Here's the skinny - no pun intended. There is no order to all of this, but it seems to be working for HappyParts. I certainly don't do any of this perfectly. On top of all this believe in timeless recordings, accept that people are busy, and attention span is the new revenue - so when's it's there, carpe' diem. Join Gym and go every day. Be friendly there. But don't be a creep. Do Cardio 45 minutes @ 3.8 mph at 11 point incline. (random fat burner button) 100 crunches afterwards. And [...]
By Carrie Brownstein And it's naptime. ( courtesy of The Patton Veterinary Hospital ) It's hard to believe that we've reached the end. For the past two weeks, all of us -- the NPR Music Team, a handful of outside contributors and myself -- have explored the last 10 years in music. Did we cover [...]
Here is the final installment of our unscientific, should-not-be-used-for-news-an d-reporting-purposes survey results. As you probably know by now, the following answers were culled from a variety of people in the arts, music and entertainments communities. The last question we asked them was: How do you think we'll listen to music ten years from now? Our respondents' answers ranged from silly to philosophical to downright Sci-Fi! We hope you enjoy reading them. And thanks so much to everyone who took the time to participate. Douglas Wolk, writer: [...]
Here is the final installment of our unscientific, should-not-be-used-for-news-an d-reporting-purposes survey results. As you probably know by now, the following answers were culled from a variety of people in the arts, music and entertainments communities. The last question we asked them was: How do you think we'll listen to music ten years from now? Our respondents' answers ranged from silly to philosophical to downright Sci-Fi! We hope you enjoy reading them. And thanks so much to everyone who took the time to participate. Douglas Wolk, writer: [...]
In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Blake Butler is the rare young writer who consistently and effectively challenges his readers. Scorch Atlas is a haunting collection of interconnected stories and vignettes, a dystopian work of genius. The book itself is a work of art. The internal pages are individually distressed, and the page edges and cover appear burnt and scarred, and the design complements the book's theme perfectly. Matt [...]
Interview with Rhymesayers artist Toki Wright – recorded live at The Metro in Chicago, Illinois on November 18 th , 2009. The Fresh Air Tour featuring Brother Ali, Evidence, Toki Wright and BK-One. Being a fan of hip-hop for some time now I have seen quite a few hip-hop shows and have met quite a few artists. I can't enough how true and respectful and giving the artists on the Fresh Air Tour are. This was easily one of the best hip-hop shows I have seen in my life. A total party from start to [...]
Friday! Quick-hit thoughts of the week! QUICK-HIT THOUGHTS OF THE WEEK! 1. Whatever Brains - Gross Urge (mp3) ( buy ) BAM! Whatever Brains ( myspace ) is a Raleigh, North Carolina band called WHATEVER BRAINS. That automatically qualifies them to be AWESOME, but this song - along with a lot of the rest of their Trim-Jeans and/or Gross Urge Plus Ten CD-R - qualifies them to be DOUBLE AWESOME. I'm more comfortable thinking of them as traditional lo-fi punk than as [...]
If you like punk, and you live in L.A., Headline Records is the place to go to. When I have friends from out of town, I make a point to drive down to Melrose. Jean-Luc has seen the scene grow from an international standpoint. And if you have a chance, listen to him talk. Like with Curtis from TAANG, when I'm in Headline, I'm just a student in this punk game. 1. When did you start Headline Records, and what gave you the idea [...]
Photography "Mojo Rising" by jonmmmayhem To see the photo Mojo shot from atop the couch, go here (Not100%SFW) Well, what do you know.... it's Friday. Huh. Go figure. Whacha doin' this weekend? Me? Besides riding my bicycle on my quest to make to 6,000 miles before the end of the year -- I'm just over 5,000 miles, and with just under 6 weeks left, that means I need to do over 170 miles a week! Oh man... [...]
Interview: The Voyces' Brian Wurschum discusses Let Me Die In Southern California by DKBroiler The Voyces ' new album, Let Me Die In Southern California , is aural light-years away from the quiet little surf classic "Relate To Me" ( Jack Johnson's Thicker Than Water ) that started it all. I have already listened to their new record, from start to finish, probably over a hundred times. To put this into perspective, I usually can't make it through an entire CD once anymore. So, needless to [...]
