21 posts tagged “music”
I stumbled across an artist by the name of 'Brad Sucks' recently and thought I'd pass him along to you, my adoring public.
All none of you.
According to Wikipedia, that internet bastion of knowledge, Brad Sucks was one of the first few artists to utilize the Creative Commons license for his music distribution.
Posting his music online for free, as well as making the audio tracks fully available for any remixing that might be done by the general public, his original aim was to create 'open source music.' This, alone, is something that makes him worthy of mention.
I don't think it takes a genius to recognize that the music industry is in the middle of a major paradigm shift. The public wants their music for cheap (or for free), and they have the means to get it that way. Record Labels and Distributors, having always functioned as the middle-man between the producer and the consumer, are left with little to do but try to sue anyone who recognizes and takes advantage of the business-model shift.
I have the sneaking suspicion that artists like Brad Sucks will become more and more common in the near future. At least, until the music industry can figure out a way to continue making money in a world now fueled by high-speed internet connections - all navigated by crafty digital pirates.
Beyond that, Brad Sucks doesn't really suck that much. Give him a listen and try to tell me I'm wrong.
I'd like to bring you a musical reference that I suggest you follow up on.
Like the Devil Makes Three, I first discovered the Avett Brothers over at theSixtyOne.com. They only had one song posted over there at the time (they still do), but it was enough to get me hooked. They've got the kind of feel that makes me want to pay them to write the soundtrack to my life right now. Or maybe just follow me around for a day.
Unfortunately, my 'pay people to hang out with me and write music' budget is sorely lacking lately, what with gas prices being high as they are. Instead, I'm resigned to merely playing them as loud and as often as possible. It's rare to find a band these days who can draw a picture with their lyrics, let alone convince me to wander out into the light of day to purchase a concert ticket - and these guys can do both.
Give them a listen. You'll be glad you did.
I hate the use the term 'rockabilly' because I end up conjuring up images of one those guys with a pack of cigarettes rolled into his sleeve on one arm and his fat girlfriend hanging on the other. However, it seems that this is the style that most people are labeling this band with. Personally, I'd call it 'folk-rock-blues' or 'alternative-country,' but I also happen to hate the type of people who spend hours trying to come up with some kind of clever music-label hybrid genre (mostly because I used to be one of those people).
Whatever it is that you would label The Devil Makes Three, it's awesome.
Lyrically, this song is about drinking whiskey in heaven. Jack Daniels whiskey, to be precise. Personally, I'm not much of a whiskey guy, but this is the kind of tune that makes you want to pick a fight before pulling up to the bar to demand a glass. Whether you would actually win a bar fight is your problem, it's the song that's important.
Give it a listen, would ya? I don't really have much more to say on the matter because I want to get back to listening to the full album, now. And maybe picking a fight while I do it.
Long time no Vox, eh?
The delay, I'm afraid, stems from the mental block that is the end of a semester for me. Sure, I don't have finals until next week - but all those projects that I was avoiding back in October and November have finally come back to bite me in the ass.
You'll be glad to know (or maybe you won't), though, that I've already drafted a few New Year's Resolutions to consider for 2008. I don't want to give any of them away just yet, but suffice it to say that 'posting with more frequency' is on the list. There's no reason why I can't manage my time as a full-time student and a full-time employee while blathering on and on about meaningless topics in my freetime, is there?
As a sign of good-faith I thought I'd give you some advice about the Christmas music that you're listening to. If you're sick of hearing those old crooners belt out 'Jingle Bells' and 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,' it might be time for you to check out SomaFM. It's an online radio site that started out in someone's basement in San Francisco. They boast a pretty well-rounded collection of stations available for your listening pleasure - most importantly, they boast two fine Christmas stations that I'm certain you'll find as gay as I do.
('Gay' as in 'Christmas happy,' not 'San Francisco happy.')
I'm not usually one to get too excited about this type of stuff, but I rather enjoyed SomaFM's broadcasts and thought that maybe it'd be something worth sharing. There's no better feeling than having Jessica Alba knock on your door wearing little more than wrapping paper. Just slightly less exciting, but awesome nonetheless, is the feeling of basking in the soft glow of your Christmas tree with a glass full of egg-nog and Baileys in hand only to discover that SomaFM has a copy of Tenacious D's 'What I Want' in rotation.
And, let's be honest, Jessica Alba has no idea where you live, loser. Might as well get out the egg-nog now.
