How fantastic! The Ting Tings have a song featured as a free download this week on iTunes. The song is called “Great DJ” which according to NME, was the most popular indie track so far for 2008 back in March. Amazing what an accidental wrong chord can create when learning the guitar (see interview clip below).
The Ting Tings is a British indie pop duo, and they are set to release their debut album, We Started Nothing, on May 20th. I was instantly hooked when I first heard the percussive opening of “That’s Not My Name” on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic last fall. The rest was just darn energetic and catchy, not to mention, there's handclapping too. Nic Harcourt even listed their self-released Demos as number two on his top 10 albums of 2007. You can also catch a studio session and interview they did on his program here.They’ll re-release the single on May 12th.
Like a New Orleans-style musical wake, the next listener event is a Mega Upload Party in honor of Michael Paul Miller on May 8th. I'm open to ideas about the time or times.
ANY 61 artist who wishes to join in should send me a wall post or tunebox with their song name (and the band name if it comes from a listener account) so I can list and do pre-promotion for you
I'll tunebox a heads-up to all 173 of my subscribers, and the top 100 listeners who aren't.
I know this will be the biggest t61 upload event ever, and includes:
Michael Paul Miller: "I'll Be Walking Home Today."
Artist you most wish would upload music: Varsovia, love their stuff and WANT moar!!! I love all the Admiral Twin and I could listen to Levi's great lyrics and performances all day long.
Your musical guilty pleasure: Pr0n Jazz? Don't understand guilty pleasure.
How much less productive are you since you've joined?Ask my boss... actually I 61 a lot from work and a bit from home. I'm not hardcore into the bumping game. I do bump, but I don't actively search out new songs very often. Look at my stats, when I have it has suX0red.
What is the biggest change you'd make to The Sixty One? Hmmm... I suggested 61 using Channel 61 on XM, that would "ROCK" (GC quote), but I would like a lyrics panel for songs. I'm sort of a lyrics 'tard and don't necessarily pick up all the words very well, so that would be bonus.
Who is the listener you'd most like meet in person? Well... I'd like to meet Illuminaughty, (Feel free to strike that from the record) but if I had to pick one it would probably MykToronto. He just seems cool as hell. I don't like the fact he's a Steelers fan, but what are you going to do? Otherwise there are several that I would love to meet.
What do you think of Second Life Avatars for musicians and users? I have to be honest until a week or two ago I had no idea what it meant and am still learning.. so right now I have no viewpoint.
What sort of stuff would you like to see on this blog? Artist success and CD releases. I've been pimping a few artists outside of the Internets and would love to hear about those who land record deals with big labels, etc.
My favorite of the Andrew Maury remixes is the one of Jukebox the Ghost's Good Day. However, I'll admit that when I first heard it on the site, I'd never heard the original so I wasn't sure whether I was responding to the remix itself or whether the strength of the song lied in the original. So I went looking for more about Jukebox the Ghost and I'm glad I did.
Jukebox the Ghost is a trio from Washington D.C. playing a brand of piano power pop that's gotten them compared to Ben Folds a lot. Their generally upbeat music is fun and playful and generally features both quirky lyrics and interesting dynamics. Plus, they can really play those instruments.
Good Day with its piano riffs and its catchy chorus definitely stands out as a strong song on its own, but I ended up having to say that I actually prefer Andrew Maury's take on the song a tad better. The differences between the two primarily lie in the addition of a driving beat as well as more subtle touches on the vocal and piano lines. To me, the additions give the song a tighter sound, though one thing I do like about the original is how different various sections of the song are and I think this is lost a little bit in the remix.
Anyway, it's a good week to talk about Jukebox the Ghost because their album Let Live and Let Ghosts just came out this past Tuesday. Here are a few more songs by Jukebox the Ghost to listen to.
Deviating a bit from the standard 10 questions normally asked, here is an excerpt from an email iWoo sent me of his recommendations, which I think is another good way of getting to know a fellow 61'er.
"There happens to be a lot of emphasis on Canadian content (iWoo is from Calgary, AB aka home of Feist), but these are groups I am recently into as well as a longtime fan of.
Patrick Wolf - Overture Patrick hails from London, I believe, and his tracks are really unique. I have yet to pick up an album, but I am sure the rest is great. I first heard his music (this song) in a fantastic mix by Bigo & Twigetti.
