My, it's been a while since I posted here. Found something that's a little out of character from my own blog. Heard this track on the radio during my lunch hour and I immediately thought of Interpol, the Editors, and maybe a little bit of the early Killers.
Looks like they've been around for a handful of years already. Currently they're supporting Glasvegas on tour, both of whom will be part of the 2009 NME Tour along with Friendly Fires and Florence & The Machine.
At the end of the video above, you can check out a couple other songs of theirs, "Death" and "To Lose My Life".
There’s this track that’s been floating around the blogosphere and I guess it’s been on heavy rotation somewhere in Europe. Anyway, the reason behind the latest hype appears to be because Justice’s “D.A.N.C.E” comes to mind. People have been speculating that it’s Justice under a different alias, or that it is Keedz but mixed by Justice. The tracks are rather similar, so there’s no real breakthrough or anything.
In the end, it’s really just a rebirth of a gospel song. I'm a bit confused and am not sure if it's by Celestial Choir or The Joubert Singers. All I know is that it was mixed back in the day by Larry Levan, a legendary dj of his time, and that now we have a modern version with a current artist’s name linked to it. Here’s the older version for comparison.
Celestial Choir/The Joubert Singers – Stand on the Word (Larry Levan Remix)
Hello, My name is Phyliss Mckoy Joubert, and I am the owner of KEEDZ. I also wrote Stand on the Word in 1982. It was remixed, signed onto Universal France, and now KEEDZ and The Glory Gospel Singers are coming to Japan this december to sing it. thanks, mjllc7@aol.com
A couple weeks ago, I found this addictive track by Passion Pit, a band who’s been getting a lot of references to MGMT. Their EP, Chunk of Change, is expected to be released mid-September followed by an full length album next year.
Passion Pit - Sleepyhead
You can preview a couple more tracks over at myspace, or download four free tracks at last.fm.
Like Estelle, guess you can consider this mainstream now, but I heard the first track on the SXSW sampler back in March, and it looks like they've been getting a lot more press over the past month since her album was released last week.
From myspace: Blend the old-school R&B sound with a quirky hybrid of hip-hop and pop and you get Little Jackie, the creation of genre-defying singer-songwriter Imani Coppola and programmer Adam Pallin. With a nod to the soulful Motown rhythms of the past and a sneer to many of the social and cultural issues that consume the public today, Coppola has crafted an album of musical sugar and spice, filled with sweet, saccharine-tinged melodies and spicy, bold commentaries.
Little Jackie – The World Should Revolve Around Me
Little Jackie – The Stoop
Little Jackie – 28 Butts
Little Jackie – One Love
I streamed the entire album and it’s a good listen if you like the poppy 60’s hip-hop throwback era. Recommended for those who listen to Joss Stone, Lily Allen, Estelle, Lauren Hill, and Corinne Bailey Rae. She also did a set on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic.
For me, this week’s t61 highlight was that San Francisco-based band, Minipop, joined the site. Honestly, with so much music from the SXSW sampler, I was easily overwhelmed, especially with more of the rock stuff. However, Minipop was one of those bands that just stood out to me after listening to their song, “Like I Do”. If you don't know already, I have a slight bias toward dreamy indie pop songs. I actually thought about blogging about them before, but now that they’re t61 official…even better!
Before t61 came along, I had no idea I’d be digging this electronic, 80s-vibe sort of dance music. Particularly, I’ve been very pleased with the two mixes from Moulinex that have come to the site, and I hope more are on their way. Not to be confused with the French manufacturer of small household appliances, Luis Moulinex is a Portuguese dj/German producer who is part of D.I.S.C.O.Texas, a collective of artists (think RAC). I didn’t think anything would come about my random question during my interview with Andre (of RAC) about being from Portugal, and then I read this interview with Luis Moulinex who also admitted Portugal not having a thriving music scene. Portugal sure looks like it's missing out as these artists are fleeting their native country and going elsewhere. Anyway…Moulinex = good stuff!
…and obviously I immediately liked SymbolOne too. Apparently these are long lost “musical” twins that reunited. Not only that, they are Justice and Danger-approved! Justice featured “Love Juice” on their (rejected) Fabric Xmas Mix, and Danger has put his own spin on the track as well.
So…I saw Lykke Li last Monday at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles. To be honest, I thought I was going to miss out since I got off of work late and she was the opening act. Luckily, there was another act before her, so I sort of sped for nothing. Anyway, the crowd was mainly filled with a rather eager, bright-eyed, college youngsters from what I can tell near the stage. The older folks seem to be content being on the sidelines.
Eventually, out walks Lykke Li in her belted baggy black attire and gold chains, followed by the rest of her bandmates. The setlist starts off with Lykke Li singing the high-pitched, staccato ooh, ooh, ooh's of the slow tempo "Time Flies". Then, it picks up with "Dance Dance Dance" and slows back down a bit with "Everybody But Me".
El Perro del Mar was the main act of the night and she came out to do a guest performance on "My Love". The next song might have been "Let It Fall", but my memory has faded regarding the setlist. Anyway, the crowd, of course, got giddy for "Little Bit", but I really thought the highlight of the show was the upbeat performance of "Breaking It Up." Even my friend who is absolutely unfamiliar with Lykke Li remembered that song the most. Lykke Li then closed out her act with "Tonight" and "I'm Good, I'm Gone".
This show had so much more than the expected handclapping. Add the cowbell, the kazoo, and the megaphone on top of Lykke Li's pelvic thrusts and hip sways, just makes it a great show. That, and I love the fact that the guys who play the keyboard and drums were on either side of Lykke Li at the front of the stage, and the guitar in the back. The percussive aspects are really instrumental to her music, in my opinion.
While my friend and I didn't stay for the main act, we ended the night by walking past the star of Entourage on our way out of the venue. That was my friend's highlight of the night, even though we didn't know his name other than 'the guy from Entourage'. (Btw, it's Adrian Grenier...however, I had to look that up.)
Oh, and I guess I should end off this post with something new. Here's a track by Kleerup with Lykke Li on vocals.
Perhaps you guys are better than me and looked into D*R*I a bit more earlier when it had posted onto the homepage. Dri is Adrianne Verhoeven of the Anniversary, Art in Manila, and Fourth of July…and should definitely not to be confused with the punk, metal, trash music of D.R.I. In contrast, her music is downtempo trip hop and easy on the ears.
I don’t know how long it’s been, but I still can’t get enough of this song. It’s from her solo debut album, Smoke Rings, which was released last November.
I highly recommend that you visit her Virb page where you can stream most of her album.
Btw, I just made two other posts as brief commentary, but I set them at an earlier date so I don't bombard this blog simply because I'm trying to play catch up. If you're interested, you can click on the link or tag to my column.
At some point (possibly when you don't have time to write much else), you could bring each of those two posts to the top of the blog by editing the date to make them the newest post.
I thought there might be quite a few people around here who would be interested in a compilation of nerdy remixes that dropped yesterday, since there are quite a few names on it that should be familiar to all of you.
