New Musics

It's hard to stay on top of the music scene now that it's morphed into a massive MySpace ocean of disenchantment. Yeah, I said it. I don't have time to dig through all the hundreds of pages crap just to find one decent track from one up & coming band who really needs more time to evolve but somehow manages to catch my ear. So I subscribe to a few impressive blog of music excavation who do the work for me. And now I bring you:

My Favorites of the Favorites of My Favorite Blogs

Castrovalva - UK-bred balls-out experimental heavy rock. Makes me want to mosh on the couch.

Sea Sick - for fans of Bat for Lashes, Sea Sick has more edge - check out "XX" or "Ring of Fire."

Yonlu - this 16 year old Brazilian artist ended his own life about 12 albums too early. I get chills during "A Boy and His Tiger" when the tape speeds up... the genius of The Beatle's White Album blended with the rawness of Nick Drake.

Beth Jeans Houghton - another UK artist, but the flipside of rock. I'm not a huge folk fan - I prefer fringe folk like CocoRosie or Diane Cluck (check out "Easy to Be Around" or "I'm Your Here I Am" ) but Houghton's vocal strength and melody lines are undeniably impressive.

And that is the cream skimmed from the half and half of the 2% milk for this week. Check back for more stolen recommendations and ridiculous analogies!

Youtube killed the MTV star

All the playing fields have been leveled. It's the internet world wide web digital revolution: MySpace hits, YouTube plays, Facebook friends. The system used to make you beg for the attention of a label, whose reps would make you sound more mainstream, put your face on MTV, and write a check for your album - which, by the way, was just a loan, money you would owe right off the top of your first few hundred thousand sales. And with a limited number of labels and a finite amount of MTV programming time, few could achieve the glory of getting to see themselves lip syncing to their songs on television, the highest pinnacle of fame & stardom for a budding rockstar!

Fast forward a few decades.

MTV plays reality & game shows.

The biggest selling musicians are selling a fraction of the CDs they did just a few years ago, and the numbers are getting smaller.

The music world has been democratized.

And anyone can make a music video for the internet.

I have to say, there's something missing when I watch a music video on YouTube. The size, the grainy, digitalized quality - and yes, the fact that it isn't anywhere near as glorious as the old school elitism of MTV. It's a sea of mediocrity, and even though we've seen a few YouTube "stars" break through with budget videos and viral talent, I hope there is some new replacement filter in the works, something that gives us the cream off the top and makes the mediocrity fight harder to be good....because I'd rather have a few moments of greatness than a hundred thousand hours of average.

I'll be throwing my hat into the ring soon enough! On Monday I shot footage with Julie Tseselsky, a long time friend and talented producer & editor who was visiting from L.A. Stay tuned for our YouTube link....