi)]
[Brad Sucks' site]
No More Room in Hell is one of my favorites so far, a jaunty tune with banjo, tuba, and vaudevillian vocals, like a cross between Squirrel Nut Zippers and Triplets of Belleville. This is the happiest apocalypse I've ever heard.
["No More Room in Hell" @ HiFi)]
[The Scarring Party's site]
Labels: country music, dance, indie, pop, rock
posted by Tuwa @
01:18 | permalink |
2 comments
|
Tuesday, May 23, 2006:
This is from a disc that got a fairly bad writeup on allmusic; their second disc got a much better review (and I think the second disc probably is more solid all-around).
[Cyne's official site]
Popcanon -- Ballyhoo
Say, what do we really use from science?
"E=mc2"
Are reason and faith an unholy alliance?
"I don't know and I don't care."
A lot of my family has a sincere love for kitsch--Precious Moments bells, cow-spotted milk jugs, etc.--and I've only just now realized that I probably do too. This is a very nerdy, goofy song.
[Popcanon's official site]
Whoreculture -- Crop Duster
I like this song; I think it's a lot of fun. Whoreculture's Join strikes me as more rock-oriented; Boondocked is slower and heavier but equally impressive. I've been unable to find anything more by the band, as they broke up years ago. They don't seem to have a site up.
Lars Din -- Ness City Bank Job (Yer So Sweet)
[Lars Din's (older) site]
[Lars Din's newer site]: lyrics, tour dates, songs.
The lyrics are in five sections: a series of vignettes, some choice details, activity in the ellipses. Who are these four people? Or are they two? And that valentine--why for her mother?
This song is not the best-sung song you'll hear. Lars is nearing the end of a concert and his voice is tired. He aims high and misses, aims high and misses, aims high and misses ... aims high and nails it, nails it when it counts the most.
It's a quiet number, exhausted--on the ropes, maybe about to give up. And then, out of nowhere: left hook, stars, roofbeams on a tilt. Mat.
the mix part three
Cyne -- Nothing's SacredMike Williams -- The second hip hop track is loads better. The vocal sample is great, and it has (nu-)soul. A keeper.
Jerimee Bloemeke -- The production sounds like something Kanye would do. I'm not a big fan of rap, but this is not bad. I can't really get into it, though, because it has no chorus.
This is from a disc that got a fairly bad writeup on allmusic; their second disc got a much better review (and I think the second disc probably is more solid all-around).
[Cyne's official site]
Popcanon -- Ballyhoo
Mike Williams -- I think this song is about religion and science. It finds in favour of the latter, which is fine by me, but there are better forums for such a discussion than a song with humorous instrumentation. It sounds like a number from The Producers musical.
Jerimee Bloemeke -- No, no, no. The back-up singers said it so well.
Say, what do we really use from science?
"E=mc2"
Are reason and faith an unholy alliance?
"I don't know and I don't care."
A lot of my family has a sincere love for kitsch--Precious Moments bells, cow-spotted milk jugs, etc.--and I've only just now realized that I probably do too. This is a very nerdy, goofy song.
[Popcanon's official site]
Whoreculture -- Crop Duster
Mike Williams -- Ridiculously entertaining and very Southern rock. This song takes an idea (what it's like to be a cropduster) and solves it. The result is a McSweeney's article set to music by George Thorogood and the Destroyers. If joycore was people having fun for a reason (rather than no reason) it would sound like this.
Footnote: Whoreculture is probably one of the top five band names ever.
Jerimee Bloemeke -- With a name like Whoreculture, how can anyone take you seriously? The music doesn't help either....
I like this song; I think it's a lot of fun. Whoreculture's Join strikes me as more rock-oriented; Boondocked is slower and heavier but equally impressive. I've been unable to find anything more by the band, as they broke up years ago. They don't seem to have a site up.
Lars Din -- Ness City Bank Job (Yer So Sweet)
Mike Williams -- This is singer-songwriter storytelling that manages to be poetic and avoid the literal hectoring that can easily befall a song about Events. The Band were good at this. Bruce Springsteen is good at this when he isn't too busy being awful at this. Lars Din is good at this, and I want to hear more of his stuff.
This is my favourite track on the CD.
Jerimee Bloemeke -- This is soothing. The singer is like an unironic Morrissey at times. And he plays nice acoustic guitar.
[Lars Din's (older) site]
[Lars Din's newer site]: lyrics, tour dates, songs.
The lyrics are in five sections: a series of vignettes, some choice details, activity in the ellipses. Who are these four people? Or are they two? And that valentine--why for her mother?
This song is not the best-sung song you'll hear. Lars is nearing the end of a concert and his voice is tired. He aims high and misses, aims high and misses, aims high and misses ... aims high and nails it, nails it when it counts the most.
It's a quiet number, exhausted--on the ropes, maybe about to give up. And then, out of nowhere: left hook, stars, roofbeams on a tilt. Mat.
Labels: folk rock, hip-hop, indie, pop, rock
posted by Tuwa @
00:31 | permalink |
2 comments
|
Monday, May 22, 2006:
Mike Williams lives in Oxford, UK, and runs Dreamboat Records, home to The Rollercoaster Project (which you might have caught on Said the Gramophone some time back).
Jerimee Bloemeke is not a black-belt ninja; his skills are so advanced the universe is afraid to let his jacket flap open. He can kill birds, small mammals, and frail humans with the briefest of glances; healthy humans sometimes take a second and a half. He also reviews music, as at Kill All Artists and as below. For that, and for not giving me The Stare of Doom, I thank him.
Returning to the mix:
Morningbell -- I Found Jesus (Hiding Underneath the Bed)
Is this prog-pop? Really? I'd always associated it with 1970s wankery: ten-minute song codas, flutes and acoustic guitar and songs about the Lord of the Rings, album covers showing vibrantly-colored woodlands and "mysterious" hooded figures and whatnot.
[Morningbell's official site]
[Morningbell Myspace account]
Maxwell Edison -- Cheap Airfare
I did like this song when I first put it on the mix. I still liked it after I sent the mix out. Sometime after that I began not to like it, and then I began to despise it. Your mileage may vary.
[Maxwell Edison's official site]
[Maxwell Edison's Myspace account]
Towers of Hanoi -- Torn Jeans
Not a happy track, no, but I like it.