The ensuing round of musical mayhem is a collection of remixes, mash-ups, and re-orchestrations of geeky tracks from across the spectrum. There’s nerdcore, of course, and Wizard Rock, geek rock (or, grock, as it’s come to be called in some circles) and even a dash of foreign language goodness on the menu, reworked by a delightfully eclectic collection of DJs, producers, and musicians. I owe each of these participants an equal measure of thanks, as this is really their album.
While thesixtyone appears to be more geared toward indie rock, every so often we get a refreshing addition to the site. If you like CéU, you should definitely like the sounds of Luisa Maita, another native of the Brazilian São Paolo music scene. Modernizing traditional Brazilian music, she delivers a variety of samba, jazz, afrobeat, and soul, creating an eclectic sound that makes for easy listening.
Just in case you were unaware, she actually debuted on thesixtyone months ago with this track below. Took a while for it to take off from what I remember since some listeners told me it wasn’t there cup of tea at the moment, so I’m really glad she received a better reception this time around.
Lastly, she has also been featured on Musica de Bolsa, which is like Brazil’s equivalent to La Blogotheque’s Take Away Shows.
Sidenote: Once again, I highly recommend Aurgasm, a music blog that deviates from reporting the usual rock form and focuses on presenting a variety of other musical styles such as downtempo, folk, nu jazz, chanson, scandinavian, jazz, cuban, brazilian, electro, soul, jump blues, bluegrass, film score, and electronica.
I’m a bit surprised Electric President didn’t take off immediately when it was uploaded to thesixtyone, especially when their sound reminds me of Death Cab for Cutie, Postal Service, and Styrofoam. A few weeks versus a day sort of shows how reliant we are on familiar names. Anyway, Electric President is comprised of two guys, Ben Cooper and Alex Kane.
….and I literally kept playing these two songs over and over again.
From last.fm: The songs are characterized by nasalized voices, acoustic riffs, MD-four tracks, SM58, and some computers.
Also, to find out more about Ben Cooper’s other music projects, you can visit his website at this link. If you’re interested in checking out his artwork, you can click here.
P.S. I sent a brief message over myspace letting him know the songs were sitting at the top of the homepage at the time. He replied and was appreciative. So he knows about thesixtyone now, but I think it ends there.
Radical Face’s Website Radical Face’s Mypace Electric President’s Mypace (I think this one is run by the label)
How fantastic! The Ting Tings have a song featured as a free download this week on iTunes. The song is called “Great DJ” which according to NME, was the most popular indie track so far for 2008 back in March. Amazing what an accidental wrong chord can create when learning the guitar (see interview clip below).
The Ting Tings is a British indie pop duo, and they are set to release their debut album, We Started Nothing, on May 20th. I was instantly hooked when I first heard the percussive opening of “That’s Not My Name” on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic last fall. The rest was just darn energetic and catchy, not to mention, there's handclapping too. Nic Harcourt even listed their self-released Demos as number two on his top 10 albums of 2007. You can also catch a studio session and interview they did on his program here.They’ll re-release the single on May 12th.
Diving into the world of jazz, I liked this week’s iTunes free music download selection, Melody Gardot’s “Worrisome Heart”, the title track off her latest album.
She has a very interesting story as well. Four years ago, she was struck by an SUV while riding her bicycle, suffering serious pelvic and head injuries where she could barely sit up for ten minutes. In addition, she endured short term memory loss and heightened sensitivity to light and sound which still continues even today. Thus, she has to wear sunglasses and hearing devices in order to perform. During her recovery period, her doctor suggested music therapy as a way to rebuild neuropathways in the brain. Unable to sit at the piano, she instead picked up a guitar and made some recordings from the bedside, eventually releasing them on an EP titled Some Lessons – The Bedroom Sessions. It’s interesting that prior to the accident, she didn’t even consider pursuing music as a career. Anyway, she is often described as a mix of Madeleine Peyroux and Norah Jones, the latter more apparent in some of her other less jazzy songs.
From CD Baby: Brooke Waggoner began playing piano at age 4 and took classical lessons for a grand total of 17 years. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in music composition and orchestration, hoping to one day score films and orchestrate her own projects. She says her songs tell of a "lone 23-year-old girl, sagas of daily life, [and] bits of poetry" that are "all melded with honest proclamations and confessions."
At performances, she says she "tries to create pictures and take people on journeys." She pulls from many artists to create her sound, such as Electric Light Orchestra, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Aaron Copeland, David Bowie, and Chopin. Doo-wop, droopy melodies and sighs and swoons also find their way into her songs.
Never forgetting her classical lessons, Brooke says she strives to "connect the 'classical world' with the 'mainstream world' by showing people it all works hand-in-hand." Although they may be presented differently, she says: "The beauty in the structure of a Mozart piece is essentially the same structure used in pop songs”
While the second review wasn’t all too thrilled about her EP, I really don’t think you can beat the fact that she made it available for free. I've listened to it multiple times over the months and that’s pretty good in my book.
You know, on rare occasions the Palms Out Blog does good things. While I may not like a majority of the mixes, it does introduce me to artists worth looking into a bit more, like this Belgium-born, Australian-raised, ARIA-award winning artist, Gotye (Wally De Backer). I honestly don’t even know where to begin in describing his sound because he has a very wide range. One song will you remind you of one artist, while another song will remind you of a different artist, or a combo…yet in the end, creating a sound all his own.
Anyhow, the song that came cruising through t61 is a remix of “Heart’s a Mess”. To me, the vocals in the mix start off like Junior Boys that then progress into something similar to Shiny Toy Guns. Check out the music video of the original version below.
He also has other crafty music videos which can be viewed here.
So where does the name Gotye come from? Well, according to wiki: Wally was embarking on a project that was, in his own words, "about refiguring past things (old vinyl sounds) with my own ideas". It therefore seemed appropriate to draw on his past for inspiration for the project's name. Wouter, Gotye's real name, from Flemish translates into French as Gaultier (or Gautier or Gauthier). Wally's mother used to call him Gaultier as a pet name. Drawing on this and choosing his own spelling gives us 'Gotye'.
Gotye is pronounced "gore-ti-yeah" in Australian English.
In summary: Wouter > Walter > Wally Wouter > Gaultier > Gotye
One of the early artists I learned about from t61 was Thao Nguyen. This may be strange, but I vividly remember "Beat (Health, Life, and Fire)" being the first song I ever double-bumped, and it was a rather costly, early bump too. However, it was well worth it when I was “poor” since I had listened to the song over and over again. What’s kind of interesting is that the listener who had “discovered” the song was my first-ever subscriber, which in turn ended up being the first listener I subscribed to (both cases excluding Sam and James, of course), and is now the first fellow 61er that I’ve met in real life…and out of all things, we caught Thao Nguyen in concert. Sort of brought things in full circle for me.
While temporarily sitting on a side bench inside The Echo (a hip, low-key, small venue in Los Angeles) before the show started, I looked down and about five or six feet in front me, I see these cowboys boots, which I knew was a signature of Thao’s…and long and behold, it was her standing and selling her merchandise at a table. I didn’t have the guts to talk to her or anything, but from what I observed, she seems really cool, charismatic, and down to earth.
