New Artist: The Tallest Man On Earth

The Tallest Man On Earth is an up and coming new folk singer whose real name is Kristian Matsson. His debut full-length album, Shallow Grave, was just released on April 8 and is a brilliant and insightful masterpiece that sounds like a veteran performance.

It’s refreshing to hear a folk album that isn’t trying too hard or completely ripping off conventional folk songs. The lo-fi recording quality is also nice to hear after being subjected to the polished alt-folk that shares more similarities with emo and pop music of today.

Simple but satisfying and transcendent melodies are all over this album, along with excellent finger picking and beautiful chord progressions. The obvious theme of this album is nature, starting with the cloudy blue sky on the album cover. Song titles like “The Blizzard’s Never Seen the Desert Sands” and “Into the Stream” also reflect the nature-loving aesthetic of the album.

The beautiful “The Gardner” is the crowning achievement of the album and will hopefully catapult Matsson to greater success and popularity.

The Who - Verizon Center 11/3/08

The most recent concert that I have seen was The Who at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC back in November of 2008 (I know it’s been a while, I’m too poor to buy concert tickets). This was not the first time I had seen The Who live, but it was certainly the best performance I’ve seen by the two surviving members.

The first time I saw them was in 2004, not long after the death of John Entwistle, and they seemed to be running out of steam. With no new material and declining health, the two musicians gave a lackluster performance that I could have gotten by listening to their greatest hits on full blast.

The second time I saw them it seemed to be just the opposite. Their first new album in years had just been released; Endless Wire, and they seemed revitalized. But the crowd was what brought this show down. Naturally everyone was excited to see the legendary band, but by the time they got to the middle of their set they were playing almost entirely new songs. I enjoyed their new album for what it was, but honestly, most people go to see bands like The Who play their classics, and the relative disinterest in their new material brought the entire mood and atmosphere of the show down.

This time was amazing. They had been touring for about a year and a half with their new material, so they had slimmed down the live selections and made room for some more rare classics. Songs like “The Seeker” and “Getting in Tune” were unexpected treats for non-greatest hits fans, but the set list certainly included all of the crowd pleasers as well. Ever the activist, Pete was also especially fired up, being that it was the night before Election Day. It may have been that my friends and I had been at the bar for a few hours before the show and had sneaked a few flasks into the show, but I had one of the best concert experiences of my life that night.

-Ronnie Tracey

Extra Credit Post : YouTube legal battle

Stemming from disagreements in revenue sharing contracts with Warner Music, YouTube started muting many music videos on its site earlier this year. At first only videos featuring music by Warner's artists were muted, but recently in the UK and Germany all music videos containing copy written songs have been taken down or muted.

This has come about because of further disagreements between Google, Youtube's parent company, and the performing rights associations in those countries. Google has claimed that the high fees that these performing rights organizations want them to pay are exorbitant and would mean YouTube would turn into a money-loosing business rather quickly. In the case of the German market, the GEMA, the German performing rights organization, wants to charge Google 12 cents every time a music video containing copy written music is played.

The basic underlying point of disagreement is how record labels and artists should be paid for their content being featured on YouTube. YouTube makes money from advertising, and many in the industry feel that too much of the advertising revenue is going in their own pockets, rather than being spread out to the creators of the content which YouTube is making money off of.

Many YouTube users have had strong negative reactions to the muted content. However, Google have moved quickly to establish new agreements with players in the music industry to solve the problems. The most significant sign of success so far is a venture between Google and Universal Music Group to create a new site called Vevo. The site will feature music videos from the whole Universal catalog and will use the YouTube framework to do so. The venture will make money by selling advertising space and then splitting the revenues between Google and Universal. The head of Universal, Dick Morris, hopes to convince other labels to follow suit and join Vevo, with the goal of creating a one stop site for music videos, much like imeem is for music.

It is important to note that these deals are actually key to YouTube's success. Currently the operating costs to run YouTube far outweigh the revenue being brought in through advertising. However, if Google can partner YouTube with more distributors and feature 'legitimate' content, their ad revenue could increase greatly. Google aren't only actively pursuing music deals but also are partnering with movie studios to start putting tv and movie content online.

