The Society Of The Spectacle

A really interesting and innovative idea here for buying, distributing and involving fans of, surprisingly, The Kaiser Chiefs. The quick synopsis goes something like this: Choose your tracks (10 from 20). Select and create your own artwork, and distribute your version of the album, making money off the back of it (as does the band obviously). Fan wins (greater engagement and money off the back of it) artists wins (you actually listen to the songs, and the PR is invaluable) and without a shadow of a doubt the agency wins (this whole little number was dreamt up by Oli Beale, creative at W+K London, in collaboration with lead singer Ricky Wilson. The full explanation is over here at Welcome To Optimism).

So, what about the experience of ‘making’ this album? Well, the website is a lovely piece of interactive work (especially the way you plug the cables into each track – cute), and you have to respect and applaud the thinking and innovation behind the idea. It has you intrigued enough to be willing to take the time to indulge in the experiment and listen to the songs. It’s not as devastatingly simple as Radiohead’s pay what you want initiative for In Rainbows,  but then again, they a universally lauded band and probably could afford to take a greater financial and critical risk (not including the £40 deluxe packs and all that jazz that were released after). Alas for the The Kaiser Chiefs they are loooooooong way from critical darling level and frankly, have been on the wane for years, so it’s going to be tough road back. Hence why I respect the embracing of the unknown.

Will this musical experiment reverse that decline? Possibly, it certainly will gain them exposure, but you have to wonder how many people beyond a hardcore might participate in this. I would actually like to see this do well, beyond what I personally think of the music. (It’s a bit…. meh, with a few interesting highlights, that I naturally selected in my own album attempt), the really cool bit here is the disruptive model, and the collaboration. Letting your fans feel like they are participating in some of the most crucial elements of building a great album (songs and pictures) heralds another level of engagement. Let’s hope there’s enough fans, both old and new to make it a success.

Check out the whole experience here.

[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/14423251"]

Check this AMAZING mix from the talented boys of Jensen Sportag. Signed to the CASCINE label, Sportag have released one EP that accompanies the mix. (Get that bit of action HERE) Or you can follow their Tumblr HERE, The music itself is a great mix of Smooth/Electro/80’s Soul/90’s R&B/Yacht-type-ness but doesn’t wear it’s retro smooth influences too strongly. As amalgam, they come up with something quite unique, and super smooth to boot. The Sportag guys (along with the whole Cascine crew), are ones to watch for sure.

If you’re on Spotify, you can listen to the PURE WET E.P here…

(Originally posted on reallyreallysmoothmusic.com)

(Image by RetroJazzDalek on Flickr)

Library Music, is one of the strangest, but also most familiar musical genres you can ever encounter. Library, (in it’s heyday of the late 60′s to late ’70′s) provided some of the most popular theme tunes of British TV. Yet, was made to order, by faceless studio musicians, the ultimate session men (who became cult heroes in their own right), and helped soundtrack an entire era as familiarly as the Beatles or Stones.

Each album was created to reflect a certain mood, a certain place, or style. While some of it was as muzak as you could get, much of the music made was as abstract and adventurous as it comes. In the last 10 to 15 years, a cult of beat collectors and purveyors of the strange and wonderful have helped created a rising interest in this much-maligned genre. In this programme from Radio4, one of the key architects of this revival,  Johnny Trunk (he who runs the awesome Trunk Records, where you’ll find lots of amazing and obscure re-issues), gives the beginner listener a crash course in why this music should be cherished and savoured.

Well worth a listen.

Into The Music Library (Iplayer)

P.S Here’s a link to Spotify Playlist I made of some of the best examples of Library recordings available on Spotify. GET IT HERE)

Remember Bb 2.0 from last year? It was the work of Darren Solomon. Music producer and technologist. He crowdsourced musicians through youtube to create a sound sculpture editable by the user through their own interaction with the videos. It was a great piece of work that naturally went viral quickly. Now, Solomon is back (with the help of Northern State University) with another experiment. Marker/Music.

Using the Google Maps API as the platform, Solomon asked the residents of the small town of Aberdeen South Dakota to play his composition through a variety of instruments and and natural sounds (walking through leaves etc.). The result is another dreamy folk/ambient collage of a city, with the same hypnotic qualities that made Bb 2.0 such a success. The intimacy and charm of the piece is certainly elevated by the knowledge these are all in the same city. A great idea, it would be fascinating to see this work on a larger scale. The possibilities for collaboration would be huge and incredibly diverse.

Check it out HERE.

(Via The Creators Project)

Image from thekingmob flickr page

An interesting little film from the BBC, profiling The Classic Album Club. Based in London, and run by Colleen Murphy, the club has a simple premise: A room, a record player, a group of people and an uninterrupted listen to a classic album of choice. (The film features Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars Ugh.).

So beyond the lame choie of album, (and the obvious chin stroking muso cliches a venture like this inspires) what’s interesting is the return to analogue. The record is heard all the way through, via a record player, and crucially, in the silence. This respect for the work, the quiet contemplation that the environment demands, and just the ability to listen all the way through, no skipping or flipping, is increasingly an relic. It’s not to say that it doesn’t happen, but environments like this you sense will play increasingly important roles in not only keeping classic works alive, but also in the lack of distractions. I can imagine someone tweeting, facebooking and texting through this would be shunned very quickly, and rightly so.

I’m still trying to find a web-link to find out when the next one is. (Do check out the long article here.) But, in the spirit of this club, maybe it’s just easier to set one up yourself. I’ve already got the first album in my head. Anybody with me?

Last year I posted some really unique remixes/cut-ups using sound and visuals from Pixar films, including my personal fave: Upular. The creator of those soundscapes, Nick Bertke (Or as he’s known online – Pogo), now wants to bring the concept alive onto a larger stage, by creating soundscapes of people and places around the world. Creating along the way a unique document of our world through sound. (He’s already done it here with the ‘Gardyn’ and ‘Joburg Jam‘ videos) Surprise surprise, the best platform to do that is…. Kickstarter. Contributions to this project start as low as a dollar, so it’s not like an investment of some degree wouldn’t be fully worth it. Watch the video above and then head over to the project page to get involved. A great project to kick off what I’m sure (for me anyways) will be some serious Kickstarter investments in 2011.

(Via Malbonnigton)

So, The Klaxons, after a looooooong hiatus, came back with their second album this year. I think it’s safe to say it didn’t exactly set the world alight. Therefore, cynic in me therefore sees the new music video for ‘Twin Flames’ by director Saam Farahmand as nothing other than a tactic to shock and awe the Daily Mail masses and generate a some buzz. It may well do that with it’s content. However, when I was shown this by fellow Partizan director Ollie Evans, it caught my eye, crucially, beyond it’s shock quota, it holds up as an interesting and compelling piece of work. It reveals itself in a way that is both sensual and sick, slickly twisted with it’s liberal dollops of the human centipede-ness. But, importantly, it enhances the song, visually grabbing you by the throat in ways that the best music promos always do. Take a look. (Probably, but not definitely NSFW)

Via Creative Review (credits here too) & Ollie