Sound / Idea: blank recordable CD-R by Dangermouse for sale! DNOTS

I came across this one a couple of days ago and the idea really got me hooked. So guess it fulfilled its purpose. But to begin with, the infamous DANGERMOUSE recorded a new full length album together with SPARKLEHORSE which can not be released. what? read yourself:

Danger Mouse’s new project Dark Night Of The Soul consists of an album length piece of music by Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse and a host of guest vocalists, along with a collection of original David Lynch photography inspired by and based on the music.

The photographs, which provide a visual narrative for the music, are compiled in a limited edition, hand numbered 100+ page book which will now come with a blank, recordable CD-R. All copies will be clearly labeled: ‘For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will.’

Due to an ongoing dispute with EMI, Danger Mouse is unable to release the recorded music for Dark Night Of The Soul without fear of being sued by EMI.

Danger Mouse remains hugely proud of Dark Night Of The Soul and hopes that people lucky enough to hear the music, by whatever means, are as excited by it as he is.

In addition to Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse, other artists appearing on Dark Night of the Soul include James Mercer of The Shins, The Flaming Lips, Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals, Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, Frank Black of the Pixies, Iggy Pop, Nina Persson of The Cardigans, Suzanne Vega, Vic Chesnutt, David Lynch, and Scott Spillane of Neutral Milk Hotel and The Gerbils.

Nuff said, a lot to be found out!

For more info visit the project site: www.dnots.com

aaaaaaaaaaand listen to the record on NPR.com

Sound and art: Edge - the movie to a lifestyle

Soon the documentary "EDGE -perspectives on a drug free culture" will be released. Having grown up with Hardcore and Punk music I have also been in contact with the Straight Edge scene. It describes an approach to life without any drugs, alcohol, cigarettes or promiscuity. The scene received it's name from the song "Straight Edge" by the band Minor Threat released 28 years ago. Their singer Ian MacKaye is also featured in the movie opens some interesting perspectives on the issue.

I always had a lot of respect for this scene, even it wasn't my way. Still I always distinguished in between those who do it just for themselves and maybe tell about it and those who perceive themselves on a mission and believe that they have to convince the whole world. I perceive it as a personal decision and this is what it should stay in my opinion.

However, I defintely recommend to give this flick a try. I am sure it will provide some interesting perspectives and insights into an alternative approach to life which has definitely something to offer. Plus, a differentiated view on life and things is a MUST!!!!

Check the trailer for a first taste:

And definitely visit the hp for more interesting background information:

http://www.theedgeprojectmovie.com/

Idea: And it goes on: tweet music!

Regarding the last post also another neat application must be mentioned: TWT.FM ! 

twt.fm was used in Jimmy Eat World's tour promotion via twitter. It allows users to share music via twitter. I love to share music (not p2p, but promoting great music I find to others) and thus, this got me hooked immediately.

Twt.fm was created by Lee Martin of Silva Artist Management.

How you do it? Ridiculously easy. Just go to twt.fm . There you just type in the artist name and the name of your track of choice. twt.fm then crawls all possible providers of music streams and then generates a track page for you to use you twitter page design. Off you go! In case you twt.fm can not find your track you can also directly provide a link.

Further, twt.fm is now connected to SoundCloud. This is a great opportunity for upcoming bands, as you can just upload your track to SoundCloud in perfect quality and then promote and tweet to all you followers. You just need the link to you public SoundCloud track. The coolest thing to me is definitely that within your tweet you have the SoundCloud widget with the nice layout and all information and sharing options.

Go for it!

Idea: Twitter as a useful marketing tool

To me Twitter has always been some sort of a tricky issue. As in lots of blogs the amount of irrelevant information blasted out into the world has always turned me off completely. The world suffers from constant information overflow anyways, why this then? However, in terms of marketing I always evaluated as a useful tool. It's up to every users decisions to which twitter account he subcribes. Further, it has always been in the nature of most the popular music fans trying to get as much information on the artist and current developments, relevant or irrelevant.

