Hey there friends! It's that time of year again...

Yup, you guessed it! Top 5 albums of 2011 time! Personally, I think this has been a rather above average year for new music. Let's hear all of your favorites.

Loney Dear

Hey, dudes!

Came across this guy over the weekend and thought it was pretty good. Sounds like Bon Iver at times. Arthur Russell at others. Stream the entire album HERE.

Merry Christmas Shanty Folk!

Karen O and Trent Reznor Cover Led Zepplin

This is a pretty bad ass rendition of Immigrant Song, assuming you like NIN and/or Karen O. It does however raise the question of whether or not it is OK to cover Led Zepplin. I could people getting pissed about this...

Tebowing.

http://tebowing.com/

Wednesday is Ladies' Night at the Shanty! (Updated)

Some good girly-ass music. Now with more ladies.

So my buddy, who I've mentioned before, put together a bunch of the concert videos he has recorded over the year into a lengthier video. Feel sweaty -

Chicago in 2011 : A recap of why we love our live music scene. from GONZO CHICAGO on Vimeo.

Some bands featured are Titus Andronicus, Black Lips, Archers of Loaf, Times New Viking, and Wild Flag, along with a bunch of lesser-known Chicago-area groups.

Other Lives (Part 2)

Decided to just post the whole thing...

Other Lives

While perusing the write ups for upcoming Omaha shows, I came accross the following description of Other Lives' latest album:

"There’s no point in trying to unearth an obvious “single” in Other Lives’ second album, Tamer Animals. Here’s a better idea instead: succumb. Let every last song wash over you like proper long players once did, from the swift strings and pulsating horns."

I succumbed, and I'm glad I did. Oh, and I believe I've unearthed a semi-obvious single:

tUnE-yArDs

For those who haven't seen tune-yards, here ya go!


Truth be told: I've been cruising the current's website for about an hour now looking for a recording of last nights live, in studio performance and interview of Mark Foster, lead in Foster the People. Interview gives good insight as to why their live performances might not be up to par. Anyhow I'll keep looking for it because he is excellent playing acoustic and by himself.

Sniffle

St. Louis was recently named the 5th Saddest City in America

Cheer up, St. Louis!

Tinariwen

New project of Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone from TVOTR and some people from Mali. Something different to say the least.

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

steve mcqueen

Steve McQueen by m83 is my new favorite song.

I am lucky to have seen them at FirstAve as my first minneapolis show...


A strong candidate for ANY future roadtrip mixers.


Enjoy, and crank it loud if you can!

Chris Robinson- Philly 11-20-11

"Home" by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

Enjoy.

Brown Bird

Fucking awesome...







More at Myspace

Just Listen

The best one-two punch opener I've heard in awhile. This lovely duo is m83's opening on a two-disc album entitled "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming". Enjoy. I'm going to their show on 11/16, and if they are coming your way I'd suggest looking into it. They have an earlier album, "Saturday=Youth", which is also a fantastic listen. Anyway, here ya go!

Yes!

Makes you realize how "produced" this album was...

Hi Kilgore. Nice to finally meet you.

Troy From Community Covers Girls

Starts out weird. Just keep listening though.

Play it loud. Preferably drunk.

Broken Bells @ First Ave

Party Rock Anthem....

Compliments of 89.3 The Current

If this does work, I will go ahead and upload the entire Live Current Volume 7 album. It's all pretty good stuff.

Peace

OK, so you all should have received an email from me to 'collaborate' on files through box.net

Accept, sign up
You will now have access to my domain or whatever, where you will be able to view my uploads. Enjoy. We should all think about getting a personal domain on box.net so we can share with each other. Up to 50gigs for free!! Call w questions.

New Black Keys

The Temper Trap

The XX

Campfire Ok

Like him or not, this dude can manage...

This one's for you Machy:



A true class act:


http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/post/st-louis-cardinals-ride-brilliant-bullpen-past-milwaukee-brewers-into-world-series/2011/10/17/gIQAh6yYrL_blog.html

My life's goal, anticipated.

Hell yeah Dundee!!

Ranked in the top 10 neighborhoods in the COUNTRY! Yup, you heard it right, country.

http://www.ketv.com/news/29388872/detail.html

Peaking Lights

Milwaukee band. Joey, ever heard of these guys? They are pretty rad.

Upcoming Shows

I am interested in going to any and all of these shows. Let me know if you're interested.

10/01 Megafaun $10
10/12 Portugal The Man $15
10/28 Mason Jennings $17
10/31 Cold War Kids $16
11/16 Mates of State $13
12/04 Tramples By Turtles & William Elliot Whitmore $15

Ryan Adams - Ashes and Fire

Listen to the new album in its entirety on NPR's First Listen.

Neighborhood On Rise Despite Recession - Video - KETV Omaha

Neighborhood On Rise Despite Recession - Video - KETV Omaha

Sheet yeah for Sigur Ros.

Guy gets way into the description.

Planet Rock - The Story of Hip Hop and the Crack Generation

Get More: VH1 Rock Docs, Episode Sneak Peeks

Hipster Hitler is making Animated Shorts!