[Towers of Hanoi's official site]
[Towers of Hanoi's Myspace account]
Against Me! -- I Still Love You Julie
These guys are pissed off. I saw one of them several years ago, strumming an acoustic guitar on UF campus and singing/screaming himself hoarse about worker exploitation. I don't know anyone who can rock an acoustic guitar that hard. Maybe Rev. Frost.
[Against Me!'s site]
Big Oil -- Pot of Gold
This is another one I used to like (I have a knack for listening to songs without listening to the lyrics, and Mike is right; the lyrics are god-awful. To think I used to mock that Lenny Kravitz song about the butterfly up in the sky....)
[Big Oil's official site]
MC Intellekt -- More Than Meets the Ear
Intellekt gives a lot of concerts in town, and he's got fairly literate stream-of-conscious rhymes with a sense of humor. But that chorus--I'm puzzled too; it's like watching a David Lynch film. I don't get it, and I'm more than a bit disturbed by it, but I can't look away.
Also, "meta-wank" is my new favorite musical descriptor.
[MC Intellekt's official site]
This was the worst part of the mix, I think--lots of tracks here I wouldn't pick again. The next (and last) part is better.
the mix part two
In my hurry to get the last post up, I completely forgot to introduce Mike and Jerimee (sorry for that, fellas! and thanks for your patience).Mike Williams lives in Oxford, UK, and runs Dreamboat Records, home to The Rollercoaster Project (which you might have caught on Said the Gramophone some time back).
Jerimee Bloemeke is not a black-belt ninja; his skills are so advanced the universe is afraid to let his jacket flap open. He can kill birds, small mammals, and frail humans with the briefest of glances; healthy humans sometimes take a second and a half. He also reviews music, as at Kill All Artists and as below. For that, and for not giving me The Stare of Doom, I thank him.
Returning to the mix:
Morningbell -- I Found Jesus (Hiding Underneath the Bed)
Mike Williams -- A promising title, but the overwrought arrangement and silly instrumentation (are those oboes!?) is distracting. I'm probably not the right audience for psychedelic prog-pop though.
Jerimee Bloemeke -- When I first saw this song on the mix I knew I would love it. For some reason, I like any song about Jesus, especially ones that do not take the whole idea of a martyr who dies on a cross too seriously, evidenced in this song’s title, where Jesus hides underneath a bed. And also by this amazing lyric, out of Jesus's mouth: If you’re tryin' to impress me, don't bother/ You think you're so great, well, I'd like to see you walk on water/ I invented that shit. The whole song is about a Jesus that is hiding from all his troubles and is tired of having to listen to the troubles of others.
The song starts with acoustic guitar strumming, and a wailing, double-tracked vocal. The instrumentation in this song is all over the place: trumpets, banjo, synthesizer, saxophone, piano, etc. This is great stuff. And I can't wait to get more of it from this band.
Is this prog-pop? Really? I'd always associated it with 1970s wankery: ten-minute song codas, flutes and acoustic guitar and songs about the Lord of the Rings, album covers showing vibrantly-colored woodlands and "mysterious" hooded figures and whatnot.
[Morningbell's official site]
[Morningbell Myspace account]
Maxwell Edison -- Cheap Airfare
Mike Williams -- Eek. If you're my age and British, you’ll have been subjected to the Charlatans. This track reminds me of them, but with the Hammond organ replaced by a Casio keyboard. These guys are session musicians and this is for a car advert, right?
iTunes tells me I've listened every track on this CD at least a dozen times, except this one, which I've got through twice. Awful.
Jerimee Bloemeke -- This track starts out with a quickened Radiohead piano beat, with a singer that sounds like Paul Rodgers. The piano is definitely the centerpiece of this band - their website says it all: "maxwell edison - the best gainesville piano rock." I can't find fault in that. And they follow the Radiohead comparison with some Johnny Greenwood-esque guitar soloing at 3:17.
I did like this song when I first put it on the mix. I still liked it after I sent the mix out. Sometime after that I began not to like it, and then I began to despise it. Your mileage may vary.
[Maxwell Edison's official site]
[Maxwell Edison's Myspace account]
Towers of Hanoi -- Torn Jeans
Mike Williams -- At first I thought this was ludicrous epic rock that sounds like a sincere version of the Darkness. Then I realised it sounds like an unhappy White Stripes. Not my cup of tea at all.
Jerimee Bloemeke -- The singer is a cross between P.J. Harvey, Alanis Morissette, and Signe Anderson. And the band is a cross between Death From Above 1979 and a less progressive Mars Volta.
Not a happy track, no, but I like it.
[Towers of Hanoi's official site]
[Towers of Hanoi's Myspace account]
Against Me! -- I Still Love You Julie
Mike Williams -- Post-Pistols punk has never really meant much in the UK. Sure, it has a scene, which is presumably vibrant, but that scene is relatively isolated. And sure, people profess to liking Minor Threat and Black Flag, but I'm not convinced anyone except actual punks actually do. For myself, my only knowledge of punk comes from a regrettable phase of playing Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater.
That notwithstanding, I love this song. Against Me! are apparently a punk band with alt.country, folk and blues influences. I just hear a band a punk band having a good time. This track is now on heavy rotation.
Jerimee Bloemeke -- Ah! The snare drum ruins this song - it just pops way too loudly and it takes away from everything else. Otherwise, the band is reminiscent of Wolf Parade, but with more yelling.
These guys are pissed off. I saw one of them several years ago, strumming an acoustic guitar on UF campus and singing/screaming himself hoarse about worker exploitation. I don't know anyone who can rock an acoustic guitar that hard. Maybe Rev. Frost.
[Against Me!'s site]
Big Oil -- Pot of Gold
Mike Williams -- This alt.rock dirge threatens to be interesting, but then the lyrics start. "Come on over here and let me hold you near, let me kiss you all over your face / It's been so long since you've been so near, this is such a lovely place." Jesus wept. It's impossible to take this song seriously after that. Maybe that's what Big Oil wanted.
Jerimee Bloemeke -- The singer's voice ruins it for me: sounds like someone I heard on the radio in the mid-'90s.
This is another one I used to like (I have a knack for listening to songs without listening to the lyrics, and Mike is right; the lyrics are god-awful. To think I used to mock that Lenny Kravitz song about the butterfly up in the sky....)
