Whether you love or hate Facebook (or love to hate it), some of the changes they introduced this week will have implications to the music sphere. Partnering with music services, such as Spotify and Rdio , members have the option of reporting to Facebook what they're currently playing. This initially shows up in the new Facebook ticker, such as "Kevin Flick is listening to Halogen (I Could Be a Shadow) by Neon Indian on Rdio." This is all tied under the new Facebook Music feature rolled out [...]
It appears that the many predictions that Radiohead would release new music soon were right. Two weeks ago Radiohead released a 123 with two songs: Supercollider and The Butcher . Neither of these songs were on King of Limbs . But there's something I want to point out: these songs are the first of many "branches" from King of Limbs . King of Limbs is in reference to an [...]
It appears that the many predictions that Radiohead would release new music soon were right. Yesterday, Radiohead released a 123 with two songs: Supercollider and The Butcher . Neither of these songs were on King of Limbs . But there's something I want to point out: these songs are the first of many "branches" from King of Limbs . King of Limbs is in reference to an ancient tree [...]
We've been waiting patiently for Google to release their new music cloud service since we first heard they were working on it. But we weren't expecting Amazon beat Google to the punch. Today, Amazon launched the Amazon Cloud Drive , allowing members to store documents, videos, photos, and music files. Pairing with Cloud Drive is the Amazon Cloud Player , and this grabbed our attention quickly. Amazon has been selling Mp3s for several years now, at competitive rates compared to iTunes. Up until now, when you purchased an [...]
On February 14th, Radiohead shared some love with their fans by announcing their new album would be released digitally in just five days. But today, Radiohead surprised fans again by releasing The King of Limbs a day early, along with a music video of Thom Yorke dancing. The physical release is being billed as the Newspaper Album , with two clear 103 vinyl records, a CD, and over 625 pieces of artwork. While it's impossible to evaluate a Radiohead [...]
Sleeping Bag is a new band from Bloomington that will keep you warm through the lo-fi winter months. Headed by Dave Segedy , Sleeping Bag has been recording through the winter months and has recently posted Slime as a free download via Bandcamp . Sleeping Bag encompasses a raw and edgy sound that harkens back Starflyer 's Silver album in the early `90s, with a power pop sound that takes me back to Weezer 's Blue album. During Sleeping Bag's live set, Dave Segedy is backed by [...]
It used to be that artists strove to be on the radio. This aspiration became predominant in the 1950s and 1960s, when disc jockeys helped bring artists to the forefront of our conscience. Long gone are the days when disc jockeys had the freedom to play what they wanted, and could establish a name for themselves and their radio station. There are few radio stations that allow such liberty, and most of them are are college owned radio stations. Yes, exceptions can be found. For instance, BBC Radio still has influential personalities like Steve Lamacq [...]
Every strong argument for moving music to the cloud also has a negative consequence. But there is one specific positive/negative effect of our modern day access to music. Positive: Music is always at our fingertips. Most of us have smart phones. Whether it's an iPhone or an Android, it really doesn't matter. Music is easily uploaded to these devices and played in headphones. We can also install mobile apps (and more options are coming) that gives us access to millions of songs streaming to our mobile device (check out Last.fm [...]
It is the end of the year and it's time to contemplate over the albums that we enjoyed the most during 2010. If you and I hang out long enough, music is bound to come up in our conversation. One thing that I'm likely to talk about is the relevance of an older album that is sweeping me away. So I though I might compile a short list of relevant albums that were recorded more than thirty years ago. Obviously this list could include fifty albums, but I've pared it down to just a few. The criteria I used to [...]
Sigur Rós member, Georg , has developed a new online music store and social network called Gogoyoko . Through his new site, which has launched, artists receive 100% of the sales revenue and 40% of the advertising revenue, depending on the amount of music streaming each artist has. Their goal was to create a "fair music market place," and it appears that they've succeeded. In this video he introduces Gogoyoko by explaining that he wishes to address the problem where artists feel the need to get signed to a [...]