Bigo & Twigetti (not in the seeqpod list) http://www.bigoandtwigetti.co.uk/ I highly recommend looking up B&T and downloading ALL of their mixes available on their website. They use a lot of different genres in a really refreshing manner; and most of it was brand new to me. Just to name a few things you can hear in their sets: Regina Spektor, Philip Glass, and a mix involving Peaches, and the composers Modest Mussorgsky and Wagner... just to name a few. I've been listening to their sets (among other things) repeatedly for months now, and it's part of the reason why I stopped logging into thesixtyone for so long. An overabundance of amazing music.
Final Fantasy - The CN Tower Belongs to the Dead I am fairly sure you've heard this artist by now, but he's a Canadian artist from Toronto. I recently heard it again in a movie written by Douglas Coupland, called Everything's Gone Green. There are a few songs on that film's soundtrack that you'd like; Hawaii is another great band that has/had Torquil from Stars as a singer. Need to look into it more!
Woodpigeon (various songs) A band from my city (Calgary, Alberta). No handclaps I think, but they frequently have a chorus of voices and xylophones. They recently invited any capable fans to sing background for one of their new tracks. Jamie (Jane Vain) has performed several times with Woodpigeon, and has written and recorded with them on their next upcoming album.
Ohbijou - St. Francis I heard this Toronto band last year at a concert festival in Montreal. Really lovely, at times reminding me of Arcade Fire. Apparently did some collaboration with Final Fantasy on one of his older albums.
New Buffalo - Recovery A Melbourne singer/songwriter that I heard open for Feist three or four years ago in Calgary - this was her first and most enjoyable song that she performed.
Reverie Sound Revue - Passes & Passports This band is also from Calgary, but is no longer. Their singer (with the interesting name of Lisa Lobsinger) toured for two years with Broken Social Scene, singing parts formerly performed by Leslie Feist and Emily Haines.
The Organ - Love, Love, Love Five girls from Vancouver, though they split up in 2006. The whole album (Grab That Gun) is quite good, and they have been compared to Joy Division, The Cure and The Smiths. There's a video of their song 'Brother' on YouTube I believe.
Some last recommendations not on the list:
Anita Athavale Yet another (very talented) singer/songwriter from my city. Check out 'Grace Is' off her site in the discography section, and if you like it, 'South Pacific' off YouTube. I think her full album is available on iTunes as well. Will be in New York soon on tour. http://www.anitaathavale.com/
Circlesquare - Fight Sounds Pt 1 Another Vancouver artist, who has seemingly been laying relatively low. Dark, electronic, minimal. Very eclectic and awesome. The song was used in a recent Tricia Helfer movie, and incidentally, Patrick Wolf has done a remix of one of his songs. http://www.circlesquare.ca/fightsounds/
Adele - Cold Shoulder http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGwH-x4VoH8 Produced by Mark Ronson, who is sometimes annoying and sometimes brilliant. I think Ronson's hype about this track and artist was the main reason she made her debut at #1 on the UK charts (how does that work anyway?). Nonetheless, this track is pretty fantastic sounding, in a motown/Amy Winehouse way."
Diving into the world of jazz, I liked this week’s iTunes free music download selection, Melody Gardot’s “Worrisome Heart”, the title track off her latest album.
She has a very interesting story as well. Four years ago, she was struck by an SUV while riding her bicycle, suffering serious pelvic and head injuries where she could barely sit up for ten minutes. In addition, she endured short term memory loss and heightened sensitivity to light and sound which still continues even today. Thus, she has to wear sunglasses and hearing devices in order to perform. During her recovery period, her doctor suggested music therapy as a way to rebuild neuropathways in the brain. Unable to sit at the piano, she instead picked up a guitar and made some recordings from the bedside, eventually releasing them on an EP titled Some Lessons – The Bedroom Sessions. It’s interesting that prior to the accident, she didn’t even consider pursuing music as a career. Anyway, she is often described as a mix of Madeleine Peyroux and Norah Jones, the latter more apparent in some of her other less jazzy songs.
From CD Baby: Brooke Waggoner began playing piano at age 4 and took classical lessons for a grand total of 17 years. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in music composition and orchestration, hoping to one day score films and orchestrate her own projects. She says her songs tell of a "lone 23-year-old girl, sagas of daily life, [and] bits of poetry" that are "all melded with honest proclamations and confessions."
At performances, she says she "tries to create pictures and take people on journeys." She pulls from many artists to create her sound, such as Electric Light Orchestra, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Aaron Copeland, David Bowie, and Chopin. Doo-wop, droopy melodies and sighs and swoons also find their way into her songs.
