(Music)
The Virtual Piano is (judging by the notes that have been echoing out of a bedroom for the past hour) a big hit in our house. (courtesy of).
And while I’m here, Lifehacker recently pointed me to RainyMood.com. On a whim I pushed play and then, after about an hour of interneting, realized it was still on. Super job of drowning out ambient noise.
Amazon has a $3.99 deal on Elvis 75 happening today. I don’t actually have any Elvis around so this seemed like as good a time as any to grab some.
Amazon MP3 is giving away free Christmas songs
This is a little convoluted, but it’s the journey not the destination. Apologies.
A couple months back, I came across Dewey (via Waxy, Feb 2, 2009). It offers a new, web-two-ohee method of navigating the music available at Archive.org. I wanted something to listen to at work and so started looking for some familiar names. I eventually stumbled on some Guster shows.
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Go here, click “Listen”, then do just that for all the available songs. I have to buy this. It’s a couple bucks cheaper from Subpop (the source I guess).
The epic Sea Lion was intended to be a world music album, but reverb and psychedelic pop crept in to create a unique mixture of exotic sounds, accomplished with an impressive array of instruments—from steel-string ukulele to djembe drums to pots and pans, all set upon a cozy cushion of synths and cassette samples.
I can’t wait to listen to some of these songs with my daughter during the morning ride to school. Did you listen to “Tane Mahuta”?! How’s that for starting your day!
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I went to YouTube to see if a friend of mine had added any new home movies. Nothing new was there, but a couple of clicks later and I was watching this video of Josh Dirksen. There are just too many things about it that I find so delightful.
Snowboarding is one of my absolute favorite things to do (living in the deep south, though, makes it an extreme rarity). The music is groovy with a french flavor. The sound of the boards slicing through the powder is soothing. The occasional name display is a nice touch as well. And clocking in at just over a minute makes it the perfect quick pick-me-up.
Happy August Everyone!
Stressing over the perfect name for your band (or blossoming solo act)?
Where’s My Jetpack? has a novel approach: Google News.
Just scan the headlines and pick that which rocks the hardest. Looks like if you need some cover art, Jetpacks might be able to whip something up right nice too.
Here’s some great names I came up with using my locally filtered news:
You are the only thing in any room you’re ever in
Guy Garvey is a fantastic lyricist. The above is from Elbow’s most recent release, The Seldom Seen Kid
If I had to pick one for you to listen to, though, it would be One Day Like This. Listen to it and tell me it doesn’t force your senses to perk up.
‘Cause holy cow I love your eyes. And only now I see the light. Lying with you half awake. Stumbling over what to say. Well anyway, it’s looking like a beautiful day. So throw those curtains wide. One day like this a year would see me right.
Ever since I header it on All Songs Considered, “White Winter Hymnal” by Fleet Foxes has been on a pretty solid brain loop.
You need to listen to it. Here are two direct links to mp3 downloads:
and one at Stereogum (content)
Update: I’ve since purchased the CD
A couple of months ago, Thom Yorke was the “guest DJ” on NPR’s “All Songs Considered“. At some point over the past 10 years I formed an impression of him as holding his nose up and being a bit stand-offish. Maybe all the brooding images did it. I don’t know. But listening to him interact with the host made me realize I was pretty far off. He comes across as an extremely affable guy, very pleasant and down-to-earth. If you have the minutes, I’d recommend a listen.
Marketplace had an interesting story today about ownership of a school’s “fight song”. The particular song examined is Auburn University’s fight song, “War Eagle“. It was especially fun for me because Auburn is where I received my undergrad. The story opens with the song being played out of some unidentified trinket, which I’m willing to bet was this bottle opener (warning, linked site plays audio without asking). I’d bet on it because I’ve got one sitting in my kitchen.
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One of my favorite albums ever is Jeff Buckley’s Grace
The most prominent example is Imogen Heap, someone who I, at least, had not heard of since a cassingle was mailed to me in 1998. But Heap’s song “Hide and Seek” soundtracked the final moments of the OC’s second season, the slot occupied a year before by a full rendition of Buckey’s “Hallelujah.” This pairing was so successful that, for the finale of season three, the final moments were accompanied, once again, by Heap, this time covering –and, to be clear, I am not shitting you–”Hallelujah.” This is the point where the OC consumes itself whole, and it is a sickeningly gorgeous thing to watch.
(And by the way, if you’ve never watched it but plan to start, there’s a nice spoiler buried about ten paragraphs into the “Afterward”).
Did you hear? Major Labels Allow P2P Music Sharing on Qtrax:
At the Midem conference in Cannes, France, Qtrax announced deals with all the major music labels and publishers to offer the first free and legal ad-supported P2P service to include major label music.
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Klepfisz pegs the service’s catalog at more than 25 million songs, which would dwarf those of iTunes and other online music stores. The songs will be wrapped in Microsoft’s Windows Media subscription DRM. …… The application is based on the Songbird engine, so sharing and downloading occurs within a Firefox browser — no separate application required.
In case you missed it in the quote, here’s the QTrax site.
Of course, DRM sticks itself out like a big red flag, and you know what that mean! Its time to head over to BoingBoing to see what Cory Doctorow has to say about all this (which I’m sure will be very interesting). So, free and legal PtoP music? I’m sorta excited.
UDATE: whoops!
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One thing Christmas brought this year was an iPod (nano), and as a consequence I have spent a little time in iTunes, specifically looking for stuff my seven year old daughter could enjoy. Free stuff. Low-and-behold (is it hyphenated like that?), They Might Be Giants have a podcast promoting their upcoming children’s CD, Here Come The 123s
Many musicians have understood that all they need to make a (very good) living is to have 10,000 fans. 10,000 people who look forward to the next record, who are willing to trek out to the next concert. Add 7 fans a day and you’re done in 5 years. Set for life. A life making music for your fans, not finding fans for your music.
[emphasis mine]
Lesson number four from Seth Godin’s
That last bit is something beautiful I tell you. It’s such a minor detail that means so much.
