Streeter Seidell is a comedy writer and (mediocre) drummer living in Brooklyn, NY. During the day he edits the front page of CollegeHumor.com but when the sun goes down he takes his place at the helm of the Indablog. He maintains a personal blog at StreeterSeidell.com and wants to make sure you know he once wrote something for the New York Times and that it was, in the words of his mother, "Amazing! You're so talented!"
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David Byrne Journal
Stop making sense David Byrne. Seriously, you make too much sense to us - it's scary. When are you coming by to hang out? -
Creative Commons
If you want to know about IP law - this is the place. CC is defining the cutting edge of music licensing. -
Lefsetz Letter
In his own words - "First in music analysis" -
Wired Listening Post
One of our favorite places to stay on top of what's happening in the music industry. -
Create Digital Music
Fairly relevant to Indaba :) -
Underrated Magazine
Our favorite NYC music-scene blog from our favorite CMJer. -
StereoGum.com
Super-hip music blog. A must for anyone serious about the NYC scene. -
The Daily Swarm
ll the news that fit to print ... about music, that is. -
Idolator
Gawker Media's music blog. Perfect if you like a little snark with your music news. -
That's What Matt Said
Shameless promotion, we know, but this is Matt's (Indaba Co-Founder) non-Indaba blog and he wants people to read it.
Tuesday July 22, 2008 at 06:00 PM |
Morphing: Godley and Creme and Beyond
There were many musical firsts in the 80's that seem to revolve around friends of producer Trevor Horn (who shows on the last "cry" in the video). Whether it is Yes and the Art of Noise with the use of sampling, or being the first video on MTV, Trevor and his friends were innovators. In this post we have his friends Godley and Creme (of 10cc) and their video "Cry". It was the first to explore morphing as a visual effect.
Being talented and successful songwriters Godley and Creme were also responsible for producing some of the 80's best music videos, including The Police's "Every Breath You Take", "Wrapped Around Your Finger", "Synchronicity II", Wang Chung's "Everybody Have Fun Tonight", Duran Duran's "Girls On Film" and "A View to a Kill", and George Harrison's "When We Was Fab".
Their experiment in morphing inspired and culminated in Micheal Jackson's masterful "Black and White" . I'd love to have it in the set but the Jackson Mafia has disallowed embedding on all of the video sites. I think Michael takes morphing waaaay too personally anyway.
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del.icio.usFriday July 18, 2008 at 08:00 AM |
Singing Stars
You've heard of seeing stars right? Well I was seeing them sing this morning. This video set is about a group of actors who are also known for their ventures into music. Here is Zooey Deschanel (from Elf. The New Guy etc. with She and Him), joining the ranks of Jack Black (with tenatious d), the Hasselhoff, and, of course, Shatner.
Enjoy!
Thursday July 10, 2008 at 06:00 PM |
Plants Can Make Music Too
Yes, yes they can. This story (via Create Digital Music) chronicles an amazing sound installation in Scotland that automatically produces music in response to changing environmental factors associated with plant life in a greenhouse.
A composition for plants, yangqin, bamboo robot and robotic chimes, Three Pieces is designed as a collaboration between robots, traditional instruments, and living things, housed in Victorian Palm House of the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh. A traditional Chinese dulcimer is played by a robot with many bamboo fingers while the surrounding foliage hides an ensemble of robotic chimes. Despite being separate individuals, the robots communicate and perform together. The robot performers are conducted by all the living things in the Palm House. The moisture content of the soil changes slowly as the plants absorb water, while on a much faster timescale, the temperature changes in the building as animals, including humans, move about. The installation detects this living presence in the Palm House and the music changes accordingly. The robots react to humans, but their mood alters with the plants.
The robots and plants are taking over. Maybe they're mad that we've been killing all of them for so long (the plants, not the robots).
THREE PIECES sound installation from Ziggy Campbell on Vimeo.
Wednesday July 09, 2008 at 06:00 PM |
The Producers: Axwell
I'm a little late on my happy Monday post. The 4th of July weekend got me a tad behind all the way around. I had carnivals, fireworks, and a live jam in the garden.
This video set is a group of songs tweaked by producer Axwell. Axwell (born Axel Hedfors) is a DJ, remixer, record producer and record label owner from Stockholm, Sweden.
Although his years behind the decks began in the late 1990s at many gay clubs, his profile got larger when he teamed up with Robbie Rivera and vocalist Suzan Brittan to record "Burning." The collaboration went to number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 2004.
