wax&wires

New Beach House Track – White Moon

admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 18:45:48 +0000

Beach House released a new live session on iTunes today, very delicious. It features a new track, White Moon, which you can hear below; as well as live versions of songs from both Teen Dream and Devotion.

During the week or two of sound-checks leading up to the recording, we worked through the songs and attempted to rewrite them with fewer and different tones. Listeners can judge whether or not we were able to make these ‘stripped-down’ versions mean something.

- Alex Scally – Beach House

I like the new takes on a lot of the tracks, especially Real Love, which was one of my favorite songs from Teen Dream. The minimal approach to this EP brings the listeners ears right to Victoria Legrand’s vocal, a stark difference from the studio albums, which paint landscapes of textured sound with less of a strict focal point in the mix.

Check it out, and be sure to give White Moon a listen here:
Beach House – White Moon (Itunes Session) by subpop

Ray LaMontagne – Stream The Upcoming Album FREE

admin — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 21:47:09 +0000

You can stream the new album, Ray Lamontagne and the Pariah Dogs – God Willin’ and The Creek Don’t Rise for free here. You can also buy it for just $3.99 on Amazon TODAY.

Courtesy Of: Sony Music & Exclaim

Ray will be touring with David Gray, both in support of new albums coming next Tuesday. You can be sure I’ll be catching that one.

[via Exclaim]

LaMontagne recently told Exclaim! that, while he’s not too keen on co-headlining bills, he feels the combo with Gray will give people their money’s worth. “We opened for [Gray] years ago, I think after our second record,” LaMontagne says. “I’ve never felt that fans really want to spend more money to see two shows when they can spend a little less to just see you. But in this case we were all hopeful that the fans of each of us would be into it. Judging by how ticket sales have been going, that appears to be the case. I’m excited about it just because I’m a fan of David’s. I think he’s amazing.”

So far, there’s only one Canadian stop, at Toronto’s Molson Canadian Amphitheatre on August 27. However, intrepid fans might want to hold out until November when LaMontagne has a handful of dates slated with roots rock legend Levon Helm.

“That will be a special co-billed tour, very short, on the East coast,” LaMontagne says. “I met Levon for the first time when we were both on Elvis Costello’s TV show, and then I played at his 70th birthday bash up at Mountain Jam. After that we started putting this tour together, some select places, and it’s something we’re all obviously very excited about doing.”

SubPop Finally Realizes What Music is Worth: Nothing

admin — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 15:52:12 +0000

I first referenced this concept over a year ago, when talking about the resurrection of the album. Ultimately, the premise becomes: “Like it or not, your music is free. Now, what can you sell that’s attached to your free music?” A bare minimum, as Trent Reznor suggests, would be to trade your music for something like an email address, like on noisetrade. As we’ve come to realize more and more over the past few years with data mining and all that, information about people is VERY valuable. Each email address is a sales lead for concert tickets, promotional events, and a myriad of other means to sell a product… just not your music.

Here, SubPop is one of the first decent-sized labels to begin to realize the futility of fighting for music sales in themselves, and starting to adjust their business model accordingly.

[via hypebot]

From early Nirvana through Mudhoney and on to Fleet Foxes and The Postal Service, indie label Sup Pop has been putting out interesting and often fabulous music for decades. But just like the rest of the recorded music industry, they’re having trouble these days getting people to pay for it.

To combat the problem, the venerable indie label is considering flipping the basic music sales proposition on its head. “Although Sub Pop is primarily known for its many fine artists and their really very fine recordings (also grunge), we’re not at all opposed to expanding into the fine world of t-shirts, hats, beer cozies, and key chains,” says Sub Pop general manager, Megan Jasper. “We used to give many of these tchotchke items away for free in an effort to entice people to pay for the music, but we’re considering flipping our strategy so that people pay for the toy and receive the music for free.”
Indie bands have already been experimenting with the concept of bundling downloads with a physical item, but this would be the first time that a substantial label made the shift.

Selling “A Thing Associated With The Music”

Jeff Kleinsmith, Sub Pop’s longtime art director already has a few unusual ideas for bringing Jasper’s sales strategy to market. ”Regardless of age, there’s always going to be people who prefer to touch and make stuff that’s like, physical,” says Kleinsmith. “CDs may end up being little books. We’ve talked about this at work, where you might spend the time to do a cool package, it just doesn’t have a disc in it. And instead of a disc, you’ve got a little piece of paper that says ‘go here for your download.’ So you’re getting everything about it except for that plastic disc, you know. I would love to see that.”  But Kleinsmtih’s creative juices are just getting warmed up, “That could be a magazine, it could be a shirt, it could be a sticker on a banana, it could be anything, really, that has that download. It could be a poster, a thing associated with this music.”

Wax Pick: Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

admin — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:02:36 +0000

You know what’s up. Amazon has Arcade Fire’s brand new album on sale today for $3.99. Seriously, less than 4 bucks. Forgo your coffee today and snag some great music.

Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

Wax Pick: The Temper Trap – Conditions

admin — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:13:35 +0000

I saw these UK-based Aussies live on that Bonnaroo web stream I posted a while back, and am going to try to catch them this next week in San Diego.

They’ve got a great space in their compositions, never crowding songs with more instrumentation than needed. Soft and tender falsetto vocals carry the emotion behind reverb saturated guitars and pads on tracks like Sweet Disposition and Love Lost (the two best tracks IMO). All the while, droning percussive tones keep the menacing anxiety and anticipation high throughout. Heavy drums and sassy vox mark other tracks like Fader, rounding out the album nicely. Once you hear a couple of their works you might start to recognize them as the band that’s been getting airtime behind just about every one of your favorite TV shows and a few commercials to boot.

If you’re a fan of Kings of Leon, and I know you are, be sure to snag this one for $5 on Amazon.

The Temper Trap – Conditions

Google Streaming Music Service Rumored By Fall

admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:46:14 +0000

[Via CNET]

With the iTunes’ banner waving supremely over the digital music landscape, Google continues to build its own music service, CNET has learned.

According to multiple music industry sources, Google could launch a music service that offers song downloads and streaming music as early as this fall.

Google has already signaled that it wishes to give users of phones equipped with Google’s Android operating system a better music offering. At Google’s I/O conference last month, the search engine offered attendees a demonstration of a Web-based iTunes competitor. Also TechCrunch reported two weeks ago that it discovered a “Google Music” logo hosted on Google’s domain.

But Google’s plans go beyond Android, say music sector insiders. CNET has learned that Google first stoked excitement among executives at some of the top four major labels during the Consumer Electronics Show in January. That’s where they revealed some of the features that a Google music store might include, such as tying digital downloads and streaming music to Google’s search results.

Google did not respond to interview requests.

Read Full Article…

Bonnaroo Free Webcast

admin — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 20:15:32 +0000

All the music and none of the mud makes this the best way to experience Bonnaroo. YouTube and Ford have teamed up to stream (live and tape-delayed) video from this year’s Bonnaroo festival.

Artists include The National, Tori Amos, Tenacious D, Regina Spektor, John Fogerty, Weezer, Jay-Z, Kings of Leon, LCD Soundsystem, Norah Jones, and a ton more.

Check it out: youtube.com/bonnaroo

FREE Sub Pop Sampler

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 18:00:07 +0000

Snag this free album from Sub Pop on Amazon, featuring artists like Wolf Parade, Beach House, and The Album Leaf.

Digital Bang: The 2010 Sub Pop Sampler

How To Destroy Angels – The Space in Between

admin — Sat, 15 May 2010 05:51:34 +0000

Here’s the latest from Trent Reznor’s new group, How To Destroy Angels. Dig the song, and the cinematography, the video kind of gives me the creeps though… not gonna lie. Wait for the end.

RIAA Victory Over LimeWire – The Implications

admin — Fri, 14 May 2010 16:43:58 +0000

I actually thought the best article on the subject was over at Ars, but below are a few other synopsis.

Via The Daily Swarm:

CNET:

The court decision could represent the biggest threat to online file sharing in years. According to a survey by the NPD Group, LimeWire users account for 58 percent of the people who said they downloaded music from a peer-to-peer service last year. AtCNET‘s Download.com, the LimeWire software has been downloaded more than 200 million times. In the last week alone, the software was downloaded nearly 340,000 times….Wood’s ruling could at the very least mean a shift in the downloading habits of millions.

Mediamemo:

A big victory for Big Music: A federal court has ruled in favor of the music labels in their fight against LimeWire, one of the most prominent file-sharing services on the Web….What does this mean for the music industry? Assuming Wood’s ruling stands, this one will definitely feel good for the labels, and it would have been a very big deal had they lost. But it certainly won’t help them in fighting less formally organized P2P services or those set up outside the U.S.

TechDirt:

As you can see from the ruling, LimeWire never really had a chance….Of course that doesn’t mean this isn’t troubling in many ways. In fact, it reiterates many of the problems with the original Grokster ruling. For example, it mentions things like the fact that LimeWire folks knew that LimeWire could be used to transfer copyrighted works. But that’s meaningless. Email can be used for transferring copyrighted works.FTP too. The web as well.

Either way, I’m still wondering if…it’s possible to create a system for more efficiently sharing files that doesn’t violate the inducement standard…The law should not be set up in a way to outright ban a technology that has a wide variety of useful applications, and is used for plenty of legitimate purposes, even if it’s also used (even if regularly used) for infringing purposes.

