Songbird
Jun
28
The Winter Sounds, Porcelain Empire
Filed Under Album Picks | 3 Comments
The Winter Sounds hail from South Carolina and Athens Georgia. Their debut album Porcelain Empire was just released this week on Livewire Recordings. An album which demonstrates their ability to create airy indie-pop that entice the senses. A solid debut indeed and this band is a touring machine, check out their myspace to see when they are coming to you.
mp3 Expired: Windy City Nights
mp3 Expired: You Can’t Give Up
The Winter Sounds on myspace
Porcelain Empire 2007 (Livewire Recordings)
In other news I finally got my new keyboard for my laptop…So I will no longer have a broken “A”!!! Weeee! Also has anyone played the Xbox 360 Guitar Hero II? Holy Shit it is an addictive and fun game…So much so that I think we might buy it!!!! I never thought those words would come out of my mouth.
Jun
27
Portishead
Filed Under Music Mix Up | 4 Comments
On the way home last night this song shuffled on and once again I’m reminded why I hold Portishead on such a high pedestal. When I think of trip-hop Portishead is the first band that comes to mind…Sue me. I can’t help it, hypnotizing that Beth Gibbons is and well the beat just makes you want to turn it up to feel the vibrations. Their music is seductive with a vulnerable attitude and I love it…
Damn it! If they would just finish their 3rd album already…Supposedly 2007 is the estimated arrival date…We will just have to wait and see.
For now I offer my favorite track off their 1994 debut album, Dummy
mp3 Expired: Glory Box
Portishead on myspace
Dummy 1994 (Polygram Records) GET IT
Jun
27
Technical Stop
Filed Under News & Info. | 3 Comments
I don’t know what the hell is happening, Dreamhost is having issues so I can’t get to my FTP or my domain at all. I have no idea where or how to find my API Key and yes I have read the instructions in the WP documentation in regards to this yet it is still not working out the way it should.
Sigh…So please be patient while all this gets worked out.
Jun
26
Internet Radio Silence
Filed Under Music Mix Up | 3 Comments
If you notice that some of your favorite internet radio sites don’t seem to be streaming any music today that’s because they are participating in a protest against new royalty rates which are set to take effect on July 15th.
Internet Radio Silently Protests Royalties
by
Morning Edition, June 26, 2007 · Many fans of Internet radio will be tuning in to nothing on Tuesday, as many Webcasters participate in “A National Day of Silence.”
It is a protest against what Webcasters call excessive royalties on the music they stream. New royalty rates are set to take effect in little more than three weeks.
Organizers of SaveNetRadio, a coalition of Webcasters protesting the hikes, say Internet radio outlets — big and small — will be participating.
Pandora, Rhapsody, AccuRadio, one of Yahoo’s free radio streams and many smaller outlets will all go black for all or part of the day.
In between the silence, many outlets will be playing announcements explaining the protest and asking listeners to write their senators or representatives.
That is what Live 365 will be doing. It is an Internet radio site that aggregates ten thousand independently programmed channels.
Johnnie Floater is Live 365’s general manager of media. He says listeners have supported the fight against the rate hikes. He also says Live 365 is willing to forego its advertising revenue because the royalty increases do not take into consideration the value Web radio offers the music industry.
“We have to look at what Internet radio does for the music industry. Beside coming up with royalties, it comes out with an immense amount of promotion for a wide amount of artists that are not heard anywhere else,” says Floater. “You’re going to silence one of the most powerful tools for music and that’s what you’re going to hear tomorrow- silence.”
Several public radio stations will also shut down their music streams to protest the rate hikes that are set to take effect July 15.
The new rates were imposed by the Copyright Royalty Board, a three-judge panel established by the Library of Congress to oversee royalties in the digital domain.
The new rates are based on a per song, per listener formula. The old rates were based on a percentage of Webcasters’ revenue.
The burgeoning Internet radio industry has collectively argued that those rates will put many Webcasters out of business.
At a recent conference on digital media, Kurt Hanson, executive director of the Digital Music Association, says silence is what listeners can expect if the new rates go into effect.
“Silence may become pervasive on the Internet if the royalty rates stay in effect or go into effect on July 15,” says Hanson. “I think the goal is to do get people to do something to get the Webcasters to stay on the air.”
Those supporting the royalty increases say the money goes to musicians who are creating the content for the Webcasters.
John Simson is the executive director of SoundExchange, the organization created by the recording industry to collect royalties from Internet radio outlets.
“The absence of music will happen when performers are not adequately compensated fairly for creating,” Simson says. “I think in their own back-handed way they are proving our point, which is performers need to compensated so we will have wonderful works being created.
