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}
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...
UPDATE: special thanks to Marta for allowing us to post an MP3 of "El Hormigueo." If you like it, and decide to buy the CD, let her know where you found it!
UPDATE: she now has a website at martagomez.com"!
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")
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.
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
What's your soundtrack?
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).
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")
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.
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 ;) ).
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. ;)
I want to tell you all about an amazing directory of mp3's called Mp3It.com. I have been a huge fan of this website since the first time I found it a few years ago. If you are a fan of indie music at all this is the place for you. From random streaming mp3's, to full discography's and tons of mp3 downloads this website has it all!
PS, WEEZER IS THE BEST!
I was finally able to secure a CD copy of "Spike Jones is Murdering the Classics", a German import compilation of songs by the legendary bandleader and musical comedian. When I was a young boy, my friend and down-the-street-neighbor Jeff Stringer used to play it and act out the whirl of cowbells, car horns, and glass breaking as quickly as Spike Jones threw then at us. Maybe I haven't grown up since then, but I still think inserting a belch into the world's most recognizable classical music is just plain hilarious.
A former studio musician, Jones became nationally famous during WWII by not only juxtaposing music and rediculous sounds but also lyrics entirely innapropriate for the musical style. Witness "Never hit your Grandma with a Shovel" done in barbarshop quartet to understand the depth of his genius.
Spike Jones : Strictly for Music Lovers (Box Set) :
Future Pop Shop is an independent record label and online music shop based out of Hastings on Hudson, NY. They sell an excellent assortment of independant pop delights. Check out the MP3 page for a sampling of pop tunes. My top picks include:
Allen Clapp : Available Light : Whenever We're Together
Heavenly : Heavenly Vs. Satan : Shallow (a re-release!)
Club 8 : Spring Came, Rain Fell : Spring Came, Rain Fell
Don't miss the what's new page for reviews that are well written and fun to read.
For those of you who are fans of video games I have found one site that will bring both your video game and music obsessions into one great reverberating and bouncing website.
OverClocked Remix: Video game soundtrack remixes, and many other resources for sampling and mixing and recording video game music.
Courtesy of Consolation Champs, circa January 2001:
I've been thinking about music again. I tend to like male singers only if they have strange voices (ie. speech impediments, lisps, falsetto, whatever) whereas female singers with these characteristics just annoy me. That is, the women have to be good singers, and the men, preferably not. Not sure why these distinctions. But for proof, here's a partial list:
What quirks exist in your musical tastes?
I never get tired of recommending Matt Nathanson to anybody who will listen. I caught the tail end (one song to be exact) of a concert he did in Los Angeles maybe 10 years ago and although, I had no sense of his music, I found him quite likeable and felt as a struggling musician, he deserved a break. So I paid $10 for his first album "Please."
Flash forward to 2000, I've worn "Please" down to a nub, have squaked about it endlessly to my friends and family, have managed to acquire his other 3 discs and now live in San Francisco where he is based. I've seen Matt's live show at least 5 times and my girlfriend thinks I'm going to leave her and go gay for him. But not before she can have him.
Anyway...
The music? On the surface, basic troubadour, dude-with-a-guitar kinda stuff. Think Shawn Mullins, a younger Billy Bragg perhaps. But the difference is his voice, as soulful as Aretha Franklin after Sunday dinner.
Recommended Album: Still Waiting for Spring.
Audio Tracks by Album:
Please : Ernst : Not Colored Too Perfect : Still Waiting For Spring
Back across the ocean to Columbus, Ohio, home of midwestern darlings Pretty Mighty Mighty. What do they sound like? Hmmm. My Bloody Valentine with intelligible vocals and a live violinist named Noel? No, that's not quite it. Let's just say they have a very solid rhythm section, nice jangly pop guitars and a healthy dose of college town angst. Proximity to minor fame moment: once I watched guitarist Jon Chinn format band flyers in the Ohio U computer lab. PMM used to have a Hare Krishna chick for a singer (this was around the release date of Ugly), but now John handles vocals, and quite well. He's got the plaintive Ohio boy thing down pat.
