April 13, 2013
Twitter better blow my mind away….

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Am I the only one who is really upset about Twitter’s acquisition of We Are Hunted??

In case you aren’t familiar with WeAreHunted.com, it was basically the best music discovery app out there.  The site combed the web using machine learning to aggregate the top 100 artists that music blogs and social media outlets were talking about. This was updated weekly or so, and kept its users on the cutting edge of the best emerging music.

Wonderful, right? Well Twitter thought so too, and quietly acquired the company late 2012 according to Cnet (on a related note, searching for anything Twitter related is incredibly frustrating because of all the me-too sites propagating any news story).

My beef with the deal? If you want to alienate your fans, follow Twitter’s shady example. I personally had NO idea that We Are Hunted had been acquired until the site was shut down (likely for technical reasons, morphing the site into the new #music app, etc).  I don’t have a long list of complaints, but I am seriously questioning this strategic move for the following reasons:

  1. Twitter shut down the site for almost two months, leaving dedicated fans out to dry. These people are the thought leaders for new music, and you want to have them use your music application. Two months is long enough that those fans will go elsewhere for their new music and start forming new habits. And no, I do not care what Ryan Seacrest thinks about the app. You may have a lot of celebrity friends, Twitter, but you are totally missing the point that music discovery isn’t about finding what is mega-hyped by record labels. That is what radio is for.
  2. My favorite aspect of We Are Hunted was that they made it easy to save your favorite songs into growing playlists and share them with others. With the site shutting down, all that information will be gone. They graciously whispered about ‘grabbing your favorites’ on their website, but it feels like getting kicked to the street still half naked after a one night stand of hot, passionate aural sex. I’m sure there would have been some technical challenges to exporting our playlists to other services (…including your own?), however, I am really not a fan of clicking on the 200 links you gave me and weeding through all the similarly tagged remixed versions of songs just to get the original songs saved on Soundcloud. And over 10% of my playlist was unavailable. :-/
  3. Most of Twitter is shit.  Maybe I am just a crotchety old mid-20s something who is too used to Facebook, but the limited interactions I’ve had with Twitter have left me feeling like I just inhaled paint thinner. Or as CEO Dick Costolo calls it, “sacrosanct magic.” Ok, ok, following republican national debates through Twitter ensued with great hilarity, but still… I would like to support my bold claim with a leaked report from Gawker: according to an “insider”, the company has lost a net $93.6 million since 2010.  And they have had 3 different CEOs in 3 years, indicating management problems.

My conclusion from all of this is that Twitter better blow my mind away when they unveil their new music app. They have left a bitter taste in my mouth, and while I am willing to try out what they create, I am quite apprehensive about it.  I just hope it isn’t some mutilated version of the app that made me love new music.

Posted by gemmerich on Saturday, April 13 2013     |     URL: http://tmblr.co/ZJGoBxicibUU
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February 28, 2013
THROWBACK THURSDAY: Cat Stevens - Tea for the Tillerman

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Wow, it’s been a long time since we’ve thrown it back.  I know, we’ve come a long way.  In fact, we’re changing day to day!  But as we reflect on how we’ve changed, let us take some guidance from Cat Stevens contemplatively asks us “where do the children play?” (ay-ay-ay-ay-aaayyyy)

Since I got my new turntable I’ve really connected with this album.  The production is absolutely marvelous  from the elegant blending of piano and strings on Sad Lisa to the serene quality of Father and Son, the album is one decadent experience in sonic perfection.   Oh, I can’t forget to mention Wild World.  But you don’t have to take my word for it, you should have a listen for yourself!

teatime by Dominick Rocco on Grooveshark

Posted by rawk-star on Thursday, February 28 2013     |     URL: http://tmblr.co/ZJGoBxfBfmJ8
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Filed under: throwback thursday cat stevens tea for the tillerman where do the children play 
February 28, 2013
Greetings from Brew City

Hi. I’m Jen. And this is my first post. I got asked to contribute to this blog about a month ago, and now I’m finally doing it. The delay, you ask? Life.

New job. New apartment. New chapter. I guess things have settled to the point where I can finally talk about all that is the soundtrack to it all.

Things about me? I like long walks on the beach. Puppies. And making it RaIN up in the Mutha F*-ing cluB. Um….. what?! Okay, enough generic intro. Let’s get to it, shall we?