Supply and demand, give 'em what they want. Hence, and as direct artist-to-fan channels become more and more important, also tools like twitter are quiet viable means to connect and communicate with fans.

I found a nice and impressive example for this development, posted by Topspin's Ian Rogers. By integrating Twitter as direct marketing tool Jimmy Eat World managed to gather by now almost 450k followers in support of their latest tour and live record. Read the whole thing with many useful and interesting links and background info here! Very impressive, highly recommended!

Sounds: sound.art.idea._rAdiO

Turn your eyes to the right  ->->->->->->->->right->->->->->->->->right->->->->->->->->

Yeah, I added another small feature to this blog: my little sound.art.idea_rAdiO. It's comprised of tracks I came across lately, many of them also featured in the blog, and all time favs of mine. Lean back and enjoy the tunes, while you sneak around or read articles on this blog.

Any tracks you love and I might love, let me know, give me input, the player needs to be fed! Cheers! 

Sounds: First class collabo NIN_DEP

So here's another first class collabo. When Nine Inch Nails performed at this year's Soundwave Festival they were joined by Ben and Greg from the Dillinger Escape Plan for the song "Wish", great stuff, enjoy!

NIN: Wish live with Ben & Greg from The Dillinger Escape Plan - Adelaide, 2.28.09 [HD] from Nine Inch Nails on Vimeo.

Idea: The Music Think Tank rolls

"The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word 'crisis.' One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger - but recognize the opportunity." John F. Kennedy

The industry is at the verge and in between models, that's common sense by now and accepted even by the most stubborn record labels (hopefully!). However, still it's an crucial aspect whether the industry focuses on the fact that it's a crisis and a way out MUST be found or simply be grateful for the change, the manifold new ideas and the exciting times after all. I prefer the ladder one.

That being said, I enjoy all the input and great ideas and approaches I find everyday on the web, of people willing to change something and having mostly one thing in mind: the artist and how he can make his cut in these times, when you basically can not rely on record companies and classic models anymore.

But regarding this, one question burns ;-) Can I actually  read loud thoughts? Yes, I can! Am I going off topic? No, I don't.

MUSIC THINK TANK ("where the music industry thinks out loud" get it?) is actually one of those platforms where lots of smart music professionals and music lovers meet to present, exchange and discuss ideas on the future of the music industry. Discussions offer relevant topics such as instructions how to build with simple and free tools a much stronger web presence than myspace could ever offer and other marketing related issues. It's definitely highly recommended to subscribe to their blog and get stuffed with intellectual input.

Further you can get acqainted to laods of interesting means and tools and how to make use of them, e.g.  Mailchimp, Reverbnation or compete.com just to name a few. And the best thing, almost all of these ideas are out there, shared, open for discussion and free and not super secret in some major label office. 

Moreover, it's a perfect place to connect to other likeminded creative people and check their individual output.

See for example the works of Chris Purifoy or Andrew Dubber, its really interesting material and, fuck, it's pretty amazing what you can make of a simple blog. I gotta go a long way with this one!

So this is a lot of input for now I guess. Even with these posts and issues I might be a little behind the dvelopments on the market, but still I hope I can provide some interesting insights for the readers of this blog. Plus, this one is mainly for me to give some some space to all the interesting things I come across. However, I always appeal, drop me even more feedback, with stuff to do better and new sounds, art and ideas you find interesting and I should hear. Connect, connect!

 

Sounds: Can an actress, can anyone cover Tom Waits and keep the Waits songs? Yes, man!

To begin with, Tom Waits is one of my favorite artists for a long time. He never chumed up with anybody, staying true to his hoarse and sonorous voice but still managing to write and perform beautiful and fragile songs such as "Downtown Train", "Jersey Girl" or "Ol'55". For an interesting and well written watch here.

