I’ve made some spurious claims about being an mp3 blog lately, as well as contradicting myself with regard to not posting stuff from major labels, so I guess I’d best clarify my position.
Basically, posting downloads of other people’s music is a breach of the originator’s (the artist, composer, whoever…) legal rights. Most blogs mp3 justify themselves by talking about “promotion for the artist” and other (quite frankly rather shaky) claims about new audiences buying CDs because they got a taster from a blog somewhere. I certainly purchase music that I’ve found out about from blogs, and there’s a strong chance that the other people who write music blogs do too. However, I’ll be the first to admit that I live in quite a rarefied environment when it comes to music (basically, I’m an obsessive) and your average reader/listener isn’t quite so geeky; meaning they can’t really be bothered to spend money on something when they can get it for free from blogs/torrents/wherever. Also, it’s still just plain illegal, regardless of whether or not the artist benefits somewhere down the line.
All is not lost, however, as there are still some groovy artists and small labels out there who do think blogs can make a positive difference to their careers. I receive a fair few presspacks and demos and CDs by people who want me to talk about and/or play their music; and I’m a tiny fish in an ocean of DIY music writers. Blogs like Song, by Toad, and Daily Growl get by almost exclusively on content that’s been sent directly to them. The bottom line is this; any promotion is good news for small/new bands and artists, and many of them are happy to let a blogger post a song or two of theirs.
So apologies for the long and rather dull post, but I feel it’s necessary to state that from this moment on, all mp3 download links posted in this blog are either available for free online elsewhere anyway (and I’ll always post a link to the original site) or I have the express permission of the artist to give the track away.
Well this one came out all the way back in May, and isn’t anything musicaly groundbreaking at all. If fact, it’s not even any good. “So, why am I posting about it?” I hear you cry. Well, before I reveal all my secrets I recommend you have a listen to the band…
…and now check out the band photo, and look closely at the girl in the blonde wig…
Oh yeah, baby: it’s Norah Jones. I have to say I was more than a little surprised by this one. I guess it’s only good for a quick chuckle, but if you do want to buy it then you can get the whole album at their page on the Team Love site (that’s right, they’re a Team Love signing; hence how I discovered them during my exploration of all things TL for the profile earlier in the week).
Hurrah – autumn is finally here. The weather’s cold and damp, but it’s supposed to be; which makes a nice change from the wash-out that was summer ’08. And what better way to enjoy being being cozy and warm inside on a blustery day than with a preview of the new Rob St John EP, Like Alchemy. Rob’s been making small but pretty persistent waves up in Scotland for a while now, and any regular readers of Song, by Toad or the Daily Growl will already be familiar with his work, but for those new to his music, he specialises in fragile, somewhat pastoral alt./new/whatever folk music, all wrapped up in “boutique” handmade packaging.
This new EP marks a bit of a step forward, as it appears he is now actually a full band. This record was made in one evening – recorded pretty much live – and features harmonium, autoharp, baritone uke, glock, saw (awesome!), cello and double bass, as well as Rob’s familiar gentle voice and guitaring. The record comes out on the 8th of December (released by the lovely Fife Kills: records), but is limited to 250 “hand numbered and stamped recycled card copies”. It’ll be avaliable in various indie record shops up north, and for the rest of us we’ll be able to find it at Rough Trade, London, but I’d recommend emailing him to pre-order a copy.
It’s only four songs long, so Rob’s asked (understandably) that I post only one mp3 from the actual release, but I’ve managed to get my grubby mitts on a live recording of one of the tracks, so hopefully there’s enough here to let you judge the music for yourself (though if you ask me, it’s a beautiful record).
In my Tilly and the Wall review earlier in the week I briefly mentioned Team Love Records, and how they’re a Web2.0-savvy label who’re all in favour of free music downloads (which I’m assuming you’re a fan of too, being as you’re here, reading an mp3 blog…). So just to hammer the point home, here’s a full-blown profile of the label.
