Here is Ben Gibbard's cover of "Thriller". No dancing involved though.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Happy Halloween
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If you need a good Halloween cd for your party here is a good mix by eMusic. I was a little disappointed that "Halloween" by A.F.I. didn't make it, but this is a good typical song list for anyone. "Thriller" is surprisingly not on here either but Michael Jackson's hit gets too much play anyway.
Halloween Mix
Halloween Mix
The Antlers Daytrotter
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I'm tying to get them to come and play at WEGL in November. I'll keep you posted to how this is working out
Daytrotter Session
Thursday, October 29, 2009
CMJ day 4
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Friday marks the last full day that I was in New York. Saturday was mainly a travel day except for seeing the Statue of Liberty from Battery Park and me getting the flu.
Panels:
Music Industry Myths, Gossip, and Predictions For The Next Five Years.
In this panel I got to hear from some record label heads including the manager of Sub Pop. I was thinking that this panel would be very helpful in seeing where music was going in the next few years. I am always interested to predict what bands are going to make it big and what style of music is going to become popular. This panel was not like this. It was more of just talking about what bands need to do to get noticed by fans and how to keep them newsworthy. Lots of focus was put on bands using Twitter and having all of their websites up to date with current information. People asked questions about if the labels make bands use things like Facebook and Twitter. A few of the panelist said yes and that if the artist is not interested then they will do it for them. When they asked Chris Jacobs from Sub Pop he had a very dead pan look on his face. He commented that they do not care if their artists do this. I can only imagine someone yelling at Band of Horses to post updates on Twitter. I just don't see guys like that doing that. The good part of the panel were some pointers to make sure and have your information on things like Reverb Nation and blogs and different things like that. They said that trying to get the information to magazines like Spin was a waste of time. If you have everything covered yourself they will end up coming to you. Even though I have resisted Twitter I'm glad that it is working out for so many artists. One manager reported that their artist will post that they are going to drink beer at a certain beach one day and they invite fans to come and hang out. That is the one cool thing about Twitter to me is that you can have that sort of interaction with artists.
In the after noon Blicker and I went to 30 Rock and got to see the NBC building. We then went to the Paley Center for Media. It was originally the Radio and Television museum but changed their name. We got to check out tv shows and watch them in little cubicles. I watched an interview that Conan O'Brian did about his show and the writers. It was really interesting to hear him talk about how they created some of the best sketches for the show.
After that we went to some shows in Brooklyn. Blicker went to the Park the Van showcase at Union Hall while I went to The Bell House. I was really excited because in the bar I got to meet Mike Kinsella from Owen and American Football. I told him that I was a big fan and excited to see Owen play with a full band. He responded by laughing and saying I could come and punch him in the chest later if I wanted. I didnt know what that meant until they played later. The first band that I saw was Motel Motel. They were a pretty good indie rock band from Brooklyn. Their songs were really long but had some nice 2nd wave emo inflence. I think I'm gonna pick up their cd. The next band was Owen. Owen was the band that I was really there to see. The full band gets going with 2 songs I don't recognize, which I thought was weird because I have heard a lot of Owen. Then Mike starts strumming the G,C,D chords to Wonderwall by Oasis. This is the point where I went "Oh, no..." I pulled out my phone and looked up the track listings for Oasis and kept listening. Owen decided to play "What's The Story Morning Glory" in its entirety and in order. I have never seen so many confused faces from a crowd. Throughout the entire performance Mike never mentions what they are doing or why but he definately did not play one original song. I was really disappointed and now understood why he gave be freedom to punch him in the chest. He left the stage and the next band Cale Parks came on. Cale is the drummer for the band Aloha. He played some cool dance music with lots of loops and drumming while singing. It was definately not my style but if you attend dance parties like TKO or Kids Got The Disco then you will like this band. James Husband came on next and was horrible. I have nothing to say about him. Finally Headlights took the stage. I had only listened to the band previously off of Blicker's ipod that week but they really impressed me live. They were a piano driven indie rock band from Chicago. All of their music is pop but it is in a way that is still relaxing to listen to. Check out their new album Wildlife. After them we left before Japandroids. I had the flu by this point and was sick of standing. CMJ had way more walking/standing than I was ready for. Overall the trip was amazing and I am so glad that I went. Hopefully Ill be able to make it back someday. But right now I already have my sights on SXSW 2010.
