Some of my favourite webdev creative types are, not suprisingly, also talented musicians. Here's a little sampling (name : website : band/music site : mp3)
Chris Wetherell : massless.org : Dealership : Toujours Ta Fille
Eric Costello : glish.com : Best Option : You Called Me
Scott Andrew : scottandrew.com : Walkingbirds : Hello You
Jeffrey Zeldman : zeldman.com : waterbox : Invaders
p.s. Happy Birthday Chris ! and Happy 7th Anniversary to The Daily Report !
{i changed the dealership song link so it actually links to a dealership song. the previous link was in fact to a song by from bubblegum to sky. my appologies to all - me and my bad brain}
posted by
Dylan Foley at 7:30 PM
[ 2059 comments ]
:: ^top^
Nightingales may sing in Berkeley Square, but Marta Gómez sings in Harvard Square
And she's much better than any bird.
Serendipity reigned as I walked to an appointment in Harvard Square today. This woman in a hot pink shirt was singing gorgeous Latin music, backed by an acoustic guitarist and a drummer. I prayed they'd be there when I got back, and not only were they, she had a CD for sale! Hurray! Marta Gómez is from Colombia and she sings like an angel in many different styles, from Cuban son to Colombian bambuco. I particularly like song #5, "El Hormigueo." You can contact her via email (no website listed). The CD was $15, or for Boston locals, go down to Harvard Square and listen up in person! There are actually 9 tracks on the CD, one isn't listed for some reason...
posted by
Shannon Okey at 3:45 PM
[ 834 comments ]
:: ^top^
I was fortunate enough to catch Scratch, a documentary on hip-hop DJing and the growth of turntablism as an accepted musical art form, last night and cannot recommend it enough. For little white kids like me who grew up idolizing the early geniuses of the form like Grandmaster Flash, the film is both a joyous nostalgia trip and a thrilling look at those taking it to the next level. And the music? Oy jeez, some of the flyist business these ears have heard!
So who then? Names like DJ Qbert, DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist might not immediately ring a bell but you'll find their lunatic patiche of hip-hop, funk, jazz and ambient noise all over the albums of bands like Jurassic 5, Kool Keith, Blackalicious, and Ozomatli, on the soundtracks of films like Dark Days and the animated spectacular Wave Twisters. And lest we doubt that turnablism is either a passing fad or merely sampling from real music, last year, in the era of the mp3, turntables outsold electric guitars.
DJ Shadow: Psyence Fiction (Select from "Audio Player")
posted by
Kevin Smokler at 1:21 PM
[ 688 comments ]
:: ^top^
Seeing Heavenly on the soozradio playlist reminded me of my younger days when Riot Grrl was in full swing and I was all about starting a band, starting a zine, joining the Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade because it had cute boys... (oh, wait - that last one was my friend Krissy. Never mind). And so I did a Google search on three of my favorite labels from that time: Simple Machines (defunct, but still putting out their back catalogue), Dischord and K Records.
Jenny and Kristin of the band Tsunami were the driving forces behind Simple Machines, which published the Mechanic's Guide to putting out your own records in the early 1990s. (a PDF version from 2000 is available here). After Sassy magazine made it 'cool zine of the month,' their popularity shot through the roof. One really cool project they did was Working Holiday, a once-a-month 45 rpm (yes, vinyl) subscription in 1993 similar to the infamous Sub Pop singles collection. Working Holiday is now handily compiled into one CD with booklet - available via Dischord mailorder here. Bratmobile, Scrawl (from Columbus! yay!) and other fine bands abounded on SM.
Dischord is and was the pet project of Ian McKaye from Fugazi. They put out super-punk music, and back in the day they were the place to find "straight-edge" records. One favorite album from a Dischord band is Nation of Ulysses' 13-Point Program To Destroy America, featuring the vocal stylings of Ian Svenonius (a former Sassiest Boy In America...I am convinced that Sassy magazine was a major influence on decent rock in the early 90s) on "You're My Miss Washington D.C." and other fine tunes.
