Fade Away Never

MP3: The Lovely Feathers -- "Lowiza"

2009-09-29T09:20:32Z

If I had to pick a favorite album that nobody else in the world seemed to like, it would have been The Lovely Feathers' "Hind Hind Legs". Before the Rural Alberta Advantage got signed I might have picked them instead, but now that they are touring constantly in support of their now major-indie release, I'm going to fall back on The Lovely Feathers. This band is a giant indie-rock party with your most embarrassing friends. I think that if these guys ever sang about anything serious they would be compared to the upper echelon of indie-rock stardom. I say if you want lyrics, you should read a book.

And hey, they're on tour right now with the Rural Alberta Advantage. What are the odds? Talk about a ridiculously amazing and self-aggrandizing show that would be for me to go to. I would sit in the corner with my arms crossed and mock all the FOOLS that haven't heard of the two bands on the stage. Then I would eat my cookie, and it would taste like victory!

MP3: Lowiza.mp3

MP3: Hallelujah The Hills -- "Blank Passports"

2009-09-29T08:42:47Z

This is a great song from Hallelujah The Hills -- a fairly underrated little Boston band that I am interested to explore further. The pacing on this track is very unpredictable. They reminded me of Wolf Parade when they were still exciting to listen to and had fresh tricks up their sleeves. I question the need for the lo-fi production on the vocals. I think that lo-fi usually conveys earnestness, but here I think it just takes away from the song. Lead singer Ryan Walsh has a great sound, but its richness is wiped out, and I don't think the masking adds anything. It's like taking a great picture and then draining the color out of it.

Maybe I'm just over lo-fi in general. I can't think of any situation where I would choose to go lo-fi. And if I was the kind of art-for-arts-sake guy that would make that choice, I probably wouldn't also be putting out promotional MP3's as a loss-leader to generate tour revenue. Whatever, I guess whenever I take the time and effort to put out an album I can bitch all I want about production quality. Until then, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Despite all that quibble -- I love this song.

MP3: Hallelujah The Hills - Blank Passports.mp3

MP3: Land of Talk -- "May You Never"

2009-09-25T06:20:55Z

Land of Talk is putting out their latest full length, Fun And Laughter, on Saddle Creek in the US -- a label that seems to be coming up a lot lately for me. There is a very Broken Social Scene vibe to this track, which is a good thing (again, I think I mentioned them in the last post as well - weird). Land Of Talk recently toured with BSS, so I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the engineering crew on the album were similar to the people who put out their albums -- Land of Talk is also from Montreal, after all.

Land of Talk will be in L.A. on October 29th, at Spaceland. No Austin dates yet, they're keeping to the west coast for this tour.

MP3: Land of Talk -- "May You Never"

MP3: Los Campesinos! -- "The Sea Is A Good Place To Think About The Future"

2009-09-18T23:18:14Z

I've been mentioning Saddle Creek a lot lately because they've recently signed two of my favorite bands of the past couple of years; Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson and The Rural Alberta Advantage. Well, Saddle Creek has nothing to do with Los Campensinos! except for the fact that this song makes me think of the first Saddle Creek releases from Rilo Kiley and Bright Eyes. Otherwise this Welsh band has nothing to do with the Nebraska label -- they're on Arts and Crafts (home to Broken Social Scene).

MP3: Los Campensinos! -- "The Sea Is A Good Place To Think About The Future"

Video: HEALTH -- "Die Slow"

2009-09-10T06:06:40Z

The video to HEALTH's "Die Slow" from their upcoming album Get Color was premiered on Friday. The video, directed by the band, captures the delicate balance that Los Angeles strikes between the bohemian and high fashion. Similarly, the song is structured as a balance between jarring guitar/synth drones and idyllic vocal harmonies with heavy reverb -- each resting on each other to make the other more palatable, and ultimately working together to create a lot of space. I'm not a video guy, but the use of color in this video is pretty amazing as well. Even the obligatory art-noise spastic color strobe in the beginning uses slightly muted colors instead of the now ubiquitous bright-neons. I think these guys are the best outfit operating in L.A. right now.

