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

New Beach House Track – White Moon is a post from: wax&wires

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

Bonnaroo Free Webcast is a post from: wax&wires

Running since 2007, TBC has accumulated quite a library of performances, each unique and equally brilliant. They’ve now done a few sessions outside of London, thus escaping the trademark cabs, but the spirit is still evident through all of their pieces.

Here’s one of my favorites, Doves performing Kingdom of Rust. I actually kind of like the cab version better than the one on the album. Remember, it’s a true testament to the strength of a songwriter when their songs can transcend genre, sound great, and still pack an emotional punch even on an acoustic guitar in the back of a cab.

There’s some other great ones from Ryan Adams, Bon Iver, Death Cab, My Morning Jacket, Fleet Foxes, Cold War Kids etc. etc. Be sure to check them all out!

VIDEO: Black Cab Sessions is a post from: wax&wires

A few months back, Versant asked for fans to vote on a song that they should cover via an online poll. The winner, perhaps due to Mamma Mia’s hype spike at the time, was ABBA’s SOS.

Here’s a cut of the song amidst some random band footage and a slow-mo Diet Coke chug… random.

Now, does it belong on the sweetest covers ever list?

Versant Covers ABBA’s SOS is a post from: wax&wires

Tim Exile’s Live Reaktor Rig is a post from: wax&wires

VIDEO: Imogen Heap Live Set Up is a post from: wax&wires

Glen does a brilliant job at inviting the audience in, even having them improvise parts on the spot with him. Great artists do one of two things: knock you on your back in awe with big songs, or pull you in for an intimate encounter. Glen is a prime example of the latter.

[via Stephen Thompson, NPR]

Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova record and tour together using the name The Swell Season, which is a shorter but far less descriptive moniker than “Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, Who Won Oscars for the Song ‘Falling Slowly,’ From the Hit Indie Musical Once.” So when we informed our coworkers that last Wednesday’s Tiny Desk Concert would feature the pair, the response generally ran somewhere along the lines of, “Um, okay. … Wait, who? THEM? REALLY?”

Read the full story, and see the video here

The Swell Season – Tiny Desk Concert is a post from: wax&wires

Back in 2007, the renaissance man himself produced a project called the BQE (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway) in New York. It was a live performance packed with everything from the whole gamut of quirky musicians to hula-hoopers,  dubbing it a “symphonic and cinematic exploration of New York City’s infamous Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.” The project featured Super 8mm film footage shot by  Sufjan, 36 live performers including a band, a wind and brass ensemble, string players and (of course) hula hoops. Sufjan composed the music, which is entirely instrumental, and is now producing the accompanying film to be released on Athsmatic Kitty, his label.

The BQE will be made available as a CD soundtrack, vinyl (complete with a “Hooper Heroes” Comic Book), DVD, 40-page book, and stereoscopic 3-D Viewmaster reel (so you can finally break out your stereoscopic 3-D Viewmaster viewer…?!?….).

This October, the 92YTribeca will be premiering the BQE DVD in NY, and Sufjan will be there to intro the film. You can get tickets here.

In the meantime, you can watch the trailer for the BQE:

Sufjan Stevens’ The BQE – Video Trailer is a post from: wax&wires

Organ virtuoso Qi Zhang plays her electric rendering of “Ridiculous Fellows” from Prokofiev’s “The Love for Three Oranges” orchestral suite. This exhilarating performance from TEDx USC features the Yamaha Electone Stagea, a rare, imported instrument specially programmed by Qi herself.

Unfortunately, for those aspiring to follow in her footsteps, the Yamaha Stagea Electone is only availalbe in parts of Eastern Asia. Several have been imported  to North Amera, and the UK, but you won’t be able to head down to your local GC and try it out any time soon. You could check out some pics and info on Yamaha’s Japanese site though.

Qi Zhang’s Ridiculous Performance of Prokofiev is a post from: wax&wires

I’m not down on computers in music any stretch of the imagination, as I think they’re marvelous tool. However, I often find that when we alter our creative process a bit, our brains are forced to operate in a different way, creating a far different product – a variant of the concept that would not have otherwise been realized.

Next time you want lo-fi or filtered drums, try finding other things to play besides your drum kit, rather than simply recording your kit and filtering it to taste. If you want an interesting vocal effect, try singing through a cup instead of just recording your vocals to effect in post production. Little experiments like this can produce wonderfully unique recordings that lead to trademark sounds.

