4 posts tagged “books”
BICYCLE DIARIESdavidbyrne.com ♥ penguingroup.com
Fan will take note that Byrne is recording and reading his own book for the audio book version, although from his journal, it did not go too well the first week:
What will make this audio book a treat is that Byrne, always the experimentalist, will be incorporating sound recording he's made from the streets and noise in the book.Did my second audiobook reading of the Bicycle Diaries NY chapter today. My first attempt, last week, was marred by maybe a combination of nerves and a wonky lower lip, as the braces had just gone in and were scraping the inside of my mouth. (I smashed a guitar into my bottom teeth about a week before the tour ended.) There’s less of that slurring and slushing going on now, and perhaps I am more confident and relaxed as well.
Look for Bicycle Diaries in September (preorder information), and you can find out more about Byrne's auctioning of his folding Montague bike for the London Cycling Campaign at Byrne's Journal.
ARTIST MUSIC JOURNALS
soundscreendesign.com
About the series:
Information on how to purchase the book is located here ($17). Special thanks to AAM for sending this in.Artist Music Journals are an ongoing, monthly, limited edition small book series. Each month, a visual artist or musician is asked to create a 24-page book of artworks, drawing inspiration from their connection to music. The different ways in which each artist chooses to represent their connection to music is what makes this ongoing series unique, intriguing and diverse.
Each book is limited to 1,000 copies, printed on thick stock, offset, box-scored and saddle stitched, and comes packaged in a 10" jacket. The jackets for each edition will be identical, keeping the collection's overall outward design aesthetic consistent. However, there is a distinct letterpressed sticker wrapping the opening of the jacket for each installment featuring a replication of the artist's signature, the volume, installment number, and edition.
PARAGRAPHS
myspace.com/paragraphsband ♥ twitter.com
Paragraphs describes themselves as "a Minneapolis trio that plays music featuring a lot of delay pedal, toy Casios", followed by "drummer with a goofy smile".
They have a few other shows coming up, including one with Austin's The Calm Blue Sea.
- 08/28/09
7th Street Entry Minneapolis, MN
09/03/09 Big V’s St. Paul, MN
09/19/09 Applefest - Abnet Field La Crescent, MN
10/03/09 Augsburg College Minneapolis, MN
08/26/2009 18:27:44 ♥ vu (
) ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
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W♥M041: Belle & Sebastian's "Your Cover's Blown" [download (13 mins)]
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It's been a while since our last podcast, part of the problem was that it was just taking longer and longer to produce (this is especially true when we have three guests on at a time).
Since I still would like to continue the radio show, I've decided I am going to do a series of these breakdown of songs for you. I'll have to warn you that these upcoming songs are songs that I have listened to a dozen time and know them like the back of my hand. So they might not be your cup of tea.
Clocking in at six minutes (I am wrong in thinking it's eight minutes - it should be eight minutes...), this song takes you on a rollercoaster of a ride... even ending on a false ending.
Listen lady, put your __ phone down
Cancel all operations
Tell your friends to cool it
Your cover's blown I want to see you alone
Cancel all operations
Tell your friends to cool it
Your cover's blown
02/16/2009 23:15:02 ♥ vu ()
♥weheartmusic.com♥podcast.weheartmusic.com♥news.weheartmusic.com
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These podcasts keeps getting longer and longer! I promise to cut it down next week.
Download #22:
Download this episode (71 min), subscribe over at weheartmusic.mypodcast.com
Some bands/music that we used in the podcast are: Philanastasia, Inga Swearingen, Sal Kimber, Beatnik Turtles, Canvas Solaris, and Ladyhawke.
PART ONE: News topics covered are Michael Jackson goes on secret dates with Pamela Anderson, Guns N Roses wants blogger to "rot in jail", Album leak welcomed by Metallica, Heart Lash Out At McCain Campaign’s Use of “Barracuda”.
PART TWO: Meet the Meat Extender, Alex and Brian talks to us about their punk band.
PART THREE: I originally requested the Music Success book to compare and contrast to The Indie Band Survival Guide, but having read both books, I have to say that these two books are not really in the same league. Both are written for different audiences, and both are worth looking into if you're thinking about promoting your band.
MUSIC SUCCESS IN NINE WEEKS
by Ariel Hyatt
cyberprbook.com
  Music Success in Nine Weeks Book (2008) |
Billed as a "step-by-step guide to supercharging your PR, building your fan base and earning more money," this 2008 book comes in both print and electronic version, and retails for $34.99 (there is no discount for the e-version, the last time I checked).
The book reads like a self-help book and generally is a breeze to get through. On a quiet evening, you can get through this 128-page book in a matter of hours. Don't let the 100+ pages discourage you, if you take away non-essential spacing or "notes" and exercise, I would guess this book is no more than 50 pages of solid reading.
The things I like about this book is that it's very easy to follow and read. No pretentious tones, and it's written through the eyes of Ariel Hyatt, a publicist who's been in the music industry for at least twelve years. Sometime her writing falls too much on the personal side (dealing with her past experiences or mentioning she's married to a blogger), but I sometime think that's part of the charm.
I also liked her money-saving tips, from free website endorsements to doing your own PR work. Writing your own biography and networking seem obvious to me, but if you're new to this, then reading the step-by-step guide is essential.
Like most self-help books, this book really depends on your participation. I would only recommend getting the printed version and following the instructions explicitly, otherwise the book might not work for you.
As an exercise, I did try and apply some of the tips to promoting W♥M: for instance, I will only give out my business card if someone asks what I do (instead of bringing up what I do in conversations). I have also thought about building the email list, which I think might not work for us (since people already subscribe to our RSS feed or via the neighborhood networking)... but I really should be more aggressive in promoting our Twitter which you can subscribe via email or text messages. Ironically, this account was setup by Ryan in the UK and twitter recently dropped their option to text to UK mobiles.
THE INDIE BAND SURVIVAL GUIDE
by Randy Chertkow and Jason Feehan
www.stmartins.com
indiebandsurvivalguide.com
 The Indie Band Survival Guide Book (2008) |
Billed as a "complete manual for the Do-It-Yourself musician", this hefty 300+ book by Randy Chertkow and Jason Feehan, two members of the band Beatnik Turtle, details their experiences and success in this essential guide.
The book is very affordable ($14.95, but obviously you can get it lower online), so there is no excuse to not owning this book. Although it's written for the musician, I think this book can apply to anyone interested in the music industry or work in promotions.
The book is broken into two sections: Get Prepared and Get Fans. The first part focus mostly on your image/branding and web presence, while the second part focused on publicity, distribution and getting booked. Between the two, I felt that the second part is the big hurdle, so you may want to focus more on the first part - which goes into details from picking a searchable band name to your website's content.
The book is very detailed, so as a guide book, which is not necessary cover-to-cover read, I suggest skipping to topics that interests you. You can get lost in all the details, for instance it goes into image color formats (RGB, CMYK, Black and White Line art and Grayscale), which I found very interesting - but might not apply to you.
From a web developer, I liked reading over the band website chapter. They stressed over the 'contact page', from their experience (and mine), that there are many opportunities that present themselves just by making contacting you easier. They also noted that if you're comfortable, you should also include a telephone number, as ABC Family/Disney (aka traditional media) still does business through the telephone. From a promoter's point of view, I can tell you that I have passed over some band because there was simply no way of contacting them.
Other interesting thing I discovered reading the second part (since this is the part that is most unfamiliar to me), that you can actually have your CDs in smaller stores as consignments (where they pay you only after they sold your CD). Even if you don't sell any albums, it works as a small advertisement for you as people will start recognizing your name. It even goes into detail about giving an extra store copy as a promotional device - really great tip.
For emerging bands there is a section to have banter or "stalling banter" prepared, in case you break a string on your guitar. Personally, I have always enjoyed when a band is talkative, and it really does help add to a band's showmanship.
They do admit in the forward that this book is best used by acting and doing, in addition to using the book as an idea or theory. The low cost and invaluable guide, I highly recommend this book to anyone remotely interested in music.
Links:
www.weheartmusic.com news.weheartmusic.com podcast.weheartmusic.com
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04/17/08 Pre Shock @ SUNY Purchase, NY
04/22/08 Johnny D’s Somerville, MA 04/24/08 The National Underground NY 05/06/08 The Luna Lounge Brooklyn, NY 06/13/08 Brooklyn Tea and Coffee Providence, RI Discography
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Bess Rogers has a CD called Decisions Based On Information coming out April 8th. Although, I believe that's just a date they pick - you can buy the CD now.
Of course, I fell in love with her librarian look right away; she's got some serious specs-appeal on some photos.
Looking beyond the cover, I found out that she's actually a member of the synth band The Robot Explosion, a side project of the more popular The Age of Rockets band. Apparently, The Robot Explosion kind of disappeared, but they promise to be "returning 2008" according to their banner on myspace.
With her debut album, Decisions Based On Information, it would seem that she's disassociated herself with the synth, and chose to go with the more traditional guitar sound. Although I mention guitar, that's not necessary the true, as Rogers employs a wide variety of non-traditional instruments (fiddle on "You and Me", trumpet & trombone on "I Would Never", banjo & viola on "Earthquake").
"You and Me" has a country train feel to it, and I felt this is the best song to represent Rogers with. The lyrics are playful in this one, especially when she sings:
You and I
are seeing eye-to-eye
on current affairs
Try your best to pin-point me down
But I'm already thereLet go of your mind
'Cause everything I've said
Has been a joke 'til now
I'm done fooling around!
The other song that really stood out for me is "See Me? See You?" with its usage of the accordion and the catchy non-lyrical "do do do doo".
The whole album, with its great melodies and witty lyrics & easy-to-listen-to voice, it really guarantees to be played and not collect dusts on your shelves... unlike many of my purchased books.
You can get Decisions Based On Information from El Train Store (as well as stickers & other merchandise). I do not believe you can purchase her earlier EPs, but it doesn't hurt to ask if you are interested.
04/03/2008 11:45:14 vu my♥posts 
bessrogers.com myspace.com
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