NaCl(aq)

We are not the kids we used to be.

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 19:37:03 -0400

(photo from Rhapsody blog; credit unknown)

I checked out the new Alexisonfire album Old Crows/Young Cardinals today. My expectations were set pretty low. These guys were my favorite during my early college days, but like all the other bands I listened to then, I figured they’d be riding the screamo wave dry, still hanging on for dear life.

To my surprise and delight, I was wrong. They knew that’s what everyone else did before rolling into the Land of Bands Who Once Rocked But Now Suck. So they bailed and worked on maturing their sound and writing something adventurous. And they’ll be first to tell you, in their opening track: “We are not the kids we used to be (stop wishing for yesterday).”

Sure, it’s got a bit of that arena punk sound the kids love right now (Green Day, Rise Against, etc), and maybe I’m biased because of my nostalgia toward the group, but dammit, I like it. OC/YC has the guts of the Alexisonfire I love with the maturity and confidence that comes from studying abroad.

Fav tracks: Old Crows, Born and Raised, Emerald Street - and Midnight Regulations, because it sounds like their old stuff :)

You can listen to select tracks here.

What a wild time it was.

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:05:30 -0400

What a wild time it was.

I snuck through a cracked fence and across old, broken,...

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:02:27 -0400

I snuck through a cracked fence and across old, broken, weed-infested cement to snap a picture of this carosel horse on the balcony of a building that appeared to be abandon.

After circling the block, I realized it was a refurbished condo complex, and I could have snapped the shot from the other side without risking arrest or lock jaw. But that wouldn’t have been as much fun.

My favorite picture from my trip to Lollapalooza in Chicago.

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:58:51 -0400

My favorite picture from my trip to Lollapalooza in Chicago.

ReverbNation pays artists for free music

Fri, 22 May 2009 16:57:31 -0400

ReverbNation today announced that about 1000 of its almost 400,000 artist members will be eligible to participate in a new revenue generating Sponsored Songs program. The initiative makes it possible to tap into the kind of major brand relationships that have typically been elusive for unsigned and indie talent.

“Traditionally the music business has been synonymous with the record business where the lion’s share of revenue came from selling music. With reduced emphasis on music sales, the music business must develop new revenue streams that leverage the artist as a brand,” Michael Doernberg, CEO of ReverbNation said in a statement. ReverbNation will pay participating musicians $.50 per free download with each track incorporating a small section of branded messaging within the digital cover art displayed every time the song is played.

(via Music Industry Report via HYPEBOT)

“Percussion Gun” from White Rabbits on Vimeo. The...

Fri, 22 May 2009 16:07:04 -0400

“Percussion Gun” from White Rabbits on Vimeo.

The video might make you dizzy, but damnit I really dig this track of their new album, which you can stream in full right here.

National Running Day is coming up soon! Running is one of the...

Thu, 21 May 2009 20:43:04 -0400

National Running Day is coming up soon! Running is one of the cheapest and simplest ways you can get yourself on track to a healthy lifestyle—all it takes is a pair of sneakers (or if you live near a large grassy field/lawn, you don’t even need them) and possibly a sports bra for the ladies.

Even if you’ve never run farther than the bus as it pulled away, do yourself a favor and take the first step. You don’t have to promise to do it every day. You don’t even have to like it. (I sure didn’t at first.) And you definitely don’t have to (and shouldn’t, if you’re new) run ten miles, five, or even one consecutively. Do anything you can, even if you run a block and walk two for 20 minutes. That’s better than sitting on the couch for 20 minutes. Tumblr and Twitter will be there when you get back. And with the calories you burned, you can pretend that pint of beer you drink after you return and shower never happened.

Who knows… maybe the first step (run) will lead to another, and before you know it, you just might learn to like the rewarding feeling running gives you. You might lose weight. You might enter and run a race for the first time in your life. And you might one day wonder why the hell you didn’t start sooner. But let’s not get carried away!! Just give June 3 a try.

Reblog this if you’re up for the challenge.

Check out this website to get info on the day, find an event in your area, and read up on running tips for beginners.

