327 posts tagged with Music.
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"World Made of Words"
...And The Only Prescription is More Sleighbell
My girlfriend was complaining that some of the music we'd been listening to lately wasn't Christmas music. So I devised a simple formula to make any song into a Christmas song: 1) Take any song, 2) Overlay a track of sleighbells, 3) Enjoy a newfound Christmas classic. [more inside]
Decabet - The Graphic Design of Jason Malmberg
I have been designing gig posters, record sleeves, cd covers and other assorted music ephemera since mid-2004. The pieces range from letterpress to offset and silkscreened works.
This year I finally got my act together enough to compile nearly all of it into a website featuring nearly a decade's worth of work with new stuff getting produced and added all the time. [more inside]
A Month In Music
There are 10,513 MP3s on my hard disk. According to iTunes, that’s nearly 30 days worth of music. It has taken half my life – 15 years – to build this collection but I decided to listen to them all in one go. One continuous concert, playing songs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I wanted to revist all the songs I'd once loved, and the memories and places they called up.
The only choice I made was the first track. After that, the computer randomly decided what was going to play. No stopping. No skipping. No changing the volume. Music, all the time, for a whole month.
The Month In Music blog charts the progress of the playback project, updated once a day with original writing and photography. So far, it's a couple of days in...
Video for the song Contains by Cultural Amnesia
What I did: played guitar and some keyboards on the original track; made the video in Final Cut Pro X (along with Motion, Blender and Photoshop)
Under the Industry
A friend and I started this site to showcase (and later on, review) musicians that are either underground or independently signed. We're staying away from folksy indie-rock, but highlighting everything else we can find, from metal to rap to electronica. So far, there isn't a whole lot of music up, but as time goes on, we plan on adding a lot more.
Ain’t Nothin’ But a Blues Thang: my fRoots reviews
In July this year, I started reviewing blues CDs and similar material for fRoots, the UK's leading folk music and world music magazine. With its editor's permission, I've now posted the first four installments of this work on PlanetSlade, which covers releases by Ian Siegal, Big Head Blues Club, Pokey LaFarge, Meschiya Lake, Jack Blackman, The Lil’ Band O’ Gold and Charles Shaar Murray. More reviews will follow as my arrangement with fRoots permits.
Zombie rap video from Durham, NC
My pal's music video directorial debut, featuring some friends of mine and I, recorded before, during and after the annual zombie lurch in Durham, North Carolina. It's a rap song by local hip-hop artist The Real Laww featuring Toon.
Old Music Video Projects
I was going to wait to post this kind of stuff until I had a complete project done, but I stopped making these when youTube started with the copyright algorithms a couple of years ago and haven't had the heart to continue.
These are the beginnings of two aborted projects at least two years old.
The first one took songs from a local (Bloomington, IN band) The Post's 2003 album and matched it to Apocalypse Now:
01 - Absent
02 - Even the Lighthouse Burns
The second was the Editor's 2007 album matched to different movies:
02 - Wish (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)
04 - Escape (2001)
Anyway.. critiques welcome.
These are the beginnings of two aborted projects at least two years old.
The first one took songs from a local (Bloomington, IN band) The Post's 2003 album and matched it to Apocalypse Now:
01 - Absent
02 - Even the Lighthouse Burns
The second was the Editor's 2007 album matched to different movies:
02 - Wish (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)
04 - Escape (2001)
Anyway.. critiques welcome.
Dig for Fire: Art Inspired by the Pixies
In the late 1980s and early '90s, the Pixies redefined the alt-rock genre with stripped-down tunes, biting lyrics, and an unguarded attitude that inspired bands like Nirvana, Radiohead, and the Strokes, just to name a few. Black Francis, Kim Deal, Joey Santiago, and David Lovering formed the band in Boston, but as is usually the case with music-industry vanguards, the Pixies were originally more successful overseas than in their homeland. [more inside]
Double Life
Here is a music video I made on a shoestring budget. I would like to know what you think it is about!
You Are Not Dead: The Book, The Play, The Album, The Fridge Magnets
In 2008, Meg Holle and I released a book and an album to critical acclaim on Metafilter, Stumbleupon, and other aggregators. Since then, this demented Guide To Living combo has been downloaded over 26,000 times, including once by a Vancouver theater
company who loved it enough to make it into a play, where representatives of the Fakeproject Corporation teach you how to be Not Dead. The play is going on stage at Vancouver Fringe Festival starting THIS FRIDAY, and is awesome.
