LISTENING:
Cass McCoombs
Juana Molina demos
Unreleased Aimee Mann record. (courtesy of Gail)
Lots of support act submissions for the upcoming Jim White Tour
Thom Monahans and Andy Cabics re-mix of John Doe's GOLDEN STATE.
Eduardo Mateo / Solo Bien Se Lame
Unreleasede Loudon Wainwright record (Courtesy of Joe H)
Mahalia Jackson
WATCHING:
The stunning white flowering buds on the trees near my house
Otto, the dog that we are taking care of
HGTV
Presidential contest stuff / debates, op-eds, etc.
StSanders "Shreds" videos (yes... STILL)
READING:
Endgame by Derrick Jensen (depressing)
Here Comes Everyone by Clay Shirky
The New Yorker
poems by Borges
PONDERING:
Sustainability
If major labels will EVER pull their collective heads out of their asses
the stupidity in spades that I seem to be encountering lately
subscription music business models
the root of self loathing
becoming a vegetarian again
TASTING:
home made fish tacos
extremely salty mixed nuts from Whole Foods
super dark chocolate
Chipotle Burrito Bowls
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
SxSW 2008: Who I Saw
Trilobite
Ra Ra Riot
Zambri
David Dondero
AA Bondy
Deer Tick
Jeremy Fisher
Bowerbirds
Peter And The Wolf
Kevin Devine
Martha Wainwright
The Brother Kite
Sonya Kitchell
Money Mark
Jay Reatard
Clare & The Reasons (3 times)
Alan Hampton
The Watson Twins
Langhorne Slim
X
The Radishes
Vampire Weekend
Golden Dogs
Yellow Fever
Doveman
Portastatic
John Doe
Sons and Daughters
Nicole Atkins
Ra Ra Riot
Zambri
David Dondero
AA Bondy
Deer Tick
Jeremy Fisher
Bowerbirds
Peter And The Wolf
Kevin Devine
Martha Wainwright
The Brother Kite
Sonya Kitchell
Money Mark
Jay Reatard
Clare & The Reasons (3 times)
Alan Hampton
The Watson Twins
Langhorne Slim
X
The Radishes
Vampire Weekend
Golden Dogs
Yellow Fever
Doveman
Portastatic
John Doe
Sons and Daughters
Nicole Atkins
Monday, January 21, 2008
Clare & The Reasons
Death, Taxes and Lousy Weather.
It was cold out. And windy. I don't mind the cold or the wind, but it's a terrible combination, especially at night. Complaining about the weather in New York, however ubiquitous, is predictable and pointless.
Trash Compactor.
One of the reasons that I enjoy living in New York (unlike the lousy weather, see previous para) is that it's all so compact. I live about a mile from my office and depending on which route I choose to walk between the two I come within a block of Bowery Ballroom, Tonic (now closed), Mercury Lounge, Pianos, The Cake Shop, Arlene Grocery and The Living Room. If I want to hear music on a given night I'm lousy with choices. And most nights lately I have wanted to hear music. I'm on a roll.
What's in a name?
I was still nearly a mile away from my destination for the night: a Jam Session being put on by an old friend at Kenny's Castaways. I know, right? It sounds terrible but he's an old friend and an amazing bass player. So off I went to traipse through the cold. As I walked past The Mercury Lounge one name on the little sandwich board looked familiar. "Clare & The Reasons". Ugggh! Who came up with that name? Whatever. I remembered something good about the music on their MySpace. They were on in 15 minutes.
Luck Be A Lady
I thought that I'd peek my head in the door. I saw a few familiar faces and I like The Merc so I went it. It's friendly by NY standards and has a decent selection of beer. The sound is typically good to great, most often when the house sound guys are mixing. I don't know where they find these FOH folks, but man... they know their room and they know music!
Hype Machine.
The people I knew in the crowd were all pretty excited about seeing the show. They weren't over the top, or blabbering on like they'd had their fondness for the music validated by Pitchfork or BV or something. There was no "next big thing" vibe, the room wasn't full of industry people (like me)... they were just genuinely excited about what they knew was going to happen next.
The Proof Is In The Pudding.
And happen IT DID! It was that rare, beautiful and transcendent experience you get when you see the right band on the right night in the right room in the right mood. Great songs, amazing singing. Gorgeous string arrangements, inventive parts and on and on. You could hear the influences... LOTS of influences but nothing that came off that stage was derivative or pandering or even calculated. The songs have been called “cinematic love songs for a modern world” and “old fashioned”. Not a bad stab… I couldn’t do any better I suppose but there's way more to the musical story.
Prognostications.
I believe that beginning at SxSW 2008 much is going to be made of Clare & The Reasons. No one is doing what they do.. and what they do is awesome.
LISTEN NOW VIA MYSPACE.
It was cold out. And windy. I don't mind the cold or the wind, but it's a terrible combination, especially at night. Complaining about the weather in New York, however ubiquitous, is predictable and pointless.
Trash Compactor.
