An attractive feature of electronic music and what keeps me coming back for more is the empowering tools that allow a solo or duo to have a full sound – all woven together in an electronic tapestry. Take Andrew Bird for example – his live music takes on much the same electronic elements as do others who use samples. Imogen Heap weaves her songs live on stage, piling loop after loop and fits them in just the right rhythm and place.

Along with the new introductions to electronic artists, one of my old favorites put out a surprise electronic album: Derek Webb. Today, Thursday February 25, 2010 ONLY you can get a FREE download at NoiseTrade.com/ of his new album Stockholm Syndrome. Check it out, seriously. A lot of hype that gradually produced doubt accompanied it’s release. The relevance of its release is doubtless for me and I listen to it more than any of his past work. Going back to his previous record The Ringing Bell I can continue to understand Webb’s growth and musical trajectory. With the release of Stockholm Syndrome, Webb also released the song stems for fans and musicians to remix and mashup on a site called SoundCloud- a hosting site for remixes, electronic sample sharing, and a place for artists of all professions to communicate and critique. girltalk is the best example I can give for an artist/producer who takes dozens of song – new and old and mashes them together in insanely imaginative ways. [note: It would be another entry to discuss the role of a dj vs. producer. I'm purposely leaving out the dj/MC which uses sampling and mashing by definition] I believe that more self-produced artists like Webb & Heap are using the ease of file sharing and inexpensive mixing software to encourage creativity among fans, allowing an almost conversational give and take of music. During SILVERDOCS 2009, I saw the documentary RIP: A Remix Manifesto which furthered my education of the issues behind mashups, music downloads and the question of freedom in media exchange and copyrights. The film goes beyond music and encouraged viewer participation through video remixing. In the end, there can be collaborative, mutually-supportive peace between artist and downloader or an intense – often money-driven – power war.

Back to the music… one critical turning point in my music listening was when I started subscribing to the KEXP Song of the Day Podcast. This (FREE!) daily bit of current and sometimes pre-released music accompanied by ablog gives context and information. Bell’s song “Housefire” was one of those tunes that eased my ears into more electronic music. Instead of hearing meaningless beeps & taps, I began to hear layers of complex rhythms and harmonies. Passion Pit was the next group to REALLY catch my attention. Let me tell you, I fell head over heels and was fully convinced that if their song “Sleepyhead” could be a person – a man – I would marry him. Ironically, or not, Passion Pit became one of Paste Magazine’s “Best of What’s Next” bands and caught the attention of NPR’s All Songs Considered as well as festivals & listeners around the country in 2008. They have a pop-driven sound. Similarly, Bon Iver gave me a taste of simpler self-produced music that verges on electronic with a few affected tracks such as “Woods” which is reminiscent of Imogen Heaps’ “Hide and Seek”… and we’ve come full circle. Before I let you go, just wanted to share a list of songs in my iTunes library & final thoughts.

25 Top picks for KEXP’s Song of the Day electronic songs:

• Dan Deacon “Paddling Ghost” (5/19/09)
• Bon Iver “Skinny Love” (3/31/09)
• The Arch Cupcake “Rubix Dude” (5/11/08 )
• Booka Shade “Charlotte” (7/15/08)
• The Dodos “Fools” (7/21/08 )
• El Ten Eleven “Jumping Frenchmen of Maine” (4/14/09)
• Faunts “Alarmed/Lights” (4/1/09)
• High Places “Head Spins” (10/9/08)
• High Places “From Stardust to Sentience” (11/20/08)
• Le Loup “Beach Town” (10/19/09)
• Kinky “Fuego En La Fabrica” (3/3/09)
• Lusine “Two Dots” (9/2/09)
• Man Plus “A Ghost is a Ghost is a Ghost is a Ghost” Remix (12/19/08)
• Miike Snow “Animal” (6/8/09)
• Miike Snow “Burial (DJ Mehdi Remix)” (3/11/09)
• Moby “Pale Horses” ( 7/23/09)
• Peter Bjorn & John “Nothing to Worry About” (2/25/09)
• The Pinker Tones “Fugaz” (6/3/08)
• School of Seven Bells “Iamundernodisguise” ( 11/19/08)
• Zion I “Caged Bird Part 1 (feat. Brother Ali) (4/16/09)
• Telepathe “So Fine” (2/30/09)
• Stellastarr* “Freak Out” (7/21/09)
• Nino Moschella “Continue to Call” ( 6/23/09)
• Passion Pit “I’ve Got Your Number” (11/3/08)

