7 posts tagged “piano”
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WOW, another epic podcast, with co-hosts Derek & Soup. Although this episode is more topics-centric (RIAA, MP3s, and state of music), I think the next podcast will be half-topic and half casual.
Download this episode (41 min)
Some topics we touched on:
RIAA vs Muxtape, CDs are too expensive, music blogs, internet radio royalties going up twice as much as traditional radio, taping off the radio, whatever happened to recording hunting?, Taping Kills Music, concerts, what we're listening to...
Music used:
♥ David Yazbek - Introduction (davidyazbek.com)
♥ Weird Al - Don't Download This Song (weirdal.com)
♥ Hellsongs - Breaking the Law (hellsongs.com)
♥ Le Tigre - Get off the Internet (letigreworld.com)
♥ S*M*A*S*H - Take Your Breath Away ( myspace.com/llyc)
♥ Spin - Not In Love (spinrocks.com)
♥ Ladyscraper - Gangbanger (hellsongs.com)
♥ Ironlung - Liar (myspace.com/lifeironlungdeath)
♥ Jeff Hanson - I Don't Quite Remember (jeffhanson.net)
♥ P. Hux - Wear My Ring (parthenonhuxley.com)
♥ Elastica - Operate (live)
♥ AIDS Wolf - Down, Holy Ground (myspace.com/aidswolf)
If you want to join us on the podcast, send me an email - I will need your telephone number or Skype username.
These six reviews are all from Ariel Publicity. We've been working with them for over a year and I generally like the variety of music we get from them - mostly pop and jazz and blues. So just look at some of the selection of different bands represented here:
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Dreaming Isabelle This review is a little behind, but it was quite easy to do because Awake is just a short four-track EP, from Virginia's Dreaming Isabelle. Their biography doesn't list much, which suggests they might be a very new band, but listening to Awake I felt that they played really well together. Take a listen to "Not Missing You" as it starts with a great guitar hook, timed perfectly as the drums kick in, then followed by the singer on queue. The three songs that follows the opening track seems to all start off pretty slow. "That I Am" starts off acoustically, while "Above All" is overall mellow and "Mine" has a great guitar noodle portion. I must admit "Mine" did sound a bit creepy/stalkerish with the lyrics "She will be mine" repeated over and over. [ read more ] |
Josephine
Joséphine grew up in Paris, France, left at the age of 17 to Montreal (the mostly French, half English Canadian city), where she started singing with The People’s Gospel Choir of Montréal (they won some award for their album). She eventually made her way to New York, where she is currently released Unfinished Life in 2007. For the most part, I think the whole album is very pop/acoustic songwriter type of music, mostly centered around her very sweet young voice. I really like her poppy song, "Stronger". Take a listen as she belts out "I need to get together when I'm falling apart/I need to love when it's broken my heart", followed by some great guitar playing by Craig Wilson. Wilson co-wrote all the songs with Joséphine with the exception of "Bit by Bit" (by Joséphine only) and "Right Here" (by Wilson only). [ read more ] |
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Della Valle I got a trackless album from Della Valle, which made it kind of annoying to add in my iTunes. Although I would have to admit that I did end up listening to all the songs to determine all 10 titles... so Mister Jay Della Valle, you've suckered me into listening to your album! All kiddings aside, I actually liked what I heard, so it wasn't such a nightmare. Out of his four releases, the tracks are basically from Stay Gold and The Best Years EP, which Della Valle is calling it his "Greatest Hits", then humorously retracted:
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Satoru - Balancing In the Twilight The funny story about Satoru's first CD, Ash Returns to Ash, was that it was just a CD-R with a hand-written note saying that he had trouble with the printing company and so he doesn't have the finished product. It didn't matter because I thought the album was really enjoyable that I wrote about it. I am glad to see that he came through on his second Balancing in the Twilight, in March 2008. I believe he already had the album "in the can" as they say last year. Both Ash Returns to Ash and Balancing in the Twilight are in standard digipaks, they are very reasonably priced at $9 on Amazon and $10 on CD Baby. But what I am really impressed with is that all of his music is licensed through Creative Commons, which grant you permission to copy, distribute and transmit the work, as long as you give credit and attribution for noncommercial usage. I think all artists should follow in this footstep. [ read more ] |