K Records held down the fort on the west coast, particularly the Olympia-Seattle hop that gave Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill (now in Le Tigre) and other Pacific Northwest bands to the world. Dig through their catalog, it's chock full of MP3s. You can cheat and just look at the directory here (for some reason the link I put up to Heavenly's "P.U.N.K. Girl" wasn't working, so try this method instead). K put together the International Pop Underground Convention compilation CD (HIGHLY recommended, for the Spinanes, Bratmobile, L7 and Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet...and more)
Sigh, riot grrl nostalgia. Who'd have thought it?
posted by
Shannon Okey at 10:14 AM
[ 1343 comments ]
:: ^top^
Semi-Human Robot Trapped In The Machine Music
Courtesy of Consolation Champs, circa December 2000:
Some time back, a friend of mine talked about his love for a little known genre of music he called "shred" metal. I've been thinking of one of my own beloved sub-genres, although I don't even know if it has a name. Concentrated around the years 1979-1981, this music's hallmarks are robotic (though not electronic) drumming, and cold vocals. My best description would be "semi-human robot trapped in the machine" music. Representative of this made-up genre would be The Cure's "Seventeen Seconds" (1980) and "Faith" (1981) records, Gary Numan's "Replicas" (1979)*, and probably all of Joy Division. I don't know why I like it so much. I was about 15 when most of it came out, so that could explain a lot. While some (most) might find the beat monotonous, I find it hypnotic. And strangely enough, when music like this was made outside of this time period, it generally sucked (witness anything post-"Replicas" by Gary Numan). Also, it can't be too self-conscious or campy; therefore, while I like Kraftwerk, they don't quite fit in here. Of course, I like lots of music, and this stuff sometimes still seems like a childish indulgence, but whenever I hear the intro to The Cure's "A Forest," I'm hooked. I guess it was my generation's version of Goth music. Dark, cold, creepy, but with a heart beating somewhere underneath. Perfect for describing teenagers.
* I took a theatre class in Grade 10 and for one exercise, I made an "alien" mask and pranced around to Gary Numan's "I Nearly Married a Human." Thank God there's no evidence.
posted by
James McNally at 2:17 PM
[ 524 comments ]
:: ^top^
If this weekend had a soundtrack, here's what it would look like.
Tina and the B-sides : Deliver Me
Lloyd Cole : Don't Look Back
Sparkola : Working On It
Soltero : Communist Love Song
Gord Downie : Insomniacs of the World Unite
posted by
sooz at 9:18 PM
[ 76 comments ]
:: ^top^
Late-breaking Siberry update (calling all angels, and speak of the devil)...
Courtesy of the latest Museletter, freshly arrived in my inbox. The Sheeba web store will temporarily re-open through 2 June to handle demand for the Anthology. Summer tour dates in NYC announced. And once again, Jane's Patron program is in effect (you can pay towards studio time for her newest project, another Siberry first as far as I know).
posted by
Shannon Okey at 10:03 PM
[ 16 comments ]
:: ^top^
Supporting artist-run labels is a good thing...
Six years ago 17 May, Jane Siberry started her own label, Sheeba Records. She's not the first artist to do so, of course, but she's one of the more successful female artists to make it work. Madonna can afford to buy any producers or artists in the world if she wants them badly enough for Maverick; Jane gets by on talent.
Similar to the Grassy Hill Barn concerts Dylan describes below, Jane has done small tours where she appears at private events staged by her fans (think street team on steroids). In the early years, she did auctions of Jane memorabilia to fund the label (selling the bustier she wore on the cover of "Maria," hand-written song lyrics and more). She released an album called "A Day In The Life" where you hear the minutiae of her day...from a NYC cab ride to yoga class to sound check. Jane is an eclectic performer, relying mostly on simple but dramatic arrangements and her own stunning voice. She used both to good advantage on "Hush," an album of traditional songs released in 2000 ("Jacob?s Ladder," "All Through The Night," "Pontchartrain").