Never forgetting her classical lessons, Brooke says she strives to "connect the 'classical world' with the 'mainstream world' by showing people it all works hand-in-hand." Although they may be presented differently, she says: "The beauty in the structure of a Mozart piece is essentially the same structure used in pop songs”
While the second review wasn’t all too thrilled about her EP, I really don’t think you can beat the fact that she made it available for free. I've listened to it multiple times over the months and that’s pretty good in my book.
Cutting the show down to an hour was easy after screwing up the edit job twice on a 2 hour version. In episode 16 we talk about Bagman's love life and the uber-romantic Elijah Saint's contribution to the show while Punts was out. Look for the second part of this show to be out soon.
We bring music from Citadels, Hot Bitch Arsenal, RAC, Condensator, and Tenpenny Joke.
Please do us a favor and vote for us on podcastalley. We're slipping in the music section this month as both my co-host and myself spent some time in the hospital and had no time to put out new material. All it takes is a couple clicks. Thanks in advance.
I want to take a moment to talk about Teitur. You may remember the song Catherine the Waitress, which appeared on the site at the end of March. This song is actually off of Teitur's newest album The Singer released in Scandinavia in February. The album's currently available for digital download though the album isn't widely released in the States and Canada until May 13.
Teitur's a singer-songwriter from the Faroe Islands and he has an amazing tenor voice that I don't think can be really appreciated in a song like Catherine the Waitress. The instrumentally stripped down song All My Mistakes from his second album Stay Under the Stars is a different story, though. When there's just a piano accompanying him, his voice really shines. This was the song that won me over.
Teitur's especially known for his song writing. "I know some writers make a point about having a complete story: beginning, ending, moral, everything. I just do my best to describe it, and leave the rest up to mystery. I like it open-ended to freeze a moment in time. Sometimes you write it right out of your head, then you see what you were saying when it's finished. Sometimes, at that right place and time, there will be a key that unlocks our feelings," Teitur has said about his song writing.
Teitur's almost finished his current tour in the UK; he hits the United States and Canada starting this coming week going from coast to coast to promote his new album. You can see the schedule on either site below.
You know, on rare occasions the Palms Out Blog does good things. While I may not like a majority of the mixes, it does introduce me to artists worth looking into a bit more, like this Belgium-born, Australian-raised, ARIA-award winning artist, Gotye (Wally De Backer). I honestly don’t even know where to begin in describing his sound because he has a very wide range. One song will you remind you of one artist, while another song will remind you of a different artist, or a combo…yet in the end, creating a sound all his own.
Anyhow, the song that came cruising through t61 is a remix of “Heart’s a Mess”. To me, the vocals in the mix start off like Junior Boys that then progress into something similar to Shiny Toy Guns. Check out the music video of the original version below.
He also has other crafty music videos which can be viewed here.
So where does the name Gotye come from? Well, according to wiki: Wally was embarking on a project that was, in his own words, "about refiguring past things (old vinyl sounds) with my own ideas". It therefore seemed appropriate to draw on his past for inspiration for the project's name. Wouter, Gotye's real name, from Flemish translates into French as Gaultier (or Gautier or Gauthier). Wally's mother used to call him Gaultier as a pet name. Drawing on this and choosing his own spelling gives us 'Gotye'.
Gotye is pronounced "gore-ti-yeah" in Australian English.
In summary: Wouter > Walter > Wally Wouter > Gaultier > Gotye
Spambot registrations have been a huge problem here, so I set up a script to fish them out.
Please note: To register for the forum, give only your user name and email. After you are accepted to post (and you will be if you're not a spambot), you can add anything you like to your profile.
Sorry for the hassle, but spammers are the bane of my existence - worse than tomato seeds.
I'm away on business this week so SNYpod is admining the forum. Thanks, SNYpod and to everyone who participates in the forum.
One of the early artists I learned about from t61 was Thao Nguyen. This may be strange, but I vividly remember "Beat (Health, Life, and Fire)" being the first song I ever double-bumped, and it was a rather costly, early bump too. However, it was well worth it when I was “poor” since I had listened to the song over and over again. What’s kind of interesting is that the listener who had “discovered” the song was my first-ever subscriber, which in turn ended up being the first listener I subscribed to (both cases excluding Sam and James, of course), and is now the first fellow 61er that I’ve met in real life…and out of all things, we caught Thao Nguyen in concert. Sort of brought things in full circle for me.
While temporarily sitting on a side bench inside The Echo (a hip, low-key, small venue in Los Angeles) before the show started, I looked down and about five or six feet in front me, I see these cowboys boots, which I knew was a signature of Thao’s…and long and behold, it was her standing and selling her merchandise at a table. I didn’t have the guts to talk to her or anything, but from what I observed, she seems really cool, charismatic, and down to earth.
