themannequinfred

Sweater Season Mix

2011-10-01T14:00:00.000-07:00

The Monk Pt. 1

2011-07-27T23:05:00.001-07:00

we travelled cross-country
bathing in eastern philosophy
selling out empty shelves
to shoeboxes of ideals
the broken gavel fell upon us
one savannah summer night
as you swam into the ocean
the night st patrick died

8-21

2011-07-12T14:21:00.001-07:00

i was born a bastard
and lived my life poor
until I wore a borrowed suit
and danced myself clean
to the magnanimous opus
of the capitalist machine

the unquenched thirst
never satisfied

i drank the water
but the water didn't work
so I drank something harder
until I fell back into the earth
the sinking bones of a million empty graves
fall hard upon the innocent
in an unforeseen age
the land swallowed my seed
with screams then gave birth
to a forgotten people
rejected and unheard
falling deep deep deep
into the void of night
a broken radio sits silent
when the violent begin to write
The sounds of solitude and remorse
From our eyes the blinds hanging
the harlot in the open street stands
and gently kisses her lover good bye.

Final Song Tracking Day

2011-05-10T08:08:00.001-07:00

Sometimes things just work out.

McMillan Production Day 4+5

2010-12-11T12:06:00.000-08:00

Bass and Drums. . .

2010-12-09T08:33:00.000-08:00

Today we were joined by Lee Worley and we tracked "Who Is This" (working title). We chose to record this live as a band to capture the feel that comes when the boys play together. It was an amazing moment in the recording to hear these guys playing together live and get a taste of what the Ruckus brings night after night on the road. Lee really brought it and the tracking went without a hitch. Tomorrow we track bass with Jon Duke. . .

Zombies!!!!!

2010-12-09T08:27:00.000-08:00

Late Night Session. . . .

McMillan Tracking Day 2

2010-12-08T08:29:00.000-08:00

Today we finished drums with Jacob Arnold. I'm really happy with everything we are getting.

We finished the day off right by going to watch my boys in PaperTongues play. I haven't seen them since Amos' in SouthEnd Charlotte almost a year ago.

They are absolutely killing it.

We start bass with Jon Duke tomorrow and we will be joined by Lee Worley to finish off the drums on the record in the afternoon. I love working with Lee, he was a major part of the Bright City team for the first year and working with him always feels like home. He has such a great feel and a deep pocket and he is one of my favorite people to be around.

I miss home today, my wife, and my christmas tree. It is a cold morning here in Atlanta and hotel rooms and 15 passenger vans lack the warmth and charm of the poinsettias in the living room and smell of my wife's cooking.

McMillan Tracking Day 1

2010-12-06T20:08:00.000-08:00

Today we tracked drums on 3 of the songs. Jacob Arnold is really playing great and creating some amazing parts. The set up at Glow In The Dark in Atlanta is perfect and we are getting some really interesting sounds. Excited about tomorrow. . .

Preproduction

2010-12-04T22:07:00.000-08:00

We just finished a week of rehearsals at Bright City for the John Mark McMillan recording. We start tracking next week in Atlanta with co-producer, engineer, and all around great guy Jeremy Griffith. I am looking forward to the next 2 months of working on this project. Over the course of the recording I might post some pictures and thoughts, but then again, I might be too busy and no one may hear from me until February 2011.

5 Design/Production Companies You Should Know Right Now

2010-09-23T10:00:00.001-07:00

There are a lot of design and production teams that have been grabbing my attention lately. These are 5 that stand out.

1. The Wilderness
http://www.thewildernessinc.com/

2. Colonel Blimp
http://www.colonelblimp.com/home/

3. MegaForce
http://www.myspace.com/themegaforce
Also, its worth following these guys on twitter.
Megaforce on Twitter

4. Humble (Used to be called Hydra)
http://www.humble.tv/

5.Aaron Koblin (also see milk+koblin)
http://www.aaronkoblin.com/work.html

Joel Khouri's Turning 30 Vinyl Wish List.

2010-09-21T12:20:00.000-07:00

So I'm turning 30, no big deal. Literally hundreds of people have been asking me lately what I want for this unimportant birthday. So I made a list of 40 records that will help ease the pain whilst I slip down the slope into my 40's. If anyone wants to contribute to my epic 3rd decade on this earth here are 40 ways to do so.

Here's a link:

Joel's Vinyl Wishlist

Thanks.

Your browser does not support iframes.

Bonnaroo Fest- Mumford & Sons "White Blank Page"

2010-06-15T07:18:00.000-07:00

Paper Tongues "Trinity" on George Lopez

2010-05-25T11:35:00.000-07:00

Check This:::

Sneak Cut: Trippin' With Tom Petty's Pirate

2010-05-24T11:21:00.000-07:00

I am really excited about Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers upcoming release, at least if this exclusive sneak cut from their new album Mojo tells the tale (on sale June 15)
.
Check out this sneak peak, a vibey-rhodes infused-blues soaked song called "The Trip to Pirate's Cove."
TomPetty-The Trip To Pirates Cove by Sneakattackmedia

3 To Inspire

2010-05-20T06:38:00.000-07:00

Here are 3 music videos that I seem to watch over and over.

Passion Pit "The Reeling"- Directed by Hydra – the three-headed directing team from New York prodco Humble consisting of John Hobbs, Sam Stephens and Ariel Danzinger – getting to that seeming end point was just the beginning.

Miike Snow "Animal"- Directed by Sebastian Mlynarski

The White Stripes "Fell In Love" - Directed by Michel Gondry
I met Michel Gondry at Sundance in 2008. Im just sayin'

THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY- FORGING THE LINKS BETWEEN ART CULTURE COMMERCE & COMMUNITY

2010-05-19T12:56:00.000-07:00

I've been reading this article a lot lately. It goes into great depth in exploring the ways in which creative arts communities can benefit the surrounding city. I think the Oakland mayor's office said it best when describing the "Percent for Art Ordinance” plan, which authorizes the allocation of 1.5 percent of municipal capital-improvement project costs for commissioning of public artwork;

"Art can create a sense of identity for a city and individual neighborhood and a unified vision for the city. The best public art creates a unique place, a destination, and a focal point for activity, a meeting place, and a landmark. Public Art is a process where we invite artists to share their vision and creativity with the City and to surprise us with their own definition of what is possible.”

Check out this 36 page article and let me know what you think. . .

Download Here:
The Creative Community

A Year of Tweets

2010-05-18T13:33:00.000-07:00

So here's a little cloud that reflects all the tweets I made for the last year. The bigger a word is, the more it was mentioned. Apparently something called "Bright City" was important to me this year. As well as raechellouise and @jweldon415.

I really like the small randomly created phrase "beautiful finishing" at the bottom left.

Power Out!!!! 5/16 DJ Set

2010-05-17T10:55:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick 20 minute set from last night. When I built my set, I wanted to start out with the Arcade Fire song "Neighborhood 3 Power Out." I felt like the lyrics spoke of restoring power to people who have lost their dreams.

Here's the lyrics:

I woke up with the power out,
not really something to shout about.
Ice has covered up my parents hands
don't have any dreams don't have any plans.

I went out into the night,
I went out to find some light.
Kids are swingin' from the power lines,
nobody's home, so nobody minds.

I woke up on the darkest night,
neighbors all were shoutin' that they found the light.
(We found the light)
Shadows jumpin' all over the walls
some of them big, some of them small.

I went out into the night.
I went out to pick a fight with anyone.
Light a candle for the kids,
Jesus Christ don't keep it hid!

Woohoo! Woohoo! Woohoo!

Ice has covered up my parents hands
don't have any dreams, don't have any plans.
Growin' up in some strange storm,
nobody's cold, nobody's warm.

I went out into the night,
I went out to find some light.
Kids are dyin' out in the snow,
look at them go, look at them go!

Woohoo!(3x) WOO! Woohoo!(3x)

And the power's out in the heart of man,
take it from your heart put in your hand.(hand)

I recorded the set as I performed it Sunday night and thought I would hook you up with it.