Episode 1 - Book from Hipster Hitler on Vimeo.

More Copyright/Cymbals Eat Guitars

Nice little video that goes into the history of copyright and remakes -



And, of course, in case no one wants to watch that I want to suggest everyone get Cymbals Eat Guitars new album, "Lenses Alien". It is absolutely fantastic and might be my favorite rockin' album of the year, and I just got it yesterday.

TV On The Radio - You

TV On The Radio - You from B CLAY on Vimeo.

Kind of a funny mockumentary/music video. Also, RIP Gerard Smith.

Link Dump

I'm just dropping off a bunch of links I found interesting in case ya'll are in the need for something to read at work. Political blogger, Matt Yglesias, set off a stupid firestorm of blogposts across the internet when he was interviewed about music. Apparently people still take issue with or just like to talk about guilty pleasures.

Yglesias -

I know it’s just a turn of phrase, but I think the whole conceptual framework of “guilty pleasures” speaks to some weird underlying puritanical elements in American life. Despite the whole “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” thing in the Declaration of Independence, our public culture is very resistant to the idea that people should try to spend more time doing things they enjoy or that producing enjoyment for others is a good thing to do in life.

I'm listening to the bonus disc to Beyonce's newest album right now while I'm writing this so I'll exclude myself from the "guilty pleasures" framework. In addition to Beyonce, I've been getting into a lot of Top 40, dance, house, J-Pop shit lately. If you haven't listened/watch this bonkers video you should -

Awesome!

Here is a crazy story demonstrating how Alan Lomax gets paid for Jay-Z's song "Takeover". It's some fascinating, disturbing stuff. I find it so hard to wrap my brain around the idea of music and copyright, or at least the way the two are tied together at present. On the same page, Dr. Luke gets sued often for stealing songs. Yeah, there are a lot of similarities between "Tik Tok" and "My Slushy" and all of the other songs mentioned, but this is one of the few instances where I find myself siding with the rich and successful guy -

A lot of things are similar. But you don’t get sued for being similar. It needs to be the same thing. Almost doesn’t count. Close but no cigar. People are suing for close. There are standard chord progressions that everyone uses. There are plenty of songs that are really similar and they never sued each other.

(I had to cut out the bullshit about being in an overly litigious society)

I really could care less if George Harrison ripped off The Chiffons with "My Sweet Lord". I wanna hear "My Sweet Lord" instead of "He's So Fine". The Rubinoos "I Want To Be Your Boyfriend" is a good song, but it's not gonna help me hook up with a 16 year old like Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend".

Alright, well, lest I leave you with just my opinions on my awful, guilty-pleasure music, you can download a new mix by Korallreven here. It is very pleasant!

Maybe she was too used to Ze Autobahn?

It appears that life is imitating art yet again, only in a much less violent and more sexy-time fashion. From DailyMail:

A uniformed police officer was caught on CCTV having sex with a woman on the hood of a car.

The bizarre scene, which was witnessed by a nearby chihuahua, was filmed by a hidden camera set up by New Mexico police to catch vandalism at a nearby property.

Who wants a mustache ride?

Danny Pudi's Nice Day

I have never heard of Jones Street Station before, but they are pretty okay in a very non-offensive way. This new video, on the other hand, documents a day that I would find very okay. Just putzing around New York City with the world's tiniest camera and picking up a cute music engineer lady.

Gorillaz Frontman Streams New Songs From the Congo

Recently, Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn, along with other producers as part of DRC Music, has begun work on a charity album in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The project has yielded a few tracks so far, which can be streamed at Mashable as well as DRC Music Soundcloud page.

From Mashable:

It’s great that Albarn and the team aren’t just air-lifting in to record but are seeking out Congolese musicians to participate. DRC Music is raising money for a cause while shining a light on Congolese culture and musical traditions.

Kind of reminds me of Playing For Change, and their sweet rendition of "Stand By Me". Good stuff. Great vibes.

Blind Pilot - We Are the Tide

First listen available for streaming. From NPR:

Blind Pilot's hooky, low-key pop isn't the stuff of groundbreaking, boundary-pressing experimentation, but the craftsmanship and consistency at its core should never be minimized, either. After emerging out of nowhere with 2008's self-released 3 Rounds and a Sound — that year's most solidly appealing record, if not its best outright — the Portland, Ore., band has toured with The Decemberists, been showcased on Morning Edition, and recorded a lovely, gently appealing follow-up called We Are the Tide.

Out Sept. 13, We Are the Tide blooms agreeably from start to finish. Though Blind Pilot locates extra energy on the live stage — the band's sound has tightened over time, as it's expanded from the duo of Israel Nebeker and Ryan Dobrowski to a large and fleshed-out sextet — the new record focuses more on lush, pretty concoctions like the album-opening "Half Moon." We Are the Tidebenefits enormously once Blind Pilot introduces a bit of thumping propulsion in the record's title track, but the softer material radiates warmth, too.

I'm listening to it now. Thoughts to come.

The Rum Diary

In theaters October 28. Cannot wait.

