Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Video Day #tzaupbeat

Róisín Murphy has a new EP out for All My Dreams (!!) and just dropped an excessively youthful video for it. The Presets are back with this delightful new video for Downtown Shutdown off their new album Hi Viz coming on 6/1. Finally, Rubblebuck puts out some bizarro videos sometimes, but go a little more subtle for this great track, Fruity.

Bonus:  Similar to the last Years & Years video, I’m not over the moon about it - but they’re lush and there’s an ongoing storyline that I’m hoping might take us somewhere we wanna go.

Monday, May 21, 2018

Article: How Not to Be a Jackass at Concerts

Important reading for everyone.  Click the link to read on about heckling, moshing, talking, and the perennial issue of photos. Note the clip below - which I always attend to.

Jackass

"Sorry tall people, ya gotta stand back

If you’re generally regarded as a ‘tall person,’ you’re probably used to being in other people’s way. It’s an unfortunate reality, but until someone invents a shapeshifting venue that molds to accommodate perfect vantage points for attendees of all heights, tall folks gotta stand back. Super short people are probably going to have a tough time seeing anyway, but just try to be conscious of who you’re looming over."

(Via How Not to Be a Jackass at Concerts.)

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Video Day #tzachill

If you haven’t done yourself the favor of checking out the new Nick Mulvey stuff, start with this video for In Your Hands.  Country pop crossover is probably one of my least favorite musical genre’s, but Kacey Musgraves is the one who’s doing it right.  Lykke Li is finally coming back, and does so with a delightfully personal video for utopia.

Bonus: Stromae released his fashionable new video for the 9 minute Défiler (bande originale de la capsule n°5 Mosaert)

Monday, May 14, 2018

Article: New App Automatically Recognizes Album Covers

Nerdgasm.  Hopefully an iOS app will be coming.

"The app utilizes Google Cloud Vision API and the Spotify API to automatically recognize album cover artwork and direct you to the album on Spotify. The app seems like the perfect tool for avid music fans and regular vinyl crate diggers who may want to preview an album that catches their eye in a store so they can check it out before purchasing it."

(Via New App Automatically Recognizes Album Covers :: Music :: News :: Vinyl :: Paste.)

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(image credit: Finders Records)

ODESZA (5/4/18)

Having just wrapped up my house concert the night before, I had a couple friends from out of town who stayed a second night so we could go see ODESZA at Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica.  Let’s keep this party going.  I’d seen them back in 2014 at the Beachland Ballroom, but while that show may have been a 7 (out of 10) on the energy scale, this show was dialed up to 11.  A bigger stage, bigger lights, a drum line, and the city skyline as a backdrop - this show was spectacular.  Check out the video!

ODESZA  5 4 18

ODESZA  5 4 18

ODESZA  5 4 18

Friends made it even better.ODESZA  5 4 18

Thursday, May 10, 2018

Video Day #tzaupbeat

The Internet is back in a serious way with their new video for Roll (Burbank Funk).  Laura Marling has a new band called LUMP with Mike Lindsay (Tunng), and here’s their incredibly captivating video for Curse of the Contemporary. Equally captivating, but for completely different reasons, is Diplo’s new video for Color Blind feat. Lil Xan.

Bonus:  I’m sure everyone’s already seen this video - but if you haven’t, the new video for This is America by Childish Gambino is killer.  Make sure you catch the 7 things you might have missed.

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Mike Edel House Concert (5/3/18)

Wow.  This was such an amazing experience.  Mike, Jeremy & Brennan showed up to my house around 6:30pm and immediately began setting up for the show.  These guys could not have been any more nice.  We discussed setting up a PA system for the show, which I suggested wasn’t needed - but I’m so glad they did.  The sound was amazing, and I have to thank my neighbors for being the coolest. Hopefully the people walking down the street and turning their heads also enjoyed the show.  

The songs, stories and banter were genuine and delightful.  They talked about how they’ve basically been playing these rock & roll shows, but it was a nice change of pace doing something like this.  I hope it was for them, because it was a delight for all of us.  Friends brought food, drinks and an amazing vibe.  I don’t often have parties at my place, but this is how I want them all to go.  Luckily I had plenty of room for the band (and some friends) to crash for the night. After the show we were able to just hang outside and enjoy the great weather.  Everyone had a great time and the next day it was fun to see all the social media posts about the show and the band.  Now we all wait for the new album to come out.

Mike Edel  5 3 18Mike Edel  5 3 18

You can catch the full house concert here.  If you wanna hear how this show came about from Mike’s perspective, you can catch it at the 17:33 minute mark.

Even Bergen enjoyed it:

Mike Edel  5 3 18

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Article: Thanks to streaming, recording industry revenues are back up to pre-internet levels, but musicians are poorer than ever

Of course.

Greed in the Face of Disastrous Fundamentals

"Last year, the record industry gained an extra $1.4 billion in new revenues, mostly from streaming, restoring its overall revenues to pre-internet levels, when the labels had grown accustomed to reselling the same music every couple of years in new formats (vinyl, 8-track, cassette, CD). Overall, streaming services remit $7.4 billion to rightsholders.