So I know they’ve been blowing up a little bit lately in the music blog world, but I can’t help talk about them again.  Mostly because literally no one I know personally knows who they are. And I, on the other hand, cannot stop listening to those kids, The 1975.  I read a thoroughly entertaining interview on them from Gigwise, and it pretty much summed up anything I could really find about them. Then again I only Googled for like… 10 minutes. I’m a busy girl, okay!?

My favorite quote from lead singer, Matt Healy: “I love the Dixie Chicks, but you can’t really be in a contemporary alternative band and hail them as one of your influences. All the guilty pleasures are stuff that I think is the fucking best stuff. Like Disney soundtracks! Everyone loves Disney soundtracks, if you don’t, you’re mental.”

It has taken me sitting through way too many conversations, involving music snobs and not enough beer, on the subject of which Beatles song is the BEST Beatles song to really, truly appreciate and LOVE this guy for saying this out loud. I mean we get it… the Beatles are legends. Now, someone put on “Call Me Maybe” and serve me up some fun, please.

Read the whole interview here and try not to love them even more.

I could probably write about the majority of their songs and why each one is so amazing. But I’m going to choose the one that I’ve been bopping around to in my kitchen - “Chocolate” - my side ponytail coming loose halfway - hair falling in my face - while doing dishes - thinking about… everything: How to better my life and chase after what I want - (I mean what the hell do I really want?!?) - and mostly » the weekend. I think they pretty much have it with this line:

 “Go get it, go get it, go get it, go get it. Go. And play it cool.”

Posted by j-lindz on Thursday, February 28 2013     |     URL: http://tmblr.co/ZJGoBxfAjklB
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Filed under: chocolate the1975 soundtrack milwaukee fun music music video manchester music 
February 18, 2013
Atoms for Peace - AMOK

Posted by walhowe on Monday, February 18 2013     |     URL: http://tmblr.co/ZJGoBxeT7EcH
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February 14, 2013
It means “I love you”

Music can be quite the aphrodisiac, especially when the song is literally made for baby-making.  Is that enough foreplay for you? She said “okayyyy”, “okayyyyyyyyy”

Because in man-speak, “let me see your titties” is as close as we can get to saying “I love you” without actually saying it.  You see, men can work in mysterious ways too.  Much respect for Big Boi, though, his song with A$AP Rocky and Phantogram is seriously blowing my mind over and over again. 

Posted by gemmerich on Thursday, February 14 2013     |     URL: http://tmblr.co/ZJGoBxeAEYHG
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January 18, 2013
Lucius - Tiny Desk Concert

Lucius, a relatively new band from Brooklyn, recently preformed all four of the songs off their self titled EP on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert.  Two songs in, I was in love.  Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig have perfectly paired voices that are always on point with the melodic guitar and whimsical percussions of Danny Molad, Peter Lalish, and Andrew Burri.  There is no question that this group is full of extremely talented musicians. And then!  In the beginning of their percussion heavy song, Genevieve, the whole band started in on the vocals with “Oh wa WA!” and I just about fell over and cried out, “No no, this is moving too fast! But, ohmygod, let’s get married!”  I think I’ve finally found the right end of the telescope, and I’m going to be looking through it for a long time.

Posted by rratchet on Friday, January 18 2013     |     URL: http://tmblr.co/ZJGoBxc2ylFr
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Filed under: Lucius Tiny Desk Concert NPR Music 
January 5, 2013
Some Delightful Songs From 2012

Songs

Best Song — On Top (ft TShirt) by Flume

(Nominated by Gemmerich)

“Natural selection may have less obvious effects on the human population considering we have stripped away many selective pressures, however, the music scene is a fierce, ever-evolving battleground where only the best prosper. Yadee yada Rhianna, Nikki Minaj, corporate promotions, total internal organ failure. Autotune used to be the hottest thing since the electric guitar, but that electronic, Transformers-copulating dubstep sound is penetrating (yes I went there) the music scene. Even this has been done to excess already, but Flume demonstrates how you can still come up with hip hop that is fresher than sushi on a fishing boat. “

Best Song — Hot Knife by Fiona Apple

(Nominated by Rratchet)

Posted by rawk-star on Saturday, January 5 2013     |     URL: http://tmblr.co/ZJGoBxb3PbB9
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January 5, 2013
Some Delightful Videos From 2012

Best Video — Language by Porter Robinson

(Nominated by Gemmerich)

“Language, a new song by Porter Robinson, is the perfect “gateway drug” into dubstep. It may be more of a cross pollination of different genres than the typical dubstep, but it certainly gets the point across. The official video for Language is absolutely phenomenal. I found it to be an inspirational piece of beauty slated with fantasy, but I’ll let the video speak for itself:”“She can sure hold her breath for a long time, huh? Who knew you could be both powerful and peaceful in the same song? Going off of esbiano91’s comment about the woman finally seeking her true potential, it is pretty amazing what you can do when you overcome your greatest enemy: yourself.”