The most common surname in Long Island, Nova Scotia: Outhouse.

Perhaps she was from Long Island.

It takes about 600 grapes to make one bottle of wine.

Runnin' runnin'

So, after 2 years, I finally have a computer I can call my own. Meaning I can finally download music again. Anyway, here's a mix I made for a 32ish minute long run.

Playlist is something like -

Future Islands - Balance
Air France - It Feels Good To Be Around You
Last Days Of Disco - What Does It Mean To You (Original Version)
The Hood Internet - It Was A Rain Day (Ice Cube vs. CFCF)
SBTRKT - Ready Set Loop
Foster The People - Warrant
MSTRKRFT - Heartbreaker (f. John Legend)
Washed Out - Eyes Be Closed
Hood Headlinaz - Rollin' (Jackie Chain & Jhi-Ali)
DJ Quik - Quik's Groove
Starfucker - Bury Us Alive
Cut Copy - Going Nowhere (Whitey Remix)
VV Brown - Shark in the Water (Zombie Disco Squad Remix)
The Ventures - Lolita Ya-Ya


Download here

Sex Is Death

According to Dr. Dave Robinson of the San Antonion Spurs. Found Footage has the rapping educational video that also includes prominent medical experts AC Green and Barry Sanders.



Reminds me of the equally educational scene from Mean Girls -

Washed Out

Been listening to the new Washed Out album, Within and Without. This video encapsulates what I like most about it - the soft-rock ambitions, the sax riff, the heavy synths. Mining the gold out of yacht rock. Or putting the wind in the sails of AM Gold.

Yourstru.ly Presents: Washed Out "Far Away" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

Go get 'em Shneevelle!

What is "never odd or even"?

Infinite Decemberists

Michael Schur of Parks & Rec directed the new video for The Decemberists. Colin Meloy wanted to recreate a scene from Infinite Jest and Schur, who apparently is a huge fan of the book, was happy to oblige -



From the AVClub -

Schur was approached to direct the “Calamity Song” video because he went to school with the brother of the Decemberists’ manager, who remembered his affinity for Infinite Jest. Decemberists' frontman Colin Meloy came up with the video’s concept—which involves teenagers playing the fictional game Eschaton—and got acquainted with Schur by talking about the book for an hour over the phone. Schur, who calls the Decemberists his favorite band, was thrilled to discuss his favorite book with Meloy. “If that’s where it would’ve ended, that would’ve been great for me,” Schur told the A.V. Club. “That’s something I’d bid $10,000 at a charity auction for.”

I feel like I should try to read Infinite Jest whenever I read about Infinite Jest, but I might be able to fend off that urge this time.

Fun fact - Michael Schur is also Ken Tremendous from the awesome, now defunct, website Fire Joe Morgan. I can't help but love the guy for leading the charge on that issue. And he also drops casual reference to Neutral Milk Hotel on Parks & Rec -



Parks & Recreation is the best show on television, btw.

Unresolved Issue

Sorry to make another post, but I could not respond in the comments section because I cannot post comments. When I try, it says "Your current account (matthewjmander@gmail.com) does not have access to view this page." Can you please make sure that I'm still an approved poster/commenter?

The Muppets and a History of "Mahna Mahna"

Man, these guys keep popping up. And now with ties to Italian sex films.

From OC Weekly:

Originally titled "Mah Nà Mah Nà," the song appeared on the soundtrack of the Italian film Sweden: Heaven and Hell (Svezia, Inferno E Paradiso). The film is a pseudo-documentary (now known as "reality television") about the wild sex lives of folks living in Sweden; the track was used in a scene that takes place in a sauna.

OK, maybe "Italian sex film" was a little much. But still, one wonders at the wisdom of introducing the material in a children's TV series, like Jim Hensen. Less than a year later in 1969, Hensen decided to cover the song during The Muppets debut year.

Since then, the song has appeared once more on the Muppet Show, and has also received attention from a number of modern recording artists, such as:

Cake (from B-Sides and Rarities);

and Hey White Boy

And most recently, the song will be featured in the new Muppets Green album by The Fray, available for streaming at NPR.

The Shanty List

Is it about time for another one? It's about time for another one...

Apologies to Youngteam, Jeff Bridges, and The Muppets. Sorry, Grooveshark shortchanged you guys.

Happy Monday!

Age of Authenticism

This is another mish-mash of a blogpost that I didn't have any music posted in. So I'm gonna just post another song that reminds me of fall and you can skip the rest -



I just finished reading this rather long, but good, article on the "death" of postmodernism and it is a counterpoint to the interview I mentioned before. Specifically -

If we tune in carefully, we can detect this growing desire for authenticity all around us. We can see it in the specificity of the local food movement or the repeated use of the word “proper” on gastropub menus. We can hear it in the use of the word “legend” as applied to anyone who has actually achieved something in the real world. (The elevation of real life to myth!) We can recognise it in advertising campaigns such as for Jack Daniel’s, which ache to portray not rebellion but authenticity. We can identify it in the way brands are trying to hold on to, or take up, an interest in ethics, or in a particular ethos. A culture of care is advertised and celebrated and cherished. Values are important once more: the values that the artist puts into the making of an object as well as the values that the consumer takes out of the object. And all of these striven-for values are separate to the naked commercial value.

