Music Blog Breakdown

Some folks take a passive approach  to finding new music…
It can be as simple as turning on the radio.
Others take a more active role…
I think it’s fun learning about new music or “new to me” music, but even I admit that there are times when all the reading and listening start to feel like a full time job.   So, what are your options?  Scale back and allow the music to come to you?  Or make the time you spend focusing on new music count for more?
I’m no good at sitting back and waiting so I take the second approach, and the very best way I know to get good info in a short time is through the hundreds of Indie Music Blogs out there.
Now you’re saying, “hundreds of blogs”  how’s that supposed to help me save time?
Well you don’t have to read each and every blog.  I’ve helpfully compiled a list of some of the most respected blogs out there.

Check a few out next time you’re itching for something new to listen to.
Aquarium Drunkard
Started by Justin Gage, this indie blog features reviews, interviews and lots of great footage and samples.  AD covers a wide swath, jumping all over the pop/rock map and throwing in funk, soul, country and jazz to keep things interesting.  Gage isn’t satisfied to stick with modern music makers either.  He mines the depths of of musical history to introduce or remind readers of tons of long-lost or forgotten musicians.  Listen to Aquarium Drunkard’s radio show on satellite radio via a free trial.

Potholes In My Blog
A knowledgeable staff generates the content for this blog.  Along with your typical album reviews and news these guys churn out a podcast every few weeks along with tons of feature content.  They cover a wide territory but there’s no doubt that the emphasis of this blog is in the hip hop and rap world.  One of my favorite features, called vinyl gazing  takes a look back at an older record released on vinyl and what implications it’s had to modern music. 

GoldFlakePaint
These guys consider themselves a music webzine.  The UK based site includes indie rock reviews and interviews with a nice balance of new and old artists to consider.  Like many music review sources they also offer lots of content for your listening enjoyment as well as occasional compilations.

Pigeons & Planes
Pigeons & Planes generates tons of content.  From indie hip hop and rock, to huge pop stars they cover it all with reviews and news.  My favorite part of this blog are the often humorous features…See their compilation  “The Best and Worst of Dubstep Beatboxing”.

The Needle Drop
Last but not least The Needle Drop is the quirky creation of Anthony Fantano, the above mentioned busiest music nerd.  Check out TND for thorough video reviews of music across the spectrum with an emphasis on punk, metal and rock.  Don’t forget his NPR affiliated pod cast streamable from the website.

Now its your turn…where do you get your new music fix?  Leave your suggestions in the comments.

-Brooke

CLP South Side

Indie Animations Worth a Look!

I’m always down for Coraline or the Nightmare Before Christmas, and Up made me cry like a baby (in a good way).  But just because big-name movies are easy to locate doesn’t mean they’re the only ones worth seeing!

There are tons of art house, foreign studio, or amateur “scrapster” animations that are not to be missed. Next time you’re looking for something different to watch, try one of these…they’re all at the library.

Whoa! Sita Sings the Blues weaves together the passion of love, the sadness of breakups, a 3,000 year-old Sanskrit epic story called Ramayana (told in graphic novel here), and the 1920′s blues croonings of Annette Hanshaw. If that sounds confusing, don’t worry. Each narrative is told in a different style of animation–which keeps things clear and interesting. This film is a great example of what novice filmmakers can do with a little passion and time  – filmmaker Nina Paley had never animated anything longer than a few minutes when she started making this one.

Watch as Alice‘s inanimate world comes to life in this quietly bizarre stop-motion film. If you grew up with Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, it may seem twee in comparison with this darker 1988 adaptation. I shiver every time the White Rabbit chomps his teeth. This version of Alice is really faithful to the classic Lewis Carroll, where the world of Alice that you think you know expands. If you’ve participated in QuickFLIX already this summer, you may find inspiration for your next stop-motion creation here!

Mary and Max is an Australian claymation film set in the 1960s that follows the unlikely friendship of two pen-pals. Mary Dinkle is a lonely, homely kid in Melbourne. Her mom is an alchoholic, and her dad just seems not to care – so picks a name out of a phone book and begins writing to Max, who she learns is an obese New Yorker with Asperger’s Syndrome. Over 20 years (don’t worry – they go fast), the quirky duo follows and changes one another’s lives.

The Secret of Kells is the story of the book that “turns darkness into light.” Brendan lives with monks at a remote outpost, Iona, when a visit from a master artist turns everything upside-down. He confronts evil, hidden in a deeply enchanted forest, and his darkest fears. If you like quest stories, faeries, Ireland, or medieval art, this one’s for you.

The stylings throughout this film are a clear homage to the painstakingly elaborate illuminated manuscripts of medieval Ireland–heck, the Book of Kells is one. For you art history buffs (I know you’re out there!), this is icing on an already delicious cake.

Madame Sousa’s grandson is kidnapped while riding the Tour de France, but she’s not just going to sit and watch it happen. She enlists her pooch, Bruno, and a spinster trio of jazz singers (because hey, why not?) to help her find young Champion. The upbeat retro soundtrack of The Triplets of Belleville is a little bit reminiscent of the music from a high-school classic, Ghost World, and the animation – well…watch it and find out!

These are just a handful of what we’ve got at the library, but what do you think? What’s the best animated film for teens?

Whitney, CLP – Main

I’ve Come to Wish You a Happy Birthday, Morrissey!

Photograph: Jake Walters

My apologies for the title, I couldn’t resist.  Moz turns 53 years young today!

Never heard of Morrissey?  I’d put money on some of your favorite bands/artists listing him, and his former band The Smiths, among their influences.  For a solid three decades Morrissey has provided an intelligent, dark humored soundtrack to unrequited love, regret, loneliness, and the confusion of “growing up” for all those perpetually sixteen, clumsy, and shy (yours truly included).

The man, himself, was born Steven Patrick Morrissey in Manchester, England in 1959 (FUN FACT #1:  When he was a teen, Morrissey’s mom worked in his local public library!).  As the legend goes, sometime in 1982, a teenage guitarist named Johnny Marr (Modest Mouse, The Cribs) knocked on Morrissey’s door (pretty much out of the blue) and insisted that they start writing songs together.  Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce soon joined on bass and drums, and The Smiths were born.  Over the next five years the band would release four albums, countless singles, and a handful of compilations (all of which are incredible).  The group split up in 1987.  Today, The Smiths are generally regarded as one of the greatest bands of all time.

Photograph: Stephen Wright

After the group’s demise, Morrissey became a successful solo artist.  To date, he’s released nine studio albums and has toured the world over (FUN FACT #2: He played Pittsburgh in 2009.  I was there.  It was nuts.)  Aside from music, Morrissey is an adamant supporter of animal rights and vegetarianism.




There’s more to life than books, you know – but not much more… So check out these books about Morrissey and The Smiths!

               

Jon : CLP Carrick