The music festival component of SXSW kicks off this evening and, once again, I am not there. Maybe next year. This festival features a ton of great live music. The shear number of bands is overwhelming (many of which, you can stream and download from the SXSW website). Thankfully, my favorite sources of music, KCRW and RCRDLBL_ pick out some of the best acts for me.

One band, Black Math Horsemen, was recently featured on RCRDLBL_. They get docked a point for starting their band name with the all to common ‘Black’, but instantly make up for it by following that up with “Math”. “Horseman” hints to what kind of music they make. It’s tough to describe, but ‘apocalyptic’ seems to fit. It’s definitely dark (black is a bit of an over-sell), dramatic, and desperate with just a bit of a psychedelic feel. The song structures and drumming are progressive, the bass guitar riffs long and melodic, and the multilayered electric guitars alternate between melodic and rocking but always with an atmospheric feel. Distant, often detached vocals emerge from behind the music instead of being front and center; a feature I definitely appreciate.

The two songs below are well-composed and very well produced. I suspect many people will find them inaccessible. There aren’t any repetitive hooks or danceable rhythms that grab you and make them memorable. Their appeal comes from a sense of mystery and the intellectual challenge their songs create. I like them because they are easy to space out to even (especially!) when played loud. They might not be for everybody, but I certainly enjoy them. I hope you do as well.

The band Bell Hollow has made a few appearances on RCRDLBL_. Each time I listen to their songs they move up my ‘to buy’ list. While all but one free download on RCRDLBL_ are remixes, you can just tell the the underlying original is a good song. In once case, the Halo33 Remix of Eyes Like Planets, the remix introduces a layer of eerie atmospheric sound to already spooky guitars and somber singer that adds to the beauty of the piece.

The one song that isn’t a remix, Jamais Vu (last track on the embedded player below) proves my suspicion that their raw material in brilliant. The sounds are reminiscent of what used to be called ‘adult alternative’ in the ’90s. I would describe the song as a melding of the best of The Ocean Blue, New Order, and Morrissey. The layered guitars play sad melodies and chords with bright, wet sounds, the drummer matches the rhythm of those guitars, the singer sings simple, catchy melodies, and a subtle synth plays single, drawn out notes.

You can currently hear more of their original material on their MySpace page.

RCRDLBL_ has done it again and introduced me to another band with great potential. I just wish I had the time and resources to pursue all the great stuff I’m hearing on that site.

This time, they’ve introduced me to Autodrone. Their two tracks up for offer are Final Days and Kerosene Dreams. I’m particularly fond of the former. The kids these days describe their music as ‘shoegaze’, though the band themselves prefer ‘dream pop’. I just call it damn good. It reminds of a mix of upbeat Portishead and Catherine Wheel’s slower material. There’s plenty of spacey guitars, active acoustic drums, and detached female vocals.

Check out their freely downloadable songs below and let me know what you think.

But it’s not your fault. According to a short but fascinating article in Scientific America, dogs, and almost all other mammals, don’t like any music. Humans are nearly unique (damn you bats!) in there ability to easily distinguish tones within a twelfth of an octave (and less). Dogs, for instance cannot distinguish within a third of an octave. Thus a C note and a D note sound identical to them. Apparently, we have this ability thanks to separate and more sensitive neural pathways for natural and unnatural (pure tone) sounds.

It’s good to be human.

Here are two more worthy downloads from RCRDLBL_. These two tracks are by Home Video. You can also stream their new album on their website.

This band seems to fit the profile of modern bands that appeal to Sid. Each song is a masterful blending of electronic and alternative rock (favoring the electronic side in most songs), the production values are top-notch, and the vocals add greatly to the song without distracting from the underlying music.

here’s a free download courtesy of RCRDLBL_ that’s worth a listen. The band is 1913 and the song is Can’t Move On. It’s a very catchy pop-rock song with mild electronic influences. I’m most impressed with the bass guitar. It drives the verse and pre-chorus with very disco-like rhythms, but moves into a standard rock sound for the choruses that are nonetheless catchy. Give it a listen and let me know what you think.