It was almost inevitable for me to see Thao with the Get Down Stay Down perform. There was quite a bit of handclapping and stomping involved, and you guys know how much I like the handclapping. It was even syncopated too. They certainly brought the energy on the little stage. It also helped knowing her songs beforehand too because I don’t think these guys in front of me really knew who she was since they were pretty stoic and one kept checking his phone. On the other hand, I had these two girls right next to me who were upbeat and excited to see Thao, which made up for them initially trying to push me over to the side in attempts to move closer to the stage.
Occasionally in between songs, Thao would just say whatever came to mind. One was mentioning how she wanted to shop for some vintage clothing to wear for the show (there’s lots of vintage stores around the Silverlake/Echo Park area) but ended up wearing an outfit she’s been wearing for much of the tour, so she joked, “Don’t come any closer, really, don’t.” I wish I had pictures to share since I had a really good view, but unfortunately the few that I took came out all blurry since I hadn’t taken the time to learn the different functions on my relatively new digital camera. I’ll figure it out someday, but at least I found a picture on her myspace where she's wearing the same shirt dress, so that works.
All in all, I liked it. From what I can tell, most of the songs came from her latest album We Brave Bee Stings and All. Would've been nice to hear "Chivalry" but they ended up playing another song called "Tallymarks" off her previous album, Like the Linen. Anyway, being Vietnamese myself, it’s nice to see an artist like Thao break the conventional mold of indie folk rock. Too bad I couldn’t bring my friend who is also named Thao Nguyen (yes, it’s a very common Vietnamese name). Unfortunately that Thao has different taste in music and went to see Leona Lewis perform at the Jimmy Kimmel show.
Though you won’t get the same energy as from a live show, you can check out her studio performance on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic by clicking here. Below is a video clip of "Big Kid Table" from the live session.
Excerpt from an interview conducted by The Guide: Los Angeles Times: Q:What do you want for yourself 10 years down the road? A: I think I have very realistic goals. To be honest, I’d like to get a salad spinner…
Among the musical gems that T61 listeners have bumped to glory are a dozen brilliant tunes from London's Temple Scene. Four of these near-flawless jewels were recently set into the Another Town EP. Temple Scene was kind enough to answer some questions from MaxBumps about their experience at t61, the new EP, and the process of crafting and polishing the musical treasures they've laid before us.
silkworm: What effect, if any, has your experience with thesixtyone.com had on the process of putting together the new EP? What are your thoughts about the site?
Temple Scene: Until recently, we’d been streaming the music and keeping our options open about the next move, but the fantastic feedback we’ve been getting on the61 encouraged us to re-assess that. There’s nothing more satisfying for a musician than people wanting to buy your music - and nothing more frustrating than telling them they can’t! The best part has been seeing the reaction to our songs. We just try and make music we like, but it’s amazing to find out that other people like it too.
Like a lot of people, we found the61 on Digg, and it was immediately clear that someone had finally solved some of the fundamental problems with music discovery sites. There are countless places that use competitions and votes as a way to get extra traffic from a band's existing fan base, but where no one has any incentive to stay and explore. the61 actually puts listeners in contact with new music, and makes it fun - any site that can do that is something special.
silkworm: Your EP, Another Town, is available in the US through Amazon.com's digital music marketplace - a great beginning! What's your ideal vision of how the commercial side of the band will evolve? Are you still sending your music to record labels or are you hoping to make your mark independently?
Temple Scene: Of course, we would love to have the kind of backing that would allow us to reach a huge audience, but at the moment, it’s just fantastic that there are people out there who have reacted in such a great way to our music.
The plan is to release our songs four tracks at a time, as E.P.s. This way we can build up a relationship with people by releasing new material on a regular basis, rather than throwing everything at a huge campaign every year or two for a whole album. If this E.P. goes well, we have things in place for the next two releases. In fact, we are just in the process of recording E.P. number four.
silkworm: The name of the EP "Another Town" is presumably taken from the lyrics to Everything: "And somewhere there's a wall falling down/ And these stones are gonna build another town." That sentiment of rebuilding is also echoed in the opening song Somewhere In This City: "...instead of beating your heart out/You can start again instead." Where do the inspirations for your lyrics come from and how do you go about crafting them?
Temple Scene: Many of our lyrics play with a sense of place, and it’s certainly this strand that makes these four tracks work together. "Somewhere In This City is about someone who feels the need to be uprooted, who never wants to stay still. It’s about trying to exert control over where you are emotionally by changing where you are physically.
"Breathing" is a natural counterpoint to this. It expresses almost the opposite feeling - of how someone feels dislocated and uncomfortable in unfamiliar surroundings. One song is about running away from life, the other is about trying to hide from it - neither character really knows how to connect with it.
"Everything" and "Half Life" continue the theme of our lives and relationships being a kind of journey. There is constant moving and searching in "Everything". "Half Life" is about pausing to take stock of where we’ve come from and where we've got to.
We try to get across feelings and sensations rather than concrete stories, but we tend to have a type of lead character in each song. We create a personality and then put them in a situation and imagine how they are feeling. The fact that we write together has a big influence on this - instead of only having our own experiences to draw on, we pool them and come up with something - or rather someone - new.
silkworm: And on the topic of names, here's the obligatory question - how did you come up with the name Temple Scene and does it have any special meaning?
Temple Scene: It's nothing more complicated than a corruption of Temple Sheen, a place near where we make our music.
silkworm: Blog contributor Apocalypse says that, to him, Temple Scene's music embodies the "hopeful melancholy of attachments," and that "each song is nearly a perfect one act play, taking us through a full range of emotions, all the way to catharsis." He would like to know, how much thought goes into the arrangement or layering of each song? Or is that just a natural progression of the collaboration between the two of you?
Temple Scene: We know broadly the feelings we want to get across, but we work pretty instinctively and we often feel like we’re just going along for the ride - we’ll know what it sounds like when it’s finished!
Brian Eno said you should “use your limitations as secret strengths” and we definitely believe that having certain musical avenues closed off to you is a help, rather than a hindrance - it gives you a direction. The most obvious example of this is our working lives. There are huge benefits to being audio engineers, particularly having the chance to watch some great people at work. On the flip side, the hours are long and unpredictable. This has meant we have to be a two-piece, so that juggling our time is just about workable. Trying to keep up a full-size band would probably be very unfair on the other members when they were left hanging around.
It’s meant that there are often periods when just one of us is able to work on a track for some time. Finding that a track had taken shape and completely changed in your absence was difficult at first but we think it has some real advantages. It gives each of us opportunities to run with ideas without them being shot down before they're fully formed. Also, it helps us remain objective which is important when you're not working with outside producers who come along with a fresh set of ears. We’ve got to the stage now where if the other guy comes back and says “Sorry, but I really don’t like what you’ve done”, it’s not a problem. We trust each other’s judgement.
It’s also directly affected the sound of the music. We don’t have a full band, so we have to build up the songs ourselves, piece by piece, and this lends itself to a certain kind of music. So at a given moment we might be listening to Jeff Buckley or Johnny Cash, but of course the way we have to work favours a more constructed, electronic type of sound. We’re not wedded to that sound - but we’re not scared of being pushed into it either.
silkworm: Throughout your experience recording top musicians, what's the most interesting or strange tip you've picked up from a musician and then applied to your own work? Which musicians inspire you musically or lyrically?