Founded in 2003 by Conor Oberst and Nate Krenkel (formerly of EMI and Sony, in some sort of A+R capacity), the label grew out of Conor’s frustration at not being able to sign all the bands he wanted with Saddle Creek. Conor had a hand in the founding and running of Saddle Creek, but due to the growing size of the label, and the disparate tastes of all the people involved, the smaller, less obviously accessible bands that he liked weren’t getting deals. That said, Team Love is still hand-in-hand with the Creekers; they handle all Team Love’s U.S. distribution, and the Team Love online shop is on the Saddle Creek website.
The thing that initially set this label apart from others was that they gave all the music away for free on their website. This (obviously) caused trouble when negotiating with other labels for international distribution, so as far as I can tell they now only willingly give away a few tracks from each release. This approach seems to be the norm with small, web-savvy labels at the moment – everyone, bar the majors, is in agreement that promo mp3s generate more interest and ultimately more fans/money down the line for an artist than aggressively hoarding all the act’s music does…
In terms of label roster Team Love’re definitely supportive of smaller projects than Saddle Creek, but they do have a few notable exceptions. Tilly and the Wall are their flagship band, and they seem to be doing pretty well (despite the rubbish new album) but as far as I can tell the labels biggest success so far has been Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins (Jenny being the frontwoman of Rilo Kiley) – who made it onto Later… and thus into the hearts and minds of a certain type of English music fan. Willy Mason’s first LP Where the Humans Eat was also a Team Love release, but it seems he’s an exclusively Virgin act now.
So there you have it; Team Love Records. I’d strongly recommend checking out their website and availing yourself of all the free mp3s you can find there. Chances are you’ll find something you like. In the meantime, though, keep yourself occupied with these little trinkets.
I like to think of myself as a well-rounded, mature music listener who never discriminates based on genre alone, but alas, everyone has their own biases. I for one, if I’m honest, have a definite acoustic* lilt to my tastes, and I am often caught giving second chances to records on account of their instrumental makeup. For example, I’ll spend more time trying to “absorb” music by a band that includes a cello and an accordion than I really ought to, even if they’re obviously rubbish, whereas I’m likely to dismiss a D’n’B band without giving them the time and attention they could potentially deserve. But hey, we’re all human, so I don’t let it bother me. In fact, I guess you could say I embrace it.
And so to the point: as a result of our personal tastes, if we like something that could be seen as being a bit out of our musical comfort zones it’s because it’s genuinely knocked our socks off. Q.E.D., this week’s Top Five “Electronic” Songs should be bl**dy awesome. And before you ask, there’s not a single act on this list from Sheffield.
5. Panic Racer 500 by YMCK. Okay, I may have shot myself in the foot already, as this track’s not actually awesome, but it made the list on account of its comedy value. It’s some crazy 8-bit Japanese faux-arcade-game-soundtrack. Enjoy…
4. Worked Up So Sexual by The Faint. These guys describe their sound as “like the ’80s, but f*cked-up”, which is a pretty reasonable approximation. The song itself is properly super, and if you want proof of this then check out Elliot Dawson’s acoustic (see, I love that stuff!) cover that can be found on the first Bearfaced Podcast.
3. Such Great Heights by The Postal Service. Ben Gibbard’s electro side-project, which bizarrely seems to be more successful, in the UK at least, than his real band (Death Cab, for all the philistines out there…). This is one of those albums that sound great when you first hear them, but sadly don’t hold up at all well under the scrutiny of repeated listening. This particular song, however, has become a bit of a poster-boy for any indie kids who want to show that they’re “branching out”… Again, the quality of the song is demonstrated by the high number of good quality covers by everyone from Iron & Wine to Ben Folds.
2. Decipher Reflections by Play Radio Play!. This wunderkind shot to fame back when everyone was convinced that you could have a career just by being on myspace. As far as I’m aware, he got well over 2 million “friends” without any press at all, purely by word of mouth; not bad for a “true-love-waits” 16yr old. Last time I bothered to check his ‘space he’d been snapped up by a label and was about to release an album. That was well over a year ago, and I haven’t heard anything else since. Pity, as he was actually rather good.
