Musical Taste: Videosongs, viral musicians, and the music of your old computer
I honestly don’t think I could get through the day without some form of music.
I’ve never understood those who don’t enjoy music in some form or limit themselves to liking “everything except country/pop/rap/etc.” I used to be that person, I’ll admit, but the variety of sounds even in one particular genre, for example, perhaps Shooter Jennings versus Brad Paisley, means that you can find something for everyone.
Welcome to Musical Taste.
- Do you know what a videosong is? If you’re at all familiar with rising stars Pomplamoose, then you do. It’s a new type of music video that doesn’t hide anything. There is no lip-syncing involved, everything is filmed at the same time as it is played. That’d be interesting on its own, but there is another thing that gives a videosong its namesake. If you hear band members Nataly Dawn and Jack Conte playing a certain instrument, or whistling, or clapping, you will actually see them do that. Check them out performing one of their original songs below or scope their YouTube channel.
- If you’re a fan of viral mysteries, you may be familiar with this next one. iamamiwhoami is a thus far anonymous electronica project. The band or artist started posting bizarre little teasers back in December, each of which was titled with numbers and which ended with a drawing of an animal. The videos titles, when placed into an alphabetic context, spelled out various phrases, but the animals are still a mystery.Most of the videos feature a blonde woman with her face obscured in some way, leading to tons of speculation as to who is behind it. The songs themselves are for the most part beautiful ambient pieces, though some of them branch out into more danceable areas. The latest (the second featuring an underwear clad man and his disturbing puppet) is embedded below and you can keep yourself up to date on the speculation at the band’sWikipedia entry.
- Four Tet is a strange band. Consisting only of Kieran Hebden, a stack of vinyl, an old PC and some samplers, the Guardian described it in 2003 as “folk music made by machines”. The band’s sound has only expanded on that in the years since, combining the syncopation and variable time signatures often found in experimental jazz with the aesthetics of the Chemical Brothers or Underworld. Listening to recorded songs is a variable experience from seeing him live, as like with many similar artists, much of the live show is an improvisational dance party. Check out Hebden’s work over on his MySpace.
Posted on May 11, 2010 at 23:43 by Lincoln Eddy · Permalink
In: Columns, Music · Tagged with: experimental jazz, Four Tet, Music, mystery, Pomplamoose, videosong, Viral
In: Columns, Music · Tagged with: experimental jazz, Four Tet, Music, mystery, Pomplamoose, videosong, Viral