Blog: Obnoxious Listeners

Music that makes you dumb

Mar 6, 2009, 1:23pm Obnoxious Listeners
BeatCrave : Music that makes you dumb? I won't even bother attacking the statistics of this, but it is an interesting read nonetheless.
MORE »

Existence | Dark Suns

Mar 5, 2009, 6:00am Obnoxious Listeners
Download audio file (dark-suns.mp3) February 9, 2009 is a date I won't soon forget because it's the day my ears first met this album... and you might say it was love at first sound. I can say with certainty this is my favorite album that I've discovered or been introduced to since Indukti's S.U.S.A.R. - an affirmation which shouldn't be taken lightly considering: 1) I really, really like S.U.S.A.R. , and 2) that was six months and many albums ago. Most of the progressive metal bands I've encountered can fit into [...]
MORE »
Artist:Dark Suns
Title:Phantom + Bleeding + Element
Link Text:Download audio file (dark-suns.mp3)
File Name:dark-suns.mp3
Bitrate:128 kbps

Congress Tries Adopting Hip Hop

Mar 4, 2009, 10:49am Obnoxious Listeners
Colbert Report : A black representative in congress tries appealing to Hip Hop. Chuck D puts him in his place!
MORE »

Jazz man is first African-American to solo on U.S. circulating coin

Mar 3, 2009, 11:56am Obnoxious Listeners
CNN : The United States Mint launched a new coin Tuesday featuring jazz legend Duke Ellington, making him the first African-American to appear by himself on a circulating U.S. coin.
MORE »

Irepress

Mar 2, 2009, 11:14am Obnoxious Listeners
Due to a great find by Mr. Dan Cutright after looking for God Is An Astronaut shows, our ears have been blessed by the great sounds of Irepress's last two albums: Sol Eye Sea I (2009) and Samus Octology (2007). We love their instrumental music, the way they're able to incorporate a wide range of sounds, and that they're just overall cool guys. And me being Indian, I'm just so happy to see fellow Indians playing some quality rock music. I've [...]
MORE »

B-Side Players

Feb 26, 2009, 10:22am Obnoxious Listeners
Download audio file (b-side.mp3) Let's come right out and say it: that whole fad for sloppily mashing together several musical genres—heavy-metal-meets-hip -hop-cum-jazz funk, aboriginal-throat-gurgling-wit h-a-dash-of-sweet-swiss-mounta in-yodeling indie pop, or, in sum, Limp Bizkit—looked a lot better (with all its hyphens) than it ever sounded. Assuming you can attract more listeners by repackaging every thinkable genre into some audio-Frankenstein is just as effective as McCain was in trying to gain votes by adding a nubile hillbilly to his Presidential ticket. Which is to say, not very. If, however, you are going to look at a model for success, [...]
MORE »
Artist:B-Side Players
Title:Cocodrilo Jodido + Souldier
Link Text:Download audio file (b-side.mp3)
File Name:b-side.mp3
Bitrate:128 kbps

Think You're Anti-Mainstream?

Feb 23, 2009, 6:00am Obnoxious Listeners
One of my biggest pet peeves among music fans is the notion that many people believe they are actually anti-mainstream. It's occurred to me that there really isn't such a thing because anti-mainstream is no less mainstream than.... well, mainstream. There's this train of thought to immediately dismiss a band or artist simply because they're popular. For some reason, it's not just "cool" to do that, it's somehow infallible logic to many. Here's a couple analogies to help prove my point. Firstly, The Dark Knight . This movie is insanely popular, and yet it is also an [...]
MORE »

Sol Eye Sea I | Irepress

Feb 19, 2009, 6:00am Obnoxious Listeners
Download audio file (sol_eye_sea_i.mp3) I was literally refreshing the Irepress iTunes store page to make sure I got this album as soon as I could. I haven't found another band quite like Irepress. I could probably come up with some concoction other rock/metal/experimental bands that might indicate what you're in for when you buy Sol Eye Sea I (2009), but where's the fun in that? Half the appeal of Irepress is that they're largely unpredictable. The music is about as crazy as the album cover indicates... and yes there seems to be a few [...]
MORE »
Artist:Irepress
Title:Diaspora / Cyette Phiur
Link Text:Download audio file (sol_eye_sea_i.mp3)
File Name:sol_eye_sea_i.mp3
Bitrate:128 kbps
Year:2009

Say It Aint So - Muzak Is Dead

Feb 18, 2009, 7:16pm Obnoxious Listeners
We wouldn't lie to you; many sources (such as The Independent and The Onion ) are reporting that Muzak has filed for bankruptcy. Now whatever will we listen to while in elevators, department stores, dentist offices, or while on hold with customer service? Well I guess we could always listen to something that has a little edge and a shred of artistic creativity.
MORE »

YouTube Symphony Orchestra

Feb 17, 2009, 2:29pm Obnoxious Listeners
First of all, this just shows how little I actually surf the internet... YouTube has a blog ? Second of all, this article is pretty interesting. From what I can tell, this is similar to what Indaba Music does, except these are auditions for a one time live internet collaboration. You can now cast your votes for your favorite musicians auditioning for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra , the world's first collaborative online orchestra and summit. Anyone can vote on the 200 semi-finalists through February 22, 2009. I perused the "unique" performances and [...]
MORE »

Demians

Feb 16, 2009, 6:00am Obnoxious Listeners
If you've never heard of Demians , but you love bands such as Porcupine Tree , Opeth , Riverside , Dead Soul Tribe , and the like, you absolutely need to check out Building an Empire (2008). Demians is another band I've come across since we started Obnoxious Listeners. This band has become one of my favorites and among my highest played albums in my library already... and here I am publishing an interview with the mastermind behind Demians, Nicolas Chapel. He is truly one of my personal musical inspirations as he has done what I aspire to [...]
MORE »