It was almost inevitable for me to see Thao with the Get Down Stay Down perform. There was quite a bit of handclapping and stomping involved, and you guys know how much I like the handclapping. It was even syncopated too. They certainly brought the energy on the little stage. It also helped knowing her songs beforehand too because I don’t think these guys in front of me really knew who she was since they were pretty stoic and one kept checking his phone. On the other hand, I had these two girls right next to me who were upbeat and excited to see Thao, which made up for them initially trying to push me over to the side in attempts to move closer to the stage.
Occasionally in between songs, Thao would just say whatever came to mind. One was mentioning how she wanted to shop for some vintage clothing to wear for the show (there’s lots of vintage stores around the Silverlake/Echo Park area) but ended up wearing an outfit she’s been wearing for much of the tour, so she joked, “Don’t come any closer, really, don’t.” I wish I had pictures to share since I had a really good view, but unfortunately the few that I took came out all blurry since I hadn’t taken the time to learn the different functions on my relatively new digital camera. I’ll figure it out someday, but at least I found a picture on her myspace where she's wearing the same shirt dress, so that works.
All in all, I liked it. From what I can tell, most of the songs came from her latest album We Brave Bee Stings and All. Would've been nice to hear "Chivalry" but they ended up playing another song called "Tallymarks" off her previous album, Like the Linen. Anyway, being Vietnamese myself, it’s nice to see an artist like Thao break the conventional mold of indie folk rock. Too bad I couldn’t bring my friend who is also named Thao Nguyen (yes, it’s a very common Vietnamese name). Unfortunately that Thao has different taste in music and went to see Leona Lewis perform at the Jimmy Kimmel show.
Though you won’t get the same energy as from a live show, you can check out her studio performance on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic by clicking here. Below is a video clip of "Big Kid Table" from the live session.
Excerpt from an interview conducted by The Guide: Los Angeles Times: Q:What do you want for yourself 10 years down the road? A: I think I have very realistic goals. To be honest, I’d like to get a salad spinner…
Among the musical gems that T61 listeners have bumped to glory are a dozen brilliant tunes from London's Temple Scene. Four of these near-flawless jewels were recently set into the Another Town EP. Temple Scene was kind enough to answer some questions from MaxBumps about their experience at t61, the new EP, and the process of crafting and polishing the musical treasures they've laid before us.
silkworm: What effect, if any, has your experience with thesixtyone.com had on the process of putting together the new EP? What are your thoughts about the site?
Temple Scene: Until recently, we’d been streaming the music and keeping our options open about the next move, but the fantastic feedback we’ve been getting on the61 encouraged us to re-assess that. There’s nothing more satisfying for a musician than people wanting to buy your music - and nothing more frustrating than telling them they can’t! The best part has been seeing the reaction to our songs. We just try and make music we like, but it’s amazing to find out that other people like it too.
Like a lot of people, we found the61 on Digg, and it was immediately clear that someone had finally solved some of the fundamental problems with music discovery sites. There are countless places that use competitions and votes as a way to get extra traffic from a band's existing fan base, but where no one has any incentive to stay and explore. the61 actually puts listeners in contact with new music, and makes it fun - any site that can do that is something special.
silkworm: Your EP, Another Town, is available in the US through Amazon.com's digital music marketplace - a great beginning! What's your ideal vision of how the commercial side of the band will evolve? Are you still sending your music to record labels or are you hoping to make your mark independently?
Temple Scene: Of course, we would love to have the kind of backing that would allow us to reach a huge audience, but at the moment, it’s just fantastic that there are people out there who have reacted in such a great way to our music.
The plan is to release our songs four tracks at a time, as E.P.s. This way we can build up a relationship with people by releasing new material on a regular basis, rather than throwing everything at a huge campaign every year or two for a whole album. If this E.P. goes well, we have things in place for the next two releases. In fact, we are just in the process of recording E.P. number four.
silkworm: The name of the EP "Another Town" is presumably taken from the lyrics to Everything: "And somewhere there's a wall falling down/ And these stones are gonna build another town." That sentiment of rebuilding is also echoed in the opening song Somewhere In This City: "...instead of beating your heart out/You can start again instead." Where do the inspirations for your lyrics come from and how do you go about crafting them?
