File under overrated

I'm not sure why critics have a huge hard-on for the buzzband 'How to Dress Well'... the songs are mediocre at best and the album itself sounds like fucking garbage. I'm sure I'm missing the point of the 'lo-fi aesthetic', but sounds this unpleasant to listen to shouldn't be paid for.

The Pitchfork review states "It feels brave, like it's going places a lot of artists in this sphere are afraid to go."... among other things that make me want to throw up in my mouth. Music recordings have become so devalued that the ephemera passing through our shitty computer speakers gets raised to the level of art. I'm a little annoyed.

Of course this could all be for moot as I'm listening to mp3s... but to that point, my friend Matt picked up the recent Ariel Pink album on CD after enjoying the mp3s for months. He was hoping for the disc to be worth the value, 14.99 or whatever the price was, which would include higher quality sound. Boy was he ever disappointed. Something about having it on CD made the music sound worse, because the expectation was that the digital hard copy would sound better than the particulate floating around the interwebs.

So that's where we are in 2010, entry level artists can't afford quality production so they're stuck with manipulating Garage Band or some other cracked software in order to get their mp3s onto the hard drives of relevant websites while so called 'legacy artists' who made their money under the old paradigm, like Trent Reznor, are able to release new material on stunning Blu-Ray 5.1 surround sound.

I know which one I prefer to spend my money on.

Cool blog title alert

My friend Adam sends me this link to Soundological Investimigations. The title is interesting enough on its own, but then you see that it's written by someone named 'Cheeba', then the title makes more sense.

Late Polaris Prize recap

Good on the judges for picking Karkwa for the 2010 prize. My choices would have been Shad, Dan Mangan, or Radio Radio:



These guys blend English, French, and I believe a flavour of Acadian all into one unique hip hop sound... no word to rhyme it in French? Then use the English word! Brilliant. I was blown away when I heard this song, I thought it was fun and fresh. To be fair, I haven't heard the entire album, but could this group be the missing link between Anglo and Franco Canadian pop?

As for the other nominees... Caribou won last year so it wouldn't be fair (and sooo unCanadian) to give it to him this year, whether he deserves it or not... Owen Pallett already won it... Broken Social Scene doesn't need the buzz and would be the band most likely to receive a backlash from a win...

I don't envy the judges in any year, but it would have been tough as hell with a loaded bill of talent. I think the prize is a good idea, and at least it generates some level of conversation about some of the best rock music Canada, and indeed the world, has to offer.

You can find the entire performance on CBC Radio 3.

Please, anyone but Bon Jovi....

Even J Geils band would be better... but I guess if Madonna can make it in then the gates are open for Mr. Bon Jovi. If there was a terrible music hall of fame he'd be right at the top of my voting list.

Can't argue with the people though... hopefully whoever votes has some sense.

This year's Rock Hall nominees here.

Katy Perry's breasts get her banned from Sesame Street

Seems benign at first, but won't someone please think of the children?

How to test your car stereo

So says a GM audio engineer... his top 10 tracks to test your stereo.

Found through Google Reader's recommended items.

Time to remix Phoenix

The band takes the NIN/Radiohead route and releases the multitracks from their latest album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.

And speaking of NIN, Trent Reznor has just announced the release of The Social Network soundtrack (aka Facebook movie), coming out next week. Looks like the Ghosts experiment worked and he got the gig he was after - scoring a major motion picture.

Get that song out of your head

Interesting/funny idea, for when you get stuck with an earworm... most of the songs I've scanned through are as likely to get stuck in your head themselves... at least they'll force out the one that's already in there.

Unhear it [via Waveformless]

So... wait... Katy Perry was a Christian rock singer?

Breaking: Failed Christian Rock Singer Katy Perry Is An Excellent Pop Star Worthy Of Your Adulation...

Is it next Tuesday yet?

Alex Ross, the author of one of my favourite music books ever is releasing his new book next week. I rarely buy new books, I usually prefer to grab the library copy, but I will definitely make an exception for this one.

There's another audio guide for the new book, but I'm a spoiler-hater so I think I'll wait til next week...

Everything is a remix

Interesting new web series here, the first episode showing Led Zeppelin's history of "remixing" blues tunes into arena rock.

Via Wire to the Ear

Machines do the work

Check out these two videos over at Synthtopia - Fatboy Slim remixing Raymond Scott's soundtrack to a film that appears to be an avant-garde ad for IBM. Classic stuff. The original film was directed by Jim Henson (!)... Tell me that's not him doing a bit of narration from around 3:56.

The Indie Rock Swindle

Article here about the brief history of the Polaris Prize. Only one week away!

via Daily Swarm

March to 300

I'm not talking about the movie, but the march to 300 blog posts on the year.

Last year I came up a couple short of my goal, but this year I stand reasonably poised to absolutely wreck my previous totals while I'm smashing Pageview records. No steroids will be used in this pursuit, other than the usual inspirational stimulants.

However I must also be careful not to set the bar too high, as I will likely be clamouring to raise the bar again next year.

Anyway, should be an exciting rest of the year. Stay tuned.

Lady Gaga and the death of sex

Article here. Worth more than a skim.

via Vigilant Citizen