However, I was pretty surprised when I heard that the actress Scarlett Johansson did record an album with cover versions of Tom Waits songs. I straight got the record and listened to it first time at night when I was going home from a show by car. It is definitely a record for the night, that's for a fact. It took me some time to get used to her voice (as you'll here below). She is not going to high neither is it to melodic. I thought about it and came to the conclusion that it wouldn't be a good Tom Waits cover when it's perfectly sung and she's interpreting it in a great manner.

Produced by multi-instrumentalist David Sitek and with a  band composed of Yeah Yeah Yeah's Nick Zinner and members from TV on the Radio, Tall Firs and Celebration the album was recorded in just a couple of weeks and you can really feel the session character. Another interesting feature is the one of David Bowie on two of the songs ("Fallin' Down" and "Fannin Street"), but listen yourself.

You can also find a very well written and extensive review at: Pitchfork.com.

The videos from the AOL sessions below should give you a good first impression (but still this is nothing compared to the record enjoyed at night):

Another Waits classic:

Aaaaand last, but not least, the great scene from Jim Jarmusch's "Coffee and Cigarettes" with Iggy Pop, enjoy:

Sounds: Mama, Cursive's swollen

CURSIVE are back and still it's a new discovery for me. This brings me back to the great thing about friends and music, the input never stops. I could stop listening to any new releases today and just check out older music and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't get finished in this life; lovely! Keep me stuffed with tunes and inspiration!

I'm wandering from the subject again, I always wander from the subject, enough. Cursive back on stage , please. The album is great, dark and light, singing and screaming, country and rockin', nihilistic and full of hope, good for rain and sun.

The friend I got the tip from also wrote a nice review on 'Mama, I'm swollen' and you'll find it here

But the video for the first single "From the hips" is right below:

From The Hips

and it goes on and on with the music, never stops. So the horns in that song remind me of the artist displayed in the next blog ;-) and I'll put her record on right now!

Berklee Music shares knowledge

As I wrote about Julian Lage I also checked the website of the Berklee College of Music. Founded in 1945 as Schillinger House of Music the school was renamed in 1973, when it was officially accredited, after the son of the found Lee Berk in Berklee College of Music. An interesting fact is also that the college has of all US American colleges the highest ratio of international students. 26% of the students come from 70 deifferent countries.

Whatever, beside various courses for all different instruments in composition, performance, production or education you can also study music management at Berklee. Additionally to the courses, anybody, student or not can download various PDFs on music industry basics and current issues in publishing, marketing or management. To everyone who's kinda into the whole business it is more or less common sense and pretty much just scratching the surface. However, I found it nice to reflect on certain issues and getting some new insights.

And anyways providing education and information for free is always a nice move (considering tuition fees of about 20 k per year ;-))

Check their page : www.berklee.edu or go directly to

Berklee Shares

Cheers 

Sound: EL SISTEMA :Music makes a difference, beyond simple entertainment

Music is entertainment, at least that's what you see on TV. But music has a lot more to offer than nice sounds, a good time and distraction from your everyday business. It has an tremendous power to change and influence life as a whole. It's the soundtrack to lifestyles and attitudes. It can lift you up from the ground and make you invincible. You know the hardcore band H2O? Listen to their latest record "Nothing to Prove" where it says: "No matter how bumped out you are in life, music pulls you right back up and keeps you positive".

But I wanna tell of a movie, a documentary with this spirit: "El Sistema". About 30 years ago , musician, composer and politician José Antonio Abreu established a network of youth orchestras in Venezuela. The movie tells the story of music can help to forget or put aside the circumstances you're in. The network offers children classical music education from childhood on. Furthermore it is free of charge for families who just couldn't bear the cost. It's truly inspiring to see children and teenagers of all ages to tell what the music and their instrument means to them and how eager they're about their lessons. At the peak of the network stands the Simon Bolivar youth orchestra with its conductor Gustavo Dudamel, the highest goal of the ambitious students. Besides the interviews with students and teachers and insight views to the schools and the life of the children, it's the concerts of the orchestra which got me constant goosebumps from their drive and their fun playing music together.