The Campaign to Save Paste

Tue, 19 May 2009 13:03:08 -0400

Dear Paste readers,

We write this letter with great appreciation for all you’ve done for Paste, as well as sorrow that we need to come to you and ask for further support. The economy has taken its toll on Paste, and we need your help to continue.

As the global recession has continued, many of you have written us (especially as ad pages shrunk) to say, “If you ever need help, let us know.” That day has come.

Today, we are launching the “Campaign to Save Paste” to raise money to keep Paste coming to your mailboxes and computer screens. If you are in a position to give even a little, please consider donating. As thanks for your generosity, over 70 amazing artists (including The Decemberists, Neko Case, Bob Mould, Cowboy Junkies, Indigo Girls, The Jayhawks, Brandi Carlile, John Roderick of The Long Winters, Patterson Hood, The Avett Brothers and Josh Ritter—with more to come) have gathered and donated rare & exclusive MP3s for all who join us in the campaign. Here’s what artists are saying about why Paste should be saved.

As a completely independent company, Paste has struggled for the past nine months as advertisers have decided to wait out the recession. As most of you realize, magazines are heavily subsidized by advertising. Industry experts estimate that an average subscription for a monthly publication would cost $60-$80 per year without advertising support.

But last month was brutal. Cash received unexpectedly reached an all-time low, and turned a tough situation into a short-term crisis.

Long-term, Paste will emerge in good shape. Even with the fall-off at the end of the year, 2008 was our best year yet—print subscribers, print ads, online readers and online advertising were all at record levels. Readers (print and online) remain strong. And new advertisers have come on board even in the recession, with more ready when their advertising budgets come back.

In the meantime, we’ve adjusted our business to weather this storm. We’ve cut costs, and we developed a robust online business that’s among the best in the industry. Fundamentally, we’re in good shape and won’t need another appeal down the road. But it’s taken us until this point to get there—leaving us critically low on cash, without some large corporation behind us to bridge the gap.

We’ll make it through this short-term economic crisis—but it’s only with your help. Our fate is (and has been and always will be) in your hands. Big-time investors are not “in the game” right now—but readers can rise up and “invest” in Paste’s future. Will you be a part?

We appreciate all of your support so far—everyone who’s subscribed, given a gift, or even read a story online or opened a newsletter. It’s all enabled us to make it this far. Now, we humbly ask you to consider giving a little more.

It doesn’t take much. Every little bit helps and you can be a part of continuing our efforts to help you find signs of life in music, film and culture. If $1 (yes, one dollar) came in from everyone on our e-mail lists (or $10 from 10% or $100 from 1%), we’ll reach our goal and emerge from this recession as a stronger magazine and website. While we’re not a non-profit (this isn’t a tax-deductible gift), know that every dollar you give goes into keeping Paste alive and, ultimately, making it even better.

While you’re at it, also let us know what more you’d like to see from Paste. What should we do (or do better) online to help you discover new music, film and more? As advertising comes back and the magazine thickens, what would you like to see in print?

CLICK HERE to give via PayPal or credit card.

With our sincerest thanks,

Josh, Tim and Nick for the entire Paste family

PS. As thanks for your help, a number of our favorite musicians and labels have donated free rare & exclusive MP3s (from artists including She & Him, Arrested Development, Shawn Mullins, Samantha Crain, State Radio, Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3, Rogue Wave, Passion Pit, Over the Rhine, The Minus 5 and more) for everyone who donates. And as more artists contribute, you’ll have access to those songs as well. We also have a number of goodies (such as signed R.E.M. posters, an ocean-view cabin on next year’s Cayamo cruise, and more) to give to donors in random drawings. And, anyone giving $350 or more will receive a lifetime subscription to Paste as a thank you.

You can read more about the drive in our Save Paste FAQs. View all the campaign resources (including banner ads for your website) at the Campaign to Save Paste page.

Give a few bucks to help an awesome magazine that only costs $19.95 a year (plus a monthly bonus mix) as it is, and get a bunch of exclusive tracks? COUNT ME IN!

How far?

