Video: The Crystal Method - Drown In The Now

Directed by Alexandre Moors and Jessica Brillhart. Here are some excerpts of an interview the directors did for Flavorwire.

Flavorwire: Tell us about the concept behind the video. It has some echoes of Sin City/The Spirit - was that intentional?

Alexandre Moors: Kind of. The label definitely referred to it at the beginning. They liked the black-and-white urban animated style that would fit within the Crystal Method album aesthetic. But, from the beginning, we aimed at taking it somewhere fresh and unique.

Flavorwire: What was the process involved in creating the animated world?

AM: The video came out of the UVPHACTORY studio, and that's kind of what we do there, mixing live-action, 2D animation, and 3D elements - merging all these different components into one world. The trick is to make it seamless. In that way, I particularly appreciate how the live-action (Matisyahu) works within the graphics. He really blends it together and creates this iconic presence.

Jessica Brillhart: Yeah, it was a definitely collaborative effort. Alex and I came up with the groundwork, and then our team of 2D/3D animators and designers took it from there, with us pointing annoyingly at their screens, spewing whatever we thought worked or didn't. I suppose that's an obvious part of the process.

The Crystal Method - Drown In The Now from IgnitionVM on Vimeo.

The Crystal Method's new video, Drown In The Now (featuring Matisyahu) from the May 2009 release, Divided By Night.

Album Review: Quiet Company

If you're into the indie music scene, you've probably heard of Quiet Company. Their sophomore effort, Everyone You Love Will Be Happy Soon, came out in March. And yes, all of their songs are as blissful as the title.

But the band combines their cheery attitude with witty, well-delivered lyrics and cascading piano melodies. They'll please most pop and rock listeners, and have a unique sound that shines through the catchy music. The album kicks off with an expedition in search of love in "A Nation of Two," then winds its way through the playful "It's Better to Spend Money Like There’s No Tomorrow Than Spend Tonight Like There’s No Money."



And yes, Quiet Company does like long titles. But while the names of the tracks might be hard to read on your MP3 player's tiny screen, the songs are certainly easy on the ears.

The album primarily celebrates romantic love, but the band takes a few interesting twists and turns along the way. One of them is "My New Year's Resolution Is to Cope With My Mortality," a humorous take on fears of the afterlife.

They get back on track with a series of sunny songs, including "Well, the Truth Is…," one of the best songs on the album, and "On Husbands & Wives," a sweet exploration of a relationship.



"How to Fake Like You Are Nice & Caring," another great track, buzzes with synth melodies and strong vocal harmonies, then fades into the quiet, windswept instrumental "When I Am Empty, Dispose of Me Properly."

At 15 tracks, this outstanding album is jam-packed with sound, and when it finally winds out, it will leave listeners wishing for more. But there's certainly plenty to hear, and the album gets better on a second (and third, and fourth...) listen.

Everyone You Love Will Be Happy Soon is available for streaming and purchase on the band’s web site, and almost all of their songs are up on thesixtyone.

Video: Placebo - For What It's Worth

A bit reminiscent of the IKEA scene in Trainspotting, this video has some great tracking and just looks really slick. Directed by Howard Greenhalgh. I saw them in 1998 or so in Chicago and they opened for some band. I really can't remember the headliner. We left about 3 songs in, as I came to see Placebo. I remember that the power went out during Placebo's set, which is something that I've never experienced at a concert before. They were awesome.

Placebo - For What It's Worth from Placebo on Vimeo.

Bat Bites: Music Videos... Art or Marketing?

My husband and I have the laptop hooked up to the plasma screen and we're watching music videos. It's very interesting how music videos have evolved from the height of MTV to the current day when you have to seek them out on YouTube or other places online, unless you're into hip hop videos and watch VH-1 at 8am (we're too cheap to have the extended cable with video channels ;-)

Today's videos just don't seem to have the same heart. The editing is much faster, the graphics are slicker but I sort of miss all the weird imagery (and bad synth) of the 80s... like She Bop from Cyndi Lauper and Safety Dance from Men Without Hats and Take on Me from A-Ha. Rock of Ages and Photograph from Def Leppard are 2 favorites. Other honorable mentions are Ratt's Round & Round and Guns & Roses Welcome to the Jungle. Hot for Teacher by Van Halen... now that was a great video! Okay, you've caught me... hair bands are a guilty pleasure.

