anatomy of a leak

There was a really cool article in New York Magazine earlier this week with a brief inside look at advance CD leaks and also comments on the evolving nature of the music industry. Take a look:

[link] New York Magazine - Ripped to Shreds

long time coming

Hello again, you few, but loyal readers. I'm just stopping in to post a few links and make some empty promises. The second half of my semester turned out to be rather busy and the blog got pushed into some dark, dusty corner.

I'll start off with some shameless self-promotion: cCoOmMpPuUtTeErR iIsS aA rRoOoOmM with j.s. makkos is completely finished and I'm headed to Cleveland later today for our small and unofficial CD release show. If you are in the area, check out languagefoundry.org for more information. I'll have another track or two up on my Virb account within the next week or so (virb.com/wherethereisfire) and sometime in the next month there will be some means of purchasing the album online through Paypal if you are interested. In other Where There is Fire We Will Carry Gasoline news, Neal and I will may be doing some recording in the next week, so look for a track or two from that vein on the Virb as well.

My best of 2007 list is in the works and will be up sometime in January. If you are itching to find out what could be on my list, a friend of mine from State College has list up and a few of his albums will definitely be on my list as well.

[link] britches11596 - Top 20 Albums of 2007

Neal has also had a few posts on his blog over the past month or so that you should check out, especially if you are into noise (Pink and Brown, Lucky Dragons, etc).

[link] (kidsmoke) - Neal's mp3 blog

the music, as opposed to the blog

As many of you know, I also compose music under the name Where There is Fire We Will Carry Gasoline. I've had an album (Computer is a Room) in the works with a poet from Cleveland - j.s. makkos, and it's now finished, slated for release sometime in November. Anyway, I have a song up on my Virb now, so if you are into spoken word backed by ambient electronica, then you definitely need to listen. If not, you should probably still check it out.

[link] Where There is Fire We Will Carry Gasoline on Virb
[link] Language Foundry - Cleveland arts collective which j.s. is involved with

in rainbows

I'll have a full review of this up within a week or so ... I've got a lot of chewing to do. Inititally (with the 6 or so listens I've had so far), I really like the album. I realize many people paid for this download via the website and you can too if you like (inrainbows.com), but for those that want to judge it before they decide to drop $81 on the discbox (it's looking more and more like I will when I have $81 to spend) and don't feel like going through the site ... here are two links to download the zip of the 10 160 Kbps mp3s:

[Sendspace]
[Rapidshare]

By the way, the bridge of "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" really sounds like Broken Social Scene. Did anyone else find themselves making the eerie comparison on the first listen?

andrew bird

Everyone's favorite whistling violinist played the State Theatre here in State College on Monday night. I can't really comment too much on the show because I was only able to catch the last 30 minutes, but what I did see was definitely worth my money. Andrew Bird is still on tour and I'd recommend going to see him if he's coming through your area. If you haven't heard Mr. Bird, check out "Heretics" off his most recent release, Armchair Apocrypha.

[mp3] Andrew Bird - Heretics

phosphorescent

Associations like "the next Bob Dylan" have been thrown around about Matthew Houck, and his new album Pride is another step in that direction. He calls himself (and friends) Phosphorescent - if there has ever been a more eerily dead-on band name, I can't think of it right now. Phosphorescent evokes eerily warm and beautiful folk anthems from the dark world around, not unlike the natural phenomenon of the same name. The organic, wonderfully minimal folk accompaniment envelopes and intertwines with Houck's frailly stoic voice sitting somewhere between campfire improvisation and the soundtrack to soaring through the clouds in a dream. My attempts to explain the truly magnificent feeling of Pride can't even do it justice. You'll have to hear for yourself - it will be released on October 23 via Dead Oceans.

