We saw this power trio play last night at the Adobe party. They owned the house with their power and musicality. I went up to talk to them after the show to thank them for making my (already amazing) SxSW trip. Turns out they’re super nice, in addition to super talented.
Recorded this last night, using the iMac’s built in microphone. Turned out pretty well. Amazing what we can do these days.
(if you don’t see the player above in your feed reader, visit the site)
This is the first time I’ve shared a song I wrote, so be gentle with me. This is a pretty rough recording, but will give you a good taste for the song.
What I’ve learned about songwriting:
Just get something down on paper. Doesn’t matter how shitty it is. It’s just the scaffold for what you’re really going to write. One by one you’ll erase all the crap words and ideas and replace them with gems.
Applied to design:
How often have I stared at a blank screen? Just get something up there. Doesn’t matter how shitty it is. It’s just the scaffold for what comes next.
I’m really enjoying All Hour Cymbals by Yeasayers. They’re from Brooklyn, where I’ll be next week. Give it a listen below.
Young Folks. Apparently this was the iTunes song of the year according to Peter Bjorn and John’s myspace page
How could I not have heard of this? Am I that out of the loop?
The site is called imeem.com. The description is typical web 2.0: You build playlists by selecting from their library of tracks, then share your playlists with your “friends” or the whole site. What is blowing my mind is the size of the library, and the quality of the streamed audio.
The content page shows a very impressive list of media companies. Equally indie and big studio.
I’ve done a number of searches for current indie-ish bands like The Fiery Furnaces, The National, Besnard Lakes, Blonde Redhead, Black Mountain, and all have come back with pretty much the entire catalog from each artist. We’re talking full albums. Streaming in high quality flash audio. Playing out through a USB to RCA cable into my fairly decent stereo, through fairly decent speakers, I can’t tell the difference between the streamed audio and my eMusic acquired version of the same track.
The site has a very handy QuickMix function, which allows you to build a playlist on the fly as you move around the site. Just click on the add to QuickMix button next to each track and you’re done. Save your quickmik to access it anytime.
I discovered the site late this afternoon, and have done little beside explore it.
Did I mention that it’s free? The business model seems to be based around advertising and sales. View a song’s page, and you’ll see a download button. Click that to be given the option to buy the track from iTunes or Amazon. I assume there’s some kind of affiliate thing going on, with revenue being split between the label and the site.
Buddy Guy performing at the Crossroads Guitar Festival in 2007
You know that satisfying click as two pieces of a puzzle form together? That’s how I felt when I really listened to the Blues a few months ago. It was like my ears had been formed just so in order to wring the most from every vibration of blues music. I just loved it instantly.
I found my way to the blues through my guitar. I’ve been playing a lot the past year and a bit, and have naturally tended towards playing blues tunes. Everyone who learns to play guitar learns to play the blues. It’s one of the simplest forms of music to become proficient at.
At the same time, it can take a lifetime to master. A friend asked me why I was so attracted to the blues, and I described it like this:
You know that feeling, when you’re totally in the zone, where you almost disappear? I think you can get into that zone more quickly playing blues than you can with other forms.
This means that the really great blues players and singers get to focus more on feeling, tone, and phrasing and less on complex fingerings and theory. You don’t spend a lot of time talking about the blues – you just play.
I started by formal introduction to the blues on wikipedia. That article led me to Buddy Guy, and I haven’t really recovered.
That’s more than enough writing about the blues for one day. Time to play.