It seems like it's tough to get a good video seen these days. With desktop editing systems so inexpensive any band can create a slick music video. Back in the day, an Avid would cost $50k, now you can get a full Final Cut Studio suite for $1300. Adobe's stuff is around the same cost. Render times are shorter, effects are more powerful. In my opinion, this has a lot to do with the glut of uninteresting music videos. All you need is to make your band look cool... who needs a good concept just a quick video at the release of the song... something to upload to MySpace.

I know, I sound like the crotchety old man yelling at those damn kids to get off my lawn, but there are a lot of good videos out there, you just have to know where to look. Here's one new video that I really dig: Ida Maria's I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked. Besides being a fantastically catchy tune with a great title, this has some fun 80's style motion graphics (and that speak to me... haha). I love the color scheme and the newsprint type dots are great over the green screen footage.



I thought I'd share a few places I get my music video fix online.

• IF:MV - probably my favorite site for new music videos
• Feed Here - Great resource for vfx and motion graphics, and often have some great music videos.
• MTV Music Video Picks
• Antville - A huge list of the lastest music videos that are user submitted.
• Video Static - News about what's in production and links to videos that are just out.
• Dazed Digital - Music, fashion and more. Nice site as well.
• Daily Motion - New videos and older ones, and lots of French people on the site... nothing wrong with that of course, it just makes it tough to understand the comments if you don't parle vous.
• QOOB - Italian site with lots of good stuff.

If you have favorite sites you visit, please post the link in the comments. Also, if you're looking for any video editing or visual effects software or plug-ins, come talk to me. I am the czarina of video plug-ins. I am not kidding. That's an official title.

American Idol... um... yeah....

I'll admit, this is the first time I've watched American Idol all season and I'm tuning in an hour into the finale.

I've realized that "frilly" singing bugs me. I don't know what the technical term would be, but it's when singers are all over the scales, you know, like Mariah Carey. I also can't stand it when singers sing over every note of the music with this frilliness. Maybe that's why I listened to The Cure and New Order for so many years. No frilliness. Like what's up with the red head and Cyndi Lauper destroying Time After Time? I do like Cyndi's pants though, and she does looks fantastic.

What did you think of this season of American? Who did you want to win? Would you still watch if Simon left the show? Leave a comment with your thoughts on the show.

Bat Bites: New Bands, Lollapalooza, MOG Network

New Bands

Jack White of White Stripes and Raconteurs has a new band called The Dead Weather, basically another indie rock super group, featuring Dean Fertita of Queen of the Stone Ages, Alison Mosshart of The Kill's on vocals, and Jack Lawrence of The Raconteur's... and Jack White. I am praying they'll sign on for Lollapalooza this summer. The Raconteurs have played the last couple of Lolla's and I have heard rumors that they could be added to the lineup. They have a big gap around their scheduled show dates too that coincide with Lollapalooza. Hmmm. If anyone finds out if they confirm Lolla, let me know!

Want to hear The Dead Weather? Go to The Dead Weather website and click on the image on the main page. Rockin'. Videos that were uploaded to YouTube have been pulled, but I expect something to be out in a few days and all over the blog-o-sphere. They're preselling the album as of last Saturday, too.

Tinted Windows is another supergroup I've been reading about over the past few months and contains musicians from three of my favorite bands: James Iha of Smashing Pumpkins, bassist Adam Schlesinger of Ivy, Fountains of Wayne and drummer Bun E. Carlos from Cheap Trick and Taylor Hanson of Hanson. Tinted Windows are also a good contender for a late entry to Lollapalooza, dontcha think!

Lollapalooza

It looks like a killer line-up (featuring The Killers at that!) Oh, how I love Brandon Flowers (and I hope he shaves before the show ;-)

Also playing, Depeche Mode, Beastie Boys, Tool, Kings of Leon, Vampire Weekend. You can download an MP3 of a mashup of Lolla 09 Artists here.