[Big Oil's official site]
MC Intellekt -- More Than Meets the Ear
Mike Williams -- The first of the two hip hop tracks tracks on the CD doesn't do much for me. If you use strings you risk sounding like either Puff Daddy or a horrorcore act. The whiny patois which starts around 1:30 is difficult on the ear. They also make the mistake of talking about themselves and their abilities. I've never understood the popularity of meta-wank in hip hop.
Maybe I'm just out of the hip hop loop. I used to listen to a lot of hip hop. I remember vividly the innocent joy of ejecting a finished Jim O'Rourke CD and replacing it with Dr Octagon's Dr Octagonecologyst. But I am an idiot and a terrible person, so I followed fashions towards beardy alt.country to the exclusion of a lot of other genres, not least hip hop. It’s only recently that I've begun to rehabilitate myself.
Jerimee Bloemeke -- The production and beat on this song is great, but the rapper reminds me of Eminem. And dare I say: Ludacris. ...shudder.... And that chorus? Why?
Intellekt gives a lot of concerts in town, and he's got fairly literate stream-of-conscious rhymes with a sense of humor. But that chorus--I'm puzzled too; it's like watching a David Lynch film. I don't get it, and I'm more than a bit disturbed by it, but I can't look away.
Also, "meta-wank" is my new favorite musical descriptor.
[MC Intellekt's official site]
This was the worst part of the mix, I think--lots of tracks here I wouldn't pick again. The next (and last) part is better.
Labels: alt country, hip-hop, indie, punk, rock
posted by Tuwa @
00:17 | permalink |
5 comments
|
Tuesday, May 16, 2006:
Originally I liked all 14 tracks; in the time since it has dropped to 10. By which I mean, I made some bad choices. Feel free to laugh at them in the comments. No, seriously.
Thanks to Mike and Jerimee for their patience.
Whitey Markle -- Proletarian Football Blues
Picture Mark Twain in a bluegrass band with Marxist tendencies. This is one of Whitey Markle's slightly less whimsical numbers. Other standouts include "Cracker Stomp" and "Thinking About You," and "The Cracker Stomp."
The band broke up years ago; there's no official website. Here's a brief writeup of the CD this track came from, though.
Pig Iron -- Seminole Blues
Mike is right about this being pre-R&B blues. This is a song originally by Tampa Red; "Seminole" is the train. Pig Iron doesn't have a site, or at least not one credited in the CD and easily found through search engines.
The Sultanas -- Radio Song
[The Sultanas' site]
Hula -- Taking Pictures
Most of Hula's tracks on the disc are not like this one; they tend to come across much more like Low: subdued, dreamy, spare, maybe a bit bleak. This one, though.... I snuck it onto the U.N. agenda and the vote came back unanimous: it's too short.
[Hula's site]
the mix part one
About that mix CD I made last year: I sent out a half-dozen copies; I got two reviews (a 50% and a 33%, if this were being graded); one person wrote back saying he liked it but didn't want to review it; one wrote back saying he didn't like it and didn't want to review it; and one review never arrived.Originally I liked all 14 tracks; in the time since it has dropped to 10. By which I mean, I made some bad choices. Feel free to laugh at them in the comments. No, seriously.
Thanks to Mike and Jerimee for their patience.
Whitey Markle -- Proletarian Football Blues
Mike Williams -- This song bemoans the commercialisation of (American) football. It reminds me of a famous Roy Keane remark. Keane was Manchester United's captain until a couple of weeks ago. His criticism of his own fans (who are universally reviled) won him many friends: "they have a few drinks and probably the prawn sandwiches, and they don't realise what's going on out on the pitch. I don't think some of the people who come to Old Trafford can spell football, never mind understand it."
Keane is the subject of a fabulous article by Sean O'Hagan, who usually writes about music in The Observer. The prawn sandwich is now the canonical status symbol in British football. And Manchester United is now owned by a Floridan.
This song is great. Imagine Bruce Springsteen with a sense of humour and The Vince Guaraldi Trio as a backing band.
Jerimee Bloemeke -- I don't like the country twang in the guitar, and I really find the singer's voice to be very annoying. But I kind of like the flute (?), because it reminds me of some '70s French Spy TV show theme, or something....
Picture Mark Twain in a bluegrass band with Marxist tendencies. This is one of Whitey Markle's slightly less whimsical numbers. Other standouts include "Cracker Stomp" and "Thinking About You," and "The Cracker Stomp."
The band broke up years ago; there's no official website. Here's a brief writeup of the CD this track came from, though.
Pig Iron -- Seminole Blues
Mike Williams -- This is a pretty and (pretty unsurprising) blues number. While I'd rather modern blues sounded like this than, say, Blueshammer (the hopefully fictional band that appears in Ghost World), I find it difficult to get worked up about such a direct facsimile of pre-rhythm-and-blues blues.
Jerimee Bloemeke -- This one has the same annoying country guitar twang and singer voice as the first song. I'm just not accustomed to this kind of country/blues stuff for some reason - it doesn't hit a nerve with me, or at least not a nerve that makes me like it.
Mike is right about this being pre-R&B blues. This is a song originally by Tampa Red; "Seminole" is the train. Pig Iron doesn't have a site, or at least not one credited in the CD and easily found through search engines.
The Sultanas -- Radio Song
Mike Williams -- Floridan surf guitar. Who knew? I don't care for the patronising piss-take of talk show listeners, something about this track caught my ear. Perhaps it was the fact that I listened as I was mentally preparing for the holiday season, and I've always associated surf with Christmas. Great fun.
Jerimee Bloemeke -- I dub this "hula-surf-rock," with a lounge singer. I kind of like it, but probably only in small doses.
[The Sultanas' site]
Hula -- Taking Pictures
Mike Williams -- There are plenty of songs that are short and aggressive or short and funny, but more songs should be 1:36 and beautiful. Hula sound like an adult pop Summer-Sun-era Yo La Tengo. (I see I'm not the first person to make this comparison.)
Jerimee Bloemeke -- How fitting that after the "hula-surf-rock" song there is a song by a band actually named Hula! The beginning of the song has a really echo-y guitar, and then comes in the bass and drums - really quite simple. Then the first, deep-voiced singer (who reminds of Dave Berman) comes in, backed by a female voice, a la Fleetwood Mac. But it's an indie-rock Mac, as the song is short and gets to the point quickly. No fancy stuff here. I really like it.
