Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Off to Wordpress
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Favorite Sh*t of the Year!!!
Out of my not-so-extravagant-concerts…aka club concerts, the Holly Miranda/Braids concert takes the cake. Braids were probably one of my biggest obsessions this year. I had never heard of them before this concert. And I kid you not from the second they started playing my jaw dropped. It pretty much stayed there through the set too. If you've heard their music, there is a lot going on and to see them pull it off live is just………. There is one moment I clearly remember. Native Speaker – the title track off their upcoming album. Watching Raphie just belt out the lyrics. Her voice is just too amazing and unique I couldn't stop staring in awe. The four of them are extremely talented and since that night I haven’t wanted an album to come out so fast then Native Speaker (Jan 18). The jaw dropping didn't stop there. I had seen Holly Miranda before, but it was only her and Timmy. This time she had a full band. Hearing her songs with a full band made them even more powerful. And holy crap that drummer can play! I can never get used to Miranda’s voice…so soulful, raspy, and beautiful. Her cover of an Etta James song sent chills down my spine. It was a very powerful night of music that I now compare all concerts to.
Runner(s) Up: Blood Red Shoes, The XX w/Warpaint
What's YOUR favorite album, song (or single), video, collaboration and concert of the year? You don't even have to pick one for all you can answer for one AND you can have ties, obviously we're not the people to force you to make a decision!
Monday, December 13, 2010
The Really Long Nerdy Post about Janelle Monae
The ArchAndroid is the follow-up to Janelle Monáe's debut EP Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase) (2007) and consists of the second and third parts to her Metropolis concept series. Partly inspired by the 1927 film of the same name, the series involves the fictional tale of Cindi Mayweather, a messianic android sent back in time to free the citizens of Metropolis from The Great Divide, a secret society that uses time-travel to suppress freedom and love. In an interview for the Chicago Tribune, Monáe said that she was inspired by the quote "The mediator between the hand and the mind is always the heart". discussed her incorporation of the android as a metaphor for a minority and the role of the story's protagonist in an interview for Blues & Soul, stating "she represents the MEDIATOR between the have’s and the have not’s, the minority and the majority. So in that way she’s very similar to Neo, the Archangel from ‘The Matrix'. And basically her return will mean freedom for the android community".
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Interview with Sean Moeller, founder of Daytrotter
Were you at all inspired by the Peel Sessions?
I've never actually listened to a Peel Session, I don't believe. I think I own a CD of a Hot Snakes Peel Session, but I've never listened to it. I obviously respect John Peel and have read a bit about him since we started Daytrotter, but I can safely say that Daytrotter wasn't inspired by anything at all. Funny how that works sometimes.
Daytrotter promises 7 bands, 28 songs a week. Was this tough to accomplish when DT first launched?
Well, we didn't do it like that at all in the beginning. We released one session a week. Then about three months in, it was two a week. Then we jumped to three a week about a year later. Shortly after that, we were posting one a day Monday-through-Friday. Now we're at seven days a week and starting in January, you're likely to see 2-3 sessions a day. It's impossible for us not to do that at this point. It's not hard at all.
Your essays and biographies of the bands are always incredible. I read some over and over. Did you or do you write professionally for other sites or publications?
Thanks so much. I spend a lot of time on them. I wrote for 12 years for the Quad-City Times, a newspaper here in the Quad-Cities and I did some freelance writing for Rockpile, Punk Planet, Filter and a handful of other places. Mostly a ton of publications that don't print physical copies any longer.
Could you take us through the process of preparing for a band to come record and then how exactly the sessions are recorded?
