The Shape of the Earth
I discovered The Shape of the Earth via music blogs and have put their album on repeat ever since. Is this proof that mainstream promotion of an album has a very small impact on discovering good new music? I’m not sure. But I didn’t hear about them first from Pitchfork or Rolling Stone…
From the first listen of the album I was sold. There’s something about them that is brutally honest. It speaks to you but doesn’t get forced on your ears. They clearly put their music first and worry about the rest second. This is one of the many reasons why I love them. (more…)
Instructions for Insomniacs
I’m not one to promote new music. (and this music isn’t really new) Everything I find is because of fellow music bloggers and friends who just go nuts over music. So I’ll let them continue on with what they do best and occasionally I may chime in (kinda like now).
This band came to me from a friend we’ll call ‘Bob’. He and I worked together for a while and traded off music like it was sorority girls at slutty colleges. (I went to Berklee so I know nothing of sorority girls and their ways and apologize for stereotyping but oddly was the first reference I could think of).
What exactly is indie music?
The term indie music is thrown around all the time. And it always leads me to question what that term exactly defines. Is Arcade Fire still considered indie? How about The Shins? Probably not.
This year I came across the rawest form of indie I have ever experienced in my years of music listening. And I didn’t have to look further than the dyson name for it. It came from an unknown artist called Greg Dyson (yes, we’re related)
Hum for the Holidays, Vol. 00003
As most of you are aware, we are quickly approaching 2010, with the general (and I would say correct) consensus being that this is the end of the decade. For me, this is a rather dire situation, because unless something changes in the next week or two, this will be the first decade in a long time to not carry with it a signature holiday song. Although the creation of Christmas music has drastically fallen off as a viable art form since its heyday in the 40’s and 50’s, we can still find in each decade at least one or two representatives to take with us through the subsequent holidays. (more…)
Hum for the Holidays, Vol. 000001
In the first part of my ‘Hum for the Holidays’ series, I review ‘Re: Generations’, (audio link warning) a mash-up album which takes the beloved and legendary singer Nat ‘King’ Cole and places him on top of hip-hop drum loops from the late 90’s. This is not necessarily holiday music, but its ubiquity during the shopping season places it firmly in the pantheon of other perennial holiday favorites, such as mall Santas or Black Friday homicides.
When listening, I can’t help but get the urge to buy a new pair of 3/4-length cargo pants. Perhaps this is because the key demographic for this album is Old Navy shoppers. Now, I am not referring to the many people who shop at Old Navy in between doing other things with their lives (FACT: Every American home contains at least 3 French-rib chest-stripe pullovers). No, I am referring specifically to the people currently in an Old Navy store at this very moment. (more…)
Largo LA LA
When I bought tickets to go see Jon Brion at Largo (audio warning on the link) in LA did I expect to see a good show? Absolutely. Could I ever imagined the night of music I had in store for me? NOT. A. CHANCE.
Jon came out to a stage full of gear to perform a show he puts on every Friday night. It was incredible. He ran around that stage in his tan, pin-striped suit like a musical madman. His brain tossing and turning, wondering what instrument and song to do next. Did he have a show put together? Yes. But MAN is he one who can improvise at a moments notice. (hence his SPOT ON cover of Don’t Fear the Reaper in the style of Les Paul) (more…)
The Longwalls get to shine
MTV is long gone. But the art of making a good music video is still alive. We just now have a million different mediums of getting the video out to the viewing public.
The Longwalls just recently shot a video on the grounds of Hollwood East brought to us by Plymouth Rock Studios and Rock Media. What a hell of a job they all did with it. (more…)
Animal Collective defines hype
They have done it. A band has managed to create as much buzz as The Beatles. But they have done it while holding the same amount of musical ability as Paul held in his left testicle. (on an off day mind you)
Merriweather Post Pavilion was the first actually listenable Animal Collective album I have been able to sit through. I started with Sung Tongs and have given every one of their albums since a chance. Why did I give every one a listen? Because everyone else said they were brilliant. (Pitchfork, I blame you first) (more…)
Trust your engineer
Most average music listeners don’t know what an engineer does. This honestly, is how most of them like to be known. If the engineer does a great job on an album, the people who really care will take the time to seek out who put to tape the amazing sounds the band was creating.
The average music listener will pick up an album, listen to it, and say yey or ney pretty quickly within the first track or two. And I KNOW this has a lot to do with what the engineer has done to it. (more…)
7 of the saddest songs ever
Ok. So Tulsa actually created 14 songs to date. So my title might be misleading.