Temple Scene: The most important things we've learned are not so much specific tricks as instincts. Working for a long time with really good people, you gradually start to judge performances differently. Sometimes you need to keep at something until it's perfect, but sometimes perfection would ruin it. For example, we’ve learned to always record constantly when we're jamming around ideas for a guitar part - things often come out so much better the first time you play them, when you're not thinking about it.
In terms of influences, we’ve both always been drawn to music with rich, multi-layered sounds and a dark edge, such as Depeche Mode, R.E.M. and Pink Floyd. But one great thing about working with so many musicians is that they always end up showing you the music they love, and this has really broadened our tastes. We’ve discovered so much music that had somehow passed us by - like Carole King, Jeff Buckley and Robert Johnson. Of course, we have our individual tastes as well - Ric grew up listening to Michael Jackson and Lenny Kravitz; for Philippe it was Prince and Bob Marley.
silkworm: There's a nascent topic on the MaxBumps.net forums dedicated to recording gear. What gear do you the two of you use to help create such a full and polished sound? What about live performances?
Temple Scene: We’ve done all of our own music in a home studio, in Logic. We make sure each song is self-contained, so if we’re busy and having to ‘tag-team’, one of us can just load up and see where the other had left off. When we’re recording in a proper studio we use Pro Tools (or tape!), which is much more streamlined for dedicated recording, but as a studio-in-a-box it’s hard to beat Logic.
We’ve also made a big investment in plug-ins and samples; most of the Native Instruments stuff (amazing sounds but you have to put up with the bugs) and Waves. We tend to use Waves SSL channels as our go-to when mixing because they are the desks we are most used to in the real world.
Guitar-wise we do have a lovely Strat which you can hear doing the slide on Everything, but most of the time we use Philippe’s Telecaster which is such a simple, reliable guitar. The acoustic is Philippe’s Taylor (bizarrely, given that Ric plays more of the guitar, Philippe is the one who obsesses over them!). Since we’re recording in a home studio, all the guitar amp sounds are modelled (mostly NI Guitar Rig) and the limitations of this have again forced us to be creative with our sounds. For example, we don’t much like simulated amp sounds on big chugging guitar chords - they always seem to turn to mush. That why on Breathing we’ve got big Green Day style thrashing guitar on the chorus... but played on acoustics!
We enjoy throwing in odd sounds, too, like Ric’s suitcase harmonium. Such a delicate instrument, and we don’t really know what we’re doing with it, but it sounds great!
We haven’t been playing live recently because our jobs would make it so difficult for the other members of a 4 or 5 piece band. It’s something we regret - we would absolutely love to work out how we could get out and play for some of the people on thesixtyone and MySpace, but we’re not sure if people would want to see just the two of us playing over a backing tape!
Alright, I’m going to stray into the mainstream world a bit because I really like this next artist who Rolling Stones listed as an ‘artist to watch’ last year. Her name is Estelle. She’s British and is already pretty big in the UK from what I’ve read and is starting to make a bigger mark in the States. She’s been compared to Lauryn Hill since they share a similar musical style and pull influences from all sorts of genres. That, and Estelle can rap and sing. I also sort of think of her as the female counterpart of John Legend, which makes sense since she was the first artist signed to his record label, Homeschool Records. Her album, Shine, has already been released in the UK and is set to release in the U.S. on April 29th.
Her current single is “American Boy” featuring Kanye West which is already No. 1 in the UK. Speaking of Kanye West, there’s a new video out for his song “Homecoming” featuring Chris Martin.
She has also worked with Faithless on a song called “Why Go” which I really like. If you haven’t already done so, check out the video. It should possibly encourage you to enjoy life and keep on dancing.
And to tie this entire post back to t61, guess who has done a mix of her current single? That’s right, Danger! Have a listen. Estelle - American Boy (Danger Remix)
I started writing a comment to AnnieB's Teriyaki Boyz story, but quickly realised that the following links deserved a separate post.
First off, NIGO. I bought Nigo's (B)APE SOUNDS a while back, during a trip in Japan. I was in a Virgin Megastore in Tokyo and decided to buy a bucket load of Japanese music to take back home as fun souvenirs. I picked up CDs completely randomly and I actually ended up liking most of what I had bought. Not only that, but it also kicked off an interest in Japanese music that carries on to this day. I picked (B)APE SOUNDS off the racks for no paticular reason except that the CD cover looked really cool. I got lucky: it's a great album. The fact that I don't understand the lyrics, not being a Japanese speaker, is not really a problem to me (it could be a put off for some people I guess).
Here's a song from (B)APE SOUNDS, called "Planet of the Babes".
Now, here's another major hip-pop act from Japan that I like: M-Flo.
M-Flo is known to bring together foreign influences and Japanese sensibilities. Here's a really good example of that: M-Flo + Monkey Majik.
Alright, so this next post of mine is completely out of left field as I know zilch about hip hop. However, I stumbled upon this new single that’s been out for a couple weeks from a group I haven’t heard of before but has worked with extremely notable producers.
From wikipedia: “Teriyaki Boyz is a j-hip hop group from Tokyo, Japan. The four MCs in the group are Ilmari and Ryo-Z from Rip Slyme, VERBAL from m-flo, and WISE. Nigo is the DJ and founder of the popular Japanese streetware brand A Bathing Ape. Hence the group members are prominently seen sporting Bathing Ape wear for live concerts and in music videos.
Their debut album from Def Jam Recordings and (B)APE Sounds titled Beef or Chicken? was produced by a who's who of rap and electronica producers including ADROCK of the Beastie Boys, Cornelius, Cut Chemist, Daft Punk, Dan the Automator, DJ Premier, DJ Shadow, Just Blaze, Mark Ronson, and The Neptunes. Their first single "HeartBreaker", was produced by Daft Punk and contains elements of the Daft Punk song "Human After All".
Two tracks by the Teriyaki Boyz were featured on the The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift soundtrack, the title track "Tokyo Drift (Fast and the Furious)", and "Cho L A R G E", featuring Pharrell which had previously been released on their debut album Beef or Chicken?.
In 2007 the single, "I Still Love H.E.R.", was released, which was produced by and featured Kanye West. West also appears in the promotional video, which was shot as a YouTube parody.
On March 19 2008, the Teriyaki Boyz released their latest single, "ZOCKON!", featuring Pharrell and Busta Rhymes.”
I don't know the slightest bit of Japanese, so I'm not really sure what they're rapping about, but it's catchy and has...how you say, a phat beat? (I'm definitely not one to use that sort of lingo.) Though, I did manage to skim through the video comments and find out that "zock on" is an anglicized spelling of a phrase in Japanese slang, zokkon, which is often used to describe when one is seriously crushing on someone or something, if that helps. Anyway, I like the suaveness Pharrell adds to the track. And a slight comment on the video, I could do without Busta Rhymes's attempts on breakdancing.