Here's the full lineup. It's funny how they always have good picks for the headliners, but it's always the lesser known bands who I'm always most excited to see. Ra Ra Riot! Passion Pit! Glasvegas! Yes! No real big surprises (Madonna isn't on the schedule), but a solid line-up none the less:

Depeche Mode Tool The Killers Jane's Addiction Beastie Boys Kings of Leon Lou Reed Ben Harper and Relentless7 Thievery Corporation Snoop Dogg Rise Against Andrew Bird TV on the Radio Vampire Weekend The Decemberists Neko Case STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9) Animal Collective Band of Horses Of Montreal Arctic Monkeys Coheed and Cambria

Ben Folds Fleet Foxes Silversun Pickups Kaiser Chiefs Crystal Castles Bon Iver Santigold Atmosphere Dan Auerbach Cold War Kids Deerhunter Lykke Li Robert Earl Keen Peter Bjorn and John Heartless Bastards Gomez Glasvegas Federico Aubele Dan Deacon Passion Pit Zap Mama The Raveonettes The Gaslight Anthem

The Airborne Toxic Event White Lies Ra Ra Riot No Age Asher Roth Los Campesinos! Bat For Lashes Chairlift Gang Gang Dance The Virgins Amazing Baby Portugal. The Man The Knux Ida Maria Delta Spirit Friendly Fires Manchester Orchestra Constantines Ezra Furman & The Harpoons Hockey

Miike Snow Alberta Cross Hey Champ Sam Roberts Band The Henry Clay People Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam Cage the Elephant Living Things Low Anthem Blind Pilot Langhorne Slim Other Lives The Builders and The Butchers Eric Church Joe Pug Kevin Devine The Greencards Carney Thenewno2

MOG Network

Max Bumps has been accepted into the MOG Network, a community of the best music blogs from around the internet. Horray! I will be putting the MOG info into the site today and tomorrow. I did mean to do this over the weekend but I was gone most of the weekend, not at any hot concerts, but I did present at a film festival :-)

More on the MOG network in the near future.

Coldplay releases free live album

No, you're not dreaming. Coldplay is giving away their new album, LeftRightLeftRightLeft, for free.

The album contains nine tracks (including "Clocks" and "Viva La Vida") from their live shows, and is available for download starting today. A CD is also available for fans at most of their shows this year.

According to the band's site, "[T]he give-away is meant as a recession-busting mark of gratitude to everyone who's supported them."

How cool is that? It's not a totally new album, but it's a nice gesture for fans. The music industry seems to be realizing that word of mouth is a better tool than frivolous lawsuits. Rock on, Coldplay.

For more info or to download the album, check out the band's web site, www.coldplay.com.

-Laura Bradford

Additional Quest Guide

I've compiled a handy list of all the new quests available on thesixtyone from the 5/13/09 update.

Main Quests

1. The Follower> - Subscribe to three or more listeners whose musical tastes you like. Discover other listeners by visiting the suggested users page. (10 reputation, 2 hearts)
2. Tag, You're it!  - Tag five songs -- songs can be tagged after they've been saved. You can access your tagged songs by visiting your profile. (10 reputation, 1 heart)
   
3. Super Saver - Click the 'save' link for five songs you'd like to play later in your library. You can view your saved songs by visiting your profile. (5 reputation, 1 heart)
   
4. Unlock Browse - Play 50 songs to unlock the browse menu. (10 reputation, 2 hearts)
   
5. A Reputable Listener - Earn at least 10 reputation points from hearting music. You can track your progress by visiting your stats page. (5 reputation, 1 heart)
   
6. If I Only Had A Heart - Listen to a song for a minute, and, if you like it, click the heart button. (5 reputation, 1 heart)
7. It's Just For You - Heart three or more songs in your just for you stream. (10 reputation, 1 heart)
8. In The Mood - Listen to five different moods on the home page. (At least five minutes for each mood.) (10 reputation, 3 hearts)
   
9. Featurerama - Feature three songs on your profile. (5 reputation, 5 hearts)
10. No Longer Sojourners - Join a group which matches your musical tastes or create one yourself. (10 reputation, 1 heart)
    
11. Community Playlist - Listen to the five songs in the front page of your group in one sitting. (15 reputation, 2 hearts)
12. The Evangelist - Invite five or more friends to join in the musical adventure. (50 reputation, 5 hearts)
13. Pour Your Hearts Out - Max out your hearts on five or more of your favorite songs. (Level 5 required) (15 reputation, 3 hearts)
14. Make Your Voice Heard - Leave comments on five or more songs that you have max hearted explaining why you like the songs. (20 reputation, 2 hearts)
15. Creative Commons  - Listen to seven or more songs with the creative commons license. (15 reputation, 3 hearts)
16. This Just In - Listen to seven songs on the first pages of the recently posted section of the home page. (10 reputation, 2 hearts)
17. >Dead Or Alive - Listen to five songs that have been revived or are eligible for reviving. (10 reputation, 2 hearts)
18. Radio Surfing - Listen to the personal radios of five listeners for at least five minutes each. (10 reputation, 2 hearts)
19. Refined Taste - Maintain a play count to songs hearted ratio of at least 20:1 today over a minimum of 100 plays and five hearts. (30 reputation, 3 hearts)
20. The Auctioneer - Put in a bid to revive a song by visiting the revive bids page (only recent bids are counted). (30 reputation, 3 hearts)