Last words belong to the initiator, Josè Antonio Abreu: "In Venezuela the group of people benefiting from our work extends to some 250,000 young people and children. But that's just the beginning".

Go to selected cinemas, where they show that movie or download it from the internet, but watch it and feel that spirit!

Teasing you:

Before I forget. A little older but still relevant and transporting the spirit is "Rhythm is it!" A documentary about and orchestra and dance project in Berlin. The project brought together children and teenages from all social classes and was headed and conducted by world famous conductor Sir Simon Rattle and choreographer Royston Maldoom performing Stravinsky's "Sacre du Printemps". An inspiring must-see! I'm surely a horrible dancer, but still "You can change your life in a dance class!"

 

Idea: Topspin Media are cutting the edge

Referring to Trent Reznor's talk to digg.com, he also mentioned Topspin Media, surely one of THE cutting-edge music and media companies these days and in future.

“…These guys helped us out with our digital delivery for a while and are in my opinion the best option out there for artists to deliver their goods to their audience on their own terms. Keep an eye on them - they are leagues ahead of everyone else in terms of infrastructure and philosophy.” Trent Reznor – Nine Inch Nails

Topspin Media is a media technology company focused on musicians to build their business directly with the end consumers, the fans. "The recently upgraded Topspin software offers artists and managers more options to improve and optimize workflow around marketing, manage content, and distribute effectively in a seamlessly integrated platform."(Business Week) 

However, this might sound kinda vague. This is due to the fact that the company is just little by little releasing details on their actual products. What's certain is that the company plans and tests a customer relationship management sofware for musicians. This involves "a back-end technology and e-commerce service that allows artists to sell music and merchandise directly to fans via subscription services, digital downloads of albums and individual songs, and other bundled plans." (TheDeal.com). So at the moment they are working just with a handful of selected artists and managements in some sort of a test drive, but they're planning and developing a self-service platform for artists to be released later this year.

CEO and former Yahoo! Inc. music chief Ian Rogers on their long-term goal and mission:

"Our main thesis is that by turning the music world from low margin to high margin from a musician's perspective, a middle class of artists can make a living," 

Noble and aspiring, but at the same time pretty realistic. So much happening right know in this business and I'm excited as hell. Moreover, it's an interesting issue to also keep in mind that music industry is pretty much the first to deal with such a severe crisis. Other media industries as movies, games or print media are to follow and it will be a crazy trip how the whole media industry will continue to drastically change in the upcoming years. The internet is completely democratized. So will the media industries? Mind game, mind war, mind fuck!

Geeting back to Topspin Media. Check also their website: www.topspinmedia.com . 

Besides interesting information on the company and their founders, there's also a very interesting blog and in the "for artists" section you'll find many useful links to other visionary music sites and publications. A must, check out!

Sounds: Deezer, deezer, Julian Lage!

I found this platform quite a while ago, I used it heavily e.g. at work as my personal radio. Thousands of albums available, you could create your own playlists, available everywhere, where could access the internet. Somehow over time les and less tracks were available which was the result of the old issue concerning licenses for online streaming of music.

However, I was looking for music of the incredible jazz guitarist Julian Lage. A Berklee graduate who recently released his debut "Sounding Point", which is highly recommended! I'm sitting here, it's a grey sunday, perfect for a smooth jazz record, soundtrack of the day, get cheered up!

So what's the punchline? You can check out his album and many more on deezer.com

Find me there under 'defining chaos', check albums and tracks I like and show what you're into!