Also, I've linked the other tracks to videos I found on YouTube if you're inclined to check those out too.
[Sidenote: I've updated my post on Low vs Diamond by including a recent video clip they've added to their myspace.]
I have to send this to my friend Natsuki. She likes hip hop a lot. My husband who is Japanese was surprised to suddenly hear them rapping in Japanese. He's not a fan of hip hop at all but thought this was kind of cool.
For the longest time it seems like all i heard from Japan was J-pop. My husband's Japanese music is all pretty poppy, with the exception of the band X-Japan, who seriously rock. They have a song called Jupiter, which isn't on YouTube (even behind some Sailor Moon clip lol). It's an 80s power ballad and it's just incredible.
It's really too bad we don't hear much foreign language music on the radio in the US (besides Tejano music, of course).
Americans in general seem particularly averse to exposure to non-English languages, or at least the media companies seem to think so. How else do you explain them remaking movie after movie from various locales overseas almost shot for shot, just so audiences in the U.S. won't have to watch them with subtitles?
Anyway, the first track I ever heard from the Boyz was Celebrity Death Match. Good stuff.
Sometimes, blog scrapes are a good thing. Otherwise I wouldn’t have found out about this Brooklyn neo-folk singer, Jaymay (aka Jamie Seerman).
According to her website: "JAYMAY is a storyteller. The narrative runs through each one of her songs, a melodic thread of self-reflection and eloquent articulation, threading through music that is both graceful and bold. The songs are chapters, tales of the young woman who stepped out onto the street one night to find and lose love and move forward, open to the dangers and wonders offered by the world."
Apparently her CD player broke and she only had access to a few Bob Dylan tapes which prompted her to pick up her brother’s guitar and start writing her own songs.
While not as interesting as the Take Away Shows, here’s another taste of Jaymay. This song is called "Big Ben." I initially wanted to put up "Sycamore Down" but this one's a bit more raw and acoustic, and you can hear all the cars buzzing around. For other clips of her London tour series, check out YouTube.
Also, you can download a free track called “Snow White” by going to this link.
Her other popular tracks are “Gray or Blue” and “Blue Skies” (yes, two more songs containing the “blue”)…though everything of hers is pretty good if you like this sort of stuff.
A flash of neon beckons the weary traveller along the winding 61. Here at IZ's the food is plentiful, comforting, and greasy, and the jukebox still costs a nickel for three plays.
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I'm a dance and electronica fan, and really enjoy the trancier and clubbier side of music. I've been a fan of Aura and Trance Generation and the Benassi Bros. and many others for some time. So I was thrilled when Stella Errans thesixtyone.com/Nephie
showed up on the site with here trippy trancy repertoire. She is the Queen of Trance on thesixtyone, abundantly evident by her success. Since I'm not a musician myself, and Trance does not always - or often - have lyrics to comment upon, I can only really point to the music that gets me moving and use the old saw "I don't know what's good, but I know what I like". And I like her stuff.
I think Nephie really brought this subgenre to the fore on the site with some fime music that makes you want to move in your seat - or get out of it altogether and flow down the hall.
But if Stella Errans is the Queen of Trance... who is the King? There are only a handful of artists who have listed any songs of theirs under trance, and none of them have risen so far in the ranks as she. Perhaps ther is no king yet. But there is one yong suiter for the title - one who is to my mind ratehr underappreciated at the present time givent he obvious appreciation for the medium. That Crown Prince of trance, if you will, is Yahel.
Yahel's recent upploads examplify to me some killer trance, well deserving of a looksee from anyone looking for infectious rhythm. None of his works have broken 40 bumps yet, but if you're hungry for trance or dance, I'd recommend giving this DJ a try.
There are several other artists who have thrown the odd (and good) trance track our way. Could they be legitimate royal candidates, or mere pretenders. Only time will tell.
Mickey Jello to my mind is Yahel's chief competition, but only equals him in quality, while the good DJ trumps soundly so far on quantity:
Dynamic Interplay is a little quieter, a little hypnotic. But then all Trance has its hypnotic elements:
Andrew Ford alas has been around and tragically ignored for ages:
The others - all the other Trancers so far on the61 - include DJ CrashT, Plus+69, Mojosnake, Jack Nobody - they're all worth a listen. There's celarly enough love for Trance on the61. Perhaps we will see the kingdom rise in the future.
This will probably be one of the rare times I mention bands, but things really seem to be moving forward for these guys this year. I first heard this band on my local indie station (Indie 103.1 FM) a couple years ago when they called themselves Colored Shadows, and I've somewhat been keeping tabs on them ever since. This LA-based band is now known as Low vs Diamond and is signed to the same UK record label as the Killers. After a couple EPs, they are set to release their self-titled debut album this upcoming May.
Earlier this month Low vs Diamond participated at SXSW and in the past have opened for Air and the Sounds. This July, they will be part of the first-ever Pemberton Festival lineup held in Canada, which is headlined by Coldplay, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Jay-Z, and Nine Inch Nails.
Here's a site I found where you can preview some of their songs. "Life After Love" is the song that first caught my attention on the radio and "Heart Attack" was a single released last year in the UK.
[update: 03/28/08] Just saw this on their myspace and thought I'd add a clip so you can get an immediate sample of what Low vs Diamond sounds like.
I also sent a message through myspace encouraging them to check out t61. The keyboardist, Tad, sounded interested and suggested I send an email to their management...so I did, but who knows what will happen from there. At least it was worth a shot :-)
I suppose I’ll resume my column with another Swedish artist. Ever since her song came to t61, I know you all have had a “little bit” of Lykke Li, but there’s so much more great stuff from her! [Sorry, I just had to use squeeze that in. Awful, I know.] As another listener pointed out, she sings the female vocals in Peter, Bjorn, and John’s ever so popular “Young Folks,” so she is among a strong core group of musicians. Actually, Bjorn Yttling produced her album, Youth Novels, which was released in January over in Sweden. Overall, I really like the minimal/lo-fi indie pop sound.
If you’ve read my comments on her song, then you have probably checked out this video directed by Mattias Montero, which I described as “trippy.” It was nominated for Best Video at the Swedish Grammy Awards, an equivalent to MTV’s VMAs in the U.S.
Her current single is “I’m Good I’m Gone” and this is the video of the acoustic version featuring the following guests: Robyn, Adam & Bebban (Shout Out Louds), Daniel (The Concretes), Lars (Laakso) and Mikael (Hjalmar). Is it just me or do I see some sort of chicken dance in this one? Also, Robyn's probably big in Europe, but it's been ages since I've seen her.
So I initially liked these two upbeat tracks the most, perhaps it was the handclapping that automatically drew me in, but I found myself loving all her tracks on myspace.
Great songs. Can't remember where I first heard her, but thanks for bringing her back to my attention.
On a completely dorky note that only a former film-theory major could like, does anyone get a Godard cum Eisenstein feel from the first video? Maybe it's just early, but it feels like a mashup of the plate-smashing scene from Battleship & the staccato jump cuts from A Bout de Souffle.