In late 2004 Axwell released another global hit, "Feel The Vibe", which was re-released under Ministry of Sound in 2005 with added vocals from Tara McDonald as "Feel The Vibe ('Til The Morning Comes).
Axwell has been producing remixes for other artists - recent mixes have included Usher's "Burn" (BMG), Room 5's "Make Luv" (Positiva), Clipse & Faith Evans "Ma, I Don’t Love Her" (RCA), Stonebridge's "Put 'Em High" (Hed Kandi), N*E*R*D's single "Maybe" (Virgin), and more recently Hard-Fi's "Hard To Beat", Deep Dish's "Dreams", Pharrell Williams' "Angel", Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous" and Madonna's "Jump".
This set includes Axwell's "I Found You", "Feel The Vibe" and his remix of Sunfreakz "Counting Down The Days".
So now that it's Monday evening and we're all limbered up, maybe we can keep up with Axwell's dancers. Uh right....
Happy day.
Monday July 07, 2008 at 06:00 PM |
Status Report: It's been six months now since I got my little friend, the Boss 600 digital recorder. During those six months I've invented FlyinAmbeR and written and recorded a 10 song album. (Wistful thinking bit: what might have been if I'd had this little gizmo years ago.....?)
The songs, I think, are good...a couple very good; the recording and mixing is improving but still rough around the edges. The voice, having been ruined by smoking and years of singing in smoky dives, is probably not strong enough for gigging but can still do the business in short bursts.
Highlight so far - featured artist on XFM Scotland with "Simply To See" being played on Martin Bate's show back in May.
Where to now? Dunno. Be nice if some young band picked up on the songs and covered them.
By the way, I'd like to encourage all of you guys to blog about what kind of equipment you're using. There's no better way to hear about new gear or new programs than by word of mouth or, in this case, word of blog.
Digg thisWednesday July 02, 2008 at 06:00 PM |
There is a meme called RickRoll going around the video posting sites which is about posting video with people lip synching to Rick Astley songs. A meme (pronounced /miːm/) consists of any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that gets transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. A recent on called "2 Girls, 1 Cup" highlights the depths which people will stoop to have their 15 minutes of noteriety. I wouldn't suggest looking for it because the premise is just gross.
Some believe the Rick Astley one was inspired by this episode from The Family Guy where Brian "performs" his magic on "Never Gonna Give You Up".
Enjoy!
Friday June 27, 2008 at 08:00 AM |
From Joe S.'s blog (second great post this week, Joe!)
Sexy Subtlety
Call me old fashioned (or just dull) but is anyone else tired of the lack of subtlety in today's popular music?
I spend a lot of time with my teens. I'm pretty open about their tastes and interests. A recent road trip gave opportunity to listen to and talk about music. Due to the overwhelming popularity of Lil' Wayne's song Lollipop we listened to it regularly about once every 40 minutes.
The radio plays the clean version yet anyone with even a limited imagination can figure out what this song is about. I began thinking of what was sexy and interesting about music as I was growing up. My mind immediately went to Marvin Gaye. Admittedly I'm a fan, but in this context his "subtlety" amazes me. Now back then it was anything but subtle but it was classy. Well, you've got real class and then you've got Lil' Wayne.
So what am I trying to say here...well to be blunt, most rap and hip hop (which used to be culturally relevant) are mostly now only fluff and braggadocio over killer beats. It's feels cheap and egocentric exactly like sex without the foreplay.
Where Marvin Gaye is candles, wine and a hottub... Lollipop is four minutes of strip, rip and that's it!
In the immortal words of David Bowie - "Wam bamb thank you mame".
This video set is a comparison of Sexual Healing and the uncensored version of Lollipop. And just to recover I've added a live performances of Let's Get It On and I Want You.
Enjoy!
Tuesday June 24, 2008 at 06:00 PM |
Sonny J: Can't Stop Moving
This is a just plain groovy tune with a cool message.
Sonny J is the artist name of Sonnington James III, originally from Liverpool and now living in Whitstable. His debut single, "Can't Stop Moving" was brought out by Stateside Records in 2007. His second single, was "Enfant Terrible" and third, "Handsfree (If You Hold My Hand)", a cover of the 1972 Donna Hightower song, released on June 9, 2008. His debut album Disastro was released June 16. Sonny J was discovered when an early demo version of "Can't Stop Moving" was played on BBC Radio 1 and signed to EMI, who own the Stateside record label.
I know...It's monday. But just think of the possibilities!
