17 posts tagged “video”
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12/18/08 Union Pool - Jezebel Music Feature Brooklyn, New York
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01/10/09 Lit Lounge New York, NY 01/16/09 Monkeytown Brooklyn, NY 02/21/09 James Madison University - Cool Aid 09 Harrisonburg, Virginia |
Just in the (Saint) nick of time… (Zing!)
Team Genius releases music video for “Take Me Home”
Let’s recap: indie pop band from New York (by way of the Midwest); two brothers, two sisters, and some unrelated friends; dance-friendly nerdy beats, fun-to-frank (but never derisive) lyrics, merriment, tomfoolery, beers, and, apparently, bears.
The Team recently released a video for “Take Me Home,” off their self-titled debut album. I sat down to watch it and these are my thoughts.
A stream of consciousness stream of “Take Me Home”:
There’s Chad. He looks like a character from Zoobilee Zoo.
Chad’s waiting for the train. He’s just a bear underground, trying to get out of Brooklyn (is that not an existential dilemma we can all relate to?).
People are staring. A man dressed as a bear hardly seems worth a New Yorker’s attention. I would be thankful that he isn’t wiping his bum with a used surgical glove or performing a one-man interpretation of Annie Get Your Gun.
I love that view from the bridge. See it at night and you’ll understand why a rational, college-educated professional would share a pantry-sized apartment with seven music interns just to be in this city.
Chad is in Times Square. I just noticed that his bear hands have thumbs but not fingers, which makes me wonder how he buttons his shirt. Also, is he hairy underneath the shirt? These are serious, important questions.
The mood is exciting at first—Manhattan adventures! Then it becomes somber when Chad gets his camera stolen and is unable to hail a cab and has trouble with a map. What does a man-bear do when he’s feeling down? Does he find a place where everybody knows his name?
Of course.
This video has to be an homage to this video.
Some final thoughts:
“Take Me Home” (the song) is a little world weary and jaded. It seems to be about wanting comfort, sanity, someone to share in the apathy, and escape from the terrible distaste of youth. I get that (high five). The video is a little absurd and (so!) cute, but it doesn’t stray from the song’s message about finding a “home” that fits. In the end, bears need families too! (Even though they are not social animals and are often mean and scary.) Bears, bees, hipsters, whatever, we’re all the same inside (guts and feelings). Thanks, Team Genius!
An invitation:
Did you know that Team Genius is the Monthly Featured Artist at Jezebel Music? Indeed. For a chance to see the members dressed biblically, check out Jezebel’s holiday show Dec. 18 at Union Pool in Brooklyn, NY. While Team G may not officially endorse Christmas, they do encourage the wearing of festive sweaters, moustaches, and large adult diapers. More info can be found at the Jezebel website.
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MusicSkins: Thievery Corporation - Versions 12" Laptop (2007)I hate Pinnacle. The version I have, 10, does not seem to import MP3 anymore (if it does, they all sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks). I'm re-installing it, this would be my 5th time reinstalling it. Why is it so hard to maintain a stable software? I'm disabling its autoupdate as well.
I guess I am in the market for a new video editor (please don't suggest Adobe as I tested their demo out and it doesn't make any sense to me). I just want simple timeline and the ability to edit divx files.
So anyway, the subject for this video is MusicSkins. I tested out their skin for an iPod Nano and there is a picture of what my laptop now looks like.
Most of their music artists they have licensing with are geared towards the youth crowd, but I was surprise to see some musicians and bands that I actually like: Sneaker Pimps and Thievery Corporation.
The video only shows me applying the Sneaker Pimps on and the highlight seems to be me randomly talking about this band and their "6 Underground" song. Also my first impression of what these music skins - mostly good, but there are some minor things I didn't like about it. I didn't like that it didn't protect the sides or the screen (which admittedly most skins/stickers don't protect).
What I love about it is the technology on these skins, seemingly unbreakable and the adhesive is not too aggressive. The technology behind this also minimizes, if not prevent, air bubbles when applying these on. Apparently the skin also functions as a protection from scratches and other problems, since the skin itself is difficult to tear.
