Buffetlibre has released a new Dj's mixtape called Buffetlibre Dj's Rewinded, that features some Rewind Part1 tracks, 2 new Rewind tracks by CFCF and Hostage (that will be featured in Part 2) and some 80's originals. They contacted me and said Max Bumps readers can download it for free!
Finally we will release Rewind Part 2 in January. Some of the artists that will record 80's covers will be: Bonde Do Role, 1990s, Whitey, Headlights, Sohodolls, Cobra Dukes, The Shoes, CFCF, Miami Horror, Revolte, These United States, Division Day, Boy 8-bit, The Young Punx, Tender Forever, Little Boots, Say Hi, Grum, The Glass, G.L.O.V.E.S., Starfucker, 80 Kidz, The Requesters, Bikini, Flou, Frankmusik, Robbers On High Street, The Botticellis, Love Motel, Russ Chimes, Grafton Primary, Electric Valentine, Delorean, AC Slater, Little Pictures, Beau Jennings, Mojib, Yann Destal, Telonius, The Sound Of Arrows, Malente, The Procession, The Mocks, Mendetz, Setting Sun, Matt Keating, The Phantom Revenge, Elias & The Wizzkids, The Amplid, Radiocontrol, Josh & Anand, Division Kent, 1984, La Chansons, Mat Payne, Hostage, Fisk, Dolby Anol, Chin Chin, Bling Crosby, Schnitzer, Sportsday Megaphone, Hidrogenesse, Diamond Cut, Fight Bite, Canadians, Facteur, The Old Believers, Evarial, Giko, Sick Boy.
Randomly had VH1 on in the background during the wee hours of the night and realized, it’s a pretty good program to hear/see the latest videos and discover upcoming acts, or at least find indie acts that rarely get aired on television. Definitely beats all those reality tv shows and fluff that gets aired during the day, and MTV should literally just drop the “M” by now.
Here’s the link to view the kind of videos that are aired.
mathmanmrt talks to Laurie of Mixtapes & Meltdowns about her music.
In the biographical information I saw posted for you on last.fm it said you used to spend summers making up silly songs and singing them into an old tape recorder. How old were you when you started doing that?
I started writing songs before I could actually write. I would sing them to my mom and have her write them down for me or I would record them with a cassette recorder. We had an old, hand-me-down, out-of-tune piano in the living room and I put stickers on the keys and then used the stickers as a coding system to write down the notes of the songs I made up. It was a very complicated system!
What kind of music did you listen to then and did you try to imitate that music when you sang?
Like most kids, I listened to the music that my parents listened to. The Zombies, Peter, Paul, & Mary, Tommy James & the Shondelles, the Beach Boys. I don't know if I tried to emulate them or not, but that's an interesting question! The songs I wrote as a kid were a lot like the songs I write now - simple and usually a little sad.
Did any of those songs from those days become any of the songs you're known for now?
I didn't write any music at all from about age 7 until I was 24.
Of the songs you’ve put up on the 61, which one was the earliest one you wrote?
'Blindfold' is the first song I wrote as an adult and it was really a trip into uncharted territory! My friend Lauren Kinsler, who is an incredible filmmaker and recently directed a music video for Xiu Xiu, liked that song a lot and made a video for it out of old stock footage. Her video was so cool that it inspired me to keep experimenting with music.
What kind of training or encouragement did you have in your singing and songwriting while you were growing up?
I was really lucky to attend a performing arts magnet high school, so I was surrounded by these incredibly talented, creative people all the time. My focus was entirely on theater and writing back then, but I was around a lot of musicians and I still tend to gravitate toward them. As far as musical training, I took piano lessons for about two years in elementary school, but that's about it. My parents aren't musicians, but they're very creative people and they’ve always been supportive of whatever nonsense I get myself into.
What made you decide to move to Madison? Was that related to your decision to pursue a more artistic career?
I originally moved to Madison in the spring of 2005 for work and just really fell in love with it. Madison is an incredibly beautiful city.
I left for about seven months in 2007 to backpack around Europe and then moved to New York for law school. Law school scared the crap out of me. I just realized that I was on this high-speed train to business suits and power naps and I wasn't ready for that. I'll probably never be ready for that.
I moved back to Madison because I wanted to get back in sync with myself. I think Madison is a particularly great place for artists because the cost of living is low and there are so many brilliant, creative people here.
You say that two of your influences are Mirah and Portishead. What do you think you've learned from each of those artists that informs the music you create?
Oh, I think they both just have so much fun with music. That's something I’m really working on all the time-just trying to learn to let go. Also, Mirah and Beth Gibbons both have really unconventional, beautiful voices, which I always find inspiring.
I notice that you've had several collaborations with musicians from the Madison music scene - John Argentiero, Nancy Rost come to mind - how supportive is the music community in Madison?
I've heard great things about the music community in Madison and I've seen some fantastic shows, but I really haven't delved into that at all. I'm very shy about my music and still have trouble thinking of myself as a musician. The few collaborations I've done have all been over the internet. It’s possible that I'm not actually a real person.
