Like Sonic Youth meets My Bloody Valentine. Will def put this on my “Fav Bands of 2010″ list at the end of the year. Enjoy this live performance of “Reprobate!”

Official Website: http://serena-maneesh.com/
Myspace page: www.myspace.com/serenamaneesh

I didn’t like the first single they released, “A Drowning” all that much. So when they announced that the full EP was available for download online, I didn’t feel an urgency to check it out. But yesterday a series of links clicked me to the How To Destroy Angles website, where after watching their video for “The Space in Between” (as well as a series of promotional shorts) I was inspired to grab the EP.

Upon complete listen through the EP I did find some tracks, such as “Fur Lined” and “BBB,” that I really liked.

And I think the video for “The Space in Between” is brilliant:

While I can’t say that I’m a full-on fan of this new project (I really don’t like the name How To Destroy Angels. Sounds like some silly mid-90′s hard-goth-rock band), overall I remain inspired by the way that Trent Reznor and his crew distribute and market music (again, I was really inspired by that series of promotional shorts they put together leading up to this release).

howtodestroyangels.com

It’s not as if this track is brand new on the scene (was released in late 2009), but HEATLH is one of my favorite bands of the moment… which I’m finding much inspiration in right now… Brilliant noisy art rock.

Band website: www.healthnoise.com
Label website: www.lpurecords.com

I’ve been jamming on Janelle Monáe for a bit after a few of my Facebook friends linked to a couple of her videos last week. A modern version of soul with some hip-hop undertones, and a slightly weird twist to it all. Very inspiriting. And the dance moves are brilliant.

“Many Moons” short film

Performing “Tightrope” on Letterman

tightrope letterman live
Uploaded by yardie4lifever2. – More video blogs and vloggers.

Love the guitar line at the top of “Tightrope” – how it stops and starts over, with a sort of funky up and down motion.

A friend suggested I look up the band Wild Beasts. So I did (thanks Adam!). And I’m into them. A couple songs and videos in particular really have an aesthetic that’s exactly my kind of thing:

“The Devil’s Crayon”
Love the plucky pointed-yet-muted guitars, drenched in reverb and performing a layer of scraping riffs throughout this song.

“Hooting & Howling”
The dark, cold water theme really took me in. The general arrangement and instrumentation formed a unique listening experience for me as well. Kind of got tired of the scenery to the video about halfway in though. I did like the fact that they never went to a different set (an idea I’ve had-if I ever direct a video I’ll take this approach). However, would have helped if they did a little more within the set to change some major element about halfway through.

There’s a common semi-subtle detail in both these videos, where at times they focus on dust or small particles – oxygen/debris in the water in “Hooting & Howling” and dust coming off the snare drum at the beginning of “The Devil’s Crayon” – which inspired me. Overall, I love the way Wild Beasts approaches song arrangement/structure, instrumentation, and vocal style.

And here’s a bonus video: “We Still Got The Taste Dancin’ On Our Tongues” This one features the band floating horizontally just slightly above the ground. Again, a concept I had for a video, if I ever end up directing one. Kinda like the band is reading out of my notebook…

Wild Beasts Official Site: http://www.wild-beasts.co.uk

This comes via the Dreamboat Records blog: [http://www.dreamboatrecords.co.uk/news/2010/04/dust-cloud-video/]

Wow! I’m really into the band Bear In Heaven right now. Very creative band, both musically and tactically. They recently had issues being stranded in Madrid because of the volcanic eruptions in Iceland, and in their spare time at the Madrid Airport they created this genius video by placing their camera on the baggage claim, and setting it to their song Dust Cloud. What happened turned out to be brilliant, getting the attention of Pitchfork: [http://pitchfork.com/forkcast/14214-dust-cloud/]

A nice moment during the dust cloud from Bear In Heaven on Vimeo.

The track Dust Cloud is from the Bear In Heaven release Beast Rest Forth Mouth, and is available in vinyl+mp3 and CD formats direct from the Dreamboat Records shop, and at local record stores.

www.bearinheaven.com

The following is a post that was originally published on 4/28/08. Due to a data loss issue producer notes suffered yesterday morning, I am republishing it today. It is the first of four posts that will be republished in an attempt to retain the integrity of producer notes.

This past weekend I went to my friend Aron Wright’s show at Portland Brew here in Nashville. It was a fantastic show featuring the intimate sounds of Aron Wright, McClain and Robby Hecht.

Visit them each on the web:
Aron Wright [www.myspace.com/aronwright]
McClain [wwwmyspace.com/tfmcclain]
Robby Hecht [www.myspace.com/robbyhecht]

But I really wanted to tell you this morning about something remarkable Aron did for the show. He set up a live video broadcast over the internet using a service called UstreamTV [www.ustream.tv] This is something that I have been planning on incorporating into the shows that Radical Notion promotes. I knew I would be able to set up a live broadcast of audio, but being able to offer video was something that I was still brainstorming. So it goes without saying that I’m very fired up about this service. Look for our live broadcasts in the near future here: [www.ustream.tv/RadicalNotion]

Check out Aron Wright’s broadcasts here: [www.ustream.tv/aronwright]

Anyone else already using UstreamTV? I would love to see what you are up to. Post links to your broadcasts in the comments below.

