The University of Phoenix ad:

Here’s the full length trailer for “Feast of Love”. The New Pornos chime in during the last 40 seconds or so.

Here’s an excerpt from a Pitchfork interview on the U. of Phoenix commercial:

—————————–

Pitchfork: I saw an ad for one of those quasi-legit universities, the University of Phoenix, and it happened to have a song of yours in the background.

One thing that made me feel better was, right around the time that commercial started showing up, there was also the Outback Steakhouse commercial with Of Montreal in it. And I thought, “thank God, that’s really going to deflect some attention away from us.” At least we didn’t give our song to Outback. Now I’m afraid if I accidentally say something about the University of Phoenix that a hammer is going to come down on my head, or I’ll find myself in a lawsuit. My official stance is, “I fully support the University of Phoenix,” but to back that, I honestly didn’t know what it was. But then again, if I did know what it was, I’m not sure that I would have said no. We’re just trying to get by in this world. When you play music for so long and don’t make any money, and people start offering you money for things that involve no effort on your part, you start going, “I’ll do that.”

—————————–

This all allows me to point out that Band of Horses recently licensed one of their songs to Wal-Mart. I finally have a legitimate reason to rail against them, you know, besides their songs making me want to run a rusty spike through both of my eardrums. They really sound like they couldn’t come up with enough words to write a legitimate album and they just drag out the same sorry chord progression for years. I mean, for God’s sake… their lyrics are published with ellipses.

“Then I’m sure… I could steer…”
[chorus]
The Title Of The Song
[end chorus]

Sorry, I’m not mean very often. I feel better now.

The survey comprises of 15 musical clips (selected from a bank of 60) and takes about 10 minutes to complete. I will be collecting data until Friday, April 27th. Feel free to pass it on to your friends. Without going into too much detail, the goal is to design a computer algorithm that will analyze musical clips and correlate their objective features with more abstract characteristics such as mood. Similar experiments have been done with classical music, but to my knowledge not with indie rock. The questions are purposely vague so you music nerds can interpret them any way you like.

Lest I ask for your help without posting any good live music in return, here is the encore from Pela’s last New York show at Mercury Lounge. They’ll be playing the Merc again this Tuesday, April 24th to celebrate the release of their new album Anytown Graffiti. I think I’ll drag myself away from the library to check it out. The second song was new to me, and I hate posting songs without titles (especially since The Hype Machine is now posting my tracks) but it’s 6 in the morning and I’m too sleepy to figure it out. If you happen to know the title please post it in the comments. I’m thinking it might be a Pixies cover? I should know this. But I am le tired. [Update: Indeed, it is. Yes, the "apologies to Frank Black" should have confirmed my suspicions. But my indie cred is inversely proportional to the amount of hours I've been awake.]

Pela – No Doves Just Pigeons [live at Mercury Lounge]

Pela – The Holiday Song (Pixies) [live at Mercury Lounge]

P.S. I’m loving the new Laura Veirs album. It’s just what I need to get me through the homestretch of my academic career. I promise I won’t complain about school on here anymore, though at least I’m not begging you all to find me a job. That will come soon enough…

P.P.S. April 14th marked the one-year anniversary of ryspace. Hooray blog. Ok, time for bed.

Bonus Comic Link!
Indie Physics 101: Music + Science = Sexy [Questionable Content]

I didn’t listen to much Sea Ray back then, but this broadcast sparked an obsession with them as well. Alas, Sea Ray played their last show at the Mercury Lounge on January 21, 2005. Oddly enough, I couldn’t go because a few blocks away my band was playing our last show in New York.

During “The Transfiguration” they accidentally cut to a clip about jazz legend Joe Oliver:
Sufjan, Interrupted.mp3
So, now two years later, I went to the KEXP website and ripped that song separately. KEXP does a great job of archiving all of their live performances. You could easily spend a day or two here going through all the material. The archived live performances sound nicer than the broadcast because they are not subject to the same dynamic compression that radio goes through. It was fun mastering the archived material to match the sound of the compressed version. I don’t usually aim to make the music sound worse. Though most professional mastering engineers will tell you their clients often do want to sacrifice quality for loudness. But that’s a rant for another time.