Temple Scene: Many of our lyrics play with a sense of place, and it’s certainly this strand that makes these four tracks work together. "Somewhere In This City is about someone who feels the need to be uprooted, who never wants to stay still. It’s about trying to exert control over where you are emotionally by changing where you are physically.
"Breathing" is a natural counterpoint to this. It expresses almost the opposite feeling - of how someone feels dislocated and uncomfortable in unfamiliar surroundings. One song is about running away from life, the other is about trying to hide from it - neither character really knows how to connect with it.
"Everything" and "Half Life" continue the theme of our lives and relationships being a kind of journey. There is constant moving and searching in "Everything". "Half Life" is about pausing to take stock of where we’ve come from and where we've got to.
We try to get across feelings and sensations rather than concrete stories, but we tend to have a type of lead character in each song. We create a personality and then put them in a situation and imagine how they are feeling. The fact that we write together has a big influence on this - instead of only having our own experiences to draw on, we pool them and come up with something - or rather someone - new.
silkworm: And on the topic of names, here's the obligatory question - how did you come up with the name Temple Scene and does it have any special meaning?
Temple Scene: It's nothing more complicated than a corruption of Temple Sheen, a place near where we make our music.
silkworm: Blog contributor Apocalypse says that, to him, Temple Scene's music embodies the "hopeful melancholy of attachments," and that "each song is nearly a perfect one act play, taking us through a full range of emotions, all the way to catharsis." He would like to know, how much thought goes into the arrangement or layering of each song? Or is that just a natural progression of the collaboration between the two of you?
Temple Scene: We know broadly the feelings we want to get across, but we work pretty instinctively and we often feel like we’re just going along for the ride - we’ll know what it sounds like when it’s finished!
Brian Eno said you should “use your limitations as secret strengths” and we definitely believe that having certain musical avenues closed off to you is a help, rather than a hindrance - it gives you a direction. The most obvious example of this is our working lives. There are huge benefits to being audio engineers, particularly having the chance to watch some great people at work. On the flip side, the hours are long and unpredictable. This has meant we have to be a two-piece, so that juggling our time is just about workable. Trying to keep up a full-size band would probably be very unfair on the other members when they were left hanging around.
It’s meant that there are often periods when just one of us is able to work on a track for some time. Finding that a track had taken shape and completely changed in your absence was difficult at first but we think it has some real advantages. It gives each of us opportunities to run with ideas without them being shot down before they're fully formed. Also, it helps us remain objective which is important when you're not working with outside producers who come along with a fresh set of ears. We’ve got to the stage now where if the other guy comes back and says “Sorry, but I really don’t like what you’ve done”, it’s not a problem. We trust each other’s judgement.
It’s also directly affected the sound of the music. We don’t have a full band, so we have to build up the songs ourselves, piece by piece, and this lends itself to a certain kind of music. So at a given moment we might be listening to Jeff Buckley or Johnny Cash, but of course the way we have to work favours a more constructed, electronic type of sound. We’re not wedded to that sound - but we’re not scared of being pushed into it either.
silkworm: Throughout your experience recording top musicians, what's the most interesting or strange tip you've picked up from a musician and then applied to your own work? Which musicians inspire you musically or lyrically?
Temple Scene: The most important things we've learned are not so much specific tricks as instincts. Working for a long time with really good people, you gradually start to judge performances differently. Sometimes you need to keep at something until it's perfect, but sometimes perfection would ruin it. For example, we’ve learned to always record constantly when we're jamming around ideas for a guitar part - things often come out so much better the first time you play them, when you're not thinking about it.
In terms of influences, we’ve both always been drawn to music with rich, multi-layered sounds and a dark edge, such as Depeche Mode, R.E.M. and Pink Floyd. But one great thing about working with so many musicians is that they always end up showing you the music they love, and this has really broadened our tastes. We’ve discovered so much music that had somehow passed us by - like Carole King, Jeff Buckley and Robert Johnson. Of course, we have our individual tastes as well - Ric grew up listening to Michael Jackson and Lenny Kravitz; for Philippe it was Prince and Bob Marley.
silkworm: There's a nascent topic on the MaxBumps.net forums dedicated to recording gear. What gear do you the two of you use to help create such a full and polished sound? What about live performances?
Temple Scene: We’ve done all of our own music in a home studio, in Logic. We make sure each song is self-contained, so if we’re busy and having to ‘tag-team’, one of us can just load up and see where the other had left off. When we’re recording in a proper studio we use Pro Tools (or tape!), which is much more streamlined for dedicated recording, but as a studio-in-a-box it’s hard to beat Logic.
