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Pitchfork Media’s 50 Best Albums of 2009 ?

[ 1 Comment ]Posted on December 2, 2009 by admin in Music

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

No, it’s not here yet. Have suggestions for another cool source of indy music? In the meantime we’ll amuse ourselves with insane infographics that break down Pitchfork’s lists in bizarre detail.


Visit Pitchfork Media

It’s time once again for me to start drooling as I await the Pitchfork Media 50 Best Albums of 2009. The annoying thing about one of the best of the “best of 2009″ music lists is that they won’t post it until it’s almost 2010! Until then, we’ll have to endure the inevitable mind-numbing assault of year-end “best of” lists from thousands of other sources. It took me awhile to figure out what exactly it was about Pitchfork’s list that draws me in and basically dictates my listening habits for about three months of the year: it’s the fact that every year, I utterly and completely disagree with about half of it! In their staff’s striving for uber-hipness, they end up exploring the remote fringes of pop that even weirdos like me are unwilling to embrace. Along the way though, I’m forced to listen to indy acts that otherwise wouldn’t have crossed my radar. The problem with lists like NPR’s Best Music Of 2009 (So Far) or Paste Magazine’s lists with the same name is that whether it’s poll-driven like NPR’s list, or staff-selected as in the case of Paste’s, they’re both from mid-year! They also tend to be topped with obvious choices like Animal Collective’s “My Girls” or Grizzly Bear or Neko Case songs. I mean c’mon. Who doesn’t like Animal Collective? They’re like the Beach Boys of the 21st century, produced by Cocteau Twins. So…we grumbled about our frustration with finding the best of the “best of” lists last year about this time, and didn’t get much feedback. So don’t bother offering suggestions this year, we don’t care what you think. Until Pitchfork’s list comes out, we’ll just amuse ourselves with this insane but fascinating collection of Pitchfork lists  presented as infographics, broken down by genre, gender, and other factors. See an example below. And if you haven’t even checked out the 2008 list yet, we did a roundup last year with Torrent searches and Amazon preview links here. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s More To Frankie Goes To Hollywood Than Frankie & Hollywood

[ 2 Comments ]Posted on November 17, 2009 by admin in Music

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

Frankie Say: Okay, you can quit relaxing now, it’s time to come up with a new style kids.


Frankie’s Greatest Hits. There weren’t
many, but they left a mark, so to speak.

Something happened in the 80′s. I’m not sure what, but it hasn’t happened much since then. As easy as it is to make fun of the hair, fashion, and music of the era, the simple fact is that pop music hasn’t changed much since then. I present as evidence Exhibit A, the 2009 25th anniversary remix of Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s Relax. 25 years later, the song is still marketable, and still gets heavy exposure in movies, ads, and clubs. The remix? They raised the tempo about 20 BPM, and electronified the bassline a bit. The casual listener might not notice the difference, except that it feels even less soulful than the original. Even the visuals look 80′s. If you were doing a 60′s tribute in the 80′s it would’ve been obvious from the fashion, but the fact is that frankly, clubbers look the same in 2009 as they did back then. One thing that I think made a big difference is that a lot of genres that popped up in the 80′s (and have been remixed and recombined repeatedly since then) were actually the calculated results of just a few British production teams, specifically Trevor Horn’s label ZTT Records, Factory Records, and 4AD. Almost every pop music trend since then can be traced directly to a band produced by these labels. Frankie Goes To Hollywood, for instance, was a rather hollow-sounding Liverpool club band that Trevor Horn elevated to epic and orchestral levels with an elaborate production method and provocative, politically-driven marketing. Their couple of hits launched an entire movement of gay pride, and a musical style to go with it. Watch this interview (also below) to see FGTH performing Relax prior to Trevor Horn. You’ll also get some background on the controversy about the song’s sexual content, which got them banned from the BBC. Which in turn allowed them to chart in the top 20 on the recording’s release date. They also briefly discuss the Reagan vs Chernenko wrestling match in the song Two Tribes. For those of you who don’t recall, it was a commonly held belief at the time that the nuclear apocalypse would be caused by one of these two doddering old eccentric leaders simply losing it one day. Little did we suspect we’d be watching an aging, Liberace-like Holly Johnson reliving it all 25 years later. Sometimes I wish my 80′s nihilism had been a little  more effective Read the rest of this entry »

Noah and the Whale – The First Days of Spring

[ Comments Off ]Posted on November 10, 2009 by admin in Music

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

The new release from Noah and the Whale is more than a breakup album; it’s a 45 minute breakup film as well.

