Tag Archives: YouTube

Morning Music Notes – The Most Super of Them All

Morning Music Notes – Only Serious News Today

YouTube Set to Close, Thus Ending the 8 Year Competition

Put your video cameras away and stop training your cat to do tricks that makes my cat jealous – YouTube is no longer accepting “entries”. Sure, you might have thought that YouTube was going to live forever, and you could endlessly post short videos of you seeing double rainbows or continually watch the latest Radiohead video without paying a cent. But those days are over. Odd that this announcement comes on April Fools’ Day…

YouTube Set to End

There are a few more April Fool’s gags floating around the Interwebs, too.

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Morning Music Notes – A Video Giant Might Become a Music Streaming Service, Too

Snoop Dogg to Star in New Video Game, Of Course

Snoop Dogg is not afraid of people getting sick of him. Whether he’s acting in lame TV commercial remixes of his songs, doing Adidas cartoon commercials, talking about buying Celtic FC, or switching up his rap career for a reggae one, the man is everywhere. Soon, he’ll be on a video game console, too. The game is called Way of the Dogg and will be a kung-fu styled game with a mix of blaxploitation movies (via Guardian). Because if anything screams “Snoop Dogg”, it’s definitely a kung-fu / blaxploitation mix.

“Everyone knows that Snoop is down with the biggest and best video games,” Snoop Dogg said in a press release. “[I've dropped] hits on the soundtrack [and shown] the world I can go toe-to-toe with the best fighters on the street, but Way of the Dogg is the first true gamification of my music.”

The game is due out April 23 on XBox, Playstation, iOS, and Android, conveniently not too long after his Reincarnated reggae album drops.

Jonny Greenwood Surprises at Intimate Australian Show

Radiohead’s multi-instrumentalist Jonny Greenwood surprised the audience when he ~~took off his pants~~ joined the ACO Underground (Australian Chamber Orchestra) for their show in a loft apartment in Sydney (via NME). He played a cover of composer Steve Reich’s piece Electric Counterpoint. Check out some footage of it below. He’s even fascinating when he’s not playing!

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Morning Music Notes – The Happy Workaholic

Hiatus? What hiatus?! Foo Fighters Recording New Album

Dave Grohl must hate his family. What other excuse can he have when he tours relentlessly with the Foo Fighters, drums on anyone’s album who asks him, makes a documentary about Sound City Studios, forms a super group with some of the Sound City musicians, and then finally asks for a hiatus from Foo Fighters, only to change his mind 4 months later?! At the Brit Awards on Wednesday night, Dave Grohl said “I return to Los Angeles tomorrow to start work on a Foo Fighters record” (via Kerrang).

That’s right – album number 8 from Foo Fighters shouldn’t be too too far away. Brace yourself for the impending divorce news for Dave Grohl and his wife, too.

YouTube Views Now Count Towards Billboard Hot 100

When chart makers Billboard make their Hot 100 from now on, it’ll take YouTube views into account (via Digital Trends). This ain’t your grandpa’s Billboard magazine. The charts have been made for 55 years by Billboard, but now a huge shift is about to take play because of this new online data source. So the next time some random Korean pop song gets a billion views, you’d better believe that Billboard’s charts will reflect this.

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Morning Music Notes – Why Does the Internet Keep Changing?

Phoenix to Release New Album in April

Phoenix’s last album was the career-defining Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix – the album name doesn’t get any better over time. They are following this up with a new album next April (via Pitchfork). The announcement was made at the end of a Spotify event by the head of the band’s label, Daniel Glass. And speaking of that Spotify event….

Spotify Holds Event, Makes Upgrades and Reveals Stats

Music streaming service (that’s still not in Canada) Spotify had a press conference yesterday. They dropped a few stats on us, as well as telling us the future of Spotify. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said that there are over 1 billion playlists out there (holy fuck), and there’s a total of 5 million paid subscribers, with 1 million of those coming from the U.S.A. (via Hypebot). In lieu of the recent Pandora ‘we want to pay people less royalties’ outrage, Spotify tried to fend off some critics by noting that artist payments doubled over the past 9 months, with $500 million being paid out to rightsholders thus far. The breakdown of that money isn’t explained any further – be suspicious!

Perhaps more interesting (I promise!) is the new discovery features with Spotify. Oh, and the web-based app. You can now ‘follow an artist’ on Spotify, meaning you can see what your favourite bands are listening to. There will be integration with both Songkick and Pitchfork, so all of their snobby ratings and reviews will be there for you to read while you listen. Interesting that they chose to go with Pitchfork and not a more ‘mainstream’ website. I know Pitchfork is getting huge, but they aren’t universally loved, nor do they cover all the big rock and pop acts.

