Category: music

turnaround

Kiya & Kopana rockin’ out in the late 80s.

For some reason, I found myself surfing teh interwebs once again in search of a copy of Stealin Horses’ “Turnaround” video. If I recall correctly, that was the only video they made for Arista before the label stupidly dropped them after trying to market the rock band as country. I was surprised to discover several websites with streaming video of it! So, check out my friend Kiya in all her 20-something serious rockstar glory, and mind the shoulder pads:

Turnaround – Stealin Horses

bum rush the charts

Bum Rush the Charts — stick it to the RIAA!

I just heard about a really cool project to get the attention of the RIAA. There’s a group of folks who have organized an unusual protest called Bum Rush the Charts that is scheduled for tomorrow. Basically, they want everyone to purchase a single song on iTunes and get it bumped up to the top of the daily charts.

The song is by a band called Black Lab who have been dropped by two RIAA labels and are still struggling to gain access to their recorded catalog of music, which is not an uncommon problem for bands/artists in their situation. I have no idea what the band sounds like, but for $1.07 ($0.99 + WA tax), I’m willing to join the cause. Luckily, the date of the event is tomorrow, so I heard about it just in time.

Also, if you buy the song via the link through the project, they will donate half of the commission to college scholarships.

whole wheat radio

If Web 2.0 is the read/write web, Whole Wheat Radio is the read/write broadcast station.

So I’ve been hearing about this online radio station called Whole Wheat Radio, but it wasn’t until about 10pm last night that I finally checked them out. I’m hooked! The site uses a wiki platform to allow users to enhance the database of music that is available to be played over the live stream “radio” station. Users can request songs directly from the wiki pages and keep tabs on the play list. If Web 2.0 is the read/write web, Whole Wheat Radio is the read/write broadcast station.

new Indigo Girls video!

The Indigo Girls finished their contract with Sony/Epic last year, and this year they signed with a new label, Hollywood Records. Fans were concerned and confused because all signs indicated the Girls would go with a major independent label rather than another major label. The explanation was that they felt like it was a good … Continue reading “new Indigo Girls video!”

The Indigo Girls finished their contract with Sony/Epic last year, and this year they signed with a new label, Hollywood Records. Fans were concerned and confused because all signs indicated the Girls would go with a major independent label rather than another major label. The explanation was that they felt like it was a good deal for both them and the label, so they went with it. Looks like it’s working out well because the label seems to really understand the Indigo Girls and their fan base, from the production work on their new album Despite Our Differences to the video for the first single, “Little Perennials.” Check it out:

worst album covers

No really, these are awful! The captions are the best part. Oh, and the text might not be safe for work. The lost art of using an Olan Mills family portrait as your album cover is lost for a reason, and this is it. Polyester as far as the eye can see, and some insane … Continue reading “worst album covers”

No really, these are awful! The captions are the best part. Oh, and the text might not be safe for work.

The lost art of using an Olan Mills family portrait as your album cover is lost for a reason, and this is it. Polyester as far as the eye can see, and some insane woman wearing the world’s largest ball of twine on her head.

la la la la zzzzzzz……

USA-based online CD trading site to give 20% of revenue to performing artists.

Today, USA-based online CD trading site la la opened its doors to the public. Although the site remains in beta testing until the official launch in July, new members are able to register without needing an invitation from other beta testers or the site administrators. With this soft launch comes an announcement of the “Z” Foundation, a non-profit organization that will donate 20% of the trading revenue of la la to performing artists. Founder Bill Nguyen hopes to eventually increase that percentage to 90%.

From the start, the vision of la la has been focused more on providing inexpensive ways for music fans to discover new artists and less on getting music for cheap. The site seeks to create a community that promotes music in general and supports performing artists in particular. The “Z” Foundation is one outlet for that vision. Eligibility is available only to working musicians, defined as any individual who has performed on a recorded release or live performance in the last year and whose music-related income accounts for more than half of their total income. To register, musicians can go to http://www.lala.com/z.

I have been a beta tester for la la over the past two months, and with 144 trades (total of sent and received) under my belt, I am willing to admit that I’m a fan of the site. As a friend to several full-time performing musicians, I’m also a fan of the “Z” Foundation concept. Music is an essential part of my life, and I appreciate the opportunity to give back to the musicians while also swapping out CDs I don’t listen to anymore for new-to-me CDs. There are other media trading sites out there (Title Trader, SwitchDiscs, etc.), but only la la has stepped up and given something back to the people who make this music available in the first place. That’s something to sing about.

a few things

On Sunday, I tried out Skype for the first time. I had installed it on my laptop and gotten a headset and microphone earlier in the week because I had a phone interview with Susan Werner scheduled on Saturday. I thought I could use Skype and record the conversation to my laptop. Instead, I ended … Continue reading “a few things”

On Sunday, I tried out Skype for the first time. I had installed it on my laptop and gotten a headset and microphone earlier in the week because I had a phone interview with Susan Werner scheduled on Saturday. I thought I could use Skype and record the conversation to my laptop. Instead, I ended up using a speaker phone and recording the conversation to minidisc. So, it wasn’t until Sunday that I decided to give it a go and call my parents via Skype’s free domestic calls special (until the end of the year). Impressive. The sound quality was better than what I usually get on my cheap cell phone.

The interview with Susan Werner was awesome and a lot of fun. My week has been a bit much, but I hope to have the transcript transcribed and edited for public consumption by Saturday. It will be posted here as well as on Blogcritics.org. If you haven’t downloaded Susan’s alternative national anthem (“My Strange Nation”) yet, do it now.

Also on Sunday, I decided I’d better finally watch the two Netflix DVDs I’ve had for nearly two months. That was when I discovered I had misplaced them. After a frantic ten minute search of the house, I gave up and instead watched some stuff I’d downloaded a while ago. I let it simmer until last night, when in a flash of insight after some more searching I remembered one more place I might have stashed them, and there they were. However, by that point it was nearing midnight and I decided that Battlestar Galactica and Crash can wait for the weekend. Particularly since I’ll have Monday off, too!

house concert, of sorts

The Kennedy Center has a streaming video recording of Wishing Chair‘s performance from last week. Almost a full hour of bliss.

The Kennedy Center has a streaming video recording of Wishing Chair‘s performance from last week. Almost a full hour of bliss.

la la la linoleum!

Awesome! I was looking for the lyrics to the “L Song” and I found a YouTube video of the original performance. I have the song on an LP called Bert’s Blockbusters, but I’ve never seen it in the context of the show.

Awesome! I was looking for the lyrics to the “L Song” and I found a YouTube video of the original performance. I have the song on an LP called Bert’s Blockbusters, but I’ve never seen it in the context of the show.

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