It's Tuesday, and that means it's time to break open the piggy bank once again. This week we feature the latest releases from Arthur Russell (pictured), Akimbo, Crystal Stilts, School of Seven Bells, Enslaved, Fredrik, Deadbeat, Beneath the Massacre, among others. (More after the jump.)...
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If there werent enough productivity-killers on the internet already, MTV has relaunched its music site, MTVMusic.com, which opens up MTVs entire archive of music vids for public consumption. This means viewers now have access to some 16,000 music videos, ranging from Buddy Holly to D.A.N.C.E. to November Rain to more cheesy 80s clips than you can ironically shake a leg to. Perhaps more importantly, it also finally puts a little music back in Music Television. (More after the jump.)...
Full Article
Soulwaxs tour doc, Part of the Weekend Never Dies, is finally set for release in North America. After being released earlier this year in Europe, the Saam Farahmand directed documentary about the Belgium dance crew will come as a new DVD experience courtesy of [PIAS], who on December 9 will release both Part of the Weekend Never Dies and its sister film, Nite Versions Live, as a double-disc set in Canada and the U.S. (More after the jump.)...
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The Red Bull Music Academy is coming to Toronto. Learn, create and perform with the players, arrangers and producers who wrote modern musics history, as well as those who continue to rewrite and resample the book...
apply now!
Just browsing the track-listing, it's pretty easy to guess what this mix has in store. So yeah, it's predictable I don't think the Hood Internet would argue that a song listed as "Fleetwood Mac vs Daft Punk 'You Make Lovin' Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger'" should sound any different than Daft Punk spitting "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" over Rumors' "You Make Loving Fun." But its the team's precision that makes their mixes so bloody irresistible....
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It's been a while since we've heard from the Knife, the Swedish who released two of my favourite albums in the last five years (2004's Deep Cuts and 2006's Silent Shout). The last time I spoke with Olof Dreijier (in the beginning of 2007), he said that he and his sister were in no rush to follow-up Silent Shout, but that they were both working on their own music separately. While Olof pointed that his solo material was more along the lines of minimal techno, nothing has yet to surface from whatever he's working on. Karin, however, appears to be the more prolific or at least, the more extroverted of the two rather introverted Swedes....
Full Article
I keep bad-mouthing the UK for their poor showing in 2008 but considering I've discovered some great rock-based music this fall I'm thinking my problem is more that I seem to be looking in the wrong places, like the out of touch British press. My latest find is London's the Big Pink, who I read about not too long ago over at FADER. Currently opening for TV On the Radio over in the UK, they've also supported Crystal Castles two associations that make complete sense when you hear the kind of droning, minimal leftfield pop they come up with. (More after the jump.)...
Full Article
On the phone from his Toronto neighbourhood, Sebastien Grainger is walking off a heavy dinner of jerk chicken and Irish moss. Early in our conversation, he continually references stand-up comedy, from modern greats like Ricky Gervais and Patton Oswalt to the political humour of the legendary Lenny Bruce, to whom he feels a special connection. Ive definitely [had] problems with people thinking I was saying one thing when I meant the other thing, either lyrically or with stage banter sometimes, he explains. I can get carried away, and people either take me too seriously or not seriously enough. I feel like maybe I owe him more than I knew.
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HERBERT Pitch Control
It could be argued that over the span of a vitally relevant 13-year run, British electronic artist Matthew Herbert has done more for the possibilities of sampling culture than any other artist currently at work. Whether hes chopping up food for sound, leading big bands, writing manifestos, railing against globalization, or simply making dance music out of bodily functions, Matthew Herbert has consistently taken his music into corners other people couldnt even imagine. Like Brian Eno, hes eclectic, wildly creative, and eager to collaborate with a wide range of musicians and musical styles. Much of that willingness has to do with the fact that Herbert is a prodigious, classically trained musician who can breezily put diverse skills from the exclusive worlds of electronic, jazz, avant-garde, and classical music to the test at any given moment....
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Akimbo - Jersey Shores
Tempering their slash and burn, raucous noise metal party blitzkrieg on album number six, the mighty Akimbo also find a new home for this full-on concept record about the infamous 1916 Jersey shark attacks that, among other things, inspired a little film known as Jaws. Released on Neurosiss...