What some people argue as nostalgia, or stealing, can be seen as attempts to make something authentic. After all, the argument against a band like Mumford & Sons is that they are faking it. That all the retro affectations are to merely make them appear authentic, rather than being an honest reflection of the band and what they want to communicate. In the same way, I think it was the longing for authenticity that made it so important originally for Bon Iver to have recorded his album after some heartbreak, alone in some Wisconsin cabin. His songs were real in a way that the audience is allowed to believe that they are actually experiencing the feeling of heartbreak and loss and not some interpretation of it. It's why I think bands like Motopony are trying so hard to avoid an internet presence, to cultivate mystery, and to control how they are perceived. It is easier to be seen as real and authentic by avoiding the internet, where we've become accustomed to look at everything as a lie and as a self-creation. To not have a band biography allows a listener to assume authenticity.

An article that was posted today in the NYTimes about David Foster Wallace might put it better -

[DFW] concludes by imagining some future group of “literary ‘rebels’ ” who would be “willing to risk the yawn, the rolled eyes, the cool smile, the nudged ribs . . . [and] accusations of sentimentality, melodrama.”

...Keith Gessen applauds Wallace for “trying, at last, to destroy” the oppositions between “irony and sincerity, self-consciousness and artifice.” He chastises those critics who in effect suggest that at “this late date, we might unlearn the postmodern vocabulary and recapture some pre-ironic way of being.” What we need, Gessen posits, in fiction writing at least, is someone to work “a sort of Barthelmeic magic” and “transform our language of apathy into a cri de coeur.”

The author disagrees with this argument, but I think it is a much better frame to think of when confronting musicians, writers, artists who are accused of nostalgia, theft, and borrowing. At least they are attempting to do something new as opposed to grave-robbing for its own sake.

Prepare for fall

New video from Bon Iver makes me wanna buy a sweater -

BON IVER "Holocene" from nabil elderkin on Vimeo.

Schlafly - AIPA

It is so sad that those of you not from St. Louis will never know how magical this beer is.

In Tall Buildings - The Way To a Monster's Lair (Bedroom Version)

Kind of a random vinyl purchase at a concert featuring one of Scott's recos. Erik Hall, the guitarist from Nomo, forms the band In Tall Buildings. Enjoy.

Double Rainbow

I know you've probably seen this 100 times, but that doesn't make it any less awesome. What does it mean?!

Tom Waits / Cookie Monster Mashup

In keeping with news of The Green Album...

In other news, rumors of Tom Wait's first new solo album in seven years are fueled by the possible release of a new single sometime next week.

Umm... sweet! Nice little surprise.

Chris Robinson Brotherhood Tour
Tue-Aug-16 Charlottesville, VA Jefferson Theater
Wed-Aug-17 Nashville, TN Mercy Lounge
Fri-Aug-19 Detroit, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre (w/J Geils Band) Sat-Aug-20 Lyons, CO Rocky Mountain Folks Festival (w/ J. Greene & B. Weir) Tue-Aug-23 Santa Fe, NM Santa Fe Brewing Co.
Thu-Aug-25 Dallas, TX The Prophet Bar
Fri-Aug-26 Austin, TX The Parish
Sat-Aug-27 Houston, TX Fitzgerald's
Tue-Aug-30 New Orleans, LA Tipitina's
Thu-Sep-01 Birmingham, AL Workplay
Fri-Sep-02 Athens, GA The Georgia Theatre
Sat-Sep-03 Ashville, NC The Orange Peel
Sun-Sep-04 Thornville, OH Hookahville
Sun-Sep-25 Ventura, CA Ventura Hillsides Music Festival
Sat-Oct-01 Aspen, CO The Belly Up (8-10:30 show)
Sun-Oct-02 Boulder, CO The Boulder Theatre
Tue-Oct-04 Omaha, NE The Slowdown
Wed-Oct-05 Lawrence, KS The Granada
Fri-Oct-07 Des Moines, IA People's Court
Sat-Oct-08 Madison, WI The Majestic
Mon-Oct-10 Rock Island, IL Rock Island Brewing Co
Thu-Oct-13 Bloomington, IN Bluebird Nightclub
Fri-Oct-14 Buffalo, NY The Town Ballroom
Sat-Oct-15 Syracuse, NY Westcott Theatre
Sun-Oct-16 Stroudsburg, PA The Sherman Theatre
Wed-Oct-19 Portland, ME Port City Music Hall
Thu-Oct-20 Ridgefield, CT The Ridgefield Playhouse
Fri-Oct-21 New Brunswick, NJ State Theatre
Wed-Nov-02 Fayetteville, AR George's Majestic
Fri-Nov-04 Oxford, MS Proud Larry's
Sat-Nov-05 St. Louis, MO Blueberry Hill
Sun-Nov-06 Louisville, KY Headliner's Music Hall
Tue-Nov-08 Richmond, VA The Canal Club
Thu-Nov-10 Charleston, SC The Pour House
Fri-Nov-11 Charleston, SC The Pour House
Sat-Nov-12 Atlanta, GA Center Stage
Sun-Nov-13 Charlotte, NC Neighborhood Theatre
Tue-Nov-15 Baltimore, MD Sound Stage
Thu-Nov-17 New York, NY Irving Plaza
Sat-Nov-19 Somerville, MA Somerville Theatre
Sun-Nov-20 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
Thu-Dec-01 Seattle, WA Crocodile Café
Fri-Dec-02 Bend, OR WOW Hall
Sat-Dec-03 Portland, OR Aladdin Theatre
Mon-Dec-05 Felton, CA Don Quixote
Tue-Dec-06 Felton, CA Don Quixote
Thu-Dec-08 Petaluma, CA Mystic Theatre
Fri-Dec-09 Los Angeles, CA The El Rey Theatre
Sat-Dec-10 Solana Beach, CA The Belly Up
Mon-Dec-12 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
Tue-Dec-13 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
Wed-Dec-14 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
Thu-Dec-15 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall

Youngteam

Just came across this tonight. These guys are pretty rad. Has a "verve" feel to it.

I am not able to comment

Rusty - When I try to post, it says "Your current account (matthewjmander@gmail.com) does not have access to view this page." For some reason I can still post, but not comment. WTF?

Volcano Blows Smoke Rings

What does it mean!?

Ghostface reviews Watch the Throne/The Obits

Best music review I've ever read -

11. Made In America (ft. Frank Ocean) - First of all son....Lionel Richie called from 1986 n said he wants his song back yo. Word. Sade jus holla'd on twitter to say this shit is soft as fuck namsayin. I think Elton John wants to conceive babies to this joint b. Drake said he gon soak in his lotion pool to this shit rite here for like a week son. I think Wiz Khagina is scissorin wit Amber Rose to this shit rite now as we speak yo. I heard this shit gon be used for the next Gwyneth Paltrow movie too. I dont kno how the same nigga that did Who Gon Stop Me had anything to do wit this shit but apparently he did nahmean. This shit sounds like two niggas hang glidin over the ocean together at sunset holdin hands son. I think this is bout to be on Yung Berg's yoga playlist. I cant fuck wit this shit at all b. This shit is like audio lesbian comin out my speakers son.

The Obits have a full show available for free download here. It's recorded really well. For those unfamiliar, The Obits are headed by Rick Froberg (Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes) and keep his output quality.

Jeff Bridges Performs the Man In Me

UPDATE: Slightly more produced, formal version...

The Big Lebowski cast reunites for Lebowski Fest

The cast will reunite at this year's Lebowski Fest New York. Entertainment Weekly will be streaming the event live on the internet. Pre-event coverage, which starts at 6:30 pm ET, will be hosted by the guy that inspired The Dude's character. The actual reunion event starts at 8:00 pm ET.

65% of Elvis Presley impersonators are of Asian descent.

Mirror Traffic

New Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks album is currently streaming at NPR. Just started listening and am already loving it.

The Return of Ryan Adams

Jambase article about his new album out in October. That whole retirement thing sure didn't last long.

Latest from White Denim

A couple highlights... Check out the whole thing.

Muppets: The Green Album featuring MMJ, Andrew Bird

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/14/138984517/first-listen-muppets-the-green-album

So MGMT looks like they have a DVD in the works.

Just when I was thinking that they couldn't be any more irrelevant, they go and do something like this (throwing shoes)...

...and TOTALLY redeem themselves!

[UPDATE: They didn't redeem themselves. But the DVD still looks fun.]

Sigur Ros short video clip

I signed up for the Jonsi email list a long time ago and they just sent this sweet Sigur Ros short video clip. I immediately thought of the Shanty.

Active Child

not sure what happened. let's try this again.

Afro Psych!

So I came across this album a few months ago. It's called World Ends: Afro Funk & Psych 1970s. Its basically a various artists type album of different groups in the Nigeria area. Here is a review:

"The world to many young Nigerians in 1967 did indeed seem to be ending. As the 'Summer of Love' was blossoming in London and San Francisco, Nigeria was imploding into civil war. Three years later at the start of the 1970s the country's youth belatedly got a chance to mirror what had been going on overseas.The funky, electrifying grooves featured here are the sound of a generation attempting to pick up the pieces of a shattered dream and put them back together in exciting new forms. It's the sound of young musicians throwing many varied morsels into the musical pot from hard rock to psychedelica infused with funk and traditional rhythms. Soundway present this story with 33 forgotten nuggets that represent the heavy, gritty ad sometimes edgy side of Nigeria's most musically prolific decade."

It is absolutely fantastic. Here are a couple highlights. There are some real gems on this.

Holy Shanty~! What a come back! Rusty, I thought it was just going to be you and I for the rest of the Shanty career. Keep up the bueno work el shantiers!