In honor of this honor, we've completely rebuilt this mind-altering book in online form with new life-mangling exercises, a Real Physical Book to buy, and a set of fridge magnets that will finally express your innermost thoughts, fears, and failures. [more inside]
Content Content a new album by The Celebrated Workingman. (FREE)
My band is releasing our latest record for free on bandcamp today (for a limited time only!)
Pearl Bryan: The Full Story
You may not know the song covered in PlanetSlade’s latest Murder Ballads essay, but I guarantee you’ll never forget the story behind it. On February 1, 1896, Pearl’s decapitated body was found in a Kentucky orchard. She was pregnant, and she’d been struggling when the killer began cutting off her head. That head has never been found, but we do know that the murderer carried it round Cincinnati’s bars with him. The police investigation which followed used a crucial clue from Pearl’s shoes and America’s first bugged cell. There was a thriving souvenir trade surrounding the case and lynch mobs roamed the streets. Two men – one of them Pearl’s lover – eventually hanged for the crime, which inspired a ballad still sung (and danced) today. Read all about it at the link above.
Tabletop - A modular, expandable music studio, designed exclusively for iPad
So my friends & I have been working on this iPad music app for the past several months & it's just now available in the App Store as of tonight! As the name suggests, it emulates the table-top gear that a DJ or producer might use. It’s an expandable
modular studio where you can mix and match a variety of unique devices including samplers, mixers, effects, sequencers and etc. We've done quite a bit of iOS music app development in the past few years but this is the first app we've designed from the ground up for the iPad & so we're pretty psyched to find out what everyone thinks about it. I had an *amazing* response for the last thing I posted here (youarelisteningtolosangeles.com) so I figured this would be a great place to get some early feedback. There's plenty of demo videos & stuff available at the link so check it out and if you've got any questions, definitely let me know in the comments!
Reading 33 1/3
I'm reading Continuum's 33 1/3 series, each one of which sees a different writer take on a notable album, and I'm writing a review to go with one volume each week. There's 80 currently released, and so far I've tackled Fleetwood Mac's Tusk by Rob Trucks, Richard and Linda Thompson's Shoot Out the Lights by Hayden Childs, and R.E.M.'s Murmur by J. Niimi.
Stumbling Drunk With Love for the World
Demos of a small pile of songs I've written (and a couple I haven't). Voice and ukulele, sorry to those with high-art sensibilities. A lot of these I've been playing at campfires in my community for years; some friends bugged me to record some before I move away, so here it is... The 'Flyball's Lament' track is a verbose reinterpretation of the MeFiMu classic by The Great Big Mulp. [more inside]
The Carter Family Project
We're recording every single song the Carter Family ever cut. In order. One per day. In one or two takes. And we've got to get it done during naptime. [more inside]
Public Transport EP
My solo dreampop and shoegaze act, Public Transport, has just released a debut EP on Gothenburg, Sweden's 23 Seconds Netlabel!
To quote one blogger, "Imagine if Washed Out had used My Bloody Valentine as his source material". Enjoy! [more inside]
To quote one blogger, "Imagine if Washed Out had used My Bloody Valentine as his source material". Enjoy! [more inside]
Learn to play by ear online.
So I was looking to improve my aural skills, and instead of doing some ear training ended up creating this site with excercises.
GoodListnr
GoodListnr is sortof like a chatroom with a playlist. People can upload music and add it to the queue, and the tracks get played in order, and everyone listens to the same thing at the same time. [more inside]
ShortWaveMusic 2011: United Arab Emirates
My documentary radio project, ShortWaveMusic [prev], has gone global! This is a new short video documenting the 2011 season, filmed on location throughout the United Arab Emirates in October 2010. (Future editions will include Ghana, Indonesia, and Ethiopia. Prior seasons were recorded in Ibiza and Bulgaria.) [more inside]
Outpost Nine internet radio
Outpost Nine is an eclectic radio station hosted at loudcaster.com. It broadcasts 24/7 but I do a live show Sunday nights at 9pm EST (giving you a couple of says warning). This week's theme is songs about nighttime. [more inside]
hearhere.org
Automagically create audio/video playlists of upcoming shows & whatever else. Basically, a mashup of eventful.com and youtube that creates playlists so you can see/here what artists are coming (plus a simple text search). [more inside]
Dustys Discover Internet!
My band the Dustys have a new website to showcase the songs we've been recording for the past year (instead of touring). We'll be releasing a new video and song every few weeks. We're especially excited about the video for Blueberry, which we shot in Montana with a cast of many!