How did you come across the 61?
My friend Russell directed me to the 61. At that point, I in no way thought of myself as a 'real musician.' I guess I still don't, but at that point I didn't even have a band name.
Didn't you originally put your music up under a different name... I believe it was cartographer conspiracy, wasn't it? Why did you change that name?
I made up 'The Cartographer Conspiracy' as a placeholder until I could think of something more fitting. That name comes from a line in Tom Stoppard's 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead' which is one of my favorite plays.
I changed my name to 'Mixtapes & Meltdowns' about 24 hours later and that one stuck. I chose 'Mixtapes & Metldowns' because that's what inspires all of my music - the incredible music that my friends share with me and the kind of emotional meltdowns that bring some sort of rebirth.
What were you expecting when you put up your first few songs? In what ways did the site meet or exceed your expectations?
I had zero expectations of the 61 when I joined. I didn't even understand how it worked, but the community here was incredibly helpful and patient with me. I think The 61 is an amazing way for people to discover and promote new music. I've definitely discovered some amazing artists here.
Have you been surprised by the success you've had on The 61?
I've been absolutely bowled over. I write music because I have to; the fact that anyone besides me actually likes it is incredible to me. The community here has been so supportive and inspiring, I just can't say enough good things about it.
Have you performed in front of an audience? Do you have any plans to book any live engagements?
Someone approached me recently about the possibility of a live show, but I'm still not sure how I feel about it. There's part of me that's still very 'wink, wink, nudge, nudge' about my music. I feel a bit like I'm wearing the emperor's new clothes, you know? I've never thought of myself as a musical person, so that's been a big adjustment for me.
My entire life from ages 13 through 19 was spent on a stage, so I'm not uncomfortable in front of an audience, but there's something very different about going on stage as a character and going on stage as yourself. Maybe I'll need to perform my songs in a gorilla suit or something.
It's been fun reading your comments about what you could do with a real microphone. Do I understand that you've actually gotten one now? How is that working out for you?
You know, I do have a real microphone now. It's a USB-powered Snowball mic that Kim from Hot Bitch Arsenal recommended to me. It's a gorgeous mic, but how well it works I can't really tell you since I've been clammed up ever since it arrived. I was afraid that might happen—in some ways it’s easier to hide behind shoddy equipment. I'm working up to it though!
Which of your songs currently up on the 61 is your personal favorite and why?
Wow, that's a tough question. I like different songs for different reasons 'Blindfold' is the first song I wrote as an adult, 'Smoke Signals' is the first song I wrote without the use of any loops, 'Thirty Below' is a song that I wrote about a city that means a lot to me, Wish' and 'Tell Me Now' are songs that I wrote about my first love. In general, I try not to dwell too much on songs after I've written them - onward and upward!
How have you been able to get such good quality out of the built-in mic in your computer? What kind of software have you been using?
I don't think I have any special trick, I just sing really close to the mic. I also spend a lot of time tweaking the audio in Garageband, which makes a big difference. I record all of my songs in my bedroom, usually in one or two takes. I tend to be really lazy about it - sometimes I don’t even bother to turn off my fan first. I've been really lucky that the audio has turned out as well as it has. I honestly think that taking this kind of slapdash approach is the only reason I've been able to make music at all. I'm a perfectionist by nature and I think that if I had a fancy set-up, I'd just freak out and I'd never record anything.
What's the most important question I should have asked but forgot to?
I think you covered it! These were great questions. Thank you.
There’s this track that’s been floating around the blogosphere and I guess it’s been on heavy rotation somewhere in Europe. Anyway, the reason behind the latest hype appears to be because Justice’s “D.A.N.C.E” comes to mind. People have been speculating that it’s Justice under a different alias, or that it is Keedz but mixed by Justice. The tracks are rather similar, so there’s no real breakthrough or anything.
In the end, it’s really just a rebirth of a gospel song. I'm a bit confused and am not sure if it's by Celestial Choir or The Joubert Singers. All I know is that it was mixed back in the day by Larry Levan, a legendary dj of his time, and that now we have a modern version with a current artist’s name linked to it. Here’s the older version for comparison.
Celestial Choir/The Joubert Singers – Stand on the Word (Larry Levan Remix)
The new video for Radiohead's House of Cards was directed by James Frost. "...no cameras or lights were used. Instead, 3D plotting technologies collected information about the shapes and relative distances of objects. The video was created entirely with visualizations of that data." They used two 3D scanners, one for the close ups and one for the scenic shots. Instead of me explaining this and getting it all wrong, Read more here at code.google.com and watch the 'making of the video' below.
A couple weeks ago, I found this addictive track by Passion Pit, a band who’s been getting a lot of references to MGMT. Their EP, Chunk of Change, is expected to be released mid-September followed by an full length album next year.
Passion Pit - Sleepyhead
You can preview a couple more tracks over at myspace, or download four free tracks at last.fm.
