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New Music Preview No. 1
Jan 30th
Right now I’m listening to more music than ever.
Thought I’d share a few singles of what I’ve got in rotation this month.
What are you listening to? I’d love to know!
xx – nicole
Dan Black – “Yours ” (The Hours)
This is an artist I’m really excited for in 2010. The album UN is available digitally right now on the iTunes store, and the album is expected to have an official release next month. He’ll be performing live at Cinespace in Hollywood on 2/23 and Spaceland on 2/24.
http://www.myspace.com/danblacksound
Delphic – “Doubt” (R&S)
Delphic’s debut album Acolyte is out real soon, and it’s already built up a large amount of buzz – they’ve been cited in numerous ‘Ones To Watch in 2010′ lists and have been hyped up a bit on the blogs. The record is lush, modern, energetic electronic music, and if you’re a fan of bands like Hot Chip, Friendly Fires and Empire of the Sun you may dig these guys.
http://www.myspace.com/delphic
ChewLips – “Play Together” (Kitsune)
“Play Together” is a taken from their debut named Unicorn available February 9th on import. I suspect you can find a few singles floating around out there, including issues from some of the recent Kitsune label compilations. You can learn more about the london-based trio at -
http://www.myspace.com/chewlips
We Fell To Earth – “Deaf” (Ais)
A producer group comprised of the duo Wendy Rae Fowler alongside Richard File. Richard is best known for his work with James Lavelle as part of the group Unkle. The two met in fall of 2005 at Rancho de la Luna Studios near Joshua Tree here in So-Cal, where Richard was recording with Josh Hommie from Queens of the Stone Age. The two hit it off and began recording together, with their debut self-titled album released independently last August.
Pete Lawrie – “Black and Blue (Troublemaker remix)” (Field Records/Island)This muti-talented, multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter actually has roots as a hip-hop DJ and producer. If you head on over to his website there’s a free mixtape for download that pays homage to his roots. You can check out a few samples of his work prior to this years’ debut coming at us from Island Records.
TAPETHERADIO – “Stay Inside” (unsigned/indie)
The most recent signing to Rough Trade records, this is their second single and is quite appropriate for these wintery days. The song is aptly named “Stay Inside”…
http://www.myspace.com/tapetheradio
Mike Slott – “Gardening” (LuckyMe / All City)
He’s a producer who worked alongside Hudson Mohawke, Dabrye, and others…His first LP Lucky 9teen was released last month by LuckyMe recordings.
http://www.myspace.com/mikeslottbeats
The HotRats – “Big Sky” (Fat Possum)
England’s HotRats is actually the lead singer and drummer from Supergrass – Gaz Coombes and Danny Goffey – alongside rockstar producer Nigel Godrich who’s best known for his work with bands like Radiohead, Beck, and Air. They recently played a few packed shows in LA that included the full band members from both Radiohead and Spoon in attendance. I’m really digging this album. It’s named Turn Ons, and is collection of cover songs -reworkings of classics by the likes of the Doors, the Kinks, the Cure, Elvis Costello, Squeeze, Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, the English Beat, and David Bowie. The album came out Monday.
The Webb Sisters – “Plastered Scene” (Mercury)
They’re sisters from Kent, UK born to a hairdresser father and a tennis coach mother. They signed to Mercury records and released their first LP in June 2006 named Daylight Crossing. They’ve recently collaborated with Angelo Petraglia from Kings of Leon, and were backup singers from Leonard Cohen’s tour in 2008, his first tour in 14 years. They recently played a few dates at the esteemed Hotel Cafe…
http://www.thewebbsisters.com/
Can’t say no to Bowie! Last week he released A Reality Tour Live 2 CD set – 33 songs recorded live from a Nov 2003 show in Dublin.
Choice Albums of 2009
Dec 12th
There were many amazing releases this year from all genres, ranging from well known artists to the obscure.
Below are my top 10 pics for 2009 as well as a quite considerable list of notable runners-up!
Runners Up:
Doves “Kingdom of Rust”
Bodycode “Immune”
Silversun Pickups “Swoon”
Muse “The Resistance”
White Rabbits “It’s Frightening”
Nosaj Thing “Drift”
DJ Vadim “U Can’t Lurn Imaginashun”
One Eskimo “One Eskimo”
Ingrid Michaelson “Everybody”
The XX “xx”
Volcano Choir “Unmap”
The Antlers “Hospice”
Dead Weather “Horehound”
Neon Indian “Psychic Chasms”
Dead Man’s Bones “Dead Man’s Bones”
Califone “All my Friends are Funeral Singers”
Mayer Hawthorne “A Strange Arrangement”
Monsters of Folk “Monsters of Folk”
Phoenix “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”
Click here for last year’s choice music podcasts of 2008.
dj mixing: 20 years of Warp
Nov 22nd
This year, the seminal independent record label Warp Records celebrates 20 years of releasing cutting-edge electronic music.