Full Review
Lifestyle Marketing How to Milk It For All Its Worth
Like so many doe-eyed Jerseys, musicians are the dairy cows of the business. Properly milked, music and its by-products have a long commercial life in the form of gig fees, record sales, licenses, merchandise and publishing royalties. But one of the most lucrative by-products isnt the music itself but rather the personality or brand of the artist. Musicians are cool. Some of them are mysterious, some sexy, and some just good fun all emotional values that can be used to sell all sorts of things to all sorts of people. Since the days when sought-after composers were given lucrative patronage by the wealthy classes in exchange for showing up at dinner parties, musicians have leveraged their je ne sais quoi to obtain commercial success....
Read More
If there werent enough productivity-killers on the internet already, MTV has relaunched its music site, MTVMusic.com, which opens up MTVs entire archive of music vids for public consumption. This means viewers now have access to some 16,000 music videos, ranging from Buddy Holly to D.A.N.C.E. to November Rain to more cheesy 80s clips than you can ironically shake a leg to. Perhaps more importantly, it also finally puts a little music back in Music Television. (More after the jump.)...
Soulwaxs tour doc, Part of the Weekend Never Dies, is finally set for release in North America. After being released earlier this year in Europe, the Saam Farahmand directed documentary about the Belgium dance crew will come as a new DVD experience courtesy of [PIAS], who on December 9 will release both Part of the Weekend Never Dies and its sister film, Nite Versions Live, as a double-disc set in Canada and the U.S. (More after the jump.)...
It's been a while since we've heard from the Knife, the Swedish who released two of my favourite albums in the last five years (2004's Deep Cuts and 2006's Silent Shout). The last time I spoke with Olof Dreijier (in the beginning of 2007), he said that he and his sister were in no rush to follow-up Silent Shout, but that they were both working on their own music separately. While Olof pointed that his solo material was more along the lines of minimal techno, nothing has yet to surface from whatever he's working on. Karin, however, appears to be the more prolific or at least, the more extroverted of the two rather introverted Swedes....
I keep bad-mouthing the UK for their poor showing in 2008 but considering I've discovered some great rock-based music this fall I'm thinking my problem is more that I seem to be looking in the wrong places, like the out of touch British press. My latest find is London's the Big Pink, who I read about not too long ago over at FADER. Currently opening for TV On the Radio over in the UK, they've also supported Crystal Castles two associations that make complete sense when you hear the kind of droning, minimal leftfield pop they come up with. (More after the jump.)...
On the phone from his Toronto neighbourhood, Sebastien Grainger is walking off a heavy dinner of jerk chicken and Irish moss. Early in our conversation, he continually references stand-up comedy, from modern greats like Ricky Gervais and Patton Oswalt to the political humour of the legendary Lenny Bruce, to whom he feels a special connection. Ive definitely [had] problems with people thinking I was saying one thing when I meant the other thing, either lyrically or with stage banter sometimes, he explains. I can get carried away, and people either take me too seriously or not seriously enough. I feel like maybe I owe him more than I knew.
...
It could be argued that over the span of a vitally relevant 13-year run, British electronic artist Matthew Herbert has done more for the possibilities of sampling culture than any other artist currently at work. Whether hes chopping up food for sound, leading big bands, writing manifestos, railing against globalization, or simply making dance music out of bodily functions, Matthew Herbert has consistently taken his music into corners other people couldnt even imagine. Like Brian Eno, hes eclectic, wildly creative, and eager to collaborate with a wide range of musicians and musical styles. Much of that willingness has to do with the fact that Herbert is a prodigious, classically trained musician who can breezily put diverse skills from the exclusive worlds of electronic, jazz, avant-garde, and classical music to the test at any given moment....
Tempering their slash and burn, raucous noise metal party blitzkrieg on album number six, the mighty Akimbo also find a new home for this full-on concept record about the infamous 1916 Jersey shark attacks that, among other things, inspired a little film known as Jaws. Released on Neurosiss...
Like so many doe-eyed Jerseys, musicians are the dairy cows of the business. Properly milked, music and its by-products have a long commercial life in the form of gig fees, record sales, licenses, merchandise and publishing royalties. But one of the most lucrative by-products isnt the music itself but rather the personality or brand of the artist. Musicians are cool. Some of them are mysterious, some sexy, and some just good fun all emotional values that can be used to sell all sorts of things to all sorts of people. Since the days when sought-after composers were given lucrative patronage by the wealthy classes in exchange for showing up at dinner parties, musicians have leveraged their je ne sais quoi to obtain commercial success....