Other Best Video — UpUpUp by The Mast

(Nominated by Gemmerich)

“It is easy to get caught up in the everyday struggle. We have more conveniences but seemingly less time. Maybe Biggie was right, we have Mo Money but Mo Problems. How are we supposed to keep sight of what really matters? Sometimes self-defeating thoughts can be the greatest to overcome, but there are artists out there like The Mast who can help us see the light. Their music video is a beautiful piece of self expression, and emphasizes the importance of coming to discover who you are as a person to really lift yourself Up, Up, Up. Oh, and then there is the dancing by Pandora Marie. Truly amazing. I am speechless.”

Best Clothing and Dance Style — Losing You by Solange

(Nominated by Rratchet)

Posted by rawk-star on Saturday, January 5 2013     |     URL: http://tmblr.co/ZJGoBxb3Pj4y
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January 5, 2013
Some Delightful Albums From 2012

Best (free) Album — Summer’s Gone by Odesza

(Nominated by Gemmerich)

“As I write this, we are getting pummeled with our first major blizzard of the year, making a resounding and official end to any remnants of the summer. Odesza is the collective work of CatacombKid and BeachesBeaches, and their album Summer’s Gone continues to push the envelope of what indie electronic music can sound like. I like this album because depending on the volume you play it at, this can set a chill, ambient vibe for getting some work done to, or when turned up to 11, these songs can be party rock anthems. I love this album because of the principles they employ delivering the music to fans, namely, being a free download. These two relatively unknown artists (at least for me) have found a warm and hearty reception in the ears of music lovers, who take so much inspiration from their work as to then freely publicize and promote it. I predict we will see more tactics like this and “name your price” into the future. Download link here.”

Best Album (honorable mention) — TRAPS by Humans

(Nominated by Gemmerich)

“It’s a TRAPS! You will fall into an abysmal pit of electronic resonance and prefrontal cortex stimulation after hearing this album.

Favorite Minnesota Band Release — Who Need Who by Dark Dark Dark

(Nominated by Strongerer)

“Accordian, banjo, trumpet, piano, awesome percussion, and beautiful vocals….what more could I ask for in a group. This album is so solid the entire way through. Perhaps my favorite part of this album and band for that matter is how well all of these different instruments meld together.

The Album I Can Listen to the Most Times on Repeat — The Nature of Things by The Daredevil Christopher Wright

(Nominated by Strongerer)

“The more I listen to this band, the more impressed I am. When I gave this new album a first listen, I was not completely sold. But each additional listen opened my ears up to more and more discreet and purposeful nuances in each song. I am still in amazement of the subtle nature of this trio’s music.”

The Best Thing I Could Have Purchased on Cassette Tape This Year — A Different Ship by Here We Go Magic

(Nominated by Strongerer)

“Seeing this band perform songs from A Different Ship live was one of the live show highlights of my year. I was amazed at how well they were able to transition such great recorded sound to their live show. To me this album was entrancing, captivating, and precisely orchestrated.”

Best EP — Ghost EP by Yellow Ostrich

(Nominated by Strongerer)

“This EP was so refreshing to hear after Yellow Ostrich’s most recent LP release earlier on in 2012. This EP seemed to revert back to the reasons I really delved into their music in the first place. The vocals, build up of each song, and percussion were major highlights for me.”

Best PBR&B Album (honorable mention) — Channel Orange by Frank Ocean

(Nominated by Rawk-star)

“This album plays through like all albums should; from start to finish it ebbs and flows like water in an aqueduct. It also has songs that hook you one by one, some with their twenty-third centrury R&B sounds, others with the delicately woven stories in their lyrics. As I became entranced by each of these songs, with I spent most of the summer listening to this album on repeat.

Fuzziest Album (honorable mention) — An Awesome Wave by Alt-J

(Nominated by Rawk-star)

“This album may not be warm, but it is fuzzy. It also has two interludes. Check it out, you won’t be bored.”

Posted by rawk-star on Saturday, January 5 2013     |     URL: http://tmblr.co/ZJGoBxb3PMYI
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November 27, 2012

Listen to disguises by thermal features.

Posted by walhowe on Tuesday, November 27 2012     |     URL: http://tmblr.co/ZJGoBxYCiqsr
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