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Michael Paige The press material I received for Michael Paige's self-titled debut album, out now on Astrum Records, explicitly stated that under no circumstances should I be allowed to stream one particular song, "Aqui Esperando". So naturally, that is the first song I queued up to listen to. I was pleasantly surprised that "Aqui Esperando" is a Spanish version of "Right Here Waiting", originally by Richard Marx. This kind of legal thing upsets me, because this is actually a very good song, and I'm assuming writing royalties would eventually end up in Marx's pockets - so why bother trying to stop people from hearing this very faithful rendition? I believe there's only one other cover on this album, is "Eres Tú" a second place winner from Eurovision 1973 by a band called Mocedades. [ read more ] |
Edgar Gabriel's StringFusion - Not Radio Material Their album name, Not Radio Material, couldn't be more approriate. Edward Gabriel's StringFusion music is a very interesting (and rare) blend of classical instrumentals, primarily violin string arrangements, blended with mellow light jazz piano and saxophone riffs. A sultry vocal is offered on track three, "Would You Be My Valentine" along with a very smooth keyboard solo. The percussion driven samba of track 4, "Mobile", suggests more Latin swing influences, very contemporary and cool. The saxophone on track 5, "I Knew That" really soars to some impressive heights. Down and dirty blues guitar can be heard on the urban slynish of track 6, "Blue 7", probably my favorite composition on this CD. [ read more ] |
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Links:
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This week's review theme are debut albums! Be sure to click "read more" to check out more of the band, including additional videos, pictures, and tour information.
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Walter Meego Justin Sconza and Colin Yarck together are Walter Meego, a band based out of Chicago, Illinois. With already FOUR EPs (Walter Meego, Hollywood, Romantic, and Usually), their debut album, Voyager is set for release on May 27, 2008. I got an advance copy a few months ago, so please note that the final mix may in fact be different than the ones I have. Please also note that I did not receive an approved album artwork, so the mock-up artwork I've included here is not the final album artwork. I'm glad to see that Meego are not just about dance beats, but sings on many of their songs. The lyrics aren't "dum dum" either, they actually fit and sounds really great in accordance to the music. [ read more ] |
Josh Fix Free at Last is debut album by Josh Fix, a musician from San Francisco, California. I wanted to mention his current location, because apparently Fix was born in South Africa (!). According to his biography, he was first noticed by the SF Chronicle (front cover story) in 2005, when he was asked to open up for the legendary The Who. Although Fix's sound isn't so much rock, I'm almost certain his piano-driven songs would be well-received by The Who's audience. The track that really stood out will probably be "Rock And Roll Slut" with its very personal lyrics: [ read more ] |
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The Details I'm actually familiar with The Details before through some downloads of a 2007's Parliament of Trees sampler on Virb. The label's that's putting this out is based out of Winnipeg, Canada, and they have already released The Paperbacks's An Illusion Against Death and The Details' Draw a Distance. Draw a Border. Draw a Distance comes with a nice 16 lyric booklet inside a digipak packaging and I really generally like the minimalistic design and artwork by Lisa Friesen. There's a few good tracks off the new album, ranging from all out alternative rock to sensitive rock. [ read more ] |
Running Still Running Still are from Brooklyn, New York, and they have a self-titled debut album that was released sometime earlier this year. Their myspace lists that they're influenced by Pink Floyd, Coldplay, Radiohead, etc., and listening to their album, I can hear some of their influences in their song. Their songs seems to be about life and personal experiences, such as in "Fly" with the line "life is just like playing cards/sometime you lose". In "Ordinary", singer Asi Meskin, shows his doubt, stating what sounds like "I don't belong with, I'm ordinary." [ read more ] |