Click, read, download & enjoy! If you want more reading, there are several other blogs like SoftSynth Blog who shares their 25 top electronic albums of the Decade. Many other songs and artists are worth exploring in this discussion and as I barely scratch the surface, I’m finding more. Have you heard a song that inspires you to dance or mix it up? Leave a comment and pass it on!

Highlighting next week:
On the Big Screen – Oscar Predictions! I’ll be giving my predictions for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards which happen Sunday March 7th, so read ahead & tune in!

Why it works: Glee is the culmination of FOX’s successful reality series American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance and Disney’s hit High School Musical trilogy plus the humor/music combination in many episodes of The Simpsons. The reality shows, AI & SYTYCD, showcase rare, raw talent like the Kelly Clarkson/Susan Boyle voices and the Tabitha & Napoleon Dumo choreography we all love. But in order to get to the perfect performances & well-synced choreography we must endure the pain of disappointment and at times, horror of the not-so-talented. Glee is a gold mine of chill-inducing, pitch-perfect, light-blazing performances. While some scoff the reality-TV fad, audiences young & old can justify watching Glee because the performances are from the professionals & the songs are from their very own iTunes library: Journey “Don’t Stop Believing,” The Rolling Stones “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” Van Halen “Jump,” John Lennon “Imagine” and well, you get the picture. Younger audiences will love it too! With songs like, “Gold Digger,” Rehab,” “I Kissed a Girl,” and “Single Ladies” they keep it relevant.
Another evidence of their musical success: Mashups.
Beyonce/Hair “Crazy in Love”/”Hair”, Bon Jovi/Usher “It’s My Life”/”Confessions Pt. 2″ and Beyonce/Katrina & the Waves”Halo”/”Walking on Sunshine” mixing old and new.

Let’s be honest, it was hard to call myself a fan of HSM 1,2,&3 when they’re geared toward 8-15 year-olds, but with catchy tunes and sharp choreography, it was I who dragged Nick (9) & Zack (7) to the theater for the third installment. Glee was just what I (and the thousands of other 20-somethings who secretly watched HSM) needed. With Glee, I can still enjoy song, dance, PLUS mature story-content and witty humor but in a more acceptable & predictable format -the TV Dramady series.

A reviewer I admire, Rachael Maddux of Paste Magazine, recently wrote a Season 1 Reveiw, gave it a “respectable” 51 out of 100 and pummeled it due to it’s lack of realistic plot points & far-fetched props/costumes during musical numbers. I am disappointed with this review and join ranks with the opinions of three online commenters that follow the article. Trish says, “GLEE is great satire with fantastically executed musical performances. To me, it’s like a mash-up of the best unexpected covers from American Idol with Friday Night Lights-loveable characters.” The show gives me more of what I secretly want when watching American Idol – good song choices, good voices, good performances, and a little DRAMA.

Maddux does bring up some clear issues with the show:
“…most of the characters’ wounds are self-inflicted, the natural consequences of self-serving lies and deliberate manipulations of friends, family and co-workers. There are some exceptions, some challenges and conflicts parlayed into teaching moments with all the saccharine wisdom of an after-school special. But, for the most part, every moment of character development is merely an excuse to unveil another dark layer of these people we’re supposed to identify with, root for—even love.”
So yeah, I’m not a fan of how the characters lie and manipulate in order to make things better… is the “happy ending” worth the frustration it takes to get there? Additionally, the writers of Glee aren’t afraid of sex, sexiness, and sexuality. I realized this very quickly. From the topics of Glee Club member, Kurt’s sexuality to teen pregnancies to the sensual dance numbers that only sickened me at times, Glee might just be a bit obsessed. At the same time, the show brings up several other hot-button topics such as physical & mental handicaps, marriage & faithfulness, and the all-American “just be yourself” campaign. One other shallow mention in the mix: religion. Two references to religion I can recall are when the pregnant, gold-cross-necklace wearing “Christian” cheerleader is outspoken about abstinence and when Puck decides to date Rachel because he’s a Jew & she’s a “good-looking Jew” and he wants to make his mother happy… hm. So spiritual.

