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18 Apr 2009 18:47

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Biz, Music: Go in a record store today and buy a cool physical disc

  • Independent record stores may be in declining in influence and popularity, but they’re still institutions worth supporting. Which is why Record Store Day which started in 2007, came about. source
  • Numerous bands – big and small – are chipping in to support the institutions, both via live performances and special record-store-only releases. So what are you waiting for? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Apr 2009 10:31

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Music: ShortFormBlog’s Saturday mixtape for April 18, 2009

  • 1. Sampler wizard El Guincho, from Spain, manages to convey the loose vibe of ’60s Brazilian Tropicalia effortlessly on “Antillas,” from last year’s “Alegranza!”
  • 2. The Thermals are pretty much the best punk band the West Coast has to offer, and “A Pillar of Salt” from 2006’s “The Body, The Blood, The Machine,” is where to start.
  • 3. Lady GaGa’s blowing up so huge right now that it’s hard to ignore her, but even if you dislike her dance-pop, this piano ballad version of “Poker Face” is killer, and then some.
  • 4. Bonnie “Prince” Billy is the king of reworking R&B into the language of indie rock. His take on Mariah Carey’s “Can’t Take That Away (Mariah’s Theme)” is an irony-laden trip.
  • 5. M. Ward is getting a lot of attention for “Hold Time,” but his best album is still 2003’s “Transfiguration of Vincent.” “Dead Man” is a quiet highlight.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 8 Comments • Permalink

17 Apr 2009 20:50

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Music: A bunch of sweaty people are in the desert listening to music

Coachella’s this weekend; check out the latest photos on Flickr in case you’re curious about the sights and scenes. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Apr 2009 14:44

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Music, Tech: Egad! “Rickroll” anthem co-writer got paid £11 by YouTube

  • Panorama did a documentary on the exploitation of foreign workers in Dubai. I feel like one of those workers, because I earned less for a year’s work off Google or YouTube than they did off the Bahrain government.
  • Pete Waterman • The guy who co-wrote Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up,” the song behind the Rickrolling phenomenon. Despite 154 million plays of the song on YouTube, Waterman claims to have only made £11 off of it. Waterman was worth £47 million as of 2004. We feel the £47 million should have been taken away from him for writing “Never Gonna Give You Up.” • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Apr 2009 09:35

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Culture, Music: Ben Folds gives into the a cappella craze a little too much

  • Music education has been atrophying. And yet, at any given school, any number of a cappella groups are getting together a few times a week to rehearse and perform. What’s more is they’re really good.
  • Ben Folds • Who will be releasing an album of a cappella groups from around the nation singing his songs, “University A Cappella.” No offense, Ben, but do we really want to encourage this trend? • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

15 Apr 2009 04:54

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Music, World: Which of these pop stars will scale Mount Kilimanjaro first?

  • Justin Timberlake is easily the biggest name of the three who have agreed to scale the African mountain. And he’s amazing at everything, including wardrobe malfunctions. source
  • Kenna came up with the idea; he’s not as famous as the other two, but his albums tend to get better reviews and he’s childhood buddies with The Neptunes, so go Kenna. source
  • Geek rapper Lupe Fiasco is the wildcard of the bunch – people have heard of him, but he’s not famous enough that we’d care about him climbing a stupid mountain. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Apr 2009 18:17

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Culture, Music: Phil Spector convicted of murder, terrible hair

  • If it feels like this case has dragged on, it has. Spector was convicted of second-degree murder in the 2003 death of actress Lana Clarkson. It’s his second trial; the first ended in a mistrial, so it took six years for justice to be served. Spector, if you forgot, is the guy behind the “Wall of Sound” which helped/hindered albums from artists ranging from the The Ramones to The Beatles. Clarkson was a B-movie actress who got caught up with the wrong guy, apparently. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink
 

12 Apr 2009 10:04

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Music, Tech: This guy made a lot of YouTube musicians’ dreams come true

Michael Tilson Thomas handpicked the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, which plays Carnegie Hall next week. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

12 Apr 2009 09:29

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Culture, Music: Go Karma! Billy Bob Thornton learns not to piss off Canadians

  • All mashed potatoes, no gravy Thornton managed to tick off an entire country of disengaged music fans with an interview last week. Thornton, whose rep as an actor makes his music instantly suspect, got angry with a CBC interviewer after he mentioned Thornton’s acting career. Later in the interview, he said Canadian audiences “just sort of sit there” and compared them to mashed potatoes sans gravy. source
  • All mashed potatoes, no gravy Thornton managed to tick off an entire country of disengaged music fans with an interview last week. Thornton, whose rep as an actor makes his music instantly suspect, got angry with a CBC interviewer after he mentioned Thornton’s acting career. Later in the interview, he said Canadian audiences “just sort of sit there” and compared them to mashed potatoes sans gravy.
  • Karma’s a strange mistress The comments, particularly the ones about fans, made his Thursday show in Toronto very tense, with audience members loudly booing his band, The Boxmasters. During the set, fans shouted, “Here comes the gravy!” Strangely enough, most of Thornton’s band came down with the flu and couldn’t play the rest of their Canadian dates in Montreal or London, Ont. Hmm. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Apr 2009 09:19

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Music: ShortFormBlog’s Saturday mixtape: Five songs we recommend

  • The L.A. band noise-rock HEALTH has managed to slowly expand its experimental roots into something palatable, as on stellar new single “Die Slow.”
  • Jay Reatard stinks live – he doesn’t really have stage presence – but he has solid individual songs, such as “See Saw” from last year’s “Matador Singles ’08.”
  • We really dig the noisy lo-fi electronica of Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, especially when he covers Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Philadelphia.”
  • Rough-’round-the-edges Psych-folkie Rodriguez, a Detroit native, became big without knowing it in South Africa thanks to “Sugar Man” and his 1970 album “Cold Fact.”
  • We’re big Dan Deacon fans here, and “Bromst” has yet to go off our musical radar. With songs like “Padding Ghost,” with its euphoric melodies, why would it?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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