In honor of their 20th anniversary I’ve put together a mix highlighting a few favorite tracks.
When creating a mixtape I usually start with a playlist of anywhere from 40-60 songs and shape it down from there. It ’s always painful to make these edits, but this time was particularly difficult because there are so many important songs that have been released over the years I’m sad to not include.
I wound up with a selection of singles I love – and have meant a lot to me over time – rather than a generalized “best of” list, which can tend to be so subjective.
If you’re also a fan of Warp, don’t forget include your favorites in the comments section!
Enjoy!
Musichifi dj mix #003 – a celebration of warp records by musichifi
//tracklist
Nightmares on Wax “Les Nuits”
Autechre “Nine”
Kenny Larkin “Tedra”
Squarepusher “My Red Hot Car”
Lfo “LFO (Leeds Warehouse mix)”
Aphex Twin “Windowlicker”
Flying Lotus feat. Andreya Triana “Tea Leaf Dancers”
Jamie Lidell – “Multiply”
!!! – “Must Be The Moon”
Grizzly Bear “Two Weeks”
For more:
Warp Records Essentials (eMusic)
Four Must-Have Favorites From Warp Records (Flavorwire)
Lady GaGa “Bad Romance”
Nov 13th
“Bad Romance” is Lady GaGa’s first single from The Fame Monster.
On collaborating with director Francis Lawrence on the music video, she explains to MTV that
“I could give him all my weirdest, most psychotic ideas, but it would come across to and be relevant to the public.”
Indeed.
The Cremaster 3 meets bats-in-the-belfry Russian vodka advert gives most “artsy” music videos as of late a run for their money.
I’ve been on the fence about Lady G as cultural device.
I used to believe that she was everything wrong with the music industry.
Now I’m finally starting to realize that the stranger she gets, oddly enough the more relevance she has – and the more I like her.
Perhaps devoid of serious musical talent with lyrics certainly distanced from being poetic, this is artistry folks – however served up.
What do you think? Leave your comments at the top.
Mining Moof
Oct 25th
Moof.com is one service of many that’s a step closer to granting us an all-access portal to our iTunes music collections from off-site.
A simple .xml export/import from iTunes allows Moof to quickly assess your library, referencing all tracks and playlists located there.
Moof currently pulls content from YouTube. Often, it pulls live versions of songs rather than the original, making it fun to watch video playback while adding a new dimension to the casual listening experience.
The site brings closer the idea of having access to our music collection anywhere, from any device of choice (almost – when am I gonna get access from my car stereo receiver, anyway?). A huge bonus is the ability to share songs and playlists with others.
Some sites like Drowned in Sound and We Are Hunted already do this on cloud-based music streaming service Spotify.
It will be interesting to see if Moof – or a related site – will eventually partner with content providers to enable full-on access to everything in my iTunes library whether it be live versions, remixes, rarities, or originals.
Choons I’m digging…
Aug 30th
Each month I put together a mix of songs for a small grouping of close friends and family. I’ve decided to post snippets of the mix online for you to enjoy here, too!
Please feel free to leave your thoughts and feedback – especially about any new music that may be crossing your path at the moment. I’d love to hear what you’re into!
I’d also love to hear about any technologies you use for music discovery or playlist sharing.
xo
A few highlights of what I’ve been enjoying this month:
All is Love: music from the forthcoming Where the Wild Things Are film soundtrack featuring Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs…
Here we Go: a very rough cut from Zuper Blahq, Will.i.am’s super-secret side project. Amazing banger? Totally weak? U decide…
What Have I Done: Anna Ternheim, Winner of Best Female Artist and Album Of The Year at the Swedish Grammy Awards. Her album dropped a few days ago stateside..
Lions: and while Kings of Leon have graduated to full-on stadium rock, check out The Features – the first band signed to the King’s new label & partnership with Bug Music…
Exit Music for a Film: with Radiohead in the news lately here’s a cover from one of my new faves, incredible LA band Divisible doing their version of Exit Music (For a Film)…
The Highest: a super groovy re-worked edit from Maxwell’s latest.
Speaking of Maxwell, make sure to check out my first feature for Yahoo! Music on the R&B singer (toot toot!). 
