After many a lot of rumours that the current economic state of the union was jeopardizing this year’s Alive At Five series, dates and acts have been announced!
This year, it seems to be all Maine acts. Sure, its the usual suspects. But hey, tons of credit to the ladies and gentlemen in charge for getting it booked. Check out the lineup at The Portland Downtown District’s blog.
updated: Its a “pay what you like” model. You like it? Throw some $$ at it.
Clearly behind the eight ball here, but throwing a little more attention its way certainly isn’t a bad idea.
NXT: The Next Generation Music Festival Movie, article from PPH
YouTube trailer for 48 Hour Music Fest Documentary
48 Hour Music Fest, MySpace page
Portland Music Foundation, forum topic
The 48 Hour Music Festival happened a few months ago. With the draw of names from a hat, it created bands that had never existed before then and give them 48 hours to write a set that would be performed. The end result was a fantastic representation of the talent that resides in our homestate.
Sometimes, in the course of being a musician, an opportunity presents itself that is so intriguing and interesting, that saying “no” just is not an option. No matter how unusual it is, or how impossible it sounds, “no” just won’t work. Such is the case with the Tower of Song Project that occurred over Congress St on May 23 from 12pm- 8pm. The premise seems crazy and outlandish, but end was really great.
The organizers have begun posting videos of the performances here. And thanks to HillyTown for pointing this out. He also summarizes this best by saying, “Do yourself a huge favor and watch this, and fall in love with the Portland music scene a little more.”
[dog]and[pony] presents: The Tower of Song Sessions 1.1
Update: Just thought a little clarification might be in order here. The MXP4 website refers to the format as an “interactive solution” and “empowering the remix culture.” Here are some of the features of the format from their website:
It is important to note that the product here is the combination of the format and the player. The player is Flash based.
At the moment, the end result is that it allows a listener to seamlessly switch between different mixes, or “versions” as they are referred to on the website. For example, The Grouch and Eligh have released a single using this format. There are 4 mixes available, with one being the original. If the listener wants to hear one of the other versions, it just needs to be clicked. There is a several seconds long processing of the request, during which time there is no interruption of what is already playing, and then the new version begins, seamlessly.
The remixing of the songs can be taken a step further. As long as the artist has allowed for these features to be turned on, the listener can be brought to a kind of control panel where the different tracks of the song can be turned off and on. For example the drums could be turned off, while just the vocals and keys are allowed to continue.
They have also allowed for another version of the remix angle. This version presents the listener with a control panel which allows for the listener to plan switches between the available versions within increments of one bar. A person with any experience producing or creating digital music will find the controls scheme familiar.
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Some thoughs…
One of my initial concerns was sound quality. So, MP3s certainly aren’t sparkling bastions of fidelity, but what happens to sound quality during all of this manipulation and fancy editing? Well, when compared to the unprotected AAC file I purchased from iTunes to compare The Grouch and Eligh’s “All In,” the iTunes file sounded kind of flatter than the MXP4 player.
At first glance, it is easy to think that a new format in a sea of formats and players may get lost in the shuffle. And at first click, this format seems more gimmicky than useful. And the question has to be asked about where else other than web based locations would this be useful? Are they going to expand in to iPhone app? Probably. Will you or I convert our music libraries to this format? Probably not. Will Pandora, Last.FM, Spotify, Nutsie, Rhapsody, Napster, or any other streaming service or recommendation engine offer portions of their library using this format and player? Maybe one of them, as they each struggle to differentiate themselves from each other.
Found on their MySpace blog, Pinsky has re-released their debut EP and is re-available beginning this past Tuesday. They have the full album streaming from their MySpace page until May 19. They have also dropped their prices on Cds and TShirts until then.
Always happy to see bands taking advantage of new media opportunities. Sparks The Rescue’s new album is available today and to launch they are doing an acoustic set over at The Bull Moose Music Warehouse store in Scarborough.
But, if that’s too far of a drive, they will be streaming the performance using Stickam. Hopefully, we will see more local artists and bands take advantage of these types of technologies.
Interestingly enough, Sparks can also be found here, here, here, here, here, here and here. Kind of like a Web/Band 2.0 checklist. Well done.
Testing wordmobi
Posted by Wordmobi
mainetoday.com reports that the PSO has unveiled the 2009- 2010 season. Looks like a good one with Mahler’s 2nd Symphony and a brand new mandolin concerto which the PSO co-commisioned. Also, Evelyn Glennie will back and Motor Booty Affair will be sitting on the Pops concert.
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