Overall it is very difficult to weigh in on these legal battles because the particulars of each case are very difficult to find and in many cases are not allowed to be disclosed. It is clear that labels and performing rights organizations need to be compensated as long as Google is making a profit off of advertising revenue though YouTube. However, both sides seem to be struggling on how much of that revenue should be distributed. The new agreement between Universal and Google seems to be a very promising start and hopefully other labels will join in, creating a much better experience for the user compared to the current YouTube debacle.

Tom Davidson

T-Pain: an act of God

This past Monday, T-Pain canceled his show that was supposed to be held in Bender Arena. For all of you like me, who thought T-Pain was a robot because of his love for auto tune and his most recent robot-esque dance moves in "I'm On a Boat", were proved wrong. Apparently he came down with some laryngitis, which would make it impossible to sing, so his agent contacted the head of SUB Sunday morning and told him the bad news. SUB recently sent out emails to everyone who was going to the show, both students and general admission, that there will be full refunds given this week and next week. T-Pain was on his "College Tour", which is what is sounds like, most recently visiting Georgetown on April 18th.

Now this is just a bit of bad luck for everyone who wanted to hear T-Pain, or maybe just "I'm on a Boat", and there is nothing anyone could have done about this. This is something that would come up in a Force Majeure Clause in a contract. This was something that was beyond the control of T-Pain, so according to this clause, the contract is considered void and prevents everyone involved from fulfilling the contract. I do not know the details of the contract, but knowing that T-Pain is a big artist and that this clause is an industry standard, I would assume it is in the contract.

So unfortunately there was no T-Pain, but it ended up working out for everyone: SUB did not have to pay T-Pain and T-Pain did not have to perform during is illness. Thank God for Force Majeure!

John Geraghty

Keep of Kalessin

I once attended a Black Metal show featuring the fearsome Behemoth, the sacrilegious headliners Dimmu Borgir, and a relatively unknown band: Keep of Kalessin. Before the show, we had watched a music video of KoK’s because we had no idea who they were, and we all agreed that they sucked in comparison to the other two. And thus we went to this concert being only fans of Dimmu Borgir (probably because their music is most accessible), and Behemoth, because of their highly questionable morals and awesome technique, but for me that would soon change forever.
We arrived a little late into KoK’s set, and we were completely surprised by what we saw. Normally, the first band up was highly nervous, their music/technique still undeveloped, and thus no one watched and instead sat back and beveraged or stood awkwardly listening away from the stage. Instead, big mosh pits, the room was packed, and the band on stage was completely comfortable wearing black leathers and serious spikes. Being a band with a dedicated singer is growing less common in Black Metal, as several of the hugely popular black metal bands out there, including Behemoth and the infamous corpse paint wearing Immortal, have their singers playing tremolo picking solos simultaneously. And thus, I immediately was going to be critical of the singer’s technique until I heard the vocals. Complicated with wide range and the ability to switch effortlessly impressed me tremendously, the guitar riffs overlapping at weird intervals, and constant blast beats, by the time they were done, I was duly impressed. Needless to say, Behemoth and Dimmu were awesome, but they already have tremendous followings for their expertise, but for me KoK stuck in my head.
Many months later, actually a year later, I decided to go out and purchase an album by Keep of Kalessin because I needed something new, and I haven’t stopped to listening to that album since. The audiotech mastery is perfectly audible, and thinking about that live performance, I realize that its really impressive they were able to play as well as they did given the hugely complex layers, acoustic switches and different vocal gain parts. The album theme is very well written, Kollosus is sung from the viewpoint of a Sauron (from Lord of the Rings obviously) like character, and I had never thought that Spanish guitar would have worked in Metal until I heard this album. If you are interested in Black metal, I’d suggest starting with some traditional bands, like Immortal and Gorgoroth, but I that’s too simple/brutal for your tastes (too much tremolo picking, blast beats, black metal vocals that sound like a man is getting raped in the ass), the new wave of black metal bands like Behemoth and Keep of Kalessin are changing the face of metal. They have developed the genre from the one mic in a closet sound of ages past to something that uses classical music and opposes its theories with every chord and note.
Alex Hura

EC Posting - Live Performance: EMERFEST!

