• Music

Dawn Landes – Fireproof

November 27, 2007 – 11:03 am ·

Dawn Landes - Fireproof

Recording engineer, multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and cute-as-a-button New Yorker, Dawn Landes, has released Fireproof. She hangs with some of the members of The Earlies and Hem (who contribute to this album.) In other words, she keeps very good company. The album is hushed and melodic, clean and muscular, plaintive and supple. All at once, reminiscent of Beth Orton more than, say, Suzie V, but with elements of both and sealed by the firm stamp of her own personality.

And now this is making the rounds. She recently recorded a version of “Young Folks” (that PB&J thing that’s dominated the indie airwaves for the better part of a year.) It’s a nice, bluegrassy rendition of the tune, which swaps gender roles and folds violin and banjo into the mix. The album is quite good, but I’m not sure how to order it at the moment. The iTunes and CD Baby links are included below for posterity but the former prevents sale of the album to US residents and the latter is permanently out of stock. If research serves, it’s getting a US release in early 2008, so stay tuned…

Incidentally, I got the heads-up on Dawn from the excellent aurgasm.us.

Dawn Landes: official site, myspace, cd baby, itunes

Dawn Landes – “Bodyguard”

By Will | Posted in mp3, Music |
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  • Music

Soul Coughing – Ruby Vroom

November 26, 2007 – 12:02 pm ·

Soul Coughing - Screenwriter’s Blues

The Writers have returned to the table with the producers. So says Variety. There’s a press blackout, which is okay, because that frees up speechifying time for actual bargaining. Pressure’s increasing. One blog lists the names and positions of folks who’ve lost their jobs since the strike began. I imagine it’s much greater than the 400+ names they’ve actually got listed. As for me? I will be arriving in Los Angeles late this week to participate in the strike, so watch out, everyone!

Oh, alright. Truth is, I’m going to crash the annual Amoeba holiday party, but if the strike’s still happening come Monday, I’ll do my best to find out where I can grab a sign. And as reps for the writers and producers play Hatfield & McCoy I thought it would be appropriate to drop one of my favorite Soul Coughing tunes. There are, of course, many faves, but this one sits right up there on top.

Listen while you peruse the Variety poll on the strike (downloads a nifty pdf file.)

Soul Coughing – “Screenwriter’s Blues”

By Will | Posted in biz, L.A. Songs, mp3, Music, strike |
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  • Music

Mary Timony Band – The Shapes We Make

November 21, 2007 – 8:00 am ·

Mary Timony Band - The Shapes We Make

Sometimes I really dig her albums (Ex Hex) and sometimes not so much (Mountains, though I was in a minority.) This one’s in the former category. She got some great, muscular tunes here and the melody takes a stronger role than usual. It’s a bit of a throwback to her Helium days. Check out “Killed By The Telephone” and love it.

Short post today because I’m driving to Kansas City, MO to give Thanks. You know, to the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Mary Timony (choose your fave infosource): official site, myspace, wikipedia

Mary Timony Band – “Killed By The Telephone”

By Will | Posted in mp3, Music |
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  • Words

Kindle

November 20, 2007 – 10:44 am ·

Kindle

Amazon announced yesterday the arrival of its new tree-less technology, Kindle. I don’t want to wax enthusiastic about something I haven’t tried, but I think this is a step in a direction we’re all headed, whether we like it or not. And I like it. Though, a lot of people don’t. Peruse the comments that have already amassed in the wake of its release and you see one after another 1 and 2 star reviews. But a closer look reveals that almost all of these negative reviews are coming from people who haven’t even tried the thing and are looking at it from afar, with suspicion, afraid of what it represents, afraid of losing something that they feel will be irreplaceable–the feel of a warm, heavy, tree-filled book in their hands.

Okay, I get it. That’s my instinct, too. “What is that thang?! Looks like the devil. Hey, let’s poke it with a stick, see if it eats us alive.” The same thing happened when mp3 stepped timidly onto the stage years ago. “I think the idea is good, but nothing will replace the feel of something tangible, like a CD. I wouldn’t pay $400 for it. Hand me that stick. I’m ‘onna poke it.” Most of these people are missing the point. This is a nascent technology (rather like the book itself was centuries ago.) Given time, the market will sort itself out. The costs will adjust to fit the needs of the buyers. Book buying practices will search for and find a comfortable new place to reside. And nobody will need sticks.