Besides the music, the character rivalries are my favorite plot tent-poles of Glee. Mr. Scheuster vs. Sue Sylvester. Even the somewhat sketchy Mrs. Terri Scheuster vs. wholesome guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury keep me watching. Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester is nearly perfect and the comedy that ensues between Sue and Sheu is belly-laugh worthy!
(see this & more great Sue Sylvester Quotes)

Will: ”I will destroy you”
Sue: ”I am about to vomit down your back.”

Lynch is pushing 50 and is JUST now on my radar with this role plus her recent role in the Meryl Streep movie Julie & Julia. That’s not to say she hasn’t been working the screen for a while. Check her IMDB listings. Keep an eye on this one. Paste Magazine covered an article about Matthew Morrison’s rise to fame and his move into recording that voice I’ve come to love. At first, I was mostly disturbed by the white-boy-trying-to-pull-off-hip-hop (not to mention trying to be the “cool” teacher) but then I watched and realized he had the vocals & moves to make it work. I predict he’ll stick to what he knows and offer an album of covers & sound-alike-broadway tunes.

That brings me to my final cheer about Glee. It’s bringing back Broadway!
With musical guest appearances like Kristen Chenoweth (who I LOVE) and musical numbers like “On My Own” from Les Miserables and “Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat” from Guys and Dolls, it’s a sneak peak of the Broadway stage. I could go on about Lea Michele as Rachel Berry and her incredible vocals that make me want to jump a train to NYC to see Wicked or Chicago. Whew. This is why I love Glee.
So congradulations on winning a San Fransisco Review.)

Highlighting next week:
I’m trying to keep up with my pattern, so tune in next week for a perspective on electronic music and how my tastes have changed over the past few years. Highlighting KEXP’s Song of the Day Podcast, Imogen Heap, David Byrne, Booka Shade, Passion Pit, High Places, Animal Collective, and *gasp!* Derek Webb. Thanks for reading!

That night stirred me into an admiration for musicians who really PLAY music. I mean PLAY. Not only does he prove his musical talent for instruments, but I would argue that his ability comes out most when he’s on stage putting it all together – a wonderful sort of plalying. That first year of listening to Andrew Bird’s music I saw him play live three times in three different cities: First was June 2005 in St. Louis for a PACKED house at Off Broadway, second in Atlanta that fall at The Eyedrum (again a packed house), and third in Nashville on my way home to St. Louis at The Mercy Lounge that same fall. All three awesome shows. Since then I’ve seen him on a few late shows showing off his newest album: Noble Beast.

If you aren’t familiar with Bird’s music, your first listen will NOT disappoint. And let me tell you, it is no lie when Paste Magazine’s Kate Kiefer warns you to grab a dictionary before trying to decipher the lyrics!

A sampling of A.Bird lyrics:
palindrome
plasticities
radiolarian
aubergine
fratricide
rheostat
machinations
cosmonaut
incandescent
proto-Sanskrit
Cypriot
Uralic
troglobite
plecostomus
anthurium
pleurisy
valerian
dermestid

About a year ago, Bird started a blog on The New York Times website called : Measure for Measure. It is here that he explains how he chooses the words that fill his songs saying, “…writing lyrics becomes like running multiple code-breaking programs in your head until just the right word with just the right number of syllables, tone of vowel and finally some semblance of meaning all snap into place.”

So you can see that not only is he giving plenty of thought and practice to the melodies, harmonies, and parts of each instrument, but the words – both their combination & rhymes – are just as important to the wholeness of the songs.