Like Estelle, guess you can consider this mainstream now, but I heard the first track on the SXSW sampler back in March, and it looks like they've been getting a lot more press over the past month since her album was released last week.
From myspace: Blend the old-school R&B sound with a quirky hybrid of hip-hop and pop and you get Little Jackie, the creation of genre-defying singer-songwriter Imani Coppola and programmer Adam Pallin. With a nod to the soulful Motown rhythms of the past and a sneer to many of the social and cultural issues that consume the public today, Coppola has crafted an album of musical sugar and spice, filled with sweet, saccharine-tinged melodies and spicy, bold commentaries.
Little Jackie – The World Should Revolve Around Me
Little Jackie – The Stoop
Little Jackie – 28 Butts
Little Jackie – One Love
I streamed the entire album and it’s a good listen if you like the poppy 60’s hip-hop throwback era. Recommended for those who listen to Joss Stone, Lily Allen, Estelle, Lauren Hill, and Corinne Bailey Rae. She also did a set on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic.
Oh, yeah. Lots of stop motion cut outs of the artists moving and spinning in 3D space and a killer tune. The project was directed by Psyop. The track was commissioned by Converse to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Chuck Taylors. I just love Santogold, but Julian Casablancas, singer for the band The Strokes is a surprise to see here. 100 years. Can that be correct?
I'll be the first to admit that I don't always write the most remarkable comments, but I'm seriously going to try to include something more substantial into all of my comments. Why? Comments can help artists create better music and give them the confidence to upload more songs. Also, good comments can get a song noticed that may otherwise go unnoticed. Remember, a link to your comment will show up in the subscription pane of your subscribers.
There's an art to writing a great comment. Inane comment banter is easy. Just take a look at the average Digg comment or the comments left on Perez Hilton "First! " It's an asinine comment free for all over there). YouTube comments? Here's a grand example: "ok i think u're f**ked and ur getting Mac and Pc mixed up Macs r the best PC's SUCK ASS!!!!! U NEED TO DIE NOW!. "
So, you're pretty clear on a bad comment - but how can you ensure a meaningful, clever and/or creative comment?
1. Make sure you have a point, whether it's positive or negative. If you can't think of anything to say, don't say anything. Here are some ideas of what you can put into valuable comments:
- What aspect of the song did you like most and why? What didn't you like about the song?
- What emotion did the song convey to you?
- Does the song touch on a taboo subject that makes you uncomfortable?
- Did the song bring up a memory for you or remind you of another song?
- Is the subject matter, inspiration or instrumentation something you are particularly fond of?
2. Grab their attention. Write with personality and don't be afraid use this little guy if you can't think of another word for 'great'.
3. People like humor, so write something witty, as long as they are about the song or topic at hand.
4. Check your spelling and punctuation. You don't want to people to think you didn't make it past the 5th grade, like the moron who made the YouTube comment above.
5. Ask a question to get feedback from the artist or other listeners and artists. Add to the conversation.
6. Captain obvious says: "Even if your comment is negative, don't be mean spirited". Real men don't start flame wars. Showing tact and an open mind will win you friends and respect.
Remember that guy KosmikRay, the master of creative comments? Let's take a cue from Kosmic... a tribute to the man... the legend. Write some creative comments about songs
This is a cool idea for a video. Watch the video with both vocals and backing by playing two videos at once. Put the screens side by side, cue them up and play to hear it all together. Clever.
Check out AnnieB's blog AudioRx, " My prescription for great music! ". I'm also digging Black Kids. She has a really nice layout and great content. Check out her player. It looks a bit like the red one we're seeing at The Sixty One.
Anyone else out there blog about music? Send me the link!
Since the demise of unrestricted wall posting, the exchange of free ideas has taken a notable blow. However, over the last couple of weeks, a number of us have been frequenting an IRC channel that I created especially for us t61 addicts. Because you are reading this blog, yes, that means you.
Feel free to stop by for some serious discussion, some random shenanigans, and some good old-fashioned mob mentality. Hi James!
If you are already familiar with IRC: Server: ChatNet (irc.chatnet.org) Channel: #TheSixtyOne
For everyone else: I do recognize that IRC is an ancient protocol, and many of you may be unfamiliar with it. Others may have forgotten it entirely. If either be the case, fear not--it isn't difficult! Simply go to Mibbit.com!
Where it says "Connect to IRC", open the drop-down menu, and scroll until you find ChatNet.org (It's under the General header). Select that; choose your nickname; and type in "#TheSixtyOne" (Without the quotes) where it asks for "Channel(s)". Click "Go", wait a few seconds, and you're there!
If you're just visiting Max Bumps and you are fairly new to The Sixty One, you may wonder what the Grover avatars are all about. Our friend and fellow tune bumper, supergrover, recently found out that he has cancer and will be starting chemo soon. Many listeners and artists at The Sixty One have included a Grover into their avatar, very creatively might I add, to show their support for supergrover. We are with you supergrover! Be strong.
If you don't see your avatar, email it to batface89.