Daily Quests

1. The Early Bird - Listen to a song that's less than an hour old. (15 reputation, 2 hearts)
   
2. Earworm - Listen to your favorite song at least 5 times in a row. (5 reputation, 2 hearts
3. No Song Left Behind - Listen to seven songs with less than fifty hearts that are more than a day old. (15 reputation, 3 hearts)
4. This Just In - Listen to seven songs on the first pages of the recently posted section of the home page. (10 reputation, 2 hearts)
5. >Caution - Very Hot - Listen to seven songs on the first pages of the hot tab of the home page. (5 reputation, 2 hearts)
6. Look To The Genius - Listen to song recommendations provided by genius for five songs for at least five minutes each. (15 reputation, 2 hearts)
7. Try The Rack - Listen to music on The Rack (under the browse menu) until you earn 5 reputation. (5 reputation, 2 hearts)
8. Audio Explorer - Listen to seven songs in under-explored genres (15 reputation, 2 hearts)

Recent Changes to Thesixtyone

On May 11, the ability to save songs on thesixtyone without "hearting" them was briefly removed. Also, every song a user hearted was automatically saved. When users complained, it was fixed, with an update on James's blog explaining that the change wasn't quite "fully baked" yet. Fair enough. He posted an adorable picture of a hedgehog, so I’ll forgive him.

Also introduced this week are quests, similar to accomplishments. They offer hearts and reputation points for doing a certain activity, like listening to a certain number of songs, trying part of the site, etc. When quests are completed, they disappear, replaced by new ones.

List of Routine Quests I've found so far:

If I Only Had a Heart - heart a song
A Reputable Listener - earn 10 reputation points
Unlock Browse - play 50 songs
Super Saver - save 5 songs
Tag, You're It! - tag 5 songs into playlists
The Follower - subscribe to 3 listeners

Once you finish those, the following pop up:

Look to the Genius
Try The Rack
Just For You

There’s also a Daily Quest for today:

Early Bird - heart a song that's less than 1 hour old

The guides for the quests are sometimes confusing, and could be a lot clearer. For example, what does "Listen to song recommendations provided by genius for five songs for up to five minutes each" mean? (I just clicked on some genius playlists and hoped for the best.) Also, when I logged out, all my progress on the unfinished "Look to the Genius" quest was erased, but I’m not sure if this is the case for all quests. The feature will probably be smoothed out and tweaked in the next few days.

Another change I've noticed: if users have added a song to their favorites, they can "edit tags" on it from anywhere in the site (on an artist’s profile, for instance) and therefore change what playlist(s) they want the song to be in.

All in all, thesixtyone's been through some hefty changes these past few days. Thoughts?

CD Review: Sean Fournier, Oh My

Hey. I'm Laura Bradford, better known as kilexia on thesixtyone.

I've always been amazed by musicians who create albums on their own, and yet still manage to pack in as much sound as an entire band--heck, sometimes an entire orchestra.

Sean Fournier is such an artist. He's rather new on thesixtyone, but his songs routinely pass 1,000 hearts. And, in an effort to spread the word about his music, he's offering his fourth album, Oh My, for free.



The six tracks are mostly re-recordings of previously released songs, with the exception of the new song "Holding the Hand of the Hurricane." Here's the track listing:

1. Broken Stereo (Accoustic Version)
2. Put The World on Stop (Piano Version)
3. Another Like You (Piano Version)
4. Goodbye (Piano Version)
5. Falling For You (Piano Version)
6. Holding the Hand of the Hurricane

His sound is hard to pin down. I want to say he's a little like The Fray or Quiet Company, but really, the music defies comparison.

The album starts off with "Broken Stereo," a sweet, bouncy, tender love song. The next song, "Put the World on Stop" sparkles with piano melodies; it's a great track for spring, and it's going to see a lot of play on my Mp3 player.



"Another Like You" hums and vibrates with strings, and "Goodbye" shows off his skill at keys.