Here's a link to download the set:::

POWER OUT!!!!

Bon Iver- Come Talk To Me (Peter Gabriel)

2010-04-22T12:11:00.000-07:00

Music you can feel.
Its spring and the color is coming back to the south.
Gone are the days of brown and grays and our eyes open wide to take in the light of the new warm days.

Go buy this split 7" now.

Bon Iver- Come Talk To Me (Peter Gabriel)

How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity

2010-04-19T07:01:00.000-07:00

This article was first posted in The Harvard Business Review. It was a major influence on the creative processes we adapted at Bright City Studios. It is inspiring to see how Pixar has structured everything from their office space to their management style to foster a collaborative creative environment. Remember in Algebra how important it was not only to arrive at the right answer, but to show your work? The process you take is just as important as what you produce at the outcome, because the process is what will ensure continued growth and maturity as an artist. Inspiration is not blind luck, it is something that is nurtured and developed and the team at Pixar has managed to continuously produce excellent and innovative work raising the bar of animation artistry and heart-felt storytelling.
It is worth studying the process they have developed to do what they do so well.

How can you restructure areas of your life to adopt new methods of creative collaboration?

Click the link below to download the PDF:
How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity

Music For The Weekend- Chiddy Bang "Opposite of Adults"

2010-03-19T14:23:00.000-07:00

Chiddy Bang- Opposite of Adults
This guy has been around for a while now, but if you haven't heard of him it's worth a listen. Here's the video for "Opposite of Adults" Enjoy!

Chiddy Bang 'Opposite of Adults' from LOOSEWORLD on Vimeo.

Where Can I Go- Suzy Yaraei

2010-03-15T10:42:00.000-07:00

This is the reworking of a song I produced for Suzy a few years back. I used a lot of the Jomox analog drum machine and a Micro Moog for the bassline. I also used a midi controller to play the 8 bit sounds from the old Nintendo I've had since I was 10. I really like the string sounds, I sampled the plucked cello sound that comes in from an old Bartok piece and then wrote my melody from that. I stutter edited the vocal harmonies to create the outtro section, which is one of my favorite parts of the piece.

So Happy Monday, here is some new music for you.

Where Can I Go?

The Killers- "When You Were Young" Live at Abbey Road

2010-03-08T12:29:00.000-08:00

I love the Sundance Channel and the series "Live at Abbey Road" kills it. This is a version of "When The World Was Young" by The Killers that I thought was beautiful.

Steal This Film

2010-03-08T10:49:00.000-08:00

Media piracy is nothing new and we all know the toll it has taken on the music and film industry, but why is it so widespread and why are the administrators of websites that host links to torrent downloads not being prosecuted and their sites shut down? This film sheds some light on the battle being fought over over copyright infringement, file "sharing", and the way that sites such as the pirate bay are working around the laws meant to protect the interests of artists.

What are your thoughts on this issue?

Exit Through The Gift Shop- Banksy Film

2010-02-04T15:38:00.000-08:00

This film was a definite standout at Sundance this year.
- Life is Beautiful

Random Sundance Pictures 2010

2010-02-01T16:57:00.000-08:00

Sundance 2010

2010-01-31T23:58:00.000-08:00

This year at Sundance was a blur of films. We were able to take in almost 10 films in only 4 short days. The stand outs for me were "Boy" directed and starred in by the New Zealand producer who gave us "Eagle vs Shark." Another great film was "I am Here" a dramatic short we saw on Saturday morning directed by Spike Jonze that tells the story of two robots exploring selfless love and the extreme sacrifice it brings. Here is the list of films we saw followed by a brief description and my personal thoughts/opinions (for what they are worth).

1)The Man Next Store

WORLD CINEMA CINEMATOGRAPHY AWARD: DRAMATIC

Leonardo, a successful industrial designer, lives with his family in an architectural wonder, a midcentury Le Corbusier home. One morning, he wakes to an irksome noise and is appalled to discover that workmen next door are constructing a large window that faces directly into his home. Leonardo protests, using a number of excuses (privacy, building codes, his wife), in an attempt to coerce his neighbor, Victor, into scrapping his plan. But Victor just wants a patch of sun to catch some rays. Thus, one man’s light is another man’s blight.

Enamored of architecture, the film is meticulously designed. Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat give it a carefully crafted weirdness as well as a figurative quality. Its caustic humor comes in contemplating why the window completely undermines Leonardo. Does it reveal his arrogance, affectation, and lack of compassion; or dispel his bourgeois illusion of power? The Man Next Dooroffers a biting critique of moral shallowness—and what happens when thou dost not love thy neighbor’s window.

This film was beautifully shot, and although it began a bit on the slow side the characters develop and draw you in to afast paced emotionally charged ending. This film was a pleasant surprise for me full of heart and rich colorful characters.

2) Zoe/ODDSAC

Opening with torch-wielding villagers and a wall bleeding oil, ODDSACattaches vivid scenery and strange characters to the wonderful melodic wavelengths of the band Animal Collective, revitalizing the lost form of the “visual album.” Working on the project for three years with friend Danny Perez, Animal Collective pushes the boundaries of the music video and joins music visionaries like The Residents, Devo, and Daft Punk, who previously connected film imagery with their songs.

Animal Collective’s music is a glittering mix of pop rock, experimental noise, and horror-movie soundtrack. Perez’s visuals mirror that, incorporating intense scenes of vampires, campfires, and screaming prophets to form themes and a distinct vision, rather than following a traditional plot and dialogue. The characters are interlaced with flicker effects that mimic pressure phosphenes, the magic colors produced by rubbing your closed eyes. A true physical experience, ODDSAC turns the theatre into a sensory submarine

ODDSAC is a journey into a landscape of intense, abstract visuals paired with a pulsing soundtrack provided by Animal Collective. If you are a fan of the bands earlier EPs then you will appreciate this soundtrack. They definitely bring out the shadows in this dark and moving body of work. The instensity that Perez and Animal Collective reach is held in balance by the tongue in cheek humorous at times horror sequences. This is a beautiful artistic not-for-the-faint-of-heart horror film.

3) Boy

It’s 1984, and Michael Jackson is king—even in Waihau Bay, New Zealand. Here we meet Boy, an 11-year-old who lives on a farm with his gran, a goat, and his younger brother, Rocky (who thinks he has magic powers). Shortly after Gran leaves for a week, Boy’s father, Alamein, appears out of the blue. Having imagined a heroic version of his father during his absence, Boy comes face to face with the real version—an incompetent hoodlum who has returned to find a bag of money he buried years before. This is where the goat enters.

Inspired by his Oscar-nominated short, Two Cars, One Night, Taika Waititi offers a charming, funny, and earnest coming-of-age story where everybody has some coming of age to do—particularly Alamein (affably played by Waititi himself). Never short on humor, Waititi’s story is ultimately about three boys (one grown) reconciling fantasy with reality.

Boy was by far my favorite film of Sundance this year. It had a way of disarming you with humor setting you up for the realities of growing up in a dysfunctional world. I enjoyed the themes of living up to ones potential and finding one's self in the midst of difficult circumstances. This was a warm and heartfelt movie, but never landed into cheesy territory it dealt with hard and sometimes sad topics, but kept a light heartedness through it all. I also really enjoyed the director of this film in the Q&A sessions, it was 8:30 in the morning and he was genuine and approachable which was refreshing.

4) Blue Valentine

Blue Valentine is an intimate, shattering portrait of a disintegrating marriage.

On the far side of a once-passionate romance, Cindy (Michelle Williams) and Dean (Ryan Gosling) are married with a young daughter. Hoping to save their marriage, they steal away to a theme hotel. We then encounter them years earlier, when they met and fell in love—full of life and hope.

Moving fluidly between these two time periods, Blue Valentine unfolds like a cinematic duet whose refrain asks, where did their love go? Framing the film as a mystery whose answer lies scattered in time (and in character), filmmaker Derek Cianfrance constructs an elegant set of dualities: past and present, youth and adulthood, vitality and entropy. The rigor of his process is visible throughout the film. Eliminating artificial devices, he has only the truth of the characters to work with. Because Gosling and Williams bring amazing intensity and emotional honesty to their roles, the experience of connecting to these two souls becomes truly moving.