There's really not much preparation. We just wait for them. I book all of the sessions and they're all recorded live in one room -- no headphones or overdubs. We have a bunch of Otari 50/50 quarter-inch tape machines and we lay everything down onto quarter-inch tape. It's pretty sexy.Are there other Daytrotter studios now, aside from the Horseshack?We are now using Big Orange, the studio we have used for the past five years when we travel down there to tape during SXSW, as a second studio. It's a great thing to have available. We tape about 20 sessions a month down there, in addition to our close to 40 a month here in Rock Island. We're looking into the possibility of having a third studio in London sometime soon. We'll see how that goes.Are you always around to personally oversee sessions recorded?I'm usually always here. I hate to miss sessions, but reality gets to me sometimes as it's really hard to write at the studio and the writing really does demand a lot of my time so sometimes I have to choose between being at the studio and being productive/prolific.What has been some of your favorite sessions?I really do like all of them as I personally invite every band/artist to the studio, but there are certainly some sessions that really stand out. Kris Kristofferson, Gayngs, every time Delta Spirit's here, Avett Brothers, Blind Boys of Alabama and too many others are really at the top of my list for memorability. I have a feeling our upcoming session with Naughty By Nature will rank pretty high too.I'm a huge fan of Johnnie Cluney's illustrations, just one of many things I look forward to in a new session. I can't help obsessing over how cool it would be to own vinyls with his pictures as album art. Any plans to produce vinyls of DT sessions?Get ready. Yes.The Naughty By Nature session takes place at Rock Island Brewing Company in Rock Island, IL. Tickets are $20, proceeds go to QC Times/United Way Wish List.Some Personal DT Faves:LINKS!!!http://Daytrotter.com (If you hadn't figured that one out yet...)
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Interview with Triple Threat, Vivek Shraya
So much of your material has this cool 80s feel. It feels like the beginning of electro-pop and not as techno as contemporary electro-pop usually sounds. Were the 80s a particularly influential period for you, musically?
Meghan Toohey (producer of If We’re Not Talking and Keys & Machines) and I both grew up in the 80s so I think that between her love for Prince and my love for Madonna , that sound comes naturally to us. Contemporary electro can also sound a little gimmicky with random synths slapped on to a beat and I strive for a musical efficiency, where each layer serves a purpose and enhances the song.
Your song "Fevered" was featured on Degrassi. Were you excited about that at all? Are you a fan of the show?
That was definitely a career highlight for me, particularly the way the song was used in a high school dance scene. Teenagers dancing to Fevered! I have not watched the new version of Degrassi a lot, but the original Degrassi was HUGE when I was growing up.
SEEKING SINGLE WHITE MALE (short film) from Vivek Shraya on Vimeo.
I have to ask what inspired you to make 'Seeking Single White Male', your short film. It was so sad and touching but also deeply personal.
Growing up queer in Edmonton was such an isolating experience and so I often imagined that gay bars and the opportunity to connect with other queers would feel like a homecoming of sort. But as a person of colour, I found I would almost literally disappear in those spaces, even when a conversation was had with another. This triggered a slow and innocent process of assimilating to a white aesthetic to be seen. It felt important to create a piece that spoke of and brought visibility to this experience, which is unfortunately the experience of many queer people of colour.
I'd like to note how soon you tackled this race issue after addressing Gender/Queer issues in your book. Can we look forward to more projects such as these from you in the future?
For most of my artistic career, music has been my central outlet. Writing/releasing God Loves Hair opened doors I had never considered before and has made me excited about art in general, particularly art to bring awareness and change. So yes, I hope to make more projects that discuss the various issues I am passionate about.
You tweeted that there will be new music in 2011. When can we expect a new release?
Either the summer or early fall. Fingers crossed!
Quick rundown of your favorite 2010 releases:
Robyn’s Body Talk (particularly pt 1) owned 2010. Hands down. Lately, I have been listening to the new Kanye record obsessively. The production is stellar. It makes me want to be a better musician and a better man.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Interview with Laura-Mary of Blood Red Shoes
I was not familiar with the graphic novel beforehand but i saw the movie and i think it is a great story. We were really excited about having our song on the film, it was ace.
We played the intimate show but didn't play any new tunes in the end, as i was ill with flu and instead of the day we had to rehearse i was in bed trying to recover as the day after that show we were going on tour for a month and a half (which i am currently on now) so we played our songs and people were cool with us not doing new ones, as we didn't want to play them if they were not properly rehearsed. People seemed to have a good time and were just happy to see us in a living room basically.
thanks for the reminder...also i didn't think anyone had seen that!!