1. Are “Friends” Electric? by Gary Numan. Ever caught yourself listening to the radio and thinking “hey, this is actually rather good” only to be disgusted when you found out it was the Sugar Babes? Well this is why. Sadly, the rest of the Replicas album (from which this song’s taken) sounds like the soundtrack to Look Around You. He soon lost favour with audiences, married a member of his fanclub, and called his children Raven, Persia and Echo. ‘Nuf said…
P.S. if anyone can name both famous uses of the quote in this post’s title, as well as the source from which it came, they’ll get a prize!
*For the record, by “acoustic” i do NOT mean the Jack-Johnson-lite drivel that graced every middle-class family’s coffee table a few years back. I merely mean that it has acoustic instruments in it. And Matt Costa can bugger off, an’ all…
Released on the super-duper Team Love Records, who are down with all the Web 2.0 kids (ie. they give some stuff away for free and are quite friendly – watch this space for a full label profile in the coming week), and licensed here in the UK to Moshi Moshi (who positively ooze cool), and the follow-up to 2006’s stupendous Bottom of Barrels, “O” should have been a dead cert. for everyone’s best-of-’08 lists. Sadly, having now heard the thing, I’m not so sure; though it could grow on me.
For those of you unfamiliar with the band, Tilly and the Wall are a 3-girls-2-boys outfit who rode out of the depths of Omaha on the back of Conor Oberst (a big favourite in this house). Their main gimmick is that in place of a drummer they have a tap dancer. Sadly it would appear they haven’t the faith in their convictions, as many of the songs on this record feature real drums. Which is, quite frankly, a bit of a let down.
The sleeve to this records has been touted as having a swish die-cut oval that showcases some fan-submitted artwork. This doesn’t seem to be in evidence on the copy I have. The cover is pretty dire; monotone and pixelated; reminiscent of a self-release by a rubbish garage-punk band.
That aside, it’s not all bad news. O takes a while to get started, but does eventually deliver some fairly good tunes, though it’s a bit of a battle getting to them. To my ears (speaking as someone who rates their last album quite highly) this is all a bit too childish and, dare I say it, pop. Nineties pop, to be precise. Beat Control, in particular, is very dated. In fact, I’ll go as far as to say this whole record is about ten years too late…
What do you get when you squeeze thousands of people into a tiny village, then run madly at them whilst carrying a burning barrel of tar? I guess you’d have to ask the residents of Ottery St. Mary, in Devon, as that’s what they do on November the fifth every year.
Allegedly the origins of this surreal ritual are lost in the depths of antiquity, but the rules are quite simple: You can only carry a barrel if you were born in the village, and wim’n and chil’n get to carry small barrels in the early evening. A barrel is set off once every hour or so from outside one of the village’s pubs, and they get progressively bigger as the night goes on; with the biggest one (about the size of a car) being released at midnight. The crazy locals carry the barrel on the back of their necks untill the heat becomes unbearable (when they pass it on to another waiting villager) or the barrel disintegrates. Oh, and the only protective gear they get is a sack on each hand to keep off the fire.
Totally bonkers.
And did I mention that they do all this while in the midst of a moshpit-style crowd? ’cause they do!
My, oh my; good ol’ Barack did it! Who’d’ve thought there’d be that many right-thinking voters across the pond. Not I, for sure… for the second time this week I’m glad to have been proven wrong. And now it’s Bonfire Night; hurrah! And thus, this week’s Top Five is in honour of Obama’s 2008 victory and Guido Fawkes’ 1605 defeat.
Feast your eyes on the official* Top Five Songs About Revolution, Dissent, and the Dawning of a New World Order.
It’s kinda predictable that most of the songs on this list’ll be punk tunes, and sadly all the best punk songs are the ones that everyone knows best. Apparently familiarity breeds contempt, and most people are already pretty darn familiar with the all the songs on my first draft of this list, and that’s really not what music blogging’s about. London’s Calling, Anarchy in the UK, and Babylon’s Burning are great songs, but if you wanted that kind of list you’d be reading a “heritage” magazine (will Q, Mojo, Word and Uncut please stand up) so in the interests of interest I’ve gone for a slightly more “obscure” top 5. (and this is where any genuine punk fans chip in and tell me off for being too stayed and middle class…)
5: When the President Talks to God by Bright Eyes. I guess the US election result means we’ve only got a month or so until we can’t play this one anymore, so enjoy it while it’s still relevant.