Next step: Bring Spotify and these cool features to Canada!

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Morning Music Notes – Disasters of a Different Kind

Two Bestival Disasters – One Serious, One Artificial

The Isle of Wight’s Bestival was this past weekend, with headliners such as The xx, Sigur Rós, Alabama Shakes, Azealia Banks, and loads more. Sadly, a bus carrying Bestival passengers crashed late last night, killing 3 people (via Gigwise). The coach reportedly left the road and struck a tree, and then the coach overturned.

Sigur Rós also suffered a “disaster” of their own, but obviously nowhere near as serious as dying in a bus crash. The band were supposed to play a night time slot, as they were relying on the darkness for some key visuals. However, apparently their slot was “pushed into daylight by the expansive demands of the headliner.” And who was this demanding headliner? Stevie Wonder! Is it wrong to make a blind joke about darkness?

Sigur Rós issued a full statement on their website, noting “sigur rós would like to apologise to anyone disappointed not to see the band’s bestival performance live online last night. early in the day a decision had been made to delay broadcast till after the show to give the band a chance to review the footage ahead of webcast, since they were dismayed that their guaranteed “darkness” slot had been pushed into daylight by the expansive demands of the headliner. the band’s only uk show of the year, this would-be highlight of the 2012 calendar, would have to be conducted without proper lights or visuals. sadly then, a perfect storm of production issues and technical problems conspired to mean that the band went on to have a thoroughly miserable experience on stage too. and to spare everyone’s blushes a decision was made to draw a discrete veil over proceedings. sorry, but we can be so much better than what you missed. another time, for sure.”

Nothing like cowering behind an Internet rant that Stevie Wonder won’t see – literally.

Warner Music Sued Over Muse Sci-Fi Rock Opera Concept

Here’s a weird one for you – if it involves the phrase “sci-fi rock opera”, it’s pretty much guaranteed to be weird. The fantastic three song closing set to Muse’s album, The Resistance, features a blend of classical music and rock on the Exogenesis tracks. A songwriter, Charles Bollfrass, claims that he contacted Muse and 2 other bands to compose the score for Exogenesis, but all declined (via Fact). He was a little surprised to see Muse close out their album with his concept.

Bollfrass also claims that the cool cover art on the Resistance is from an image on his storyboards from the Exogenesis idea he pitched. He wants what he feels he is due, and is suing Warner Music for $3.5 million, for copyright infringement, unfair trade practices and unfair competition. Bollfrass also hopes Muse doesn’t rip off his “The 2nd Law” ideas either.

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Watch! Elsie – London Town

I’ve never heard of pop singer Elsie before I did a post on her previous video, How to Handle A Sex Pest. This video was sort of cool, as it was a choose your own adventure video on YouTube (much like what The Cribs just did for Glitters Like Gold).

Well, I guess Elsie is sensitive to comments (you’re in the wrong profession, honey) and her latest video pokes fun at some of the sexiest people on the planet – bloggers. This video is also a choose your own adventure style video, so despite the fact I think her music is average, I will spend some time with her videos. The first 5 seconds shows that Elsie hasn’t improved her dancing skills since her last video. Give me a ring, and I’ll show you how to dance (perhaps even more poorly). One of the choices has you launching a blog (which is a terrible decision that no one should undertake – unless you like anonymously making fun of other people to make yourself feel better).

Unlike the Cribs video, which plays seamlessly and opens each interactive YouTube click in a new window, the Elsie video constantly has the song interrupted. This is good if your attention span is only 45 seconds, which perhaps isn’t a stretch. Also, the path I chose didn’t complete the song. If you think I’m going to listen to this song for 10 minutes to complete the video, you’re kidding yourself. Anyway, if you like average songs but innovative videos, check out the latest Elsie offering below.

Elsie – London Town

From YouTube to London’s Royal Albert Hall – The Journey of Ukraine’s Valentina Lisitsa

It’s amazing how fast technology speeds by. The Internet became popular in the mid 90s. MP3s showed up around then, and then began trading like wild fire in the late 90s, helped by programs like Napster. YouTube came around in the early 2000s. Now, musicians are getting discovered on YouTube and getting music careers (Justin Bieber) or landing big performances based on uploaded online videos. Do I sound like a senile old man with my amazement? If someone were in a coma for the past decade and you told them you’re playing Royal Albert Hall because you were discovered on YouTube, they would have no clue what you were talking about. That’s the speed of the music and online industry these days, although I’m still using AOL Online, so exclude me from these discussions. Oh look, I’ve got mail!