Thom Yorke to release two new songs: "Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses","The Hollow Earth"

2009-09-03T19:52:50Z

A message from Thom Yorke on Dead Air Space:

Dear Sir or Madam

This is to inform you of the release of two more bits of work shortly. They are loosely under the Thom Yorke name this time, although these days its all getting kind of blurry. FeelingPulledApartbyHorses is written & played by Jonny and I and is a radical rework of an old tune thats been kicking around without a home since 2001? i think. The Hollow Earth is a bass menace that was born out of the Eraser period but needed a little more time. Both were produced by Nigel Godrich as ever. And mastered by Bob Ludwig. They are being put out on 12" with sliced sleeve by Stanley and Tchock. My sources tell me this will be available from the 21st of September if you're interested.. On sale in the w.a.s.t.e part of our website (with a gratis download.) Or you can go buy it in a good record shop if you are lucky enough to have one near you. Then later on there will be like a normal download thing i think around the 6th of Oct through the usual channels.

And so it goes. all the best

Thom

MP3: Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeroes -- "Home"

2009-09-03T04:56:57Z

Finally! I've been waiting for an album to hit me like this all year!

A friend of mine uploaded this album to a music listserv that I belong to while I was right in the middle of the bar exam. So, unfortunately, it passed by me without a listen. It wasn't until this past weekend after a long night at The Must ($3 Milwaukee's Best = new favorite downtown bar) that I actually got a chance to hear the album.

It's been a really long time since I've come across a song that I could not stop listening to. I honestly can't remember the last time I had a song on repeat like I currently have this track. Just stop what you're doing -- well, don't stop reading this -- and download this song and then go and find the album. One of my top 3 albums of the year so far. The only reason its not my #1 is because Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear have put out game-changing albums this year. And as amazing as those albums are, I have a feeling this one might get more spins on my iPhone over the next few months.

Sure, there's plenty of back story for this LA band. Lead singer of Ima Robot, Heath Ledger ties, huge LA following, big-ass "Broken Social Scene"-esque band. But whatever, just do yourself a favor and get on the bus.

MP3: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes -- "Home"

The band will be playing the El Rey on Sept 22, but as big as these guys are in LA I'm sure its sold out. Give 'er a try anyways, I hear their live show is epic (12 people, lotsa drums). No Austin dates yet. Surely they'll be at SXSW though.

**EDIT: I couldn't just leave it at one song, this is a very very solid album, so I want to give you a little more of a taste.

MP3: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes -- "Carries On"

MP3: Rain Machine -- "Smiling Black Faces"

2009-09-02T05:21:53Z

Very powerful track from Kyp Malone's (TV On The Radio) new band, Rain Machine. The instrumentation reminded me Kyp's production on Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson's self titled debut. I'm not sure how much of Kyp's influence was on that album, but I feel similarities. Similar to the xx track I posted last week, the instruments are sparse -- but that allows the production to relish each individual sound.

There's a difference between isolating each instrument clearly and relishing the way each instrument sounds as it is played. This track definitely favors the latter philosophy. I guess you could call it a "live" sound, but I don't think that's entirely accurate -- I think its just capturing the soul of the instrument. Not how the instruments sound in perfect studio isolation, and not how they sound as if on stage, and not so much lo-fi either; but how the instruments would sound if it were just a couple kids banging away with all their hearts as you walked by on the street.

The real strength of the song though is in Kyp's vocals. He bring so much authenticity to the table. I asked a lot of girls why they were so into Kings of Leon, and they pretty much all say that its because of the emotion in the lead singers voice. I guess in relation to whatever else people are hearing, Kings of Leon is pretty much the most amount of emotion you're going to hear on radio. But one listen to Kyp in this track and you immediately know, this isn't a song about losing some model girlfriend.