Or, maybe they will, but they just won’t be poking them at Kindle.

Kindle is radioactive? I wouldn’t pay $400 for that!

That said, this rollout also comes with the usual assortment of DRM and anti-sharing nonsense that has polarized the music industry for what seems like ever. The mistrust and fear is obviously felt on both sides. I imagine Amazon has had to deal with the same headaches that have plagued Apple in its search to make it easy for people to give up the addiction to tangible media. Wait there’s nothing physical here? How will we make our money?

I can’t afford one of these things now. But you can bet I’ll buy one when the market settles down. I like the idea of reading literary works on a small, portable, lightweight device. Wait, but isn’t a book the same thing? Small? Portable? Lightweight?

But it’s not a device. And it involves trees.

By Will | Posted in books, Words | Comments (0)
  • Music

Nicole Atkins – Neptune City

November 19, 2007 – 12:02 pm ·

Nicole Atkins - Neptune City

Occasionally, an act blasts out of nowhere like a rocket and crashes, skidding, tumbling, finally grinding to a stop in the living room of my musical mansion. Does that make sense? See, I have this image of my musical world as a big house and there are lots of rooms. There’s a jazz room (which has a big leather chair and lots of dark wood and several ash trays) and there’s a classic rock room (which has got all kinds of hip furniture and psychedelic wall paintings and artifacts from my childhood) and a techno room (where I spend a LOT of time) and I’m always adding on rooms and taking out walls and smearing spackle here and there. And yes, every day the doorbell rings and it’s some new band or old band and they’ll come in, set up and play for a while and I’ll tell them to go into a room and wait for me there. Very simple process.

But as I said sometimes there’s no doorbell or polite knock (or subtle sneaking in through the kitchen window as all three of the Wailin Jennys did last month) but an act comes crashing through the front door without invitation and sets everything into a tizzy for a few days while cleanup happens.

Nicole Atkins - Photo by Jeremy Balderson

All this is a wordy and unnecessarily elaborate way of describing the kind of excitement that the new album by Jersey girl Nicole Atkins has generated over here at the Sixsquare mansion. It’s intimate and personal yet imbued with a kind of orchestral Roy Orbison sweep that has a way of sounding positively massive. She’s got a powerful voice to match the bombast, as you’ll hear in today’s selections (I couldn’t decide on just one) and a soaring sense of melody that somehow conveys a sense of nostalgia. Perhaps it’s her arrangements, or in fact, her lyrics, which are both wistful and vivid and managed to massage their way under my skin with little effort.

She’s got major label backing (you can tell by her ponderous website) and a vote of confidence from Rolling Stone, so it’ll be interesting to see how she gets trotted out in the next several months.

Check out her stuff. We’ve got to finish repairs on the front door.

(above photo taken by Jeremy Balderson, by the way.)

Nicole Atkins: website, allmusic blog post, myspace, rolling stone

Nicole Atkins – “Together We’re Both Alone”

Nicole Atkins – “Love Surreal”

By Will | Posted in mp3, Music |
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  • Music

Ohmna – I’m Lost

November 18, 2007 – 8:42 am ·

Ohmna

It’s Sunday. I think I’ll post a cool dance tune. This comes from producer/dj Ohmna, whose track “The Sun Will Shine” was embraced by Tiesto of late. I prefer this track with its gorgeous, atmoshperic breakdown and trippy, unorthodox time structure. I was exposed to it through Nick Warren’s most recent outing for Global Underground. This is the kind of dance music I like – you can dance to it, but you can also kick back and let it filter through your pores and float the tension away. I’ve excerpted the amazing breakdown here. You can grab the whole track for a penny under two bucks at beatport.com.

Ohmna: myspace

Ohmna – “I’m Lost”

By Will | Posted in dance, mp3, Music |
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  • Cinema
  • Words

A World Without Writers

November 16, 2007 – 12:53 pm ·

These are very clever. Reminds me of the “Somebody Wrote That” series that the WGA used to have all over their walls and publications. The House one made me burst out laughing.

