I’ve been having some fun with this audio + visual format lately, so I thought I’d hop on the Phish summer tour bandwagon and put together some new videos. Here’s an especially triumphant section of improv from their first night at Great Woods in MA:
More to follow….
I’ve begun playing around with using some of my digital artworks in a new way by combining them with some music and adding some subtle animations. I’ve mainly been using the music of the band Goose as my audio backdrop, splicing some nice moments of improvisation from some of their recent shows (something I used to do back when I was writing and podcasting for Live Music Blog). I have not done a lot of video creation, so this is a new thing for me, but it has been a fun experiment and I am liking the results so far. Here are a few samples:
I made a couple shorts:
And I’ve been toying around with this “grids” concept which I plan to do more of in the coming weeks:
I also did some longer form videos to show off more images and let the jams play out a bit:
Video content seems to get more attention on some of the social media sites, so this experiment was a good start and something I’ll probably keep doing.
BTW, if you the “JOTY” acronym thing seems odd to you, it’s a nod to a Goose fan term I’ve seen thrown around and used here and there; the term is just short for “jam of the year” and has been used in making list of their favorite sections of of improv (jams) for each year, but it is also sort of a knock on overzealous fans calling every new great jam “jam of the year.”
I’ve been listening to this one a lot for the past month or so. It has become a bit of a morning meditation for me, especially on the days I wake up before anyone else in the house and have some quiet time to myself.
It’s like an audio sound bath of filtered synths that just washes over you for several minutes, then fades into this mellow outro with human and animal-like vocal sounds. If you listen to enough Four Tet, none of this is surprising, but it’s always interesting to the ears.
Soooooo funky…
Not much more to say than that.
If you like this, I highly recommend checking out their other stuff.
I don’t typically delve into EDM in my “Song of the Day” posts. It’s not that I don’t dig electronic music, it’s more that I just don’t know EDM as intimately as other genres (and it’s so vast these days). But, man, Four Tet just nails a sound I really love.
Check out this full live set from Tokyo:
Technically this post should be called “Set of the Day” since this is more than a song, but at least it’s all one track.
And just for kicks, here’s a little bonus round I recently came across where Four Tet takes only samples from Michael Jackson’s Thriller and creates a new tune in a matter of 10 minutes:
Not the best tune, but man, talk about editing mastery.
Absolutely loving this new record by William Tyler, Impossible Truth, and this is one of my favorite tunes:
I really dig the overall vibe he’s going for with this song…kind of a dreamy, desert soundscape (and a feeling that I’ve occasionally tried to capture with my own amateur sounds).
I highly recommend picking up a copy.
I’m really digging this new album Howlin’ by Jagwar Ma, and this one is a standout track:
On the album, they’ve mixed together elements of traditional rock, EDM, and thrown in some killer vocal hooks that tie their sound back to the more traditional American songbook (and yes, I know they’re from Australia). In those hooks, I hear elements of classic 60s & 70s soul, occasional Beach Boys-esque harmonizing, along with more 80s and 90s-era rock references (like Jane’s Addiction, Stone Roses).
But those hooks are all mixed, morphed and updated with a more millennial framework of danceable beats and blips. It all makes for a compelling sound that could crossover really nicely to the live stage, especially if they can let the EDM and groove-heavy songs stretch out a bit. I can really see some of these outro sections easily break out into full dance frenzy once they get the crowd moving.
Thanks to Wes at Live Music Blog for putting these guys on my radar.
Justin posted this to LMB a week or two back, so I’m playing a little catch-up game here, but I’m really diggin’ the vibe on this track. It’s kind of made for a nice, sunny spring day. Check it out:
There are some similarities to Tycho‘s mellow, feel-good electro, but with the added element of the vocals hitting on a catchy melody. I also really like the guitar track as the main thematic hook, and it’s all held together nicely with that thick bass guitar laying down the foundation. Good stuff.
As always, I suggest going direct to the source on this one.
I was psyched to see that the Dodos have some new tunes coming out. This is a bit of a slow creeper, but it really picks up towards the end.
For a band that used to mainly be an acoustic guitar and drums duo, this gets pretty damn riff-tastic. Kind of bummed we gotta wait until August for the full record to come out, but I’ll definitely be grabbin’ a copy and you should too.
Really been digging this new Kurt Vile record….
As far as overall sound and vibe, I still think my original tweet was pretty accurate:
new Kurt Vile has a distinct vibe…kinda like one big/long sus2 chord –> ‘Wakin On A Pretty Daze’ n.pr/WWH30v via @nprmusic
— Marc Whitman (@whitperson) April 1, 2013
(go here for a bit more info on that Sus2 chord I mentioned)
Of course, like any solid album, this one takes a few listens to really grow on ya. I highly recommend picking up a copy.