Drowned In Sound: This column is exclusive to Drowned In Sound
Drowned in Sound has an excellent article about the current trends in music towards exclusivity. It's good to actually see actual journalism in contrast to the mindless daily blog state of things.
As if artists and artist managers weren’t contending with enough already with 360 deals being pushed and record companies taking to dropping supposed 'albums artists' prior to their second single, the media are now adding to this fractured and fractious landscape with an increasing desire for exclusivity from artists in relation to their coverage, topped by the cherry of multi-platform coverage demands. Thus a relatively new and championed artist can find themselves in the position that a few have reported to The Insider recently of being told that they must avoid title X to gain coverage in title Y.
Exclusivity in and of itself does, of course, make perfect sense in some situations. A magazine or radio station or tv show is hardly likely to cover an act if their direct competitors are given the same content to run the day prior or the same day. This is a landscape that, to some extent, everyone in the music industry is happy to cope with but the prevalence of extreme exclusivity demands in the past year or so is both mutating that original landscape into parody and harming both the artists and the very media that make such demands. Continue reading.
ArpLine Releases “Travel Book” Today as Pay What You Wish
mp3: ArpLine - "Parts Unknown"
mp3: ArpLine - "Fold Up Like a Piece of Paper"
Undoubtedly one of my favorite albums of the year, ArpLine's "Travel Book" is now available on their website as 'pay what you wish.' So although I recommend throwing them some pretty penny for this remarkable record, you can get it all for free, so go ahead and get it now.
NY Press Reacts to New York Mag’s “Brooklyn Top 40″
New York Magazine recently published a list of 40 songs that define the Brooklyn scene. The list was incredibly generic, outside of a couple interesting picks like Oakley Hall and Class Actress. Plus it was really lame to include to Grizzly Bear songs, even if they are a great band. There's no denying that Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors, Grizzly Bear, and TV on the Radio are the kings of the Brooklyn scene, but a best of list that includes Das Racist, Ninjasonik, and Matt & Kim is an embarrassment to our scene And everyone knows that Vampire Weekend isn't from Brooklyn.
So NY Press made our own list of 40 songs that "gets a little closer to the spirit of Brooklyn’s current rock scene." I was one of many writers that fought to see some of my favorites make the list, and I think the end result is quite a respectable deeper look into Brooklyn's incredible rock scene.
I would have loved to have seen Rain Machine, Hopewell, Right on Dynamite, Milagres and quite a few others make this list, but isn't that the point of lists—no one's ever happy.
Here's a quick hint at what our list looks like. Go here to see the full thing.
1. “Coward Cracks the Dawn” by Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers
2. “Ecstatic Rite” by Liturgy
3. “Open Shut” by Blank Dogs
4. “Don't Pass On Me” by Woods
5. "Bang For Changes" by Zambri
6. “I Hate New York” by Thorns of Life
7. “Hair Tapes” by Noveller
8. “Bear” by The Antlers
9. “Soda Popinski” by Javelin
10. “It’s Time!” by caUSE-coMOTION!
How I Lost My Hearing: 200 Pages of Jonny Leather Photography
How I Lost My Hearing is a 200 page collection of my best photography work over the last several years. It's been a project I've been working on for nearly 2 years, and I think it is a great looking book
Preview and Buy it online at Blurb
I will have some copies available for sale at my October 3rd event at Bell House
NY Press Music Survey
We asked dozens of bands 10 questions each about the local music scene.
New York City has always been a Mecca for great music. We've had Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, the Velvet Underground and Sonic Youth. No matter how many great bands are being produced in Montreal, Atlanta, Chicago or any other second-rate burg, NYC has always produced a higher quantity of quality bands with a huge range of styles. In recent years we've seen a variety of great bands come up and shake the music world; From The Strokes to LCD Soundsystem to TV on the Radio, New York is still producing great music in the 21st century. Many of our best bands become insanely popular, and at times it’s been easy to forget that there's still a slew of untapped talent playing bars and backrooms all over town. No one knows this better than the bands, which is why we asked dozens of them 10 questions each about the local music scene. We’re surprised and thrilled by the volume and variety of the answers, and we hope you are, too.—Jonny Leather
Melodic Fuzz
Thee Oh Sees
Death By Audio, 9.28.08
Last night, I found myself sweating bullets and listening to fuzzed-out garage rock at Death By Audio. On the floor was San Francisco's Thee Oh Sees, the new project of former Coachwhips mastermind John Dwyer. The room was packed, and I was so close to the band that I was lucky to survive the performance without having my face struck with a tambourine or guitar neck. The intimacy, and DIY nature perfectly complimented the perfectly raw nature of the grimy music Thee Oh Sees generated in the unbearably hot space. Buried underneath a furious level of fuzz/reverb, John Dwyer and company played a melodic blend of psychedelic, garage-style surf rock that had the room simultaneously shaking their hips and tapping their toes.
For more about Thee Oh Sees, check out Greg Burgett's recent feature on the band.
MP3: "Ghost In The Trees"
Tribeca/ASCAP Music Lounge Day 2

Chris Thile was back at the Canal Room on Wednesday to provide more mandolin madnes. As he did on Tuesday, Thile jammed up some bluegrass Bach and this time he ended his set with cover of The Stroke’s “Heart In A Cage.” I don’t know how he managed to pull off playing that guitar frenzy on his own on a mandolin, but he did.
Thile was followed by the equally young and talented Sondre Lerche (pictured). Showing off his new haircut, the Norwegian born songwriter was delightful, playing a catchy mix of swinging jazz and power pop. By the time his short set ended, the mix of free beer and cold medicine had come into effect, and I made my way out of the charming lounge atmosphere of the Canal Room and into the often-unpleasant alternate universe that is the Canal Street, wishing it hadn't ended so soon.
The music portion of the Tribeca Film Festival continues today at Canal Room with performances by Small Mercies, Jack Savoretti, Jessie Baylin, Augustana, and Sia.
Written for NY Press











