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Guaranteed signs that your professor is a scatter-brained hippie who spent a little too much time dancing naked in the mud at Grateful Dead concerts back in the day: she sits cross-legged the entire class on the front desk while addressing you, the syllabus is about five pages long (and none of it makes any real sense), she has advice for you that you could have gotten off of any homeless bastard on the street, and she's teaching a course for the counseling department.
I had planned on doing the 'personality tests' that the aforementioned professor required for homework this week, but LiveJournal-esque meme tests just don't seem like something I'd be too interested in at the moment. That and I'm about four bottles of Blue Moon's seasonal 'Harvest Moon' pumpkin ale into the evening. So, without further adieu: some inebriated ramblings.
First things first, the 'Harvest Moon' seasonal brew from Blue Moon brewing is excellent.
No, scratch that. It's amazing.
This stuff is smooth and strong while, somehow, not overwhelming in it's flavoring. A manlier man than I would go on about tasting the hops in the brew, and what that has to do with anything. I, however, remain blissfully ignorant of how beer is brewed and what ingredients make it taste like vomit while others make it taste like angels pissed it down from heaven. But, rest assured, that this stuff is certainly closer to the angel piss end of the spectrum.
Go to your local grocery store or, if you live in a state whose laws prevent the sale of alcohol at such a fine establishment, make your way to someplace that sells beer. Buy yourself a six pack of this stuff. If you don't like it, please, drop me a line. I'll come by to pick up your leftover unused bottles sometime tomorrow afternoon.
Beyond that, for those of you still actually reading this garbled nonsense still, I have something else to praise for the evening. Have you ever bothered to stop by Last.FM before? If not, I suggest you drag your sorry ass that direction as soon as you can. I'd even give you my account name, but I don't know if you're the type of person I can trust with personal information like that. However, just believe me when I say that this website is the kind of social network worth having. At least it is for us music buffs out there. You see, the site will keep track of whatever music you happen to listen to on your computer. For those of us (music buffs, like I said) who boast collections of 1GB+ mp3 collections, this is the sort of thing that could come in handy. It's a place that will provide you with details on your listening habits. It'll give you the proof that, indeed, you are the coolest kid on the block with the best taste in music since Beethoven first sat down at his piano to write. I've even gone so far as to subscribe to their service because the personal radio station that they provide for you is so damned perfect. I couldn't have created a playlist more fitting from my own collection. Really.
For $3 a month, who could ask for more?
My girlfriend is the kind of sexy that shows up after a long week of work and classes with surprise tickets to see Daniel Johnston in concert. Unfortunately, this means that I'll have to postpone the Personal Finance Friday entry I had intended for today until tomorrow.
But, because I don't want you to end up losing any sleep over the absence of content today, I leave you with yet another Daniel Johnston favorite of mine. It's a little ditty by the name of 'Big Business Monkey.' For more, I've also got 'Walking the Cow' still posted here for your listening pleasure.
See you tomorrow.
- Completed my summer class in style.
- Hosted Scrambler Biggs and his wife, Milly Biggs, in my living room.
- Got my greasy, music-pirating hands on a copy of Spoon's new album, 'Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.'
Chris
Merritt's new album, 'Hello, Little
Captain,' brings to mind a seemingly common nightmare for me.
You know the one I'm talking about - you're bent over your little desk, No. 2 pencil in hand, not sure if you should be
filling in the circle for answer 'A' or answer 'C' on your ScanTron sheet.
That's when, suddenly, you realize that you can feel the cold plastic curve of
your chair making direct contact with the skin of your buttock. In a panic, you
quickly think back to that morning and don't recall ever putting any pants on.
You take a quick glance at your lap to verify and, to your horror, you realize
your mistake. Those little bubbles on the ScanTron don't seem so damned
important anymore. Your eyes dart frantically around the room to see if anyone
else has noticed your exposed flesh and, as if on cue, people start to turn and
look. Without missing a beat, you jump out of the seat, shirtcocking it out of
the room as fast as you can. Once out in the hallway, you can hear everyone in
the classroom murmuring about your awkward appearance, some of them laughing.
You feel the entire surface of your skin blush bright red. The bell rings and
students begin to pour out classroom doorways as far as the eye can see, all of
them laughing and pointing at you as you desperately try to cover up your
exposed flesh. That's when you discover that your shirt's gone missing, too.
Oh, god.
This is the point at which
you’re most likely to wake up from this particular nightmare, covered in sweat
and feeling horrible.
