RCRD LBL

Rather than me write a pale imitation of someone else’s blogpost, below is the opening paragraphs from a Rollo and Grady recent post – its well worth visiting for the whole post and the attached interview. The whole RCRD LBL project is also worth investigating:

Peter Rojas is one of the world’s most famous bloggers. He’s also a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard and received his Master’s in Critical Theory at the University of Sussex in England. Before his launch into the blogging business, Rojas worked in his native California for Red Herring Magazine until he was laid off after the dot-com bust in 2001.Then he moved to New York City where things started changing for him. Quickly.

In 2002 Rojas started Gizmodo and in 2004 he was hired by Weblogs, Inc., the world’s largest blog network, to start Engadget. Both Gizmodo and Engadget are focused on consumer electronics for the tech-savvy and quickly became the two most successful blogs ever. Not long after his arrival at Weblogs Inc., Rojas was made Chief Strategy Officer and when AOL purchased them in 2005, blogs became further validated as a viable revenue stream. The sale also made Rojas a “blog-millionaire”.

In November of 2007 Rojas moved to combine his two passions, technology and music, to launch RCRD LBL with Downtown Records. RCRD LBL has taken a completely different approach to the music business; it’s an online record label that offers all digital, all-free MP3’s for streaming or download that are DRM free. It’s a powerful combination. Since then he has quickly emerged at the head of the pack, leading the music industry towards a new and more progressive business model. While that model is clearly still being defined, RCRD LBL is breaking new ground and signing emerging and established artists including Dinosaur Jr., Public Enemy, Moby, Spoon, Dead Confederate, Bon Iver, White Denim and the Felice Brothers.”

Photo credit : Rollo and Grady

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Kitchens of Distinction

I have long harboured a fondness for KOD and especially the 1990 album Strange New World. I really don’t l know why they didn’t make it much bigger than they did, but their 10 year stint ran out in 1996.

They were genuinely ahead of their time (how often do you hear that?) but the swirling wash of guitars and vocal style wasn’t to see its like again until the advent of Interpol and more especially Editors, who took up the baton – whats that, almost 10 years after the demise of KOD.

A post on the blog Ryan’s Smashing Life reminded me of KOD again and helpfully gave a couple of jumping off points to follow, first through Braggin Billys Music Blog and then to the site of Patrick Fitzgerald the former singer/bass player and songsmith of KOD. Mr Fitzgerald now trades under the monicker Stephenhero ( James Joyce character I think?) and has been producing more music for the theatre and stage and again largely as a solo artist. From his site you can download a free EP that contains a couple of tracks not put on his recent CD ’57 Stars of the Air Almanac’ (no, I have no idea what that means but it reads well)

There are also a few, now slightly bizarre, but welcome vids on YouTube that bring back those jangly days of the early 1990’s including the brilliant ‘Quick as Rainbows’…

Stephenhero Myspace
KOD Myspace
KOD Youtube

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Goldheart Assembly

Courtesy of Steve Lamacq’s blog I was alerted to the welcome and jolly sound of Goldheart Assembly. The stylee does sound very retro but there is still a fresh twang to it, and how good is to hear some great tunes and melodies. Comment has been made that they wouldn’t be out of place as a Fleet Foxes support slot, but in an odd way the song structure sort of reminds me of early Squeeze – thats supposed to be a compliment! Anyhow they are just the thing to boost a grim grey and wet Friday – they are out on tour in the UK in March with a slot at the Croft in Bristol – might just slide along…

Goldheart Assembly Myspace
Web site

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Vacilando Territory Blues – J Tillman

Whilst I am in an introspective and reflective mood, it seems like an ideal time to mention Vacilando Territory Blues by J Tillman. Mr Tillman does the drum thing for the Fleet Foxes but also has a (short) track record all of his own.

He more than held his own as support for the Foxes earlier this year when we saw them in Bristol, sitting alone for most of time on the stage, delivering his songs to a suitably hushed and supportive crowd. At the time he mentioned his upcoming solo album, and finally here it is
Naturally thoughts and comparisons turn to the now uber-trendy Foxes, but this is rather unfair it seems to me. Whilst there are inevitable parallels in some ways this music is his own. He has a fine voice, and one that stands up extremely well live.
The album is achingly beautiful; understated songs of real charm, delicately played, so sparsely played that they almost disappear at times. Quality playing abounds, aided and abetted with a couple of Foxes for good measure. ‘New Born’ stands out as does ‘Steel on Steel’ and ‘Barter Blues’. The super-laid back mood only changes for ‘New Imperial Grand Blue’ which gives a glimpse of Tillman et al being capable of ‘rocking out’ a little more.
I know reviews have been mixed but really this is a fine album, and one which plays well for me in my current inward looking state. What a shame he only has one UK date on his short promo tour, and that of course in London
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Solid Gone – John Martyn

And there goes another one – dead at 60 seems way too early, I know he lived it up and I guess his body paid the price of too much booze and too many substances. But what a genius, the voice, the guitar… Solid Air has already gone down as one the great albums and despite its age (1973) it still bares up extremely well. 