Bullet in a Quiver
Just self-released my debut LP, Bullet in a Quiver, and thought that fellow MeFites might appreciate it! It's a completely DIY affair, recorded at home in Minneapolis and in the Harvard Lampoon's semi-secret castle headquarters while it was drained of people for spring break. It's a sort of a concept album about cats, hues, prime numbers, alien invasion, and subprime lending, so if you are interested any of those things, however vaguely, by all means, check it out and pass it along! It is free, so ⌘C/⌘V away.
Lifelong EP
My solo project, Vapor Lanes, released an EP yesterday on the netlabel BFW Recordings. It's been described by various folks as "intense, grainy electronica" with "destroyed but beautiful shoegazey synths," like a "corroded M83."
Melodic Expectation
Every week day, I post a link and a little write-up to a free album, single, or EP. By free, I mean a recording posted by the artist or their label that is available for instant download, pay-what-you-want download, or we'll-email-you-a-link download. (I research enough to be sure the download is legitimate and working at time of post.) Genres are all over the place but include electronic, ambient, indie rock, pop, chiptune, etc. Want to fill your mp3-playing-device for free? Do it here.
Godspeed You! Black President
A site that throws together Godspeed You Black Emperor and a pitched-down Barack Obama. Sounds like the nervewracking end to a long night in the Situation Room, with only a bottle of scotch, some childhood memories, and the nuclear launch codes for company. [more inside]
The Electric Lightsaber Orchestra
My friend Matthew and I started coming up with music acts that ought to exist in the Star Wars universe. Before you know it, we had an entire imaginary music festival. And a poster. And a domain to host the poster. I think we got a little carried away. Anyway, if you've ever dreamed of seeing Darth Cab for Cutie share a stage with Kessel Run-DMC, then Tatunes is the festival for you.
A Painting for Win and Regine
My boyfriend is a painter who does life-size portraiture. Inspired by this photo, he made a painting of Win & Regine from Arcade Fire, and would like to give it to them as a gift. I made this little site to publicize our quest.
Inside the John Lennon Educational School Bus
The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus helps kids write songs, record tracks, and film music videos — all in one school day. [more inside]
Songs for the Cure 2011
A multi-disc album (available for download or CD purchase) of original and arranged music, spanning a huge range of genres, for which all proceeds go to the American Cancer Society via UCincinnati's Relay for Life program. The roster is a Who's Who of indie game music, including the composers for Super Meat Boy, Minecraft, and Unreal, and the guys behind Metroid Metal and Overclocked ReMix (and ..MeFi's own jake). The goal is to raise $10k by the end of April.
GLTI.CH Karaoke
is a virtual jukebox oozing with time-delayed, glitchy fun. Streaming live over the web, London and Kumamoto will be joined in a sing off to end all sing offs. The first GLTI.CH KARAOKE event will laugh in the face of the nine hour time difference, of poor bandwidth, bad lip syncing, and terrible foreign language translations. All that matters is that the interwebs keep running and the participants keep on singing.
From our first event we will encourage a whole series GLTI.CH Karaoke happenings. Using webstreaming software our eventual aim is to link up multiple cities across the globe for an all-out, Noon til Noon, 24 hour Karaoke marathon. This means we need YOU to help host future events, with all proceeds raised going to The Japan Society Tohoku Earthquake Relief Fund. [more inside]
Collaborative Jukebox
As promised, I have made available the source code for my Collaborative Jukebox project. This code will run a social website where visitors can upload music from their computer into a shared queue, which is then played in order for everyone at the same time. [more inside]
Art International Radio
Last month, I finished designing a new website for an art gallery and radio station in NYC: Art International Radio (formerly known as WPS1). We've got and oodles oodles of rare and interesting content, interviews, music shows, recordings, performances.
Listen to an interview about Fururist noise music boxes called the Intonarumori, or an interview with Jim Jarmusch, Gregg Araki, or Michel Gondry. Listen to Genesis P-Orridge ruminate on life and art, or tune into the latest interviews from the Brooklyn Rail. We've acquired some historic audio tapes, and am digitizing them in the process, so that you can listen to Allen Ginsberg (and his father!) talk together.
There's music, too: Listen to a curated show on Minimalist music, a recording of a chiptunes/NES-driven performance, some really great disco/house mixes, a curated selection of contemporary Brazilian music (expect bossa nova!), or a wonderfully John Peel-inspired indie rock show. If you want something more experimental, then you can listen to a series of short radio micro-compositions, cassette-tape-generated noise, industrial percussion music performances.
--- And if you're overwhelmed, check out the AIR stream, and just sit back and listen... [more inside]
Clang Jingle Clang. A new piece of music every day.
