New Music Tuesday
July 21st, 2009
Q&A With Michael Hearst of One Ring Zero
July 23rd, 2007
[Editor's Note:The following excerpt is from an interview with Michael Hearst of One Ring Zero. The interview was featured on Wired.com.]
Michael Hearst, half of the musical duo One Ring Zero, busted out theremins, a glockenspiel and other odd instruments to recreate the ultimate sound of summer on his new solo recording, Songs for Ice Cream Trucks. Wired News freelancer Scott Thill interviewed Hearst about the record, the roots of "booktronica" and more. Here's the full, unedited Q&A:
Wired News: Interesting idea! Where did you come up with it?
Michael Hearst: Thanks! I'm proud to say that it's probably one of the most absurd things I've ever done in my musical career. It really just started off as, what I considered to be, an interesting concept for an album. I never imagined that these tunes would actually get played on ice cream trucks. In all honesty, the music on this album is not that different from some of the stuff Joshua and I have written for One Ring Zero. In the past people have said that certain One Ring Zero songs sound like ice cream truck music anyway. So, perhaps the idea has always been there, just waiting for the right moment.
That moment came last summer when I started to get incredibly tired of hearing the same songs over and over again coming from the ice cream trucks that rolled by my apartment. The trucks here in Brooklyn are relentless. Probably two or three go by my apartment every day. Anyway, that's when I decided to finally start working on this album. I recorded the entire thing in my apartment -- in my "1/2 bedroom," as the realtors call it, which is really just an over-sized closet. As soon as I finished with the first four songs, I made a MySpace page and posted them as mp3s.
The response was really amazing. All kinds of people started to write me: parents, hipsters, nostalgic older folk, and then, most exciting of all ... actual ice cream truck drivers. I didn't realize it, but apparently there's just not much out there in the way of ice cream truck music. If you did an internet search with the words "songs for ice cream trucks," I was one of the only things that popped up. It quickly became clear to me that, as tired as we all are of hearing the same songs over and over, the actual ice cream truck drivers are even more so. I mean, these guys are stuck hearing the same thing for eight hours straight. One ice cream truck driver was so excited about this CD, that he emailed me practically once a week until the album was finally released. Another guy, who owns a small fleet of trucks in North Carolina, actually commissioned me to write a song specifically for him.
Read the entire interview at Wired.com
Amie Street TV: Your Kung-Fu Sucks!
July 6th, 2007
Blingbong
found this video for
Your Kung Fu Sucks
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Ninja Academy - Donkey Punch’s farewell
July 5th, 2007
The core of Los Angeles based ass-kick rockers Ninja Academy are Indo-Ninja and Outdo-Ninja, who play bass and drums, respectively. As you might expect, a Ninja Academy show is no normal rock show -- Indo and Outdo perform decked out in ninja garb, and are frequently accompanied by guest musicians and until recently, a martial artist by the name of Donkey Punch.
Donkey Punch's final show with Ninja Academy at Los Angeles club The Echo was recorded by Spaceland Productions and is now available for purchase here on Amie Street. Here's some video taken at the show, which should give you a good idea what you're in for:
The Hunt For the Manipurans
(Drowning In Culture has a great piece about Ninja Academy and what it's like to see them live. Here's an excerpt:
...in terms of genre labels, they could be thrashy post-rock with a heavy doses of prog and jazz-rock fusion. Their music is churning, idful and unpretentious enough that it's very much rock 'n' roll as well. They can create maelstroms of distorted noise and feedback, thrashing and pummeling their instruments to make more than a match for arty noise artists, but only when a tune calls for it. They also have prodigious chops to match any wanky air-guitar-inspiring hard rock hero but they're not wanky -- no extended prima donna solos, thank you. Even if they don't play their version of "Blue Rondo a la Turk" ("Blue Rondo a la Ninja," of course), it's obvious that they have jazz backgrounds. Indo's chord voicings and Outdo's deft touch with polyrhythms are dead giveaways. But then they also often wrap their tunes in soft-loud-soft/verse-chorus-verse pop song forms with pop chord progressions, keeping things accessible, packaging it all into bursts of riffage and hooks, riding that happy medium between predictability and surprise. It adds a bit of the Pixies to the equation of Lightning Bolt plus Tortoise plus Mogwai plus Weather Report. Their vocals are limited to some triggered samples and an occasional exclamatory remark by Indo to punctuate a tune ("Excuse me!? Your kung-fu sucks!"). Finally, they dress like ninjas -- how could they not?
Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson
June 29th, 2007
Though their name might be inspired by a cast member of "The Brady Bunch," you're not going to be hearing anything Brady-esque on
Key Tracks:
A List Not To Be Read At Your Wedding
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Wow, instrumental rock is really catching on and im glad to see some new bands coming into the picture. Very soft, melodic, good relaxing music, like after a hard day at work. Great album overall, would definitely recommend it." [rec by samarisi]
van gogh kept painting himself because he was the
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Great stuff, I'm really enjoying this album." [rec by bendedavis]
We May Be Remembered By What We Did When We Sat Do
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Not usually into instrumental rock, but this is really quite interesting. Good, melodic guitar lines in an engaging musical setting. Worth a download for sure." [rec by ecridz]
Check out this video for
I've Got A Picture Of You Boss
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Categorize this!
April 30th, 2007
Club D'elf (pronounced "clubbed elf") is a Boston-based collective, led by bassist Mike Rivard. Since 1998, this eclectic group of ever-changing musicians has combined trip-hop, jazz, electronica, and world music all while maintaining the spirit of collective group improvisation. Many of the group's contributors are well established in their own right including keyboardist, John Medeski (of Medeski, Martin, and Wood), DJ Logic, and members of The Slip.
Check out some improvisational live recordings from Club D'elf, courtesy of Kufala Recordings.
Gravity All Nonsense Now Pt 1
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Fire in the Brain
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Jar Of Hair
(Mmmm, that Lettuce tastes Funky!
April 24th, 2007
Are you ready for some old school funk complete with dirty grooves, tight horns, and soulful musicians? Then get yourself a good helping of Lettuce's Live from Tokyo. Composed of members of Soulive and The John Scofield Band, these funk all-stars will make you get up and dance even if you're listening at your cubicle! This is a must have for fans of all things funk!
Dj Un1t
April 22nd, 2007
[Editor's Note: The following post is by Dwizzle. Dwiz is an Amie Street fanatic and very passionate about music, so hit him up on Meebo for a chat about Amie Street music, especially Hip Hop. Dwiz lives in Providence, RI.]
Click here to listen to Dj Un1t
So I am listening to Dj Un1t and I can't help but to listen over and over again. Drawing from multiple genres, there's serious emotion in these combinations of sampled sounds and you will like it, period. I hear music in the rhythmic idle of a muscle car's engine, the footsteps of people on the pavement, the water dropping from a leaky faucet and even the purr of a kitten. Yes, I know this sounds sappy, but good music has many origins.
I am officially in love. In the album Live at the Mattin Center, you can hear the depth and diveristy of DJ Un1t's musical tastes. It works well for middle-of-the-day blasting out of your window, just hanging out by yourself killing time, or at an after party with friends. It's good for the background, it's good for the foreground. I don't know what to say except "go buy his album now!"