Sun, 17 May 2009 17:46:51 -0400

Jay: did you know that The Marianas Trench is almost 7 miles deep? It's the deepest part of the ocean.
me: I thought the ocean was deeper than that
I mean... that's really deep, but...
Jay: mount Everest would disappear in it
me: I have no concept of distance
Jay: ok so the trench is almost a mile and a half deeper than everest is high
me: well until today, I would have guessed that the ocean was like 112 miles deep
so a mile and a half doesn't seem like much
I also would have guessed that Everest was like 27 miles high
Jay: planes only fly at 7.5 miles
me: oh. hm

Earth in my head is apparently way larger than it actually is. Probably because I watch too many documentaries on outer space.

Similarly, I can't really weight the distance between 3 million and 300 million. Or 50 tons and 500 tons. Or 40,000 feet and 4 million feet. It's all "a lot."

“Her Morning Elegance” - Oren Lavie Mark’s...

Sun, 17 May 2009 16:46:59 -0400

“Her Morning Elegance” - Oren Lavie

Mark’s post and my love of stop motion videos inspired me to go find some more music videos using the technique. This is a lovely song for a rainy day, and the video reminds me that some of my greatest adventures happen in the comfort of my own slumber.

From Lavie’s myspace:

…the album track ‘Her Morning Elegance’ was chosen to feature on a US Chevrolet TV commercial. The aforementioned author, who has never owned a car in his life, and who has diligently ignored the invention of Television, could not stop giggling for days. With a song in his heart he continues to take the bus.

yvynyl: Oi Va Voi “Everytime” This video was made with a...

Sun, 17 May 2009 15:30:07 -0400

yvynyl:

Oi Va Voi “Everytime”

This video was made with a shredding machine. Every third frame of the footage was printed, shredded and shot three times blended with adjacent frames by different stripes configuration.

It’s gorgeous.

(via Katarzyna Kijek)

I can’t even take a guess at how long it took to do this. It’s amazing. I love it.

Performance Rights Act passed

Thu, 14 May 2009 10:47:37 -0400

On Sunday, I wrote to you about an important legislative vote taking place today. The House Judiciary Committee voted on The Performance Rights Act, a bill that would close the “corporate radio loophole” and allow artists to be compensated when their recordings are played on terrestrial radio, just as they are on Internet and satellite radio.

There was a great deal of pressure from the broadcaster lobby to kill this bill, but they were no match for you. Thanks in large part to the thousands of calls and emails you generated in the past three days, the Committee voted in favor of the legislation.

In other words, we won.

There is still a long road ahead to turn this bill into law, and we will be calling on you for help again. But know that your efforts carried the day in the House of Representatives.

On to the Senate!

Kind regards,

Neil Portnow
President/CEO
The Recording Academy

If you’re not sure what the Performance Rights Act is, you can catch up here and here. Basically, every time a terrestrial radio station plays a Sinatra song in the US, the guy who wrote it gets paid, but the Frank estate gets nothing. Will Smith gets money for each syndication of Fresh Prince but not for Gettin’ Jiggy Wit’ It.

Bono says:

“While we have many friends at radio, and appreciate the many things that radio has done for our band over the years, we believe it’s only fair that when radio makes money by playing a recording artist’s music and selling advertising, the recording artist should be compensated just as songwriters are already. This is a principle accepted by radio broadcasters in virtually every country in the world. The music business is in a state of freefall at the moment, and while, thankfully, this no longer really affects us - there are many young recording artists out there who can no longer earn a living from the sale of their music, or from touring or selling merchandise…yet they remain a vital part of radio playlists throughout the USA. They should not be denied their fair share. In this time of so much positive change coming from Washington, we hope this bill will be embraced and become the law.”

It’s not a perfect plan, but it’s a good start.

Please share with any Philadelphia-area musicians, producers,...

Wed, 13 May 2009 13:44:04 -0400

Please share with any Philadelphia-area musicians, producers, engineers, music students, or others who might be interested in touring the video and audio production studios and/or seeing a demo of ProTools 8 by an Avid representative.

RSVP @ 215.985.5411 or rsvp_philadelphia@grammy.com.