Most of Hula's tracks on the disc are not like this one; they tend to come across much more like Low: subdued, dreamy, spare, maybe a bit bleak. This one, though.... I snuck it onto the U.N. agenda and the vote came back unanimous: it's too short.
[Hula's site]
Labels: blues, folk, indie, rock
posted by Tuwa @
03:21 | permalink |
4 comments
|
Friday, April 28, 2006:
Rev. Tom Frost -- All the Way Home
The good Reverend has a CD out, a ten-track gallop through roots rock and outlaw country. It's the aural equivalent of Leone's Man with No Name, a rock star Man with No Name who plays chunky distorted electric guitar and sings like a cross between Tom Waits and Link Wray, backed with rollicking barhouse piano or funhouse organ.
It's a bold CD--you've guessed this already--bold and gritty and a lot of fun, with some remarkable tracks on it, most of them covers of songs that have been taken apart and rebuilt to get there faster and more dangerously.
[Pick the record up here for $7.]
...
Two amazing videos I found today:
VD Is for Everybody, which has a rather cheerful tune and montage that, coupled with the lyrical content, is effectively beyond description. (via Neil Gaiman's blog)
And Stop the Madness, an unspeakably bad music video featuring New Edition, Whitney Houston, David Hasselhoff, Nancy Reagan, and Arnold Schwarzenegger encouraging you not to use drugs. Did I mention that it's bad? It's bad. It's the kind of bad that makes you feel guilty for laughing, because you're horribly embarrassed for the director, but you can't help laughing anyway. (via BoingBoing)
Spread the Good Word!
Rev. Tom Frost -- All the Way Home
The good Reverend has a CD out, a ten-track gallop through roots rock and outlaw country. It's the aural equivalent of Leone's Man with No Name, a rock star Man with No Name who plays chunky distorted electric guitar and sings like a cross between Tom Waits and Link Wray, backed with rollicking barhouse piano or funhouse organ.
It's a bold CD--you've guessed this already--bold and gritty and a lot of fun, with some remarkable tracks on it, most of them covers of songs that have been taken apart and rebuilt to get there faster and more dangerously.
[Pick the record up here for $7.]
...
Two amazing videos I found today:
VD Is for Everybody, which has a rather cheerful tune and montage that, coupled with the lyrical content, is effectively beyond description. (via Neil Gaiman's blog)
And Stop the Madness, an unspeakably bad music video featuring New Edition, Whitney Houston, David Hasselhoff, Nancy Reagan, and Arnold Schwarzenegger encouraging you not to use drugs. Did I mention that it's bad? It's bad. It's the kind of bad that makes you feel guilty for laughing, because you're horribly embarrassed for the director, but you can't help laughing anyway. (via BoingBoing)
posted by Tuwa @
03:20 | permalink |
0 comments
|
Tuesday, March 07, 2006:
Morningbell -- Me Bastard 2003
Morningbell is a band from Gainesville FL who introduce themselves in their second release as "a rock band that wants you to be a happy person" and follow the introduction with the request "Please be nice to people today." I can dig it.
A musical genetic analysis of their work shows White Album Beatles crossed with the Flaming Lips, dipped in Amnesiac-era Radiohead and dusted with Pet Sounds: somewhat moody work that tends to float downstream skystruck, running slowly ashore, pushing off again gently, drifting, sounding odd and effortlessly beautiful. The harmonies, the melodies, the instrumentation, the arrangements: all top-notch.
And this song: melodic passive-aggressiveness. "I will be there if you call me / I will be there if you call," with "call me, bastard" as a lovely singalong. Bonus points for bass solo spotlight, guitar freakout, and Wyld Stallyns ending.
I think Morningbell and Bishop Allen are vying for the title "Best Unsigned Pop/Rock Band in the States."
[Morningbell's Myspace page, with some other great tracks]
[Morningbell's website with some songs which are, well, mostly live and not nearly as good]
from the "Here's something neat in my inbox" department:
Tigs -- Don't Tell Me
Alicia "Tigs" Huertas plays punk tinged with country and touches of Siouxsie and Television.
From the press release:
Part Spanish and born into a bohemian musician family Tigs grew up in the sleepy Gloucestershire town of Woodchester. She started writing her songs as an 18 year old college drop out bumming around Bristol on the dole. A family friend put her in touch with French producer Dimitri Tikovoi (Placebo, Ravonettes) and together they started recording her dark, brooding songs.
Going to New York in 2004, Tigs blagged her way into an aftershow party and met Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner. Within weeks, they were recording together in former Smashing Pumpkin James Iha's Stratosphere Sound Studios in New York.
What the press release fails to mention is that Nick Zinner's guitar can scorch your eyebrows and that Huertas can sing with hurricane force, blowing out your windows and crashing a tree on your house.
I can't decide if that guitar solo is brilliantly jarring or just jarring, but it's definitely strongly felt, to the point, and in service of the song. And the song is much too busy kicking ass to stop and smell the roses. So maybe brilliant?
It seems Tigs doesn't yet have a website. [Tigs' myspace site]
Mittens -- Big Decisions
Mittens are a Boston trio priding themselves on "melodic, enduring, concise" music. They cite Squeeze and Violent Femmes as influence, sensibly enough. This is a pastoral song: an oak tree, a breeze, warm sun, lying on a spot of short grass with fields on all sides. There's an understated serenity to the song, the lyrics about living in the moment.
[Mittens' official site, with three more downloads]
[Mittens' Myspace account]
from the "palm/forehead" department:
•Red Ruin did a noteworthy post on international hip-hop some time back that I've kept forgetting to post about. Apparently there's another in the works.
•Birdy Nam Nam plays some neat turntablism, but either myspace is choking yet again or Birdy Nam Nam doesn't allow downloads. Their official site has a Flash-only interface, some videos, and also no mp3s. Ah well.
•Here's MORESUKINE, the weblog of a German comic artist living in Tokyo, accepting assignments and drawing them for his comic strips. Nice work he has up. I especially like the roller coaster assignment.
From the "you might not care" department:
I got a volunteer job recently with a boss who makes William Faulkner look concise. It's making me rethink my approach to writing--luckily, purposeful self-reflection is usually not a bad thing.