Well,
that's what this little album does for me. Only, instead of some nondescript
classroom from my high school, this time I'm at an all girls' school somewhere in the mountainous
countryside of Sweden. And it just so happens that I'm the only one who
remembered to put on clothes that morning. Darn the luck.
Yes, folks, this
album makes me feel very good, indeed.
So, with that glowing review in mind, may I be the first to unveil to the world Chris Merritt's latest masterpiece, 'Hello, Little Captain' in all it's rock and roll glory:
001. The Palace Flophouse
Without a doubt, using this song as the introductory piece for the entire album was a good choice. After listening to this track, you get a pretty good idea of what you're in for with the rest of the album - and you're in for some good stuff.
For those of you that were wondering, yes, it's a song about a book. John Steinbeck's 'Cannery Row,' to be specific. If you've never read it before, you definitely should.
Allow me to repeat myself on this one:
...This song is one that Chris originally recorded a number of years ago for a demo he released, but later couldn't decipher the lyrics for...Chris opted to start improvising the lyrics live at shows. The results always turned out to be entertaining enough to continue playing in his live sets...
To my recollection, this song has been in the hopper for about two years now. My best guess is that this song is about a girl. A girl with hands.
You know how they are.
004. Virginia
By far, 'Virginia' is one of the most powerful songs on the album. It kind of makes you want to turn down the lights and settle into a good, cold beer.
Call me crazy, but the melody on the verses have a distinct Frank Black flavor to them.
Another literature-related song. The original story behind this song, 'Beowulf' happens to be one of the most well known examples of Anglo-Saxon literary work. It also happens to be a pretty badass story.
If you close your eyes and listen closely during the guitar solo at the end, you should be able to hear the clinking of ancient Scandinavian beer steins (or whatever they drank out of back then).
Chris first wrote this song as part of an assignment for a songwriting class. He got an A+. Go figure.
Funny sidenote: his professor in that songwriting class was convinced that John Mayer was the second coming. What a mistake to make! Everyone knows that God hates John Mayer.
Another song about a girl. She probably has hands, too.
I hear a lot of Frank Black in this one, too.
I can't even count the number of conversations that Chris and I have had regarding the distinct difference in the way that the concept of space is perceived in southern California as compared to our upbringing in the backwoods of northern Virginia. From what I can tell, this song's about overpopulation and all the joys that come with it.
Another song about a girl. That, or it's about a guy.
Beautiful song, either way. Don't you agree?
Chris is normally pretty comfortable with showing me his songs when they're still in the early stages - but I had to coax him into letting me hear this one in its entirety. Frankly, I think that Chris feels this song to be a little too close to his heart. Luckily, he came to terms with his sensitivity about the subject matter of this song and included it in the album. I don't cry a lot when it comes to music, but I was sobbing the first time I had the chance to listen to this one. If you really believe in the power of music, open your heart and your mind to this song. I think it could change your life. Really.
And there you have it, everyone: my Swedish girls-school fantasy.
And some rock and roll.
Feel free to tell all of your friends about this post, link to it from your fancy little blog, or just pretend that you wrote it yourself. Whatever makes you feel like you did something to help bring a true artist one step closer to his ultimate dream of world rock&roll domination.
If my association with Chris doesn't make you too wary of him, perhaps you would consider pre-ordering the album off of him. You can find it for sale on his MySpace page - just scroll down a bit and click on the 'Buy Now' button located in the left-hand column. The first 150 orders get a fancy CD with a bunch of demo songs on it. Now doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?
Yesterday I didn't make a post.
I've come to grips with that and would like to apologize to Scrambler, my arch-blogging-nemesis for my temporary lapse in judgment. However, I've got a decent excuse: I spent my evening with Chris discussing the possibility of previewing his as-of-yet unreleased album right here on my Vox. We also had a beer or two. It was a busy night, dontchaknow.
So, when I get home from work later today, I plan on not only providing you with this weeks installation of 'Tuesdays With Big Brother (on a Wednesday),' but also with a full 14 track preview of Chris Merritts new album, 'Hello, Little Captain.'
And, while I realize that most of you probably haven't bothered to check out the fine samples of his work that I've posted in the past, I implore you to give it a chance this time around. Think of this as a way to pay penance for that Limp Bizkit album you bought in your reckless youth, or an opportunity to counterbalance the fact that you used to sing along to Dashboard Confessional because you thought that girls might think you're more sensitive for it. This is your chance to right the wrongs you've committed against your tortured eardrums, with all the garbage you've forced them to suffer through over the years.
This is the taste of freedom, ladies and gents, and I'd be remiss to keep it from you.
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