Nervous Neal Smith

I listened to Nervous Neal’s 2009 album Manhandle Suite yesterday and was reminded what a fantastic album it is. It has the right blend of jazzy fun and instrumental complexity; lots of memorable melodies with new details to discover with each subsequent listen.

You can listen to and download the entire album for free right here, so I suggest you do just that. It’s great music to work to.

Filed under: music , free, jazz, manhandle suite, nervous neal smith

Hunz

This is amazing news. Hunz latest album Thoughts That Move is up on bandcamp for free. You must must must pick this one up. Do it here, do it now.

Hunz took part in the 2009 RPM Challenge, where artists write and record an album entirely in the month of February. As soon as I heard the first demo, I knew this was going to be a fantastic album.

I love being right.

Hunz is an accomplished musician and his graphic skills are unbelievable as well. Check out his official site as well.

I’m a fan, and this is your chance to become one too. Pick up Thoughts That Move for free, and enjoy!

Filed under: Discovery, music , free, hunz, RPM Challenge

Band Names

Is it important to have a reason behind a band name? How important is it for the audience to know the reason behind a band’s name?

I was recently (and regrettably) watching an episode of The Today Show last week where variety acts were trying out for a chance to be on the dubiously titled America’s Got Talent. One of these acts was Ball In The House, an a cappella boy band from Boston. My first thought was “This is the worst band name ever. Worse than Vampire Weekend by miles.” Of of the band members explained that their name is a reference to the title of an episode of The Brady Bunch.

Okay.

I tried to decide what was worse: the name or the origin? Luckily after visiting their website I found what was truly the worst:

The band’s image matches neither their name nor the origin of the name. The name is just stupid, the origin is goofy and kitschy, and their “look” seems to be strangely hardcore and Creed-like. It doesn’t matter how badass you are in life, if you are singing in an all-guy a cappella group and your name is Ball In The House, there is no amount of textured backgrounds and distressed fonts that will make you seem badass.

But really, Ball In The House is certainly not the only band to choose a terrible name. I know it’s subjective, but there are some names that I just can’t get past. Most of the time I think that many band names suffer from people trying too hard to be cool.

Other Band Names I Hate
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Hot Hot Heat
Fall Out Boy
Crash Test Dummies*
Bowling For Soup
Holy Fuck
The Orb*
The Academy Is…
…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
Staind
!!!
Linkin Park
Toad the Wet Sprocket
Puddle of Mudd
Five For Fighting
Bat For Lashes
Archers of Loaf
Poi Dog Pondering
Alien Ant Farm
Rooney
My Chemical Romance
Letters To Cleo*
Belly*
Hoobastank
The Goo Goo Dolls
Techno Squirrels*

*I actually like these bands

And so on. I could do this all day. It says nothing about their music, some of which I have never heard. But with a name like “Bowling For Soup”, it is unlikely I would ever want to hear your music.

To bands out there… don’t try too hard to think up a “cool” name. And when you choose a name, please make it appropriate. If you’re a blues outfit, don’t pick something like “Ultrasonic Mars Rover”. If you are a dopey band called Ball In The House, don’t try to be something you’re not.

Filed under: Uncategorized , bad band names

Version One

I’m working on a new song at the moment, not for anything in particular.  I was feeling a bit stuck lyrically, so I sent it over to my friend Jeff to see if he’d be up for writing some lyrics to accompany the track.  There are still some instruments to add, and I’m sure that when I get the words back I’ll want to change some thing around, but you can listen to the rough draft if you like.

The Breakaway v1.0

Filed under: Originals , collaboration, lyrics, music

The Strangest Places

Hello all! As this is the blog for my boutique record label, Sidedown Audio, I will be talking about music.

After a band meeting down in Wicker Park last night, as I was waiting for the bus, I happened to glance into the overloaded trash can next to me. Lo and behold, I found two items of interest!

The first was a sampler CD from Vapor. Labeled “Stacey’s Spring Sampler 2009″ and wafer sealed. I’m not going to say too much about who was on the sampler, because it’s going to be the subject of the next few episodes of Downcast, but since Metric, Death, and Camera Obscura are in the mix, I have high hopes for the bands I don’t recognize. We’ll find out!

The other item was an absolutely beautiful letterpress business card for Waveplant, the sound/music project of Jeol Corelitz. First off, why was this in the trash? Music aside, it’s a fantastic business card… certainly interesting enough to warrant checking out the website.

Second, after spending ten seconds on his site, I was hooked. Beautiful music, obviously good eye for design. GO and click on some red dots. Listen to “Boy”, it’s incredible.

I rarely expect to find music in the trash, but hey, I’m just lucky that way.

Filed under: Discovery , corelitz, death, metric, music, studio, vapor, waveplant