Spotting Convenience

I've heard Spotify is pretty awesome, but since I don't have a computer or, uh, money, I haven't tried it out yet. It's going to be interesting to see how the subscription-based streaming music services is going to benefit artists. Apparently, indie record labels have found it wanting. From washingtoncitypaper -

But guess what royalties Dischord Records gets from streaming services like Spotify? “They’re negligible,” says Ian MacKaye, the D.C. label’s co-owner and public face. Although specific deals are confidential, Spotify tallies its royalty payments in fractions of a cent per stream—meaning a label might only make a few dollars, even if tens of thousands users play “Waiting Room.”

So digital music streaming has put small independent labels—you know, the kind we care about, the kind that can document and foster scenes—in a tough spot. Because it’s free and legal, Spotify disincentivizes piracy; why break the law if you don’t have to? For bands, if they’re already putting out a physical release, there’s not much extra overhead involved in putting the music on Spotify. Although Spotify users might be inspired to buy what they stream, the fear is that streaming may ultimately supplant digital downloads. Those downloads typically net artists and labels 70 percent of the retail price per sale.

They don't really address it in the article, but I'm curious to know if these services are crowding out the other way musicians can earn revenue. Have the sale of Fugazi albums decreased since you can listen to their entire discography online now? Or are people using Spotify as a sort of radio where they'll hear and try out new music and then end up going buying albums and going to shows and supplementing a musician's income that way. Either way, I feel like indie labels might just chafe at the low payments they earn on these services because it so clearly monetizes exactly how far a particular musician has entered (or failed to enter) into the public consciousness. The record label has just requested that their catalog be removed from Spotify, and I haven't heard or listened to any of the bands on their roster. It's gonna be interesting to see how labels try to balance promoting their music while also being able to control and maximize their revenue.

There is a link in the first article to the avclub that speaks of the convenience factor in new technologies and how some cultural artifacts might get lost in the transition. It's worth a read -

Streaming music has turned every laptop into a world-class listening booth, and Netflix’s DVD service allowed anyone with a mailbox access to many of the greatest movies ever made. But as we come to expect and even rely on near-instantaneous access, we risk unconsciously downgrading anything that isn’t so ready at hand. Because of my profession, people confess to me that it’s been years since they saw a movie in a theater, while friends post requests for Netflix Instant recommendations on Facebook and Twitter, apparently content to limit their options to whatever’s streaming right now...

...Search for Drive Angry, and [Netflix] Instant helpfully suggests you watch Kick-Ass instead...

...Luis Buñuel’s Land Without Bread, once a pivotal text for teachers seeking to illustrate the potential for deception inherent in the documentary form, has all but drifted out of the conversation, replaced by more easily accessible examples.
The services offering access to a bottomless library of content continue to multiply, but for myriad reasons ranging from licensing restrictions to tangled chains of custody, these services are critically flawed. Spotify’s great, unless you want to listen to anything Hüsker Dü recorded before its major-label debut. Would you trade New Day Rising for the Black Eyed Peas catalogue?

edit: Total whoops...just realized tornavalanche is my friend John's older brother's band and is on Exotic Fever and I have listened to them and they are quite good.



In other news, after filming a bunch of shows in Chicago for fun and for free, John took photos and filmed interviews backstage at Lollapalooza last week. Check his website out in the next couple weeks for him to hopefully post them or link to the website where they are posted.

Everything's Stolen or Borrowed?

From Splice Today, on the release of Helplessness Blues by the Fleet Foxes, and the (sometimes self-conscious) use of old art in new art:

The Fleet Foxes come from a long tradition of pop cleaning up folk sources. Indeed, the tradition is so long that it’s sometimes hard to figure out where the pop starts and the folk ends.... The song “Lorelai” is a tribute to “Fourth Time Around,” Bob Dylan’s snipe at the Beatle’s “Norwegian Wood,” which was itself a tribute to Dylan. “Everything’s stolen or borrowed,” Robin Pecknold sings with just a hint of a nasal tic to remind you of Dylan’s mannered vocals, as the background harmonizers lilts in rapturous layers of pristine production to remind you of the sparse harmonies of John and Paul. The Foxes even include an odd, swirling out-of-time break, as if they lost their sitar and were forced, on the fly, to substitute genius arrangements and a state-of-the-art studio. “I was old news to you then/Old news, old news to you then,” Pecknold repeats on the chorus. Old news is good news, especially when it’s new and shiny and on the web.

He may have a point, to a degree...

The Beatles, "Norwegian Wood"

Bob Dylan, "Fourth Time Around"

Fleet Foxes, "Lorelai"

There is some significant borrowing taking place here. But Splice Today adopts the position that this kind of borrowing is a bad thing:

There’s something disturbing about listening to a band so enthusiastically celebrate the fact that it has no soul.

I agree with Joey. To the extent that one criticizes more modern generations for their retrospective, rather than prospective artist drive, then they should at least cite an example of true ex nihilo artistry for purposes of comparison. Otherwise, let's leave the "soul", whatever that may be, out of it.

