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[ Add A Comment ]Posted on February 4, 2012 by admin in Music
Saturday, February 4th, 2012Whenever I want to dance alone in my apartment, I drive my music snob friends away with some awesome Europop like Rebecca & Fiona
I occasionally find myself a sudden musical outcast amongst my friends. A lot of music lovers I know are frankly arrogant snobs, or so niche-obsessed as to be musically misanthropic, so when I go on a bender with something like Robyn, Die Antwoord, or Lady Sovereign, they just avoid me for a few days, or ask me how my Rebecca Black fan club is doing. Or walk around with their fingers in their ears saying “la la la la” thinking I’ll shut it off or something. Well, it looks like I’ll have some time to myself for a day or two as I keep Rebecca & Fiona on regular rotation. I first heard of them because of this fan video (also below) which is kind of an editing gem on its own. I then went down the YouTube Rabbit Hole for a while, and realized I had to have more, so I picked up I Love You, Man, their latest release. If you liked the Europoppier bands on Pitchfork’s 2007 best of list, and if you like the girly, talk-singy vocal stylings of Norway’s Ephemera
Looking Forward To Death From Above 1979′s New Release Coming Out In 2012
[ Add A Comment ]Posted on November 27, 2011 by admin in Music
Sunday, November 27th, 2011That’s a lot of prepositions and dates for a single overlooked band, but these guys were replacing nipples with other body parts in their videos WAY before Lady Gaga and Die Antwoord’s Yolandi Vi$$er.
One thing I love about the demise of the major record labels and the explosion of indy releases over the last decade is that just when I think I’m caught up on things, I run across some bizarre pop treasure that leads me on the YouTube equivalent of Wikiphilia. You know, when some quirky video or song by some under-recognized artist leads to discovering an entire new world, i.e., the world of bands with 307 video views. This happened the other day when someone sent me a link to the creepy but clever Sexy Results video (NSFW, if breasts with mouths aren’t safe where you work) by Death From Above 1979. Although Die Antwoord’s Yolandi Vi$$er had eyes for nipples in the video for Evil Boy
Thomas Dolby’s “Oceana” On iTunes, Online Game Announced For Upcoming “Urbanoia” EP
[ Add A Comment ]Posted on March 31, 2011 by admin in Music
Thursday, March 31st, 2011I’m in no mood for games, Mr. Dolby, but I admire your marketing savvy.
 Now available on iTunes |
Well lucky you, average music consumer. You can now purchase Thomas Dolby’s recent EP “Oceana” – previously only available to drooling sycophants like myself – on iTunes. And Mr. Dolby has announced another small change in marketing strategy. While he originally stated a plan to release three EP’s (exclusively to Flat Earth Society subscribers) leading up to the full release of the album “A Map Of The Floating City” this summer, he’s now added an online social networking adventure to the mix. While the FES forums and regular promotional materials that are being released don’t go into much detail, this fellow is apparently one of the developers. And Dolby himself described it in this interview with Amy Steele: “You can access the game for free through your web browser. It’s set in a kind of 1930s that might have come to be, had the strange experimental weapons of that time come to fruition. There were sonic cannons and Tesla death rays. In the game, tribes of players collaborate to explore what’s left of the planet following an event of mass destruction. Survivors take to the oceans in the hulls of abandoned vessels, and eventually they raft up, like the merchants’ barges in Tokyo harbor in the 17th century. A strange kind of barter culture emerges, a form of ‘maker’ society where players cobble together inventions using relics from the past. Most of this is done in text form, you understand, it’s a kind of collaborative fiction, not a 3d shoot em up. And as you explore the game, you will discover new songs from the 3rd and final EP from my album, ‘Urbanoia’.” As a non-gamer, this doesn’t thrill me much, but it’s a clever marketing angle. I’ll personally probably just wait for random leaks and buy the complete album when it arrives. We’ve been following Dolby’s recent releases with interest since last May, and will share any updates as they become available. So Oceanea remains the only material you can purchase without becoming a Flat Earth Society member, or playing the upcoming game. But if you love the tune Toadlickers as much as I do, well, there’s an app for that. Vids below. Read the rest of this entry »
Music Industry Plans To Pay Off Federal Deficit
[ Add A Comment ]Posted on March 23, 2011 by admin in Music
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011How else would you explain a $75 Trillion lawsuit? Yes. We said trillion.