Valentina Lisitsa is a Ukrainian pianist who has gathered 43 million YouTube views in the past 5 years for her 180 YouTube videos. These might not necessarily be mind blowing numbers for the likes of Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber, but for someone who is not a famous performer, with no manager or promoter, the numbers are astonishing. My video of me seeing a double rainbow all the way across the sky is comparable though.

Valentina has landed a performance at the famous Royal Albert Hall in London on June 19, and will broadcast the entire concert on the Internet for free (via Canoe). She has now signed with Universal Music on their Decca Classics label.

Check out Valentina in action, with her long blonde hair and her equally long (but not equally blonde) fingers.

Valentina Lisitsa – Rachmaninoff Etude Op. 39 No. 6 “Little Red Riding Hood”

Morning Music Notes – UK Citizens Get No More Pirate Bay, And Get Duran Duran – Double Whammy?

A Little More Info on Info on Dave Grohl’s Sound City Documentary

We’ve known that Dave Grohl is doing a documentary on Sound City, the record studios in Van Nuys, California. Now the man himself has spoken out about it (via Rolling Stone).

“Sound City is a film about America’s greatest unsung recording studio,” said Grohl. “Deep in California’s sun-burnt San Fernando Valley, tucked away behind the train tracks and dilapidated warehouses, it was the birthplace of legend. It was witness to history. It was home to a special few, intent on preserving an ideal.”

Witness to history, and witness to Nirvana recording a certain Nevermind album there, too. The soundtrack for the album is expected to feature Dave Grohl collaborating with the likes of Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age, Rick Springfield, Corey Taylor from Slipknot, and all sorts of surprises – my word, not his, but you should value them equally.

Olympic Park Line Up Doesn’t Get a Gold Medal, Just a Participation Ribbon

Great Britain is hosting the Summer Olympics in London this July and August – which is NOT the story, here. However, there is a gig in Hyde Park with bands representing the 4 factions of Great Britain. Stereophonics will represent Wales, Paolo Nutini for Scotland, Snow Patrol for Northern Ireland and fuckin’ Duran Duran for England (via Telegraph). England, with the history of producing perhaps the best bands in music history is being represented by 80s pop group, Duran Duran. The concert will take place (with ZERO PEOPLE IN ATTENDANCE) on July 27, to coincide with the opening ceremonies, which will be broadcast on big screens in between acts.

Simon Le Bon, the lead singer of Duran Duran, said: “Performing to so many people on the most exciting day in sport for Great Britain will be one of the highlights of the last decade for us. We have been invited to represent England for this Team GB show, and we couldn’t be more proud. Seeing the torch being lit on the big screens before hitting the stage in this iconic location will be a great experience… we simply can’t wait”.

I, for one, CAN wait. Time to self-induce a coma!

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Morning Music Notes – Don’t Cry – Axl Rose Ain’t Comin’ to the Induction Ceremony

No Surprise: Axl Rose Isn’t Showing Up to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction

We were hoping for fights, a one-off reunion song, or some kind of drama. Instead, Axl Rose from Guns N’ Roses has turned down this Saturday’s induction ceremony (via NME). Axl Rose wrote a lengthy letter to a bunch of media outlets outlining his views. The most surprising thing? Axl Rose can write!

“This decision is personal. This letter is to help clarify things from my and my camp’s perspective. Neither is meant to offend, attack or condemn. Though unfortunately I’m sure there will be those who take offence (God knows how long I’ll have to contend with the fallout), I certainly don’t intend to disappoint anyone, especially the fans, with this decision.”

“Since the announcement of the nomination we’ve actively sought out a solution to what, with all things considered, appears to be a no win, at least for me, ‘damned if I do, damned if I don’t’ scenario all the way around. In regard to a reunion of any kind of either the Appetite… or Illusion… line-ups, I’ve publicly made myself more than clear. Nothing’s changed.”

So are we to assume he’s too busy smooching Lana Del Rey?

Coachella Live Streaming Schedule is Up!

Don’t feel like fighting extreme temperatures, wrestling to put your sandals on, or sleeping in a tent in order to see good bands? Good news then, as the bands are coming to your house! Well, to your house via your computer. Coachella are streaming select bands on their YouTube channel. Highlights include Arctic Monkeys, The Black Keys, Neon Indian, Explosions in the Sky, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Laura Marling, Bon Iver, Kasabian, The Shins, Santigold, Justice, and Florence + the Machine. Now why didn’t I just name them all instead of making certain bands feel left out? Well, I was bullied a lot as a kid, so this is my revenge. Suck it, millionair rock stars! Full website below, and note that it is in PACIFIC TIME, so 3 hrs behind Eastern, 8 hrs behind British Summer Time, and 9 hrs behind Central Europe.

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