For those of you who still burn and listen to compact discs, these 12 tracks fit nice and snug onto said medium:

Sea Ray Intro
Nicholas Ray + Forge Utopia
Hall of Fame + Revelry

Ted Leo Intro
Me and Mia + The High Party
Bleeding Powers + Timorous Me

Sufjan Stevens Intro
For The Widows In Paradise + He Woke Me Up Again
The Transfiguration + A Good Man Is Hard To Find

Decemberists Intro
We Both Go Down Together + The Chimbley Sweep
Billy Liar + Angel Won’t You Call Me

On October 13th, 2004 I swore that I’d attend CMJ the next year. I bought my badge that March from a hotel room near the University of Miami a few minutes after making my decision to go to NYU instead. CMJ 2005 ranks among the most enjoyable four days (consecutive) of my life. And this year it’s five days! CMJ is like Christmas, Easter and my birthday combined – plus two more holidays so awesome that they don’t exist yet. This semester, I took classes that only meet on Monday and Tuesday mostly because I didn’t want them to interfere with the Music Marathon. Months ago I told my boss (whom don’t even work for any longer) that I wouldn’t be able to come to work the week of October 30th.

And of course, Brooklyn Vegan has pictures of Ted Leo, Sufjan and The Decemberists from these performances (more). Since CMJ starts on Halloween this year I’ve been trying to think of a music related costume. Based on those pictures, it would be far too easy to go as Colin Meloy circa 2004. Best idea I had so far was bleaching my shaggy hair, growing a beard (more likely getting a fake one), wearing my glasses and trying to pass for Chuck Klosterman. I’m obviously in need of suggestions.

I’m excited about the new album by The Album Leaf. In fact, I loved “In A Safe Place” so much that I’m going out on a limb and ordering this one without having downloaded it first. Sub Pop has the vinyl for $10 and the plastic for $12 (there’s also a $2 coupon that expires very soon). It’s hard to remember the last time I dropped the needle or employed the laser beam in order to discover a fresh piece of music. You can listen to an mp3 from “Into The Blue Again” here (I didn’t) and read a very brief review here (I may have glanced at it). The Album Leaf are playing the Sub Pop showcase at Bowery Ballroom on November 2nd and NorthSix on November 6th. (thanks Chris)

Last night I had a nightmare. They shut down the L train. Again. During CMJ!!! AHH!!!

I’ve always considered Villa Elaine (1998) by Remy Zero to be a grossly underrated album. Until 2004 they were best known for composing the theme to “Smallville”, but people started to notice their awesome second album (the first was self-titled) when Zach Braff put “Fair” on the Garden State soundtrack. Now Remy’s brief radio hit “Prophesy” is included on the soundtrack for “The Last Kiss” which makes me happy for the band but sad to share the song with the masses. I love throwing that song onto a mix and waiting for the inevitable “wait… I think… yeah, I’ve heard… hold on… who is this?”. The band played for the first time in three years on Indie 103.1 and Rewriteable Content has mp3s from the acoustic set. I’d post the album version, but you’ll probably be sick of it soon enough. (thanks m)

To combat “that guy”, every band should have a song of their own that is alternatively titled “Freebird”.

Penultimately, I want to encourage everyone to check out the inaugural concert in the Wordless Music Series on Monday September 18th featuring Glenn Kotche and Nels Cline of Wilco along with pianist Jenny Lin and electronic composer Elliot Sharp. There will be interesting pairings of and collaborations between the performers throughout the night. More details here.

And finally, at the risk of finding it on the next great indie-tastic soundtrack, here is my favorite track from Villa Elaine: Remy Zero – Gramarye.mp3

Hope you enjoyed my random ramblings. I promise not to speak up too often. And to post things when I say I will. And to stop making promises.

That festival of course was Siren Fest 2003. I’ve never missed Siren since then, even when the lineup was spotty or I could only attend half the event. When I go to a free festival I like to see bands that I’m curious about but wouldn’t necessarily pay to see – plus one or two bands that I really enjoy. By those standards, Siren 2006 is shaping up to be awesome. Man Man, Serena Maneesh and The Cribs fall into the first category while Stars and Art Brut fall into the latter. I’m excited for Dirty On Purpose as well. I’m also happy that all those bands are at the Stillwell stage which is a far better place to enjoy the festival than the main stage.

I don’t expect to record much of Siren. The sound is never great and I’d rather not be worried about where I stand all day. You can however look forward to some tracks from last night’s My Brightest Diamond show which was truly incredible. I stood next to Sufjan so you know it must have been good. Don’t miss her/their album release show at the Spiegeltent on August 24th. Since I already pulled one all-nighter this week to post the Okkervil River show and next week’s concert calendar is pretty bare, I’ll post about MBD then. Shane has an interview and some MP3s to whet your aural appetite.

Two days, two great shows and two new bands to obsess over. Thank you Siren Fest 2003.

If this entire week wasn’t going to be so amazing I might actually be upset about missing Radiohead in New York. Sunday I saw !!! at NorthSix. They gave us a bunch of new songs and are admittedly tired of playing “Me and Giuliani…”. Last night I wanted to see Beirut followed by Starlight Mints, but unfortunately my Monday nights are currently being spent teaching kiddies to rawk the SAT (which meant I was trapped at the Kaplan center – a mere block away from the in-store at Other Music).