Morningbell, Mittens, Tigs
from the "I really love this band and I have them on a mix CD I'll be posting eventually and I didn't want to post them twice but, you know what, I really love this band" department:Morningbell -- Me Bastard 2003
Morningbell is a band from Gainesville FL who introduce themselves in their second release as "a rock band that wants you to be a happy person" and follow the introduction with the request "Please be nice to people today." I can dig it.
A musical genetic analysis of their work shows White Album Beatles crossed with the Flaming Lips, dipped in Amnesiac-era Radiohead and dusted with Pet Sounds: somewhat moody work that tends to float downstream skystruck, running slowly ashore, pushing off again gently, drifting, sounding odd and effortlessly beautiful. The harmonies, the melodies, the instrumentation, the arrangements: all top-notch.
And this song: melodic passive-aggressiveness. "I will be there if you call me / I will be there if you call," with "call me, bastard" as a lovely singalong. Bonus points for bass solo spotlight, guitar freakout, and Wyld Stallyns ending.
I think Morningbell and Bishop Allen are vying for the title "Best Unsigned Pop/Rock Band in the States."
[Morningbell's Myspace page, with some other great tracks]
[Morningbell's website with some songs which are, well, mostly live and not nearly as good]
from the "Here's something neat in my inbox" department:
Tigs -- Don't Tell Me
Alicia "Tigs" Huertas plays punk tinged with country and touches of Siouxsie and Television.
From the press release:
Part Spanish and born into a bohemian musician family Tigs grew up in the sleepy Gloucestershire town of Woodchester. She started writing her songs as an 18 year old college drop out bumming around Bristol on the dole. A family friend put her in touch with French producer Dimitri Tikovoi (Placebo, Ravonettes) and together they started recording her dark, brooding songs.
Going to New York in 2004, Tigs blagged her way into an aftershow party and met Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner. Within weeks, they were recording together in former Smashing Pumpkin James Iha's Stratosphere Sound Studios in New York.
What the press release fails to mention is that Nick Zinner's guitar can scorch your eyebrows and that Huertas can sing with hurricane force, blowing out your windows and crashing a tree on your house.
I can't decide if that guitar solo is brilliantly jarring or just jarring, but it's definitely strongly felt, to the point, and in service of the song. And the song is much too busy kicking ass to stop and smell the roses. So maybe brilliant?
It seems Tigs doesn't yet have a website. [Tigs' myspace site]
Mittens -- Big Decisions
Mittens are a Boston trio priding themselves on "melodic, enduring, concise" music. They cite Squeeze and Violent Femmes as influence, sensibly enough. This is a pastoral song: an oak tree, a breeze, warm sun, lying on a spot of short grass with fields on all sides. There's an understated serenity to the song, the lyrics about living in the moment.
[Mittens' official site, with three more downloads]
[Mittens' Myspace account]
from the "palm/forehead" department:
•Red Ruin did a noteworthy post on international hip-hop some time back that I've kept forgetting to post about. Apparently there's another in the works.
•Birdy Nam Nam plays some neat turntablism, but either myspace is choking yet again or Birdy Nam Nam doesn't allow downloads. Their official site has a Flash-only interface, some videos, and also no mp3s. Ah well.
•Here's MORESUKINE, the weblog of a German comic artist living in Tokyo, accepting assignments and drawing them for his comic strips. Nice work he has up. I especially like the roller coaster assignment.
From the "you might not care" department:
I got a volunteer job recently with a boss who makes William Faulkner look concise. It's making me rethink my approach to writing--luckily, purposeful self-reflection is usually not a bad thing.
Labels: indie, pop, punk, rock
posted by Tuwa @
12:25 | permalink |
9 comments
|
Wednesday, February 22, 2006:
Here's a song from Peasant, who found me through Said the Gramophone (keep crankin', fellas!) and sent along a link to more of his work. Good points here: the tremulous falsetto, the way the guitar slides and hops and chicka-chickas, the notes on the high end ringing out friendly! unafraid! listen up!, the lulls in the delivery, lines like "Got to keep on movin', movin' along / Life is too short and misery too long" delivered as a sweet singalong. This song is apple pie with a crumbly cranberry/almond crust.
[Peasant's site]
Thunderegg -- You Showed Them to Me
"You Showed Them to Me" is a whimsical whiplash romance and anti-romance, from meet-cute to consummation to meeting the parents to meeting in court to sort out property rights. "Them" in the title is, in each verse: poems, unspecified things formerly beneath a shirt, parents, and children on weekend visitation.
The track is from Open Book, Will Georgantas' collection of every song Thunderegg recorded from 1995 through 2004. Most of it is pop/rock but there are also dips into folk/pop, country, and electronica; over the years "Thunderegg" has gone from Georgantas and a four-track to a full band with backup vocals. I think I like the self-titled the most, but with over 200 tracks to choose from there's plenty of room for differing opinions.
[Thunderegg's site]
Bishop Allen -- Ghosts Are Good Company
Sean has it that Bishop Allen is the best unsigned rock band in the U.S. Some days I think he's right, and other days I think that honor goes to a local band I haven't yet posted (soon, I hope!... still waiting on one final review to come in on that mix CD). But make no mistake about it, Bishop Allen are good: gleeful, catchy, accomplished, with a great sense of melody and composition.
The band's releasing an EP a month this year. February is not yet released, but January made for a great start.
[Bishop Allen's site], with more downloads for yer perusal. Especially recommended: "Little Black Ache" and "Eve of Destruction."
Peasant, Thunderegg, Bishop Allen
Peasant -- Sun, Moon, SingHere's a song from Peasant, who found me through Said the Gramophone (keep crankin', fellas!) and sent along a link to more of his work. Good points here: the tremulous falsetto, the way the guitar slides and hops and chicka-chickas, the notes on the high end ringing out friendly! unafraid! listen up!, the lulls in the delivery, lines like "Got to keep on movin', movin' along / Life is too short and misery too long" delivered as a sweet singalong. This song is apple pie with a crumbly cranberry/almond crust.
[Peasant's site]
Thunderegg -- You Showed Them to Me
"You Showed Them to Me" is a whimsical whiplash romance and anti-romance, from meet-cute to consummation to meeting the parents to meeting in court to sort out property rights. "Them" in the title is, in each verse: poems, unspecified things formerly beneath a shirt, parents, and children on weekend visitation.
