Eureka! Albums of 2007

SOURCE: tinymixtapes.com

…obviously!

This just in from…

Zen formalwear daily

Do what you want and success will follow. It’s true, but it’s also completely irrelevant. It’s what you do next that really matters. Imagine you worked like hell to make something cool. People start catching wind of what you've done, and before you know it, you're rich and famous. You revel in the success. All eyes are on you. You're the new hotness and everyone wants to know what you're going to do next. So what do you do next? You flop. Your reputation descends, and your success rapidly dwindles. Everything you do just makes things worse, spiraling you down the drain. People start thinking maybe you never had it in the first place, or you got lucky. Nobody likes you anymore, and if anything you're worse off.

SOURCE: Atomicwang.org

This just in from GapingVoid…

It's Blogumentary, Watson!

He sees blog people

Chuck Olsen is the founder of Minnesota Stories, called one of the best videoblogs by the New York Times. He is the producer-director of "Blogumentary," the first documentary film about the rise of political and personal blogs. His work has screened at the Walker Art Center, Harvard University, and on renegade laptops all around the world. He is the Minneapolis correspondent for Rocketboom and works as a freelance producer, videographer, editor and educator.

SOURCE: blogumentary.org

Tricky, where you at?

SOURCE: brownpunk.tv/trickyblog

This just in from Seth Godin's blog…

Who you know

One of the mantras of networking (and the many social networking sites that people are flocking to) is that it matters who you know. The goal of having a thousand or more friends online is that you're well known. Connected. A click away.
I wonder if there's a more useful measure: who trusts you?

SOURCE: Senthgodin.com

Thank you, Qburns…

The music biz blows it, while Orlando blows up

LAST DANCE?

…So how can you possibly explain the banner year that little-known artists experienced in 2007? Thank you, MySpace. Gracias, YouTube. Likewise to CDBaby, Last.fm, satellite radio, CMJ, NPR, iTunes and all you other beautiful acronyms and jabberwockies.

The musicians have turned against the labels, and listeners besides. Hoist by their own petard, the corporate tastemakers have relinquished their right as victors to pen the history books of music each year, and strangely enough – impossibly – Central Florida and its neighbors have moved into the leader’s spot.

Record stores are dead? Tell that to Park Ave CDs, who have grown into not only a successful record store but a synergistic multiplatform hotspot. Small labels can’t get the word out for their peeps? Talk to Orlando’s X:144 & SPS, staples in ’07 on college radio Top Ten charts, or Band Marino, whose profile as one of the top 5 “MySpace bands” in Rolling Stone led to a talked-about performance at South by Southwest this year, or local rapper S.K.I.P, one of URB magazine’s “Next 1000” for 2007-2008, or Jacksonville’s Black Kids, named by Rolling Stone one of the 10 bands to watch in 2008. Even in Tampa, Yo Majesty was featured in Stereogum as a “band to watch.” Label-less Orlandoans Summerbirds in the Cellar were so big this year that their CD release party spilled into two shows.

[READ MORE]

SOURCE: OrlandoWeekly.com

This just in from Orlando…

Make plans to attend the
4th Annual
Orlando Latin American
Film & Heritage Festival
from the edge ... and beyond the frame

SOURCE: olafest.org

Happy New Year!

Stereogum brings you a New Year's gift of sound.
Enjoy!

SOURCE: Sterogum.com

This just in from Drowned In Sound

Drowned In Sound posted its top 50 albums of 2007. Read and compare to your own list (if you've been keeping up with it all.)
Enjoy!
Zelo

SOURCE: DrownedinSound.com

Radiohead Celebrate New Year With Webcast

Al Gore brings the rock to your television set

Although there are already plenty of nice musical options to entertain you on New Year's Eve this year, here's a last-minute surprise: Today on Dead Air Space, after wishing us all a "peaceful Christmas", Thom Yorke announced that Radiohead will be "broadcasting a pre-recording of some songs and other bits on New Years Eve.." over at Radiohead.tv. It starts at midnight GMT on December 31, which is in the early evening here in America, leaving plenty of time to go get ready to see Spoon or the Black Lips or R. Kelly or whoever. "this is a wee celebration of the release of the physical manifestation of 'in rainbows'," Thom continues, referring to the fact that the new Radiohead album is finally due in stores. It's out today in Japan (via Hostess Entertainment), the UK December 31 (via XL), and the U.S. and Canada January 1 (via ATO/TBD and MapleMusic, respectively). Apparently the webcast is going to consist of a performance of In Rainbows in full, taped at the band's Oxford studio, a place we are already intimately familiar with. In America, the live show will be aired commercial-free on Al Gore's television station, Current TV. It premieres at 12 a.m. EST/9 p.m. PST. Current's website will also archive the show, so you can watch it again New Year's Day while writing your resolutions. (Resolution #1: Watch less television.) [MORE...]

