A listener and email collegue passed this video onto me, which is pretty cute.
Friday
Swing News
originally posted May 8, 2008
A listener and email collegue passed this video onto me, which is pretty cute.
A listener and email collegue passed this video onto me, which is pretty cute.
Music by any other name
originally post May 5, 2008
Recently I saw Feist talking the Colbert Report, and he asked her what indie rock is since she describes her music that way, and she couldn't define it. Why? Because she isn't indie rock, and never was really. Just because she began her career on a small indie label, doesn't mean she is still indie today, nor does she play indie rock. In fact, none of the bands are her label, Arts and Crafts, are technically indie since they are distributed by a major label (EMI).
Then it got me wondering, so what is indie rock today? Technically, "indie" is short for independent and would imply that indie refers to a method of operation and distribution that was independent from the major labels. But that's not the case, because if Feist is indie rock, how does that explain her major label distribution?
So then you must assume that the term 'indie rock' described the kind of music it is, not it's method of operation. Much like in the way the major labels adopted the term 'alternative' when Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins became popular in the 90's. I always how wondered how it could be termed 'alternative' - alternative to what? The mainstream? If it's truly alternative, then I've never heard of it before. Otherwise, it can't be the alternative, it's the mainstream.
Anyways, so then is 'indie rock' a type of sound? No, because there are some bands who operate independently, but they also don't sound anything like Feist, Bright Eyes or Death Cab For Cutie, or any of the darling 'indie' bands that Pitchfork go crazy over. For example, The Happies, who have more alliance with geeky rock/pop and singer/songwriter roots, are truly independent, doing everything themselves on a small independent system of operation. Or Majandra Delfino, an actress most popular for her role on the TV series Roswell, makes music that doesn't like anything I've ever heard, and she does it all by herself.
However, the industry has taken over the term to described their music, calculated to attract a certain type of listener, and there's no shortage of exploitation: indie rock also applies to dance-punk, new prog, garage-rock, new weird America, post-punk (when did punk die?), etc, etc. It's getting to the point where Starbucks will be a music genre.
And while I'm ranting...I blame Britney Spears (as I do for the downfall of society in general) who turned 'bubblegum pop' into a dirty phrase. It used to mean happy-go-lucky super catchy pop songs by the 1910 Fruitgum Company, The Partridge Family, The Archies, Tommy Roe, etc. But somehow, the term now applies to the level of intelligence of the singer (as in, a brain made of bubblegum).
Sigh. Meanwhile, the term 'pirate radio' will always be that, I think. I just finished a book by Sue Carpenters called 40 Watts from Nowhere, all about her life running 2 pirate radio stations in the mid 90s in San Francisco and L.A. I love reading about pirate radio, because I've always wanted to have a radio station, even a totally legal small 1-watt station.
Well, probably the closest I'll ever get is broadcasting on the internet, ironically I found this cool piece of software that looks like an easy way to do it. Who knew subversivism could be so marketable? I haven't tried it yet, so I'm certainly not endorsing it.
If you're into pirate radio, there's also this documentary about the subject at bside.com, which will let you download it for free if you register.
Recently I saw Feist talking the Colbert Report, and he asked her what indie rock is since she describes her music that way, and she couldn't define it. Why? Because she isn't indie rock, and never was really. Just because she began her career on a small indie label, doesn't mean she is still indie today, nor does she play indie rock. In fact, none of the bands are her label, Arts and Crafts, are technically indie since they are distributed by a major label (EMI).
Then it got me wondering, so what is indie rock today? Technically, "indie" is short for independent and would imply that indie refers to a method of operation and distribution that was independent from the major labels. But that's not the case, because if Feist is indie rock, how does that explain her major label distribution?
So then you must assume that the term 'indie rock' described the kind of music it is, not it's method of operation. Much like in the way the major labels adopted the term 'alternative' when Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins became popular in the 90's. I always how wondered how it could be termed 'alternative' - alternative to what? The mainstream? If it's truly alternative, then I've never heard of it before. Otherwise, it can't be the alternative, it's the mainstream.
