What the Fuck Has Gotten into Cougar and Prince? Long Live Music on The Web

Pink houses, purple rain and internet hate. Son of a bitch. What are we supposed to do when the very pillars of our crumbling elitist rock community refuse to embrace our digital connectivity? A Spartan mountainside is calling. Leave the withering giants to the birds and yetis.

In the past few weeks Prince and John, formerly the Cougar, Mellencamp spit fiery hatred on our digital selves. Prince pronounced the internet dead and Cougar likened it to the atomic bomb. Pause for a moment and forgive the Cougs for invoking the atomic bomb.

So, after watching two amazing shows tonight on this archaic and wholly dangerous medium called the internet. I couldn't help but start to jot down a few examples of why the internet is pretty damn swell and more of a tool than a implement of destruction.

1. Radiohead in Prague
Radiohead gives members of the audience flip cameras. They record. Footage is edited by fans. Radiohead releases sound from show. Instant awesomeness.

2. Arcade Fire Live from MSG
On August 5, 2010 Arcade Fire teamed up with Terry Gilliam and digicasted (is that a word?) their show. It's up again for a limited time. Simply amazing.

3. Arcade Fire's The Wilderness Downtown
It's like a music video if someone progressive was to think about how we'd really want to watch a music video.

4. The myriad of random blogs I love.
Gorilla vs. Bear
Day Trotter
Stereo Gum
NPR Music & All Songs Considered (not to mention their first listens where you can listen to album before it's released)
Pitch Fork
La Blogotheque
When You Awake
...just to name a few we're barely scratching the surface

5. Mix Tapes and Sharing
Links have been taken down for some of the greatest namely: Wu Tang vs. The Beatles and The Gray Album. But the 500 Days of Weezy and Big Boi for Dummies will do.

That's just a start. The digital space isn't a beast onto itself. It's not an escaped monster that controls us. The digital world is an echo of our desires and our growth. To ignore this space is to ignore the evolution of our connectivity.

What Am I To Do With This CD?

I loaded a real live CD into my computer today for the first time in months. It had music on it. And I wanted to listen to that music. So I took said CD, inserted it into the drive in my computer, after a few moments my computer registered said CD and my experience began. I was bored. Yes I had the music (which was great) but I wanted more. I took out the booklet that accompanied said CD, read it. It was full of insightful, curious, mind bending information, like where the CD was made, who the sound techs were, and most importantly...the lyrics. The lyrics to the songs that I was listening to. It was a multi-dimensional experience. And I was blown away...the only thing missing were my 3D glasses.

The fact is, downloading music from a CD is ridiculous. I don't see any merit in it...the sound quality between a CD and music from the interweb is the same when I am listening on my computer and the difference is negligible from downloaded song to stereo vs. CD to stereo (whereas vinyl is a totally different experience).

The process made me realize how much I a) appreciate blogs and music websites and those folks who pour their hearts out to make listening to music a broad experience...an act of discovery and b) the innate social value that music has and c) the compact disk's coldness and uselessness.

Prince, I love you but the web is not dead...and it's poetic that you released your CD with a medium that may truly be dying...newsprint.

Now I have coasters.

Blogs vs. Crate Diving

I came across this amazing cover of Roy Ayer's "Everybody Loves the Sunshine" by Seu Jorge on Now Again Records buy the album here. It melted me. It got me thinking...is blog searching the new crate diving? As said before, I've long admired those with the patience to dig through crates of vinyl and find hidden gems. It's an art form. But this morning as I started to catch up on some daily reading, I started jumping from blog to blog, digging deeper and deeper into the depths of inspiration, friends and like minded ears. I started to think...is this the next generation of crate diving? Are we in the digital music dive? Just a smidge of what I'm truly loving right now (this list will grow):

Gorilla vs. Bear
Now Again Records
Daytrotter
Comb & Razor
When You Awake's Mixtapes
NPR's Music
Pitchfork's Forkcast
Funky 16 Corners

Music Videos. Why?

Earlier in the week STARWORKS highlighted new videos for MGMT and Mike Snow and I couldn't help but ask, why? Music videos used to have cache; they connected a fan to a song in a new way. But then MTV, slutted itself out to Jersey Shore and the likes (oh and if you haven't checked out the Jersey Shore Nickname Generator on Unlikely Words, do so) and we were left with a channel that promotes sterility over music.

But then comes along the Web giving us new ways to connect with music we love (which parallels nicely to the demise of all things music on MTV). The kids love it. And musicians do too. All sorts of inventive things are happening out there (check out last month's post on collaboration here). But the question remains...why traditional music videos? Rarely are they engaging or inventive. Rather than build a weak three minute story that costs millions to produce...why not build some equity in the band's culture, invite the audience in and encourage them to share? Take the below...which is is more compelling? which inspires sharing? and most of all which makes you want to engage with the band?



OR this?

col*LAB*orate II: Oxfam & Thao

Limiting collaboration to just one post is silly. The entire digital world is built on collaboration, sharing, connecting and more... so we're (er...I) will be blowing this thing out deeper, exploring more and adding, adding, adding.

I've got a list an arm's length long and I stumble across more everyday, but today I got notice from Oxfam America about an exclusive release of a video collaboration from Thao Nguyen (of Thao and the Get Down Stay Down) and Dianna Argon from Glee. Check it:



The video is fun, but I really get excited about is the connection between Thao & Oxfam America. In an evolving age of consumerism and connection, brand experiences need to be thought of less as product/mission focused and more experiential communities. It's not new, but the power of a global community has made it easier and more important. We're all looking for opportunities to learn more, be clued in and plugged in. And why shouldn't that come from the brands that we know and trust? Expose me to the culture that makes your brand (and, logically, product, great and right for me).

In the case of Oxfam, chances are I'm not always going to be in the mood to hear about global calamity, but I love the organization and there's no reason why they shouldn't be exposing me to their culture and what inspires them. Zappos is a perfect example of this, check out their corporate culture page here.

I don't want to pretend that this isn't already happening. Brands like Scion, Mountain Dew, Red Bull...are all well versed in experience marketing through event sponsorships and the like. But that's not what we're looking for. We're looking for raw brand culture, community building and more collaboration between like-minded partners.

col*LAB*orate

Artists getting together. Getting together to make things. Giving things they make to the people. What more can you ask for?

I get all romantic and jealous when I think of Harlem jazz gods floating in and out of hole in the wall joints and blessing lucky bar goers with epic phonic journeys. And like all narrow minded soldiers of today I think...shit why couldn't I have been part of that. And that's bullshit. Yes those were great times, but today with the digital wonderweb connecting everyone we get glimpses into greatness. And I love it.

So with that set up. We direct you to Beck and his merry making rock n rollers. True there's oodles of amazing music and great collaborators and we'll talk more about them later, but right now it's Beck's Record Club project that has me hooked. Simple: friends hang out. pick records to cover. record it. we watch. I dare you to ask for more. Right now it's INXS. Dig on.

Record Club: INXS "New Sensation" from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

Digital Vinyl Sorted by Others

Crate diving is a romantic exercise I’ve long admired. But I lack the fortitude and endless curiosity (not to mention patience) that’s required for this pastime. I’m lucky to have discovered three partners that challenge my ears and expand my soul.

Javelin

Two friends, who are cousins, making music out of everything and anything, yelling poetically and making your heart skip a beat.

Funky Sixteen Corners

A man with more records than I can imagine, makes playlists that inspire you to shake and move and fall in love with the past and the future.

Chances With Wolves

A street-side radio show with soul.