I know there are all the other albums but I am afraid it’s still this one that does it for me. The title track apparently written about that other musical genius, Nick Drake, who died even sooner, quite masterful. The whole album helped reposition the folk thing and helped it cross a number of borders.

I only saw him once at the tender age of about 18 when he still had echoes of the svelte and good looking man he had been. Somehow he came and played in the hall of my college in North London one night. There we were a clutch of unsuspecting spotty oiks sat on the wooden floor, on he strolled (well maybe staggered a little) guitar in hand and a large spliff stuck in the machine heads. After a couple of songs another chap slipped onto stage and sat behind a drum kit. Phil Collins was well known even then but hadn’t gone overblown pop diva mode, and I was still in awe of his drumming skills. The two of them played away, Martyn knocked back some drink, partook of another spliff and then was gone.

Listening back now, as I inevitably had to be, to Solid Air and the wonderful ‘I Don’t Want To Know’ in particular, I can’t help but hope that against the odds this isn’t the only life (although the Lad, with the brusque certainty of youth, is adamant that this is it) and that somewhere John Martyn will still be doing his thing

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The Acorn

Sometimes you hear a song or an album that you know is extraordinary, somehow obviously deeply felt, one of those pieces that come from somewhere deep in the artist.

A few listens to The Acorns ‘Glory, Hope, Mountain’ triggered those sorts of feelings without really having absorbed or understood the lyrics. An album that is a folkie-indie affair, slightly ramshackle, a plethora of picked guitars and banjos, occasional spacey blips with fragile vocals and harmonies, a mash-up of music from other cultures.

Although I didn’t get to it until 2009 this is definitely another or those ‘interior’ bands and albums that typified 2008 for me. Music that is intimate, close and personal, private and delicate.

All these sentiments are magnified when you learn that Glory Hope Mountain is dedicated to the life of Gloria Esperanza Montoya (Glory Hope Mountain) who is the mother of Rolf Klausener the lead voice and songwriter.

Gloria has lead an extraordinary life: nearly dying at birth, orphaned in Honduras, leaving at 12, ending up in Canada, nearly drowning in a flood, a husband who died with brain cancer and so on and so forth. Klausener knew none of these details until his mother talked it all out with him, resulting in this album. More details can be found in several places including at Pitchfork.

Mp3 The Acorn – Crooked Legs

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Dead Confederate

This bunch of chaps from Athens, Georgia certainly aren’t in the market for making happy-go-lucky, jolly stuff. Intense and doomed-laden their music is, but often enjoyable for all that.

A mix of southern sounding, slightly psychedelic, rock with some guitar sounds that are remiscent of Pink Floyd. The grunge meets psychedelia works best on tracks like The Rat and their debut album has a distinctly other-timely length track Flesh Coloured Canvas clocking in at over 12 minutes.

Some tracks from The Wrecking Ball album are streamed on MySpace and they have a clutch of videos on their own YouTube site of course. KEXP in Seattle are obviously fans of Dead Confed given that they had a video as their video of the week on the KEXP blog recently

Photo credit: Skylar Reeves

Mp3 Dead Confederate – Goner


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Max Richter – Music for Mobiles

Max Richter is a UK based composer with references to Philip Glass, Arvo Part and the like and has produced music for films and and an claimed set The Blue Notebooks with readings by people like Tilda Swinton, available through Amazon etc
His most recent work is called 24 postcards and is a fascinating set of work centred around writing music for mobile ringtones. Some really beuatiful pieces that make so much more sense than the usual rubbish most of us have on or phones.
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Simon Says No! Podcast

After a couple of little mentions about Norweigans Simon Says No! I was lucky enough to have chat with 3 of the lads about their forthcoming EP, playing in the states and a few other bits and pieces.

Podcast Simon Says No Podcast

VP Technical Advice and General Wizardry: the Peeblemeister
Photo credit: Petteri Lamula
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Automatic Drawing

An LA band that bubbled up courtesy of mp3hugger and about whom I can find little information but there is a certain slightly shambolic nature which reminds me in curious ways of Salt and Samovar although they are clearly from different camps. The vocals have tinge of Death Cab about them which may or may not be a good thing, and there is a definite ‘californian’ air about them.

They have a new EP called The Captain and The Sea, the title track of which I am particularly drawn to. Two tracks of this EP are streamed on their MySpace site and there appears to be another, older, EP called Streets on Fire which apparently was their previous name.

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