ObviousPop

So good it's Scary

Oh my. Those were the first two words that popped into my head and out of my mouth when I listened to the Flight of the Knife CD by Bryan Scary and The Shredding Tears. The more I listened to the amazingly quirky and elaborate melodies, hooks and production the more I thought the band must be from the UK. Isn’t that were all the really great albums are coming from these days? As it turns out, Bryan and his band are from Brooklyn, New York. Their influences include Wings, The Beatles, Queen, ELO, Zappa, Yes and more, yet the album is wholly original and not at all derivative. These guys aren’t trying to be Jellyfish, or The Beatles or Wings for that matter. It’s all there, but they have their own sound and what a sound it is. Fans of Sgt. Pepper’s style writing and production should love this album. There is no doubt that this is one of the best releases of the year and it will definitely make my Top 5 for the year. This is a power pop gem that should gain traction and respect with music fans across a number of genres.
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Recommended tracks: “Flight Of The Knife (Part 1),” “Imitation Of The Sky,” “Purple Rocket,” “The Zero Light”
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http://www.bryanscary.com/

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ObviousPopCast Episode 10 - More New Music!

Episode 10 of the ObviousPopCast! This is the best episode yet with amazing brand new music from Tally Hall, The Feeling, Presidents of the United States of America, Panic At The Disco, Cloud Cult, The Little Ones and more!

Download it now: ObviousPopCast Episode 10

Add it to your iTunes podcasts: CLICK HERE

(If you use the link to download it to iTunes, it may go into your podcast folder or possibly be listed in the main music library under the title: ObviousPop or the artist name: Dr. Tony Shore.)

 

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Links!

The lovely list of links is live! Scroll down and check out the links in the column to the left. They're back and they've been updated.

The most recent addition is www.LiminalLife.com ...An odd name but a great blog. Joe Kirk may be a heavy drinker but he's got something by the tail here and you need to pay attention.

New Releases: 4/1 - 4/8

Tally Hall - Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum - Easily my favorite release of the year so far. Amazing. This one actually came out last week (4/1) and I would have missed it but I got a tip from the great Rick Altizer (check out Rick's own great power pop here: www.rickaltizer.com). Tally Hall had an indie release of the same name a couple of years ago, but this is really their debut. They've remixed and even done some new recording for their first major release. This is power pop meets Queen meets Self meets 10cc...lots of wild and varied influences, but what will keep this one in your player are the great songs with layers and layers of vocals and production that will blow your mind. I will feature a track or two on my next ObviousPopCast. The video for the song Good Day is a must see, check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNgyFJOzbs4

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4/8 Releases

Cloud Cult - Feel Good Ghosts - Amazing new album from a Minneapolis band. You have to hear this record.

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Was (Not Was) - Boo! I love this one! Frank Zappa meets James Brown meets the Talking Heads with lots of Detroit soul mixed in.

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Eric Avery - Help Wanted - Cool keyboards and layers and I really love the album cover. This is one of the Jane's Addiction guys. Not for everyone but I like it.

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Cut/Copy - In Ghost Colours - Electronic/wave keyboard stuff. I dig it.

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Man Man - Rabbit Habits - Weird stuff. I haven't really listened yet, but the songs and clips I heard online were good. If it's really good I'll put up a post next week and let you know.

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South By Southwest - SXSW 08 Review

I was in the thick of it…over 1,500 bands in more than 65 venues…a veritable plethora of great music, plenty of free swag and more networking opportunities than a person could hope for. But it’s the music that drives this bus called South By Southwest (SXSW), a weeklong music festival and industry convention with seminars that cover almost every facet of the music business. It’s different from other industry events though because the focus is always on the art and the artist revolving around all those live performances. There are naysayers that complain about the corporate sponsorships, saying it’s gotten too commercial, but it’s really the bands and the attendees who are benefiting and the focus is still on the live performance. Getting free drinks and BBQ is just a perk, not a hindrance. Another great thing about SXSW vs. most other festivals and conferences, there really doesn’t seem to be a genre bias. From folk and blues to power pop, rock, metal, and everything in between it’s all here.

On to the heart of the matter, the highlights of this years SXSW…

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Best Performances:

Was (Not Was) – This was by far the best thing I saw all week. Don and David Was have assembled the greatest R&B, soul and funk rock players that Detroit has ever seen and these guys were amazing. I can’t even begin to describe it…like the Talking Heads meets James Brown. A wild mix of soulful horns, Steely Dan jazz-rock and David Was alternating between playing the flute and weird spoken word raps. The 3 lead vocalists were straight out of the Funk, Gospel and Soul of Detroit with excellent voices. You may be more familiar with Don as a producer (The B-52’s, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson and many more) but Was (Not Was) started it all, with he and David doing their best Detroit version of Zappa. After all these years they have a new album coming out (Boo!) on Ryko in April. I can’t wait!

