Submarines
thanks, Daney, for pointing these guys out.
New record drops May 3. Here's one off their earlier release and one from the new one, Honeysuckle Weeks
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April 24, 2008
April 23, 2008
Everyday Normal Guy
another funny for your listening and viewing pleasure - caution: some strong language for you with kids or bosses standing over your shoulder. Check out a few more of his vids - the high as $%&# one is pretty funny too. thanks Chris for pointing this out!
March 17, 2008
Happy Birthday, Mom!
Happy Birthday, Madre!! 65 years young. keep on rockin' grrrl. Thought I'd throw down with a few irish themed tunes for you - by the way, did you hear the Pope declared this past Saturday St. Patrick's Day (just for this year) instead of today? I guess today is the beginning of the holy week before Easter (see Catholic News Agency story here ), aka a "no drinking" day and the Pope was thinking that Saturday NIGHT is a much better drinking night anyway - Papal wisdom at it's finest... long live the Pope!
The Chieftains & Mark Knopfler - The Lily of the West
Van Morrison - Moonshine Whiskey
Kate Rusby - Sho Heen
the new MTV - 60 second version
I read somewhere that iPod commercials are the new MTV (Breaking new bands, jump starting cd sales and downloads, etc..) whoa...interesting that in some 25 odd years, we've replaced an entire network with 60 second tv spots. that said, I do find the Apple ads a bit more appealing than Kurt Loder.
A few of my favorites:
Yael Naim - New Soul
Feist - 1234
Wolf Mother - Love Train
A wiki list of the commercials with artist and song here (thanks to this Digg post )
February 29, 2008
New Music Discovery
A friend asked how I go about finding new music. Thought I would post my response here...
For new music, I’ll give you a few ways I find and listen.
Find:
- Music social networks:
This is probably the easiest way to find music similar to your tastes then broaden those tastes with suggestions. Last.fm is free. Pandora is partly free, part subscription for more functionality.
- Read music blogs. – lots of great ones out there for many different genres. I subscribe to the feeds to a few of them: Stereogum , Gorilla vs Bear , My Old Kentucky Blog , Brooklyn Vegan
- Too overwhelmed by vast number of blogs, you can go to Hype Machine (www.hypem.com), a site that aggregates all music blog data and has a cool little player to play all the tunes they aggregate. You can use this player to listen to the bands that are being blogged about the most. This site is now the cornerstone of my new music experience. Any time I hear of new band, I immediately go here to see if anyone has blogged about them and if they uploaded any tunes for my listening pleasure.
- Find record labels you like; visit their sites. I go to indie labels like Subpop, Matador, Barsuk, V2, Merge all the time to pick up on new bands, new releases, etc… Many labels now have embedded music players on their sites, so you can listen right there.
- Listen to net radio. Most radio stations now simulcast on the web. Remember that killer radio station from your old college town, find it and stream it. iTunes also has several net radio stations. I work from home, so I’m constantly listening to radio or last.fm while working.
- Watch (or dvr/tivo) late night tv. I love indie rock and nobody has better music than Conan, period. I have been turned on to a bunch of new bands by the big Irishman.
Listen:
Hype Machine (www.hypem.com) – see above
Youtube.com – once you know what you are looking for, it's a great way to check out live performances and music videos
Myspace.com – just about every band has a myspace page. Good way to check out complete tunes.
Examples
Three new (for me) bands and how I found them.
Read Fred Wilson’s blog, A VC. He recommended and I like his taste in
tunes. I went to hype machine and
listened to 4 or 5 songs; dug it. Then went to youtube to check out some
live performances. I liked
what I saw and heard. Went to
Amazon, purchased the record and used amazon’s
very cool 1-click ordering... and the tunes were at my house in two days. (SB Dave post here: Vampire Weekend
Listening to last.fm. on my home page there are recommendations from folks with my taste in tunes. One recommended Okkervil River with an interesting description that went something like, “if this record was a boy, I would want to slowly make out with him for an entire Sunday” not how I felt about the record! but I was intrigued by the review. Listened in last.fm, then went to hype machine to download a few tunes to sit with them over a few days, then purchased two of their records.
On Conan, they just killed. Went on you tube to see that same performance and read about what other people thought. Went to a few blogs, from hype machine, and listened to more of their stuff.
Things I don’t do:
I don’t pay attention to what iTunes is pushing – feels too corporate-marketing, too label induced. I only use iTunes for a library of my digital music, net radio and podcasts.
I do not listen to terrestrial radio (radio is dead in my world. I want variety and no commercials, so Clear Channel can fuck itself). I will listen to some public stations online (KCRW, KEXP, KCSB)
I don’t pay for any subscriptions. I just don’t do it. I know people love Rhapsody and other subscription services. To me that’s a waste of money.
February 14, 2008
whiggin' for these guys
The Whigs -Mission Control. don't have the record yet but this song is everything that is good about rock music - big guitars, good vocals/melodies, and absolutely ass-kickin' drums. the drummer seems to be beating the living shit out of his kit. the last quarter of this song rips, very Who-esque with windmilling guitar and crushing drums. can't play this song enough times a day.
Right Hand on My Heart
January 30, 2008
Vampire Weekend
everyone's blogging about these guys from Brooklyn. all justifed. take a listen. soweto guitars, skanking beats, crisp pop with enough cool changes to make it all interesting.
January 20, 2008
Sweet rock and soul from BH
Ben Harper travels back in time yet forward. The story was he and the Innocent Criminals had just spent a ton of time on the road, were burnt, but the juices were flowin'. They holed up in Paris and recorded this record in 7 days. Sweet rock and soul. Super listenable.
Fool for Your Lonesome Train
January 18, 2008
Tom Waits approved - Jesca Hoop
Waits on Hoop- "her music is like a four sided coin. She is an old soul, like
a black pearl, a good witch or red moon. Her music is like going
swimming in a lake at night".
What more to say? She used be his nanny. Kismet is the name of the record. I put "Love is All We Have", a beautiful tune about Hurricane Katrina, on my annual xmas disc I make for my family and it was, by far, the best received song. Listen for yourself and tell me what you think.
January 17, 2008
Okkervil River - The Stage Names
this record keeps seeping into me. Opening track is jumpy, with a little Wilco-esque freak out 2/3 of the way through. You Can't Hold the Hand of Rock and Roll Man is a handclap stomp that has me humming and shaking my head. But the tune that keeps me listening is A Girl in Port. Stonesy piano and slide guitars combined with Will Sheff's aching vocals - "I'm not the lady-killing sort enough to hurt the girl in port..."
From wikipedia:
Okkervil River's founding members became friends in high school in Meriden, New Hampshire, and after parting ways for college moved to Austin, Texas to live together and start a band. The band consisted of songwriter Will Sheff, Zach Thomas on bass and mandolin, and Seth Warren on drums. Their first gig was at Steamboat in Austin on January 11, 1999. The band was named after a short story by Russian author Tatyana Tolstaya, and after Okkervil River in Saint Petersburg.
A Girl In Port
You Can't Hold the Hand of a Rock and Roll Man
Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe