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Pleasureboaters From what I've read about Pleasureboaters, is that it seems that they've been together since 2005 and have steadily built up their fans through the Seattle, Washington, area. They finally have released a debut album called ¡Gross! on February 12, 2008. Not really sure how I would describe their music, it sounds to me that they're almost noise artists doing thrash metal... which needs to experience live to fully appreciate what they're trying to do. I may have to include a live video of them for example. [ read more ] |
Josiah Wordsworth I wanted to mention Josiah Wordsworth's debut album, Wordsworth!, was released March 18th. I found out that his name is actually Jordan Slominski and he's based in St Paul, Minnesota. I'll have to point out that I don't actually have his album or debut EP called Blue State, which was released in 2007, but based on the few songs I listened to, it sounds like a lot of jazz piano with a rock n roll sensibility. The two songs I've heard on Wordsworth! are instrumentals, so I am assuming the rest of the album have no lyrics. It's still enjoyable. [ read more ] |
03/23/2008 14:35:16 vu my♥posts 
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03/13/08 Stubbs - Austin, TX
03/13/08 Hilton Garden Inn - Austin, TX 03/14/08 Four Seasons Hotel - KGSR 03/25/08 Living Room Show - New York 04/09/08 Rockwood Music Hall - NY 04/14/08 Gerrard Hall - Chapel Hill, NC 04/16/08 Rockwood Music Hall - NY 04/19/08 Bakertree Music Festival - GA 04/23/08 Rockwood Music Hall - NY 04/24/08 Wheelhouse - Narragansett, RI 04/26/08 Acoustic Cafe - Rockaway NJ 04/30/08 Rockwood Music Hall - NY |
With Saint Patrick's Day coming up on Monday (officially it's today, Saturday the 15th), my next couple of entries will be Irish-related.
Although Brendan James' biography lists him growing up in Derry, New Hampshire, and currently based in New York, I can't help but think he's Irish based on his photographs and singing style. I'm probably wrong, of course.
Anyway, I spent all day on Friday listening to his to-be-released album, The Day is Brave, and reading the press material that came with it.
Some of the interesting things I picked up about James, was when he was a struggling musician, his manager somehow got James' demo in the hands of legendary singer/songwriter Carly Simon. She loved the music and singing so much that she asked James to sing a duet with her for the song "Let the River Run" at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies in 2003.
I was taken by what I've read, that he spent his days working a meaningless job at Urban Outfitters and used to sneak into hotels to practice his piano playing.
I'd dress to look like a guest at the Plaza Hotel, so I could walk in there unnoticed.
His 2007 EP was aptly named The Ballroom Break-In EP. All four tracks will resurface on the full album, so you can wait for it or get the EP now on unrestrictive MP3s via iTunes.
The Day is Brave is mostly piano-driven with that Irishy vocals from James, sounding very clean and polished.
The album starts off with "Green" (which you can hear on his myspace) seems to be about a green clothed girl who he loved, and sets the atmosphere for the rest of the songs to follow.
The songs seems very personal, I'm not sure if he's writing fictional characters ("Hero's Song"), but I suspect that most of these songs are from his experiences.
This is evident in his "The Other Side" song, about him growing up: "I'll always remember, the kids and how mean they'd been/Eleven years old and I could not fit in/But I made it through high school and college according to plan/where pressure was never greater to become a man."
On "Early April Morning", he wakes up one April morning realizing the love that he's found. I wasn't quite sure if April was her name (I don't think he ever mentioned who the woman was), but the lyrics "That was then, and she is now/I once was lost with her I'm found" is pretty catchy.
Recently, his song, "Hero's Song" was chosen as the lead-in song on Eddie Vedder's soundtrack project for the movie Body of War. This is a 2-CD soundtrack, featuring major acts such as Bright Eyes, Tom Waits, Bad Religion, John Lennon - basically all the artists we like on W♥M.
I couldn't be more honored to be part of, "Body of War". Tomas Young, the soldier that the film is centered around, is quite possibly one of the strongest individuals I have ever spoken to. His words and his life are an inspiration to me. I hope his message can open the eyes of many around the world. I hope it sheds some light on the life of a U.S soldier, and brings some humanity to the political circus that this war has become.
Watch for The Day is Brave to be released on June 6th, 2008, under the Universal/Decca records label, and available at most major outlets. Look for Body of War next week and limited theater listing, see bodyofwar.com for additional details.
