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Les Affaires Inachevés
14 years ago
Monday, December 22, 2008
Blog House Meets Indie Radio
Last night on WRIR I hosted the Mixtape Mixtape show. Normally listeners or volunteers submit the mixtapes, but since I was subbing and out/loop with submissions, I found my own mixtape online. That and I love me some online mixtapes-- I had been anticipating a chance to share some of my faves with Richmond.
I conceived last night's show as a shoutout to my favorite music blog Discobelle, and I featured a mix submitted to Discobelle back in May, by the Swedish group Stockholm Syndrome. I also threw in several original remixes that had been posted to the site.
(Unfortunately the recording of my show didn't take, otherwise I would have posted it.)
I plan to do more shows like this in the future featuring other cool music blogs that post mixes/remixes.
I think in the past the legality of broadcasting mixes without permission has been questioned; however, I feel like people who post to blogs would be happy about it. Yes the mixes are often exclusive, but still. Even recording the radio broadcasts, the mixes still contain voice breaks, PSA's for fire safety, etc. And more importantly I'm giving shouts out to the blog.
With situations like this I keep running into whether I should open up dialog with the people I'm shouting out. I should, yes. Can o Worms, yes, but awesome opportunities.
TBC.
I conceived last night's show as a shoutout to my favorite music blog Discobelle, and I featured a mix submitted to Discobelle back in May, by the Swedish group Stockholm Syndrome. I also threw in several original remixes that had been posted to the site.
(Unfortunately the recording of my show didn't take, otherwise I would have posted it.)
I plan to do more shows like this in the future featuring other cool music blogs that post mixes/remixes.
I think in the past the legality of broadcasting mixes without permission has been questioned; however, I feel like people who post to blogs would be happy about it. Yes the mixes are often exclusive, but still. Even recording the radio broadcasts, the mixes still contain voice breaks, PSA's for fire safety, etc. And more importantly I'm giving shouts out to the blog.
With situations like this I keep running into whether I should open up dialog with the people I'm shouting out. I should, yes. Can o Worms, yes, but awesome opportunities.
TBC.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Empty Skeleton
Check out the music blog Mary Claire is writing for:
http://emptyskeleton.blogspot.com/
Tons of interesting music.
Tons of interesting music.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Kanye is a Pop Arteest
At first I was tempted to say "shut up" to Pitchfork for the comment that dubbed Kanye's singing on SNL "rough."
Then I saw the performance. Oh well.
I guess he's what is known as a "studio singer." Whatever. Who ever criticizes Madonna or Britney for being studio singers? Let me reiterate: Kanye is a pop artist. Stop applying R&B/Hip Hop standards to him.
I enjoyed the background visuals.
Then I saw the performance. Oh well.
I guess he's what is known as a "studio singer." Whatever. Who ever criticizes Madonna or Britney for being studio singers? Let me reiterate: Kanye is a pop artist. Stop applying R&B/Hip Hop standards to him.
I enjoyed the background visuals.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
music reviewing in the 4th dimension (real-time)
Unless you're a music scholar, the main point of music reviews is to point out lesser-known good music or to evaluate where much-anticipated musical releases land on the spectrum of mindblowing/disappointing.
Reviews educate as much as promote, though, and in evaluating the music, they're generally also going to tell you what's interesting about the music and why. At their best, music reviews use ideas about the music's cultural and technical relevance to help listeners draw more satisfaction out of the music. And that's where their real value lies.
Generally, most of us develop a sense of how to steer ourselves through music networks. I mean, we all did this before the internet. As a teenager, I was really into compilations. I ordered music sound unheard from label catalogs, on the strength of labelmates. I had favorite radio stations, which were actually good sources of new music. We follow similar routes of artist/style association on the internet-- a band's friends on myspace, last.fm suggestions, music samples on a label's site, online radio, mixes. Our music networking now is just much faster and more efficient, and therefore more pronounced.
This I think accentuates the "real" value of music reviews; ie, what they can do that surfing the internet can't. Their strength is not really about suggesting new music when you can discover it on your own, with much greater sensitivity to your own interests. Their strength is instead gathering relevant information about the music and articulating it, as I said, in a way that coaxes more satisfaction out of the music-listening experience.
Music reviews have turned a corner through music blogs. The main reason we go to a music blog is for good downloads; we can identify what will have appealing downloads by paying attention to consistent editorial content. The meat of the editorial content is the choice of download, knocking out the "recommendation" aspect of reviews.
All the reviewer has left is to carry out the "educational" services of reviewing. Blow out the music's context in a way that enhances the music's meaning. This can be talking about the music's history, live performance, technical achievements, or influential relationships with other artists.