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The Presidents of the U.S.A. – How much fun should one band be allowed to have? And they’re tight! The huge crowd at this show was having a blast and they knew every lyric to all the old songs, however, the new tracks were some of the best they played. Yes, they have a new album! It’s called These Are The Good Times People and it just came out last week. Get it now, the songs are fantastic, quirky, alternative rock and pop, perfect for fans of They Might Be Giants.

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Sixpence None The Richer – A great band that I’ve always enjoyed, but I have never been blown away by their live show, until now. They broke up and just recently got back together, and I’m telling you, Matt and Leigh have never sounded better. The new songs were by far the strongest and I hear they’re working on a new EP. Matt’s surreal guitar sounds with Leigh’s beautiful voice blend and work so well together it’s mesmerizing.

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Van Morrison – This was everything I expected from Van the man…great band, great songs and his voice sounds just like it did when he was in his 20’s. Wow.

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Moby – Even though his new material is more club and techno influenced, he put on an amazing show and I even got to chat with him for a moments. He is a super nice and humble guy. Click on the thumbnail to see a larger picture of Moby and I hanging at SXSW.

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Here are some of the other great shows that I attended:

Colour Revolt

Liam Finn

Nada Surf

REM

Hanson

Hot Springs

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Best Showcases & Parties:

Paste Magazine & Stereogum – Dell Lounge – By far the best line-up and the most blogger friendly. They had workstations for bloggers set up where they could view the show and blog live. Did it. Loved it. Amazing line-up with everyone from Liam Finn to Nada Surf. Amazing music.

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Levis/Fader Fort – Longest line, biggest pain to get into, but once you are in…wow! The free swag, free drinks (including Smart Water and Vitamin Water!) and lots of music.

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Merge Records Showcase – It’s all about the music. The Merge crew is great and they have one of the best line-ups of any alternative label. Get the She & Him record now!

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Saddle Creek Showcase – Another great indie label with more than just Bright Eyes…lots of great bands including Two Gallants and The Good Life.

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Best SXSW Buddies

Doug Van Pelt (HM Magazine) and Doug The Canuck (The Great White North radio show) - Doug and Doug…these guys are great friends who know Austin and they’re SXSW pros. I love hanging with them every year. It’s my favorite part of the week.

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Paste Magazine-Stereogum Showcase at SXSW

The Paste-Stereogum SXSW Showcase and Party has begun! This is the SXSW event not to miss. It's also called the "Dell Lounge" and they've provided some great work stations here for bloggers. I'm listening to the first artist up right now, "My Brightest Diamond" and she's nothing short of amazing. More than just a typical singer-songwriter, she was in Sufjan Stevens band and has that cool quirky vibe, playing guitar and an odd assortment of percussive instruments. The event is in a great club called Volume and they've completely remodeled it this week into what is now the Dell Lounge. Here's a picture right after the doors opened...CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW FOR THE FULL SIZE IMAGE:

ObviousPopCast Episode 9 - New Music!

Episode 9 of the ObviousPopCast! This episode is 60 minutes of brand new music and some out of print music as well...Including NEW music from The Feeling, The Hoosiers, Vampire Weekend, Roger Joseph Manning Jr., MGMT and more!

Download it now: ObviousPopCast Episode 9

Add it to your iTunes podcasts: CLICK HERE

(If you use the link to download it to iTunes, it may go into your podcast folder or possibly be listed in the main music library under the title: ObviousPop or the artist name: Dr. Tony Shore.)

 

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The Selling of the Free

There’s a problem, a paradox if you will… The internet is free. It needs to be free. Almost anything that can be transferred digitally can be had for free. Why is this a problem you say? You may like the idea of getting movies, music, software, etc. for free, you and millions of others perhaps. But then the dilemma becomes, how does the artist/creator of these things get paid? So many are saying we don’t need record companies, artists can make music on their own and we can get it for free on the net. Maybe you think they can make enough money touring or selling shirts. Here’s the problem with that…if there are no labels, and no one is paying for the recorded music, how do you hear about a band? Will we ever hear another album recorded in a professional studio with input from a producer? I sure hope so, but that costs a lot of money that most bands don’t have. I browse through MySpace looking for great bands and rarely do I hear anything I would want to listen to ever again, even at a cost of nothing. I think most people would be shocked at how much money most indie bands lose on the road, trying to tour, so put that little ‘they can tour to make money’ dream to rest. Then there’s Radiohead. The common mantra there is, “See, they offered it for free and made money! They don’t need a label! The old system is dead!” I laugh at that, not that some of what they say isn’t true. At this point in Radiohead’s career it seems it is possible for them to make more and they may be better off doing it on their own. No, the problem is the implication in this analysis…that it’s the future and all bands and artists should operate this way. How do you suppose Radiohead developed a fan base large enough to allow them to do that? How do you think they had the money or the knowledge? From tours and album sales that cost EMI millions and millions of dollars in marketing, advertising and recording budgets, as well as years and years of development. So if Prince and Radiohead want to do it on their own, I say go for it. Could they have done it with out years and years and millions of dollars from the major record companies and without the old model of retail, radio and distribution in place? The answer is a resounding no. How do you think the next U2, Radiohead or Pink Floyd is going to be developed and create a career that can sustain them for that long without a label? Because of the diverse and splintered marketing opportunities these days, it’s hard enough for a record company with major backing and funds to do it. Music industry pundits are desperately trying to point out that the old model is dead. It is true that the times they are a changin’, but what’s the answer? Is there something better? No. Not yet at least. The old system worked well and I may be the only one, but I will be sorry to see it go. I love music. But I also love the artists and a well thought out, well-recorded album with great packaging and a lyric book. Those things appear to be getting the shaft. Many have already declared the CD dead and I believe this is a huge and premature mistake. Are these the same wizards that declared the cassette would replace the LP? Or that vinyl was dead? Vinyl LP sales are growing and saw a significant increase this past year. I believe there will always be (at least for a long, long time to come) a market for CD’s and LP’s or at least some type of product with physical packaging. In the next 5 years it may become more of a boutique market, Target, WalMart and Best Buy are going to drastically reduce their music sections even more than they already have, to next to nothing eventually. Maybe even within the year. That just means more sales at your local indie store, which is where the selection is at anyway.