The Fatty Acids

Some guys I know from Milwaukee are in a band called The Fatty Acids and are currently doing a tour around half the country. I don't know where y'all live, but they're playing August 19th in Lawrence, KS and August 22nd in Chicago. If you're in the area and looking for something to do, I suggest seeing them. They always put on a good live show. You can stream their new album on their website or here.

Destroying Pop Culture

Salon recently ran a stupid-ass interview with this guy Simon Reynolds who is complaining about bands focusing too much on the past and why can't there be more things like "rave music". It's actually not that stupid, but I disagree with him on most everything, especially shit like this -

If you're just reaping from the past, you're not really giving anything back...I think it's important for the ongoing project of music to at least try to come up with things that have never been done before. Young musicians, in particular, seem to be way more fascinated by the past than the future...What disorients me is the lack of surprise. I find the existence of Mumford & Sons in 2011 to be mind-blowing, and not in a good way. When I first heard a lot of rave music, for example, it seemed really foreign and hard to get your head around. There's nothing to get your head around with Mumford & Sons or Adele or people like Fleet Foxes. The past has taken the place of the future in people's imagination...the '60s was just a long period where there was a sense of hurtling forward. It was happening on multiple fronts simultaneously -- the beginning of feminism, civil rights, the space race, the Beatles and all that. In the early-to-mid-'60s, there was a lot of very modernistic space age-looking fashion. On every cultural front, people were breaking down barriers. In pop music, it's the decade the other decades have all defined themselves against. Punk was the inversion of the '60s in a lot of ways, but it still kept a little of that idealism and the belief in change. The '80s were defined in a lot of ways as a repudiation of '60s ideas, and '90s rave culture was a return to drugginess and all that.

First off, I can't stand this baby boomer-ication of history. Things may have been hurtling forward in the 60s, but fuck this guy if he doesn't think that the bands that define the decade for most people weren't just reaping from the past. Dylan just wanted to be Woody Guthrie, Clapton just wanted to be Robert Johnson, and the Stones wanted to be any number of black American musicians.

Second of all, that's such a cherry-picking list of bands to judge an entire culture on. How do you define the 60s as everything from feminism, fashion, space race, civil rights, and music and then declare the '90s as "rave culture" and "drugginess"? Was I just in a happy little cocoon up in Wisconsin to not realize the impact house and jungle music had on the culture at large? And now he just names off three bands and declares that this generation is too occupied with the past? Someone could just as easily select three other groups like Animal Collective or Kanye or James Blake or LCD Soundsystem or Beach House and, regardless of whether you like them or not, make a case for how forward-thinking this generation of musicians are.

And thirdly, I always list three things.

Whatever, I had nothing to do today except count down the hours until I donate my plasma.

Motopony

click on the link for more:

The Shanty List

The Shanty Strikes?

Embedding YouTube (or other service provider) Videos

As part of what may be called The Shanty Strikes, a number of folks have been posting some pretty sweet videos. I especially like the past couple of music videos from Girls and Wugazi. I have been asked by a couple of folks how to make sure that these super sweet videos fit into The Shanty screen. You may have even noticed this same issue in your own videos, but just didn't want to say anything.

It's a quick fix. When you post a YouTube video in a New Post, you are copying and pasting the embed code available at YouTube into the "Edit Html" field. The dimensions in YouTube's embed codes are often pretty large, particularly with respect to the width of the video. For instance, the Uff! video just posted today is about 560 pixels wide, by default. I've estimated that the space allotted for Blogger posts is about 400 pixels wide. You can reduce the width of embedded YouTube videos by editing the embed code. With the Uff! video, the default code reads:

<...height="349"width="560".../iframe>

By reducing the dimensions of the video (the "height" and "width") in proportion to the space alloted by Blogger...

<... height="250"width="400".../iframe>

...you can ensure that the entire video appears in the Blog Post. I also use as a general rule of thumb that a height of 333 pixels and a width of 400 pixels works for most videos, though the dimensions may appear a little off, depending.

Hope everyone finds this useful!

Uff!

Girls

Shame on Blue

Came across this Wu-Tang/Fugazi mash-up album when I heard that the people behind it actually received higher billing at a festival than an actual member of Fugazi. Don't know why that would have predisposed me to hate them, but it's actually pretty cool. Throw in a decent video showing Omar's rise and fall and I'm in.

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

Sick.

The Shanty Credo

Good Monday Shanty Folk,

I wanted to take this opportunity to call attention to the recent buzz of activity on The Shanty as of late. I think it's great. Admittedly, I have been pretty absent for the better part of this year, if not more. I'm not proud of that. But I have been more than grateful to find that the Shanty has welcomed me back with open arms and avid feedback. I know others have more or less carried the Shanty on their back for like ever, and others have recently started contributing with greater frequency.

The resurge has called to mind a lesson from The Dude concerning life's complex and mysterious ways. When asked by The Stranger how he was doing, The Dude uttered,

"Oh, you know, strikes and gutters, ups and downs,"

...and in so uttering, aligned himself with the very fabric of the cosmos. Like The Dude, the Shanty has had some strikes and gutters, and some ups and downs. But I like to think that through it all, the Shanty has taken it easy. After all, there's a beverage here.

