I had way too much fun with iMovie today...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSLO7AuD_M8
Fionn Regan and The End of History
I could tell you how Fionn Regan is the best thing to come out of Ireland since Guinness. I could tell you that his debut album The End of History was shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize. I could even tell you that his poetic, abstract songwriting, a far cry from the cannonball metaphors of Damien Rice, blends perfectly with Nick Drake-like acoustic guitar and sparse, striking percussion and background vocals to fully transform emotion into music.
I could tell you a lot of things about Fionn Regan. But the best way to allow you to experience this amazing artist is to simply let you have a listen:
Be Good Or Be Gone is Regan's most successful singles, appearing on several television dramas including Gray's Anatomy, Skins, and Nearly Famous. The song will draw you in with it's alluring finger-picking and simple melody, with lyrics that form a slide show of love and emotion. The music video is equally brilliant.
The Underwood Typewriter is nothing short of flawless indie-folk. Passionate vocals and intelligent songwriting make this piece a powerful work of art.
Snowy Atlas Mountains contains stark lyrical metaphors (If you pull out a hatchet, I'll pull something to match it. How about your wife?") and impressive guitar work will leave you with your jaw on the floor.
I could also tell you that Fionn Regan created the artwork of his album with a felt-tip pen on his bedroom wall. But that would be too much.
NoiseTrade rocks my face
Illegal digital downloading. Now that's a touchy subject for anyone involved in the music industry. No other aspect of the music business pits the artist squarely against his fan base- musicians want credit for their work (aka $$) and while fans really enjoy sharing their mp3s with the rest world for free. Despite the industry's best efforts, IFPI reports that 95% of music has been illegally downloaded. How can an artist fight against free international viral marketing? Simple: don't.
Introducing NoiseTrade, one of the most refreshing ideas to hit the music industry since the iPod became a fashion statement. The site hosts upwards of 148 independent artists who are happily giving away thousands of songs completely free of charge. Sound awesome? That's cause it is. It works like this:
An artist receives a customized HTML widget from NoiseTrade for a small fee that covers initial set-up and the first 20,000 downloads. The widget allows fans to sample songs, download the album for free by telling five friends about the artist or purchase the album for the amount of their choice. Getting free/cheap music and supporting the artist? Yes, please.
Launched last June, the site is the brainchild of singer-songwriter Derek Webb. Back in 2006, months before Radiohead made headlines with the pay-what-you-want digital release of In Rainbows, Webb gave away more than 80,000 digital copies of his Mockingbird album- in a span of three months. Ticket and merchandise sales rose (including Mockingbird, strangely enough). Basking in the wild success of free distribution, Webb created NoiseTrade as a way to help other artists successfully market albums in the same manner.
"Who needs peer-to-peer when you can have artist-to-fan?"
-Noise Trade
The perks don't stop with larger fan bases and increased merch sales. The NoiseTrade widget offers musicians an innovative way to relate to fans on the level- no more pesky lawsuits trying to tame the piracy monster. As an added bonus, NoiseTrade also let's artists keep 90% of the money when fans choose to buy music, a percentage unheard of in industry standards.
With any luck, NoiseTrade will spark something of a revolution in an industry afraid of change. Popular social-network news site Mashable is on board, having recently recognized Webb's site with an Open Web Award for contributing to web technology in the music category. You can find NoiseTrade making noise of it's own on Twitter or Facebook.
Eddie Van Halen is badass. So is his new guitar.
You know a guy has reached rock and roll stardom when even Joss Stone can't get passed security to see the guitar-wailing wonder that is Eddie Van Halen. That's what happened when Van Halen made an impromptu appearance in an LA recording studio to jam on the new line of indestructible Wolfgang guitars. Made available worldwide just last month, the newest line of Fender guitars are designed by Van Halen to withstand the daily torment of relentless guitar solos and repetitive power chords. Van Halen even took the guitar on tour last year to give it a solid test run.
"I don't let anything out unless I've dragged it around the block, taken it on tour and beat the living shit out of it."
The coolest feature on this guitar are the wear-resistant stainless steel frets. Based on YouTube videos from Van Halen's 2008 tour, the change has little to no effect on the guitar's fantastic tone- although it is Van Halen making it sing. But note that the man does not use any kind of pedal, but plugs the guitar directly into the amp. A guitarist - no matter how accomplished - cannot maintain such fierce control and perfect tonality if the frets are lacking.
Van Halen promotes the shit out of this instrument, marketing it as an industrial-strength answer to guitarists who apparently destroy their guitars on almost daily basis. He has touted questionable (if not miraculous) attributes to the guitar, even implying to CNN that it was waterproof. But he is nothing if not consistent with his messaging, which is sure to rally a small but dedicated fan base around the new line. But as the Wolfgang is priced at around $3,000 each, it is doubtful it will receive a large demand in the midst of the unstable economy.
Only time will tell if Van Halen's efforts will pay off. I look forward to reading customer reviews of the Wolfgang's tone and supposed immortality (go ahead- leave that three-grand investment out in the rain). In the meantime, I'm hoping to hear more about another possible Van Halen album/tour featuring the great David Lee Roth.
Perhaps Joss Stone will be able to enjoy the music this time.
B.B. King in concert Feb. 14!
The man. The myth. The wicked cool jackets.
Yep. I'll be there.
My disc-jockey friend was kind enough to pick up two not-so-inexpensive ticket to this (dare I say?) once in a lifetime show featuring the king of blues himself.
Interesting note: Rolling Stone ranked King #3 in the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time (he was beat out only by Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman). I wonder what it's like to know that you are the absolute authority on blues guitar. I'm guessing it feels pretty freakin' sweet.
See you there!
Tilly and the Wall
What do you get when you combine five songwriters, a pair of tap dancing shoes and limitless creativity?
Awesomeness.
Words can hardly express how much I love this band. Tilly and the Wall have been around since 2001, springing up from the ashes of Conor Oberst's Park Avenue project. Needless to say I feel completely uncool for not having heard of them before. I am a die-hard fan indie-pop, and if you enjoy Tegan & Sara, Bright Eyes and Stars as much as I do, then Tilly and the Wall should be added to you collection immediately.
All five members of Tilly and the Wall are songwriters, a rare trait in any successful band. What's more is that you can't tell there are five songwriters. The cohesion of the songs are flawless, filled with simple, poetic lyrics and wonderfully flowing melodies. Love Song and Night of the Living Dead are two of my favorites.
Musically speaking, you won't find Tilly and the Wall spearheading the next revolution in the indie-pop scene. Their first album, Wild Like Children (2004), includes a horn sections reminiscent of Sufjan Steven's Illinois album, and the sophomore project Bottom of Barrels (2006) has an unabashedly melodic, campfire sing-along feel. But the vocals and instruments are spot-on, and you can't help but sing, clap and/or dance along, no matter the album.
Oh yeah, did I mention this band has no drummer?
True story. Kindergarden teacher-turned-rock star Jamie Pressnall tap dances in place of traditional percussion. How much more refreshingly original can you get? This band is nothing short of imaginative and with tap dancing involved, guaranteed to be loads of fun at live performances. Check them out.
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