"Falling For You" feels like a finale for the album, and "Holding the Hand of the Hurricane," an encore. "Hurricane" is bold and percussive, putting on a show of sound that mimics a summer storm.



Overall, Sean Fournier has great vocals, lyrics, and instrumentation. I hope his efforts at promotion work out, because he deserves to be a big success.

You can stream or download the album from Sean Fournier's web site or listen to it on his profile at thesixtyone.

Bat Bites: Excuses, Teasers and Free Music

I've been gone for a while... work has been crazy busy, I've been traveling, had family staying at my place for extended periods of time, had the book come out, etc. I have lots of excuses for not adding regular updates to MaxBumps.net, but I think it's time to get this party started again.

To give you a little teaser, I'm going to be interviewing Sum (aka SumKid) about his upcoming release "The Lone Wolf". It's fantastic. This album has huge potential to make Sum a household name. We're also going to try an audio format for the interview because I know you all don't like to read. Haha.

I have the new SkyFlyingBy album right here that I plan to review in the very near future (thanks for sending me a copy!) and of course, there's the Mosh Pit event that the ElectroFreaks are sponsoring. Expect to hear a lot about that in the next few weeks.

Without further ado, here are a few things I've been hanging onto.

Caged Baby Remix

Jake from Exceptional Records sent me an MP3 to share with you all, a new mix from 10 Rapid of the Caged Baby track 'Forced'. The 10 Rapid single is out the 18th of May.

DOWNLOAD: 10 Rapid remix of Caged Baby's 'Forced'

Let me know if you have any problems downloading this file. I am thinking of a good solution for hosting MP3s without killing my bandwidth. Please send suggestions to batface89.

Sean Fournier

You've probably heard Sean Fournier on The Sixty One: http://www.thesixtyone.com/seanfournier. I'm planning to do a review of his album, which you can all download for free here.

DOWNLOAD: http://www.sean-fournier.com/ohmy

Buffetlibre Dj's "Hit! 2"

I've had this one for over a month and have been meaning to post it. (Yeah, I need to get an official team together here at Max Bumps, don't I!) I do love the Buffetlibre art. Very nice.

With a concept of 30 summers - 30 tracks, the DJ’s list an impressive number of dancefloor pop tunes that gets me moving wildly through the sunny weather here in Sweden. This tape has got me so pumped for Summer 09!" (The Lemur)

Right now, I'm lying in the sun, having a beer and listening to the perfect summer mixtape. Thank you W-LAN, thank you sun, thank you Buffet Libre DJs." (Disco Demons)

DOWNLOAD: Buffetlibre Dj's "Hit! 2"

TRACKLIST:
0. Sintonia Buffetlibre
1. Sub Sub - Space Face
2. Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock - It Takes Two
3. Happy Mondays - Hallelujah (Club Mix)
4. Bassheads - Is There Anybody Out There?
5. Daft Punk - Around The World vs. Technologic
6. Robin S - Show Me Love
7. M/A/R/R/S - Pump Up the Volume
8. Junior Senior - Move Your Feet
9. Junior Jack - E-Samba
10. Tim Deluxe Feat. Sam Obernik - It Just Won't Do
11. Armand Van Helden - My My My (Club Mix)
12. Larry Tee feat. Princess Superstar - Licky (Herve Goes Low remix)
13. Switch - A Bit Patchy
14. Kaoma - Lambada
15. Mousse T - Horny (Mousse T's Extended Mix)
16. Kid Cudi - Day 'N' Nite (Crookers Remix)
17. Rozalla - Everybody's Free
18. Thomas Andersson - Washing Up (Tiga Na Na Na Remix)
19. LCD Soundsystem - Tribulations
20. Fred Falke & Alan Braxe - Intro
21. Thomas Bangalter & DJ Falcon (Together) - So Much Love To Give
22. Superfunk - The Young MC
23. Supermode - Tell Me Why (Axwell & Steve Angello Remix)
24. Outlander - The Vamp
25. Kidda - Under The Sun (Herve Remix)
26. Lady GaGa - Just Dance (Make u Deff Remix)
27. Fake Blood - Mars
28. Black Box - Ride on Time
29. Bomfunk MC's - B-Boys & Flygirls
30. Alexander Kowalski feat. Raz OHara - Hot Spot (girls outside the window)

Thanks all for now. Hey contributors... have any ideas for new content? Let's get this party started!