But musicians' median income continues to fall, and it's not hard to understand why: it just takes a basic grasp of supply and demand. The number of labels has dwindled to four, meaning fewer bidders to put musicians under contract, and thus ever-worsening basic contract terms. Signing with a label isn't necessarily optional for artists: if you want to make music that incorporates samples, you'll find that you need to sign up with a label or you'll likely be refused a license."

(Via Thanks to streaming, recording industry revenues are back up to pre-internet levels, but musicians are poorer than ever / Boing Boing.)

Dead Horses (5/1/18)

Dead Horses played a phenomenal set at the Beachland Tavern.  Their sound was so graceful, authentic and polished.  Great musicianship.  Their performance was worthy of a Ballroom crowd, but all the more lucky I felt being albe to see them in the Tavern.  I’ll also point out how much I enjoyed the ebb and flow between traditional country sounds and some more jazz / jam band components as well.  I liked them so much, I wanted to buy a t-shirt - but couldn’t bring myself to wear one that said “Dead Horses.”  :-P

Dead Horses  5 1 18

Dead Horses  5 1 18

Opening the show was Wildcard Leader, a couple of cool local guys (brothers) who I was able to hang out with afterward.  Most notable was how the vocals reminded me of John McCauley from Deer Tick.  And as you would expect with that comparison, the sound was a little rough around the edges.  These are some genuine, earnest and talented guys with a solid sound going for them.  Looking forward to catching them again.

Wildcard Leader  5 1 18

Article(s): Edgewater Live and Euclid Beach Live 2018 schedules announced

I love that we’re using some of our best local resources (our beaches!) for live music!Euclid Beach Live  6 16 17

Edgewater Live and Euclid Beach Live 2018 schedules announced

CLEVELAND, Ohio - It's time for another Cleveland beach party. For the fifth summer, Edgewater Live Thursday night happy hours are returning to the Cleveland Metroparks beach. On Friday nights, the party moves east to Euclid Beach Park.” (Via Edgewater Live and Euclid Beach Live 2018 schedules announced | cleveland.com.)

 However...

"Construction on the Shoreway is scheduled for the entire summer, starting with the righthand lane on the Main Avenue Bridge closing in each direction until the end of May. Shortly following, construction will shift to the middle lane until early July, and then the left lane will close in July until the end of August.

Anyone who has driven on the Shoreway during Edgewater LIVE can attest to the gridlock that occurs during rush hour when all of the lanes are open. Shrinking the Shoreway down to one lane throughout all of this sounds like a recipe for disaster. Maybe bike over, use public transit, or ditch the car in Detroit-Shoreway and use one of the pedestrian tunnels instead."

(Via Edgewater LIVE Returns Just in Time For a Single Lane West Shoreway | Scene and Heard: Scene's News Blog.)

Euclid Beach Live  6 16 17

Sofi Tukker (4/30/18)

This Sofi Tukker show was particularly exciting because as much fun as they seemed like they would be, they also had a whole evening of support that looked equally as good.  But before we get to that, Sofi Tukker took the stage rather early, and faced a nearly full Grog Shop.  They were all neon lights and electric drums, even sporting a drum “tree” on stage.  They mentioned having been on tour for over 2 years, and you could kinda see the tension between the two of them, but they still respected and gave the audience what they were wanting - to dance.Sofi Tukker  4 30 18

Sofi Tukker  4 30 18

I walked in to LP Giobbi DJ’ing and dancing all “tits first” like.  It’s hard to not enjoy a spectacle like that.

LP Giobbi  4 30 18

LP Giobbi  4 30 18

I would say the biggest disappointment of the night was not seeing Kah-lo.  She was probably my biggest draw of the night, but no idea why she never took the stage.  :-/ 

Thursday, May 3, 2018

Article: Live Nation Rules Music Ticketing, Some Say With Threats

Of course.

Ticketmaster

"In 2010, when the Justice Department allowed the two most dominant companies in the live music business — Live Nation and Ticketmaster — to merge, many greeted the news with dread.

Live Nation was already the world’s biggest concert promoter. Ticketmaster had for years been the leading ticket provider. Critics warned that the merger would create an industry monolith, one capable of crippling competitors in the ticketing business.

Federal officials tried to reassure the skeptics. They pointed to a consent decree, or legal settlement, they had negotiated as part of the merger approval. Its terms were strict, they said: It would boost competition and block monopolistic behavior by the new, larger Live Nation.

‘There will be enough air and sunlight in this space for strong competitors to take root, grow and thrive,’ said the country’s top antitrust regulator, Assistant Attorney General Christine A. Varney. And she went further, suggesting that reduced ticket service fees, even lower ticket prices, might be on the horizon. 

Eight years after the merger, the ticketing business is still dominated by Live Nation and its operations extend into nearly every aspect of the concert world."

(Via Live Nation Rules Music Ticketing, Some Say With Threats - The New York Times.)