Radiohead Knows

September 24, 2010
In reading a Wall Street Journal article about why so many artists hate videophones (accept it already!), I came across the quiet news that Radiohead fans at a concert in Prague last year culled together a full concert HD video from 60 fans with flipcams. The band not only gave the project approval, but the soundboard recording. The result is incredible. It is Everyfan's view, and the object of his obsession is the most exciting rock band making music today. Obviously it is Radiohead, the first major act to sell their work as pay-what-you-wish download, offering a free concert video…

Awesome Entertainment!

September 23, 2010
The past week has been full of good fun. Friday night was Ween at Central Park: these guys pack a party and serenade the masses with every genre of music imaginable. Saturday evening was my first encounter with Brooklyn Bowl and I love it. Great food from Blue Ribbon and a rawkus stage and pit (with a fun boom box show by Javelin) with a backdrop of balls and lanes make this LEED-certified building a very happening spot. On Sunday I was treated to a dress rehearsal of BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON on Broadway and was so unbelievably excited to…

Rhapsodic Love

June 2, 2010
In the month that I have subscribed to it, Rhapsody has improved my life two main ways; in class, whenever a student mentions a song, I can almost always cue it up immediately and create a lesson around it (they believe I am a sorcerer) and in the car, where i can drive for hours and never hear a song I've heard before. My six hour drive home from the Cape seemed shorter for my playlist, which was built from albums in the "New This Week" section, including Jack Johnson, LCD Soundsystem, Black Keys, Band of Horses and The National.…

Jonsi

May 13, 2010
Video is the new light show in concerts. While seeing Phish's lights is an unparallelled experience, a great video show is compelling in ways that lights cannot be. Jonsi, in his solo break from Sigur Ros, performed with one of the most innovative video concepts I've ever seen. Using six projectors on multiple screens combined with a stunning set, the effect was magical. The crowd was awed by the technical wizardry (literally oohing and aahing), as well as the extreme dynamics of the beautiful music. Jonsi's voice is unique and the music he creates is perfectly suited for his ethereal…

Phish 3D and The Bloody Bloody Band

May 4, 2010
3D technology is everywhere and I think we can safely say it has proven itself beyond a gimmick. It truly enhances the visual experience even without the original cliched application of sharks and other objects popping into your face. Phish 3D is the best look I've ever had at my favorite band, bringing the audience onstage with incredible depth and perspective, allowing visual details that would be invisible to anyone at the show and some that would be unseen even in a 2D format; I saw what their "farewell" show in 2004 simulcast in a theater, and this blew it…

Music Evolves!

May 2, 2010
I saw the band OK GO perform "This Too Shall Pass" on The Colbert Report then saw their videos for the song and am overjoyed by their brilliance. They made two versions, one featuring a giant Rube Goldberg contraption and one performed live with a marching band and choir. Absolutely Amazing. And if you have never seen their first video, dancing on the 8 treadmills, then you should probably watch that as well. Thank Good there are still great music videos despite the fact that MTV has turned into a wasteland of our culture's worst. Interestingly, State Farm Insurance paid…

Ukulele Cabaret

May 1, 2010
My neighbor is one half of Sonic Uke and host of the monthly Ukulele Cabaret, which is an eclectic variety show featuring that wonderful instrument. I joined the cabaret this month and played with a laptop running Reason/Record and a small keyboard, which I used to record loops on-the-fly. This is a condensed arrangement of the sounds I made last night. Ukulele Cabaret 4.30.10 It is far from home-studio perfect, but I love that my studio is mobile and that I can improvise and create a unique recording anywhere I go. O Technology!

The Flaming Lips

April 18, 2010
I had heard rumors about this band... I have listened to them for years (Vaseline was in the prime of my middle school-MTV watching years) and have heard they put on an amazing spectacle but had never seen them live until last night in Poughkeepsie. This rumor turned out to be completely true. The show was at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center and they transformed a drab empty space into a vivid party; giant balloons, confetti cannons, giant bug costumes and hundreds of laser pointers distributed to the crowd accompanied by joyous music made the evening a truly special experience. But…

Karaoke

March 19, 2010
I had a few great karaoke experiences this week. On Saturday night, our crew traveled to Koreatown for the classic room rental and sang and screamed into a microphone to various selections from our cultural history. The background music is cheesy MIDI accompaniment, and the words are superimposed on ridiculous Korean films, but it is still one of the most fun activities I can think of participating in with my friends. There is something very intoxicating (besides the copious alcohol consumption) about belting out a song that you've listened to passively hundreds of times. When you are given license to…

Charango

March 13, 2010
When I was in Peru, I was entranced by this 10-stringed instrument and found a workshop where I watched a craftsman making these Andean ukuleles. I had to have one. It is a beautiful instrument with a haunting sound that I had heard forever in the subways and streets of the world, often accompanied by a flute called a zampona. My charango makes a cameo in my latest Record recording, around 2 minutes in. Peruve it!