obscure cello covers ‘r us
Friday music roundup
Here’s what I’ve been listening to recently:
Atoms For Peace - AMOK
It’s good. Kinda all the same song, but like nine really good versions of the same song.
Appleseed Cast - Illumination Ritual
Great shimmery midwestern indie rock with long instrumental passages. This is the latest in a long discography, and I expect it will get overlooked, which is a shame - it’s one of their best. Definitely buy this one if you can, it will help them recover from a bad van accident that destroyed a lot of their gear.
Cool, spare techno, great accompaniment for both zoning out or intense focus on a task.
Bandcamp featured this German producer/DJ’s newest on its homepage recently. Awesome stuff based on samples of 60s psychedelic records - kind of reminds me of a psych version of early DJ Shadow.
John Vanderslice - Dagger Beach
John’s latest Kickstarter-funded album is delightful, especially the track “Song for David Berman”
Daft Punk - (most of) Random Access Memories
I listened to most of this on iTunes the other day. It’s a monumental achievement. I like the music despite the fact that most of the genres they explore typically induce my projectile-vomit reflex. They succeed in revealing the joy and humanity of early disco & 70s/80s pop, without falling into the trap of indiscriminate tribute to the shitty side of that era, like so many indie bands of late. Good job, guys.
BY THE WAY the best place to get recommendations and explore friends’ music collections is the new Bandcamp fan area, let’s be friends there! http://bandcamp.com/trisloth
So unbelievably happy about this release. It’s the most excited I’ve ever been to play on an album, aside from the Office Of Future Plans LP. Click through to sign up for their mailing list and be the first to know when the pre-order launches.
We are working with a new, very amazing band to release their two albums on cassette. We will be announcing all the details in the very near future!
Hint: Washington, DC; Savory; Drums.
YESSSSS this is awesome. BELLS≥ on cassette! if you squint you can see me in the top right of this picture - it was one of the shows I joined in, opening for The Dismemberment Plan in NYC. Such a great time.
Musicians may be afforded the luxury of dressing and acting the same way they did when they were younger, but that doesn’t make them exempt from the growing-up process. No other industry—besides film, at least—would support someone seeking a benefactor to bankroll major life choices. The problem here—and with the crowd-funding model in general—boils down to acts like Eisley and Bowerbirds wanting to have it both ways. They like their label when it comes to promotion and distribution, but when it comes to budgets they are suddenly helpless….
There’s nothing wrong with going to fans for help, but it’s a fine line between asking for encouragement and being exploitative. Although it’s encouraging to see fans pony up thousands of dollars to support an act they believe in, it’s important that bands keep their requests reasonable and the rewards fair if this symbiotic relationship is going to sustain itself for years to come.
“
| — |
http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-crowdfunding-conundrum-the-line-between-bringi,97910/ This is probably the best essay on the ethics of Kickstarter music projects that I’ve read. |
You know how it is, right, ladies? You know a guy for a while. You hang out with him. You do fun things with him—play video games, watch movies, go hiking, go to concerts. You invite him to your parties. You listen to his problems. You do all this because you think he wants to be your friend.
But…Oh, this is brilliant and wonderful!
This is perfect. If flipping the gender in something makes it seem absurd, well then maybe it was absurd all along.
Remember, “mens’ rights” = “women are not humans”. You should actively shame anyone you hear espousing toxic views!
I signed up to do a drone version of this amazingly awful 1985 adult-contemporary hit for this year’s Now That’s What Your Parents Call Drone compilation!! I am very excited to drive myself completely insane listening to the original 80 times in a row as I perfect an obfuscated, time-stretched cello version of that cringe-worthy soprano sax melody.
In case you missed it, last summer a bunch of ambient/drone/other musicians put out Now That’s What I Call Drone Vol 1. I was honored to have my cello drone version of Rihanna’s We Found Love lead it off. Listen here: http://twinfreaxx.bandcamp.com/album/now-thats-what-i-call-drone-vol-1
Really psyched that a song I play cello on (Lemuria’s “Oahu, Hawaii”) is featured on today’s All Songs Considered! Make sure to get this album when it comes out, it’s gonna be great. J. Robbins produces!
Okay, so I’ve been posting about a certain someone’s Kickstarter quite a bit recently while otherwise neglecting this blog (finals are over, so I shall return this week). I rarely, if ever, endorse anything on this blog, but I truly believe that Joshua Dent deserves to make this album. I only have a glimmer of understanding of how it is to be a professional cellist, but I do believe that if there is no fraternity in music, then it cannot be made.
In this spirit, I ask you to at least check out this page, watch the video, as well as music samples, and share all of these things with friends/family/followers even if you cannot/do not contribute! His music is really phenomenal and inspiring, and he’s an excellent person of character. I really want to see him succeed in this. The page has six days left and I believe that he can make it.
Thank you!
—D
Just pledged to this. Cello family, activate!
I’ve lowered the price for Dark Side Of The Moon On Cello 180-gram vinyl and CDs. There aren’t that many vinyl copies left, and I doubt this will ever be re-pressed (never at 180-gram, anyway).
Use your primary mouse button to navigate to: http://gordonwithers.bandcamp.com/album/dark-side-of-the-moon-on-cello
So the single most stunning fact about the Boston bombing, to me, is how much we care about it relative to similar attacks going on in countries all around the world — a significant number of which clearly do have to do with us, our leaders, our shopping habits, and our moral innocence or culpability. Tonight there are no candle-light vigils for anyone other than the victims of Monday’s attack, as far as I know, and that is something worth thinking about.
If there were one thing I would say you should do with this observation, it’s this: take the anger, the solidarity, the sympathy, and every other emotion you have about the Boston Marathon bombings, and put it to work. Use your understanding of this event as a lens for understanding how other people think and feel, when they suffer. Then, the next time something tragic happens — and there will be more tragedies — do the same thing, again. If you do — if everyone does — I believe it will not be too long before people start to see things from the point of view of other people or groups. And on the margin, over time, events like these will become less common.
“
| — | Read this: http://jacobageller.com/2013/04/the-single-most-stunning-fact-about-the-boston-bombing/ |