We’ve also made a big investment in plug-ins and samples; most of the Native Instruments stuff (amazing sounds but you have to put up with the bugs) and Waves. We tend to use Waves SSL channels as our go-to when mixing because they are the desks we are most used to in the real world.
Guitar-wise we do have a lovely Strat which you can hear doing the slide on Everything, but most of the time we use Philippe’s Telecaster which is such a simple, reliable guitar. The acoustic is Philippe’s Taylor (bizarrely, given that Ric plays more of the guitar, Philippe is the one who obsesses over them!). Since we’re recording in a home studio, all the guitar amp sounds are modelled (mostly NI Guitar Rig) and the limitations of this have again forced us to be creative with our sounds. For example, we don’t much like simulated amp sounds on big chugging guitar chords - they always seem to turn to mush. That why on Breathing we’ve got big Green Day style thrashing guitar on the chorus... but played on acoustics!
We enjoy throwing in odd sounds, too, like Ric’s suitcase harmonium. Such a delicate instrument, and we don’t really know what we’re doing with it, but it sounds great!
We haven’t been playing live recently because our jobs would make it so difficult for the other members of a 4 or 5 piece band. It’s something we regret - we would absolutely love to work out how we could get out and play for some of the people on thesixtyone and MySpace, but we’re not sure if people would want to see just the two of us playing over a backing tape!
Tonight I got a chance to see Tokyo Police Club live at Studio-A in Miami, a small, intimate, beautiful venue that regularly features new Artists and is one of the only remaining bastions of Indie music in South Florida. From the line outside, it was evident that this band is more popular than I had expected, with a looong line of people of all ages, dressed in various shades of black. The opening bands for this show were the Miami-based The Jean Marie and the Minneapolis band, Eagle Seagull.
Woo! What a show. By the time this relatively young band stepped on stage, the venue was filled to the rim with anxious fans, packed in so deep and so tight that I doubt a dropped penny would even hit the floor. TPC (to us fans, that is) came in rocking and didn't let up. The intensity of their play was evident in the energy that the crowd reveled in, singing along to every syllable and jumping up and down, electrifying the tiny venue. It was, quite a sight.
Tokyo Police Club jumped from one song to another song to another, with the slightest pause in between. There was no usual, pointless, inarticulate banter that most bands engage in, following each song, trying to engage the crowd (and other than Bruce Spingsteen) failing miserably nearly every time. Nope. This was Rock time. I joined the crowd center stage and in that hot, sweaty bathhouse of perspiration, heat and energy, I joined them in singing along, arms raised in rockin' reverie and feeding off the vibe of the band/fan perfect storm. A small mosh pit even broke out beside me, and being the aging man who is desperately trying to retain grasp on his youth, I joined in. All good fun and although not much of a mosh pit, I still managed to bruise a rib.
Tokyo Police Club played hard and they played with heart. Crisp chords and organized songplay with little (if any) jamming. They covered every song on their current album and even played a few from their upcoming album, Elephant Shell (available on April 25th on iTunes). It was a roaring good time and the band proved that they can handle a concert with energy and intensity. One thing I noticed was that they did not deviate from the recorded version of their songs, so it was a live version of what they have already recorded. As a fan, I like to see the band reinterpret their music when playing live, just to give those who came all the way out to see them a bonus above and beyond what they can get on their car stereo. The night was closed out by that all important song by Tokyo Police Club, Tokyo Police Club, which nearly brought the roof down on the small club
By most measures, it was well worth the time to go out and see TPC play. I am looking forward to the new album and who knows, maybe they'll make their way back all the way to South Florida once again soon.
Your 61 Listener ID: Willie. Derived from my surname. The other thing is just a coincidence.
Current Favorite Artist:The Cuts and I still have a soft spot for Tripp Algiers they sent me a copy of their CD and it's become a firm favorite.
Artist you most wish would upload music: I was hoping Monkey:Sons would be joining but I'm not sure that's going to happen now. There are loads of others, one I think would do well is Billy the Vision & the Dancers . If I had to pick one song I'd go for Bouncy Ball by Ladyfuzz thought now sadly disbanded it would probably only appear via a blog scrape.
Your musical guilty pleasure: There's nothing I feel guilty about but I am obsessed with Jefferson Airplane, I seriously could write a book.
How did you hear of The Sixty One? Via my 'real' life friends Geordielass and Haras.
How much less productive are you since you've joined? My productivity has always been sporadic, t61 hasn't helped. I remember to eat most days.