Idea: Soundcloud: "give your track a home in the cloud"

Recently a friend told me about a new platform for music exchange. This sitution has two interesting aspects in it. Firstly, new ideas are always exciting to me and its thrilling in how many and which directions the music industry is developing. Secondly, I again became aware of the incredible value of the exchange of information and news in between friends. Where would I be, what would I know without my friends around me. It's such an enriching neverending process of giving and taking. Be grateful, take part, share! Thanks for this one, man!

Back to the subject. SoundCloud for the exchange of music in between musicians and other music professionals ("we move music"). This involves the receiving, sending and distributing of tracks in most of the common formats. As a user you can listen to the tracks and comment on them directly in the waveform in which the track is displayed (nice widget!). Moreover, as an active user uploading music you dispose of a variety of options and statistics to see who listened, downloaded or commented on your tracks. Maybe one of the most striking facts is that your uploads are unlimited in terms of filesize, 'nuff said!

The endeavour was founded and initiated by Alex Ljung, a sounddesigner from Stockholm, Eric Wahlforss ('Forss') from the Sonar Kollektiv, Yanneck Salvo from the Drumpoet Community and developer Sean from the U.S.

For more information and an interesting interview with the four of them check: their feature in the highly recommended DE:BUG magazine

Another interesting fact is that SoundCloud managed to raise 2,5 million Euro from Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures, which should definitely open new perspectives and hopefully a bright future for the platform (source: vator.tv). 

If this got you interested, check them www.soundcloud.com and take the tour:

SoundCloud: The Tour from SoundCloud on Vimeo.

Sound: Hypnotic Brass Ensemble play music medicine

It's an interesting case. Can a band truly be bound to the underground, to the roots and, most importantly, keep this spirit in the sound? Seems to. The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble is a band of seven brass musicians and a drummer. Moreover, seven of them are blood brothers. Originally from Chicago, IL they're now located in New York City, where they play at every single corner for the people, just them and and their instruments, no amplifiers, truly unplugged. However, they also made it to Europe playing gigs with the mighty MOS DEF and the legendary MADNESS.

They just got me hooked the first time I heard them and I can't wait to see them live. Whatever bands pretend in interviews, if you really listen you can always hear whether musicians live, breath and feel their music or not. They do...

Check out their great song "WAR":

and a nice feature by the New York Times:

Follow them on their blog: http://hypnoticbrass.blogspot.com/

Check them out and get hooked "I get the party started, you keep the party jumpin'" HBE

New LONG DISTANCE CALLING record 'AVOID THE LIGHT' out now!

The new album "AVOID THE LIGHT" of post rock instrumentalists LONG DISTANCE CALLING is out now. The album was released in Germany on April 24, 09 (Rest of Europe: April 27, 09) and will be released in the U.S. on May 19, 09. It is already the band's second full-length effort after 2007' "SATELLITE BAY" . I've been lucky to have seen the band a couple of times live and do highly recommend it to everyone. Alright, check them out in this nice widget: 

Go also to www.myspace.com/longdistancecalling for more information and dates!

P.S. even just the cover artwork is worth to buy the original record. Based on illustrations of my alltime fav artist Gusave Dorè  (check the link and get inspired) and designed by Tim Kockentiedt it became a real precious piece of art.

Ideas: digg-dialog with Nine Inch Nails head Trent Reznor

This is something I found a couple of weeks ago, but still I want to have it on this blog. Trent Reznor seems to be ahead of the industry constantly. Check out this dialog with the new platform www.digg.com, where fans can post their questions for a certain interview. Moreover, fans can 'digg' a question, which means they vote for it. So the questions with the most votes / 'diggs' get posed in the interview.

Reznor talks about several approaches towards business models embracing the opportunities given by the internet. This involves variable pricing models for their music (from free download for the basic record as mp3 download to the limited autographed CD /vinyl edition for a premium price) or sophisticated interaction and communication with and in between the fans (new iPhone app).

This iPhone app 'extends Reznor's innovative run', but check it out yourself:

There is already the word on the street that the iPhone apps could become the new myspace, what do you think?