Tonight I will be checking out Eels and Smoosh at the World Financial Center before The Boy Least Likely To at the Knitting Factory. Wednesday I will see ¡Forward Russia! and Holy Fuck at Mercury Lounge (sorry mom, that’s their name, I didn’t make it up). Thursday it’s time for Saturday Looks Good To Me at NorthSix whose new songs at CMJ last September sounded great. I can’t wait to hear what they sound like now; an album should be in the works. Friday I’ll rest because I don’t like Band of Horses. And Saturday once again looks good to me at the free East River Music Project show (along with Mobius Band, Human Television and Meneguar).

I’ll finally get to hear Beirut live on Saturday evening when they play SoundFix at 8pm. My thoughts on Beirut so far… Postcards From Italy (mp3) is a fantastic song, and I’m glad the band isn’t called “beer pong”, but I wasn’t a huge proponent of the Balkan sound three months ago and I don’t think I’m going to fall in love with it now just because it’s being produced by an unlikely source (a 19 year old from New Mexico). However, a band’s live performance will usually make or break my opinion of them so I’ll reserve further judgement until Saturday.

I’m hoping to have lots of audio to share by the end of this week, but I also have exactly one week to compose a five minute quadraphonic electronic piece and a couple of smaller works. (Anyone have any ideas on how to synthesize the sound of a calving glacier?) When classes end next week expect loads of goodies, including long overdue live tracks from local favorites Slowlands and Pela.

Lest I leave you without any new sounds for your ear to chew on, here are two tracks from Land of Talk’s recent performance at Mercury Lounge. They’ll be back at the Merc on June 28th. I’d be there, but my buddy already bought me a ticket to get my face rocked off by Gil Mantera’s Party Dream at the Knit.

Land of Talk – Speak To Me Bones (live at Mercury Lounge)

Land of Talk – All My Friends (live at Mercury Lounge)

Say hello if you see me at Boy Least Likely To show tonight. I’ll be asleep standing up with a minidisc in one hand and a Boddingtons in the other.

Radiohead’s OK Computer (Thirty Three and a Third series)

It seems that most people don’t really like it, but it does offer some interesting viewpoints about the link between technology and musical creation; specifically, how the invention of the compact disc has changed the way musicians write and compose albums. I haven’t finished it yet, but I do think it should spend more time on the songs themselves, which only get about a page or two of analysis.

I’ve also been trying to listen to all of the new songs that Radiohead have been playing on tour. Pop Tarts Suck Toasted has compiled live recordings of the new songs.

I’m off to Philly now. Hopefully the weather here in New York holds out for the Seaport show. I’ll do my best to get some good recordings tonight.

As a student of both music and engineering I find myself drawn to artists who are skilled at combining electronic and acoustic sounds to form music whose slick production – while intriguing – does not take away from the strength of the song-writing. I especially love when songs are stripped of their glossy finish and realized without the use of any electronic gadgetry, such as The Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights” covered acoustically by Iron and Wine or more recently Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” covered by Ray LaMontagne (hear it at Village Indian).

Perhaps that’s also why I’m so drawn to songs which make use of the vocoder, an instrument which blurs the line between the human voice and synthesized sound. On one hand, there are some bands that couldn’t exist without it. Daft Punk has used it (along with many other electronic gizmos) to achieve their unique sound and the vocoder can also claim responsibility for putting the E into the tongue-in-cheek music of U.S.E. (United State of Electronica). Recently I’ve noticed more and more bands using the vocoder in thoughtful ways, not just for effect or an overall sound, but as a legitimate compositional instrument. One of my favorite examples is Broken Social Scene’s “Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl” in which Emily Haines’ beautiful voice is able to freely and freakishly harmonize with itself (but not with a vocoder!). The result is great on the album and hearing it pulled off live is incredible.

Broken Social Scene – Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl (live at Webster Hall).mp3

Last year, Imogen Heap pushed the vocoder to its limits with her song “Hide and Seek” (listen). Expertly produced on her album Speak For Yourself, the song has proven to be tricky in live performance. When she played at Avalon in New York City she had to start the song over four times before she was happy with the effect on her voice. Naturally, I had my doubts when – after hearing the track last summer – my close friend Brett Philpotts decided to arrange “Hide and Seek” for a sixteen member a cappella group. After months of practice, it was performed this past sunday by the Lehigh University Melismatics. I know that a cappella arrangements aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but if you’re one of those people that can’t get enough of this song you should appreciate this rendition. I suggest listening to it with headphones. Oh, and close your eyes too. This performance took place in complete darkness.

Lehigh University Melismatics – Hide and Seek (Imogen Heap).mp3

For information on the arrangement, please see the comment from “brett” below.