I stumbled across an alternative, NSFW video clip with the same title that has a sort of puerile entertainment value. Find that here.

By Will | Posted in biz, Cinema, strike, Words | Comments (0)
  • Music

Playlist: October 2007

November 16, 2007 – 8:27 am ·

iMix - October

We’re halfway through November, but I got so interested in the idea of publishing a monthly playlist that I decided to do one immediately and slap an October label on it. So here it is, the first of a monthly series of playlists, available directly from iTunes for under nine bucks.

There’s a little something for everyone here. Echobelly is the only really extemporaneous cut, but after a long time searching for this unavailable-in-the-US disc, I finally tracked it down, and any acquisition of an Echobelly album is cause for celebration. There’s some Britney in here to to give the mix some tragic weight. Nocole Atkins, whose infectiously danceable “Love Surreal” is from an album every bit as wonderful as the song itself. A pair of instrumentals, from Japancakes and Odd Nosdam, excellent new Duran Duran material and finally, a trio of indie confections round out the mix.

Missing on this first attempt: I tried to include a couple U2 covers: the new live version of “Bullet The Blue Sky” by Queensryche (wow!) and “Sunday Bloody Sunday” as covered by Saul Williams and Trent Reznor (!) The latter is unavailable on iTunes as yet and the former is “album only.” Finally, I tried to throw in some Billie Piper, but she’s apparently scarce on iTunes as well. Next time I’ll research before I publish.

Echobelly – Fear Of Flying (People Are Expensive)
Yeasayer – Sunrise (All Hour Cymbals)
Babyshambles – Unbilotitled (Shotter’s Nation)
Nicole Atkins – Love Surreal (Neptune City)
Odd Nosdam – Fat Hooks (Level Live Wires)*
Duran Duran – Falling Down (Red Carpet Massacre) post
Japancakes – Soon (Loveless) post
Britney Spears – Heaven On Earth (Blackout)
Little Dragon – Twice (Little Dragon)

iMix (opens iTunes store)

* accidentally selected “Burner” instead of “Fat Hooks” on the published iMix. Give it some time for the correction to take place. (8:50 AM) Okay, it’s fixed.

By Will | Posted in imix, Music, playlist | Comments (0)
  • Words

AMPTP Contact Info

November 16, 2007 – 8:00 am ·

Hardy Boys

My soon-to-be-laid-off friend Ryan channeled both Franklin W. Dixon and Carolyn Keene yesterday and managed to track down a long list of numbers for various stations at the AMPTP, who kinda keep these things close to the vest. The list reads pretty much as written, which means he can’t vouch for the spelling of any of these names (“So you’re last name is Smith? Spelled l-a-m-a-d-a-h-e-y?”) and some of the numbers clearly lead to dead ends.

Movie reference of the day: Remember in Wargames when Matthew Broderick’s computer dialed every number in San Jose looking for a games server and accidentally grabbed the number for the national defense system’s computer? Well, a little ways down the list is the number for Nick Counter.

Call him and ask him to please not bomb Russia.

Sez Ryan:

In order to be unbiased in my campaign to get our jobs back, please
feel free to call and discuss your issues with the strike with any or
all of the following as often as possible.

Please don’t forget that the WGA is the other responsible party.

As ever your unemployed friend.