This movie was an absolute heart-breaker. Ryan Gosling did a great job portraying a man whose life is unravelling around him and has no clue how to keep it together. It was incredibly uncomfortable to watch him say and do the completely wrong thing over and over again, driving the nails deeper into the coffin of his terminal marriage. The juxtaposition between their falling in love and falling apart served the purpose well. You were constantly torn between the joy of discovery and the tearing apart of time. I have to say that I liked it, and at times hated it, but overall I left feeling like that was the point. It was a heart wrenching and un-resolving film and with that in mind, it was well made and beautifully painful.

5) Shorts Program 1

This is the one about love: love, greed, misery, and tearing the whole thing down. Yes, in it you will find a salacious proposition, some massive corruption, and a whole bunch of betrayal. Plus the xenophobia, the robots, and maybe also the end of civilization (or at least the part that's in Los Angeles). But through all of it, remember one thing: this is the one about love.

Seeds of the Fall | Patrik Eklund 2009

I'm Here | Spike Jonze 2010

The Fence | Rory Kennedy 2009
Logorama | François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy, Ludovic Houplain (H5) 2009

6) Please Give

Kate (Catherine Keener) and Alex (Oliver Platt), a married couple who run a successful business reselling estate-sale furniture, live in Manhattan with their teenage daughter, Abby. Wanting to expand their two-bedroom apartment, they buy the unit next door, planning to knock the walls out. However, before doing so, they have to wait for the occupant, Andra, a cranky elderly woman, to die. The wait becomes complicated when the family develops relationships with Andra and her two grown granddaughters.

Nicole Holofcener infuses her story of love, death, and liberal guilt with a rare balance of humor and complexity that stems from her uncanny ability to understand people—their motivations, interactions, and contradictions. Her characters go to great pains to navigate a world of moral confusion; we want to feel good about ourselves, but we never feel quite good enough. In avoiding judgment, she offers a funny and philosophical reflection on the give and take of modern life.

7) Exit Through The Gift Shop

In the late 1990s, a hybrid form of graffiti began appearing in cities around the world. Enlisting stickers, stencils, posters, and sculpture and spread by the burgeoning Internet, it would be labeled “street art” and establish itself as the most significant counterculture movement of a generation. Los Angeles–based filmmaker Terry Guetta set out to record this secretive world in all its thrilling detail. For more than eight years, he traveled with the pack, roaming the streets of America and Europe, the stealthy witness of the world’s most infamous vandals. But after meeting the British stencil artist known only as “Banksy,” things took a bizarre turn.

Sundance has shown films by unknown artists but never an anonymous one. Banksy turns the tables on the only man who has ever filmed him, creating a remarkable documentary that is part personal journey and part an exposé of the art world with its mind-altering mix of hot air and hype. In the end, Exit Through the Gift Shop is an amazing ride, a cautionary modern fairy tale . . . with bolt cutters.

While at Sundance, Banksy made his presence known by tagging some Park City hot spots. This piece was around the corner from The Egyptian Theater. Park City has a strict 24 hour graffiti cleaning policy, Lets hope he documented this one.

8) Awards Ceremony Reception
Blake Edwards scored us some tickets for the awards ceremony reception from a friend at the festival HQ. It was a fun night. I heard The Black Eyed Peas were there.

9) Space Tourists

WORLD CINEMA DIRECTING AWARD: DOCUMENTARY

Anousheh Ansari has dreamt of going into outer space since she was a child. A number of years and $20 million later, with the help of the Russian space program, her dream is realized—Ansari becomes the first female space tourist. In recent years, a number of private citizens like Ansari have been willing to endure rigorous training in Star City, Kazakhstan, and part with significant funds to spend time aboard the International Space Station.

Director Christian Frei (The Giant Buddhas, Sundance Film Festival 2006) explores the impact of space tourism in the heavens and on Earth by adeptly weaving together multiple strands: Ansari’s joyous experience in orbit; the efforts of local villagers to claim black-market rocket debris; the observations of photographer Jonas Bendiksen; and the training of the next space tourist in line. Space Tourists examines the intersections of human enterprise and commerce in the final frontier.

The Role of The Record Label

2010-01-12T10:06:00.000-08:00

This article was first written for NPR Monitor Mix by Carrie Brownstein. It is an interesting read, and worth the time for anyone involved in the music business or simply wanting to better understand the direction of the music industry. So check this out and let me know your thoughts on things.

Roundtable Discussion: The Role Of The Record Label

By Carrie Brownstein

Visual representation of our illustrious roundtable participants today.

Last week, I had the opportunity to chat -- and, by chat, I mean "chat via the Internet" -- with a handful of independent record labels' owners and managers. I wanted to discuss the role of the label in a time when fewer people seem to know or care what labels their favorite musicians or bands are on. Furthermore, and perhaps this has always been true, we may not even know what exactly a label does.

At the beginning of this decade, record labels were still a way of indexing artists; of positioning them within a community, a scene and a movement. Throughout our end-of-the-decade coverage, one reccurring theme is whether context still matters. After all, one of the most glorious (if not overwhelming) changes to take place in the last 10 years is how much music is available to us, and from everywhere.

So, while the notion of community has been broadened and redefined -- we may no longer see record labels as megaphones for towns and the bands therein -- perhaps we still need someone to help curate and make sense of the music out there. Personally, I still turn to certain labels as a means of filtration.

And, while plenty of musicians have acrimonious relationships with their labels, just as many do not. Musicians still choose to work with specific labels because they are aware of their history and want to be part of a tangible community of people and supporters.

While music fans have reaped endless and copious rewards in the last 10 years -- in the form of non-stop music, almost too much from which to choose -- labels have struggled to keep up with ever-changing technologies, attitudes and means of communication. Fortunately, many indie labels have thrived because their bottom line, though still reliant upon monetary solvency, has been about bucking the fleeting musical trends and instead putting out music that's lasting and exciting. Most importantly, these labels put out music that they love, in the hopes that at least a few of us will catch on.

This conversation about labels includes the following people, whom I thank for their participation:

Maggie Vail and Portia Sabin from Kill Rock Stars
Gerard Cosloy from Matador
Mac McCaughan from Merge
Robb Nansel from Saddle Creek
Chris Swanson and Darius Van Arman from Jagjaguwar/Secretly Canadian/Dead Oceans

Unfortunately, Laura Ballance from Merge and Jonathan Poneman from Sub Pop were not able to participate in the discussion, which continues below:

Carrie Brownstein: From a label perspective, thinking back on the first few years of the last decade, what was the first musical moment or change in technology that made you think, "Things are going to be different from here on out"?
Darius Van Arman, Jagjaguwar/Secretly Canadian/Dead Oceans: It feels so obvious, but iTunes launching at the beginning of the decade was one of those moments.
Portia Sabin, Kill Rock Stars: Yeah, I was going to say iTunes. iTunes really revolutionized cash flow for indies who normally get paid four times a year.
Darius Van Arman: You didn't necessarily have to know someone in a fancy suit to distribute your music around the world.

Carrie Brownstein: Who do you think were the first musicians or labels to take advantage, or who lucked out with, or who made the best of the new technologies -- live streams, interactive Web sites, online stores, even just Internet buzz?
Gerard Cosloy, Matador: Didn't Twin/Tone take their entire catalog digital super-early? Sort of like inventing color TV in 1923?

Carrie Brownstein: When did you guys feel caught up? Did you lose anything by waiting?
Mac McCaughan, Merge: Merge has never been what you'd call an early adopter.
Gerard Cosloy: That's a tough one. I think I was initially not super-freaked-out about file-sharing because bandwidth/speed issues were such a stumbling block for so many, initially. By the time broadband became mainstream, however, it was too late!
Mac McCaughan: I agree with Gerard; we kind of sat back to see what was going to happen, and then it did.