As I also mentioned in the video, I did think it fell a little on the expensive side, but having looking at alternatives, I don't think you'll find a better product to showcase your love of music. I can tell you one thing for certain, that my laptop is no longer an embarrassment. It just looks dang cool.
PS, Captain Melody likes our podcast! Hooray! To be honest, we have absolutely no idea what we're doing half the time. Regardless, he wrote:
Weheatmusic has a good podcast on music news, band interview and book reviews
Links:
music-skins.com
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06/10/08 New York NY Joe's Pub
EP Discography
06/20/08 Red Hook NY Bake 06/27/08 Philadelphia PA World Café 07/03/08 Chicago IL Schuba's 07/04/08 Milwaukee WI Summerfest 07/05/08 Des Moines, IA 80-35 Festival 07/08/08 Kansas City MO Record Bar 07/11/08 Minneapolis MN Macy's Day Music 07/12/08 Madison WI The Terrace 07/13/08 Minneapolis MN Bryant Lake Bowl 07/16/08 Nashville, TN The Basement 08/03/08 San Diego CA Anthology 08/04/08 Los Angeles CA Hotel Cafe 09/13/08 Denver CO Monolith Festival
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Courtney Kaiser and Benjamin Cartel, together are KaiserCartel, a pop girl/boy band from Brooklyn, New York. They have a debut album called March Forth coming out June 10th on Bluhammock Music (although wouldn't it have been punny if they released it March fourth?)
Their biography lists that Kaiser's early involvement with music was as promoter and also, notably, as John "Cougar" Mellencamp's backing singer. She eventually moved to New York as an elementary music teacher, which is, I am assuming, where she met Cartel, who was also teacher in the NY area.
It looks like there will be heavy promotion for the new album, with the band already scheduled to appear on local (Minneapolis) station KARE 11 and on the Macy's Day Music. Then they're coming back in a few days to play Bryant Lake Bowl, which is a very tiny, tiny venue.
Apparently this duo loves Minneapolis ("Minneapolis remains our favorite big-small city, and more than anywhere else, a true home-away-from home."), and they even have a "Minneapolis Version" of one of their song, "Favorite Song", appearing on the b-side of Okay... And Other Things We Feel. The mostly Cartel-vocals song is pretty stripped down, compared to the "real" version appearing on their debut album (which features pianos, tambourine, and, what? alarm clock???).
Digging around, I noticed that they offered a free song from their 300 limited EP called Live From BreakThru Radio called "Season Song". It sounds fantastic when performed live, I don't know how they do the whisteling part so clearly and on demand.
The studio version of that song (appearing as the second track on their album) sounds much fuller. You can hear the variety of instruments used in this song: xylophone, bass drums, maracas, clapping (!), and tambourine.
Listening to the album, they do a good mix of girl vs boy songs (when I say this, I mean the main vocals). Here is a breakdown:
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SONG 01. Oh No 02. Season Song 03. Traveling Feet 04. Good Ones 05. The Flood 06. Inside Out 07. Okay 08. The Same 09. Favorite Song 10. Dog Stars 11. Blue Sky 12. Free Will Zone 13. Shira | MAIN SINGER Kaiser Kaiser Cartel Kaiser Cartel Cartel/Kaiser Kaiser Kaiser Cartel Kaiser Kaiser Kaiser Cartel |
As you can quickly see, it's a good mix, with the scale tipping in Kaiser's favor. Incidentally, there is a hidden track on the album, which I think is called "Shira", officially there's only 12 tracks.
I just read that the official single and video for their album will be "Oh No". I just got a chance to view it, it shows off the comfortable couple, complete with chairs, water, hands and yarn.
If you like boy/girl sweet melodies folk/pop music, be on the look out for their debut, March Forth on June 10th, followed by a promotional tour throughout the midwest and the obvious California and New York spots.