But in the less academic, more magazine sense, reviewers addressing the cultural position of the music enhance its meaning, too. The widely compelling example of this is identifying the music's scene, associating the music with fashion or art or a city or a lifestyle. From the concrete level-- show dates, artwork-- to the abstract, maybe discussing pop cultural relevance.
And of course reviewers can write up personal associations with the music. These can help us understand more ways to love the music, too. These are blogs, after all, and music is the most emotional medium. :-)
Reviews educate as much as promote, though, and in evaluating the music, they're generally also going to tell you what's interesting about the music and why. At their best, music reviews use ideas about the music's cultural and technical relevance to help listeners draw more satisfaction out of the music. And that's where their real value lies.
Generally, most of us develop a sense of how to steer ourselves through music networks. I mean, we all did this before the internet. As a teenager, I was really into compilations. I ordered music sound unheard from label catalogs, on the strength of labelmates. I had favorite radio stations, which were actually good sources of new music. We follow similar routes of artist/style association on the internet-- a band's friends on myspace, last.fm suggestions, music samples on a label's site, online radio, mixes. Our music networking now is just much faster and more efficient, and therefore more pronounced.
This I think accentuates the "real" value of music reviews; ie, what they can do that surfing the internet can't. Their strength is not really about suggesting new music when you can discover it on your own, with much greater sensitivity to your own interests. Their strength is instead gathering relevant information about the music and articulating it, as I said, in a way that coaxes more satisfaction out of the music-listening experience.
Music reviews have turned a corner through music blogs. The main reason we go to a music blog is for good downloads; we can identify what will have appealing downloads by paying attention to consistent editorial content. The meat of the editorial content is the choice of download, knocking out the "recommendation" aspect of reviews.
All the reviewer has left is to carry out the "educational" services of reviewing. Blow out the music's context in a way that enhances the music's meaning. This can be talking about the music's history, live performance, technical achievements, or influential relationships with other artists.
But in the less academic, more magazine sense, reviewers addressing the cultural position of the music enhance its meaning, too. The widely compelling example of this is identifying the music's scene, associating the music with fashion or art or a city or a lifestyle. From the concrete level-- show dates, artwork-- to the abstract, maybe discussing pop cultural relevance.
And of course reviewers can write up personal associations with the music. These can help us understand more ways to love the music, too. These are blogs, after all, and music is the most emotional medium. :-)
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
on ringtones
Ask The E.I. editor-- I have been busting with criticism of my iPhone 3G. One wonderful thing about it though is that it lets me, for free, create and edit my own ringtones from mp3 files.
I can now fully customize something that was in the past quite generic and arbitrary. I can now splice phrases of lovingly crafted songs into soundbytes, so that my phone will say something both to me and about me.
This is a great new power, and it has me considering a possible set of musical characteristics to shoot for in creating a ringtone. After all, I would like to use my newfound power wisely and effectively. Plus I should be making the coolest ringtones possible.
Here are the initial guidelines I have come up with:
1) A song should be relatively laid-back, given that I dislike being interrupted when i am meditating or asleep. A mellow ringtone will smooth any possible bristling effect of receiving a phone call at those moments. One example of a ringtone that I may consider adding is the intro to "Sweet Emotion," by Aerosmith.
2) Good ringtones should be songs that suit being worn hard. What I have in mind-
i- Classics that have made the transition from "standalone song" to "cultural fabric," like "Smooth Operator" by Sade
ii- Pop that was overplayed in the past. "My Boo" by Ghosttown DJ's is the ringtone on my phone that fulfills this. Recently overplayed pop is okay but might interfere with criterion (1) above
iii- Songs that are designed to be played frequently, like TV themes. I Love Lucy, Living Single, Mr Belvidere, or Reading Rainbow. Again, I would avoid newer stuff: its topicality is often too distracting to pull off what is supposed to verge on ambient sound
3) Songs that gently reference telephony or communication. Both "My Boo" and "Smooth Operator" are examples of this. Reference need not be lyrical, however; see below.
4) Sounds that mimic ringing or other repetitive alerts are ideal. I can think of 2 manifestations of this:
i- Literal imitation. e.g. of police sirens, as in "Pull Over (That Ass Too Fat)," by Trina
ii- Broader imitation via simple, clear-cut loops or basslines. Distinct repetition. Examples: "Atomic," by Blondie; "Gotta Man," by Eve; "Under Pressure,” by Queen; or even "Take It To the House," by Trick Daddy, for the trumpets
The possibilities are endless, but like I said I am hoping to make some sense out of them.
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