Listen to "Ambling Alp" by Yeasayer (Secretly Canadian):

Carrie Brownstein: Was file-sharing as problematic for indies as it seemed to be for majors? Did any of you have bands that benefited from the buzz or leaks?
Gerard Cosloy: Early on, I felt like the impact was mostly beneficial. That was before it took only a matter of minutes to download an entire box set.
Portia Sabin: The problem is that it's totally unmeasurable -- maybe in the beginning, it gave bands some buzz, but now it's just impossible to know how much an artist would have sold without illegal downloads.
Darius Van Arman: I still think it can be beneficial to artists. Trickier thing to evaluate for record labels, whether it is more beneficial than harmful.
Gerard Cosloy: I agree with Darius. I have no research into this matter, but I generally felt the early downloaders/uploaders were hardcore music nuts who tended to buy more records than anyone else.
Carrie Brownstein: Gerard, I think someone in England did a study on this, and you are right!
Gerard Cosloy: In the years to follow, file-sharing became mainstream... and younger audiences had less of a fond connection to things like record stores, record labels, etc.
Maggie Vail, Kill Rock Stars: I think it's definitely been a problem. I hoped there would have been, by now, a politicization or awareness that indie labels aren't nearly as corrupt as their major counterparts, but that hasn't seemed to have happened. To many, a label is a label is a label, and they are all evil -- or so the justification goes.
Gerard Cosloy: It would help if more indies weren't as corrupt as their major counterparts!
Maggie Vail : I agree.
Gerard Cosloy: I mean, I can't expect the average American teen to feel bad because Wind Up is going to have a bad quarter. I can't even expect them to feel bad about Touch & Go having troubles -- few of 'em live in a culture that respects what that label meant.

Listen to "I Wonder Who We Are" by The Clientele (Merge):

Carrie Brownstein: What is the role of the label right now?
Chris Swanson, Jagjaguwar/Secretly Canadian/Dead Oceans: Context.
Portia Sabin: Same as it ever was: a filter, a bank, a promo machine. A source of contacts in the industry.
Carrie Brownstein: I still like labels as a means of curating and filtering all of the info for me.
Mac McCaughan: The Internet allows you access to all the music you could want, and that's the problem -- if you don't know what you are looking for, it's like trying to find a good record in a thrift shop. So the label is, as Portia says, a filter, or at least a starting point for fans.
Darius Van Arman: I hear more and more from music buyers that they don't pay attention to labels. The younger ones.
Maggie Vail : That is true.

Carrie Brownstein: Is it strange that people don't even know what label a band is on anymore?
Darius Van Arman: Yeah.
Gerard Cosloy: Strange, sad. However, there's still an active minority that give a hoot.
Carrie Brownstein: A decade ago, people still bought music based on the labels the bands were on. Or didn't buy albums because of what label the band was on.
Maggie Vail : I think there's still some of those, but not nearly as many.
Mac McCaughan: I feel like our hardcore fans still do pay attention to that stuff, and it's our job to create more music fans like that.
Darius Van Arman: My hope is -- and I imagine we all would hope this as label owners -- that at some point, it will become obvious that curating is needed.
Chris Swanson: I'm not sure that people don't know labels now. I still think the music geeks know labels.
Portia Sabin: I think labels are caught in a cultural bind: No one really wants to know what a label does; it's like the sausage factory. Even long-established bands have a hard time talking about what labels do.
Gerard Cosloy: I mean, HoZac couldn't have a singles club otherwise.
Mac McCaughan: I'm one of those people that doesn't pay attention, either, I guess; I don't know what HoZac is!
Carrie Brownstein: I don't know HoZac, either.
Gerard Cosloy: GOOGLE THAT S---.
Mac McCaughan: GTS!
Maggie Vail : http://www.hozacrecords.com/
Mac McCaughan: I don't know. I think that bands are into labels because bands -- at least most of the ones we all work with -- are music fans. Music fans, like baseball fans, also have a sense of history and an interest in the trajectory of things, not just the current moment. So, when we toured in New Zealand for the first time, I was as excited about meeting the people at Flying Nun as anything.
Chris Swanson: I agree. Music fans want as much information no matter how esoteric it may seem to a casual fan.
Portia Sabin: I agree that bands are into labels; I'm talking about people understanding what labels do. I think there's a semi-willful lack of understanding.
Chris Swanson: Now that labels don't run studios as much as they used to, it definitely is more abstract what our role is.
Gerard Cosloy: I think we have a scenario these days where folks (young, old, whatever) can list 40-50 "fave" bands on their social-networking profiles without actually owning a single record by any of 'em. There's loads of free content on the web (much of it produced or paid for by labels themselves), and if it comes down to buying a ticket or buying a record, a lot of fans would rather buy a ticket.
Mac McCaughan: But is it parallel things happening here -- Gerard's scenario of fave bands but no knowledge of label, and then music geeks who go to record stores -- which never meet, or do they cross at some point?
Gerard Cosloy: People who have full iPods ID themselves as "music geeks." Seriously.

Carrie Brownstein: Are we in the age of dabbling?
Gerard Cosloy: Dabbling? Definitely.
Mac McCaughan: You're right.
Gerard Cosloy: And the churn factor is severe; the public burns out on supposed faves very, very fast these days.
Mac McCaughan: To a certain extent, at Merge, we know all this but try to pretend it's not happening -- the churn factor -- seriously.
Carrie Brownstein: Are there any of your artists in particular who have suffered through this churn factor?
Gerard Cosloy: I'd rather not say. But I think it is fair to say that anyone who is making a second record is about to contend with it, to some degree.
Portia Sabin: Dudes, we are in the era of "I like everything," which translates to whatever is on the radio/on the iPod, which has always been the majority of music fans, in my opinion.
Chris Swanson: I feel like full iPods are an illustration that a large part of the population now consumes music like they did in the '60s. It's primarily singles-driven, or track-driven. It feels like a jukebox culture with iPods so ubiquitous. People are generally more into songs right now than bands, albums or labels.
Gerard Cosloy: Right on, Chris.
Chris Swanson: If it sounds great, people love it.
Mac McCaughan: I like songs, but I hate that trend.
[Robb Nansel from Saddlecreek Records joins the conversation at this point.]
Chris Swanson: Lots of folks still want to take it deeper, but I don't think it's necessarily a sign of a corruption of taste that people are stuck on a good song right now.
Portia Sabin: That unfortunately doesn't translate into careers for artists, though.
Maggie Vail : Yeah, I would say it's not new -- it's just in our world now, too.
Gerard Cosloy: Portia's right; it has always been the majority who thought that way. The difference is, there's no longer any cultural nudge-nudge to get anyone to think differently.
Maggie Vail : Yes.
Gerard Cosloy: Not on a mainstream level, anyway

Darius Van Arman: Does anyone feel like there are now music fans who take such pride in being early discoverers of music, and that is more exciting to them than the actual music itself?
Carrie Brownstein: Darius, I feel like there have always been those people; they used to work at record stores.
Maggie Vail : Yes, of course, but that's been true forever, too. I remember when everyone in [Olympia, Wash.] had a tape of Nevermind months before it came out.
Gerard Cosloy: I had someone critique an upcoming comp of ours the other day that we've never made advances of. He'd already heard the entire thing. Magically. I mean, I don't think he was telling the truth, but that's not really the point.
Darius Van Arman: I might have been one of those people. Championing some rare Roy Montgomery 7", more because I knew no one else could get one easily. What a doofus I was when I was younger.
Gerard Cosloy: It's sort of fun to invent a record/band that doesn't exist and watch everyone flip out. Not so much fun to try and get people to hear something that does exist, and they yawn.