Panels:
Music Industry Myths, Gossip, and Predictions For The Next Five Years.
In this panel I got to hear from some record label heads including the manager of Sub Pop. I was thinking that this panel would be very helpful in seeing where music was going in the next few years. I am always interested to predict what bands are going to make it big and what style of music is going to become popular. This panel was not like this. It was more of just talking about what bands need to do to get noticed by fans and how to keep them newsworthy. Lots of focus was put on bands using Twitter and having all of their websites up to date with current information. People asked questions about if the labels make bands use things like Facebook and Twitter. A few of the panelist said yes and that if the artist is not interested then they will do it for them. When they asked Chris Jacobs from Sub Pop he had a very dead pan look on his face. He commented that they do not care if their artists do this. I can only imagine someone yelling at Band of Horses to post updates on Twitter. I just don't see guys like that doing that. The good part of the panel were some pointers to make sure and have your information on things like Reverb Nation and blogs and different things like that. They said that trying to get the information to magazines like Spin was a waste of time. If you have everything covered yourself they will end up coming to you. Even though I have resisted Twitter I'm glad that it is working out for so many artists. One manager reported that their artist will post that they are going to drink beer at a certain beach one day and they invite fans to come and hang out. That is the one cool thing about Twitter to me is that you can have that sort of interaction with artists.
In the after noon Blicker and I went to 30 Rock and got to see the NBC building. We then went to the Paley Center for Media. It was originally the Radio and Television museum but changed their name. We got to check out tv shows and watch them in little cubicles. I watched an interview that Conan O'Brian did about his show and the writers. It was really interesting to hear him talk about how they created some of the best sketches for the show.
After that we went to some shows in Brooklyn. Blicker went to the Park the Van showcase at Union Hall while I went to The Bell House. I was really excited because in the bar I got to meet Mike Kinsella from Owen and American Football. I told him that I was a big fan and excited to see Owen play with a full band. He responded by laughing and saying I could come and punch him in the chest later if I wanted. I didnt know what that meant until they played later. The first band that I saw was Motel Motel. They were a pretty good indie rock band from Brooklyn. Their songs were really long but had some nice 2nd wave emo inflence. I think I'm gonna pick up their cd. The next band was Owen. Owen was the band that I was really there to see. The full band gets going with 2 songs I don't recognize, which I thought was weird because I have heard a lot of Owen. Then Mike starts strumming the G,C,D chords to Wonderwall by Oasis. This is the point where I went "Oh, no..." I pulled out my phone and looked up the track listings for Oasis and kept listening. Owen decided to play "What's The Story Morning Glory" in its entirety and in order. I have never seen so many confused faces from a crowd. Throughout the entire performance Mike never mentions what they are doing or why but he definately did not play one original song. I was really disappointed and now understood why he gave be freedom to punch him in the chest. He left the stage and the next band Cale Parks came on. Cale is the drummer for the band Aloha. He played some cool dance music with lots of loops and drumming while singing. It was definately not my style but if you attend dance parties like TKO or Kids Got The Disco then you will like this band. James Husband came on next and was horrible. I have nothing to say about him. Finally Headlights took the stage. I had only listened to the band previously off of Blicker's ipod that week but they really impressed me live. They were a piano driven indie rock band from Chicago. All of their music is pop but it is in a way that is still relaxing to listen to. Check out their new album Wildlife. After them we left before Japandroids. I had the flu by this point and was sick of standing. CMJ had way more walking/standing than I was ready for. Overall the trip was amazing and I am so glad that I went. Hopefully Ill be able to make it back someday. But right now I already have my sights on SXSW 2010.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
CMJ day 3
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It appears to be a theme that by the end of the day I am exhausted in New York. There is just too much damn walking, but since the weather has been in the 60's and 70's the whole time I really can't complain. I am going to break down today's events in a few different sections because so much happened. I actually found time to do touristy things today. I rode the subway up to Times Square and checkout the sights. It surprised me that it wasn't as big as movies and tv make it out to be. I need to go back at night when the lights will stand out a lot more. I checked out a few stores then went on to the CMJ panels.