How To Work Out Like An Indie Rocker

Mon, 11 May 2009 23:09:04 -0400

Ripped fishnets = ripped core

Good news, everyone! There’s a new fitness program for indie rockers, and it’s more than just running around shoehorning in examples to try and define that nebulous blob of a genre. How do you know that this fitness program is specifically for indie rockers? Because it says so right on the DVD:

From the press release:

The Fitness For Indie Rockers line is unique not just for its rock aesthetic and bloodpumping music, but also for the technical innovation that enables audiences to choose from three selectable channels of music, picking a music style to match their mood. “CARDIO FOR INDIE ROCKERS” includes Indie, Heavy, & Punk channels, featuring 40+ tracks of music ranging from hardcore heroes Walls Of Jericho to indie darlings Eudora to Dance-Dance-Revolution-veterans The Motion Sick.

What? I have no idea.

Most indie rockers think they’re working out for indie rockers if they’re running on the treadmill while listening to their iPod, or laughing at people in Spin class while listening to their iPod, or considering buying a Bender Ball system online, even though it’s just a rubber ball and you could get that anywhere so why bother, while listening to their iPod—but they are doing it all wrong. According to The Fitness For Indie Rockers line, here’s how to work out like an indie rocker:

1. Choose an instructor who clearly idolizes both Gwen Stefani and the American Gladiators.

Hosted by bleach blonde, heavily tattoo’d, certified personal trainer Chaos, the series has received critical praise in addition to its fan popularity.

Dizzorderly Konduct and Entropy are also great personal trainers for indie rockers because they also have so many tattoos that the word “tattooed” can’t handle it all and is forced to use an apostrophe. Indie!

2. Wear an absurd amount of Hot Topic layers over your workout clothes. When you look like a Suicide Girls garage sale exploded on you, that’s enough.

Pretty soon your core will be as ripped as her soon-to-be-sweaty fishnets.

3. Find a really badass place to work out. Like, say, the alley.

The closer you are to graffitti, the deeper your stretches will be. That’s the key to indie rock fitness.

4. When doing your mat work, don’t forget the real reason you’re here: the music. So, whenever possible, have guitars and a drum kit nearby.

Cardio, followed by band practice, followed by a cool down. That’s keepin’ f’tness indie.

(by Amelie Gillette @ A.V. Club)

Sorry if you’ve seen this; it’s new to me and high-larious. It’s a 3-piece series with Cardio4IR, Pilates4IR, and Yoga4IR. Excellent.

Performance Rights Act

Mon, 11 May 2009 10:00:00 -0400

Dear Recording Academy Member:

In February, I told our worldwide GRAMMY telecast audience about our quest for a performance right for artists whose music is broadcast on AM/FM radio.

We are at a critical moment in this pursuit, and now is the time to act. A vote in the U.S. House Judiciary Committee is imminent, so your representative needs to hear from you today or tomorrow (May 11 or 12).

Royalties are paid to performers by U.S. Internet radio and satellite radio, and by terrestrial broadcasters everywhere in the developed world. But in the U.S., AM/FM radio does not pay for the music it uses. The Performance Rights Act would close the “corporate radio loophole” that prevents artists from earning royalties when their work is used by the $16 billion radio industry. If you believe that performers should be compensated whenever another business profits from their work, please take three minutes and place a call to your legislator’s office. It’s quick and easy. Simply go to www.grammy.com/musicfirst and click “Call Now” for instructions.

Together, we can establish this important right for our music community.

Kind regards,

Neil Portnow
President/CEO
The Recording Academy

mizzchelle: A Portrait of Michelle’s Future Lover, by Steve Yee...

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:34:21 -0400

mizzchelle:

A Portrait of Michelle’s Future Lover, by Steve Yee (via WebUrbanist)

JUST KIDDING, that’s not really the title. But seriously, isn’t this just breathtaking?

This is part of the GRAMMY campaign “Music Makes Us.” You can check out all of the photos and videos (really cool) on the GRAMMY media page (3/4 way down).

daryn: The Morning Benders - Mother & Child Reunion I love...