One of the reasons that I enjoy living in New York (unlike the lousy weather, see previous para) is that it's all so compact. I live about a mile from my office and depending on which route I choose to walk between the two I come within a block of Bowery Ballroom, Tonic (now closed), Mercury Lounge, Pianos, The Cake Shop, Arlene Grocery and The Living Room. If I want to hear music on a given night I'm lousy with choices. And most nights lately I have wanted to hear music. I'm on a roll.
What's in a name?
I was still nearly a mile away from my destination for the night: a Jam Session being put on by an old friend at Kenny's Castaways. I know, right? It sounds terrible but he's an old friend and an amazing bass player. So off I went to traipse through the cold. As I walked past The Mercury Lounge one name on the little sandwich board looked familiar. "Clare & The Reasons". Ugggh! Who came up with that name? Whatever. I remembered something good about the music on their MySpace. They were on in 15 minutes.
Luck Be A Lady
I thought that I'd peek my head in the door. I saw a few familiar faces and I like The Merc so I went it. It's friendly by NY standards and has a decent selection of beer. The sound is typically good to great, most often when the house sound guys are mixing. I don't know where they find these FOH folks, but man... they know their room and they know music!
Hype Machine.
The people I knew in the crowd were all pretty excited about seeing the show. They weren't over the top, or blabbering on like they'd had their fondness for the music validated by Pitchfork or BV or something. There was no "next big thing" vibe, the room wasn't full of industry people (like me)... they were just genuinely excited about what they knew was going to happen next.
The Proof Is In The Pudding.
And happen IT DID! It was that rare, beautiful and transcendent experience you get when you see the right band on the right night in the right room in the right mood. Great songs, amazing singing. Gorgeous string arrangements, inventive parts and on and on. You could hear the influences... LOTS of influences but nothing that came off that stage was derivative or pandering or even calculated. The songs have been called “cinematic love songs for a modern world” and “old fashioned”. Not a bad stab… I couldn’t do any better I suppose but there's way more to the musical story.
Prognostications.
I believe that beginning at SxSW 2008 much is going to be made of Clare & The Reasons. No one is doing what they do.. and what they do is awesome.
LISTEN NOW VIA MYSPACE.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
The week of January 17th, 2008
LISTENING:
My Brightest Diamond
Clare and The Reasons / The Movie, pretty much non-stop
Clare and The Reasons (live at Mercury Lounge)
Natalie Merchant (live at Hiro Ballroom)
Laura Marling (live at Maxwells)
"Sunday Bloody Sunday" video by Saul Williams
Keren Ann / Not Going Anywhere
Stew / Re-Hab
Lucinda Black Bear
Gary Go / The best demos of 2006
Eduardo Mateo
Simon Diaz
PONDERING:
The stock market
SxSW... will I have time to eat enough Tex-Mex?
Peak Oil
permission marketing
Espresso: to drink, or not to drink
TASTING:
Spicy Kale
Basmati Rice
SQUASH SQUASH SQUASH!
Guinness
WATCHING:
Family Guy twice nightly
The Tom Cruise video about Scientology
Lucien Freud show at MoMA
My Brightest Diamond
Clare and The Reasons / The Movie, pretty much non-stop
Clare and The Reasons (live at Mercury Lounge)
Natalie Merchant (live at Hiro Ballroom)
Laura Marling (live at Maxwells)
"Sunday Bloody Sunday" video by Saul Williams
Keren Ann / Not Going Anywhere
Stew / Re-Hab
Lucinda Black Bear
Gary Go / The best demos of 2006
Eduardo Mateo
Simon Diaz
PONDERING:
The stock market
SxSW... will I have time to eat enough Tex-Mex?
Peak Oil
permission marketing
Espresso: to drink, or not to drink
TASTING:
Spicy Kale
Basmati Rice
SQUASH SQUASH SQUASH!
Guinness
WATCHING:
Family Guy twice nightly
The Tom Cruise video about Scientology
Lucien Freud show at MoMA
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
The week of 09 JAN 2008
LISTENING:
Fireflies (live at Mercury Lounge)
Bess Rogers and Dan Romer (Live in Brooklyn)
Jenny Scheinman (Live at Banjo Jim's)
Juana Molina (unreleased sessions with special guests, and demos for the next record)
Eduardo Mateo / Solo Bien Se Lame
Danya Kurtz / Another Black Feather
AA Bondy / American Hearts
Sybarite / demos
Mathew Dear / Leave Luck To Heaven
David Byrne / UB Jesus remix by Mark Saunders
WATCHING:
Walk Hard (the movie, not that great)
There Will Be Blood (the movie, pretty great)
Jeremy Blakes show at the Corcoran in DC
the gorgeous winter light in New York
READING:
Endgame by Derrick Jensen (depressing)
a number of short stories by Jim White
Gloria Steinem Op Ed piece in the NYT about race / gender in the presidential election
my friends facebook pages
PONDERING:
Sustainability
Americas obsession w/ food
money matters
the snow upstate over the last 2 weeks in December
rebuilding the floor of the new wood shed upstate
Ingrid Michaelson: a blip or something more?
my good fortune
TASTING:
roasted chicken, unsplit breasts on the bone, per Cooks Illustrated
kale, kale, kale!
