Blog: Lestermix

I think it's time I got back into this random mp3 sharing business. Here's a new song from Iceage, via Matador: http://matadorrecords.com/mpeg /iceage/iceage_coalition.mp3

• Iceage - Coalition

Our Athens friend and neighbor Laura Morgan announces that her label's "Furlined Records Compilation vol.2" is available for free download for about two weeks or so from the date of this post.

You've likely heard by now that Vic Chesnutt left us over Christmas. I found a recording of my first introduction to his music, a demo version of " Mr. Reilly " that was included on a local compilation cassette called "Samizdat" in 1988. This is actually the first time at Lestermix that I've actually linked to a song not my own that I uploaded myself. Considering that the friends who made the compilation didn't make any money and that they've made no effort to reissue it since then, I see no harm providing it, unless [...]

• Mr. Reilly » mr reilly 88.mp3

Through a tweet from Shikhee of Android Lust, I was introduced to the latest album by Abrasions, "Memorial," which is available for free listening on their digital store page . I don't think I really knew about the band before but this is good stuff, and I really like the new trend of making complete albums available for listening through Flash players.

Leerone has a new video, once again in collaboration with videographer and animator Hank Friedmann, for "Empty Houses:"

Our friend Leerone will be performing and interacting live on thestream.tv's "Raw Rhythms" show, Monday 13 April, 8:00PM EDT. She'll be performing with a string quartet, which will be the first I've heard her songs with that instrumentation.

Yesterday we lost Pylon guitarist Randy Bewley all too soon. As a lifelong resident growing up in the Athens area, Pylon was one local act that influenced me as much or more than my favorite international artists. While their reunions were frequent, we never know when we've already seen someone's last show. It's another reason to support live music, to see your favorite acts and your like-minded friends when you can, because everyone should enjoy times with others before the next unexpected loss.

Only a fan video exists for this 1986 OMD song from The Pacific Age but it will more than suffice for the occasion: And as a bonus, here's a reminder of where we've been:

Our friend Leerone has just uploaded a new official music video, "To Fill the Void," directed by Claire Carré:

Just today, Ayria has posted a very well-recorded performance of "Analog Trash" from her 29 November performance at The Outback Lodge in Charlottesville, VA:

I have reissued the 2006 "Terry & Holly" EP for sale through Amazon's mp3 store . I used the CreateSpace service which allows authors to upload and submit music, video or text for sale and with no up-front costs. I have also submitted another EP with "The Bowman Draws" as its lead single, and I expect that to be available on Amazon as well within the next couple of days.

Leerone introduced herself to me by e-mail this week. Before I saw how pretty she is, I already saw a very ambitious and successful stop-motion video unfolding: You should go to the page on YouTube and see the credited talent that helped with producing the video, under "more info."

I recently began making use of imeem.com so I made a new playlist. It's a quick and easy way to put together an online demo so this list will be updated often. dis-taste-r

I shall appear with a band called Olive Oyl as part of the ongoing 500 Songs for Kids benefit at Smith's Olde Bar in Atlanta. Our selection is Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" and our slot is Monday 5 May at 7:30 pm. I encourage everyone to go as early as possible because there are so many bands participating and it's a good charity to support. In Olive Oyl, I join with Allison Spiers, who was in the 90's Athens act Bunny and (for a time) Jackpot City, Creston Spiers, best known as [...]

Obscure as my old band, Radio:Tahiti, is, I finally found an even rarer song of ours, one I couldn't find for a long time. It's " Living Doll ," written initially by Steve Fitzpatrick and with my original contribution of the guitar part. This was a B-side to our single, "One Step From the End," released locally in 2000. I believe it was recorded in 1994 but neither of us are entirely sure. I remember the day but not when it was, exactly. This is the first of several promotional mp3's I'll be sharing as we assemble a [...]

• Living Doll

Carly Simon is back after a 7 or 8 year hiatus with her new album, "This Kind of Love," to be released 29 April. Thanks to promoter Randi Kraemer, I have two streams of the single, "Island," in QuickTime and Windows Media formats. Fans will also appreciate the rarities page on Carly's official site which includes mostly RealMedia audio and video and also an mp3 of "You're Where I Go" from the documentary, "Christa McAuliffe: Reach for the Stars."

• Carly Simon - You're Where I Go

I think many would agree that a successful makeover for Britney Spears' career and image will call for everyone involved to "pull out all the stops" with great imagination and ingenuity. "Break the Ice" is a successful team effort for songwriters, producers, animators and coordinators, and we can enjoy it well enough as pop art and slightly detach ourselves from what's really going on with our homegirl behind the scenes. Maybe because Dad's in charge now?

Regular viewers of CNBC in the past year may have noticed frequent use of the word "counterintuitive" as that's how stocks and other trends played out this year. It's been true also of the sports world. This has been a year with few safe assumptions. Likewise, my choice for song of the year may seem counter to readers' expectations:

I have begun streaming audio through a Shoutcast server, audible with Winamp. These will be sporadic at first but more frequent and continuous in the coming days. In the first test streams and in tonight's (Friday), I am looping the entire album, "X-mas," the first by my old band, Radio:Tahiti (which will get its own MySpace page soon), originally released 23 December 1992 and remastered with bonus tracks in 2005. In the near future I'll throw in more back catalog from R:T as well as Distaster, Broom Room Annex and other original things I've done over the years. [...]

I've been slow to learn about this. Apparently news of Site Meter sending spyware cookies is real, so I am now removing it from all of my blogs. I never want to facilitate any kind of malware problems for my visitors.