Summer embers is an amazing compilation from 14tracks (associated with music store Boomkat) that is one of my favourites of theirs from last year.
Put out at the start of autumn its is a mixture of indie summer pop featuring great tracks from Forest Swords, Ensemble Economique and my favourite White Poppy, whose track Darkness turns to light kind of defines the whole compilation.
Pulsing hypnotic dance music that you can listen to from the rather fabulously named I Break Horses
Loving Ben Babbitt's mix of electronic pop, ambient minimalism and bluegrass in his soundtrack for episode 3 of Kentucky Route Zero
I watched a biopic the other night about the legendary NY music club CBGB. The reviews on the film were mixed but I have to say that I loved it. After reading more and more about the man behind CBGB, Hilly Kristal, I'm finding that Alan Rickman's portrayal was even more brilliant than I originally thought.
I didn't know a whole lot about Hilly Kristal or CBGB before seeing the film, so having the introduction that I did to the man, the club and its history through the film was interesting. Not knowing much about it I think made it more interesting because Rickman created this amazing on screen presence that made you want to know more about the man. Learning more about Hilly, I realized that were so many little touches that Rickman brought to the role that really spoke to who Hilly was and that has only deepened my fascination with the man and the scene that he was able to create around his unassuming little club in the Bowery that had such an amazing influence on modern music.
The one big thing I found wrong with the CBGB movie after reading about Hilly was that there's so much great backstory about his character that was glossed over. It was a hard choice I'm sure - focus more on the club or the man. Except in this case the club was what it was because of the man. Tough balance to strike...
I think what appeals to me about the story of Hilly and CBGB is how he encouraged and embraced original music so completely. It was all about the music, not making money as a club. As his offical web site states, one of his many paradoxes was that he was a visionary business man who was bad at business. The idea though of being there at that moment of discovery of a new band or a new sound is something that has always intrigued me. To be a part of that, and to see so many amazing bands get their start has to have been life altering.
New Young Pony Club and Band of Skulls are coming off the player to make room for some more summer electronica.
Maybe it's time for another revolution like the one that happened around CBGB or the clubs in Seattle in the late 80's/early 90's. It seems as though such musical revolutions in the rock world come along once in a decade or so. Either I'm looking in the wrong places or I'm just oblivious to something that's happening now, but I need something new, something fresh, and something that doesn't sounds like the bulk of the over-produced shit that's seeping into to the mainstream lately.
I don't have anything against Dr. Dre selling beats to Apple. Good for him. But I think that it's going to spawn a generation of musicians looking more to cash in on their brand than caring about the music. I have no problem with artists making money. I spent the better part of a decade doing a 360 deal for an artist that I believed in, and much of that time was spent trying to help him keep his head above water. But while the idea of making more money was nice, we were never really motivated by that alone. It was always about our passion for the music. Eating in dives and sleeping in the van or a fleabag motel was just fine with us. Sure, it gets old, and I won't say that we didn't long for a time when we'd be sleeping at the Ritz rather than Motel 6, but that's all part of the journey. That's what makes the music and the artist real. If you're not suffering for it, either personally or professionally, where does the heart and soul come from?
Led Zeppelin have not one but two all-female tribute groups: Zepparella and Lez Zeppelin.
I actually prefer the female fronted versions of their songs as it subverts some of their lyrical tawdriness.
So after having a hankering to hear the Whole lotta love riff I actually had two different versions to choose from.
Zepparella seem an amazing technical group of musicians with great technique but I preferred the slightly rockier and grungier LezZep's version.
The Underground Lovers are an Australian band that stand at Beck-esque intersection of indie rock and electronica. Their album Weekend is filled with absolutely outstanding pop songs. It's one of those rare releases where every track feels fresh, interesting and a winner.
I'm really starting to love The War on Drugs Lost in the dream. It's a beautiful spacey, dreamy pop rock with a strong melodic bent that reminds me of Springsteen.
I was pretty immune to the charms of Water Fountain in previous incarnations, but this version from Glastonbury is pretty enjoyable. Particularly with the counterpoints and vocal harmonies.
Watched an amazing documentary on Netflix last week called Muscle Shoals. It's the story of a the incredible music that came out of two little recording studios in a small Alabama town in the 60's and 70's. I don't want to say too much about it because the things you will learn from it, if you're not already aware of the story, will surprise you. For me, it was yet another study of visionary people driven by the love of the song and the music who attracted amazing talent and created not only an incredible sound, but also much of the truly great and memorable music of the 20th century.
For anyone who loves music and the history associated with it, I'm sure you'll love this film.
Glen Johnson's new album is out, Same Sex reminds of things like his work as Textile Ranch rather than the previous solo album.
Women's Hour caught me by surprise with their arch name hiding an unusual slick indie pop sound.
Their sound reminds of things like the Cocteau Twins mixed with the production quality of The Dears. A lot of the synths remind me of Eighties pop but the sound is fuller and more sophisticated.
I was following up what Richard Moult had recently released and I came across this micro-label called Wild Silence dealing in experimental acoustic music and field recordings. There's some pretty interesting stuff on there including Moult's Aonaran album.
Being a rock guy who is a sucker for a good pop hook, I've been a fan of Train for a while. Admittedly, what hooked me on the band originally was their bluesier, rock stuff that was very much a part of their early days. I burned out on them and for the most part had just stopped listening to them around 2009. My wife and I went to a show last week in Gilford NH and I have to say I was really impressed with their live show and it renewed my interest in the band. This week, I discovered an interesting side project of lead singer Pat Monahan called The Patcast which I've actually found to be a fun, sometimes insightful look at music, artists and the issues facing the music business in general. It doesn't hurt that he does some pretty solid interviews and live music performances with guests as well.
The Wooden Birds sound a lot like early Death Cab for Cutie but with poppier lyrics. Really enjoying both of their albums to date.
For me this is the soundtrack of anyone who is young and recently moved to London.
By the time I'd produced and directed the following music video, I'd for the most part stopped supporting Bobby Lee Rodgers directly as a manager, and financing source but I was still, and still am, very much a fan.
It was the first and only time I've had the chance to shoot a music video, and I only had 90 minutes to get the coverage I needed. Because of the short time frame, I had to rely on what little practical lighting there was in the club that it was shot in. Despite it being a little dark, I was happy with the result for the most part.
It's something of a shame that this was the only track from this record ever released on iTunes. There were a ton of great tracks and I had hoped to shoot at least one or two more videos for them.
Wolves in the the Throne Room have released their new album Celestite which consists entirely of what are normally the sweeping synth introductions to metal albums. It sounds like the offspring of ambient and prog rock or a compilation of all of Cradle of Filth's opening tracks.
If that sounds dismissive then I think its because its unexpected, I actually like the sound of the album and while I like my electronica a little more downbeat than church organ sweeping I acknowledge that is a logical progression in Wittr's musical development.
I just came across the Korg Volca range (amazingly in a total search fail Korg don't have a single page for the range on their site). A bunch of tiny synths that sound great, are reasonably fun to play and cost about £100 each.
This austrian music by Parov Stelar is fine. Listening to "Supereight" in repeat. Is this so called lounge music?
Thanks to the speedrunner Cosmo for inspiration.