Music Glob 2007 February

Just in case you didn t know we are all North American Scum, well I guess not my readers outside of North America.
This video is awesome cause it s all space like and a fight in space and peril and the whole bit.
Sweet foil space suits.

Also this new album Sound of Silver is as I just learned one of the most hotly-anticipated cd s of 2007 by the The New York Times. ITS GONNA BE HOTTTTTT. Honestly I don t know yet I m just passing along info on this whatever Friday.

I do like the song/video though.
A new online music magazine just launched a little bit ago for all you to enjoy. is the name and it is nothing short of awesome.

Not only do they have good bands, good photos, good words, they have an awesome design to the mag AND they have free tracks to click and download immediatly in the PDF. What more could you ask for than all that for free?!

I m excited to say that I was able to contribute to it s birth with my
Honestly - this is the best not only music but any online magazine I have seen. I would spend a whole long post talking about each feature and give it a design critique, but I don t have that kind of time and lets just stick to the music.
Over the past month or so I ve been emailing back and forth with Heathcliffe Bird, producer/creator/graphic designer of the whole bit.

I asked him a few things and he answered.
What is the idea behind PLAYGROUND?
The aim is to put together (over a few issues) the magazine we always wanted to read one we could pick up from wherever we were, free of charge, and with new bands, music, writers, photographers and things that we d really want to know about.

And some place to hang out and play and swap ideas. We also spend a lot of time on blogs and sites and listening to bands and we wanted to be able to shout about how good some of the stuff thats out there is. And we wanted something we could play with.

Like our own skunkworks somewhere we can try and figure out how to do the things we love about publishing while folding in all the tricks that the web and new media can do.
It s like in a perfect music magazine you wouldn t just read about bands you d hear them or watch them or chat directly with them if they re doing something you really like. You don t just read about stuff you join in with it.

And we wanted the kind of magazine that we could join in with, and that our mates and anyone who wanted could chip in and play with. Something less like MTV and more like having yr mates round and having fun, i guess.
How did PLAYGROUND come about?

Playground came about from loving and working on print magazines we kinda wanted to see what would happen if we tried producing a magazine but using web and new media instead of paper. Just to see how it works and what we could do differently.
The web is great because it s so fucking immediate.

It can link out to anything from any place so its great for exploring and you can play with sound and video which is fantastic. But there s still something great about picking up a new issue of a magazine. Like being able to read cover to cover and knowing its all pages that you haven t read before and the way that magazines flow and how the pace changes throughout.

If a good website is like listening to great tracks, then a good magazine is like a great mixtape. When you spend time around good editors you start to realise how smart they are at this stuff. Its old school tricks that we re starting to lose as magazines get replaced by web.

So we started thinking about what would happen if you could podcast a website but put it together like a music magazine and we tried building it It s taken us the first issue to work out a format that s do-able. But that s pretty cool. Now we have to build it and make it work.

Do you plan on going to print or staying online?
Definitely online. Doing this is like being a kid with lego.

And cause we re inventing we get to bounce ideas off total strangers and have some great chat. And we can do stuff that isn t possible on paper, and we can keep everything we do free of charge. But we have much to do to make it viable, and thats the stuff that we re focussed on right now.

What do you think or want the future to hold for PLAYGROUND?
We re just starting out so i guess the thing is to try and create that magazine that we d kill to read. Issue one was about working out how pdf pages work and trying stuff out and working out how long things take and whats practical and possible so we pinned down a lot of technical stuff and a design and commissioning and production and we ve got tight writing styles and layouts to bring in for issue 2.

As a new magazine with no backing, getting bands and writers was a massive headache for the first issue. We were lucky that even with no magazine to show, some of the PR and music guys figured we were worth taking a chance on and lent us time. That was lucky and excellent.

Now that we ve shown we can deliver something, we re starting to work out proper schedules for interviews and features and getting hold of bands is much easier. So issues 2 and 3 will see more content, more bands and new writers.
We re also putting our backs into the free downloads.

Where we had to rely on linkouts for free tracks in issue one, we re chatting to PR and artists now about getting pre-cleared and exclusive tracks for download. If people are gonna read us, we want to give them something back. We re also starting to look at audio podcasting and putting together stuff that runs alongside the written mag.

We ve been testing out on-page audio as well so you can hear tracks without leaving the magazine.
And over the next few issues, we have to work really hard on getting more writers, upping the bar on everything and finding us more readers. At the end of the day, its the readers that matter.