The Tones

Feb 12, 2009, 2:24pm Obnoxious Listeners
Download audio file (tones.mp3) The Bay Area is truly representing here at Obnoxious Listeners. First we let you know about George Watsky , then Dahlak Brathwaite , and now we're keying you into our next big find - The Tones . I don't know what magic hip hop fairy dust is being spread over that area, but the talent-level is excessively high. It reminds me of the recent outburst of artists from Chi-town a few years ago - Kanye West, Common, Lupe Fiasco, etc. That was some good times ..... The [...]
MORE »
Artist:The Tones
Title:Fly Angel + Invited Me
Link Text:Download audio file (tones.mp3)
File Name:tones.mp3
Bitrate:128 kbps

Review of In My Element

Feb 10, 2009, 5:17pm Obnoxious Listeners
The editors at Uptown Sound wrote a great review of Robert Glasper's sophomore album, In My Element (2007). What I really enjoyed was how he took this from a perspective of a hip hopper compared to a Jazz listeners. Not that he favored a hip hopper, but he talked about those who have become fans of Robert Glasper (after his collaborations with Mos Def, Common, Q-Tip) and how they might look at this album. It doesn't have that much hip hop sound or components: Otherwise, you are listening to the new school sounds of [...]
MORE »

A Tribute to Dilla

Feb 10, 2009, 4:09pm Obnoxious Listeners
Who better to drop a tribute to one of the greatest producers of all time, J Dilla, then our favorites Mos Def & Robert Glasper . Along with them on the vocoder is Roger Troutman. Dan and I saw him at the Blue Note as well and he's amazing. The saxophone and trumpet defintely add a new layer to the music we've heard from them in the past. A dope dope video, thx Beatcakes !
MORE »

Owl and The Sparrow

Feb 10, 2009, 3:50pm Obnoxious Listeners
Vudoo Soul helps promote a groundbreaking movie Owl and The Sparrow in a duet with beautiful Nhu Loan. The movie itself looks very dope and seems to be getting some good reviews already by the SF Chronicles. I haven't seen Vu really do many things like this. But the video is dope and the woman he's with, Nhu Loan, sound amazing. Looks amazing too :-> Thx Slant Eye For The Roundeye !
MORE »

What Do We Know?

Feb 9, 2009, 3:21pm Obnoxious Listeners
Download audio file (Jai-Ho.mp3) Seven days ago, I was in New Delhi, crammed in a car three generations deep, belting Slumdog Millionaire 's Jai Ho and shrugging my shoulders to the dhol in way a not so different from how I might bob my head to an old Gangstarr beat. Grandfather, son, grandsons set in synchronous motion. Yesterday, I took inspiration from the record's decorated global appeal—a Golden Globe, an Oscar nomination, and a Grammy nomination for Jai Ho —and played it for my roommates. Well, that lasted a [...]
MORE »
Artist:Sukhwinder Singh, Tanvi Shah, Mahalakhsmi Iyer & Vijay Prakash
Title:Jai Ho
Link Text:Download audio file (Jai-Ho.mp3)
File Name:Jai-Ho.mp3
Bitrate:128 kbps
Year:2009

Ticketmaster Trying for a Monopoly?

Feb 8, 2009, 6:00am Obnoxious Listeners
If you're like me, you already despise both Ticketmaster and Live Nation. They're nothing more than glorified middlemen. The only thing that separates them from scalpers is the fact that they're "licensed distributors"... whatever the hell that means. Here's a recent example: just this past week I purchased a $29.50 concert ticket, but after a $12 "Ticket Fee" the total price paid was $41.50. So 30% of my cost was this mysterious ticket fee. And it's not like we have any other options; if you wait until the day of the concert to buy directly from the venue then you [...]
MORE »

Mos Def | Blue Note NYC

Feb 5, 2009, 2:08pm Obnoxious Listeners
Download audio file (all-i-need.mp3) The opportunity to see Mos Def in a setting of only 300-400 people within a small seating-based jazz lounge is rare. The last time I heard about a performance like this was back in 2005, and Mos Def ended up canceling last minute. This time, Mos Def did not cancel and made his appearance with musical genius and jazz composer, Robert Glasper and Company. The fusing of hip hop and jazz from two extremely talented artists made this one of the best musical showcases I've ever attended. A few distinct [...]
MORE »
Artist:Radiohead
Title:All I Need
Link Text:Download audio file (all-i-need.mp3)
File Name:all-i-need.mp3
Bitrate:128 kbps

Riverside in the Studio

Feb 4, 2009, 7:24pm Obnoxious Listeners
I can't wait to hear Riverside's 4th major release due this summer. I was poking around InsideOut's website for some images and came across their latest news story ... Riverside is working on the new album - "Anno Domini High Definition". The band has already begun recording, this time in Studio X in Olsztyn. We keep you up-to-date with the process of creation on a special "record" website New album Mariusz Duda: "We have gone from Warsaw, we have changed the studio and the producer. We care deeply [...]
MORE »

Indaba Music

Feb 3, 2009, 4:05pm Obnoxious Listeners
Part of my daily procrastination schedule is watching the latest episode of the Colbert Report, and it just so happens the interview in last night's episode was with Dan Zaccagnino from Indaba Music. He is the co-founder the company, which is an online community for musicians to create music from various locations around the globe. Indaba is a Zulu word that invokes the spirit of collaboration and community. It refers to a gathering or a forum for sharing ideas, and it embodies concepts that are central to the mission of Indaba Music. [...]
MORE »
Page   1 2 ... 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Next >