Links:
www.kaisercartel.com
myspace.com/kaisercartel
bluhammock.com
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I don't normally do an all-out video posts, but after watching the hilarious Bill O'Reilly blowing his top off and having it "remixed" in a techno dance song, I was inspired to write about it.
So, if you didn't know, O'Reilly lost his temper after having some issues with the teleprompter and somehow the video got leaked on youtube. Like all things online, it's the subject of various parodies and the best one is this dance remix.
This video reminds me of some internet guy taking apart a George Bush speech and making it sound like Bush is singing U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday".
The source of this video is originally taken from the 2003 State of the Union Address, however the crowd shots were not from the same union address. There's no additional information, but you can try and contact the original creator: thepartyparty.com.
And speaking of politics, remember that Barack Obama music video from will.i.am, from The Black Eye Peas? All the lyrics from this song was based on excerpts from Obama's speech from January 2008 at the New Hampshire presidential primary election. You can find all the details at yeswecansong.com.
What I love is that G4TV parodied this video for Cobra Commander (from G.I.Joe). The song made reference to outrageous Cobra plans for world domination and is written by Jonathan Mann, aka GameJew. He's also the person responsible for writing the music to the the hilarious X-Men: The Musical.
COBRALALALA!
Links:
weheartmusic.com
| Tour Dates
04/12/08 Lebananon College Annville, PA
Discography
04/13/08 Wholly Craft Columbus, OH 04/14/08 Dreamland Theater Ypsilanti, MI 04/15/08 Chicago, Illinois 04/16/08 Palindrome House Madison, WI 04/17/08 Belfry Center Minneapolis, MN 04/18/08 Omaha, Nebraska 04/19/08 Manatee Manor Boulder, CO 04/20/08 Rhinoceropolis Denver, CO 04/21/08 Boing Collective Salt Lake City, UT 04/22/08 Sweet House Show Boise, ID 04/23/08 Richland, Washington 04/24/08 Sweet Tree House Vancouver, WA 04/25/08 ABC House Olympia, WA 04/26/08 Vera Project Seattle, WA
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The first time I saw The Terrordactyls's self-titled album, I almost exploded at how cool the pop-up album was! I don't think I've ever seen anything like that before! It was/is beyond cool.
It looks like they've done it again with The Mike Bowers EP. Now I've already listened to all the songs, but it just seems more special to get the package.
First of all, the EP is see-through! It's cooler than what I can describe, you should really watch the video to get the full effect.
On top of that, you also get two baseball-type trading cards of Michael Cadiz & Tyrel Stendahl.
All the songs are covers of The Pharmacy, which I still haven't heard the originals. Although I would hazard a guess that the 'Dactyls version are more stripped down.
As I previously mentioned, I thought the Simon & Garfunklesque "Overcast Summer" is the best song on the EP, but the kazoo (and xylophone?) made "Growing Old" a close second.
The truth is none of these songs are bad!
If you're at all interested in happy lo-fi pop/folky songs (like in the recent Juno soundtrack, especially because of the duet with Kimya Dawson
on "Devices"), you should definitely give The Terrordactyls a try.
They're also in the middle of their Spring tour, and (shock!) they're coming here to Minneapolis. I have no idea where The Belfry Center is, but, trust me, I'll definitely show up.
And although "Prince" isn't about singer/entertainer Prince, I sure hope they dedicate this song to him when they're in Minneapolis.
Pick up some of The Terrordactyls latest EP at Don't Stop Believin' or, I have made it really easy by embedding the "Terrordactyls R Us" store here.
Watch the video:
04/12/2008 21:08:56
vu
my♥posts
www.terrordactyls.com
myspace
Hailing from Denmark, Under Byen will be releasing their live EP, Siamesisk, tomorrow (March 27th).
Originally the five songs were recorded and aired live on both Denmark radio and television, and through special arrangements, the band released this recording on CD/Vinyl in their native country on Feb 18th (US release date is tomorrow).
The EP is only limited to 2,000 CD copies and 500 vinyl copies, so coming across one might be difficult, so I suggest you order it online.