By the way, I just read that Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson signed to Saddle Creek this month. This is the second time in the past couple months that Saddle Creek has signed one of my favorite artists. His new album comes out in Oct.

Rain Machine's self titled album comes out 9/22 on Anti-

Rain Machine - Smiling Black Faces.mp3

Video: The Dead Weather - "Bone House"

2009-09-01T22:43:57Z

Jack White is a far better drummer than Meg. I guess it would be a little difficult for him to play guitar, sing, and play drums at the same time. I feel it time consuming to write a summary about The Dead Weather. You have to be locked in a basement to not know about this band. I will tell you what other bands the artists in the supergroup play in: Jack White (Your an idiot if you don't know this), Alison Mosshart (The Kills, Discount), Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age), Jack Lawrence (The Raconteurs, The Greenhornes).

Video: The Dirty Projectors -- "Cannibal Resource"

2009-09-01T20:41:53Z

It's over, I can't do it anymore. I have given The Dirty Projectors every chance in the world to grow on me, but I just can't bring myself to like them. I can't get over the harsh reality that they sound eerily similar to PHISH! It hurts me to say it, but how can you not listen to this and have your thoughts invaded by Birkenstocks, hacky sacks, and white-boy dreadlocks?

Evidence:

* dirty projectors at 0:22

* phish at 0:41

MP3's: The Very Best -- "Yalira"; Daniel Johnston -- "Freedom"

2009-09-01T04:04:47Z

The Very Best are Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya and European DJ and Producer combo Radioclit (I'm going out on a limb and saying they're the white guys in the above picture). Here is a picture of the band hanging out with Usain Bolt in Berlin -- which in my mind is HUGE indie-cred. This track is The Lion King meets Sigur Ros. I could see myself listening to it at the gym to get pumped up, but I'm not exactly going to be bumping it in my Range Rover -- nor do I have a Range Rover.

The Very Best -- "Yalira"

Daniel Johnston -- "Freedom"

And this is the new single from the upcoming Daniel Johnston album. This is to Johnston as the Monterey Pop Festival was to Dylan. At first when I heard the track I hated it. The slick production and glossy drum tracks made me feel like someone evil had gotten control of Johnston (and I don't mean the devil inside him) and wanted to cash in on his recent popularity by eschewing his typical lo-fi sound for something that would be more accessible. I'm still not sure that isn't what happened, but what I am sure of is that I am now addicted to this track. It's definitely a grower.

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Want better radio? Legalize payola.

2009-08-31T21:22:20Z

The arguments against illegal payola were first extended by Murray Rothbard. In a talk at the Mises Institute some time in the past couple of years, Martin S. Fridson gave a little blurb about the arguments that brought my attention to them. He also wrote a short chapter in his book "Unwarranted Intrusions" about the history of payola. Here is my off-the-cuff take on the arguments.

The best way for labels to promote their music is for people to hear it. In the 1800's labels would promote sheet music by paying artists to play it in public forums. During the 20's labels would pay artists like Al Jolson (the person who built my apartment complex fyi) to sing a song, because anything that he sang was guaranteed to become a hit. And of course, in the radio era, labels began to pay disc jockeys to spin their albums, thus the beginning of payola. Bottom line; there is a MARKET for having your music heard.

By making payola illegal the market still exists, but it becomes a BLACK MARKET. Labels still pay to play, but now their payments are higher to account for the risk they are taking that they may be prosecuted. This greatly inflates the price to play and makes it nearly impossible for independent labels to enter into that market.

If payola were legalized (as it was during Chess/Sun era) then it would take that risk out of the price of radio airtime. This would normalize the price of the cost for airtime and allow larger independent labels such as Sub Pop, Matador, Merge, Saddle Creek, etc to enter into the market.

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If everyone is paying the same price for radio airplay then the decision as to whether to play a song or not is no longer about who can afford to take the risk, but about who provides the best product.