I wonder if she knows how well received she has been at t61. It would be great if she uploaded some of her work personally rather than blog scrapes. Perhaps someone (Annie?) could send her a note and link. To here also, a very good piece Annie.
Thanks for another great heads-up, AnnieB. There is a ridiculous amount of great pop music coming from Sweden. I was lucky enough to stumble onto Radio Dept. a few years ago, and since then it's been one treasure after another.
Thanks for posting these; I like them. I've been seeing Lykke Li mentioned around a few places that I read, but hadn't gotten around to investigating her music until now.
[Not quite sure what to call anything I post, but I wanted to start sharing some of my personal picks, whether it be t61 related or not.]
Over the weekend, I caught this new YouTube clip of an artist I found a while ago on Aurgasm. Her name is Maia Hirasawa. To me, she is like a fusion of Meiko, Victoria Bergsman, Feist, and Sara Bareilles, all of which is a very good thing. She made her solo debut last year and has since received rave reviews and is quite popular in Sweden. She was also awarded Best Newcomer at the Swedish P3 Gold Awards in 2007.
Maia Hirasawa - "The Worrying Kind" (Originally by The Ark)
I love her voice. She reminds me a bit of Bjork. She's playing in front of a massive crowd. It's odd that (I'm sure) a lot of people haven't heard of her. I bet that will change.
Great idea for a column. You need a road sign banner for your column, AnnieB ;-)
yeah, she does get a lot of Bjork references which is probably more accurate. i just haven't really listened to much of Bjork's music so i couldn't really comment on that.
also, this was performed in front of 4 million viewers this year at Melodifestivalen, an annual music competition to determine who will represent Sweden for the Eurovision Song contest.
One of the questions I asked Lux Lisbon in the interview was about music used in commercials. The question came from Max Bumps contributor and The Sixty One Listener Apocalypse and focused on an artist selling out. It specifically cites a song by the Rolling Stones in a Cadillac spot.
Is it really all about selling out? I don't think so at all. No, I'm not a fan of hearing 'I Melt with You' by Modern English used to sell Cheesy Beefy Melts. As much as that song has been overplayed, I still think it's gorgeous and romantic. Remember Valley Girl? Man, I love that movie. I'm a total child of the 80's and as J. Geils Band would say "My blood runs cold. My memory has just been sold."
Hearing something new is an entirely different story. I tend to have the television on in the background and ignore the visuals unless something catches my ear. Hip music in your ad can make a so-so ad stand out from the rest. It can give an unknown artist a big boost.
Just last night I swear I heard Chris Merritt on a Kia Spectra commerical, performing an unknown song. It was actually Joe Purdy, who I'm pleased to say is uploading music at The Sixty One as I type. He has a great voice with a lot of passion behind it. After a few listens, I don't think it sounds as much like Chris Merritt as I first thought, but I'm so happy to have found Joe Purdy's music, even though I never plan to drive a Kia. Joe Purdy's song in that Kia Spectra Spot made me pay attention. Now, that is a good choice for ad music!
If a commercial can turn me on to a new artist, how can I be opposed to that? My mind is always in discovery mode, especially since I've been at The Sixty One. The site has trained my brain to listen to music more actively and less passively. I've been listening more to genres I've never paid much attention to previously as well. It opened my mind to so much new music.
TV adverts can also give a big boost to an artist. Bishop Allen's Click, Click, Click, Click in Sony Cybershot spots is great example. That was the first time I had heard Bishop Allen and I was immediately hooked. I've noticed ads for tech companies seem to have the best music. Other examples are Motorola Razr spot with Goldfrapp's Ooh La La and Cingular's ad with Cat Power.
Another current ad that I'm in love with the music is Sara Bareilles' Rhapsody Commercial #2. She has a gorgeous voice and I just love that type of pop song. I'm hoping to see some Sara Bareilles at The Sixty One soon.
In the same vein as the Sarah Bareillies song is Yael Naim's New Soul, used in the Mac Book Air spots. Apple's ads are almost always really slick and whoever chooses the music can really pick them. Here are two great examples:
CSS's Music is My Hot, Hot Sex used in ads for the iPod Touch.
The first time I heard Ingrid Michaelson's 'The Way I Am' was in a commercial for Old Navy.
I also like to hear older songs that didn't get the exposure that they might have deserved. For example, Donovan's Catch the Wind was used recently in an ad for GE's alternative energy solutions. I had heard some of Donovan's music - Hurdy Gurdy Man and Mellow Yellow, among others, but I instantly loved Catch the Wind. I picked up Donovan's Greatest Hits and I was really impressed. I LOVE his voice. Plus, he's a Scot and if you read my posts, I have a special corner in my heart reserved for Scots.
So, artists, if you'd like to get a big boost to your career, put your song in an ad for Apple or HP. Listeners will not thing you've sold out and new listeners will appreciate the ease of finding you.
If you're interested in finding more ad music, check out Splendad.com.
It also seems like TV shows all have an obligatory montage scene where a good tune will sometimes pop up. did anyone catch The Decemberists' "Of Angels And Angles" at the end of New Amsterdam tonight?
I think most of the complaints of selling out come when you hear a good track used for a product or company that you dislike. For example: it would make me very sad to hear a CJizzle track used in a Tasty Lead Toy Paint Co. advert.
A ridiculous example I know, but you get the idea.
I don't tend to watch ads, I generally hate them and it breaks my heart to hear a much loved song flogging useless crap. I like some music to be just 'mine' or at least appreciated for the music rather than a connection to a desired object. There is also a cynical manipulation associated with advertisers. Emotions, lifestyles and memories are also 'hijacked' for the sake of the bottom line. Whereas music in film and TV has more integrity, the combining of art forms. Much loved music in those mediums feels more like sharing. My all time favorite band is Jefferson Airplane, few in the UK have heard of them yet Millions listened to Embryonic Journey during the last scene of Friends. That makes me happy.
You are right about Grey's Anatomy, but TV shows in general are doing a lot better these days. Heck, I heard Band of Horses - Monsters on Criminal Minds (last season)...crazy, but that show has had a couple of songs that stood out at the time (though Monsters is the only one that comes to mind at the moment).
OK, I looked it up...The Cinematic Orchestra on Criminal Minds...I bought the album because of the show. Music placement works!
There are a couple of sites out there that catalog all the songs used in TV by show and episode. Might be worth an additional post.
I have no idea what you people are talking about. I haven't owned a TV since 2001.
But I do have to say I agree with Willie in principle - associating a song with an object in order to get someone to buy the latter seems a little lame to me. I guess it's just that commercial objects were made to be sold whereas the performance of music is first and foremost to bring emotion into the lives of its hearers (or at least according to my bunk theory).
I agree with you all about using music to sell things... to a certain degree. Maybe my perspective is a bit different because I worked at a video post-house for 10 years and made commercials. A lot were low budget ads for car dealer ships but occasionally we got a bigger spot in that they licensed popular music. One that comes to mind was for a basketball team. They used Purple Haze and had to go through the estate of Jimi Hendrix to secure the rights. The song worked very well with the commercial and definitely got peoples attention. The spot went on to win Addy awards. The spot also had a great shot that started out in a puddle and showed the bottom angle of someone slam dunking, although the puddle was so still you didn't know it until the guy splashed down.