What is the biggest change you'd make to The Sixty One? Same as everyone else. Better tunebox, sortable stats I'm not a fan of the practice of blog scrapes although they do provide some of the best music.
Who is the listener you'd most like meet in person? Geordielass and Haras as I've not seen them since I joined...... or my family now I think about it.
What do you think of Second Life Avatars for musicians and users? Don't understand the appeal of second life at all, but each to their own I guess.
What sort of stuff would you like to see on this blog? Pretty much more of the same all contributions have been great. I especially like the band interviews, that interaction is what the t61 is all about for me.
Alright, I’m going to stray into the mainstream world a bit because I really like this next artist who Rolling Stones listed as an ‘artist to watch’ last year. Her name is Estelle. She’s British and is already pretty big in the UK from what I’ve read and is starting to make a bigger mark in the States. She’s been compared to Lauryn Hill since they share a similar musical style and pull influences from all sorts of genres. That, and Estelle can rap and sing. I also sort of think of her as the female counterpart of John Legend, which makes sense since she was the first artist signed to his record label, Homeschool Records. Her album, Shine, has already been released in the UK and is set to release in the U.S. on April 29th.
Her current single is “American Boy” featuring Kanye West which is already No. 1 in the UK. Speaking of Kanye West, there’s a new video out for his song “Homecoming” featuring Chris Martin.
She has also worked with Faithless on a song called “Why Go” which I really like. If you haven’t already done so, check out the video. It should possibly encourage you to enjoy life and keep on dancing.
And to tie this entire post back to t61, guess who has done a mix of her current single? That’s right, Danger! Have a listen. Estelle - American Boy (Danger Remix)
I'm not a script writer like Radhruin, but I am the Google Mistress.
If I ever need to search for anything that isn't showing up in the normal search at The Sixty One, such as a detail I remember from a band footprint page, but I can't remember the name, I use Google. The trick is to search the site. For example, if you're looking for bands from Ireland, you could try entering this in the google search box:
site:thesixtyone.com ireland
I've put together a search box that is easier because it will search the site without entering the site:thesixtyone.com.
Another tip: Did you know you can use Google as a calculator? Try entering some numbers - say you need to know what 15% off of 87 is. In Google, put 87*.85 in the search box (since 100-15=85.... I can do that one in my head. lol.) I use this all the time because I always have my browser open, but going to my Dashboard can be tedious.
Your 61 Listener ID: mikegreen - usually with the radioactive face pic, but currently with a radioactive guinea pig. Handle's nothing original - just chunks of my actual name.
Current Favorite Artist: Port O'Brien currently - it came to T61 as a result of two blog scrapes, and I'm waiting for the album I've bought to cross the Atlantic as I speak. We guys in the UK aren't allowed to buy Amazon mp3s yet - go figure......
Artist you most wish would upload music: Curtis Eller - although actually his stuff isn't that much the usual style I tend to listen to, I love it. I do think he'd fit right in on T61 tho', and would be popular.
Your musical guilty pleasure: I have no guilt about anything I listen to. I suppose my private penchant for French cafe songs of the interwar period might generate a degree of whispering behind my back though. And it is worth pointing out to the unwary at this point that while many things I like fit right in with the T61 superbumpers and wider community, I also have what you fine folk might consider to be taste blindspots, which mark me a little apart. You wouldn't like everything I bump.
How did you hear of The Sixty One? One rainy afternoon, I was bored with everything I had to listen to already, and started doing Google searches to find something new. T61 came up on one.
How much less productive are you since you've joined? No less productive at all, now you mention it. I am now a lazy dissolute loafer who listens to more diverse music than ever before. That's maybe even an increase in productivity. But when I finish University and get a job again, I'm sure I'll not spend as much time on T61.
What is the biggest change you'd make to The Sixty One? Tuneboxing that's worth a damn with address books. General discussion forums that are searchable. Just a little Artist & Listener consultation. Oh, and searchable, organisable stats. I tend to bump in frenzied batches because stuff often uploads ands get mega-bumped in a more US oriented timeframe, and I have to catch up later in UK time. So I often bump-bump-bump, without listening to stuff completely, and then play from my stats later before you guys greet the dawn, to organise my adds and playlists.
Who is the listener you'd most like meet in person? Anyone I've engaged with on walls, forums, or listener events. Oh, and hodj - who hasn't been seen on the site for months. He was an early mentor when I got started.