This works the same way as shelf space at a supermarket. Goods manufacturers pay for shelf space in your local WalMart. All who want shelf space pay the same price, but WalMart decides who gets shelf space based on who they think will sell better. So they choose the product with the best quality. This incentivizes goods manufacturers to spend their money on research and development to make a better product. If buying of shelf space was illegal, you can bet that the R&D money would instead be spent on paying the inflated price on black market shelf space, rather than on making a better product.

So the argument follows, that if radio stations pick the songs they play based on how good the song is, and not on the money, then record labels will be incentivized to produce better music.

Illegal payola encourages rent-seeking. Labels spend their money on getting a bigger share of the pie which has been limited by the legislation. This leads to a net social loss dealt to the consumers, because that money is not being spent on making better music, its being spent on making the company survive on artificially limited resources.

Legalizing payola encourages profit-seeking. Labels spend their money on making products that make us, the consumer, happy. In an unrestricted market companies survive by making us happier by making better products. Their money is not wasted needlessly on inflated costs of shelf space; the money is spent on us.

Furthermore, by distorting the market with risk of prosecution, it makes the market larger than it should be. This encourages bigger, meaner players to enter into the market and impose large market tactics on what should be a small market game. The next Beatles or Nirvana may have already come and gone without any recognition, but because the market has been artificially enlarged, the bigger players were not nimble enough to notice or cultivate that talent.

MP3s: Sunnybrook - "Waving Hands","Tiger Bite","Willow Whale"

2009-08-31T12:54:31Z

A surprisingly large pocket of musicians are from Denton, TX. This is a city about 30 miles north of Dallas. A lot of Texas artists move to Austin after they become more well known to become more successful with the influx of music venues. But, If anyone wants formal training in music they tend to migrate to the University of North Texas (Norah Jones, Edie Brickel, My Brightest Diamond). This leading Denton to become a mini hub of amazing musicians. Sunnybrook (from Denton) just signed to Lefse Records and is expected to release his debut EP, Water Me Glow, at the beginning of next year.

MP3: Sunnybrook - Waving Hands.mp3

MP3: Sunnybrook - Tiger Bite.mp3

MP3: Sunnybrook - Willow Whale.mp3

MP3s: Deep Sea Diver - Various MP3s from Daytrotter Session

2009-08-30T17:21:50Z

The master mind behind Deep Sea Diver, Jessica Dobson, plain and simple, she's a badass. She's the type of woman that makes me impelled to take off my bra and torch it. Redirecting the topic of feminism to her incomparable music, the name of her band automatically flashes Grizzly Bear's tune, "Deep Sea Diver," through my head. Unknown is the inspiration behind the name and if it was conceived by the love of Grizzly's little ditty or the admiration of the peculiar aquatic deep sea divers. If you weren't convinced of Dobson's credibility, you might find it enlightening to know that she is also the recent 2008 touring guitarist for a little known man named Beck. Somehow having played as Beck's guitarist on her resume and now opening for Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Dobson still seems to be a solo artist under the radar and overlooked in the Blogisphere. She recently released her pretty great 6-song New Caves EP on April 27, 2009. While sifting through the Daytrotter archives, often many of the artists' sound quality or performances fall short and sound like a mic-ed up living room rendezvous with friends after having a few too many cocktails. Deep Sea Diver's phenominal performance at Daytrotter is undoubtedly the best that has graced their presence in a long time. "New Caves" and "Pillars of Fire" are on her New Caves EP.

Daytrotter Session:

MP3: Deep Sea Diver - New Caves.mp3

MP3: Deep Sea Diver - Crooked Stars.mp3

MP3: Deep Sea Diver - Why Must A Man Change.mp3

MP3: Deep Sea Diver - Pillars Of Fire.mp3

MP3: Deep Sea Diver - All Chalked and Spitting Dust.mp3

Video: Peaches -- "Take You On"

2009-08-26T22:53:25Z

I just realized that Peaches = Leslie and the Ly's minus the 'just joking' part.