March 1st, 2010 Blue Halo
The following is a mixtape made up of some my favourite bands that not only hail from Great Britain but may inspire the listener to speak the Queen’s English and long for a plate of bangers and mash; the music will conjure images of blokes in up turned wool coats smoking fags in a pervasive drizzle that falls from a doggedly overcast sky.
You may or may not have ever heard of these bands but the fact remains that the British Invasion of the American musical landscape the Beatles initiated some fifty-odd years ago, never ended. The main difference today is that it is no longer a full frontal assault but a discreet, covert operation.
In some ways this is better as the music remains more pure than the distilled, watered-down muck permeating American radio stations and purported “music video” cable channels.
And while I don’t posit that British bands have by any means been ignored or haven’t had success, I do feel there are a great many bands that lack the exposure or attention their peers (Radiohead, Oasis, Muse, Keane, Snow Patrol, Arctic Monkeys, etc.) have been showered with. Let us celebrate those “smaller” groups.
Behold! This is the quiet fury of contemporary British music from the last twenty years. Get your pints ready, mates.
Black And White Town Doves Some Cities 2005
Shake Those Windows Athlete Vehicles & Animals 2003
Just Looking Stereophonics Performance and Cocktails 1999
An Audience With The Pope Elbow The Seldom Seen Kid 2008
Modern Way Kaiser Chiefs Employment 2005
Death of a Party Blur Blur 1997
A Design For Life Manic Street Preachers Everything Must Go 1996
Common People Pulp Different Class 1995
Driftwood Travis The Man Who 1999
Laid James Laid 1993
Where Did All The Love Go? Kasabian The West Rider Pauper Lunatic Asylum 2009
Infra-Red Placebo Meds 2006
Golden Touch Razorlight Up All Night [Vertigo Bonus Tracks] 2005
Shine On The Kooks Konk 2008
Dreaming Of You The Coral The Coral 2002
I Know I`ll Never Leave The Zutons Tired Of Hanging Around 2006
Geraldine Glasvegas Glasvegas (Deluxe Edition) 2008
Men`s Needs The Cribs Men`s Needs, Women`s Needs, Wh 2007
For the Girl The Fratellis Costello Music 2006
Golden Skans Klaxons Myths Of The Near Future 2007
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February 23rd, 2010 Echo
How has music changed since living in a dorm 7.5 years ago? Well, file sharing is plagued by viruses, torrents are often disorganized or unavailable and the RIAA has begun seeking heavy handed claims against people who want to freely experience art.
Music is now whatever Pandora, Sirius XM Radio and Facebook links to disheveled MySpace pages want you to hear.
Thankfully, there is some good in the aforementioned windows of auditory settlement. Below are my recent picks of what I feel will shape a decent Mixtape-Spring season:
- White Rabbits - Percussion Gun
- Yeasayer - Ambling Alp (NSFW)
- Neon Trees - Animal
- Miike Snow - Animal
- Hot Chip - One Life Stand
- As Tall As Lions - Circles
Enjoi,
- Echo
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November 11th, 2009 Echo
A&R will be expanding. How? Give me a year or two while our team develops the business plan. The end result will be a [successful] attempt at best aligning the independent artist with the umbrella of a corporation.
In other news, here are this week’s favorites:
- Hockey - Too Fake
- Yelle - A Cause Des Garcons (TEPR Remix)
- Meriwether - Girl In Mexico
- Paramore - All I wanted
- Echo
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October 20th, 2009 Echo
Not everything sounds like:
- The Postal Service - Such Great Heights
- The Killers - Somebody Told Me
Somehow, these two songs have breached such channels as:
- The Bird and The Bee Radio
- Phoenix Radio
- Say Anything Radio
- Kenna Radio
- Grand National Radio
- The Dear Hunter Radio
Pleasefixthanksabunch,
- Echo
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October 16th, 2009 Echo
There is this reoccurring theme in my life…music motivates me.
I think for a lot of people, music is the language that activates this very special part of the brain, serving as an amplifier of mood. “40 oz. To Freedom” by Sublime can make any beach day brighter, sunnier, more eventful. “Pretty Handsome Awkward” by the Used could very well cause you to get a speeding ticket.
Fore me, this musical motivation also stirs up the feelings of wanting to be more involved with the process of musical creation. When I listen to a song, I daydream about what it must have been like for the singer to decide to hit certain notes. Did the drummer set his drum set up on a rug to prevent vibration, or was he going for more reverb?