Panels:
Career Choice Series: I want to work in music marketing. This was the first panel that I attended today. I was told several things that I already knew today, but it was nice to hear them from people in the industry. I was told the most important thing is to do your job well. All the people on the panel agreed that the money will come if you do the work. I learned that finishing college looks good to them because it shows that you are goal oriented but they also said that just because you have a degree doesn't mean that you are entitled to anything. They said a degree is only part of it. This makes me feel better because it is obvious that I put in more time at the station than I do to school. You also need to have the mindset to "make it happen" even if you don't know what someone is wanting you to do you have to be self driven enough to figure it out for yourself. These were all interesting things that I'll keep in mind when looking for a job. When it came to actually talking about music marketing there were different ideas but the one that stood out to me was a band Ash. They are trying a new marketing concept where they will release a new song every two weeks starting in January. The songs will be released on 7" Vinyl and digitally. Then halfway though the year they will put all the songs together on an album, then at the end of the year they will do the same thing with the second half of the songs. It is a way to get the new fans excited about the project and the anticipation of new music. One of the panelist said that Lady GaGa should have done something like this to maximize her profits.
Not oil and water:Connecting the physical and digital music product relationship was the second panel I attended. This was a very boring group of people talking about the way that they still rely on physical cds and they are unsure of how to move to more digital. The only part that sparked my interest was a topic that was brought up involving Japan. Apparently in Japan when you buy a cd, you can open it up and scan a special barcode with your phone. When you do this, the album automatically downloads to your phone. If this can occur in America, iTunes may actually have some competition. Apart from that they mentioned a few companies that throw in things like posters, extra songs, and digital copies of cds when you buy the physical copy. These all seem to be ways to combat internet pirating but it seems like noone really knows where this side of the industry is going.
Thursday I went to the Music Hall of Williamsburg to see The Temper Trap. I would compare the venue to the big brother of Birmingham's Workplay Theater. The layout was pretty much identical it was just larger. When I arrived I was greeted by the music of Goldhawks. They are a London based band with a nice Anthem Rock sound, similar to the new Kings of Leon album. I really liked hearing their song 1996 live. They handed out cards to everyone that had their myspace account on it so you could download that song for free. The next band to come on stage was Mumford and Sons. I had heard one song by the band prior to seeing them live. The song "The Cave" has been featured on Live 100.5 since this summer and it really made me want to hear more from the band. Seeing them live was a treat. The lead singer played guitar but also had a kick drum and a tambourine at his feet. He was the only percussion for the band with his steady 4/4 beat, while keeping the backbeat with the tambourine. I am not sure how he was able to keep it all straight while playing guitar and singing. The other members of the band played piano, electric banjo, and standup bass. They had a really rich sound. I would compare them to the bands The Avett Brothers and Flogging Molly, Their album has just been released in London and won't reach us in the states until March but I'll be keeping a lookout for it. Finally The Temper Trap came on stage. I found their album back in June and claimed they would be big, and it looks like that is coming true. They were even featured on the cover of this month's CMJ. During the show lead singer did a great job of really getting the crowd clapping and dancing to their music. I was really impressed with the way they adapted their songs to give them some more energy live. Their standout song is definately "Sweet Disposition". Once they played the first few bars of the song, everyone knew what they were in for. With the crowd jumping, the lights shining, and the singer hitting his falsetto it was one of the most memorable times I had in New York. To finish the set the band played their song "Science of Fear". The singer had a floor tom that he poured water on so at the end of the song the show looked like it was right out of a Blue Man Group performance. It was a great ending to a spectacular show.