They are going to use music in ads and there is nothing we can do to stop that from happening. You can toss out your TV, but the music will still be used in ads.
I'd much rather see an up and coming indie band get some exposure in a spot than the Rolling Stones record company getting rich from an old song in a car ad.
Do you remember... ten years ago they used popular songs that were mostly redone in a bad way.
Also, my bread and butter still comes from people producing television commercials.
It kind of makes you wonder if music is evolving in a sense. With the constant decline in CD sales, is the financial compensation an artist gets for the use of the commercial a way to offset this? I've notices more and more commercials/tv shows have music in a much more prominent role as compared to yesteryear.
I want to clarify something. Featuring your music in a commercial may not be selling out... The question I asked is WHEN do you know you've sold out. Selling out is jeopardizing the integrity of your music in order to conform to expectations.
Remember if you will, that Metallica, a band that got big by ASKING all their fans to record and distribute their music in the early days, got on the RIAA bandwagon and became a crusader... isn't that selling out? Hearing good music is a privilege. hearing it and thinking of a crappy product- for me - is atrocious.
This music video was created by the multi-talented Johan Daza, for his band, Dsyfer. Johan was a former student in my After Effects class and he is also the band's vocalist. This was his first big project in After Effects and his final project for the class. He used the Puppet Tool in After Effects CS3 to give his character organic movement. There are a couple of places where the video goes off track a bit, but overall I love the style and flow of the video and it really matches the mood of the song. Is it because Johan created the music and the video? I don't know, but I think it's terrific.
Golden Skans was one of the first songs I heard at The Sixty One and immediately had to own. It was stuck in my head for three days.
This is an interesting videos that starts out with some text and particle effects, explosions, water effects, with orb shaped glass being shattered and interesting ribbon effects. Was that Trapcode 3D Stroke I see? You know I support and sell animation plug-ins for a living. I can't watch videos or movies without analyzing the effects. It's a blessing and a curse.
I've been chatting with Ryan Fox, drummer of the band Cactus Bob. He sent me a secret track to post. You won't hear this at The Sixty One... heck, some of the band members haven't even heard it!
Ryan says, "Nobody else was around for band practice when our singer Robby Gira showed me 'Isn't me'. We thought it would be a good idea to record it, so we did. We didn't have a bass amp, so I just played the bass part on a keyboard. We needed something else, so we gathered my father and some beer bottles (which were both just laying around the house), then we blew!", he adds, "Blew on the beer bottles that is."
"As you listen you will notice that only my dad can actually make the true jug sound; both Robby and I were just making loud breathy noises in our attempts to blow on our beer bottles."
-Ryan Fox (drums/beer bottle), Cactus Bob
I really like the song and people just don't blow on jugs anymore. Tell us what you think.
I'm really stuck with Cactus Bob. When I hear a new upload I'm often under whelmed, then after the bumps roll in I can see the attraction. Only one or two have really hit me straight off. And when they do. Wow!
It could be easy to blow them off due to their lo-fi/low budget production value, but what sets C-Bob apart for me is the quality of the writing and vocals. Sure, not every track is gold, but the ones that are leave me amazed. Everyone, The Blvd. She Don't Cry, Going Down, The way it goes, and Together we will stand. Get these guy in a studio with the right producer and they would kill. The one that kills me though is Out on Your Own, while lyrically excellent comes up short, most particularly on the drums, (sorry Ryan) as a student of the craft my self it just feels wrong for the tune. But enough BS. Feel free to tell me I am wrong.
Isn't Me is another winner in my book. They need to work on their jugsmanship but the (synth?) harmonica is a nice touch.
To think that they had to resort to wall spam to get people to take notice (Ryan hit me up twice).
Here are two videos by the band Stab the Matador. The first is a professional video for the song Low Rider. It has interesting pulsating video effects and an awesome guitar sound. They had to use some sort of 'convert audio to keyframes' tool - my guess anyway. YouTube quality though. Meh.
Here's another Stab the Matador video for the song 'Doctor'. This one is by high school student Abby Wheeler of Harrisburg, PA. The tear effects are really cool. Abby did a lot of the editing 'in-camera' and used Final Cut Pro to finish it. Very cool, Abby. You have a future in this.
During this evening's the61 outage (maybe it was just me...) I came across this little nugget of info that may or may not be of interest to you guys:
Trent Reznor has just released a 36-Track, quadruple-disc instrumental album, available for download now on the intertubes. He has supplied numerous ways to obtain this new album:
The $5 download includes all 36 tracks in a variety of digital formats (320kbps LAME encoded, fully tagged; FLAC Lossless; Apple Lossless), including a 40-page PDF: NIN "Ghosts" Website
$5 download for all 36 tracks (and probably your fastest option with Amazon's 1-click - which you undoubtedly use via the61 already...): Amazon.com
The Deluxe Edition Package $75+s/h [hardcase w/ 2 audio CDs, 1 data DVD w/ all tracks, 1 Blu-Ray w/ all tracks in high definition 96/24 and a slideshow, and a 48-page art book. It also includes immediate access to download the files to listen to while you wait for the physical booklet(s) to be shipped to you]: Artists In Residence
For those that use torrents, Trent has allowed one album [Disc 1] to be shared via this means (but you know you want all 4 discs, so go pay your $5!!!): The Pirate Bay
[found this info via slickdeals.com as well as SNYpod's wall post to me]
I've listened to all 36 tracks, and as I told lanky already, it's fan-fucking-tastic. Go pay the measly five dollars and support good music and good distribution methods.
Trent Reznor is sooo far ahead of everyone else in the music industry when it comes to embracing and leveraging technology. His last album was just amazing and the buzz he created with Year Zero nearly drowned out every other Artist's release.
KosmikRay runs all sorts of online events at The Sixty One and we're hoping he'll join the blog in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I'm reposting from KosmikRay's Wallzine:
Wall Crawl
TIMYJL and KOSMIKRAY invite you to the inaugural WALL CRAWL this Sunday night beginning at 8 pm EASTERN. For two hours we will jump to a dozen listener's walls for great underbumped music, and end with a new music upload party at 10 pm EASTERN. The crawl starts at 8 on Timmy's wall. He will put up 3 great tunes and we'll have three minutes to listen, bump and comment on each. After ten minutes, he'll post a link to the next Wall and off we all go again. Previous events like the Bump & Grind Strategic Bombing Mission and the infamous SCRAMBLE netted lots and lots of new songs posting and zillions of listener points happily used.
If you would like to be considered to be visited by the torch-carrying bumping hordes of the first-ever Wall Crawl, send me a tunebox with the three killer tunes you would have featured ASAP. Only one slot is left.
If you are an artist and would like to join the upload party at the end of the crawl, send me a tunebox with the band and new tune name. The Wall Crawl and Upload Party is open to all, so pass the word. The more the better. So far, noctaluca will put up "Suck Hard" (one of their best and previewable at noctaluca.com), lovespirals "This Truth" (live) (tentative due to scheduling), and newcomer Banjo Drill's "Robot Boy", Laura Marie's "People" (live), and probably more. Puntspeedchuck wants to revisit all the Wall Crawl tunes we visit in his 61 podcast, so additional exposure is assured.