The other day a friend of mine in Scotland turned me on to the latest Noah and the Whale release The First Days of Spring. I’m not always a huge fan of bands that might fall into some sort of alt/folk category, but this release is indeed “pure, dead gorgeous”, as my friend put it. The release is in one way a classic “breakup album”, but with a twist: it was conceived alongside a 45 minute film produced by the band. You can view the trailer at left, which features the wistfully hopeful Blue Skies. If the trailer is any indication, the film should be well worth a view on its own; with some compelling images and editing, they’ve cleverly created the feeling that you’re viewing an extended trailer from a non-existent conventional feature film that used their music. It’ll be interesting to see how they actually distribute the film; so far it’s only been shown at special screenings, and as of this writing there are no more US dates. It will, however, be available on DVD as part of an upcoming 2-disc edition. I would think they’d make it more available to coincide with release dates, but releasing a conceptual, slightly abstract film in conjunction with an album of songs is bold, uncharted….oh wait. Never mind. Read the rest of this entry »

Bassist Tal Wilkenfeld Joins My Imaginary Ultimate Chick Band

[ 2 Comments ]Posted on November 6, 2009 by admin in Music

Friday, November 6th, 2009

Australian Tal Wilkenfeld started playing bass at 17, and at 23 is performing with jazz legends like Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, and Wayne Shorter.


Tal Starts Intimidating Jeff Beck Around 1:16

My imaginary ultimate chick band is now nearly complete: Zoe Keating on cello, Kaki King on guitar, and now Tal Wilkenfeld on bass. If you haven’t heard this little punk from Australia play, get out some real speakers and check out her bass solo (playing live with Jeff Beck) in the clip at left. Her solo starts around 1:16. Even if you don’t like her playing, watching Jeff Beck bow and surrender repeatedly to a 23 year old bass player makes it all worth it. Unfortunately, Wilkenfeld’s been too busy playing with the likes of Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, and Wayne Shorter to release a CD since 2007′s Transformation, which was recorded in just two days. Apparently this kind of accelerated activity is typical for her; she started playing guitar at 14, switched to bass at 17, and at 18 moved to the states and started the career that has her playing with jazz legends at 23. I can’t wait to hear how her career shapes up; for now the best way to keep up with what she’s sounding like is to peruse YouTube and catch clips of her live appearances. Her official site is here, but seems a little underdeveloped. Hopefully this is a side  effect of the fact that she’s too busy defining who she is herself to get mis-packaged, as so often happens with female talent in the music industry. Read the rest of this entry »

What’s So Great About Google Music Search?

[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 31, 2009 by admin in Music

Saturday, October 31st, 2009

Nothing.


Don’t look for Amazon or iTunes links in
your results with Google’s new music search

Nothing. Well, there are good things about it, but nothing great. Frankly, Google’s really starting to get on my nerves. They have a little bit too much of that Lord of the Rings “One Ring to rule them all” thing going on. Yes, it’s kind of cool that if you search for a band or a song, you now suddenly have the ability to play it right there in your search results. The other touted features – like the ability to search lyrics and get the same results for instance – are so inconsistent that I’m surprised the best and brightest at Google decided to include them. And the omission of iTunes and Amazon from those clickable previews is a mixed bag; yes it’s great to see less monolithic companies being promoted, but the fact is that this is probably just Google’s way of launching their own monopoly. It will be interesting to see how that plays out; so far their key partners include Lala, Rhapsody, Pandora, Imeem, and MySpace. I personally buy all my digital music at either Amazon* (which accounts for 10% of U.S. digital music sales) or iTunes (which accounts for 69% of U.S. digital music sales), and have no problem with that. If Google’s foray into the market generates competition and lower prices, or gives indy artists more exposure, excellent. If not, it’s just more search engine clutter, and another annoyingly distracting sales channel that benefits no-one. But don’t listen to me, try it yourself. Here’s a Read the rest of this entry »

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