Carrie Brownstein: Do any of your bands want to forgo the album process? Why do albums and sequence and artwork still matter from a label perspective?
Chris Swanson: We've got a few artists who we're encouraging just to focus on singles right now.
Carrie Brownstein: Chris, really? Why?
Chris Swanson: Not because we think they'll "break," but because focusing on the song can be good for their creative process. And because sometimes a killer song can do more for your career than focusing on a wider canvas and missing nailing that one song.
Maggie Vail : I would say I haven't had any bands that don't want to do albums. They all still want that document.
Portia Sabin: We're just going all vinyl.
Robb Nansel: I am not sure we should just assume that the album format makes sense every time. However, the way the promotional structure is set up with press, etc., it would be really tough to "release" a new single every couple months and maintain interest. You could possibly maintain fan interest, but it's tough to keep critical interest and tough to budget around so many single releases.
Maggie Vail : I agree, Robb.
Carrie Brownstein: Again, I feel like we are at a crossroads. The artists and some fans and the labels want a document. But who is collecting?
Mac McCaughan: Someone is buying vinyl.
Portia Sabin: Well, that is a weird thing -- I was semi-serious about vinyl.
Gerard Cosloy: There are definitely vinyl buyers. But they are less influential on the rest of the marketplace than ever before.
Mac McCaughan: But not enough to make up for everyone who's stopped buying CDs.
Maggie Vail : No, not even close.
Chris Swanson: Labels aren't as necessary for singles in the blog world, though, so the singles universe is threatening for labels.

Carrie Brownstein: Is the vinyl resurgence a myth, or are the same people who always bought vinyl still the ones buying it?
Gerard Cosloy: No, there's tons of first-timers. Tons.
Maggie Vail : It's not a myth.
Mac McCaughan: Not a myth, but still a niche.
Chris Swanson: Vinyl market share is up with digital. CDs are paying the price.
Gerard Cosloy: Who else is buying those s----- USB turntables? Not the old f---s.
Darius Van Arman: I think it's in large part because of digital-download coupons being packaged with vinyl; that seems to be the trend.
Gerard Cosloy: Yeah, I like that trend.
Maggie Vail : It helps. I used to buy both if I really liked a band.
Gerard Cosloy: Not so fond of the holdouts (i.e. Death LP on Drag City -- BOO!).
Mac McCaughan: Why make people pay twice? If it's our job to create music fans, it can't hurt to let them know we're not out to rip them off.
Chris Swanson: The margin on vinyl is tough, though -- something Matador seems to be combating with high vinyl prices. I'm curious as to the rationale behind that. Gerard?
Gerard Cosloy: We have turnaround/production issues with vinyl that are similar to CD problems we had in 1991!
Mac McCaughan: Yes, vinyl is freaking expensive and takes forever, as Gerard says.
Gerard Cosloy: But we are also about to issue certain titles with lower-grade vinyl and more Spartan packaging for less money.
Chris Swanson: That's cool. I thought it was interesting to see the high Sonic Youth vinyl price. Felt prohibitively high to me, which seemed strange, considering how both label and band seem so pro-vinyl.
Gerard Cosloy: Fair enough, Chris. And that is actually one title we have plans to do as a cheaper vinyl edition.
Robb Nansel: We just raised the list and scaled back the packaging (non-180, etc.) for most of our fall releases.
Chris Swanson: I think 180 is a myth created in Chicago in the mid- to late-'90s! I think Steve Albini singlehandedly created the vinyl myth. He's in cahoots with the vinyl industry. All my favorite vinyl from the '60s and '70s is flimsy as hell. You can roll it up!
Carrie Brownstein: Vinyl roll-ups, I'd buy!

Maggie Vail : I am just personally glad I can get all the records I want again on vinyl. The breakdown between digital, vinyl and CD is really interesting from band to band.
Portia Sabin: Anyone with legacy artists -- CD sales are still very high on those. 80 percent.
Gerard Cosloy: We see some wild variations in digital percentages from artist to artist.
Darius Van Arman: For us, Dinosaur Jr., being a legacy band, is one of those that is still mostly CD (60 percent range). Compared to Sunset Rubdown, with a younger fan base, which is more like 60 percent digital. And both records had the same release date.
Gerard Cosloy: Similar experience to Jagjaguwar for us.
Robb Nansel: Yeah, we see anywhere from 25-50 percent digital.
Carrie Brownstein: So it's a generational thing?
Darius Van Arman: It might be a generational thing. It might also be genre-related. Some mix, probably.
Maggie Vail : I've noticed almost all the new bands are digital-heavy.
Mac McCaughan: I agree with Darius on different types of bands and the digital/physical breakdown, [it's] getting into some pretty wide ranges.
Portia Sabin: Digital is the only reliable singles format.
Chris Swanson: Are many of you guys having luck making money on singles? Or is it primarily an artist-development tool?
Maggie Vail : Singles for us are always about development.
Portia Sabin: A weird thing for us is that, no matter what song off an album we give away as a free MP3, that song is always the most-purchased song off that album.
Robb Nansel: Same here, Portia.
Gerard Cosloy: Same thing happens to us.
Darius Van Arman: We have the exact same experience.
Mac McCaughan: That's "the single" to people.
Robb Nansel: So we should just all give away all of our albums!
Carrie Brownstein: Problem solved!
Maggie Vail : We do; we can't help it.
Portia Sabin: Because I don't think there's ever been money in physical "singles" of any type.

Carrie Brownstein: Aside from putting out good music, what's the single most effective thing a label can do to get people to buy their music?
Gerard Cosloy: Not sure what the single most efficient thing would be (other than, you know, the Pitchfork 9.1), but getting people excited is never easy to quantify or predict.
Carrie Brownstein: Does a Pitchfork 9.1 help?
Maggie Vail : Absolutely.
Gerard Cosloy: Sadly, yes. A Pitchfork 9.1 is more influential to the audience and the retailers than a Rolling Stone or New York Times review.
Carrie Brownstein: What does a Pitchfork 4.5 do?
Portia Sabin: A 4.5 can kill a record. Unfortunately.
Mac McCaughan: Agree on the Pitchfork thing, though I do think that a 9.1 helps more than an average number hurts.
Robb Nansel: I'd be inclined to say a high Pitchfork number helps; a low Pitchfork number is irrelevant.
Gerard Cosloy: There remain great things that aren't even on the Pitchfork radar.
Mac McCaughan: Impossible!
Gerard Cosloy: The Beatles.
Chris Swanson: Cold War Kids were killed on their debut and did quite well.
Gerard Cosloy: Just having a number next to a review discourages anyone from reading.
Mac McCaughan: Yes, and often the review will be enthusiastic and then the number is like "6.9" and you're like, "Thanks for nothing."
Portia Sabin: There's a difference between getting an average/decent review and being a band who is loved by Pitchfork. We have two bands who are doing well despite being basically ignored by Pitchfork right now.
Chris Swanson: Anything under a 7.6 or 7.7 is a non-review.
Gerard Cosloy: If any of us were really great at galvanizing public sentiment/handing out the learning lessons, we'd be less dependent on Pitchfork. And that's our fault, not theirs.
Mac McCaughan: Hard to galvanize such a diffuse group of people, though I know we all try.
Gerard Cosloy: Pitchfork's rise to prominence [also] coincides with Rolling Stone being 36 pages.
Mac McCaughan: It's a pamphlet.
Portia Sabin: And full of dudes and old, old bands.
Gerard Cosloy: And newspapers scrapping what little pop criticism they offered.
Mac McCaughan: What I don't understand is online magazines that could compete as strong voices in the field -- Salon, for instance -- scrapping their music coverage.
Darius Van Arman: I don't think Pitchfork is the problem. I think others just need to step up. For whatever perceived power Pitchfork has, there's no real obstacle to someone doing what they do, and maybe doing it better.
Gerard Cosloy: Agreed. The only ones I know who are in the "f--- Pitchfork" camp are the ones who just got a bad review. Start your own f---ing music site.
Mac McCaughan: I don't see how it's particularly harmful on its own -- it's the lack of competitive voices. The Internet is a big place, and once people get used to going somewhere that they trust, they're not likely to strike out on their own into the wilderness.
Robb Nansel: I still think playing shows and word of mouth is what sells records. It's 1995 from that perspective.
Mac McCaughan: It's any year from that perspective; you're right, Robb -- touring is the most old-fashioned, but still the best way to cement your place in people's minds.