“That’s part of the fun with Andrew Bird, the songs are so well-crafted, music and words so inextricably connected, that the songs are both beautiful objects to be admired as well as puzzles to be unlocked.” -Gavin Breeden

The release of Noble Beast and the kick-off to the album’s tour started with a concert at the historic Carnegie Hall in New York City on January 28th. Bob Boilen at NPR gave me my first listen to the new album while I waited for my download on iTunes. It’s a great album. Lives up to his last release, but involves a little more creativity in the percussion department. I would also agree with the compliments on his vocals which are all rich and lilting throughout the album. Three stand-out tracks to me are: “Fitz and the Dizzyspells,” “Tenuousness,” and “Not a Robot, But a Ghost.” His imagination is as deep and wide as any 8-year-old, but his years of training as a musician give way to sound maturity. Comparing the sound of this album with the previous, I would say that it’s a fuller sound – more production in what feels like a larger space. Armchair Apocrypha, to me, has a more intimate production quality. There may even be less whistling & glockenspiel in this new album – more guitar & violin. Maybe “Effigy” is the most characteristic to me on Noble Beast of that layering process that Bird uses in his live shows -the transitions from one melody to the next and then the connection in the end. The key is that Bird is growing as an artist and yet stays true to his own style; one that I haven’t heard repeated.

**Check out the A.mazhing Archive.org for some FREE Downloads of Andrew Bird’s music. click here for my favorite show**

Next Time: On the Big Screen: The Class – This film, nominated for this year’s Academy Awards as Best Foreign Film, is playing at the AFI and as soon as I see it, I’ll let you know how I like it!

Hollywood weeks held extreme drama, Simon threatened immediate dismissal for those who forgot the lyrics, and we were left with the top 36 – all who were given the opportunity to perform LIVE – on stage for America to choose.

Each round of 12 produced predictable enough results. At least predictable until the Wild Card round when Anoop was left hanging & then, OF COURSE, they changed the top 12 to the top 13 which I SHOULD have predicted. A plot twist. This week he was, once again, left as the LAST contestant saved. Poor guy – I believe this is the 3rd time he’s been scared & then saved (Chosen as a wild card, chosen as #13, and tonight’s scare). Personally, I like the guy a LOT – he’s got a great voice, he’s got a great face/smile & he connects with the audience. Let’s hope his song choice improves!

Tonight’s results leave us with:
Michael Sarver
Allison Iraheta
Matt Giraud
Kris Allen
Megan Corkrey
Scott MacIntyre
Alexis Grace
Danny Gokey
Anoop Desai
Adam Lambert
Lil Rounds

Both Jasmine Murray and Jorge Nunez were sent home. I am satisfied with America’s choices even though I think Jorge brought some diversity to the stage

As for the extra performances, I missed Kanye’s, but I would say A.mazing choice to bring back Kelly Clarkson! Really, for all the Idol fans out there, who doesn’t remember her winning night performance? The song, the emotions, the tears – wow. Just wonderful.

On the side, a word about Ryan Seacrest: He’s always trying to get the inside scoop on national television! I’ve heard him on all the Red Carpets this spring – Grammy’s, Golden Globes, & Academy Awards asking all sorts of personal questions as if he can catch someone off guard and get a straight answer. He’s good at his job as the most overworked entertainment corespondent aka “wrangler.”

According to Idol Tracker
These are the top 3 from a few weeks ago, and they continue to be some of my faves.

In my Top 3 I’d replace Danny (even though I like him) with Allison:

I guess Danny is just plain pop while Allison has more spice & life to her – I love her rocker chick look & sound. And I’m a huge fan of the young ones (she’s 16). There are some like Paris Bennett (16) from Season 5 who are told they are still too young and to come back in a few years, but then there are the ones like Season 7 runner up David Archaletta (16) and Season 6 winner Jordin Sparks (17).

Links:
Thanks to Bob Payne for some Live blogging of tonight’s show! If you missed it, just read about it.