3: The Beat That My Heart Skipped by Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip. Based around a reasonably personal encounter, but still all about revolution; albeit a cultural one. Just funny enough to avoid being pompus.
1: Bhindi Bhagee by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros. Now this is a song about a new world order; multiculturalism at its best. And plus, there was no way Strummer wasn’t going to make this list in some form or another. And there’s an electric drill solo; what more could anyone want from a band?
I was going to write a post about some great live sessions I’ve come across lately, but realised that there were far too many good ones to write about retrospectively, and that a great many of those came from the archives of one particular site. So, to save time and to give a little gift to you, my dear readers, I present a profile of the Daytrotter project in its entirety.
The gist of the site is thus: bands touring the states take a couple of hours to record four tracks at the site’s studio (Futureappletree Studio 1) that are then posted along with a article or review and some exclusive artwork (the site has several decent illustrators “on staff”). It’s a simple idea, and one where the true genius is in the depth and breadth of the bands themselves.
Rather than point out specific sessions from their archives, I’ll let you do some of your own recon. work, but to illustrate the quality of the (free) downloads on offer I’ll post links to three song chosen by typing “daytrotter” into my iTunes and hitting the shuffle button:
The Spinto track is a particularly good example of the joys of the Daytrotter sessions as it incorporates a “previously unrecorded” middle eight (read the article to hear the story behind it). I’m sure there’ll be plenty more sessions from these guys that I’ll be compelled to post about, but for now keep yourselves sated by perusing their archives…
It seems that lately there’s an awful lot of singer/songwriter/producers who’re finally getting out of their bedrooms and into the real world. By this I mean that they’ve actually recruited other musicians and started gigging as a band. But is this a good thing? Back-in-the-day, They Might Be Giants lost a great many of their most devoted fans when they changed from being an arty two-piece that used tape loops and quirky gimmicks to being a five-piece band. The music itself didn’t suffer (it arguably became better), but they certainly lost some of their cool.
But what about acts that can’t realistically recreate the sound of their records on stage? Bon Iver (aka Justin Vernon) made what is in my opinion the best album of 2008 (so far) all on his lonesome, and has been touring pretty much solidly since its release accompanied by a band full band. They’ve been recreating the songs off the record pretty faithfully, but as was to be expected some of the sheen and atmosphere of the record has been lost.
This transfer of songs from record to stage often brings a complete change of sound. The addition of extra musicians – and the human interaction that comes with them – can warp a song so that it becomes utterly unrecognisable, and in some cases changes the feel of the entire project. This metamorphosis can be an exciting thing to witness as a fan. Much in the same way that I enjoy a good cover-version (or “reimagining” if you’re Tim Burton) hearing a familiar song in an unfamiliar way can be a thrilling experience.
But what if you’re not familiar with the material?
I saw Styrofoam back in July when they were supporting Death Cab for Cutie at the Brixton Academy. I really enjoyed their performance, and thought they made a pretty good trio (guitar/vox, piano/synth/BVs, and drums, all accompanied by laptop-based programing). The sound was sharp, entertaining and well rounded, but more importantly, it was cool (albeit in a trashy, europop way…). Being the good music consumer I am, I demonstrated my approval by purchasing an album and an E.P.
Imagine my surprise when I listened to the record and discovered that Arne Van Petegem – whom I had taken to be the band’s frontman – was in fact the only official member, and that the band was actually a Play Radio Play style solo project! I was shocked, appalled, and disgusted, and promptly shoved the CDs into my collection to gather dust.
Don’t get me wrong; I quite like Play Radio Play, and loved the Postal Service record (alas, it’s not one that stands up to repeat listening, but is quite nice every once in a while). So why did I scorn Styrofoam so? I guess it was because the CD wasn’t what I was expecting, and my disgust was purely reactionary.
I’m pleased to report that the wonders of “shuffle” have proved me wrong. I’ve “rediscovered” A Thousand Words, and it’s actually pretty super. So I guess the lesson here is… well, sod any lesson or allegorical point; just take every record as you find it.
Eaten by Monsters 