Panels:
Career Choice Series: I want to work in music marketing. This was the first panel that I attended today. I was told several things that I already knew today, but it was nice to hear them from people in the industry. I was told the most important thing is to do your job well. All the people on the panel agreed that the money will come if you do the work. I learned that finishing college looks good to them because it shows that you are goal oriented but they also said that just because you have a degree doesn't mean that you are entitled to anything. They said a degree is only part of it. This makes me feel better because it is obvious that I put in more time at the station than I do to school. You also need to have the mindset to "make it happen" even if you don't know what someone is wanting you to do you have to be self driven enough to figure it out for yourself. These were all interesting things that I'll keep in mind when looking for a job. When it came to actually talking about music marketing there were different ideas but the one that stood out to me was a band Ash. They are trying a new marketing concept where they will release a new song every two weeks starting in January. The songs will be released on 7" Vinyl and digitally. Then halfway though the year they will put all the songs together on an album, then at the end of the year they will do the same thing with the second half of the songs. It is a way to get the new fans excited about the project and the anticipation of new music. One of the panelist said that Lady GaGa should have done something like this to maximize her profits.
Not oil and water:Connecting the physical and digital music product relationship was the second panel I attended. This was a very boring group of people talking about the way that they still rely on physical cds and they are unsure of how to move to more digital. The only part that sparked my interest was a topic that was brought up involving Japan. Apparently in Japan when you buy a cd, you can open it up and scan a special barcode with your phone. When you do this, the album automatically downloads to your phone. If this can occur in America, iTunes may actually have some competition. Apart from that they mentioned a few companies that throw in things like posters, extra songs, and digital copies of cds when you buy the physical copy. These all seem to be ways to combat internet pirating but it seems like noone really knows where this side of the industry is going.
Thursday I went to the Music Hall of Williamsburg to see The Temper Trap. I would compare the venue to the big brother of Birmingham's Workplay Theater. The layout was pretty much identical it was just larger. When I arrived I was greeted by the music of Goldhawks. They are a London based band with a nice Anthem Rock sound, similar to the new Kings of Leon album. I really liked hearing their song 1996 live. They handed out cards to everyone that had their myspace account on it so you could download that song for free. The next band to come on stage was Mumford and Sons. I had heard one song by the band prior to seeing them live. The song "The Cave" has been featured on Live 100.5 since this summer and it really made me want to hear more from the band. Seeing them live was a treat. The lead singer played guitar but also had a kick drum and a tambourine at his feet. He was the only percussion for the band with his steady 4/4 beat, while keeping the backbeat with the tambourine. I am not sure how he was able to keep it all straight while playing guitar and singing. The other members of the band played piano, electric banjo, and standup bass. They had a really rich sound. I would compare them to the bands The Avett Brothers and Flogging Molly, Their album has just been released in London and won't reach us in the states until March but I'll be keeping a lookout for it. Finally The Temper Trap came on stage. I found their album back in June and claimed they would be big, and it looks like that is coming true. They were even featured on the cover of this month's CMJ. During the show lead singer did a great job of really getting the crowd clapping and dancing to their music. I was really impressed with the way they adapted their songs to give them some more energy live. Their standout song is definately "Sweet Disposition". Once they played the first few bars of the song, everyone knew what they were in for. With the crowd jumping, the lights shining, and the singer hitting his falsetto it was one of the most memorable times I had in New York. To finish the set the band played their song "Science of Fear". The singer had a floor tom that he poured water on so at the end of the song the show looked like it was right out of a Blue Man Group performance. It was a great ending to a spectacular show.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
CMJ day 2
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Today was a day filled with a lot of walking, drinking, and networking. Blicker and I started off the day by taking the subway to Brooklyn. We got off at the wrong stop, so we ended up walking over three miles to a park for the Pirate! Playground kickball game. We got their late for brunch but were still able to make it into the game. From there we went and bowled with Pirate! at The Gutter for four hours. They rented out a bar/bowling alley for the afternoon so we had plenty of time to drink the free beer and meet everyone. I met several people that I've only had the chance to talk over the phone with but got to learn about how they all started out in the music business. It was interesting talking to Doug from Pirate! because he started the company. He told be a little about how it began and gave me a few tips. I was really interested to hear that his favorite band that he has been promoting came from the Generationals. I also had the chance to talk with Jesse from Vitriol about his favorite albums from this year. He couldn't decide between Metric and Phoenix, understandably so. I met Nuwan who was Cymbal Eats Guitars' tour manager and he convinced me to go to their show tonight. So tonight I made it to Santos Party Room and caught the end of I Was A King. I didn't see much of them but what I saw I liked enough to look them up later. When Cymbal Eats Guitars came and the crowd roared I knew I was in for a treat. I initially thought the band was gonna be another indie-rock group similar to Deerhunter but I was way off. They sound more like The Pixies meet Radiohead. After the show their manager gave me a cd and told me to email him about doing an interview with the band. So be on the lookout for the interview in a few weeks. Coming up Thursday I am going to check out Mumford & Sons and The Temper Trap and Friday I am gonna see Owen, Headlights, and Japandroids. Tune in later to hear my other CMJ updates.