Media for Everyone
Aug 3rd
Some say the decentralized nature of online communities creates an environment conducive to so-called socialist behavior. I wouldn’t say these tenets are examples of a new socialism* by any means. I think the medium contains too many overarching constituents to take into consideration before assigning it any sociological value.
Given my own experience with online communities I’d lean towards more of a populist approach* – and I also wonder:
Are there any underlying marxist elements at play when we think about how content is consumed?
Rapid technological advancement leads to costly hardware from iPhones, to gaming consoles, to media storage. On top of that, monthly bandwidth and data plans are required to make those things work.
Comcast employs a tier-based system of pricing models for various downstream and upstream bitrates. It’s recommended to have at least have a 1.5MB pull to watch video, a step or two above the most basic monthly package.
This ultimately leads to a pyramid of who can afford what. Are we leaving out those who have limited to no accessibility?
If so, how large will the rift be between the informed and uninformed?
In the print editon of July’s Wired, President Obama’s newly appointed CIO Vivek Kundra references online communities as the new public square where people will discuss government info soon to be released online.
He says that “...by democratizing data, the American people will be able to hold their government accountable, based on evidence rather than talk.”
This is great and the internet does act as a public forum – but only for those who know how to use it. Will this create an elitist class of those who have means to access this information?
We live and work more efficiently than we did 5 years ago. We have the ability to get more done while constantly staying connected to each other and the rest of the world. In this seemingly decentralized and transparent public sphere we can stream documentaries for free under public domain, read about issues that affect us at the local and global level and then participate. We can even download a free weekly video update from our President.
Information we choose to receive is free and widely distributed. However hi-bandwidth is required to download podcasts, stream video, and move quickly from window to window. We need speedy hard drives and vast amounts of storage space with software that frequently needs to be updated. Not to mention the occasional tech support.
Will those who don’t have these things be left in the dark?
In an emergency, would people with the pricey smart phone have an advantage in avoiding a crisis situation?
If I were part of a Union and there’s activity happening online whereby I can participate in issues that matter to me, firstly I would want to know where to find about it. Secondly, I’d be inclined to participate.
Who are the technological evangelists empowering people of all classes to leverage the internet to their benefit?
The Media Access Project (MAP), Public Knowledge groups are just two of the public interest groups fighting for issues like the expansion of broadband, open access and net neutrality. The Center for Social Media encourages the promotion of a dynamic and engaged public through social media. There are many similar organizations out there (see links to a few below).
Maybe before taking on the herculean task of making government documents public, we should take additional steps to set up programs for public access and consumption.
Content-holders should be encouraged to offer lower bitrated streams of their media. Cities should create a rock-solid plan for municipal wi-fi. Community colleges can offer free classes showing people how to navigate RSS feeds and publish online. We need to leverage new media to somehow to become a voice for all, rather than a privileged novelty for some.
More:
http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org
http://www.publicknowledge.org
http://www.media-democracy.net
http://www.democraticmedia.org
http://www.wired.com/culture/culturereviews/magazine/17-06/nep_newsocialism
http://www.wired.com/politics/onlinerights/magazine/17-07/mf_cio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivek_Kundra
*-
http://www.nicolecifani.com/2008/10/hacking-the-debate/
Trackback for Facebook readers: http://www.nicolecifani.com/2009/08/media-for-everyone
The Media Access Project (MAP) and Public Knowledge group are just two of the public interest groups fighting for issues like the expansion of broadband, open access and net neutrality. The Center for Social Media encourages the promotion of a dynamic and engaged public through social media. There are many similar organizations out there (see links below).
Maybe before taking on the herculean task of making government documents public, we should take additional steps to set up programs for public access.
Content-holders should be encouraged to offer lower bitrated streams of their media. Cities should create a rock-solid plan for municipal wi-fi. Community colleges can offer free classes showing people how to navigate RSS feeds and publish online. We need to leverage new media to somehow to become a voice for all, rather than a privileged novelty for some.
More:
http://www.mediaaccess.org/
http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org
http://www.publicknowledge.org/
http://freeculture.org/
http://www.media-democracy.net/
http://www.democraticmedia.org/
http://www.freepress.net/
http://www.wired.com/culture/culturereviews/magazine/17-06/nep_newsocialism
http://www.wired.com/politics/onlinerights/magazine/17-07/mf_cio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivek_Kundra
*-
http://www.nicolecifani.com/2008/11/twitter-facebook-and-fox-news-oh-my-or-how-i-was-seduced-by-the-internet-on-election-night/
http://www.nicolecifani.com/2008/10/hacking-the-debate/
I want to Spotify
Jun 12th
Spotify, a music service currently only available outside of the US, is a social streaming site that allows instant listening to specific tracks or albums.