It’s been clear for a while that the established music industry missed the boat to the digital age, and that their innovative new business model is primarily based on suing the pants off their own customers and pirating music from their own artists. But if you’ve been following these bizarre attempts by the music industry to remain profitable, one thing that that might be troubling you lately is the way that the government seems to be operating as a tool for the entertainment industry to execute this doomed strategy. The fact that the Department of Homeland Security basically admits that it’s the private police force of the entertainment industry raises perfectly reasonable questions like “Is CD Piracy a Matter for Homeland Security?” And for the entertainment industry to pursue this kind of strategy more aggressively than ever – especially at a time when consumer piracy has declined almost 50% in three years – has personally left me perplexed. Until today, when I finally figured out the long-term goal of this bizarre partnership between agencies devoted to national security and the people who bring you wonderful and innovative products like Justin Bieber and Toy Story 3. They’re out to eliminate the federal deficit. How else would you explain the music industry’s $75 Trillion lawsuit against Lime Wire? Yes, you read that right. Seventy five trillion dollars. That’s enough to pay off the current federal deficit 45 times, if you’re curious.
Rebecca Black’s Friday & The Death Of Parody In Pop
[ 3 Comments ]Posted on March 17, 2011 by admin in Music
Thursday, March 17th, 2011Is Ark Music Factory helping accelerate the demise of parody in pop and destroy the wall between professional and user-generated content?
One of the more important recent events in contemporary pop music took place February 10, 2011. That was the day that the video Friday by Rebecca Black (also below) was uploaded to YouTube. If you haven’t seen it yet or heard about it, I only suggest you watch it so you can experience the discomforting cognitive dissonance it generates. It’s a unique feeling. At first you’ll be like “Bleh. Another cute but prepackaged, overly-autotuned young pop star being launched“. Then, early in the song, she says the word “Friday” the way she says it for the first time. While you’re busy marveling at the new vowel she’s invented (it’s somewhere between “i” and “e” mixed with the sound of a dying bunny), you’ll first start having trouble identifying what level of production quality is being presented. Yes, that’s fairly solid camera work and editing, and the audio is punchy and cleanly mixed. But those “extras”… those must be her friends, right? At some point you’ll wonder if this is some clever Onion.com parody, and start waiting for the punchline. Then you’ll realize it isn’t coming, and suddenly the song ends, and you’ll be like “wait, WHAT? OH MY GOD THAT WASN’T A JOKE”. If you’ve ever been in a rollover car accident, you’ll briefly relive that feeling that something terrible has just happened, but you’re okay, and almost laugh at how you just tempted fate and defeated it. I’m not sure if I’m exaggerating. The reason I said at the top that this song is such an important event was that it has accomplished the amazing feat of forever breaching that crumbling wall between professional and user-generated content in pop music in a way that no one really has before. This has happened with most other media and subcultures; I’ve talked before about the Death Of Meta-Ironic Hipsterism and The Death & Rebirth Of Political Meta-Satire As Quantum Comedy for instance. But so far, in spite of a decade of American Idol and websites like mp3.com and MySpace Music, no one has so successfully destroyed this line between “celebrity” and “nobody” with such carefree naivete, such oblivious indifference. For the record, Rebecca didn’t do this on her own; she’s a partially self-created product, but the other part of the partial was created by Ark Music Factory, a production house that seems to be cashing in on the same parents that sign their kids up for beauty pageants at age three. In spite of the genuine hat tip I offer to Rebecca Black for being in the right place at the right time, Ark Music Factory seems like an evil entity designed to destroy youth by deceiving them into pursuing hollow and unachievable dreams by selling them their own naivete and self-obsession. I would bet that half of these kids will be in rehab or thrice-weekly therapy by the age of 22. I mean, watching this Ark Music Factory promotional video gives me the same sick feeling inside that I got in third grade when I watched my nerdy friend get bullied during recess and acted like I didn’t know him. And I know, you may be thinking “Oh c’mon. This is just one of those meme thingies I’m always hearing about“. Well, I might have agreed a few weeks ago, but as of this writing the video has more than 13 million views (double that of Radiohead’s recent Lotus Flower), there’s talk of a tour, and the song has made the top 100 on iTunes. Oh. And a spinoff. The “girl in pink with the awkward dances” has a Tumblr. More video clips below.