Also, don’t forget! On iTunes you can download both the videos & the audio recordings of each of the top 13′s performances. $1.49 per video & $.99 per song. As the weeks go on, download your faves!
Enjoy & let me know what you think!

This specific resolution also refers to the fact that this blog is dusty. No. Worse than just dusty – it is so sparsely used that it’s at the risk of foreclosure in a bottomed-out economy of unread blogs. It’s time for a cleaning, a polishing, and to keep with the house analogy – time for a blog flip…. oh yeah, I’m gonna sell it… to you!

My blog-refurb starts with a new goal for my writing. Instead of giving you all the details of my ever-exciting-post-student phase of life, I want to do some reviews and commentary on the media that is impacting my life and hopefully the lives of those who will be reading. The three big media types that impact my life and give me cause to interact with my culture are films, music, and TV programs. For each of these three categories, I partake using several venues including movie theaters, the local Library, Concert Venues, magazines, my fave television stations, iTunes, and of course the all-knowing, all-inclusive World Wide Web.

Instead of overwhelming myself with a daily post of quick info, I’m going to aim for a bit more in-depth research and then offer a weekly post. If I find myself with more time/words, I may up it twice a week…

For now, I’m going to follow the year-end trends and give you my top 10 in each category that I mentioned. If I had a billion years, I’d link each one to myspace or something… just use the ‘ole highlight, right-click “search for in google“…

Top 10 Songs I listened to in 2008
10. “Why Did You Let Me Stay Here?”- She & Him
9. “Why Can’t It Be Christmastime All Year” – Rosie Thomas
8. “Hologram” – Katie Herzig
7. “Lose You” – Sandra McCracken
6. “Good Night Girl” – Nadas
5. “Honey Will You Sing Me a Song” – Matt Hires
4. “Bleeding Love” – Leona Lewis
3. “When Water Comes to Life” – Cloud Cult
2. “Mercy”- Duffy
1. “Buildings & Mountains” – The Republic Tigers

Top 10 Artists I listened to in 2008 (with a little help from last.fm)
10. The Weepies
9. Anberlin
8. Andrew Bird
7. Sufjan Stevens
6. Jennifer Knapp
5. Hem
4. Over the Rhine
3. Sara Groves
2. Rosie Thomas
1. Sandra McCracken & Derek Webb (counting them as 1)

Top 10 Movies of 2008
10. High School Musical 3 (October)
9. Kung Fu Panda (June)
8. Be Kind, Rewind (February)
7. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (May)
6. Taxi to the Dark Side (January)
5. Synecdoche, NY (October)
4. Burn After Reading (September)
3. Man on Wire (July)
2. The Dark Knight (July)
1. Slumdog Millionaire (December)

Top Concerts/Live Performances of 2008
10. Shane & Shane with Bethany Dillon (St. Louis, MO)
9. Derek Webb & Sandra McCracken (St. Louis, MO)
8. Katie Myers (Lookout Mountain, GA)
7. Michael Rhodes (Lookout Mountain, GA)
6. Ingrid Michaelson (Alexandria, VA)
5. Over the Rhine & Garrison Star (Birmingham, AL)
4. Rosie Thomas (Vienna, VA)
3. So You Think You Can Dance (Norfolk, VA)
2. Iron & Wine (St. Louis, MO)
1. Art. Music. Justice. With Sara Groves, Brandon Heath, Derek Webb, Sandra McCracken, & Charlie Peacock (Messiah College, PA)

Top 10 TV Programs of 2008
10. L.A. Ink (TLC)
9. Soup (E!)
8. John & Kate + 8 (TLC)
7. What Not To Wear (TLC)
6. American Idol (FOX)
5. 30 Rock (NBC)
4. True Hollywood Story (E!)
3. So You Think You Can Dance (FOX)
2. Pushing Daisies (ABC)
1. The Office (NBC)

Please feel free to comment on my top 10 lists! I am not holding myself to standards besides honesty about what I was able to “consume” this year. I admit I left out several movies that I should have seen/will see and several artists/songs that I should have listened to/will listen to in the coming year! Thanks for reading!

Peace_Sarah_