With great warmth for all, I want to thank everyone for making the Shanty what it is today. Let's celebrate of string of strikes with a couple of cold ones, eh Jackie? In closing, I just also want to leave you with what may be the only thing that might serve as a credo for the Shanty, until something better comes along.

"I figured a really great premise to work from would be a digital "shanty," much like the masterpiece of a bathroom you may remember from Swanson '07-'08. Remember checking new music? Remember showing it off? Remember the cig breaks? These weren't your normal "Quick, it's fucking cold out here" cig breaks. These were something holier. They had to be. No electric light. This was sacred ground, drip candle country. And the small talk was actually very big. The idea is to develop content (opinions, stories, sound, images) from a very "shanty" frame of mind. If it's not shanty, try to keep it off. We make this. Let's make it something to be proud of."

-some dolt from history

Anyone else getting just a little excited for college football season?

Every Friday is a Good Friday

Happy Friday Shanty folk!

Louis Armstrong commonly signed autographs with "Red beans and ricely yours".

MMJ at the Pageant

Truck Stop Missouri

Right on exit 121, just outside of the beautiful Columbia, Missouri

Chloe

Hey guys. I haven't posted in a long ass time, but I needed to find a safe place to post this new video from Best Coast and share my confusing feelings towards 14yr old Chloe Moretz. I want her lips on my face. And not in a creepy statutory rape way, but in the totally sane "I want to cut her lips off and glue them on my face because they are so perfectly shaped" way. I guess it isn't confusing at all! And the iCarly girl is in the video and Maeby from Arrested Development and Donald Glover. It's like the video was created in the part of my brain that houses my deviant sexual thoughts. I guess it'd make sense the video is directed by Drew Barrymore...

Get More: MTV Supervideo, Music, Best Coast

This Year's Pigeongate

This past Friday in Dallas KoL experienced another meltdown on stage. Initial complaints from the band indicated that Caleb was suffering from some health problems, but later statements indicate that the story is probably a little bigger than that. The band has since cancelled the rest of their U.S. tour.

Naturally, several fans shot video of Caleb's performance and have uploaded them on YouTube. Almost immediately thereafter, KoL management has removed several of those videos based on copyright claims. So far, this one remains.

More from Techdirt.

Didn't even flinch.

The music video that has appeared the most in MTV's music video playing history.

The Smoke Fairies

New band- just heard on our local community radio, KDHX. Kinda rockin guitar sound with low key vocals. Pretty bitch, I thought, even if it is kind of a short song. Check it out.

The Haret

The temperature has never reached 100 degrees F in either Alaska or Hawaii.

Ummm, this is pretty neat.

Watch the full episode. See more PBS NewsHour.

Limitless.

One more thing to worry about at festivals....Drivers.

Update for 7/18: The Preston County Sheriff's Department identifies the woman killed as Nicole Paris Miller, 20 from South Carolina. The injured women are Elizabeth Rose Doran, 20, and Yen H. Ton, 21. Doran is in good condition at Ruby Memorial Hospital while Ton has been released. All three women were from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

Based on evidence at the scene and interviews conducted with victims and witnesses, it appears that Clay Harlin Lewin of Cape Charles, Virginia, lost control of the 2002 GMC pickup truck he was driving and struck several vehicles and a campsite. The vehicle and campsite were situated on a hillside.

All Good Festival officials issued this statement about the tragedy:

"The All Good Festival was saddened to hear about the incident that took the life of one person this morning. We extend our deepest condolences and sympathy to their family and loved ones.

There also were two other individuals that suffered injuries in the incident and we wish them a speedy recovery

At this time, the Festival is working with the Preston County, West Virginia Sheriff's Department and all relevant authorities."

-------

One person was killed and two others seriously injured in an accident Sunday at the All Good Music Festival in Preston County.

Sheriff Dallas Wolfe says the accident happened when a pick-up truck in a camping area rolled out of control into a group of people. Wolfe says one woman was killed and two other women hurt. They were life flighted to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown with serious injuries.

Wolfe says all three were trapped under the vehicle and “had to be extricated.”

Wolfe says the camping area where the accident happened has rolling hills that apparently contributed to the accident. He says there was a driver in the vehicle, but it appears the vehicle went out of control. No charges have been filed, but the case is still being investigated.

"It's just a tragedy," Wolfe told Metronews. "We've worked hard with the All Good staff to keep it as safe as we could, but things happen."

The names of the victims have not yet been released.

Sunday was the final day of the music festival, which attracts over 25,000 people to Masontown. Police arrested at least 35 people as of Saturday on a variety of charges, mostly drug-related.

http://mobile.wvmetronews.com/index.cfm?func=viewStory&storyid=46632

Wrong side of the bed.

I misread the above tag from the Wall Street Journal and thought that Murdoch may have had a recent "tear up the headlines" kind of day. Given everything that's been stressing him out lately, I can imagine that he thought that American people should hear it like it is for a change.

Specifically, I misread "Salary" to read "Slavery". (I also read "employers" as "buyers").

I think I need to adjust my cynicism.

M83 - Gone