Link-arrowVideo: Radiohead: New Year's Webcast Teaser #1
Link-arrowVideo: Radiohead: New Year's Webcast Teaser #2

SOURCE: Pitchforkmedia.com

Marshall Arisman: The Ayahuasca Series

Mr. Arisman is the subject of a full-length documentary film directed by Tony Silver titled 'Facing the Audience: The Arts of Marshall Arisman.'

SOURCE: MarshallArisman.com

M. Night is trying to tell us something…

After months of rumors, cast updates, and hints about the film's content, we finally have our first official look at M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening, in the form of a teaser poster.
The poster, first made available by ComingSoon.net, shows a city skyline in the distance, with a number of abandoned cars scattered over a long stretch of highway. At the top, it contains the following tagline: "We've Sensed It. We've Seen The Signs. Now... It's Happening."

SOURCE: MNight.com

The Death of High Fidelity

In the age of MP3s, sound quality is worse than ever

David Bendeth, a producer who works with rock bands like Hawthorne Heights and Paramore, knows that the albums he makes are often played through tiny computer speakers by fans who are busy surfing the Internet. So he's not surprised when record labels ask the mastering engineers who work on his CDs to crank up the sound levels so high that even the soft parts sound loud.
READ MORE

SOURCE: RollingStone.com

It's not even on itunes yet!

From the fabulous Reax mag crew:

Summerbirds In The Cellar

Summerbirds in the Cellar’s Druids is as haunting as it is healing. Similar to the band’s previous release With the Hands of the Hunter It All Becomes Dead, Brad Register’s lyrics continue to mine dark caves and offer bleak, apocalyptic perspectives about our existence. The words are true, expressing beliefs and fears that have deep, universal resonance.

Druids surpasses its predecessor in intention and execution. The songwriting here is more focused and confident, with melodies that weave in and around the band’s trademark thick layers of guitars and keyboards. None of the nine tracks exist in isolation, but rather build upon one another, providing a powerful unity to the whole record. Rooted in rhythm, the sound is dense and muggy with a dream-like quality unlike anything the southeast music scene has produced. The patience precision of Druids further confirms Summerbirds in the Cellar as the Southeastern region’s most important and talented band.


SOURCE: reaxmusic.com/

Presenting Fader's Listmania!

Once again, The FADER and its extended family present their version of the Best of the Year list type things.
Click more for the real talk. more...

SOURCE: TheFader/Listmania

Getting Evens

The Evens are a band from Washington, D.C. Ian MacKaye plays baritone guitar and Amy Farina plays drums. They both sing. Their debut album was recorded at Inner Ear Studios in the summer of 2004 and released in March 2005. "The Evens, Get Evens", the band's second full-length release, was entirely self recorded in the basement of the Dischord House in the summer of 2006. The album was then mixed at Inner Ear Studios by The Evens and Don Zientara. The Evens have toured parts of the U.S. and Europe and have traveled extensively in the first half of 2007, including dates in Brazil, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia, Eastern Canada and the United States.

SOURCE: Dischord Records

Introducing: Antelope

Antelope was formed in Washington, DC in 2001 by ex-members of the Vertebrates, Bee Elvy and Mike Andre, and El Guapo's Justin Moyer. In March of 2002 the band recorded six songs with Phil Manley (of Trans Am) at National Recording Studios. The self-titled EP was released in February 2003 as a split venture between Dischord and the band's own Bug Records. Antelope played its first regional shows in eastern and mid-western US cities and the band accompanied Q and not U and Black Eyes on an extensive tour of the United States in September of 2003. The two song EP "Crowns" b/w "The Flock" was recorded in July of 2003 with Ian Mackaye and Don Zientara at Inner Ear Studios and was released in February of 2004. In November 2006 the band recorded it's first full-length, "Reflector," at the Dischord House with Ian MacKaye. Antelope continued regional touring with Joe Lally and Soccer Team and embarked on a full-US tour in March 2007. European dates are scheduled for October and November and more US dates will follow into December.

Antelope:
Mike Andre - drums/bass/vocals
Bee Elvy - drums/bass/vocals
Justin Moyer - guitar/vocals

SOURCE: Dischord Records