CMJ day 1
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CMJ has already been a whirlwind, and it is only day 2. So I am going to do a wrap up of what I have seen so far. Last night while I was looking for Union Hall in New York (it's actually in Brooklyn) I ran into The Static Jacks in Union Square Park. They were two acoustic guitars, a singer with maracas, and a drummer with a tambourine and banging on guitar cases. I thought this was your average street musician, then they stopped and said "this next song was on The Hills last week." I was shocked that this band had actually already become popular. They had a really catchy pop sound with lots of "Whoas!!!" so you know they're good. After hearing them for a few songs I was impressed but had to move on. I ended up in Brooklyn at Union Hall and got to see some really great bands. The first was All The Day Holiday. They were a very post-rock sounding band but they had an amazing vocalist. They were not listed on the bill but when I looked them up later their CMJ description was "what happens when a post-rock band finds an emo singer." It was a match made in heaven for me. They are well worth checking out. Next was Empires!. They were a very forgettable band from Chicago. The only thing I remember about them is that they reminded me of Maroon 5, and I hate Maroon 5. Finally the headliner was Paper Route. I have been a big fan of this band for a while but they blew away any thoughts I had of what they would be live. With harmonizing vocals, more effects than any band I've ever seen, and a theremin this band was set. The songs all sounded better live than they do on any of their eps or album and I could not believe that. Please check out anything by Paper Route and you will notice the production is intense. I'm really glad I got to see them since they are on tour with Paramore now and they will most likely be huge a year from now. They played most of the songs off their new album Absence and a few off of older eps. It was really cool to see the lead singer play a theremin as if he were conducting an orchestra. The band had great energy and stage presence. All in all CMJ day 1 was a success and there is only more to come.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Bon Iver Hiatus
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I died a little inside when I read the word indefinite, but then Justin says just until next year. Whew....
Paste Article
Update: You can download the entire performance from Radio Milwaukee. It is a really well recorded live show with a great version of Bon Iver singing The Outfield's "Your Love." And If you have seen them live then you know the live version of "Blood Bank" totally kicks ass. Please check it out.
"Blood Bank"
Paste Article
Update: You can download the entire performance from Radio Milwaukee. It is a really well recorded live show with a great version of Bon Iver singing The Outfield's "Your Love." And If you have seen them live then you know the live version of "Blood Bank" totally kicks ass. Please check it out.
"Blood Bank"
An Horse
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An Horse recently did a Daytrotter session. This performance is really true to their sound which I was impressed by. The story I heard about this band is that while Teagan and Sarah were touring in Australia this band opened for them and they were so impressed they helped them get a record deal. I'll post this album soon, but check out the Daytrotter session in the meantime.
An Horse Daytrotter Session
An Horse Daytrotter Session
Built To Spill
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There is No Enemy is the new Built to Spill album. I have never listened to them before but I am really liking this album. This may be a stretch but I think that Doug Martsch sounds a bit like Ben Gibbard. I haven't discovered my favorite songs yet but I'll update that later.
There Is No Enemy
There Is No Enemy
Where The Wild Things Are
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Karen O and The Kids finally released the Where The Wild Things Are soundtrack. Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is solely responsible for the entire film score. I have only listened to a few of the songs so far but it is very happy with the kids singing along. Check it out.
Where The Wild Things Are Soundtrack
Where The Wild Things Are Soundtrack
Friday, October 2, 2009
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