RIAA CEO Mitch Bainwol’s Statement/Victory Lap:

“This definitive ruling is an extraordinary victory for the entire creative community. The court made clear that LimeWire was liable for inducing widespread copyright theft….“LimeWire is one of the largest remaining commercial peer-to-peer services. Unlike other P2P services that negotiated licenses, imposed filters or otherwise chose to discontinue their illegal conduct following the Supreme Court’s decision in the Grokster case, LimeWire instead thumbed its nose at the law and creators. The court’s decision is an important milestone in the creative community’s fight to reclaim the Internet as a platform for legitimate commerce. By finding LimeWire’s CEOpersonally liable, in addition to his company, the court has sent a clear signal to those who think they can devise and profit from a piracy scheme that will escape accountability….We are gratified by the court’s careful and thorough analysis of the facts and applicable law.”

VIDEO: Nashville Flood Damage At Musicians Hall Of Fame

admin — Fri, 14 May 2010 16:28:39 +0000

Why this flood hasn’t garnered more attention from national media, I’m not quite sure. The Tennessean has a post up, including many photos, surveying the damage to some legendary pieces of music history.

You can read the full post here. Poke around on the rest of their site to see even more photos, and read some encouraging stories of artists helping out.

For ways in which you can lend a hand, please visit hon.org. You can register to volunteer, or donate funds via the tabs on the left. You can also follow on twitter @HONashville.

Wax Pick: Phantogram – Eyelid Movies

admin — Fri, 07 May 2010 18:40:29 +0000

I like to go to the record store. My local shop happens to be M-Theory, and every other trip or so I’ll just ask Rick what’s good, and then give it a go. That’s how I found Beach House, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and more recently, Phantogram.

I’ve been squatting on this pick for a few months, since I felt like I was bombarding you guys with pick after pick without putting up much other content. I just caught this New York duo when they were in town last week with The Antlers. It was a great show and I would definitely try to catch them live if they’re coming near your town.

The Music Video Re-Revolution

admin — Thu, 06 May 2010 16:11:58 +0000

It’s no surprise that in the age of Jersey Shore and Celebrity Fit Club, the music video has long been evicted from the television airwaves. It didn’t take long for the likes of YouTube and MySpace to provide a new residence for artists though; you could almost mark the eras as before and after OK Go. Now, three short years after that game-changing video went viral, what is the status of the music video as an art form?

The music video has become an integral part of web presence, and web presence has become an indispensable part of the musician’s arsenal. Though budgets have dwindled and many of the pioneering directors from the first wave of the MTV revolution have gone on to bigger and better things, a new generation of directors is pushing the medium back into the spotlight. However, this time around, simple videos of bands performing songs in podunk bars or rappers flashing cash with bikini-clad girls around won’t due. The polished gloss and glamour of old have been exchanged for quirky aesthetics and compelling narrative. It seems now, the weirder or more outlandish the story line, the higher chance the video has of going viral. And make no mistake about it, that’s the objective from stage one.

MIA’s YouTube-banned video of ginger genocide sparked a number of interesting articles on the topic over the past week, my favorite read being from New York Magazine – Internet Killed the MTV Star. It looks long, but reads quickly, so do it! LA Times also had a piece about it in their music blog – Music Videos Make a Comeback… not as pressing a read. Definitely check out the second piece to the NYMag post though, a slide show of famed directors’ videos from the YouTube generation that you can see here.

Free Music From Merge Records!

admin — Thu, 06 May 2010 05:28:09 +0000

From the Merge Blog:

Spring has sprung and it is time for a new free Merge sampler! Featuring hit songs from the latest albums of Radar Brothers, Spoon, Let’s Wrestle, She & Him and more, visit amazon.com now to download all fourteen free songs with special cover art by Let’s Wrestle’s Wesley Patrick Gonzalez!

As always, you can find new albums from all of these artists and more in our handyMerge store.

Free Merge 2010 digital sampler track listing:
1. Radar Brothers – Horses Warriors (from The Illustrated Garden)
2. Let’s Wrestle – I Won’t Lie to You (from In the Court of the Wrestling Let’s)
3. Destroyer – The Very Modern Dance (from Streethawk: A Seduction)
4. Shout Out Louds – Fall Hard (from Work)
5. Spoon – Written in Reverse (from Transference)
6. Lou Barlow – Don’t Apologize (from Goodnight Unknown)
7. She & Him – Thieves (from Volume Two)
8. Superchunk – Learned to Surf (from Leaves in the Gutter)
9. Alec Bathgate – Glide (from Stroke: Songs for Chris Knox)
10. The Clientele – I Wonder Who We Are (from Bonfires on the Heath)
11. Caribou – Odessa (from Swim)
12. The Clean – In the Dreamlife U Need a Rubber Soul (from Mister Pop)
13. Wye Oak – I Hope You Die (from My Neighbor / My Creator)
14. Lambchop – Give It (from Live at XX Merge)

How To Destroy Angels

admin — Wed, 05 May 2010 16:53:49 +0000

I know I’m late to the party on Trent Reznor’s new project with wife, Mariqueen Maandig. Pitchfork just posted a full song that you can listen to. If you want to see a couple videos from the studio, mostly short clips to generate some JJ Abrams style hype, check out their site.

All in all, I really dig it. It’s almost like the chill instrumental side of NIN meets Massive Attack.

Listen here.