03/15/2008 19:26:46
vu
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Johnny Bennett has a new EP out called Red Light Room. All the press material that I've read in my research of this EP is that apparently this EP is a little different: there's pianos. Which doesn't really surprise me as he seems really diverse. Especially considering that he was trained in classical music at the North Carolina School of the Arts.
When he was living in Los Angeles, he formed a band called Fletcher with all the songs written by Johnny Bennett. They were supposed to have sounded like "modern rock with traces of Acoustic Soul".
Red Light Room is a pretty quick listen. The song that stood out for me is the last song, "This Year's Lie". It's really energetic, especially toward the end with the frantic piano playing. This would be a great song to end a live set, leaving the audience to want more.
Bennett is currently based out of Nashville, Tennessee. You can find more information on his myspace page, with all the necessary links to ordering his music online via Snocap (which I have to say that I've used this service before and it's very good).
12/18/2007 10:07:11
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LittleHorse bill themselves as 'America's only double-piano rock band', but I like Boston Globe's assessment better: 'Manhattan Transfer duelling with Queen in the Latin Quarter'. Comprised of two New York brothers, E and Jo 'Yo' Horsley, LittleHorse combines truly impressive piano playing (their duelling version of Flight Of The Bumblebees, deserves your time, if for the passive-aggressive janitor alone) with a really eclectic, boogie-woogie sensibility. And yes, there is a lot of piano involved. Think something you'd find in a cool honky-tonky dive bar- the occasional trumpets, a Latin/cabaret flavour and shades of Ben Folds or Billy Joel on the ivories, with elements of Yes and Jellyfish to taste. Plus they take song inspiration from places like Sherlock Holmes, Bonnie & Clyde and Star Wars- 'I Want Your Love' is based loosely on the Odyssey. It's bouncy melodic rock which doesn't take itself seriously.
They've just released a new album, Strangers In The Valley, available through iTunes and CDBaby, but beyond the release concert for that in October, concert dates appear to be thin on the ground, which is a pity. Sometimes you just get the feeling that a band would be good live, and this is one of those times- despite the problems that would probably come from touring with two pianos.
Official site: www.LittleHorse.net
Myspace: myspace.com/littlehorseband
Buy their album on iTunes
Muzak and lounge versions of punk rock songs are no longer novel. But years before hipster smartarses started churning out their oh-so-ironic versions of punk rock songs, DJ Lebowitz was pounding out on the pianner (instrumentals only) some of my beloved punk rock faves, even exceeding the passion and intensity of the bands he covers.
I first encountered Beware of the Piano – a beat-up old LP which is currently out of print – in the vinyl archives at KUCR on a tip from DJ Tina Bold back in the 90s. I can’t find any graphic on the Internet of a cover of this album, so instead you get a photo of DJ Lebowitz taken from his own website (on the Bruce Latimer Show, photo by Hali McGrath).
But my impaired memory of the album cover was that it was a hand-drawn illustration of a suburban house and yard (maybe my deranged imagination is making this up, but there might’ve been a menacing upright piano stalking along the curb and I think there were also curly vine tendrils creeping along the fence or something). The light greenish tint and hand-drawn illustration brought to mind the illustration for Wally Pleasant’s Houses of the Holy Moly. I seem to remember a story possibly taken from the liner notes about how DJ Lebowitz got into rockin’ the piano. It goes something like this: He always wanted to play a badass instrument like guitar or drums, but his mom made him take piano lessons instead. But he still had the rockin’ desire and got his revenge by reinterpreting punk rock classics into piano songs. That punk.
My two favorite songs off of this LP are the covers of Judy Is a Punk
(The Ramones) and Holiday in Cambodia (The Dead Kennedys). I don’t have much else to say about these songs except they are criminally fun -- oh and the way DJ Lebowitz reproduces the ending of “Pol Pot!” at the end of Holiday in Cambodia is especially delightful.
Vu kindly edited the out-of-print songs from a digitized source (PVC’s radio shows where DJ Lebowitz was a guest) because my computer is shit and I have no time to fanny around until April 14th.
-- Mel
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