Anyways, so then is 'indie rock' a type of sound? No, because there are some bands who operate independently, but they also don't sound anything like Feist, Bright Eyes or Death Cab For Cutie, or any of the darling 'indie' bands that Pitchfork go crazy over. For example, The Happies, who have more alliance with geeky rock/pop and singer/songwriter roots, are truly independent, doing everything themselves on a small independent system of operation. Or Majandra Delfino, an actress most popular for her role on the TV series Roswell, makes music that doesn't like anything I've ever heard, and she does it all by herself.
However, the industry has taken over the term to described their music, calculated to attract a certain type of listener, and there's no shortage of exploitation: indie rock also applies to dance-punk, new prog, garage-rock, new weird America, post-punk (when did punk die?), etc, etc. It's getting to the point where Starbucks will be a music genre.
And while I'm ranting...I blame Britney Spears (as I do for the downfall of society in general) who turned 'bubblegum pop' into a dirty phrase. It used to mean happy-go-lucky super catchy pop songs by the 1910 Fruitgum Company, The Partridge Family, The Archies, Tommy Roe, etc. But somehow, the term now applies to the level of intelligence of the singer (as in, a brain made of bubblegum).
Sigh. Meanwhile, the term 'pirate radio' will always be that, I think. I just finished a book by Sue Carpenters called 40 Watts from Nowhere, all about her life running 2 pirate radio stations in the mid 90s in San Francisco and L.A. I love reading about pirate radio, because I've always wanted to have a radio station, even a totally legal small 1-watt station.
Well, probably the closest I'll ever get is broadcasting on the internet, ironically I found this cool piece of software that looks like an easy way to do it. Who knew subversivism could be so marketable? I haven't tried it yet, so I'm certainly not endorsing it.
If you're into pirate radio, there's also this documentary about the subject at bside.com, which will let you download it for free if you register.
Wednesday
So where do you get your music?
originally posted on April 24, 2008
Unfortunately, there is no simple answer. There are tons of places to be exposed to new music and also to track down that song you've always been looking for. And believe it or not, I rarely use iTunes. I always prefer to buy real CDs, and that's what I'll be mostly focusing on.
It all depends on what you're after. If you're looking for new music, there are a couple of great places to check out new artists. One of my favorite is cdbaby.com, which is an independent distributor that isn't a label, just an online record store for artists.
The idea is that artists manufacture their own CDs and then send cdbaby about 5 copies. Cdbaby list the album on their website (with free streaming samples in high quality) and if someone likes it, they buy the album on cdbaby's site, they ship it from their warehouse and the artists gets nearly all the money.
There's lots of great indie artists on there and a lot of unknowns too, but it's well worth checking out and you can easily spend hours there. Many ways to search, either by similar-sounding artists of your favorite music, $5 discount bin, new additions to the site or even browse by artwork, like a virtual record store.
Another great place to check out music is musicblogs. There are thousands of them and it might take you a while to find a decent one that shares your musical interests, but it's fun to explore. Now, as you know, it is illegal for people to post music online without the musicians permission. However, a lot of musicians know the power of having a track posted for free download on a highly-visited blog in terms of exposure - hence the emergence of major label artists giving away full albums online and selling them too (hello Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails...Jane Siberry did it first).
It's the best kind of promotion that they don't have to pay for, and in effect can make new fans out of their music. So you can take advantage of this, or not depending on how you feel about the issue.
But if you want some completely legal music that you won't feel guilty downloading, Netlabels are for you. Thanks to a little thing called Creative Commons, indie musicians (and some big time shooters) are posting their music online for free download, and there's millions of free songs floating around in various styles. Two resources that you might want to bookmark is the "netlabel forum" over at Archive.org and Jamendo.org, which are the two most popular music hosting sites. There's a lot more electronica than anything else, but it's always worth listening because you never know what you might find.
Now, let's talk about buying real CDs. I always visit the local record stores at least once a week, new and used outlets, to see what's new (if anything). Now, I love record stores. I always will. But unfortunately, a lot of them are doing business all wrong. Particularly, if I walk into a record store and want to order something, there is only ONE store in all of Vancouver that I can actually place an order for something...and they often charge 30% more than anywhere else. All other stores cannot order anything - even if you pay for it upfront and that is the worst business practice if you want to survive in this global marketplace.
Of course, this leaves me with little alternative but to order the item online from a Canadian distributor (you can guess which one). Often the price is better, if I can be patient enough to wait an additional week to get my item.
However, there is a downside to ordering online: CDs and especially DVDs can get damaged in transit and you can get stuck with a scratched disc that skips in your player and it costs an arm and a leg (and a lot of hassle) to send it back and get a replacement. If I was able to purchase what I want in the store (or be able to order it!) I could easily take defective product back to the store for a replacement. So what you make up for in selection, you can't guarantee the condition of your stuff.
Another neat tip for more obscure albums is that you are able to order items online from other countries. It's amazing what is available for importing directly to you door, but not available in your record store due to licensing problems.
I regularly buy from a Japanese CD outlet that offers about 50% better prices on new, sealed Japanese imports that are not available in North America, or contain bonus tracks.
I also browse the British equivalent of Amazon for albums that aren't available here. For example, for about two dollars more compared to the Canadian price, I ordered the next wave of the Alan Parsons Project remasters series (Stereotomy, Turn of a Friendly Card and Pyramid) from the UK, because the label has no definite plans to release them in North America.
However, watch out that you make your orders under $40 otherwise Canadian customs will slap a duty charge on your order. You might get charged even under $40, but it's usually only happened to be on orders larger than $40.
Whew. So that's a start. If you've got another favorite place to discover music, send me an email and I'll post it below.
Elsewhere, I know it's not exactly breaking news but Radiohead have a remix contest for their song "Nude". You have to purchase the 'stems' (individual vocal, guitar, etc tracks) and then upload your mix to their website for voting.
I decided to have a whack at it, and posted my remix here. Apparently I'm #2103, so I don't expect to win or anything. But I thought it was fun to try and make a drastically different version of the song. I didn't listen to alot of the entires, but I did enjoy this mix from one of my favorite artists Thomas Dolby.
Unfortunately, there is no simple answer. There are tons of places to be exposed to new music and also to track down that song you've always been looking for. And believe it or not, I rarely use iTunes. I always prefer to buy real CDs, and that's what I'll be mostly focusing on.
It all depends on what you're after. If you're looking for new music, there are a couple of great places to check out new artists. One of my favorite is cdbaby.com, which is an independent distributor that isn't a label, just an online record store for artists.
The idea is that artists manufacture their own CDs and then send cdbaby about 5 copies. Cdbaby list the album on their website (with free streaming samples in high quality) and if someone likes it, they buy the album on cdbaby's site, they ship it from their warehouse and the artists gets nearly all the money.
There's lots of great indie artists on there and a lot of unknowns too, but it's well worth checking out and you can easily spend hours there. Many ways to search, either by similar-sounding artists of your favorite music, $5 discount bin, new additions to the site or even browse by artwork, like a virtual record store.
Another great place to check out music is musicblogs. There are thousands of them and it might take you a while to find a decent one that shares your musical interests, but it's fun to explore. Now, as you know, it is illegal for people to post music online without the musicians permission. However, a lot of musicians know the power of having a track posted for free download on a highly-visited blog in terms of exposure - hence the emergence of major label artists giving away full albums online and selling them too (hello Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails...Jane Siberry did it first).
It's the best kind of promotion that they don't have to pay for, and in effect can make new fans out of their music. So you can take advantage of this, or not depending on how you feel about the issue.
But if you want some completely legal music that you won't feel guilty downloading, Netlabels are for you. Thanks to a little thing called Creative Commons, indie musicians (and some big time shooters) are posting their music online for free download, and there's millions of free songs floating around in various styles. Two resources that you might want to bookmark is the "netlabel forum" over at Archive.org and Jamendo.org, which are the two most popular music hosting sites. There's a lot more electronica than anything else, but it's always worth listening because you never know what you might find.