Users can easily share their library with friends and collaborate on playlists.
Although ownership of music is important to users in general a more pressing issue is accessibility. Sites like Hype Machine and Imeem allow us to share songs with friends, but we can only share the content that those sites have available to us.
By employing the peer-to-peer model like Spotify does, I can upload those special gems and curated playlists I spend weeks agonizing over. My friends can then stream the music and click-through to purchase for legitimate ownership of the song.
Spotify takes advantage of the “cloud“- data living over the internet as opposed to locally on your computer. We can peruse music quickly this way without downloading it first. Then, if a user wants ownership of the song, it can be purchased – supporting the artist rather than jacking it from a blog.
Makes sense to me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotify
Singing About Songbird
Mar 31st
Note: This article is syndicated at made this for you.
When it comes to media management, iTunes is a staple for handling my music library. A self-professed music junkie, I need a library that’s seamless to navigate, highly organizable, and can accommodate a limitless amount of files in a variety of formats.
I don’t infrequently tie my needs to any particular brand or product line. Although I love Apple products and require them to function on a daily basis, I try to switch it up whenever possible by incorporating tools and technologies from a variety of sources.
And I thought nothing could top iTunes until I discovered what Songbird can do.
Songbird offers the basic functionality of iTunes – unrestricted file capacity and unlimited playlists, navigational ease, import/export options; but tricks it out on many levels.
The open-source software offers total customization of your audio player. It offers plug-ins called “add-ons” that pull in bonuses while your music plays like concert info, data from last.fm, Shoutcast radio, and more. The MashTape add-on looks for related content like photos, video, and reviews from your bands by pulling in data from Flickr, YouTube, and Amazon. Online digital music store 7Digital recently partnered with Songbird to offer full integration. The store, currently in beta, will offer 320 kbps DRM-free MP3 downloads. They also promise to offer custom recommendations in the future based around what you’re playing from your library.
With all of these features, Songbird is a serious contender in becoming a viable alternative to iTunes. The only major downside is that Songbird doesn’t seamlessly connect to AirTunes allowing wireless playback from Songbird to a home stereo. A quick fix is a tool called Airfoil from Rogue Amoeba (the same company that created Audio Hijack). Although it will set you back $25 it seems to do the trick.
Songbird is an open-source, fully customizable music player built on the open-source media framework Gstreamer. You can participate by hacking on the software and trying out new builds before they’re released. A developer Recipe Book offers code snippets for “Featherers” to tinker with.They sell some pretty kick-ass t-shirts too!
Contribute: http://getsongbird.com/contribute/
Get Songbird v 1.1.1 now: http://getsongbird.com/
A Look at Miro
Mar 15th
Note: This article is syndicated at made this for you.
After spending time with Boxee, I decided it was time to explore alternate options for streaming online video to my TV. The back-and-forth between Boxee and Hulu had started to get a little nuts – and ideally I’d like one place to go for all my content without worrying about it unexpectedly going away. In a perfect world, all content owners would offer an RSS feed for me to ingest content wherever I’d like it to go. If the bulk of the advertising lives within the video playback itself, video can freely travel – and the container itself shouldn’t make a big difference.
Cue Miro.
While trolling my Google reader late one night (as nerds like us are wont to do), I discovered the free, open source HD video player that quickly and easily serves up video streams. You can stream videos from sites like YouTube, Comedy Central, CBS, or Hulu (for now); and Miro will upscale to HD wherever it’s offered. The app offers full playback of content from within my media library too; making it a great one-stop for video playback. Very cool. Miro’s real strength though, appears to lie in the ability to host and organize multiple video feeds from a variety of sources.
The simple layout and navigation process resembles iTunes. A sidebar located on the left allows easy navigation of your content whether it be online or local. You can subscribe to RSS feeds and set them to automatically download new episodes as they become available- just like subscribing to a podcast in iTunes. You can even subscribe to a torrent, allowing you to keep all of your vids in one place (I chose a “Miro” directory under “Movies” to keep it clean). After Miro grabs your new episodes, you can easily port them to your device of choice.
The open-source nature of the program means that you can participate in the continual build to improve it. The website offers information for those who would like to write code, become a bug tester, or simply help others get started.
Miro 2.0 is currently free for Mac OSX and created by the non-profit Participatory Culture Foundation. It’s open source and licensed under the GPL (general public license), with the goal to decentralize online video by making it free and open.
Get it: http://www.getmiro.com
Read the blog: http://www.getmiro.com/blog