Recommended album: Famous Past Lives (available on Derailleur Records)
Pretty Mighty Mighty : Discography : MP3 download page
Thanks to Sooz, you have another collaborator. I'm James McNally, an aging audiophile who is fighting against the tide of his demographic to listen to current music at least some of the time and not end up in either of the twin hells of "Retro 80s Nights" or "White 40s Male Jazz." A couple of quick recommendations are the soundtracks for three of my favourite films: Wes Anderson's Bottle Rocket, Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums. All three films were scored by Mark Mothersbaugh, who used to lead Devo, and who has become quite an accomplished composer. His company, which includes two other Dev-iants, is called Mutato Muzika.
Here are some links:
I'm quite a film buff, so don't be surprised if a few more soundtracks show up in here (though the majority of them, like the majority of films, are just there to push artists on labels owned by the same media empire that owns the studio...).
If you want to learn about German hip-hop, Die Fantastischen Vier are the group to know. Alas, no sanctioned MP3s on their official site, but the label they run, Fourmusic.com, has a great selection. You can find music by Thomas D, the Fantas' "Mikrophonprofessor," among others (many German hip-hop artists). Thomas sang "Wish (Komm Zu Mir)" with Franka Potente on the Run Lola Run soundtrack (also highly recommended by yours truly).
When Thomas isn't rapping, he writes rather thoughtful love songs such as "Liebesbrief" (Love Letter). (If you click on the name link above, you can listen to his other solo songs by choosing »Tracks anzeigen / hören on the page sidebars).
(Die Fantastischen Vier) Thomas D: Liebesbrief (single)
If you are not doing anything Saturday night, a local Boston band by the name of Dirty Valentine is playing at The Times on May 11. They play really good covers of alternative bands like Stone Temple Pilots, Goo Goo Dolls, and many more. Have Fun!
I'm not even sure where to start. JazzFest in New Orleans is too much music to fit into a little text entry.
Short story: I saw a bunch of music.
JazzFest has a heritage section (tents for Blues, Gospel, and Jazz) and then several stages for other acts. A total of 57 musical acts in one day. I ran from act to act, with stops in the mist tent and the snowball stand. It was still hard to catch more than a handful of people. Blues singer Big Al Carson was fun ("I like to dip my dipper into somebody else's dippings" was a crowd favorite). I never tire of Jimmy Buffet. He always draws a fun crowd and keeps people bopping up and down for a couple hours. Even in the New Orleans heat. Then there was the vendor food - a veritable cornucopia of creole.
But wait - -there's more! I got some tickets to see Cowboy Mouth at the Orpheum theater. The best live rock act I've ever seen. Period. Fred (lead singer/drummer) whipped the crowd into a frenzy with his drill seargent tactics. I've never seen so much clapping, yelling, and dancing.
Rose Polenzani has been nominated for "Best Singer-Songwriter" in the Best Music Poll (Boston) Awards. You don't need to actually live in Boston to vote. You know what you've got to do: go vote for Rose Polenzani!
Rose Polenzani : Rose Polenzani : Mary Lee
The Jumblies are a pop/rock band from Boston. I caught the second half of their show opening for Sparkola at the Sky Bar last week. The singer's voice reminds me of Mary Ramsey (10,000 Maniacs). The Jumblies next show is May 24, 2002 at The Midway in Jamaica Plain, MA.
The Jumblies : Thrills and Gills : What I've Waited For
Been busy drinking and listening to live music - New Orleans is an excellent place for both. I've noticed that the places on Bourbon Street have bands that play covers and as you move farther away, the bands start getting more interesting.
Spent last night at the Shim Sham with four bands that are from the New York area. Mad Happy is out of Hoboken, but close enough (they're touring the US and selling CDs for gas money. Half of the band couldn't affford a shirt!) They were followed by The Holy Ghost - someone said the lead singer had a "Bono look". I'm not so sure I agree.
My favorite band of the night was Big Lazy, a trio with an upright bass (which I love, especially if it's also played with a bow). The lead guitar was excellent (some Dick Dale reverb) and the drummer was all over his kit. Last was Firewater, who had a violin (also a cool instrunment for an indie rock-type band) and they played a rather long set, followed by a three song encore.
If I wasn't at an Internet cafe (paying $37 an hour) I'd link the bands to their web pages...