Sun, 10 May 2009 14:06:34 -0400

daryn:

The Morning Benders - Mother & Child Reunion

I love this Paul Simon cover, from their free album The Bedroom Covers.

From their website (link above):

the bedroom covers:
1. crying - roy orbison
2. mother and child reunion - paul simon
3. why dont they let us fall in love? - the ronettes
4. lovefool - the cardigans
5. i won’t share you - the smiths
6. he’s a rebel - the crystals
7. marie - randy newman
8. fools rush in - johnny mercer/rube bloom
9. temptation inside your heart - velvet underground
10. dreams - fleetwood mac
11. pull up the roots - talking heads
12. caroline, no- beach boys remix (bonus track)
12.5 why don’t they let us fall in love? (live daytrotter version!)

…these songs sound the way they do, because we recorded them with a laptop and one mic. we used mainly acoustic guitars and shakers because that’s what we had lying around, and we couldn’t make much noise in our apartment anyway. we didn’t spend time arranging any of these either. we learned the chords and the lyrics (which was pretty easy because we’ve heard all these songs hundreds of times), and we played ‘em. what you hear at the basis of the recording is generally a first take. sometimes we added some background vocals or another guitar part here or there, because the songs we were covering had a lot more going on than us, and we were feeling a bit inadequate…

but hey, you’re always fighting a losing battle when you’re recording covers, because 99.99% of the time the cover isn’t going to be as good the original. well, for the record, let it be known that none of our covers are as good as the originals. that’s part of why we wanted to give all these tracks away for free. if you haven’t heard one of these songs before, you should go out and buy it from the original artist, RIGHT NOW. disclaimer aside: if you want to hear some kids having a lot of fun playing some of their favorite songs ever, check these out.

love,
the morning benders

(via thecoloursinmymind) Milk, Coke, Beer, NaCl(aq)

Sun, 10 May 2009 11:46:12 -0400

(via thecoloursinmymind)

Milk, Coke, Beer, NaCl(aq)

ericmortensen: itsthr33am: CARSICK CARS “MOGU MOGU” VIDEO (via...

Sat, 09 May 2009 01:02:45 -0400

ericmortensen:

itsthr33am:

CARSICK CARS “MOGU MOGU” VIDEO (via kanYe West Blog)

siiique. This makes me want to paint on pictures. Haven’t done that in a while.

Swine flu: music to my ears

Sat, 09 May 2009 00:52:41 -0400

Swine flu: music to my ears:

chepanzee:

“Swine Flu Hemagglutinin”: amino acid sequence as ambient music.

“Each beat corresponds to one amino acid, and the piece is in 3/4 time, so each six measures would correspond to five turns around the alpha structure. (I’m weaseling because I haven’t the foggiest idea how the protein actually gets folded.) Amino acids with side chains that are neither aromatic not aliphatic control the piano and organ: the nine non-hydrophobics the piano, and the four hydrophobics the organ. The three amino acids with aliphatic side chains control the low synthesizer, while the four with aromatics control the percussion.” (Stephan Zielinski)

NaCl(aq)

We are not the kids we used to be.

What a wild time it was.

I snuck through a cracked fence and across old, broken,...

My favorite picture from my trip to Lollapalooza in Chicago.

ReverbNation pays artists for free music

“Percussion Gun” from White Rabbits on Vimeo. The...

National Running Day is coming up soon! Running is one of the...

The Campaign to Save Paste

Dear Paste readers,

How far?

“Her Morning Elegance” - Oren Lavie Mark’s...

yvynyl: Oi Va Voi “Everytime” This video was made with a...

Performance Rights Act passed

Please share with any Philadelphia-area musicians, producers,...

How To Work Out Like An Indie Rocker

Performance Rights Act

mizzchelle: A Portrait of Michelle’s Future Lover, by Steve Yee...

daryn: The Morning Benders - Mother & Child Reunion I love...

(via thecoloursinmymind) Milk, Coke, Beer, NaCl(aq)

ericmortensen: itsthr33am: CARSICK CARS “MOGU MOGU” VIDEO (via...

Swine flu: music to my ears