The track is from Open Book, Will Georgantas' collection of every song Thunderegg recorded from 1995 through 2004. Most of it is pop/rock but there are also dips into folk/pop, country, and electronica; over the years "Thunderegg" has gone from Georgantas and a four-track to a full band with backup vocals. I think I like the self-titled the most, but with over 200 tracks to choose from there's plenty of room for differing opinions.
[Thunderegg's site]
Bishop Allen -- Ghosts Are Good Company
Sean has it that Bishop Allen is the best unsigned rock band in the U.S. Some days I think he's right, and other days I think that honor goes to a local band I haven't yet posted (soon, I hope!... still waiting on one final review to come in on that mix CD). But make no mistake about it, Bishop Allen are good: gleeful, catchy, accomplished, with a great sense of melody and composition.
The band's releasing an EP a month this year. February is not yet released, but January made for a great start.
[Bishop Allen's site], with more downloads for yer perusal. Especially recommended: "Little Black Ache" and "Eve of Destruction."
posted by Tuwa @
01:35 | permalink |
1 comments
|
Wednesday, January 25, 2006:
Here's a bit of sunshiney easy-going funky R&B certain to put a grin on yer mug. The Doobies wrote it, sure; but I think it's better here, without the thick glasses and the bowtie. (Thanks, Andy, for the correction--you're right; I had it backwards.)
This track is from the 3+3 incarnation of the Isley Brothers; it isn't rare at all, but it is great.
[Isley Brothers -- 3 + 3 @ amazon.com]
Team Clermont (a PR firm) sends me a fair amount of emails promoting various bands (sometimes promoting the same bands and songs they've been promoting, and sometimes promoting something not previously mentioned) (but at least they're not sending links to e-cards with the songs embedded, a sure-fire way to have their songs not listened to). Some of Team Clermont's bands are absolutely not my cup of tea, but there have been things I've liked in what they've sent:
Meredith Bragg and The Terminals -- Work and Winter
"Work and Winter" is a folkish pop tune: acoustic guitars, an occasional triangle, keyboards in the background, stuttering drums accenting the song's angularity, all of it smoothed over with that vocal melody like mannah from heaven.
Jeff Merchant -- Landlord Song
"Landlord Song" finds the narrator living in a dive and trying to make light of it; the flutes, the easy open melodies, and the gently drifting pace help give the song a falsely bucolic feel.
Jeff Merchant's myspace page.
...
I took part in the Metafilter swap at the end of last year. So far I've received three of the five mixes and they've been uniformly excellent; if everyone else is as happy with what I sent as I am with what they sent, then they're very happy indeed.
...
Neil Gaiman points to a bad agent. I point there too: it's a good read. You couldn't make this stuff up (or, if you did, people would say it's too absurd to be good fiction; no one would believe it).
Isley Brothers -- Listen to the Music
Isley Brothers -- Listen to the MusicHere's a bit of sunshiney easy-going funky R&B certain to put a grin on yer mug. The Doobies wrote it, sure; but I think it's better here, without the thick glasses and the bowtie. (Thanks, Andy, for the correction--you're right; I had it backwards.)
This track is from the 3+3 incarnation of the Isley Brothers; it isn't rare at all, but it is great.
[Isley Brothers -- 3 + 3 @ amazon.com]
Team Clermont (a PR firm) sends me a fair amount of emails promoting various bands (sometimes promoting the same bands and songs they've been promoting, and sometimes promoting something not previously mentioned) (but at least they're not sending links to e-cards with the songs embedded, a sure-fire way to have their songs not listened to). Some of Team Clermont's bands are absolutely not my cup of tea, but there have been things I've liked in what they've sent:
Meredith Bragg and The Terminals -- Work and Winter
"Work and Winter" is a folkish pop tune: acoustic guitars, an occasional triangle, keyboards in the background, stuttering drums accenting the song's angularity, all of it smoothed over with that vocal melody like mannah from heaven.
Jeff Merchant -- Landlord Song
"Landlord Song" finds the narrator living in a dive and trying to make light of it; the flutes, the easy open melodies, and the gently drifting pace help give the song a falsely bucolic feel.
Jeff Merchant's myspace page.
...
I took part in the Metafilter swap at the end of last year. So far I've received three of the five mixes and they've been uniformly excellent; if everyone else is as happy with what I sent as I am with what they sent, then they're very happy indeed.
...
Neil Gaiman points to a bad agent. I point there too: it's a good read. You couldn't make this stuff up (or, if you did, people would say it's too absurd to be good fiction; no one would believe it).
posted by Tuwa @
12:53 | permalink |
6 comments
|
Wednesday, November 30, 2005:
This song is like an overnight drive back to your loved ones, sunrise glinting through the trees. You're tired but you can't stop, and besides, you've had too much coffee to sleep. So you drive on and stop occasionally to get out and walk around and bring some feeling back into your legs. In the car you pound on the steering wheel in time, looking out at all the mostly-empty streets; you pound on the steering wheel and sing along, poorly, loudly, because it makes the time go faster. In your neighborhood you watch the people stepping out bleary-eyed and bathrobed to collect the paper, and then it's one turn more and you've arrived and parked and let yourself in. Your family is up already and it's big hugs all around and a home-cooked breakfast. And then suddenly you are tired, and once things quiet down a bit you sit talking and find yourself dozing, perfectly at peace, and sprawl out on the couch and someone comes up and puts the blankets over you.
Why do the stars jump side to side? I don't know, but they do. They do.
[seems Ian Love has no website.]
Listing Ship -- Chinese Song
This one's like the next day--or is it the next season?--raking leaves, baking pumpkin pie, sipping apple cider. The song's got a cloistered warmth to it, a sort of autumnal peacefulness in the strings that's belied by the lyrics.
I love the crazy instrumentation--what's that, bass, woodblocks, violin, theremin? Is it? Works for me. Folkadelic.
[Listing Ship's site]
...
I got these two in a PR email yesterday from Team Clermont Publicity. Pleasant surprises....
There are other emails I've read but not yet followed through on, and still others that I've downloaded and liked and for some reason not yet posted. There's really no rhyme or reason to it. I'm sorry.