Carrie Brownstein: What does the term "indie" mean to you in 2009?
Portia Sabin: Not being partially/mostly/at all owned by a major.
Darius Van Arman: "Indie" means Indianapolis, where I'm from.
Gerard Cosloy: In some countries, they think indie is a genre.

Carrie Brownstein: With so many bands adding songs to commercials -- even though the concept of selling out seems moot, and it's often necessary as a means to make a living -- how does an artist maintain a distinction between being a band and being a brand?
Gerard Cosloy: I'd like to meet more bands that actually believe there's a distinction.
Portia Sabin: I think bands ARE brands, and they are starting to all understand that. Especially the ones who don't want to do ads, for instance -- they don't want to damage their brand by being seen as "selling out."
Gerard Cosloy: You can market yourself as a brand. But that part of the process shouldn't take precedence over everything else you're doing.
Robb Nansel: Be a band first; you can be a brand later.
Maggie Vail : I like those ones, but I am old-fashioned.
Darius Van Arman: I agree with Robb.
Mac McCaughan: I think people buying fewer records puts some artists -- or more likely their managers -- into a panic. And they start thinking about licensability first and the actual album they've made second.
Gerard Cosloy: I seem to run into fewer new bands these days who have hang-ups about ads. Or any opinion at all other than, "How do we get in them?"
Mac McCaughan: Sometimes songs ruin commercials for me.
Carrie Brownstein: And commercials ruin songs for me.
Darius Van Arman: How about in films or TV shows?
Maggie Vail : Film or TV is different, I think. It doesn't become a jingle.
Mac McCaughan: What a relief to watch Mad Men and know you won't hear a song from the last 40 years.
Maggie Vail : Except for The Decemberists. Season Two.

Carrie Brownstein: With the democratizing nature of the Internet, is it now fair (or safe) to say that a band on an indie or smaller label can now achieve the same amount of success as bands on major labels?
Portia Sabin: There were 105,000 records released in the U.S. last year, and of those, 1,515 sold more than 10,000 copies.
Carrie Brownstein: That's an amazing statistic.
Portia Sabin: So indies now have a greater share of the market that exists, but we still don't have the part that the majors have always had: 500,000-plus.
Gerard Cosloy: So true, Portia, but the majors themselves have fewer million-plus sellers than ever before.
Portia Sabin: Exactly! So indies appear stronger because we have more of the market that actually exists

Carrie Brownstein: What are you nostalgic for from 10 years ago? What don't you miss?
Darius Van Arman: I don't miss how labels used to print 8x10 photos of their artists.
Maggie Vail : I don't miss that, either.
Gerard Cosloy: I totally miss those.
Maggie Vail : I had stacks and stacks in my office.
Mac McCaughan: We had a fanzine planned that was just going to be those.
Gerard Cosloy: We no longer have a demo wall of shame in our offices, hence the lack of everyone else's 8x10s.
Maggie Vail : I don't miss all the overnighting!
Darius Van Arman: I don't miss sharing one dial-up connection with Chris, Ben and Jonathan. Or making phone calls to promoters before promoters were using email.
Maggie Vail : I don't miss the cold calls or the "new release" faxes.
Gerard Cosloy: There's some record stores I miss.
Maggie Vail : I miss some zines, magazines, record stores.
Robb Nansel: I'm nostalgic for an underground.
Gerard Cosloy: Here's your underground: http://www.myspace.com/burgerrecords.
Mac McCaughan: Is that made up or real?
Gerard Cosloy: Real.

My Thought: The music industry has obviously changed. Yesterday's rules don't seem to apply; however, with millions of dollars at stake, I don't think the major labels are going anywhere anytime soon. For independent musicians, songwriters and composer's there are more opportunities and outlets for music than ever before, but as a result, the market is saturated beyond measure. I am a firm believer that before social networking strategies are employed, before marketing plans and promotion schemes are launched, and before grassroots distribution models are executed, good music must be made. The temptation is to invest the creative energy, thought processes, and (most importantly) the time into how to get heard and the quality of the music created gets lost in the scramble. In conclusion, we should be musicians first and publicists, distributors, promoters, social networkers, and booking agents following after.

Good art is hard to keep a secret.

Read more monitor mix by quickly clicking here: Monitor Mix

All The Bright Lights

2010-01-11T08:46:00.000-08:00

James and Jon Duke have been friends of mine for most of my life. We grew up in the same circles in Jacksonville, FL and have played on a ton of records together. A few months ago, I was privileged to play some Rhodes and Moog on their first record as the band "All The Bright Lights" and I have eagerly awaited it's release ever since.

The self titled first release from All The Bright Lights could easily be compared to bands in the post-rock genre like Explosions in the Sky and Sigur Ros, but this album's originality and creative direction supersedes any attempt at generic branding. James Duke's layered melodic guitar work, Jon's intelligent bass movements and production value, and Jacob Arnold's simple, yet powerful drumming combine to make this record a genre defying work of inspired art. I especially love the way the vocals are treated on this record. The Brian Wilson-esque layered harmonies of "I Saw You Running" and the hauntingly hooky lead vocal line in "Shadow of The King" prove that this band is way more than a strictly instrumental project. Jeremy Griffith's mix brings out all of the contrasting shadows in these songs, it lends a sonic emotional depth and enhances the climactic builds and wide epic soundscapes that characterize All The Bright Lights. The art direction and layout was headed up by Eric Hurtgen from Adah Design and encapsulates the atmosphere of the record with imagery and finishes off the record as a creative whole.

Remember when buying a record was an experience? Yeah, it's pretty much that.

Okay, go buy this record now:

Or find out more about All The Bright Lights here:

ATBL Facebook

ATBL dot com

ATBL Myspace

Passion Pit "The Reeling"

2010-01-01T10:00:00.000-08:00

This video was directed by the three headed team called Hydra and produced by Kim Koby. The Hydra team is also responsible for the evil teddy bears taking over the world in the music video for "The Rising" by Muse.

The Reeling: from Passion Pit's debut LP: Manners

Label: Columbia, Frenchkiss Records 
Directed by: Hydra (John Hobbs, Ariel Danziger, Sam Stephens) @ Humble.tv
Executive Producer: Erik Berkowitz 
Producer: Kim Koby 
DP: Aaron Phillips 
Visual Effects: Sam Stephens, Alex Postelnicu 
Manual Effects: John Hobbs, Ariel Danziger 
Lead Girl: Celia Hall
Masked Gentleman: Alex Postelnicu

Band Members:
Michael Angelakos, Ian Hultquist, Ayad al Adhamy, Jeff Apruzzese, Nate Donmoyer

Crash This Place - Peacebringer

2009-12-28T17:05:00.000-08:00

Tuesday December 29, 2009 at Heritage International we are releasing "Peacebringer"- the follow up to the "Crash This Place EP" released earlier this year. These are some of the best songwriters and musicians I know and the Bright City Studios team will be the rounding out the band, so if you are around you should definitely come by and check it out.

The address is:

375 Star Light Drive
Fort Mill, SC 29715

The event begins at 7:30 pm, but the concert will start later in the evening.

If you haven't picked up Crash This Place you can buy it on ITUNES here:

Best of POP 2009

2009-12-28T07:41:00.000-08:00

These are my 5 favorite pop songs this year.