But they’re last release ‘I Was Submerged’ is what drove me to pinpoint it to 7 songs. This pinpoints more of a summary of a band who are short lived that create masterpieces, and then POOF! they’re gone. (more…)
The Beatles how they were meant to be heard. In Mono?
I’ve read all about The Beatles. Geoff Emerick’s book sums up everything you would want to read. EVER.
He stressed how much time they spent working on the mono mixes of the records. Makes complete sense. 3 or 4 track recordings? How the HELL are you supposed to make those true stereo?
Well I have listened to the new mono remasters. And you know what? I love them. Most records sound better in stereo. It’s how we’re used to listening to them. But The Beatles records weren’t meant to be listened to in stereo, it was an afterthought. And anything you do during the record making process that is an afterthought is almost always a bad idea. (more…)
Male singer? Female singer? Let Stuart decide…
Belle and Sebastian happen to be one of my favorite bands. Up until the ‘Life Pursuit’ album I had no idea what they looked like. Call this cutting edge or hiding their faces from the spotlight. I don’t know.
But recently the front man Stuart Murdoch has put out a new album based off of a project involving all female singers. It’s called ‘God Help The Girl’ and from what I have heard of it I love it. Read more from his Pitchfork interview here. (more…)
Keeping it simple
I love complex music. Beach Boys (Pet Sounds and Smile albums of course), Steely Dan, and even would throw Motown into the complex category. But every once in a while there are songs and bands that blow you away with their simplicity.
Bowerbirds are a band that I have recently been introduced to who can fall into the ’simple’ category. One song in particular ‘Northern Lights’ takes simple brilliance to the extreme. Drums, acoustic guitar, bass, brief piano lines, and great vocals. That’s it. Yet within two bars of hearing this song you already are in a mood. (more…)
A great song still deserves a great video
Grizzly Bear gets a lot of hype. Is it well deserved? I can’t really comment yet. I have listened to their albums and enjoyed them thoroughly. They’re not a band to have a ‘hit single’ but it seems they may have actually made that happen with their latest release ‘Veckatimest’.
The song ‘Two Weeks’ is pure pop brilliance coming from a band who is far from pop. They make music to work, relax, fall asleep, walk your pet bear to. This may sound like a bad thing but everyone needs music like that in their musical library. (more…)
A Fleet of Foxes sounds bad, but trust me, it’s not.
I was shocked! the other day to hear that there was someone who actually disliked Fleet Foxes! I understand if you have never heard of them and have not given the album a listen… But to have an actual dislike of the band blows my mind!
There is no band I have ever found, with the small exception of the Beatles (but then again there are those mislead Stones fans we won’t speak of…) who after listening to them can collectively say ‘YES. I LOVE this band.’ Fleet Foxes has even caught the attention of a hardcore Swedish Death Metal fan I know. Everyone has their own tastes and moods and ‘times of the month’ with their musical selections. (more…)
Compilations can actually be good!
One of the first things I look for in an album is how it’s ordered. Does it flow from start to finish? Compilations lack on this front because well, they are compilations of different artists/songs put into one album.
I think I have found the best compilation ever put out. And best part? Profits go towards the Red Hot organization. Two members of The National (one of my favorite bands) decided to produce this album. And thank god for them doing this. It is brilliant. Please, coming from a guy who has dealt with AIDS in his family, consider making a purchase of this album. I’ll admit that I am a torrent guy… but there are occasions I just need to purchase albums (like Camera Obscura’s ‘My Maudlin Career’ on vinyl). Check out the samples in my sidebar, you won’t be disappointed..
You can’t judge an album by it’s cover…
We all have heard Purple Rain. Is it amazing? YES! To find out that was a ‘live’ recording absolutely blew my mind. But what really sold me on Prince was his album ‘Dirty Mind’. Why? This album is almost 100% from the mind and body of Prince.
When you can fit a track called ‘Head’ (yes it is about what you think..) and some other passionate brilliance of ‘Got a Broken Heart’ or ‘I Wanna Be Your Lover’ all into one album that leaves you with a track all about incest with his sister..you have something amazing. I know his music may not be for everyone, but there is no denying the brilliant musician that Prince is. And if you need a good starting point to find out on your own, look no further than ‘Dirty Mind’. It was made for the A.D.D age of our generation where you jump from love to sex to absolute filth all within the span of minutes.
I am one man who writes (pretty poorly) about music because I love it. I study, play, produce, engineer, analyze, and obsess about music. Enjoy all the topics I can muster up to write about.