What do you think of Second Life Avatars for musicians and users? I've never been 'in world', haven't been tempted to, and I genuinely don't get it. But I don't get, inter alia, religion, teetotalism, swinging parties, morris dancing, SUV owners, smoking bans, grand theft auto, gun ownership, American Football, Hello magazine, or Virginia Woolf either, so I'm not too worried by not getting it. I defend diversity because we all diversify from one another somewhere along the way - it just depends where you draw the lines.
What sort of stuff would you like to see on Max Bumps? It's doing just fine as we speak. The mix of T61 activity such as bump campaigns, artist info, real world gigs and events, and member to member dialogue is a really good balance. I'm kinda ticked off that I only found out about Zuba when they were already no more - as one of not too many UK based acts featured, I might have got to see them.
Current Favorite Artist: There are quite a few artists on t61 that I really like. I'm Zuba obsessed and totally addicted to Hidari(first bumping them would send me straight to heaven). I also like pretty much everything that RAC, Ugress, Casual Lust and the Dodos upload. My favourite folk/blues chicks on t61 are Grace Buford and Suzen JueL. As for the new arrivals, I'm quite taken by Red Abbott and Tan Vampires. And those are just a few.
Artist you most wish would upload music: It's nice to bump an artist I already know and like but I get more pleasure in discovering new music. Seeing some French acts on t61 would be cool though.
Your musical guilty pleasure: I have no shame so I guess this question doesn't really apply to me. Having said that, I do feel a bit guilty whenever I realise that my favourite uploads of the day are all from blogs.
How did you hear of The Sixty One? Grace Buford, a t61 artist, told me about the site. She should have known better, being familiar with my obsessive nature.
How much less productive are you since you've joined? I've always had something on the side that I'm addicted to and which impacts on my productivity. I think I stopped being productive in 2001 when I joined the HSX.com (a mock stock exchange for movies) and I'm seriously surprised that I still have a job and a social life; I'm not sure how I've managed that but the SixtyOne could be what sends me off to homelessness.
What is the biggest change you'd make to The Sixty One? a bigger tunebox window. My spelling is horrendous at the best of times but the size of the tunebox window makes it worse. I get quite a few "huh?" in response to my messages. I'd also love to be able to delete/edit my posts on other people's walls. Typos again. Too many of them. Way too many.
Who is the listener you'd most like meet in person? I'd actually want to be able to hear Grandesoreilles and JeniliaC speak in English to find out how thick their French and German accents are. The three of us on a conference call could turn out to be hilarious.
What do you think of Second Life Avatars for musicians and users? Ah, but you see, I'm one of them, muahahaha. I did change my profile pic to an eerie castle from a Japanese anime but I joined the site in my SL avatar form, which is boringly human. I'm actually planning a metamorphosis into a giant Cockroach. I think t61 needs more insects.
What sort of stuff would you like to see on Max Bumps? Absolutely no idea..Is that helpful in any way?
Current Favorite Artist: The Felice Brothers. They're like Harry Smith's brain on indie rock. Amazing.
Artist you most wish would upload music: Noir Désir, but I don't really think that's going to happen anytime soon. Or slightly more phantasmagorically, Can. That'd be awesome. Cause what the sixtyone needs is more twenty-four minute songs.
Your musical guilty pleasure: Charlie Mingus. So damned good it's got to be bad.
How did you hear of The Sixty One? Through my friend Morgan via his brother Alex who has like three profiles on the site. No idea where he found it, since it was before the digg deluge.
How much less productive are you since you've joined? Hopelessly?
What is the biggest change you'd make to The Sixty One? Eh, I don't know - there are a bunch of small changes I'd make, but nothing huge. I don't like the fact that after months of campaigning for the removal of Browse>Newest, you can still do Max Bumps = 0. Really defeats the whole purpose. I'd like to see a decent PM system as well as some better means to organize songs. Not to mention a separate feed for artist and listener subscriptions. Perhaps also a system whereby if someone uploads a new song in say the two categories on your homepage that gets included in your subscription feed too. I mean - this is about discovering music right? Also, I hate the blog zombies. Yeah, if I could get rid of those, that'd be awesome.
Who is the listener you'd most like meet in person? Most of the people with whom I've had extended conversations. But picking one? No clue.
What do you think of Second Life Avatars for musicians and users? If Zizek says all sex is virtual, why not the same for music?
What sort of stuff would you like to see at Maxbumps? Love the artist interviews, so I guess more of those.
How fantastic! The Ting Tings have a song featured as a free download this week on iTunes. The song is called “Great DJ” which according to NME, was the most popular indie track so far for 2008 back in March. Amazing what an accidental wrong chord can create when learning the guitar (see interview clip below).