Congress has already gotten involved in the royalty fight. There are two bills making their way though the House and Senate to roll back the rates.
Webcasters and National Public Radio, on behalf of its member stations, have also asked the Circuit Court in Washington, D.C. for an emergency stay of the Copyright Royalty Board’s decision.
Both sides say they are open to a negotiated settlement to the royalty issue outside of the courts and Congress.
– NPR
I don’t really know when the music industry and big record labels will wake up and realize that they need to embrace the changes in technology and learn to adapt. Of course I am not really sure why I am surprised when I still hear music from 2004/2005 playing constantly on main stream media. Personally I can’t stand having the big record companies and main stream media tell me what I should be listening to. But I am beginning to see that they are simply eliminating the options and our right to choose, kind of like brain washing tactics.
Jun
25
Pela, Anytown Graffiti
Filed Under Album Picks | 4 Comments
I know I have been gone all weekend and I’m sorry it has been so quiet but I have been listening to some new music and now I am backed up with goodness to share so let’s just get right to it.
Pela is a band from Brooklyn, New York who’s members include:
Billy McCarthy – Vocals, Guitar
Nate “Natron†Martinez – Guitar
Eric Sanderson – Bass, Vocals
Tomislav Zovich – Drums, Vocals
They have released 2 EP’s in the last 2 years and toured their little hearts out. Their debut full length album, Anytown Graffiti was just released on The Great Society Label. And let me tell you these guys can make some honest rock & roll, with layers of blazing guitars carried by a steady marching rhythm and McCarthy’s vocals are filled with so much passion, the entire album is nothing short of inspirational.
They are currently touring in support of their new album and Pela will also be featured in the documentary Rockin’ Brooklyn by Wojtek Bozyk, which is supposed to be coming out soon but I have yet to get an official release date, if anyone knows please enlighten us and if I find anything out I will let you all know. In the mean time check out the website and watch the trailer.
mp3 Expired: Lost To The Lonesome
mp3 Expired: Cavalry
Pela on myspace
Anytown Graffiti 2007 (The Great Society Label) GET IT
Jun
22
Beirut New Album & Tour Info.
Filed Under Music Mix Up | 7 Comments
Oh yes this was music to my little ears…Yesterday Beirut announced via Pitchfork all the details on their 2nd album and a handful of U.S. tour dates…Drum role please…The album, which has yet to be titled will be released on October 9th on Ba Da Bing!
Album Tracks:
00 A Call to Arms
01 Nantes
02 A Sunday Smile
03 Guyamas Sonora
04 La Banlieu
05 Cliquot
06 The Penalty
07 Forks and Knives (La Fête)
08 In the Mausoleum
09 Un Dernier Verre (Pour la Route)
10 Cherbourg
11 St. Apollonia
12 The Flying Club Cup
In an interview last month with Pitchfork Condon explained what to expect on the new album, “I was listening to a lot of Jacques Brel and French chanson music– pop songs shrouded in big, glorious, over-the-top arrangements and all this drama…very much throwing myself in the world of classical pop music”. Ok I am just going to come right out and say it, I am really excited!
Tour Dates:
06-22 Dublin, Ireland – Tripod
06-24 Pilton, England – Jazz World Stage (Glastonbury Festival)
06-26 London, England – KOKO *
06-28 Malta, Poland – Malta Festival
06-30 Istanbul, Turkey – Radar Festival
07-03 Paris, France – Trabendo *
07-05 Berlin, Germany – Postbahnhof *
07-08 Roskilde, Denmark – Roskilde Festival
07-10 Athens, Greece – Vrahon Theater (Gagarin Open Air Festival)
09-23 Princeton, NJ – Terrace F Club #
09-24 New York, NY – Society for Ethical Culture (Wordless Music Series) #
09-26 New York, NY – Delacorte Theater #
09-30 Montreal, Quebec – La Sala Rossa #
10-02 Toronto, Ontario – Danforth Music Hall #
10-04 Chicago, IL – Portage Theater #
10-08 San Francisco, CA – Herbst Theater #
10-09 San Francisco, CA – Herbst Theater #
10-10 Los Angeles, CA – Avalon #* with Dirty Projectors opening
# with Colleen opening
_________________________________________
mp3 Expired: Scenic World (full band version)
Lon Gisland EP 2007 (Ba Da Bing!) GET IT
Jun
22
Sigur Ros, Hlemmur Soundtrack
Filed Under Music Mix Up | 5 Comments
Sigur Ros’s soundtrack to the 2002 Icelandic Documentary, Hlemmur by Olafur Sveinsson is finally getting a full release as a double-pack DVD/CD, via the band’s own Krunk label in Iceland. You can listen to the entire album streaming on their myspace now.