You can see the video and hear more of their music on their MySpace page (warning: video and music plays automatically and the video ending is cheesy in a way that only teen angst can produce).

This past weekend, I pretty much locked myself up in my studio and worked on music. Sure, I took the time to eat, sleep, and of course drink. I even showered once or twice! But music was my focus. I did the usual stuff – practice the drums, listen to some new music (hint: RCRDLBL_ is your friend). But I also worked on music creation.

First, I finally took the time to record Deme. The bulk of my time was spent writing and recording Cnidaria. I’ve created dedicated posts for each song individually. You can follow the links for both those songs to download the mp3s and to give you opinions.

The other new thing I did this weekend was to join an online community of electronica artists called SectionZ (see the sidebar for a link to where you can hear SectionZ music for free). I uploaded Deme, Cnidaria, and Forward Arrow to the site. So far the response has been good – 1 vote of 7 out of 10 for Forward Arrow and 1 votes for 8 out of 10 for Deme. Apparently, both need some production work, which I’m glad to do. Look for updates to those songs!

The last thing I did late Sunday night was create some cover art for my hypothetical first CD. You see the result in this post.

It’s been a long time since I had a weekend like that. It was nice to just immerse myself in a creative endeavor. I look forward to more weekends like it.

This is the first full-length song I’ve written in years. It’s also my first stab at the ‘ambient’ sub-genre of electronica. The song is called Cnidaria (pronounced nahy-dair-ee-uh), which is the phylum name of jellyfish. I named it that because the song has a strong underwater feel to it. It’s also been described as ‘abstract’, ‘spooky’, and even ‘a bit disturbing’.

Let me know if you like it, if you don’t like, or even if just not your style. In addition, I’m interested in some particular feedback on this one. Does it sound professional? If not, what would help it sound more professional? Would you like to hear more like this? Thanks!

I finally took the time to record Deme (right-click to download) the way I’ve always wanted to. This song is one of my oldest surviving songs. It’s at least 10 years old and was written on a cheap midi sequencer using sounds from an Alesis QuadraSynth 6. Because of that, the song has a very old-school sound. Unfortunately, the complexity of the song combined with limited computing power of the time prevented me from making a quality recording. I now have the equipment and finally took the time.

Please give the song a listen. You can download directly from the link above or stream it using the embedded player in my sidebar. I’m interested in hearing your feedback. Constructive criticism is encouraged. Thanks!

A post over on Spiritual Tramp about the impending doom of Pandora, an internet radio site, got me thinking. The Recording Industry Association of America’s (RIAA, aka the major labels) fear and loathing of digital music has often been predicted to be it’s downfall. I agree. Below is my prediction of how it will happen.

SoundExchange is a nonprofit spin-off of the RIAA dedicated to collecting royalty fees for member artists. That seems fine on the surface, but their Congressional mandated power is being abused in order to kill internet radio. Radio pays no fees for playing artists and satellite radio pays nominal fees. Internet radio pays exorbitant fees by comparison. That is why Pandora is in trouble.

Continued actions like these will only make organizations like SoundExchange obsolete. Internet radio sites will slowly replace SoundExchange artists with independents that don’t require, or require less fees. They’ll do this to cut costs and stay alive.

At the same time, an entire generation of kids who have shared every creative impulse freely over the internet will become of an age where they will be creating the music we, their peers, and most of all, their juniors will be listening to online. They won’t join SoundExchange and will offer up plenty of quality material for internet radio and little or no cost. Instead of full copyrights, they will use alternatives. They will make their money from touring, merchandising, and from ownership enthusiasts such as myself.

This synergy will result in the merger of the independent music movement and the internet radio movement and will finally be the death stake in RIAA and their bastard child, SoundExchange. Even their very name is an Orwellian misnomer since they are dedicated to hindering the exchange of music.