Ian Love and Listing Ship
Ian Love -- The Only NightThis song is like an overnight drive back to your loved ones, sunrise glinting through the trees. You're tired but you can't stop, and besides, you've had too much coffee to sleep. So you drive on and stop occasionally to get out and walk around and bring some feeling back into your legs. In the car you pound on the steering wheel in time, looking out at all the mostly-empty streets; you pound on the steering wheel and sing along, poorly, loudly, because it makes the time go faster. In your neighborhood you watch the people stepping out bleary-eyed and bathrobed to collect the paper, and then it's one turn more and you've arrived and parked and let yourself in. Your family is up already and it's big hugs all around and a home-cooked breakfast. And then suddenly you are tired, and once things quiet down a bit you sit talking and find yourself dozing, perfectly at peace, and sprawl out on the couch and someone comes up and puts the blankets over you.
Why do the stars jump side to side? I don't know, but they do. They do.
[seems Ian Love has no website.]
Listing Ship -- Chinese Song
This one's like the next day--or is it the next season?--raking leaves, baking pumpkin pie, sipping apple cider. The song's got a cloistered warmth to it, a sort of autumnal peacefulness in the strings that's belied by the lyrics.
I love the crazy instrumentation--what's that, bass, woodblocks, violin, theremin? Is it? Works for me. Folkadelic.
[Listing Ship's site]
...
I got these two in a PR email yesterday from Team Clermont Publicity. Pleasant surprises....
There are other emails I've read but not yet followed through on, and still others that I've downloaded and liked and for some reason not yet posted. There's really no rhyme or reason to it. I'm sorry.
posted by Tuwa @
02:17 | permalink |
8 comments
|
Wednesday, November 02, 2005:
Walter Meego -- Usually
Sometimes you get an email that makes it feel like Christmas. Sometimes that email comes from Walter Meego.
Said email might start off like this: "Hello. Will you listen to this track?" (which, if you're me, prompts the mental response "I don't know. Maybe. Keep going"), and might follow that up with a mention that the song will be released soon and that if I like it I can post it. Direct and to the point. So I go to the URL and download it and give it a listen. It starts off with some fragile percussion, an approaching warbling noise, a rumble of conversation, and what sounds like a young Jimmy Stewart (is that right? I can't place the dialogue)--then up with the distorted guitar, the bouncy drumbeat, the delirious horns. At 1:25, the filtered vocals: a feel of old-school jazz (think 1930s and 40s) melded with electronica and shoved out onto the dancefloor.
Walter Meego is (or "are," depending on your location) a band consisting of Justin Sconza, Colin Yarck, and Jarrett Spiegel. Davis Jones (the band's manager) tells me their press agent describes the song as "about yearning, about brand new love and butterflies in stomachs," which is a better description than I'd had, so I'll thank them and lift it shamelessly. The band has had some press already (coverage on German radio) though I can't work out from their "news" page where they are or are from ("Chicago," says their Myspace page. Also, "We're a three-headed monster of musical mayhem. We're a freakish, axe-slaying, beat-crushing pack of disco ninjas.")
The Walter Meego website has an acoustic version of the track offered (ripe for additional remixes? I think so) as well as other tracks for download. It's a well-designed site and, thankfully, it's too damn sensible to use Flash for everything. No. It is like that email: simple, direct, and clear.
Walter Meego's Myspace page
...
Then, sometimes, you get an email that you don't know what to do with.
I've been informed by someone who works for a PR firm that I am a "reputable influencer"; following through to the link in the sig I see that the firm is looking to start "grassroots marketing," claiming it places products in the "hands of influential tastemakers and trendsetters" and "develops and manages groups of 'Brand Loyalists' that become micro-marketing armies."
All of which gives me roughly the same feeling you might have when eyeing the dinner meat just after watching Leolo or reading Portnoy's Complaint. Which is to say, an instinctual revulsion. I'm not sure I'm a tastemaker, or a "reputable influencer" (or, for that matter, a reputable anything), but this PR firm thinks so, and wants my help, and after pondering it a bit I decided I shouldn't shoot the messenger for the delivery. The DVD they want mentioned looked cool, so I'll mention it. I've often enough been in a situation where I didn't understand all the social conventions, so I shouldn't hold it against anyone else when it happens to them.
I've emailed some other musicbloggers to get their take on it and there are a range of reactions, from the gently amused to the purely pragmatic, but one reaction that I didn't see was an agreement with the PR firms that we are or should be "tastemakers." If anything, I think people like what they like and sometimes just haven't yet been exposed to. I remember the first time I heard Sister Rosetta Tharpe, A Band of Bees, DJ Shadow, The 5.6.7.8's (and, earlier, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Cure....) Some bands take warming up to; others you like immediately. No one made you do it; if anything, it was a pleasure to find something new, something that hadn't been dumped out of a can and heated until it was lukewarm.
Where I am, at least, Clear Channel is the tastemaker--lukewarm canned spinach, day in, day out, then the music industry wants to act surprised when people say something like "damn! but I'm sick of lukewarm canned spinach." For someone who loves music, starting a musicblog is only the natural response to boring redundant monolithic programming. If it's the carrot and the stick, fine, so be it, and if I've got the carrot, that's because Clear Channel chose the stick.
I think we musicbloggers mostly just post what we like, and if others like it too we're always stoked about it, but sometimes there's not any response, which can leave you wondering if anyone gives a damn. Of all the musicbloggers I know, I think John Seroff consistently gets the most comments, and that's because he posts questions each time. Even a huge site like Said the Gramophone will sometimes get only a few comments. That's a microscopic percentage of their visitors, so it's hard to know what anyone thinks--silence could mean any number of things. We all love comments; we sometimes ask for them, or write about them, or pose questions to provoke them, but for the most part they don't happen. Which, coupled with just doing what we love anyway, even if it doesn't get a response, gives rather a different impression from that of a PR firm telling us how important we are.
Which brings me back to the uneasy feeling, the instinctual revulsion, the uncertainty how to respond. I won't speak for all musicbloggers because I'm only one of them, but I'm posting here because I love music. The songs might be ones I've known for decades and ripped from an LP that's out of print; they might be digitized from a movie playing on the VCR; they might be from an email I got early this morning. The source is entirely incidental to the music, and if any certain product goes up amazon's rankings, that's great, but it's not my primary concern. I'm happy to help out musicians who put out music I like, but first and foremost I need to like it. Which is by way of saying, for me at least, flattery is not required. Show me something cool instead.
