Wednesday, December 29, 2010

[new music] Gorillaz - The Fall

New music from Gorillaz

The Holidays have caused a backlog of posts, which I hope I can remedy very soon. The first order of business is to report on the Gorillaz's newest album, The Fall, which was recorded in 32 days while the band toured the US. Leading up to the album's Christmas day release, an Advent calendar was counting down the days throughout the month of December, offering up fun gifts from the band along the way.

Much to the delight of Steve Jobs, or quite possibly in a ploy to receive free Apple products for life, Damon Albarn & Co. recorded the entire album using an iPad. To hear the album right now, you can stream it (here) over at the Gorillaz site. For those of you who are part of the Gorillaz Fan Club, you can download a digital copy with liner notes. What I found most comical in the track credits was from track 15, "Seattle Yodel." The last song on The Fall was recorded in Seattle on November 2, and it features the Yodelling Pickle (see below for demonstration) from Archie McPhee, a novelty store every Seattleite is familiar with.

So all in all, The Fall is quite good. It features Albarn almost exclusively on vocals, which is a major plus for my tastes. There's much less hip hop influence, and quite a bit more electronic interludes between tracks. It's a very chill album for ideal atmospheric play. Check it out.

Stream :: Gorillaz - The Fall

Monday, December 20, 2010

[news] Low Power FM Wins the Battle of the Airwaves

New Bill Passes to Expand LPFM

While the big story this week in Congress was the repealing of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," another sweet bill was also passed with little publicity. After nearly a ten-year battle, Low Power FM (LPFM) radio stations have won a major victory to reclaim the airwaves, thanks to the Low Power Community Radio Act (S. 592).

What is LPFM? To clarify, they are any station, licensed with the FCC, to transmit at a lower power than commercial radio stations. These stations do not transmit as far (roughly 7 mile-radius) as the commercial stations, but they usually have content that supports local communities, artists, and independent musicians.

Ten years ago, LPFM was born; however, shortly afterward, big commercial radio stations helped to push through the Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act of 2000. The number of LPFM stations was drastically reduced due to this bill, since it prevented any LPFM station from being within "three clicks" of a commercial station. Therefore, if a major station was broadcasting at 103.3, no LPFM station could use the airwaves between 102.7 and 104.1 since these are within the "three clicks" definition.

But now, because of the newly passed Low Power Community Radio Act, many independent radio stations, citizen organizations, non-profit organizations, churches, and colleges have the potential to take advantage of all the newly freed LPFM stations! Hopefully more KEXP-quality stations can exist under this new era of independent radio!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

[new album] Gorillaz - New Album to be released on X-Mas

Gorillaz to release another album!

Head over to the Gorillaz's site and you'll notice an Advent calendar, which is counting down the days until the release of a new LP on X-Mas day. According to P4K, the album was recorded on Damon Albarn's iPad while on tour in the US. And the news gets even better, since it appears the album will be available for FREE! So far, the Advent calendar has revealed cryptic polaroid scans, Plastic Beach music videos, Gorillaz-themed desktop wallpapers, etc.

Since the band has been on tour, I wonder if this album will be less of a collaboration as Plastic Beach and feature more of the vocals from Albarn as with The Good, The Bad, And The Queen. I guess we'll have to wait until December 25 to find out.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

[new music] The Cave Singers - "Swim Club"

New tune from The Cave Singers

Last month, The Cave Singers announced the release date for their third LP No Witch, which will hit shelves February 22, 2011. The band also offered up their first single "Swim Club" from their album, which can be streamed below. Just as the season here in Seattle begins to get cold and dreary, these guys offer a warm slice of summer to lighten the days. No Witch supposedly has lusher/grander arrangements than Invitation Songs and Welcome Joy, and the additions are noticeable and successful in "Swim Club." A handful of live dates are posted below, in which the band is touring with the Cold War Kids.

MP3 :: The Cave Singers :: "Swim Club"
(No Witch - Jagjaguwar - 2/22/2011)

The Cave Singers tour dates:
12/07/10 - Charleston - Music Farm^
12/08/10 - Jacksonville - Free Bird Live^
12/10/10 - Birmingham - WorkPlay Theatre^
12/11/10 - Memphis - Minglewood Hall^

^ w/ Cold War Kids