Yeah, this is brilliant. Really into it. Tastefully gothic, which if you hang around me you know that I’m a wee bit goth.
Many are saying O. Children is like Joy Division. I say no (although I can see why, as I do hear just the tiniest bit of Joy Division on some tracks, like “Radio Waves”).
I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out a more accurate comparison. That baritone timber of lead singer, Tobias, makes me remember another singer. And it’s not Ian Curtis. Thoughts?
Here’s the video for “Ruins”
Their self-titled debut album is out in two days (July 12th) on Deadly People, with a pre-order available on iTunes now.
O. Children Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ochildren
O. Children Myspace page: www.myspace.com/ochildren
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).
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.
Last Wednesday I posted about The Flaming Lips documentary The Fearless Freaks, and in that post I cited a few memories in my life around the time I was first turned onto The Flaming Lips.
Yesterday I came across two pieces of media that featured Terry McBride, CEO of Nettwerk Management. 1) A Be The Media interview, and 2) A YouTube video of Terry’s TEDxVancouver speech. In both of these pieces of media Terry talks about the emotional power of music and its ability to bookmark moments in our lives that we can return to whenever we choose. Immediately I thought about my post from Wednesday, so I had to share:
The Be The Media interview:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/be-the-media/2010/02/03/terry-mcbride-ceo-nettwerk-music-group (kinda long, but worth it-1hr total)
TEDxVancouver speech:
For the last few years, I’ve looked to Terry McBride as a major source of inspiration. The principles upon which I founded Radical Notion (independent media) are very much non-traditional, outside the box ideas. And ever since I founded this company, I’ve been searching for new ideas, finding inspiration everywhere I could, and seeking to better understand what these new ideas and inspiration I have are. This search of knowledge for what the future of the music business looks like is what ultimately led me to Terry McBride and the ideas he shares.
Terry McBride has an understanding of this subject matter which is astonishingly articulate. I hope one day I can understand all of this half as eloquently.
Having knowledge of the tools-understanding them-is an important part of your artistic process.
The results and character of what you get with pen and paper is certainly different from what you get with keyboards and electrons.
Recording to tape using a collection of vintage tube mics is not going to make your art any more or less compelling. But there is a specific inspiration you get from recording to tape, and another specific inspiration you get from recording to a DAW. And neither one of these is “better” than the other-they’re just different.
Make sure you understand the tools. Don’t ignore one thing because it’s too “new” and another because it’s too “old.”
Utilize a collection of tools throughout all your creative processes, whether recording, writing, taking photos, or anything else creative. You will be pleased with the way it changes your style and character, and the different nuances within the results you get.
Since last Friday I’ve been battling a terrible cold, and have not been able to get much sleep. Out of frustration I gave up, and decided to just watch movies on Hulu instead. Last nite I came across The Flaming Lips: The Fearless Freaks, which is obviously a documentary about the band The Flaming Lips.
Although I’ve never collected or listened to a lot of The Flaming Lips music, I’ve always been very interested in and inspired by the band. I remember being turned onto the band by my older sister, who is responsible for turning me onto a lot of the now legendary bands which shaped rock music from the late 80′s through the early 90′s.
I think it was 1994, and my sister was all about this new song hitting the independent radio airwaves-I believe back then there was this really cool station in Nashville called Thunder 94, which played some of the most fantastic underground indie/grunge rock-the song was She Don’t Use Jelly.
She came to me and told me all about it, “You have to hear this song!” She put it on a mix cassette tape, and we would listen to it in the car on the way to school.
Shortly after, I went out and bought the CD, Transmissions from the Satellite Heart. I listened to it, tried to like it, didn’t get it, and ultimately traded it to my sister for The Smashing Pumpkins record Pisces Iscariot. A few years later, when my sister went off to college, I went digging through the CDs she left behind. I was so excited when I found that she had left Transmissions from the Satellite Heart. I listened to the CD from start to finnish, and this time I understood the appeal. I loved the guitar tones, the timbre of the lead vocal, the riffs, and the instrumentation.
Like a lot of bands, though, for some very strange reason I didn’t continue to follow The Flaming Lips, or buy any more of their records. Throughout the years there have been a lot of bands I’ve really enjoyed, but never bought their records. Best I can tell, this all had something to do with my obsession with The Smashing Pumpkins-I was too busy studying their records to pay much attention to anything else.
The Flaming Lips have always held some kind of special inspiration for me, and throughout the years, as the band periodically popped up on my radar-one of the Batman movie soundtracks; when they hit critical mass around 2002 with Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots-it’s always stirred an excitement in me that I can’t quite put my finger on.
And watching The Fearless Freaks last nite helped me understand a little bit more about what the excitement and inspiration that comes from The Flaming Lips is. It reminded me of a time in my life when I was first realizing how important music was to me, and it reminded me of specific memories for which the band’s music served as the soundtrack.
The Fearless Freaks served as an intimate window into the lives of The Flaming Lips, and made me realize that through all these years this band has been astonishingly forward-thinking, lead by risk takers who are pure artists, and visionaries-always remaining true to a specific set of ideas.
I’ve always been inspired by The Flaming Lips, but watching The Fearless Freaks I saw that I’m now inspired by the band on another level-an entrepreneurial level-as they more or less have been doing for around 20 years, what I’m attempting to accomplish now. Building something that is remarkable.
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