We may have thought, yesterday, that the now three-way Fiery Furnaces-Radiohead-Beck feud instigated by the Furnaces' Matt Friedberger was over. Instead of whining via publicist or ignoring Friedberger's random attack, Beck responded by offering a fairly awesome free track called (what else?) "Harry Partch." All seemed right in the world: Radiohead had kept its silent dignity, Friedberger had been thoroughly PWNED and Beck had made sure the kids at least got something out of the media circus. But Friedberger, we've learned, just doesn't know how to gracefully accept defeat . He's [...]
Life won't stop for The Artist Life . Since we last talked, the guys the have shot a video. Yeah, ok. Big deal. But, get this: the video was directed by and stars Jay from Jay and Silent Bob! Yeah. I know . So, I emailed Ian (the "Explosion" T). Here's what he had to say about all things The Artist Life ! Scott: Ian, the big news is you scored Jason Mewes ("Jay" from Jay and [...]
I dunno, what do you think? Is it tacky for Sub Pop owner Bruce Pavitt to have his wife selling the test pressing for the new Nirvana Bleach reissue on Ebay? Before it's even come out? Seems like if you were the label owner, you could make say 100 test pressings and make a lot of money selling them... hmmm. Regardless, Jyoti Pavitt is doing just that right now on Ebay . Closing in 20 minutes and already past a grand... for new vinyl that we don't yet know is very rare. Update: It actually [...]
Will at WDUB interviewed Adam Wills, bass player for Bear in Heaven for their station blog, www.911-blog.com "911-Blog was fortunate enough to score an email interview with Adam Wills of Bear In Heaven, recent recipient of Pitchfork's "Best New Music" honor for their new album, Beast Rest Forth Mouth. If you haven't gotten around to listening to Bear In Heaven yet, their sound treads a unique path between electronica, prog, and southern rock. Look for downloads of their tracks "Wholehearted Mess" and "Lovesick Teenagers" (my new favorite song) after the interview. [...]
Hailing from New Jersey and currently residing in Seattle, Rachel Flotard has been piloting Visqueen for years while singing with Neko Case. When her father took ill, she put her career on hold in order to spend time with him as he battled prostate cancer. Losing her dad led Flotard to take deeper stock of her life and career. She formed her own indie label, Local 638 Records, and released the power-pop gem Message to Garcia to rave reviews. In this EXCLUSIVE interview, Rachel Flotard recalls the evolution of her new album and some of her [...]
What exactly does it mean to say a particular musician is indie? Any reasonably comprehensive definition of that word is going to be necessarily complex, but if you let me get parsimonious on your asses for a second, I'll say the indie tag employs a combination of (a) financial integrity and (b) a songcrafting/recording/produci ng style that is, in one way or another, somewhat fucked up, quirky, unique, or just plain different enough to void any chance of mainstream radio play. The professor in me automatically thinks of such definitional situations in terms of matrices, in this case a [...]
So here we are at the weekend before the holiday season officially begins and everyone's schedule gets really busy, so get your music fixes in now. On Thursday night you can check out the final night of the Jenny Dee & The Deelinquints residency at the Lizard. It's also the first night of the International Pop Overthrow 4 night stint at Church. Night 1 of the IPO has The Buckners, The Doom Buggies and more. There are also 2 great free shows on Thursday, Lars Vegas is at the Alchemist and Sally O'Brien's has an impressive lineup. On Friday Thalia [...]
It may have been the fact that I was airborne and leaving Chicago, but " Under The El " by David Stone really came to life for me. It was probably more the pace and the imagery, but at the time it felt like I was actually riding on the El again and not on an airplane. Although he no longer lives in Chicago, he clearly understands the city and holds all the various elements that make it what it is in high regard. Stone was born in Chicago and studied philosophy at University of IL, and as you will [...]
I've already said all I care to about Spin and The Fiery Furnaces ' recent attacks on Radiohead . But while the latter has chosen not to respond to Matt Friedberger's provocations, it looks like a minor target of the indie rocker's wrath is having his say - in a singularly musical way. You may remember that when The Fiery Furnaces issued a press release clarifying that they, in fact, do not like Radiohead, they got in a parting shot at another musician with both mainstream popularity and critical cred: "Matt would have much [...]
new music from vampire weekend – cousins + music video
No Curve Allowed (Grading This Week's New Tracks)
Beach House: Norway
Friday Five: Surf Songs
HOT CHIP TAKE another crack at IT and I’m IN