Jun
20
The Frames
Filed Under Album Picks | 4 Comments
The Frames have been making music since 1995 but with lead singer Glen Hansard starring in “Once” and their recent album, The Cost which was released in February of this year on the ANTI Label; The Frames have finally received some world wide attention…
But when I went to see “Once” this passed weekend at the new Landmark Theater in snooty Santa Monica I noticed that there was no mention of The Frames new album in the usher’s introduction, in fact there was not one mention of The Frames in general, which ruffled my feathers to say the least considering “Falling Slowly” and “When Your Minds Made Up” are present on both album and soundtrack. And after seeing the movie I am not really sure why the director didn’t just make this movie about “the band” with a concentration on the two main characters…It would have worked to have the whole band there from the beginning I think…I don’t know that is just my two cents, of course I am a little bias as I have made it my business to introduce people to music from bands like The Frames and when I see perfectly good opportunities to promote unknown music it baffles me when it doesn’t seem to happen…
Anyways lets get right to it shall we? The Frames blend gentle folk melodies with passionate lyrical honesty and explosive yet sensitive guitars. It is all really quite appealing like in that warm inviting art house coffee shop kind of way. My favorite song of theirs you can only find on the album, The Cost, but I highly recommend picking up a copy of the album or the soundtrack or tickle me pink and get both you won’t be disappointed…And you will want to have something after seeing the movie. :)
mp3 Expired: Rise
The Cost 2007 (ANTI Label) GET IT
Once Soundtrack 2007 (Columbia) GET IT
Jun
19
Once, twice, thrice a lady.
Filed Under Film Box | 3 Comments
Once
Director / Writer: John Carney
Players:
The setup was something familiar, yet new. “Guy” – aka “Bearded Scott Man” falls for “Girl” – aka “Fleet Fingered Czech Chick”, that’s about the length and breadth of it. It’s the details that make this one special, from the meandering way the pseudo love story evolves and copulates with a kiss on the cheek to the heartfelt singing of the Bearded Scott that tugs just a little at your soul. This, like other music films before it, is basically a love note from the songwriter to the celluloid addicts out there. I haven’t heard Guy’s voice before seeing the trailer some time ago now, nor experienced his lyrics. I, unlike some people I know, haven’t even heard of The Frames before being educated on the matter in a most succinct manner, however I will be sure to seek out and absorb it all henceforth.
I haven’t done a bit of research on the matter (and I don’t plan to considering reality doesn’t work like my favorite stories), but I muse and reverie that all these songs were brought to life in the exact way that we saw unfold in front of us. It’s just… beautiful. Of course, by now you must be thinking that this is the greatest film of the year. What I like to call a “life-altering-experience”. Alas, it is not, for its greatest strength is also its greatest flaw: the music. But wait, you’re thinking, I thought you loved the music?! I did. With the plot and characters as sparse as they were, it felt more like a string of music videos than a proper film.
That said, the wonderful thing about Once is how much was done with so little. Yes the characters had very little screen time to make their mark, but a mark was made. Their story is so endearing and they felt so real, all the development normally necessary for other films would have felt tacked on. I think perhaps my hang-ups with Once are selfish ones: I simply want to know the whole story. I want to experience all those side glances between the lines. I wanted more…
So are you wondering if I really liked the film or not? Well good, ’cause so do I. No matter what, it’s worth watching if only to feel the bleeding heart pumping on to the giant screen through his vocal chords. Check it out.
-Pip
Jun
18
Radiohead, Ok Computer
Filed Under Album Picks | 3 Comments
So I am a day late posting a Father’s Day post, I hope all the Father’s out there had a wonderful day. I kept myself pretty busy this weekend, which was good…And as some of you know my dad was the one to introduce me to Radiohead and since June 16th was the official 10th anniversary of Radiohead’s Ok Computer I thought this would be a good time to share a couple of tracks off this celebrated album. Ok Computer proved that it was possible to mix electronic textures with soaring guitars and still delight “rock” fans everywhere. This 3rd full length album demonstrated Radiohead’s ability to reinvent their sound, something which they continue to do album after album, this is just one of the reasons why I love them as much as I do.
Also on June 13th Radiohead made news after Ed posted a little ditty on Dead Air Space about their highly anticipated new album saying, “Yes I know its been a while ….. but we’ve been working on this album for a while …… BUT WE ARE NEARLY THERE …..”
What does nearly there mean? I have no idea but good things come to those who wait…So I’m waiting…Anxiously. Cheers!
mp3 Expired: Let Down
mp3 Expired: No Surprises
Ok Computer 1997 (Capitol Records) GET IT
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