LAID OFF

AMPTP Contact Info

818-382-1701-Anti-Piracy Department
818-382-1704-Joan Mcdome
818-382-1705-Mary Copeland – Rating
818-382-1706-Ambiguous answering machine
818-382-1708-Scott Young
818-382-1709-Melissa, HR Department
818-382-1710-Nick Counter
818-382-1711-Carol Lamadahey
818-382-1712- Paul
818-382-1713- Brook Howney
818-382-1714-Accounting
818-382-1719-Accounting
818-382-1722-MPAA
818-382-1724-Switchboard/Mary
818-382-1725-Switchboard/Mary
818-382-1726-Switchboard (Guesswork…they hung-up on me before I could
say anything)
818-382-1727-Angie Lee
818-382-1728-Geraline
818-382-1729-Raul
818-382-1730-Jaycee Ule
818-382-1731-Anna Gonning
818-382-1733-Control Room
818-382-1734-Jason
818-382-1735-Bob Frisano
818-382-1736-Kevin Soto
818-382-1739-Sue Mcdermott
818-382-1741-Fax Tone
818-382-1743-Yulia Deshevsky
818-382-1744-Igor-Technology
818-382-1745-Security
818-382-1746-Rodrigo-Parking
818-382-1747-Marilyn
818-382-1748-Dennis-Accounting
818-382-1749-Rings, No Machine
818-382-1751-Roger Cophaven
818-382-1752-Rings, No Machine
818-382-1753-Melissa Patack (State Government Affairs for AMPTP)
818-382-1754-Sarah Welsh
818-382-1755-Rings, No Machine
818-382-1757-Paul Meigner
818-382-1758-Thelma Cohen
818-382-1759-Vanessa Pelech
818-382-1760-Press Office

By Will | Posted in biz, strike, Words | Comments (2)
  • Words

PLEASE STOP THE STRIKE

November 15, 2007 – 9:11 am ·

Strike Rules

Writers are trying to position themselves to gain proper compensation for new media and to keep producers from taking back what writers deserve. The negotiatons didn’t go well. Now we’re on strike. Simple. But actually, it’s not so simple. First, read this, written by my buddy Ryan, one of the hardest working guys in show business. He’s currently working on a popular TV Show, but thanks to the strike, they finish shooting early December and wrap up post production just in time for Christmas, at which point, he’s out of a job. Along with thousands of others. Ryan sez:

I have no political interest in this, my concern is purely economic
and rooted in the desire to continue working in the entertainment
industry. I understand both sides have their grievances. I also know
that this will end. I am merely trying to be a catalyst to a swift end
to the thousands layoffs that have begun and will only grow.

If you have a vested interest in this strike one way or the other
please feel free to join us by focusing your campaign on the opposing
side.

My suggestion is a barrage of phone calls, emails and letters to both
the WGA and AMPTP. If all of us affected by the strike took one hour
of our newly freed up time to make ourselves heard there would be no
choice.

They would be forced to bring this strike to a end sooner than they
would have otherwise.

Don’t know what to say? “Please stop the strike, please stop the
strike…..” Until they hang up. Then hit redial.

This is not about me its about us all so if you can spam better than I
can please be creative. If you can add better or more specific
contacts to this email please help!

If you don’t think this will work, just try me.

And if I missed anyone please forward this to them.

Thanks,

LAID OFF

He also passes along some contact info to make things easier:

Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP)
Attn: Sue McDermott Mercer, Counsel
15503 Ventura Boulevard
Encino, CA 91436

Tel: 818/995-3600
Contact: Vanessa Pelech, Assistant to Sue McDermott Mercer, Counsel
818/382-1759
contact page

WGA, West
Address 7000 West Third Street
Los Angeles, CA 90048

Telephone (323) 951-4000, (800) 548-4532
Fax (323) 782-4800
Creative Rights (323) 782-4741
Credits (323) 782-4528
Executive Offices (323) 951-4000

(the WGAw has a nifty page loaded with support links. Click here.)

The point is, this strike isn’t just about writers out of work. It’s about an entire industry.

By Will | Posted in biz, strike, Words | Comments (0)
  • Words

WGA Strike: Voices Of Uncertainty

November 15, 2007 – 8:21 am ·

This has been making the rounds. It’s nicely assembled and pulls the words straight from the mouths of executives and turns them back on them, not unlike the Donald Rumsfeld stuff we saw a few years ago (“I never said there were weapons of mass destruction” “Oh really? Let’s watch the tape.” “That was out of context! That wasn’t me! I was possessed by Pazuzu!”)

I finally got my very own Strike Rules packet in the mail yesterday. It took a while to get forwarded out here to me in NM, where I feel a little helpless and excluded from the craziness. But I’ll be out in California for a while in early December to walk a picket line or two.