At this juncture in my life, I work hard at a job I love, I have a fiancee that is head over heels for me, and a new house with two dogs terrorizing the backyard. I know I have it great.
When I played in a band in Tallahassee, I got a taste of what it was like to have a fanbase. We had merch. We had demos. We had newspaper articles. I was music, and music welcomed me in.
I want to be on stage playing in front of wide-eyed crowds who allow music to take them to another world. I want to be in a studio writing these great little melodies that may one day wind up in a song. I want to support live music, big and small…long distance and local. I want to promote bands that I feel as though deserve much more press.
A lot of this feeling of “more, more, more” comes from a fear of growing older and not being a part of “the scene.” An even bigger portion of this feeling is made up of knowing how great music is. Knowing that musical bliss is a power chord away is exciting, and every time my mp3 player cues up something that I know would be a crowd pleaser, I daydream of being that musician, making people smile with the music that I am taking from my head and transmitting it through a tube amp.
For me, music is like clear, floating surgical staples. It is an abstract and airborne way of healing, a free trigger for your happiest neurons. So while music motivates me in a beautiful way, it also is a reminder that I need to always continue listening. I need to continue creating. I need to break into the industry and help an 11-year old who is missing something in his life to find that perfect CD that he can put on loop, stare at the album art and imagine. Music amplifies the beauty, and reminds me that I can never let it go.
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October 9th, 2009 Echo
Spinnerette - Ghetto Love
Preheat oven, mix two parts Distillers (can be found in the Hellcat records aisle), two parts Eleven (next to the Chili Peppers) with a splash of QOTSA. Serve room temperature.
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July 14th, 2009 Echo
“First Train Home” - Posted yesterday and already at 11,000 views. Not bad, sista.
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July 14th, 2009 Echo
Wow. That was terrible. Downloading music now comes with a side of destruction. Anyhoo,
Hot, late, summer nights mix:
- Roisin Murphy - Sow Into You
- Head Automatica - Lying Through Your Teeth
- Gavin Castleton - Stampete (this song will change you as a person…and a zombie)
- Escort - All Through The Night
- Gnarls Barkley - Smiley Faces
- Nouvelle Vague - Dancing with Myself
- Paramore - Here We Go Again
- Ratatat - Loud Pipes
Loves,
- Echo
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April 12th, 2009 Echo
The first single off of the upcoming album is called Hey You, about the band’s long time relationship with music. Supercatchycleversummerjam. Be sure to catch 311 at either/both the spring and summer tour.
- Echo
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March 15th, 2009 Echo
Often on this site, I will recommend songs for download or physically upload songs for readers to “right-click-and-save as.” Is this moral? Am I breaking ethical laws? Is this what the artist would want?
I’ll never be able to put words inside an artist’s mouth, but I will say this. For every song to which I point my readers in for downloading, I expect the reverse to happen. Take a penny, give a penny.
In my eyes, downloading music is like trying samples in a chocolate store. Some chocolates are crap, others are decent, some warrant me pulling out my credit card and buying silly amounts whilst rushing home to clear out my freezer to make room for inappropriate amounts of pimple-causers. Before, the chocolates were never free. Now, you get to steal a little taste and spit out the shit.
Getting back to giving that penny….. Let’s match our physical “take” with an equal or greater “give.” If you try that sample and can’t get enough of it, buy the album. Enjoy the album art. Buy a t-shirt at the merch booth or online. Go to the concert when the musician is in town. Assuming the musician is of age, buy that musician a drink. If the musician is not of age, buy said musician two drinks. If the musician is living out of a van and has no place to sleep, offer them a shower and couch.
** Do not combine the offering of your house plus buying the musician drinks. Either you come off as a strange creep, or your house will turn into a deathrockparty2009dancefunkpalace. **
Downloading allows the user to avoid mistakes. Why buy an album if you cannot accurately judge from a 0:15 clip of the single that MTV briefly airs. I remember Blockbuster music would allow the customer to bring the music to the front counter, where the employee would open the CD, pop it in a player and hand you headphones. This would allow the customer to get a sample and decide on the purchase. The bigger guys aren’t necessarily against this “sample” idea, they just want a hand in it. Why not download some tracks, and if you are blown away, refer to the previous paragraph and spend some cheddah.
Don’t abuse the power that technology has given us to download at our leisure. Already the record companies want blood.
- Echo
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