INVISIBLE: Rhythm 1001 is a post from: wax&wires

Back in college, we used to sample the crowd with a Kaoss Pad and mix the effected samples into songs as we played. To actually compose an entire piece on the fly is another endeavor entirely though.

The best artist might be the one with more unique music, but the best performers always find ways to engage their audience and establish a relationship with them. Who do you think finds more success?

Beardyman – Live Looping Via Kaoss Pads is a post from: wax&wires

Good morning. We’re pleased to announce that Coldplay will be giving away a live CD, LeftRightLeftRightLeft, at every remaining live show in 2009 (apart from festival shows). Starting with the band’s first North American tour date, at West Palm Beach in Florida on May 15th, every fan attending a show will be given a free copy of the nine-track CD, which won’t be available elsewhere. Also on May 15th, LeftRightLeftRightLeft will be made available as a free download right here at Coldplay.com, for all fans (and for the same time period).

According to the band, the give-away is meant as a recession-busting mark of gratitude to everyone who’s supported them: “Playing live is what we love. This album is a thank you to our fans – the people who give us a reason to do it and make it happen.”

The album was recorded over the past year in various cities around the world on the Viva La Vida tour. Its tracklisting is as follows:

1. Glass of Water
2. 42
3. Clocks
4. Strawberry Swing
5. The Hardest Part/Postcards From Far Away
6. Viva La Vida
7. Death Will Never Conquer
8. Fix You
9. Death And All His Friends

As I stated before, I’m not sure how “recession-busting” the album would be, unless recipients were to hock the albums on ebay. Now that the band intends to release it as a free download from their site anyway, even that proves a bit bust. Either way, it’s a cool gift to fans, and you shouldn’t need an excuse to show some gratitude.

Free Coldplay Live Album is a post from: wax&wires

Related posts:

1. Coldplay Snubs Spotify

You can find more over at wired.com.

NIN iPhone App Demo is a post from: wax&wires

The main difference between MySpace Local and Yelp is that MySpace Local will prioritize reviews and rankings based on your friends and interests, as gathered from your MySpace profile. “That’s a critical difference,” claims Jeff Berman, the MySpace president of sales & marketing. Reviews mean “a heck of a lot more when you know the reviewer.”

So let’s bring it home. How does this impact the local musician?

1) If you’re in a band that plays regularly at a club, users can review the music at venues for better or worse, so bring your best. Conversations regarding the bands at various venues can be opened up on MySpace Local for the rest of the world to see, creating a great opportunity for artist promotion. If you see that clearly you’re pulling in 200 people that wouldn’t otherwise come out to that club, maybe it’s time to show the club owner the reviews and ask for a raise. If you see that people are saying, “The sound sucks here, it’s so much better at Venue X.” Maybe it’s time to move the gig to Venue X. Make sense? Keep your finger on the pulse of what’s going on around your music.

2) If you’re looking to increase your fanbase, but don’t know where or how, you can tap into MySpace Local as a means of finding gigs. There’s no magic “gig finder” or anything, but because you can see reviews on venues and how different music was received at various locations, you can run a search to find venues that you might do well in and snag their contact info right off the MySpace Local page to get booked. That’s a heck of a lot better than randomly picking a club halfway across the country and hoping they have crowds and a decent sound system for you.

While all of that is an unintended side effect of MySpace Local’s intended purpose, it’s a great way to harness a new tool to promote your music. The most successful musicians will be the ones that hustle, and are not just simply keeping up on new trends, but constantly thinking of the ways in which every little thing could help their musical career.

You can check out a demo of MySpace Local here.

What MySpace Local Means For Musicians is a post from: wax&wires

MusicMetric is getting in the game with MuZoid, which lets you tweet the name of a band to @muzoid, and within a few seconds MuZoid returns a link to MusicMetric’s file on the band. The link includes upcoming shows, a discography, similar artists, and the most interesting, similar gigs.

What I like about the similar gigs, and the twitter incorporation combined, is that if you’re out and about, you can shoot a quick tweet out to see if there’s any music you might like in the area. While not perfect, as you would have to send a seperate tweet out to represent each genre you might like, the mobility is key.

A quick tweet out to @muzoid with “M83″ returns this.

I’m not sure it will work its way into my list of go-to apps, but it’s a good concept that rides on its immediacy.

MuZoid – MusicMetric’s Twitter App is a post from: wax&wires