Here are some blogs/articles I have stumbled across over the past couple of weeks. I subscribed up to these blogs, and I suggest you do to. It’s priceless information written by some of the best music business thinkers/marketers.

[http://sivers.org] Derek Sivers’ blog, the founder of CD Baby

[http://newmusicstrategies.com/?p=508] Came across this from a link on Derek Sivers’ blog. The article is written by Andrew Dubber as a post on his blog. Great perpective on piracy vs. sharing, and how it really fits into our industry.

[www.openp2p.com/lpt/a/3015] Another great article about piracy that Derek Sivers linked to on his blog. This one is written by Tim O’Reilly.

[www.musicthinktank.com/blog] A great new music business blog that has multiple authors all sharing very thought provoking ideas, and building a community around those thoughts. Authors include: Andrew Dubber, Derek Sivers, Bob Baker, Ariel Hyatt and plenty of others.

[www.futureofmusicbook.com] I googed Paul McGuiness because I wanted to read the speach he made at Cannes. I ended up at Dave Kusek’s blog. He and Gerd Leonhard co-wrote the book [The Future Of Music: Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution] Oh yeah, and he posted a [full transcript] of the Paul McGuiness speech.

The guys over at [www.youngentrepreneur.com/blog] are running the “Young Entrepreneur Challenge.” It’s an interview of 20 questions that you answer on your own blog, and then comment with a link back to your post. They are giving away an iPod, but I’m just doing this for fun. I have never participated in something like this before, so I thought I should give it a shot. Hope you enjoy my answers.

1. What ignited the spark in you to start a new business venture or to make significant changes in an existing business?
I have been in love with music all my life. I knew at a very young age that I needed to be in the music industry. I got interested in the studio because I wanted to have full control over the sound of the music I made. Over time as I became more and more involved in the music industry, I saw how hard it was to get your work recognized. I thought to myself, “if I want to produce a hit record, then I need to make the records I produce a hit.” I started Radical Notion (independent media) so that I could produce records and then promote them instead of leaving it up to someone else.

2. What is your definition of success and has your company achieved it?
My definition of success is to not give up. Thomas Edison once spoke about failure saying, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” When you set out to do something new; to cover new ground in your life, you are going to learn a lot of new and valuable life lessons. You are going to fall on your face a few times. Success is defined in how you react to falling down. Do you give up? Then you fail. Do you get back up, dust yourself off and try another apporach? Then you have been successful. Radical Notion is still here. In my book that makes us a success.

3. To what do you attribute your company’s recent achievements?
Many things. Patience, perseverance, passion, community, positive thinking, taking the time to pay attention to detail and do things right, communication, our fans/audience, trust, honesty.

4. How important have good employees and team members been to your success?
Integral. You cannot have success unless you form a strong team with your business partners, and communicate. You all have to share a common goal/vision. My business partner, Jonathan Harms, is a team player. I am a team player. The artists we manage are team players. We all share a common dream. We are a true family.

5. What three pieces of advice would you give to high school or college students who want to become entrepreneurs?

1. Be a mavrick. There is no right or wrong. Learn the fundamentals of your trade, but be willing to throw the “book smarts” out the window. Be wise. Just because a text book says to do something a certain way does not always mean that is the only way. Often times the people who made a big splash did not do so because they colored inside the lines all the time.
2. Have passion. Jonathan passed on some great advice to me over the weekend. It came from his mom, “Don’t do something that keeps you alive, do something that MAKES you alive.”
3. Here is something I have learned the hard way: Don’t miss out on life because you were too busy working. Yes, you do want to pick a vocation that makes the line that divides work and play very blurry, but too much of any one thing is a bad thing. Don’t neglect spending time with those you love. You will only get burned out, which will suck all the enjoyment out of something that was once fun.

6. What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them?
I have been known to talk too much. I learned to be confident, and say exactly what I mean. If you believe in yourself, then who cares if someone else doesn’t?

I have made the mistake of waiting too late to do something because I didn’t know every little detail about how to do what I wanted to do. I figured out that I should be “learning by doing.” You don’t have to be an expert in an area to get started. You don’t have to be an expert to have a good idea. Just do it. If you don’t, someone else will.

I have made the mistake of talking without thinking. I learned to “look before you leap.”

7. Describe/outline your typical day.
Wake up at 6:00 am, make coffee or tea (depends on my mood). Sit at my desk with the computer off. Relax/think/meditate for about 30min to an hour. Write out some ideas. Read for a bit. At around 7:30 or 8:00 am I begin to consult my lists. I prioritize my projects, and develop an idea for what I will get done for the day. I turn on my computer and check my email. If it is a Monday I post an article on my blog. Around 8:15 or so I jump in the shower. After my shower I tidy the apartment. If it happens to be a recording day, then around 9:00 am I head to the studio. I will then spend the day recording, mixing, or producing music. If it is not a recording day, then around 9:00 am Jonathan shows up. We sit and talk over some coffee about where we are regarding our current business affairs. We go over our objectives for the day, and then set out to promote, book shows for, market or generally manage the careers of the artists we represent. From there it depends. I could be in the studio all nite, my business partner and I may have to go to a show and sell merchandise or we may not have anything planned. Overall, my days are pretty unpredictable and wild.