And if anyone s up for chipping in or playing, we d love to hear from them. It s that having people round yr house thing People are smart. Telling them what to listen to is all well and good but chatting to people about what s great is stuff that makes it worth getting out of bed.

People rule.
So I keep forgetting to bring my new music with me from home so I can listen at work - and sometimes put up a post if I have the extra time. Sorry folks.

I have some great stuff that I ll be sharing very soon. This week was a bit hectic for me and school projects.
On to my other topic - Jim Carrey s Celebrity playlist on iTunes.

It s up because it s a promo for his new movie which looks both awesome and creepy. Therefore I will go see it. He has some artists on his list I wouldn t guess.

For instance Broken Social Scene and Who am I really to judge though. But the track that takes the cake Jim Carrey s I Am the Walrus. What does he have to say about the track?

I Am the Walrus (Track 23): Well I am.
You may say - Isn t this an indie rock blog? and Why is he writing about such a mainstream band?

To answer these possible questions: 1) I guess this is an indie rock blog, yet it s more of just a blog where I write about music I like. 2) Because Foo Fighters is one of the bands that I have been listening to forever. I m talking 1997 when most of you may have started listening.

I was just a wee lad in elementary school and the Foo Fighters were awesome. Songs all over the radio - Everlong, and Monkey Wrench were the really popular ones. Soon after I started slowly getting my hands on all the Foo Fighters albums I could - all the way up until their last full length release in 2005.

is a dual disk that is very unique. Disc one is all the usual things you d hear from the band; good solid rock. The first three songs are one of the best starts to an album that I ve ever paid attention to.

It opens up with In Your Honor which screams in your face and has a super epic lead up. Next is No Way Back that is excellent in true Foo Fighters style. Third is the single Best of You which is pretty easy to like even with any musical standard you may have.

The video is stunning aswell.
Disc two is all acoustic/softer tracks. I think Grohl and crew wanted to make something different, yet didn t want to just mix in a few acoustic tracks with the rest so disc two was born.

I can t really pick a couple tracks out of the rest because I find them to be for myself on an equal awesome scale
Back to why I why I m writing about the Foo today. Honestly it was just what I ended up listening to first today and I remembered how much progress they ve made over the years that developed into the album In Your Honor. I like em so I write about em.

They just released a live album which I havn t checked out yet but will soon.
MP3 (nothing off of disc two cause you should buy it! or listen on iTunes)
Last night I ventured to which she pointed out I have perfect attendance.

It was at The Scene which is a tiny little dive bar with an easy atmosphere and great drink prices. They ve got a little stage that sounds pretty good + pool table + photobooth + Mrs. Pacman / Galaga.

I made it to the fourth stage playing Mrs. Pacman which I was fairly pleased with. It s a small place but felt really cozy.

Plus any beer for 4 bucks had me going back for Newcastles often. Now onto the music but first a short story.
was there.

Of all places - a tiny dive bar in Glendale. I was actually starstruck. I couldn t believe it.

I was probably such a little girl about it because I watch alot. I asked him when the new episodes were on, he told me April which I also just found out from the website. I almost didn t recognize him because he was sporting a sweet beard and hanging out with the guys from The Good Listeners.

All in all - the combination of music, friends, and a star sighting made it a great night.
Now the music.
The following is in order from openers to headliners.

(Mezzanine Owls)
I missed Civil At Rest which I m a little dissapointed about but it s okay.
Never heard these guys until the show. Jaxxy told me I d like them - and I do.

Good ole indie pop I can never get away from it. Notable Highlight was a Devo cover of uhhh that one song I forget. You would know it.

Lead singer Mike Griffin s voice sounded a little harsh (he may of had a cold or I might be a dbag and that s his style) but the music and lyrics are good.
The Good Listeners are all talent. ALL.

They ve fused together all kinds of instruments into awesome indie pop rock songs. Like the picture above they had a projector setup - yet the funny part no video. Just the blue light for the whole deal.

I was kinda waiting for something to happen yet nothing so that s just the way it goes. I think lead singer (Nathan?) told us at the start of their set there was no video but hey whatever.

Great set, these guys really know what they are doing and it shows in the music.
The Mez Owls were the main reason I went out to the show last night. I ve been excited about the owls since All good songs, all good times.

They seemed really together if you know what I mean. They hung around before the show, went up there and did their thing and did it well. I honestly don t have much to say about the performance, it was just good.

A solid good performance to add to their buzz and soon to be fame and fortune. We can only hope.