1) "Empire State of Mind" The Blueprint 3- Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys

Credits:
  Co-producer - Angela Hunte , Jane't "Jnay" Sewell-Ulepic*
  Mixed By - Ken "Duro" Ifill
  Mixed By [Assisted] - Jordan "DJ Swivel" Young*
  Producer - Shux
  Vocals [Featuring] - Alicia Keys
  Written-By - A. Shuckburgh* , A. Keys* , A. Hunte* , J. Sewell-Ulepic*
  Mastered By - Tony Dawsey
  Mixed By - Gimel "Young Guru" Keaton (tracks: 1 to 4, 6, 7, 9, 12, 15)
  Recorded By - Gimel "Young Guru" Keaton

You can buy it here:

2) "Sleepyhead" Chunk of Change- Passion Pit

Credits:

Artwork By- Frank Napolski

Engineer- Ian Hultquist
Performer- Ayad Al Adhamy, Ian Hultquist, Jeff Apruzzese, Michael Angelakos, Nathan Donmoyer
Written By, Recorded by- Michael Angelakos

You can buy it here:

3) "1901" Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix- Phoenix

Credits:
   Artwork By - Laurent Brancowitz
   Artwork By [Typography] - Marc Alary
   Bass - Deck D'Arcy
   Drums [Sampled From And Played By] - Thomas Hedlund
   Engineer [Assistant] - Florent Livet , Julien Naudin
   Engineer [Technical] - Fabien Courtois
   Guitar - Christian Mazzalai , Laurent Brancowitz
   Lyrics By, Music By, Producer - Phoenix
   Mastered By - Mike Marsh
   Mixed By - Philippe Zdar Cerboneschi*
   Photography - Shoichi Kajino
   Producer - Zdar*
   Recorded By [Additional] - Cedric Plancy , Julien Delfaud
   Vocals - Thomas Mars

You can buy it here:

4) "My Girls" Merriweather Post Pavilion- Animal Collective

Credits:
Artwork By [Cover Image Pattern] - Akiyoshi Kitaoka
Artwork By [Design And Layout] - Rob Carmichael
Artwork By [Interior Image "devil's Eye Spring"] - David Doubilet
Mixed By - AC*
Recorded By [Assistant] - Aaron Ersoy
Recorded By, Mixed By - Ben Allen
Written-By - Animal Collective

You can buy it here:

5) "Skeletons" It's Blitz!- Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Credits:
Artwork By [Art Direction] - Karen O , Seb Marling , Urs Fisher
Drums, Cymbal, Percussion - Brian Chase
Engineer [Assistant] - Aaron Dembe , Alyssa Pittaluga , Atom (10) , Charles Godfrey , Chris Coady , Chris Moore (3) , Justin Leah , Mike Laza
Guitar, Keyboards, Bass, Electronics [Drum Machine] - Nick Zinner
Mastered By - Ted Jensen
Mixed By - Mark "Spike" Stent*
Mixed By [Assistant] - Chris Kasych , Matty Green (2)
Photography [Cover & Inside] - Urs Fisher
Photography [Live Band] - Autumn de Wilde
Photography [Live Karen & Brian] - David Belisle
Photography [Live Nick] - Eric Uhlir
Recorded By - Dan Huron , David Andrew Sitek , Nick Launay
Vocals - Karen O
Written-By - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

You can buy it here:

SUNBEARS

2009-12-26T10:37:00.000-08:00

These guys hail from the 904 (my hometown). On my drive back to CLT from JAX over Christmas their music carried me all the way through Georgia. I am thankful for that.

Check out their music here:

SUNBEARS on Myspace

Authority vs. Influence pt. 1

2009-12-21T12:43:00.000-08:00

Influence is defined as:
3: the act or power of producing an effect without apparent exertion of force or direct exercise of command b : corrupt interference with authority for personal gain
4: the power or capacity of causing an effect in indirect or intangible ways : sway

Authority is defined as:
2: power to influence or command thought, opinion, or behavior b : freedom granted by one in authority : right
3: persons in command; specifically : government b : a governmental agency or corporation to administer a revenue-producing public enterprise

One who has authority also commands, but is not limited to influence.

Influencers are merely well positioned voices in the crowded market of opinion. To obtain a larger sphere, an influencer must strive for a greater position in the ranks of the crowd. Influence can be given, it can be traded, it is the perceived knowledge or significance of one's opinion. Being on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine can give you the influence over people who believe that being on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine signifies that you know something that the rest of us need to learn. Being on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine can not, however, actually make what you're saying true or cause a lasting reaction from your reader. Because as perceptions change, so does your ability to sway the beliefs of the masses.

Being an authority on something requires a price. Whether a cost of time, work, study, or life experience, authority certainly doesn't come for free. The key point is that authority by definition contains the power to influence, but it is not limited to the mere swaying of opinion, authority gives you command over ideas and thoughts. Authority is a power that is earned and with that power comes the ability to bring change. There is a story of a man who was offered all of the kingdoms of the world if he would bow his knee and submit to another less powerful king, instead he chose to live his life in a state of semi-obscurity and die an apparent failure, only to rise again and be given authority over all the earth.

In our creative lives we are faced with this choice constantly. Do we risk being misunderstood, discredited, or overlooked to build something never seen before, or do we give up our chance at authority for the instant gratification of influence. Do we chose to play in front of thousands as quickly as possible and enjoy the temporary success that comes from fame, or do we dig deeper and create art that will continue to affect the cultural economy long after we are dead and gone. Is our end-goal for our voices to be heard, or that when our voices are heard we actually have something left to say?

We all have the right to authority over the spheres we are given, and I am learning more and more that the cost of a short cut to influence is that authority.

Thats a price that I don't think I can afford to pay.

MacHeads

2009-11-28T17:03:00.000-08:00

In the late 1980's several major corporations studied cults to observe what caused a conscious decision making follower to transcend into an irrationally devoted believer in a religion or idea. Amongst many others Saturn Cars, Nike, and yes, you guessed it, Apple Computers Incorporated used this marketing strategy to create an irrationally devoted community surrounding their products and more importantly committed to the idea that purchasing a Saturn made you part of a family, wearing Nike's could cause you to take flight, and using a Mac gave you an instant sense of belonging within the realm of the creative elite. After all, a shoe is a shoe, a car is a car, and a computer is just a computer.

Or is it?

Hello, I am Joel and I own over 10 Apple devices.

Mixtape Inc.

2009-09-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

Again with another Hulu gem. This time a documentary on Mixtapes and the war being waged between the mixtape industry and the record labels.

I think Chuck D says it best; "You think the labels lost money through downloading? I think that the people in the public now will not be tricked and be fooled. I think people will buy what they love as opposed to something they have been made to like.

Crash This Place EP Behind The Scenes

2009-09-18T09:01:00.000-07:00

This has been a very busy year for us at Bright City Studios. We are excited about all of the records coming out in the fall of this year. "Crash This Place" is an EP we worked on for Morningstar Ministries in Fort Mill, SC. We were blown away by the talent, songwriting, and creativity in this community. This is a video of some behind the scenes footage we filmed on our flip camera during the tracking of this record.

Sekelton Bones- John Mark McMillan

2009-09-17T15:57:00.000-07:00

John Mark McMillan is a great friend of mine and an awesome songwriter. This video was directed by the Calnin brothers and filmed, recorded, and mixed at Bright City Studios. I am blown away by what the Calnin boys are creating and I love the work they did on this video. Check it out.

Top 5 Favorite Organic Restaurants

2009-09-14T09:18:00.000-07:00

Although I am not a practicing vegetarian, I love the occasional meal without meat. Some of the most inspired cuisine I have experienced has occurred when a creative and passionate chef crafts a locally-grown vegetarian menu in a geographically inspired setting, mixes in great atmosphere and surrounds themselves with a great staff. As I've travelled over the last 10 years a few places have stood out.

Here are the five meals and five restaurants that rise above the rest:

1) Greens Restaurant: San Francisco, CA

Wilted Spinach Salad with Knoll Farm chicory, feta, croutons, gaeta olives, garlic, mint, sherry vinegar and hot olive oil

Masa Harina Crepe with white corn, grilled onions, poblano chilies, cheddar, cilantro, crème fraiche and Brandy Wine pico de gallo. Served with grilled cousa squash, rainbow chard and lacinato kale.

Greens Restaurant Online

2) The Gate: London, UK

courgette flower v o g o
with a sweet potato, goat’s cheese & pine-nut filling, deep-fried
in a light beer batter & served with garlic & lemon aioli

roasted almond & cauliflower korma
okra, pumpkin, jerusalem artichoke, courgettes and cauliflower
cooked in a creamy coconut & almond sauce with sweet
indian spices, served with basmati rice and a pickled aubergine
salsa

The Gate Online

3) The Bozeman Montana Community Food Co-Op

Okay, so I know it's not really a restaurant, but the Bozeman Community Food Co-Op is a great way to spend an afternoon. Grab a piece of fresh fruit from a vendor and a cup of coffee from the cafe and spend the day walking down aisles of farm-fresh, locally-grown produce.

