Jim Anderson, the sound engineer at Seattle’s legendary (and recently re-opened) live music venue The Crocodile, has donated five years worth of live show recordings (2002-2007) to the University of Washington’s Ethnomusicology Archives – nearly 3000 hours of music. Artists include z=z faves the Dresden Dolls, the Mountain Goats, the National, and oodles more – [...]
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Coverage: Amanda Palmer, “Billie Jean”
July 6, 2009
Guest blogger Scott writes:
It’s always a little weird when famous people die. The level of emotional outpouring from people who have attached a piece of themselves to this person they’ve never met is somewhat foreign to me. But it’s different when I can see the specific ways in which someone benefited [...]
Small-scale tiered pricing models
May 20, 2009Guest blogger Scott writes:
As technology has enabled increased efforts by musicians to sort customers by willingness to pay, it’s no surprise that people would be developing Web sites to bring those tools to smaller-scale creative projects. Kickstarter came to my attention when my friend Eric started a non-music-related project there, but musical projects are well-represented, unsurprisingly: you [...]
Coverage: Commissions at Cover Me
March 23, 2009Guest blogger Scott writes:
Cover Me, a cover song blog, has begun commissioning covers from independent artists. In blogger Ray’s words:
Here’s the gist. Every month we will present to you an artist, one who’s probably showed up on the blog before, one whom I feel has a lot to offer cover-wise. Said artist has signed on [...]
Early warning: z=z happy hour!
March 16, 2009Put it on your calendars, everyone – the first official zed equals zee Happy Hour has a date! Join myself, guest blogger Scott, and intrepid correspondent Tim Smith at the Miracle of Science on Monday, March 30th, from 6 to 8 pm. I’ve talked to the bar about taking over their stereo for a playlist [...]
The return of Muxtape
February 19, 2009Guest blogger Scott writes:
On Monday, the NYT Freakonomics blog reported on the return of mix tape site Muxtape. While the blog entry has pictures and content links that give a sense of where Muxtape is going, there’s very little at the website itself right now, although the story of what Muxtape was, and how it [...]
Coverage: Nightmare Revisited
February 6, 2009
[extended trailer for Coraline on YouTube; if you can't watch it, click here]
Guest blogger Scott writes:
Coraline opens today and, while debcha might be most excited about the production of a favored author’s work, I have multiple reasons to be excited. I like gothic spooky, but can’t stomach horror (at least until [...]
Coverage: Buffetlibre’s Rewinded and Rewind2
January 12, 2009Guest blogger Scott writes:
Buffetlibre has just released the second half of their epic compilation of new artists (many of whom I’ve never heard of) covering 70s, 80s, and 90s (but mostly 80s) songs. I had a few tracks from the first half, but hadn’t sat down and dug through it carefully. This release gave me [...]
Apple is removing DRM from iTunes
January 6, 2009It’s official – Apple announced today that it will no longer use digital rights management on songs from iTunes, taking effect before the end of the quarter. This goes hand-in-hand with a change in the pricing structure, with song prices ranging from 69 cents to $1.29. In case you’ve ever wondered why z=z only linked [...]
Merry Christmas from Chiron Beta Prime
December 25, 2008[Image credit : Len from the Jawbone Radio Show]
As you may have gathered from an earlier post, I’m not so much about holiday music (hey, it’s a secular democracy, deal with it). So it’s perhaps unsurprising that “Chiron Beta Prime” by Jonathan Coulton is one of the very few Christmas songs that I like. This [...]
Threesome: alternative holiday songs
December 24, 2008In response to my ‘Christmas songs for non-Christmas people,’ guest blogger Scott offered up three finds. The first is “Father Christmas,” by the Kinks, which I immediately recognized as a staple of my local alt-rock station. It’s a heartwarming holiday song about getting a job as a department store Santa Claus and being mugged by [...]
Coverage: “Hallelujah” on the UK charts
December 22, 2008Last week guest blogger Scott posted about the Jeff Buckley cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” describing it as ‘insipid’ compared to the original.
Well, as he pointed out, apparently all of the UK is conspiring against him.
This week, the number one song on the British charts is a cover of “Hallelujah” by Alexandra Burke, the winner [...]
Coverage: The danger of lists
December 15, 2008Guest blogger Scott writes:
As the end of the year approaches, music blogs everywhere will be producing lists; best of ‘08, most anticipated of ‘09, biggest letdowns of ‘08. And for every list, there is someone like me who has nothing better to do than to poke holes in it.
I was recently directed to nuTsie’s comprehensive [...]
Video: Kermit the Frog, “New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down”
December 4, 2008
[embedded YouTube link; if you can't view it, click here]
This one’s for Scott. Make sure you watch through the end for a surprise.
EDIT: YouTube pulled the video at EMI’s request; you can see the video here. Thanks to Scott for pointing this out in the comments.
[via Brooklyn Vegan]
Threesome: Vampire Love Songs
November 23, 2008Guest blogger Scott writes:
Knowing the z=z audience, I have no doubt that you all rushed out to see Twilight opening night. Twice. And so, to tide you over until you head back mid-week for a third bite of undead Cedric Diggory, I offer a trio of vampire love songs.
[debcha notes: The above is a fine [...]
Coverage: “Video Killed the Radio Star”
November 5, 2008Following up on the previous post, guest blogger Scott adds:
As any trivia geek knows, MTV’s first aired video was Video Killed the Radio Star, by The Buggles.
and he sent along three covers for your enjoyment.
MP3: Erasure – Video Killed the Radio Star
MP3: Ben Folds – Video Killed the Radio Star
MP3: The Wrong Trousers – Video [...]
Trampling on the shoulders of giants
November 5, 2008A dispatch from guest blogger Scott:
With all the talk of the demise of the music industry, it’s easy to forget that this has all happened before. And, equally importantly, all not happened before. Television heralded the demise of the music industry, as did cassette recorders. And while they unquestionably changed the industry, they didn’t kill [...]
Yet more on concert etiquette
October 21, 2008My Old Kentucky Blog just wrapped up a series entitled “The Ten Commandments Guidelines of Concert Behavior.” Reading it makes me realize that I’ve been exceptionally fortunate at concerts, as when I wrote my own version, I didn’t feel the need to include “Thou shalt not puke” or “Thou shalt not fart.” I also feel [...]
Neophile: Max and the Marginalized
August 17, 2008Continuing with what I promise to be a short-lived political theme…I’m a little late coming to this, in several senses. I was introduced to Max and the Marginalized by frequent guest blogger Scott, who sent me an MP3 of “It’s Awkward When Bad People Die,” a song written in response to Jesse Helm’s death. Max [...]
Poor concert etiquette, illustrated
July 9, 2008Guest blogger Scott, who’s familiar with my preferences regarding singing at concerts, says:
This isn’t necessarily a great cover, but it’s one of the best illustrations imaginable (short of a performer actually stopping and berating someone, which would be awesome) of why you don’t sing from the audience. Everyone is basically behaving themselves, except for one [...]