8. Where did your organization’s funding/capital come from and how did you go about getting it?
Our funding/capital has come partly from some money we had saved up, and partly from our loving families who support everything we do. I cannot express how much I appreciate them! They believe in us wholehartedly.

9. What stops you from throwing in the towel and giving up when you are frustrated?
My passion. I am so passionate about what I do, and it is such a part of me that I cannot even imagine doing anything else. It is a dream come true. There is no defining line between what I do for fun, and what I do as work. Setting that perspective makes it illogical to walk away from something I have so much fun being a part of. It does not matter what you choose to do with your life-you will feel frustration from time to time no matter what. It would be silly to just walk away from something because you got frustrated for a moment.

10. Do you believe there is some sort of pattern or formula to becoming a successful entrepreneur?
Yes. Perspective, passion, patience, wisdom. People who are innovators, adapters, and opportunity seekers.

11. Who has influenced you most and been your greatest inspiration?
This is a very hard question for me to answer. First I have to mention my parents. They taught me so many priceless things. To pay it full tribute would be impossible. Outside of that, it would have to be Jacquire King, Butch Vig, Billy Corgan, Thurston Moore, Robert Smith, Roger Moutenot, Terry McBride, Steve Jobs, Mark Montgomery, Seth Godin.

12. What book has inspired you the most?
The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning

13. How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
So far we have done the majority of our marketing simply by making a presence online. We are utilizing social media such as myspace, facebook and blogs. We are in a startup phase of business right now, and doing most of our marketing through a grassroots word of mouth approach.

14. In one word, characterize your life as an entrepreneur.
Dreamist

15. Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?
echo music

16. How do you achieve balance in your life? Or do You?
This is honestly a daily struggle for me. It’s very difficult for me to achieve balance working in the entertainment industry. It is one of the hardest industries to work in. Entertainment never sleeps. Entertainment never stops.

17. Where do you see yourself and your business in 5 years? 10 years?
In 5 years I see us as a profitable artist management/publishing/recording company. In 10 years I see us moving into other media circles in addition to music such as, video and web technology.

18. What’s your exit strategy?
There is not one. That is not an option.

19. If we could introduce you to anyone, who would it be and why? (you never know who we know!)
Terry McBride. I feel he has achieved what I am setting out to achieve. I would love to sit and have coffee with him for an hour or two. I could learn so much.

20. If you were conducting this interview, what question would you ask?
Are you happy?

I am posting twice this week. Over the last ten days or so, I have come across some blogs/sites that got me excited. I have wanted to post them for a while now, so instead of putting it off until next week I’m posting them now. This is also part of an experiment I’m doing. I’m going to try posting twice on weeks that I give news updates, so that I don’t break the flow of normal content for an entire week.

www.startupnation.com
I was recently listening to a recording of a discussion panel of marketers. It featured Seth Godin, and somewhere in the middle he talked about this web site. It piqued my interest since I’m starting a new company. I suggest anyone who is trying to start a career as a freelance producer/engineer bookmark this site. It provides all kinds of information that is directly and indirectly relevant. By the way, you can find the recording of Seth and the others here: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/02/citizens-1.html

www.meetup.com
Another Seth Godin mentioned site from the same recording. You ever wish there was a way to network with people in your city who are either in the music business, or are starting out in the music business? This site is great because it allows you to start or join a sort of interest group/club related to your hobby or career.

www.smashingmagazine.com
As we continue to Build Radical Notion, I find myself paying more attention to web design. This site covers more than just web design, but it is overall useful to the topic, and a great source of inspiration. Web design is always something I have wanted to learn, but now I have a real excuse to spend time researching the topic and looking for inspiration. I came across this site because I am a subscriber of Daily Blog Tips [www.dailyblogtips.com]. They run a very useful “Link Tips” post where they post links to cool sites/articles they find.

vandelaydesign.com/blog
Another web design site I came across in my search for information/inspiration. I really do want to give credit where credit is due, but I can’t remember how I linked to this site. I tried to retrace my steps, but I had no luck.

www.inc.com
Just like Startup Nation, this is another great place for information for entrepreneurs. I can’t remember how I got to it either.

www.makeuseof.com
Again, a site I came across being a reader of Daily Blog Tips. It is a great site that posts links to useful tools on a whole variety of applications.

Thanks…
Thanks to those who have subcribed to my blog, and take an interest in what I am doing. I appreciate your support early on while I’m building my blog. Over the last few months I have learned quite a bit about building/running a blog, as well as a few web sites. This is all new territory for me, and has proven to be a steep learning curve. Thanks for sticking around through the rough spots of experimentation. Hope you have a great and productive week…