So, I'll tell you a little about the band: apparently the name of the band is Danish for "under the town" (all translations were done via tranexp.com). As heard on this EP, you quickly realize that they employed a wide range of classical instruments, as seen in their grand video for "Den Her Sang Handler Om At Få Det Bedste Ud Af Det".
Their often strange jazz-sound, combined with that oh-so-quiet-voice of singer, Katrine Stochholm, it made me think of (later) Bjork and even Portishead.
Overall, keep an ear and eye out for this EP at your local import store. Should be worth looking into if you love Bjork.
03/26/2008 21:55:04
vu
my♥posts
underbyen.dk
myspace.com
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I caught a brief glimpse at "Новый год" (New Year) on Rocketboom and was so amused by this Russian boy-band, that I had to find out more information on them.
First of all, the band is called Стеклоvата (Steklovata),
and they are from Estonia, not Russia (but they speak and sings in
Russian).
All of their music is available for download on (their official?) the website gosdetstvo.ru. Since I don't speak Russian (and none of the websites out there that had any information were written in English) it was kind of difficult to figure out who they were.
Here are
some facts I was able to gather: they were the project of mastermind composer/creator Sergei Kuznetsov (Сергей Кузнецов). At first he only had
one singer, Dienis Bielikin (Денис Беликин), but added Artur Jeriemiejew (Артур Еремеев) to the team. I believe both boys were aged 13.
They released three albums between 2001 to 2005, and ultimately are no longer together... but I suspect they are still making music under different groups and projects.
What's interesting about "Новый год" is that video features two additional singers, I believe one of them is called Siergiej Diadiun (Сергей Дядюн) and the other is not known to me. It is definitely not Kuznetsov, as he appears on one of their album cover and he appears to be over the age of 40.
I would really appreciate if any readers could provide me with additional information on this Eurodisco boy-band.
03/01/2008 10:02:04
vu
my♥posts
gosdetstvo.ru/steklovata
| Dereks wrote: Wed, Mar 5, 2008 at 6:31 AM |
[this is good] Oh-ho-ho-ho))))))
Well, since I Russian is literally my second native language (Ukraine is fully bilingual), I can tell you a lot.
Basically, I don't know who exactly discovered them, but on the Runet, they became something like a big meme. Like Tay Zonday's Chocolate Rain.
You know, in general they are nothing special at all. They band is just another example of "Ласковый Май" (Laskoviy May / Gentle May) trend that exploded at the down of the USSR era. Laskoviy May was purely commercial project. One producer created a band of orphan boys with very tearful luscious glossy lyrics. In general it was a normal success of another pop-band. But since all the boys were of pre-pubertal age, all of them had almost similar high voices. You just needed another boy under the age of 12 with basic musical skills and he would sound indistinguishable from the original "Laskoviy Maj". Thus by the end of the 80's there were literally dozens of same bands of orphan boys performing all over Russia. Sometimes they even went under the same names.
So Steklovata is part of that "orphan-band" movement, which still sometimes emerges in small province cities. But their feature, that turned them into a meme is their name. Steklovata in Russian means "glass wool". As you see, it's nothing sweet and glossy in that title. Moreover, they have a song, which goes under the same title. The lyrics in translation are something like that:
It's all your own fault, you're thorny like glass wool, glass wool, glass wool, our love turned to be evil, 'cause you're like glass wool.
Also they are using some elements of low-class language, criminal slang, which also promoted them to their success (in terms of becoming a meme, of course).
Video website Stage6 shuts down, citing enormous costs to maintain its services:
Stage6 to Shut Down on February 28
Posted 13 hours ago (2/25/08 5:07AM PST) by Spinner | Comments (7921)I’m Tom (aka Spinner), a Stage6 user and an employee of DivX, Inc., the company behind the service. I’m writing this message today to inform you that we plan to shut down Stage6 on February 28, 2008. Upload functionality has already been turned off, and you’ll be able to view and download videos until Thursday.
I know this news will come as a shock and disappointment to many Stage6 users, and I’d like to take a few moments to explain the reasons behind our decision.