Yeah, it's been done, but not as weirdly as it's done here. Using drums, cello, ping-pong balls, wine glasses, bicycles, air pumps, trains, umbrellas, sixxens, piano, feedback, vacuum cleaners, bassoon, birthday candles, kazoo, flute, gankogui, shakuhachi, electric guitar, and most of all Audacity and a hand-held recorder, I'm making a piece that's short and interesting every day. Examples appear on the MeFi Music wall from time to time.
You are listening to Los Angeles
Live LAPD radio chatter & CC-licensed music from SoundCloud come together in this weird chillout mashup. Enjoy? [more inside]
The Cassette Masters (1988-1994)
From the ages of 12 to 18, I recorded thousands of songs in my bedroom studio with the help of friends, family, and some seriously outmoded synthesizers. This blog chronicles my "life and times" as a precocious, introverted, and frighteningly prolific synthpop prodigy coming of age in the Midwestern flats with an array of Jurassic technology. (WARNING: Blog moves chronologically. It may take a while to reach wholly listenable material.)
Tens of Dollars
This is a music video I directed about a bank robber who falls in love with the beautiful teller he tries to rob. Would love to hear your brutal opinion. Thanks. [more inside]
Start to Finish, A Metafilter Music Podcast
I've been listening to the songs on Metafilter Music - all the songs! - from the very beginning. On weekday mornings, I'll add a song I like. It's a song of the day podcast. The most popular tags for the music I like so far: electronic, pop, dance, ambient, rock, electronica, synth, techno, instrumental, & indie.
The top 10 greatest classical composers
... according to my not-so-authoritative, highly personal opinions. Includes YouTube clips for each composer and a bonus list of "honorable mentions." Inspired by the New York Times series by Anthony Tommasini. [more inside]
Here, I Taped This!
I'm borrowing terrapin's cassette deck so that I can digitize all my old cassette tapes. Among them are various mixtapes, as well as cassettes chock full of songs I taped off the airwaves in Boston in the early 1980's (probably while doing my homework). Here's where I share my tapes with you -- and I invite you to share your old cassette tapes with me, before they deteriorate or that little fuzzy nubbin falls off the cassette. I have about forty of my own tapes to go. Hope you enjoy my first foray into Projects!
Dym: Swarm cover art
I recently completed artwork for my friends' new EP. It's a pretty complex photo collage, mostly of pictures that I took myself. The link above goes to Deathwatch Asia, where the EP version with my art is being released. You can go here to see the whole booklet, as well as the collages without text. If you like your music crunchy, give them a listen, they're pretty great.
New Year's Day Song Project
Every January 1st, a new song! Since 2006 a group of us (we're not in a band) have written and recorded a song on new year's day tangentially related to something that happened the night before. Each time, we pick a different genre and hold ourselves to finish it before midnight. 6 years and 6 songs running! [more inside]
The Dow Piano
Stock trades determine the songwriting in this audiovisual presentation, translating the ups and downs of 2010 into musical notes. Using a five-note scale spanning three octaves, pitch is determined by the daily closing numbers of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
The Ballad of Nasra Ismail
Since May 2009, PlanetSlade has been bringing you the true stories behind classic murder ballads like Stagger Lee, Knoxville Girl and Hattie Carroll. The site’s latest essay details my efforts to write a fresh set of lyrics in this old tradition, describing a real 2004 murder near my home in North London. The victim was a young Somali prostitute, picked up by her killer while working the streets around King’s Cross. Her death was barely reported at the time, which is one reason I decided to try and commemorate her in song. The folk singer Pete Morton liked my first set of lyrics enough to add some music and record them for me (free download here), and Iowa’s own Scott Riley shot some YouTube footage of himself performing my second version of the song – again, with his own music. PlanetSlade previously: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
The 2010 Koprivshtitsa Festival Orgy®
Every five years, in the Bulgarian village of Koprivshtitsa, over 15,000 performers and 250,000
spectators gather to celebrate the national music and folklore of Bulgaria. This Orgy consists
entirely of original recordings made on location during the 2010 festival, featuring hundreds of
songs from every folkloric region of Bulgaria as well as field recordings made around the town.
It will be broadcast on WHRB Cambridge, 95.3 fm, from 5 am until 11 am EST, and streamed over the web at http://whrb.org.
Studio Multitracks
I've started a blog devoted to isolated tracks from songs. Really acts as a search engine for this amazing new phenomenon where you can hear recordings track by track.
Synthbot
I built some synths and put them in robots and now they're going to be on show at Deluxe Cafe, Kent Tce, Wellington, New Zealand for two weeks starting Monday 15th.