As for the "marketing armies," if I wanted to be part of someone's "army" I would have, well, joined the Army, and I'm fairly certain that I'd rather be spoken to plainly than to be eyed like a pawn on a chessboard.
...
In [cough, cough] completely unrelated news, The Concert for Bangladesh DVD (the celebrity musician concert held in the early 1970s with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ravi Shankar, Klaus Voorman(!), and Billy Preston) has been re-released. There's the older release with some details in amazon.com's catalog about features and then a new deluxe edition which I would assume has more features than the earlier version, though there's no evidence of it in the item description.
Walter Meego -- Usually. and reputable influencers
Walter Meego -- Usually
Sometimes you get an email that makes it feel like Christmas. Sometimes that email comes from Walter Meego.
Said email might start off like this: "Hello. Will you listen to this track?" (which, if you're me, prompts the mental response "I don't know. Maybe. Keep going"), and might follow that up with a mention that the song will be released soon and that if I like it I can post it. Direct and to the point. So I go to the URL and download it and give it a listen. It starts off with some fragile percussion, an approaching warbling noise, a rumble of conversation, and what sounds like a young Jimmy Stewart (is that right? I can't place the dialogue)--then up with the distorted guitar, the bouncy drumbeat, the delirious horns. At 1:25, the filtered vocals: a feel of old-school jazz (think 1930s and 40s) melded with electronica and shoved out onto the dancefloor.
Walter Meego is (or "are," depending on your location) a band consisting of Justin Sconza, Colin Yarck, and Jarrett Spiegel. Davis Jones (the band's manager) tells me their press agent describes the song as "about yearning, about brand new love and butterflies in stomachs," which is a better description than I'd had, so I'll thank them and lift it shamelessly. The band has had some press already (coverage on German radio) though I can't work out from their "news" page where they are or are from ("Chicago," says their Myspace page. Also, "We're a three-headed monster of musical mayhem. We're a freakish, axe-slaying, beat-crushing pack of disco ninjas.")
The Walter Meego website has an acoustic version of the track offered (ripe for additional remixes? I think so) as well as other tracks for download. It's a well-designed site and, thankfully, it's too damn sensible to use Flash for everything. No. It is like that email: simple, direct, and clear.
Walter Meego's Myspace page
...
Then, sometimes, you get an email that you don't know what to do with.
I've been informed by someone who works for a PR firm that I am a "reputable influencer"; following through to the link in the sig I see that the firm is looking to start "grassroots marketing," claiming it places products in the "hands of influential tastemakers and trendsetters" and "develops and manages groups of 'Brand Loyalists' that become micro-marketing armies."
All of which gives me roughly the same feeling you might have when eyeing the dinner meat just after watching Leolo or reading Portnoy's Complaint. Which is to say, an instinctual revulsion. I'm not sure I'm a tastemaker, or a "reputable influencer" (or, for that matter, a reputable anything), but this PR firm thinks so, and wants my help, and after pondering it a bit I decided I shouldn't shoot the messenger for the delivery. The DVD they want mentioned looked cool, so I'll mention it. I've often enough been in a situation where I didn't understand all the social conventions, so I shouldn't hold it against anyone else when it happens to them.
I've emailed some other musicbloggers to get their take on it and there are a range of reactions, from the gently amused to the purely pragmatic, but one reaction that I didn't see was an agreement with the PR firms that we are or should be "tastemakers." If anything, I think people like what they like and sometimes just haven't yet been exposed to. I remember the first time I heard Sister Rosetta Tharpe, A Band of Bees, DJ Shadow, The 5.6.7.8's (and, earlier, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Cure....) Some bands take warming up to; others you like immediately. No one made you do it; if anything, it was a pleasure to find something new, something that hadn't been dumped out of a can and heated until it was lukewarm.
Where I am, at least, Clear Channel is the tastemaker--lukewarm canned spinach, day in, day out, then the music industry wants to act surprised when people say something like "damn! but I'm sick of lukewarm canned spinach." For someone who loves music, starting a musicblog is only the natural response to boring redundant monolithic programming. If it's the carrot and the stick, fine, so be it, and if I've got the carrot, that's because Clear Channel chose the stick.
I think we musicbloggers mostly just post what we like, and if others like it too we're always stoked about it, but sometimes there's not any response, which can leave you wondering if anyone gives a damn. Of all the musicbloggers I know, I think John Seroff consistently gets the most comments, and that's because he posts questions each time. Even a huge site like Said the Gramophone will sometimes get only a few comments. That's a microscopic percentage of their visitors, so it's hard to know what anyone thinks--silence could mean any number of things. We all love comments; we sometimes ask for them, or write about them, or pose questions to provoke them, but for the most part they don't happen. Which, coupled with just doing what we love anyway, even if it doesn't get a response, gives rather a different impression from that of a PR firm telling us how important we are.
Which brings me back to the uneasy feeling, the instinctual revulsion, the uncertainty how to respond. I won't speak for all musicbloggers because I'm only one of them, but I'm posting here because I love music. The songs might be ones I've known for decades and ripped from an LP that's out of print; they might be digitized from a movie playing on the VCR; they might be from an email I got early this morning. The source is entirely incidental to the music, and if any certain product goes up amazon's rankings, that's great, but it's not my primary concern. I'm happy to help out musicians who put out music I like, but first and foremost I need to like it. Which is by way of saying, for me at least, flattery is not required. Show me something cool instead.
As for the "marketing armies," if I wanted to be part of someone's "army" I would have, well, joined the Army, and I'm fairly certain that I'd rather be spoken to plainly than to be eyed like a pawn on a chessboard.
...
In [cough, cough] completely unrelated news, The Concert for Bangladesh DVD (the celebrity musician concert held in the early 1970s with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ravi Shankar, Klaus Voorman(!), and Billy Preston) has been re-released. There's the older release with some details in amazon.com's catalog about features and then a new deluxe edition which I would assume has more features than the earlier version, though there's no evidence of it in the item description.
Labels: electronica, indie, personal, PR
posted by Tuwa @
11:57 | permalink |
6 comments
|