Now, let's talk about buying real CDs. I always visit the local record stores at least once a week, new and used outlets, to see what's new (if anything). Now, I love record stores. I always will. But unfortunately, a lot of them are doing business all wrong. Particularly, if I walk into a record store and want to order something, there is only ONE store in all of Vancouver that I can actually place an order for something...and they often charge 30% more than anywhere else. All other stores cannot order anything - even if you pay for it upfront and that is the worst business practice if you want to survive in this global marketplace.
Of course, this leaves me with little alternative but to order the item online from a Canadian distributor (you can guess which one). Often the price is better, if I can be patient enough to wait an additional week to get my item.
However, there is a downside to ordering online: CDs and especially DVDs can get damaged in transit and you can get stuck with a scratched disc that skips in your player and it costs an arm and a leg (and a lot of hassle) to send it back and get a replacement. If I was able to purchase what I want in the store (or be able to order it!) I could easily take defective product back to the store for a replacement. So what you make up for in selection, you can't guarantee the condition of your stuff.
Another neat tip for more obscure albums is that you are able to order items online from other countries. It's amazing what is available for importing directly to you door, but not available in your record store due to licensing problems.
I regularly buy from a Japanese CD outlet that offers about 50% better prices on new, sealed Japanese imports that are not available in North America, or contain bonus tracks.
I also browse the British equivalent of Amazon for albums that aren't available here. For example, for about two dollars more compared to the Canadian price, I ordered the next wave of the Alan Parsons Project remasters series (Stereotomy, Turn of a Friendly Card and Pyramid) from the UK, because the label has no definite plans to release them in North America.
However, watch out that you make your orders under $40 otherwise Canadian customs will slap a duty charge on your order. You might get charged even under $40, but it's usually only happened to be on orders larger than $40.
Whew. So that's a start. If you've got another favorite place to discover music, send me an email and I'll post it below.
Elsewhere, I know it's not exactly breaking news but Radiohead have a remix contest for their song "Nude". You have to purchase the 'stems' (individual vocal, guitar, etc tracks) and then upload your mix to their website for voting.
I decided to have a whack at it, and posted my remix here. Apparently I'm #2103, so I don't expect to win or anything. But I thought it was fun to try and make a drastically different version of the song. I didn't listen to alot of the entires, but I did enjoy this mix from one of my favorite artists Thomas Dolby.
Tuesday
The Clutter Nutter Makes Others Shudder
originally posted April 16, 2008
Recently clutter-expert Paul Talbot visited the Early Ed studios and critiqued the amount of clutter on each of our desks. I'm always a little suspicious of such ideology - most of the time the message is that if you haven't used something in more than a year, then you probably don't need it and should throw it away.
However, I like to think of my desk (and elsewhere) as a miniature library, filled with everything I could possibly need, at the touch of my fingers. If it takes more than 10 minutes to access something...well, that's simply too long.
According to Paul, the act of keeping everything is a sign of insecurity. I don't quite understand that. Perhaps the act of never throwing anything away is a sign of insecurity, as opposed to collecting lots of stuff that I might need one day. There's a big difference there.
Like, for example our show a couple of weeks ago when we did the story about the KPMG study of Vancouver. How disappointed would I been if I had erased or thrown out that KPMG corporate anthem I had at my desk for the last five years? Or having "Honky The Christmas Goose" at a moments notice? To put up with a little clutter is worth it in the long run.
But it's also about comfortable working environments. I do clean up my desk every so often. When it gets to the point where I cannot find something (rarely), or if a stack of CDs fall over while trying to find the pen that works (more often) then it's time to clean and re-organize. It last for about 4 months. My main problem is not putting the CD I just used back in its proper space.
Here's a little tour of the desks in the Early Ed area:
This is Margaret's desk. Not that bad, actually. Some papers and CDs on the side, but generally a very easy desk to find things on in a pinch.
This desk belongs to a temporary producer. As you can see, the lack of pretty much anything means that usually the person in question is usually not at this desk long enough to clutter it up.
Producer Laura Palmers desk may look fairly organized, but that's a rouse. The papers are stacked upon older papers, organized into neat piles, but there's enough here for a copy of War and Peace. Shhh...she spent a while cleaning it up last week too.