Bozeman Montana Community Food Co-Op Online

4) The Tomato Head: Knoxville Tennessee

Jose Jose Burrito
Fresh Spinach, Organic Brown Rice, Organic Baked Tofu, Hummous, Green Olive, Banana Pepper,
Red & Green Peppers, Cheese, Crema

The Tomato Head Online

5) Tupelo's World Cafe

Although the previous tenant of 506 West King Street, Angelicas Vegetarian Restaurant, would have been in the top 2 of this countdown, its successor's limited southwestern approach to the vegetarian menu is interesting enough to grant it the number 5 spot.

Sweet Potato Enchilada
Sweet potatoes, spinach, mushrooms, red pepper, topped with diced apples. mango salsa, and pepitos.

Tupelo's World Cafe Online

Weekend Watch List: The Fearless Freaks

2009-09-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

Hulu has been killing it lately with some really good
documentaries.
This one on the Flaming Lips is really inspiring.
Wayne Coyne makes me feel lazy.

Remix Manifesto

2009-09-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

I watched this movie a week ago on Hulu and it really challenged my thoughts on copyright law and infringement. Honestly, I'm not sure where I stand on this issue. As a producer, I have a profound respect for the right of artists to get paid for what they create. I place a high value on the time, money, risk, and life investment involved in producing a creative work. As a DJ and mash-up artist, I am totally frustrated by the system that is in place and think that the laws that were created to protect the intellectual property of artists have been perverted and misconstrued to protect the profit potential of huge publishing houses and the interests of powerful labels. Watch this movie and let me know what you think:

Beach Cruiser Renovation

2009-09-08T10:12:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, Lee Worley and I renovated an old Mike's Hard Lemonade Beach Cruiser. We replaced the yellow flames over glossy black paint job with a simple flat black and cleaned and polished the chrome hardware.

This is how we did it:

Here is the bike in all of its original glory. Notice the sweet custom Mike's Hard Lemonade paint job. I especially hated the yellow flames on the front and rear fenders.

The first step was dismantling the bicycle and removing all of the wheels, chains, saddle, and fenders.
-This was not a difficult task. With a lag wrench, some pliers, a screwdriver, and a an allen wrench it was broken down in no time. (Was the lag wrench an over kill? Maybe, but power tools make the job feel so much more legit.)

Next we used a fine grit sandpaper (120-200) to sand off the clear coat of the existing (hideous) paint job. This was done with much joy. We used a Milwaukee power sander for the large portions and touched it up by hand.

After taping up the handlebars, gears, pedals, and remaining chrome accents we applied the first coat of flat black paint. At this point it started to look really good, and so we got inspired to sand and apply two more coats.

After two more coats of flat black we cleaned the chrome using a fine grit steel wool pad and citric acid (lemon juice). We hit the white walls with a couple S.O.S. pads, used some armor all on the leather seat and put the thing back together. (Reassembly was a bit of a hassle with a few of the nuts and bolts rusted and a few stripped out. I went to Ace Hardware in Park Road Shopping center and picked up replacements for all of the hardware. This added a cool cosmetic feature with all of the hardware bright silver against the flat black frame.

Here is the finished project. All I am going to add now is a rear rack and some new handle bar grips. (The foam pad originals kinda bum me out.) I was tossing around the idea of leaving the rear fender off, but with the rack added I think I will put it on for the vintage, large fender, fat tire look.

Thats how we did it. I think it turned out good for our first restoration. If I were to do it again, there are definitely some things I would do differently and now that Lee is looking at old bikes on Ebay, my opportunity may come sooner than expected.

Hope Takes Flight India Pictures

2009-08-27T08:21:00.000-07:00

As many of you know I am a part of a social justice media project called Hope Takes Flight. We centered our first documentary film project around human trafficking in India and put on a concert event called "Under The Wings of Hope" with our friends Mark Mathis from Charlotte, NC and Songs of Water from Greensboro, NC. Here are a few pictures from our trip to India.

The Merchants of Cool Pt. 1

2009-08-22T14:52:00.000-07:00

About two years ago I read a book called "MTV: The Making of a Revolution" by Tom McGrath. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. It explores the creation of MTV and the early days of its conception. For me it began to shed light on a whole new set of issues we face today. I began to wonder things like: "When music became a commodity to be produced, bought, and sold like a new pair of shoes coming from some plant across the ocean, why did the industry act so surprised when consumers no longer valued the art or artists, but instead found short cuts to getting the goods?" If you could go online and in two minutes have a pair of first edition Air Jordan's materialize out of your printer, the temptation would be hard to resist. So in an age when the creative process has been marginalized to test groups and market analysis why are we shocked that the response is a culture of disposable artistic consumerism? MP3's have become like napkins at the corner 7/11. You can take one or a handful and someone is going to pay for them, but you don't have to so you don't think twice about stocking your glove box full. Hard drives across America are cluttered by the gluttony of artistic consumerism and instead of digging down and examining the roots of this crisis, those in power chose to treat the symptoms by handing out lawsuits and suing 13 year olds for having no value for what has been shoved in their faces. Now, I want to be clear that I do not support piracy, I do not have peer to peer software on any of my computers and I do not agree with downloading music for free on the internet, but it is not enough to merely disagree. We as artists need to understand what went wrong and begin to change the culture surrounding our music and media. Below there is a link to a film called "The Merchants of Cool" put out by PBS Frontline several years ago. This film addresses a few ideas and practices that explains some of what went wrong and if you have 45 minutes to spare I'd recommend watching it.

Click HERE to watch the film

More on this later.

The Mannequin Fred

2009-08-20T23:34:00.000-07:00

Im not a huge fan of this movie, the CGI is pretty awful and kind of ruins it for me, but there is a sequence of scenes in the 2007 Francis Lawrence film "I am Legend" that speak to me. If you haven't seen the film and don't wish to (I understand if you don't), the official summary released by Warner Brothers describes the plot like this:

"Robert Neville is a scientist who was unable to stop the spread of the terrible virus that was incurable and man-made. Immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City and perhaps the world. For three years, Neville has faithfully sent out daily radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. But he is not alone. Mutant victims of the plague -- The Infected -- lurk in the shadows... watching Neville's every move... waiting for him to make a fatal mistake. Perhaps mankind's last, best hope, Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune blood. But he knows he is outnumbered... and quickly running out of time."

The first scene in the sequence is a monologue by Dr Robert Neville (played by Will Smith) following a close encounter with the infected. He recounts this near death experience in a video journal he updates throughout the film:

"Day 1,001- . . . Behavioral note, an infected male exposed himself to sunlight today, now its possible decreased brain function or growing scarcity of food is causing them to ignore their basic survival instincts. Social de-evolution appears complete. Typical human behavior is now entirely absent."

Now being completely isolated in New York City has taken it's toll on Dr. Neville and as a result he has begun to create "friends" around the city. One such "friend" is a mannequin outside a video store he has named Fred. In the scene following the monologue he drives by Fred standing in the middle of a side street no where near where he had left him outside the video store.

He is obviously shocked and frightened by this and goes on to mow down the mannequin with a fully automatic machine gun. He cautiously goes in for a closer look and triggers a trap set by the infected. This is a climactic sequence in the film, but for me it began a string of thoughts concerning creativity and culture and became the concept behind this blog.

The trap set using the mannequin Fred was a sign that Dr. Neville had misjudged the infected and that there was still creativity, ingenuity, and humanity in those around him. In our society it is easy to reach similar conclusions as it applies to art. In a landscape of billboards and fast food, it is not hard to lose hope in the world and give up on the thought that anything new or creative will emerge. Then, when least expected, a new movement, design, song, painting, literary work, etc comes along and convinces us otherwise.

It is the mission of this blog to seek out signs of inspired life in an otherwise barbaric culture.