By Will | Posted in biz, strike, Words | Comments (0)
  • Music

Japancakes vs. My Bloody Valentine

November 14, 2007 – 9:18 am ·

Japancakes - Loveless

Now here’s something interesting. Multi-member instrumentalist group, Japancakes, has re-done Loveless, the seminal 1991 album by My Bloody Valentine. But don’t call it a re-creation or a re-imagining of the album. It’s quite faithful, and it takes the harder edges of the MBV work and smooths them a bit, calms things down, preserves the melody and structure all the while avoiding the muzak pitfall. A more sincere form of flattery, I can’t imagine. I’ve always been a noise-pop, shoegaze fan (Curve, Chapterhouse, Lilys, Ride) so it’s interesting to see an album of that grouping treated as a classic to be emulated and honored.

Check out my fave tune from the album. Twice.

Japancakes: amazon, allmusic

My Bloody Valentine – “Soon”

Japancakes – “Soon”

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  • Music

Duran Duran – Red Carpet Massacre

November 13, 2007 – 9:44 am ·

Duran Duran - Red Carpet Massacre

Duran Duran quietly made it to the new Millennium. They could not have been bigger during their heyday, and many of us remember with a sort of zealous fervor the era to which Duran Duran belonged and the appropriate soundtrack they provided. They faded in the Nineties, though I never really noticed. I gobbled up Big Thing (their last album of the Eighties with its Big Generator inspired cover) Liberty (which was generally reviled, but which I found engaging in a few different places) and then their “comeback” album, the self-titled “Wedding Album,” which was a comeback only in the sense that they re-entered the public eye with the tune “Ordinary World,” though as I said, for me they never really left.

They faded a bit again as the Nineties wore on. Did anyone notice? Medazzaland, Pop Trash and Astronaut failed to light up anyone’s stereos, at least in the numbers they had enjoyed again in the early Nineties. Now today we get Red Carpet Massacre, and while it’s a little early for predictions, there’s stuff going on here that we haven’t seen in a while. I think it could take off. The whole crew is here minus Andy Taylor (who didn’t record any of this album for whatever reason) and they’ve enlisted the help of a few current dance/club producers, Timbaland among them, to help drag their sound into the present day.

Check out this tune. It’s ballad-y and melodic and, guess what? Co-written by Justin Timberlake. That guy is everywhere.

Duran Duran: album review at allmusic, itunes

Duran Duran – “Falling Down”

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  • Music

Sarah Blasko – What The Sea Wants

November 12, 2007 – 8:00 am ·

Sarah Blasko - What The Sea Wants, The Sea Will Have

Okay, I’m back. It took a while to wrestle past the jet lag, which was like a hairy demon sitting on my head in the morning. And then the subsequent cold kept me out of commission for a little while after that. But I’m back and bearing some tunes. I figured I’d throw a little Australian culture out on the blog to keep things relevant.

Sarah Blasko has actually started to make an impact here, but not in a big way. In a modest sort of, “Um, ‘scuse me? Hello.” sort of way. I’m no prognosticator, but I’m willing to bet people will start paying attention soon. Her first album, The Overture and the Underscore was a bubbly affair, but without any saccharine frothy stuff–a nice sense of melody and intelligence. On the new one, What The Sea Wants, The Sea Will Have, she and her songwriting partner, Robert Cranny are mining darker territory. Theres are some fascinating tunes on this one. It’s a bit more my style. Good stuff. Check out “Always On This Line.”

Sarah Blasko: official site, amazon, allmusic

Sarah Blasko – “Always On This Line”

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  • Music

Test Week

October 18, 2007 – 1:31 am ·

Opera House

Hey, Folks. The previous week was a test of the new blog. I wanted to see if I could set (and eventually maintain) a rapid, full schedule for the blog. A post every weekday, sometimes two, with plenty of music and a bit of industry chatter thrown in. Seems like something I can do, so expect more.

But not for a week or two. I’m in Australia now, taking in the life Down Under. When I come back I’ll mark the occasion as the official rebirth of sixsquare.com, even though there’s still plenty of work remaining to be done on the site. So stay tuned.

Men At Work

And, oh hell. Why not listen to something from the days of yore? This is not just one of my fave songs from an Australian band, it’s one of my all-time nostalgic favorites:

Men At Work – “It’s A Mistake”

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