Lovespirals Remix Contest -- Win An Ipod Touch!
Peace Love Productions is holding a remix contest for Lovespirals recent single, 'This Truth". The top 5 finalists will be promoted as podsafe singles on Lovespirals' Podsafe Music Network remix page and considered for inclusion on a new digital remix EP and CD, plus the top 2 finalists will receive all 3 Lovespirals' CDs - personally autographed by Anj Bee and Ryan Lum - and the grand prize winner will also get a year's subscription to the PLP Producer's Vault and an 8 gig iPod Touch! Find out all the details at lovespirals.com!
Bozo Drive!
I STILL don't know if there are enough people who are willing to pay to force me to put up an ugly Bozo photo (instead of my nice blue snow) for all of spring. As you know, here's the bet: Everyone join in and pledge $1,000 in TOTAL donations to Sam and James' t61 enterprise, and I'll kick in $100 and change my pic to Bozo for three months. The top 500 listeners were contacted about this via wall message. That means it could happen with just $2 per person. Post on my wall or in my tunebox your pledge marked BOZO DRIVE, and I'll keep a tally.
Bonus: Any song in a BOZO DRIVE tunebox pledge will get a guaranteed bump if pledge is more than the points cost. Art Bonus: Graphic Designer timyjl is working up the BOZOFOTO.
Double Bonus: missi will match my $100 when $1k is reached! Sweet!
$50 pledge from zagudabuda (additional donation) 2-10
$60 pledge from jorunnix 2-10
$35 pledge from petiejoe 2-11
$50 pledge from kafkajoubert (additional donation) 2-11
$75 pledge from anon (jpalf., upped from $50) 2-11
$20 from anon (additional pledge) 2-12
$20 donation from mrvelvet (just used paypal) 2-12
$10 pledge from artist Laura Marie 2-12
$10 pledge from rfiedel 2-12
$20 pledge from comradinarms (additional donation) 2-12
$25 pledge from LMMS 2-12
$20 pledge from matttynabib 2-12
$20 donation from batface89 (additional donation) 2-12
$30 pledge from bloke 2-13
$10 pledge from calculatedCHA0S (additional donation) 2-17
$20 pledge from blkdiamondlove (additional donation) 2-17
$40 pledge from comradeinarms (third donation) 2-18
$20 pledge from iWex (additional donation) 2-28
$30 pledge from myktoronto (additional pledge) 2-29
That is the latest playlist from batface89. All the new dogs are to be impounded there. Send your worst finds to her. (Will anything EVER beat Stuggleburger's Stairway to Heaven?)
The name Genki Rockets serves them well (Genki means happy in Japanese). This has to be the happiest song of 2007. This is a drawn style. Could they have used Digital Anarchy's ToonIt?. There are lots of particle effects, which are always great, and lots or rainbows. I want to visit this happy little world... maybe buy some property, open a little shop...
Hidari's music is gleeful and clever. Their comments are also extremely funny and sometimes bizarre.
Has Hidari made an amusing comment on your wall? Please share it in the comments.
On batface89's Wall
Exeunt is used as a stage direction to indicate that two or more performers leave the stage.
We liked the first 88 batfaces better, but this one will have to do.
Soup! It's filling and nutritious! Exeunt.
On SanjuNana's Wall:
sanju nana is 37 in Japanese
Without you here in This fine place, thesixtyone Becomes twenty four.
On afastidle's wall
We received your psychic communique and the answer to your question is: no, you have to collect and eat the fourteen undead nuggets before you can open the stone doors to the lair of the Chicken God.
On Beybi's Wall
In the well of souls Gor dipped his golden ladle... Unused fondue set?
On fbottasso's Wall
fbottasso is using a cute avatar of a bear in a pink kimono
We know all about the giant testes you're hiding under that kimono.
On lucasban's Wall
lucasban's avatar is a cardboard robot
Hidari is intrigued by this cardboard bot. Perhaps we have found the raw materials for our new World Domination ArmyTM. Turn over your plans and related documents, wizard!
On ciepiel's Wall
We demand tribute in the form of delicious Polish meats and sundry goods. Deliver this tribute to us in a cellophane-wrapped wicker basket in the next 24 hours or you will be summarily expunged.
Great post! Fun to see a sample of their comments in one spot. They do leave some of the most interesting comments on people's walls. Also, thanks for putting them in context. I'd be lost, otherwise.
Your message is important to us. Our team is working 24/7 to ensure the highest quality of customer satisfaction. Upon receipt, your communication was analyzed by several tiers of experts from all applicable fields. Linguists and psychologists scrutinized your missive to ascertain your precise emotional state in order to better serve you, the customer.
Here is your punctual and personalized response:
"Yes."
We hope you have a pleasant day. Thank you for listening to [Hidari].
Here's one from my Wall. I miss their little comments :-(
Apocolypse has antlers of fire and uses airplane hangars for mittens. In the old tongue, his name means 'best shuffleboard player in east Northampton six years running'. His skill with a donkey iron is unmatched.
Apocolypse could guzzle down the oceans of the world in ten minutes, he just chooses not to
... still waiting for my first class seat during the Hidaricalypse! -Apoc
This is a song that I really worked hard to push to the home page and sho' nuff, this week it made it! Getting a song posted just gives me such satisfaction!
I can't imagine the planning that went into this video. It's amazingly great. It was directed by Ace Norton.
If you're near Grand Rapids, Michigan, Josh Ritter is playing at the Ladies Literary Club on Monday, March 3. Here is some more information from GRNow.com.
Josh Ritter's The Historical Conquests of Josh Rittter was named one of the best albums of 2007 from coast to coast by major music magazines, radio stations and newspapers. Josh Ritter isn't the first singer-songwriter to draw comparisons to Bruce Springsteen or Bob Dylan, but he ranks among the few whose best songs actually justify them.
"How refreshing and inspiring it is to encounter a young artist whose achievements match his ambitions."-Washington Post
Don't miss this opportunity to see a raising star in an incredibly intimate and unique space. An evening with JOSH RITTER...Ladies Literary Club...Monday, March 3, 2008.
If you catch a band on The Sixty One live, we'd love to post a review of the show and some photos if you have any.
I live in Michigan and I'm very pleasantly surprised at the number of really good bands from the area. I plan to catch a few in the next couple of months and post about it. Hopefully I'll even get to meet the band. I'm a total groupie, you know. The photo below is of me (in garish lipstick), Neil Finn (my idol!) and my sister after a Crowded House show last August. I'm not afraid to talk to the band! ;-)
Aye, I heerd Ying Tong by SambaYaSamby thes afternoon. The percussion is pure minted.
We were noticing the interesting World sound coming out of Scotland (of course, you know ZUBA, not to mention all of the more mainstream music coming from the Haggis Isle.
Here is a smattering of the Scottish offerings at The Sixty One.
1 Comments:
just found out, this band made BBC's Sound of 2009 list.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7758169.stm
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