We created Stage6 with the mission of empowering content creators and viewers to discover a new kind of video experience. Stage6 began as an experiment, and we always knew there was a chance that it might not succeed.
In many ways, though, the service did succeed, beyond even our own initial expectations. Stage6 became very popular very quickly. We helped gain exposure for some talented filmmakers who brought great videos to the attention of an engaged community. We helped prove that it’s possible to distribute true high definition video on the Internet. And we helped broaden the Internet video experience by offering content that is compatible with DVD players, mobile devices and other products beyond the PC.
[ Read more Stage6 to Shut Down on February 28 ]
W♥M does have an account on there, mostly because I was looking for an alternative to youtube.
I spent many, many hours watching various music videos on the website (mostly videos from foreign countries).
The best part about Stage6 was you could download the video. So check out these two videos I grabbed off Stage6: GO!GO!7188 - Jet Ninjin and Alizee - La Isle Bonita (Madonna cover).
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:)
02/26/2008 00:00:40
vu
my♥posts
weheartmusic.com
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David Martin would like to remind you that today, February 14th, is Valentine's Day. His debut album, Something In Your Eyes around Valentine's Day last year.
This year, it looks like Russell Stover and Whitman's Chocolate partnered up with Martin to produce these music candy boxes (see my video on how it works) for sale at Walgreens. What's truly amazing is that the last music artist they had on their chocolate boxes was Elvis. (I wonder which Elvis song they used?)
Anyway, back to Something In Your Eyes. According to his biography, he basically recorded this album from love letters to his wife.
What I love about music is that it always comes back to relationships. I've done my best to be honest about love in my music. The deepest love I've experienced is on the other side of forgiveness. For me, true love is worth whatever it costs. I hope my songs spark a greater love for others.
- David Martin
If you like this song, "Something In Your Eyes", you can download it from his website.
Something In Your Eyes is available now at Amazon and his digital single, "Fall La La in Love" is available on iTunes.
Enjoy your Valentine's Day.
02/14/2008 08:28:55
vu
my♥posts
davidmartin.com
myspace.com
Band Members
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Polynya are from North Carolina... and that's pretty much all I know about this band! I thought they were a new band, but I was told that the recording of their debut album took about "4 fastidious years". Which only means that the band were together at least four years ago.
Judging from the photographs of their myspace that they seem like a really close-knit bunch of friends. Their debut self-titled album is only $10, see details on their official website.
So, it seems maybe Luke is the primary song writer and music arranger. It's also interesting to note that two of the band members also DJs at the college station in Chapel Hill (WXYC), so I think they're very well versed in the college music scene.
So the first thing that struck me is how much the singer's vocals (I think it's Amelia) sound like Rose Melberg (from Tiger Trap). Their sound like is a sweet indie pop, with some great harmonies. Sometime Luke jumps in and sings as well, so they have a great girl-boy sound that reminds me of Velocity Girl.
I like the opening song, "Old West", a lot. I think there's three layers of different vocals on this song. It's also best listened to with headphones because there's some music and noise that exists independently on either left or right headphones.
I also remember liking "Sweatshop" a lot. The sound on this song sounds a bit noisy and low-fi, which I liked. You can preview their whole album on their website.
Lastly, can someone explain to me why downloading the album costs much more than buying the physical CD? According to my calculations, if you download the album from Digstation (not to be confused with Diggnation), it will cost you $12.87 - while the physical CD with Shipping & Handling has a grand total of $10. If anything, because there's no cost of pressing the cd, printing the sleeve and shipment, digital sales should be much lower.
So, yes, buy the physical CD is my recommendation by sending an email to 
(image).
If you like what you heard, they are in the process of recording their next album, which I'm told will sound pretty similar to this album.
Watch my mispronouncing of their name on the second video:
Other bands mentioned: Finespun, more detail on their EP later, in the meantime, check out: finespunmusic.com.
12/06/2007 22:02:24
vu
my♥posts
www.polynya.info
myspace.com
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