Caribou is releasing Swim Remixes today in the UK (fans in the US will have to wait till November 2nd). This comes as Caribou finishes a South American and North American tour, and will tour Europe in November and December. Remixes on Swim Remix were spun by heavy hitters such as Junior Boys , Gold Panda , and Motor City Drum Ensemble . Caribou - Leave House (Motor City Drum Ensemble Remix) [...]
Several members of Beirut have formed a side project called Soft Landing . The band is comprised of Paul Collins , Perrin Cloutier , and Mike Lawless , and their debut album was released on October 12th, via Ba Da Bing (the same label Beirut is signed to). Stylistically it is a pop version of Beirut, heavy on the instrumentation and layers, with catchy melodies. Soft Landing - Baptism Due to the [...]
Several members of Beirut have formed a side project called Soft Landing . The band is comprised of Paul Collins , Perrin Cloutier , and Mike Lawless , and their debut album was released on October 12th, via Ba Da Bing (the same label Beirut is signed to). Stylistically it is a pop version of Beirut, heavy on the instrumentation and layers, with catchy melodies. Soft Landing - Baptism Due to the [...]
This summer The Innocence Mission released their latest full-length, My Room In The Trees . If I had been blogging regularly, I would have certainly followed up, telling you how much I was enjoying the new album. Though I'm getting to this a few months late, I'm still thoroughly enjoying this album. I was first introduced to The Innocence Mission around 1997. But this point they had already been a band for 12 years, with three full-lengths that had been released on A&M Records . The [...]
Blessed Feathers is a new band we're excited about. They hail from Wisconsin and we're certain you'll hear more about this band. This is a brand new video for their song FUDJ (Pawn Show Blues) , produced by Wooden Lens . Blessed Feathers - FUDJ (Pawn Shop Blues) Led to Sea is the solo project of violinist/violist Alex Guy . She has provided strings for bands such as Xiu Xiu, the Dead Science, The Pharmacy and Parenthetical [...]
Efterklang has started a project called Efterkids for the purpose of supporting music education in public schools around the world. Efterklang is a exceptional band from Denmark, who signed to the US label 4AD Records last year. While managing their own label for years, Efterklang released their first US release, Magic Chairs . Their desire for Efterkids is to work with specific schools and helping them with their needs. "The goal of Efterkids is to both raise awareness [...]
When Great Lakes were formed in 1996, the original lineup included Jamey Huggins (Of Montreal). Ben Crum is now the primary songwriter, and their latest album, Ways of Escape , involved musicians from Mice Parade, Beiruit, Ladybug Transistor, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and Ryan Adams. Summer Fruit is the leading single off Ways of Escape , which can be streamed in entirety on SoundCloud . Great Lakes - Summer Fruit Ravens & [...]
When Great Lakes were formed in 1996, the original lineup included Jamey Huggins (Of Montreal). Ben Crum is now the primary songwriter, and their latest album, Ways of Escape , involved musicians from Mice Parade, Beiruit, Ladybug Transistor, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and Ryan Adams. Summer Fruit is the leading single off Ways of Escape , which can be streamed in entirety on SoundCloud . Great Lakes - Summer Fruit Ravens & [...]
Glasgow, Scotland's Belle & Sebastian have their first release in four years, called Write About Love . Check out their short film of the band performing several of their songs from their great (as always) album, a question and answering session, and short videos. Stuart Murdoch responds to the Do-It-Yourself approach to music: "This is the second big punk movement... is the whole Internet thing. It's just kicking in now." Stuart also has a discussion with numerous artists from successful bands, conversing [...]
Jukebox the Ghost set out to perform outdoors in all five boroughs of New York City, as part of the city's Play Me I'm Yours . They're currently touring the US. Now for Australian synth-pop by the new duo, Voltaire Twins . Their single, D.I.L. is already gaining 'acclaim' status. Voltaire Twins have already shared the stage with Vampire Weekend, Florence and The Machine, The XX, Peaches, Tegan & Sara, Goldfrapp, Yelle and Metronomy. Voltaire Twins - D.I.L. Once I heard this song [...]
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