Thursday June 19, 2008 at 06:00 PM |
This is a rather long blog post for me, but I thought this would be of interest. I was listening to Peter Frampton this weekend, a father's day gift CD, and was thinking about the dynamics and expressiveness of the music, something that is fading in both modern songwriting and music production.
In an article called "The Death Of High Fidelity", Rolling Stone magazine writer Robert Levine reports on the industry fight over (or against) dynamic range:
Is it really that important? Bob Dylan thinks so...
The idea that engineers make albums louder might seem strange: Isn't volume controlled by that knob on the stereo? Yes, but every setting on that dial delivers a range of loudness, from a hushed vocal to a kick drum — and pushing sounds toward the top of that range makes music seem louder. It's the same technique used to make television commercials stand out from shows. And it does grab listeners' attention — but at a price. Last year, Bob Dylan told Rolling Stone that modern albums "have sound all over them. There's no definition of nothing, no vocal, no nothing, just like — static."
Static... Ok I personally think technology has been good for music but I also agree with the articles premise. To much compression kills dynamic range which is one of the hallmarks of the classic rock LP's of the vinyl years.
Too much compression can be heard as musical clutter; on the Arctic Monkeys' debut, the band never seems to pause to catch its breath. By maintaining constant intensity, the album flattens out the emotional peaks that usually stand out in a song. "You lose the power of the chorus, because it's not louder than the verses," Bendeth says. "You lose emotion."
A visual example:
Since the mid-1990s, engineers have used dynamic compression to make CDs louder and louder. These waveforms show how loud contemporary recordings have become:
Nirvana
"Smells Like Teen Spirit"
Back in 1991, even the loudest rock wasn't always loud: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" has plenty of fluctuations in its volume — so when Kurt Cobain screams, you feel it.
Arctic Monkeys
"I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor"
This 2006 track is a prime offender: The sound wave is cranked to the limit, and it stays there for nearly every second of the song. Have a headache yet?
U2
"With or Without You" (Original)
U2
"With or Without You" (Remastered)
Many of us didn't even notice the change in the music. The casual listener may not know or care because the brain is constantly compensating for the sounds it perceives ( or doesn't perceive in this case), and it is probably making you believe you actually enjoy what you hear!
Test it for yourself:
Here are three recent albums noted for their depth and dynamic range — and three that are way too loud
GOOD
Modern Times, Bob Dylan [Listen]
Not Too Late, Norah Jones [Listen]
Raising Sand, Robert Plant/Alison Krauss [Listen]On these albums, the music breathes: Check out the true-to-life sound of Dylan's "Thunder on the Mountain."
BAD
Alright, Still, Lily Allen [Listen]
Californication, Red Hot Chili Peppers [Listen]
Infinity on High, Fall Out Boy [Listen]These are so unrelentingly loud that the sound is nearly distorted. The choruses on the Peppers' "Scar Tissue" are no louder than the verses.
In the digital age, where everything is tweaked to perfection, everything about music is changing...except perhaps dynamic quality, which to me makes music, like Peter Frampton, "come alive".
Tuesday June 17, 2008 at 06:00 PM |
From Indaba Intern Alexandra Stewart's Blog
Hello Indaba,
As
one of the new interns here I thought I should start off the summer
with a couple of blogs featuring some of the up and coming artists I
know and think that you should too. With that said, ladies &
gentlemen, meet Ian Axel.
I have to give a little credit to my
boyfriend (who recently worked with him on his latest master piece
"Gone") for introducing me to this loveable character. We went to go
see his show last week at The Rockwood Music Hall Residency here in NYC
and I had to go back for seconds this week. I brought a few of my
girlfriends who were dying to see him after listening to his latest
recordings. Ian’s tunes have been featured on The Hills.. a guilty
pleasure for us college girls.
Ian's story is this: he started
playing piano and composing at the age of three. he started singing
at.. age 20! you'd never EVER know and I would dare to say that his
voice sounds even better live. With all that piano background you can
bet that he lays down gorgeous accompaniments. If (which I strongly
encourage!) you go see his shows at the Residency, you will be
pleasantly surprised to see Ian with a solo piano. It’s really all he
needs to effect his audiences. Strip the music down to the core, take
away the strings.. Ian’s got rhythm in a very serious way and plays
just beautifully, always incorporating his classical technique.
His
hope and optimism (which all of you will hear when you check out his
Indaba profile) must come from those he surrounds himself with. A few
friends are sometimes invited on stage during his shows and you can
tell that they all have a whole lot of love for Mr. Axel.
There's still time to catch him at the Residency! So please Indaba, go check out his profile and give Ian a warm welcome!
xo,
Alex