TV on the Radio Angry at the TV
Kyp Malone lets us know what went wrong.
In an interview with the Canadian Press, Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio answered the question we've all had since February 7th: Why the hell did the band sound so bad on SNL? Apparently TV on the Radio's normal sound engineer wasn't allowed to work the show since he wasn't in a union. The band figured they were dealing with professionals, so they put their faith in the NBC crew. He also notes that the band, in their monitors, sounded fine and only realized that the audio was horrible when they got offstage and began receiving texts from friends watching the show.
In any case, Kyp seems to be taking it all in stride, noting that they sounded much better two nights later on the Colbert Report. A lesson to future "real" acts that want to earn their SNL merit badge? Maybe a larger question of how we treat sound engineers at big venues has been raised? I think so.
TV on the Radio on The Colbert Report
Posted by Mark Steffen on Feb 20, 2009 @ 1:00 pm
The Angry Mixtape
It beats shooting someone. Well, we think.
There are days when you just want to throw a chair through a plate glass window while screaming "I can't take it anymore!" Maybe you are fed up with a crappy job, stuck in a rut in life, or falling apart in a failing relationship. Whatever the case is, music is another great form of therapy (and cheaper than an hour on a couch talking to someone about your feelings)...
Posted by Lisa White on Feb 19, 2009 @ 7:00 am
Get to Know: The Season
Nashville isn’t all tractors and whiskey. There’s some music there too.
The Season’s main members Kurtis Parks and Josh Kim have made music their top priority early on in their careers. From an early age Kim studied classical music and the piano and slowly moved to the guitar when he was fourteen. Parks’s talent for songwriting and singing gained him national recognition, even a spot in American Idol’s top 50 finalists. It was only time that these two musical powerhouses met while attending Virginia Tech...
Posted by Amy Dittmeier on Feb 18, 2009 @ 7:32 am
The Hamiltonilzation Process Continues with Another Mixtape
Charles Hamilton Raps about Match.com and Chris Brown beating up Rihanna.
In light of all the Rihanna/Chris Brown noise comes a mixtape infused with plenty of sampling of the couple’s music from Charles Hamilton. The mixtape, entitled “Well Isn’t This Awkward” was made available for download last Friday on the net, and many tracks can be listened to on Hamilton’s blog...
Posted by Andrew Macnider on Feb 17, 2009 @ 7:00 am
BSS's Charles Spearin Releases New Tracks
The Happiness Project nothing short of buoyant, experimental, hopeful.
Broken Social Scene is no stranger to experimentation. Whether it's combining haunting digital blips with a quartet of "wall-of-sound" guitars or the more tactile problem of fitting 20 people on a stage made for 5, they've always risen to the challenge and handed us some of the best communal-indie-rock out there.
It makes sense then that after Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning's successful "solo" efforts (they wrote the albums without the rest of the band, but the whole band recorded/toured to promote them) the newest "solo" work of Charles Spearin is nothing short of enticing. Charles spent some time speaking with his neighbors about what "happiness" was, recorded these conversations, and produced all of his music based around the natural harmony of spoken voices. Naturally, the album will be called The Happiness Project.
Sound a little too heady for you? It's not. The result is pleasant and completely accessible. Check out the Heave-recommended track "Anna." It's a brilliantly executed example of this technique and features one of the most basic yet profound examinations on what happiness is that we've heard yet.
Posted by Mark Steffen on Feb 16, 2009 @ 5:00 pm