You've probably heard at least one of her songs. "Calling All Angels" (link is free song download from Amazon.com) and "It Can't Rain All The Time" have both been on several film soundtracks.
The Sheeba store is temporarily closed, but keep an eye on the site (I suggest subscribing to her Museletter; it's a welcome arrival in my inbox) - she occasionally has MP3 downloads available. You can purchase the Siberry anthology Love Is Everything directly from Sheeba. 30 songs from 20 years only $31.98? A bargain. Yes, it's cheaper on Amazon, but you want more money to go to Jane, right? Plus she sometimes throws in good extra prizes in the shipping box...
Recommended Jane Siberry : Love Is Everything : Temple, Everything Reminds Me Of My Dog
Amazon At A Glance Page: Siberry
Recommended individual albums: Child (Music For The Christmas Season), When I Was A Boy, Collection 1984-1989 (I love the songs "Miss Punta Blanca" and "Ingrid And The Footman")
posted by
Shannon Okey at 6:49 PM
[ 140 comments ]
:: ^top^
Hi everyone, my name is Dylan Foley and, thanks to a kind invitation from sooz, I'm your new canadian conspirator. I've enjoyed dropping in here and finding links to some really great music - I hope to add to the good groove that's been set in motion here.
Radio has always been a favourite medium of mine and streaming internet radio is like manna from heaven. With every style of music you can imagine(and some you may not have dreamt of yet) coming from all over the globe, internet radio rocks my world. So I'll be mixing things up here by offering up some links to the homesites of some of my favourite radio streams.
For my first recommendation, I offer you Grassy Hill Radio, an amazing folk music station from Connecticut.
They also put on the monthly Grassy Hill Barn Concert. This is one example of the maturing trend in folk music to house concerts, which began when fans invited performers into their living rooms to perform before small gatherings of friends. These concerts now take place in some bigger, yet still intimate, spaces and attract some bigger names, often artists looking for a gig between bigger dates or as warm up venues. Promotion ranges from word-of-mouth to invitations via e-mail lists. Look for one near your home town.
posted by
Dylan Foley at 11:04 PM
[ 166 comments ]
:: ^top^
recommendation: Audio Learning Center
This album was released a couple months ago to sadly minimal fanfare...
It's the debut album from the Audio Learning Center, titled "Friendships Often Fade Away", and it's an amazing piece of work. The main man behind the band is Chris Brady, former bassist/singer for the vastly underappreciated, and immensely talented band Pond.
Chris is an excellent songwriter, a truly innovative bass player, and it's a damn good thing he kept writing and recording after Pond broke up. Songs of heartbreak, medication, growing older, and broken robots. Go to Vagrant Records for a free mp3 ('Favorite'... the poppiest song on the record, not entirely indicative of the more somber and introspective tone of the rest of the record).
The band is on tour, hitting Boston on Tuesday the 21st at the Middle East. Pond was a stellar live band, and I expect no less from ALC. (and yes, you can still catch the Buffy season finale and make it to their set ;) ).
posted by
Brad Searles at 1:19 PM
[ 1 comment ]
:: ^top^
If Billy Corgan could sing ...
He might sound like Randall Scott of the Anchorage band Railer. I first heard the band's music when they submitted their tunes for the playlist on soozradio. Randall's voice does sound a little bit like Billy Corgan with one significant difference: his voice sounds much better than the Smashing Pumpkins singer. If you like Garbage, Depeche Mode and Radiohead then you'll love Railer. The band just released their debut CD "Frame of Mind." It will be available at CDBaby.com on May 31st.
Railer : Frame of Mind : Kiss Fix
Here's the sweeper that Randall recorded for soozradio. Nice voice. ;)
posted by sooz at 2:08 PM