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The First Location-Aware Album: Bluebrain Presents ‘The National Mall’

April 1, 2011 in digital matters,syndicated with 786 Comments

The Washington D.C.-based band Bluebrain are the first to create a site-specific album that responds directly to listener location. Taking cues from The National Mall in downtown D.C., the album syncs songs and melodies to a listener’s location as they travel to various zones within the Mall.

The album will be delivered as an iPhone app and works by tracking a users location via the phone’s built-in GPS feature. Hundreds of zones within the Mall are tagged, and the sound plays according to where the listener is located in proximity to them. The zones overlap presenting standalone melodies, rhythms, instrumentation and pace specifically designed for each.

Separated from cultural and historical reference, the album pushes the boundaries of deconstruction not only in song but in the way a very album can be produced and presented.

The National Mall is the first in a series. Upcoming works include audio designs for Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York, and a piece that will stretch the entire length of California’s Highway 1.

For more: www.bluebra.in

This post is syndicated from Yahoo! Music AS HEARD ON

When Old Is New Again: From Cassettes To Multicolored Vinyl

March 29, 2011 in digital matters,syndicated,the business of music with 561 Comments

This post is syndicated from Yahoo! Music Stop the Presses!

Monetizing music ain’t what it used to be. In an age where digital music files are easily ripped, downloaded and distributed, the urge to pay for that great new album has steadfastly declined.

Alongside torrents, mixtapes, and social websites like Hype Machine, Exfm and We Are Hunted, streaming services like Rdio, Rhapsody, MOG and Spotify make music discovery easy.  It’s been reported that with an annual growth rate of nearly 95%, subscribers to cloud-based music services will exceed 161 million in 2016.

This makes it easier for an artist to share their work with the masses  - but how can the same artist pay the bills with the concept of free?

When it comes to the actual making money part, bands have no choice but to get creative. And many are doing just that – by inventing new channels and resurrecting familiar ones.

The indie-rock band Radiohead is perhaps the ultimate example of exploring new distribution opportunities in the 21st century. In 2007, they incorporated a “pay what you want” model for the album In Rainbows.

For their recent release The King Of Limbs, the band decided to offer up several options.  The album will come in two digital formats – either 320 kbps MP3s ($9) – or CD-quality, uncompressed WAV files ($14). For the super fan, the third and pricier option is a newspaper album ($48 + $53). It offers  MP3s or WAVs along with vinyl, CD, several large sheets of artwork, 625 tiny pieces of artwork and a full-color piece of degradable plastic to hold it all together.

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Dirty Vegas – Electric Love

March 23, 2011 in music news and reviews,new music,syndicated with 1,326 Comments

What’s so good?

When changing gears for an upcoming album, it’s not unusual for an electronic artist to succumb to a particular metamorphis tending to be slightly more in tune with popular contemporaries across all genres. What? Wait a minute, is that a nice way of saying “selling out?”

Thankfully, one of the best things about the new album from the Dirty Vegas fellas is that Electric Love does the complete and utter opposite. The record picks up right where things left off seven years ago with their last full-length, One. No easy task!

They’re not having an identity crisis. They’re not trying to go the way of electro, rave, rock, or heaven forbid, anything “wave.” Dirty Vegas has written a brilliant album that’s current, relevant to the dance music community, and catchy as hell.

The album goes in different directions but remains contant to their dance music roots. We hear big, club-ready dance tunes (“Little White Doves,” “Electric Love”) and more downtempo tracks tinged with hints of disco (“Emma”).

Due April 26th, Electric Love is a well-produced album that’s definitely worth a listen.

This post is syndicated from Indie Shuffle.

*Note – watch this space for an exclusive video interview coming soon!

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