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So artists need to get paid, great albums still need to be made and the consumer wants more for less. CD sales are dropping like a rock and radio hasn’t been the same since that stupid Telecommunications Act was signed in ’96. Oh, the kids are downloading for free, but there are also kids who are getting into vinyl! Paying a premium for sound and packaging. So there’s some good news out there. Some people still care about the artist getting paid for their work and about the physical packaging (lyrics, liner notes, fold outs, printed artwork and pictures). I don’t want to live in the past, but I’m hoping someone comes up with some better ideas for the future. Going all digital with subscription based services or ad supported music hasn’t worked yet and I don’t see how that addresses the problem of physical packaging. This is why the labels that get it are realizing that they have to give the consumer something they can’t download. Make the packaging so cool, so unique that it can’t be easily copied or printed out on an ink jet. One of the best examples of this is the forthcoming Hawk Nelson CD (Hawk Nelson Is My Friend, due out in April); it’s an actual board game, with punch out game pieces, a foldout game board and the CD works as a spinner. Let’s see you try to download that! Kudos to Tooth and Nail Records for getting it. For realizing the fan wants cool packaging.

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Which brings us back to the main question, “If you can get everything on the net for free, how do you sell it? How is it supported?" That is addressed not only by the creative kids at Tooth and Nail, but in an incredible article, this is a MUST read:

http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/01/better_than_fre.php

Back & Forth

It never fails…at the end of every year I compile my year-end list of favorite albums, then after the first of the year I end up hearing records that should have made the list. I always seem to miss at least one or two gems. It hasn’t even been a month since I posted my Top 20 Albums of 2007 and I’ve already discovered a number of great albums that I should have included. One that I knew about but just didn’t listen to is Peter Bjorn and John. That is one great album!

Another CD that I had in my collection but just hadn’t listened to enough is Mirrored by prog instrumentalists Battles. They channel some serious King Crimson...This one should have made my top 20 as well.

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The biggest oversight however has got to be Kent. I didn’t even realize they had a new album out until I saw it on another year-end list (thanks Thaddeus). The name of the album is Tillbaka Till Samtiden and it’s sung in their native Swedish. Even though I don’t understand a word, this album is so good that if I had heard it last year it would have easily made my Top 10! It is by far their best, with amazing songs and lots of cool keyboards and guitars. Thaddeus described it best when he called it “Dissociatives mashed up with early Radiohead.”

Now it’s back to the future. The new release lists for the next couple of months look good and there is already some great music out there.

The first truly great find of the year for me is The Hoosiers. An email from Musicologist Jim Worthen recommending a band does not come all that often, but when it does it’s always good. This time he emailed to tell me about The Hoosiers, a band from where…? Indiana? No! This is yet another great band from England. The record is out in the UK already and comes out here in the US this year. There’s a 3 song EP available here now on iTunes. Fans of The Feeling, Human Radio and Rooney will definitely want to check this one out. The single is “Goodbye Mr. A” and you’ve got to check out the video too…the classic A&M single logo look and feel at the beginning fades into an animated segment…very cool. The song itself is an instant power pop classic, reminiscent of “Mr. Blue Sky.”

Here are a few more releases to look forward to in the coming weeks…
Mike Doughty, Presidents Of The United States, MGMT, Joe Jackson, Yazbek and more.
That should be a great start to 2008!

First Great Album of '08?

Surprisingly, I'm talking about Joe Jackson's upcoming album "Rain." I've never been a big Joe Jackson fan, although I enjoyed his 3 great albums from the late 70's early 80's period (Look Sharp, I'm The Man, Beat Crazy) he lost me after that. When my good friend and music writer/critic Andre Salles (check out his column here: www.tm3am.com) emailed me telling me to check out his new tunes on MySpace I didn't have high hopes, but ended up being blown away. The songs up from his new album are as good as anything he's ever done and his voice sounds even better.

Check it out now: http://www.myspace.com/joejacksonmusic

Releasing on January 28th.