Indian Curry w/ bananna at "Rice" in Dumbo
home made yoghurt (courtesy of Kristine Larsen)
Artisans cheeses from a farm upstate
Fireflies (live at Mercury Lounge)
Bess Rogers and Dan Romer (Live in Brooklyn)
Jenny Scheinman (Live at Banjo Jim's)
Juana Molina (unreleased sessions with special guests, and demos for the next record)
Eduardo Mateo / Solo Bien Se Lame
Danya Kurtz / Another Black Feather
AA Bondy / American Hearts
Sybarite / demos
Mathew Dear / Leave Luck To Heaven
David Byrne / UB Jesus remix by Mark Saunders
WATCHING:
Walk Hard (the movie, not that great)
There Will Be Blood (the movie, pretty great)
Jeremy Blakes show at the Corcoran in DC
the gorgeous winter light in New York
READING:
Endgame by Derrick Jensen (depressing)
a number of short stories by Jim White
Gloria Steinem Op Ed piece in the NYT about race / gender in the presidential election
my friends facebook pages
PONDERING:
Sustainability
Americas obsession w/ food
money matters
the snow upstate over the last 2 weeks in December
rebuilding the floor of the new wood shed upstate
Ingrid Michaelson: a blip or something more?
my good fortune
TASTING:
roasted chicken, unsplit breasts on the bone, per Cooks Illustrated
kale, kale, kale!
Indian Curry w/ bananna at "Rice" in Dumbo
home made yoghurt (courtesy of Kristine Larsen)
Artisans cheeses from a farm upstate
Thursday, December 13, 2007
A.A. Bondy @ The Mercury Lounge
Have you heard the A.A. Bondy record "American Hearts"? A guy with a guitar and harmonica. You kind of expect it to sound a bit like Dylan. And it does, but only to a point. No disrespect to Fionn Regan, who seems dead set on imitating Dylan in song, dress, mannerism and even hair style, but A.A is his own man.
He's original yet familiar. A great songwriter with a cool voice. His show last night at Mercury Lounge was inspiring. So much music from one skinny little guy. Great dynamics, too.
He's original yet familiar. A great songwriter with a cool voice. His show last night at Mercury Lounge was inspiring. So much music from one skinny little guy. Great dynamics, too.
WTF?
What's happening in the music business? It's no secret that sales of CD's have plummeted and the major labels never miss an opportunity to MISS an opportunity. Every decision they make seems to insult the intelligence of the record buying public and stupidity abounds. (which is strange to me as there are some very clever folks at the majors. I deduce that they are powerless to make any significant changes.)
Even as recently as 10 months ago I felt like I had a handle on how many / most serious bands might get a foothold. It seemed that word-of-mouth marketing in consort w/ direct contact with fans (and potential fans) via MySpace, YouTube and social networks in general was a great way to spread the word.
Now MySpace has become a huge wank: bands selling themselves to other bands. Very little genuine contact between band and fan. There are exceptions to be sure, but the time required for an artist to personally manage their MySpace (and FaceBook, iMeem, etc.) is not practical for most artists.
I'm full of optimism about the music business. The record business is another story. I'm impressed with Yep Roc and Merge as they meet the customer / fan / consumer just about every place that customer can be found which of course varies from act to act. This includes utilizing social networks, e-mail blasts, and fun + engaging promotional devices that feel.... real.
For a start those 2 labels (and I imagine a few others) are adequately staffed with people that know and understand how their customers engage with music, which by the way is not the same for those 2 specific labels.
Regardless, It's challanging and rewarding to navigate the course, one artist at a time, what might work, what will work, in achieving their goals. There never has been (now more than ever) no single plan, no silver bullet, no fast track to success. Not with genuine artists at least.
Even as recently as 10 months ago I felt like I had a handle on how many / most serious bands might get a foothold. It seemed that word-of-mouth marketing in consort w/ direct contact with fans (and potential fans) via MySpace, YouTube and social networks in general was a great way to spread the word.
Now MySpace has become a huge wank: bands selling themselves to other bands. Very little genuine contact between band and fan. There are exceptions to be sure, but the time required for an artist to personally manage their MySpace (and FaceBook, iMeem, etc.) is not practical for most artists.
I'm full of optimism about the music business. The record business is another story. I'm impressed with Yep Roc and Merge as they meet the customer / fan / consumer just about every place that customer can be found which of course varies from act to act. This includes utilizing social networks, e-mail blasts, and fun + engaging promotional devices that feel.... real.
For a start those 2 labels (and I imagine a few others) are adequately staffed with people that know and understand how their customers engage with music, which by the way is not the same for those 2 specific labels.
Regardless, It's challanging and rewarding to navigate the course, one artist at a time, what might work, what will work, in achieving their goals. There never has been (now more than ever) no single plan, no silver bullet, no fast track to success. Not with genuine artists at least.
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