This is Shiral's desk, scattered but relatively organized. She keeps particular piles of paper that are important and will be used fairly often. A bit messy, but certainly not a problem area.
Jenna's desk is embarrassingly clean. What can I say? I couldn't work here. It's like those display condos; everything in it's place and no extraneous thingys anywhere. Do people actually live like that?
Ahh...good o' home! Ok, so I haven't put the CDs away in a while, and that would take care of a lot of the stuff around the sides. And the cabinet shelf above my desk has a door, which makes the space instantly cleaner. It certainly looks "lived in", doesn't it? Cozy, even. And only I have the power to locate things here too - keeps me indispensable.
Meanwhile, one of my favorite local artists, Jonathan Anderson who fronts Jonathan Inc. has contributed some gorgeous arrangements and production to the new album by Kensington Prairie. The band is pretty much Rebecca Rowan, of Maplewood Lane fame and it's a very pretty album, and from the sound of this album, I would bet that Rebecca has been listening to a lot of Rose Melberg lately (Rose's music is highly recommended!)
Coming next post...I get asked a lot, where do I get my music? All revealed in good time.
Dang, I can't find my pen now...
Recently clutter-expert Paul Talbot visited the Early Ed studios and critiqued the amount of clutter on each of our desks. I'm always a little suspicious of such ideology - most of the time the message is that if you haven't used something in more than a year, then you probably don't need it and should throw it away.
However, I like to think of my desk (and elsewhere) as a miniature library, filled with everything I could possibly need, at the touch of my fingers. If it takes more than 10 minutes to access something...well, that's simply too long.
According to Paul, the act of keeping everything is a sign of insecurity. I don't quite understand that. Perhaps the act of never throwing anything away is a sign of insecurity, as opposed to collecting lots of stuff that I might need one day. There's a big difference there.
Like, for example our show a couple of weeks ago when we did the story about the KPMG study of Vancouver. How disappointed would I been if I had erased or thrown out that KPMG corporate anthem I had at my desk for the last five years? Or having "Honky The Christmas Goose" at a moments notice? To put up with a little clutter is worth it in the long run.
But it's also about comfortable working environments. I do clean up my desk every so often. When it gets to the point where I cannot find something (rarely), or if a stack of CDs fall over while trying to find the pen that works (more often) then it's time to clean and re-organize. It last for about 4 months. My main problem is not putting the CD I just used back in its proper space.
Here's a little tour of the desks in the Early Ed area:
This is Margaret's desk. Not that bad, actually. Some papers and CDs on the side, but generally a very easy desk to find things on in a pinch.
This desk belongs to a temporary producer. As you can see, the lack of pretty much anything means that usually the person in question is usually not at this desk long enough to clutter it up.
Producer Laura Palmers desk may look fairly organized, but that's a rouse. The papers are stacked upon older papers, organized into neat piles, but there's enough here for a copy of War and Peace. Shhh...she spent a while cleaning it up last week too.
This is Shiral's desk, scattered but relatively organized. She keeps particular piles of paper that are important and will be used fairly often. A bit messy, but certainly not a problem area.
Jenna's desk is embarrassingly clean. What can I say? I couldn't work here. It's like those display condos; everything in it's place and no extraneous thingys anywhere. Do people actually live like that?
Ahh...good o' home! Ok, so I haven't put the CDs away in a while, and that would take care of a lot of the stuff around the sides. And the cabinet shelf above my desk has a door, which makes the space instantly cleaner. It certainly looks "lived in", doesn't it? Cozy, even. And only I have the power to locate things here too - keeps me indispensable.
Meanwhile, one of my favorite local artists, Jonathan Anderson who fronts Jonathan Inc. has contributed some gorgeous arrangements and production to the new album by Kensington Prairie. The band is pretty much Rebecca Rowan, of Maplewood Lane fame and it's a very pretty album, and from the sound of this album, I would bet that Rebecca has been listening to a lot of Rose Melberg lately (Rose's music is highly recommended!)
Coming next post...I get asked a lot, where do I get my music? All revealed in good time.
Dang, I can't find my pen now...
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