[mp3] Phosphorescent - A Picture of Of Our Torn Up Praise from the forthcoming Pride

Phosphorescent also did a Daytrotter session back in May and there are four tracks available for download; you should read the interview as well. Also, sorry about the lack of posts this week. If you accept excuses ... exams.

dan deacon + girl talk @ 2640 space

Gregg Gillis, or as we know him - Girl Talk, should be everyone's hero. A couple months ago, he began to get enough requests for Girl Talk gigs that he decided to leave his biomedical cubicle for good. Now you can see him, fully bearded and behind his laptop, any night of the week ... like this past Tuesday, with Dan Deacon and White Williams. Baltimore electronica superstar Dan Deacon and Girl Talk (I won't comment on White since I've never seen or heard him - arrived too late on Tuesday) are hell of a combination for a show, especially if you like being drenched in sweat and completely exhausted from dancing when the night's up. Tuesday night's show was no exception. I'm not exactly sure what the deal is with the 2640 space, but it's a church about 3 blocks from landmark Baltimore venue, Ottobar. The show was promoted by Wham City, Monozine, and the tickets were sold through MissionTix (an Ottobar related entity), so if you're familiar with the Baltimore scene at all ... that's a bit of weird cooperation going on, but they show went great and Beach House and Grizzly Bear will be playing the 2640 space on October 13th. I don't really have too much to say about Girl Talk or Deacon, other than, if you don't listen to both of them, start now, because they will both change your life forever.

[mp3] Girl Talk - Smash Your Head
[mp3] Dan Deacon - Crystal Cat

dirty projectors + jens lekman

East Coast nomads turn international superstars saw the release of their newest, and most conceptually imaginative release, last week on Dead Oceans. Rise Above rose out of the at first outlandish idea of doing some Black Flag covers completely from memory. No tabs, no lyrics sheets, no re-listening, so at 11 tracks strong, Rise Above is much more a re-imagined album built from the cassette tapes still echoing in mastermind and frontman Dave Longstreth's head. You can hear the signature mix of avant garde, punk, folk, and so much more that makes up The Dirty Projector's sound in "Depression" from Rise Above. Be sure to visit their myspace for info on their current tour and where to pick up the new album.

[mp3]The Dirty Projectors - Depression


Swedish crooner Jens Lekman's second studio effort, Night Falls Over Kortedala, is due out October 9 in the US on Secretly Canadian. The new record seems a bit more upbeat and orchestrated ... I kind of liked sad, sappy Jens a little better but I'll get used to it. Here's "I'm Leaving You Because I don't Love You" off the new album filled with great samples, plunky piano, and a faint, but funky bassline. Oh and of course, Jens' wonderful and distinctive voice.

[mp3]Jens Lekman - I'm Leaving You Because I Don't Love You

Around America: Help This Guy Out

So one of my friends here in State College has been asking around this week if anyone in our circle of friends could drive him to Wilkes Barre to pick up a guy he knows that is traveling around America and documenting his journey on a video blog. I'm not sure who he convinced to go earlier today, but the alleged traveler, Matt, is here in State College tonight. One of the aims of his project is to disprove that the blogging/internet community is a closed, exclusive, and unfriendly one. I'm going to meet him in an hour or so, and I'd be grateful if you would check out his website. If you can help him on his journey, please do - he's a great guy with an outstanding vision.

[link] Around America in 2.0 >> About
[link] Matt's Flickr Photos

READ, LOOK, we're back + Whartscape Photos

I would like to apologize to the 10 of you that have been asking me when I am going to update the blog and my incessant answer of "oh, in a week or two." Well this week is the week that I shall be returning to the weekly post (if not more). I figured I'd make it more of an occasion and change up the layout a bit too.

I decided to start using my flickr account, and to streamline things, I'm going to start embedding slideshows of my show pictures with the use of a really cool widget called PictoBrowser. I am kind of in love with how sleek it looks and how much easier it is that me having to put in each picture in explain it. If you guys as readers don't like it, post a comment and I'll look for a different photo posting solution.

Whartscape (July 19-21, 2007)