In an age where the internet and electronics separate people from actually interacting with one another, there will be a developing need for live performance. That's why I am saying that all you people need to get away from your TV and computer screens on Saturday night and you need to come down to the blackbox theater in Katzen and hear three awesome bands for FREE! Doors at 8pm, three bands, May 2nd! This is my senior show and features yours truly on the drums for all three sets. So come down and have a good time!

Emerson

Extra Credit Blog Post: a review of Holland by Realpeople

To the contrary of many music journalists and fans, I generally try to steer away from making ‘best of’ lists at the end of the year. This is mostly because its rare that ten records really ever end up good enough that I would feel the need to tell all my friends to listen to it. However, if I were to list my favorite records so far this year, Holland by Realpeople would certainly be the first.
Zach Condon has been making music under the moniker Beirut since 2006 and has definitely established his ability to make compelling multi-instrumental arrangements in an eastern-European style. However, very few of his songs have incorporated synthesizers so it would make sense that he would choose a new moniker to release an EP full of synth-pop songs. Holland was released as a split alongside Beirut’s March of the Zapotec EP, which actually pales in comparison when it comes to quality. If anything the Beirut tracks on this split sound like B sides and the Realpeople tracks sound like a new inspiration.
One wouldn’t think that an artist who makes music in such a dramatic and old fashioned style as Condon’s would adapt well to making an album almost exclusively using synthesizers, however it works remarkably well. The sound quality and mixing jobs make the EP sound very much like a demo, although the synth textures used are truly unique and very dynamic nonetheless. Even Condon’s intense vibrato makes the transition seamlessly on aching brooders such as “Venice” and the dancey “My Night With the Prostitute from Marseille.” The record sounds just as European as anything in Beirut’s discography, but approaches it from a completely different angle.
What’s also remarkable is how dynamic these songs are considering most of them aren’t anything more than two synth voices, a drum machine and layered vocal tracks. Many of Condon’s previous efforts with Beirut have excelled because of his ability to arrange using a whole host of unconventional instruments; however, the fact that Condon can create a record that’s comparatively sparse and equally compelling is only a testament to his talent as a musician.
While this is only a five song EP, it excels in both style and content. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Realpeople full length released in the near future. I only hope that Beirut fans are as receptive to I am to this new style.

Cameron

Extra Credit Blog: Let's Make Noise

Music has always been a major part of my life. Home videos reveal me as a three-year-old, plunking the keys of my Playskool piano as I sang along to songs of Billy Joel, and doing the same with a plastic guitar and Raffi. I feel I have come a long way since "Baby Beluga"; nevertheless, this is where it all began.

My days of Playskool piano plunking and plastic guitar strumming led to my formal training on these two instruments, which has now spanned over a decade. I also introduced myself to the violin in early elementary school, after music class teachers graced my ears with symphonic orchestral recordings of such genius composers as Beethoven and Mozart. Although for a lesser time period, I have also been found banging on the drums. I make a somewhat humorous attempt at writing lyrics to original pieces, and an even more comical one at accompanying said pieces with vocal melodies. For these reasons, I have found myself playing in bands and performing in live venues, which is something I hope to continue doing.

In more recent years, I have discovered that there is an entire world of musical art that exists beyond the performance aspect. This was set in motion when I had the desire to record some of my original music. I started with an inexpensive computer program and one microphone, and in a few years built that up into a small home studio in my basement, where I could be found in my free time. I have recorded tracks of my own original music, as well as demos for friends and others who wish to capture their work. After being at AU for a year in the Audio Production program, I have learned even more than I could imagine. I am on the verge of becoming a certified Pro Tools operator, and realizing that there are many roads I can choose that would make me happy working in this industry. I find I am always learning something new, but I know I have only dipped a toe in the ocean of this musical world.


Jon Casalaina

Streetlight Manifesto - 4/19

This past Sunday, the 19th, Streetlight Manifesto came to AU. The intimate concert was held in the amphitheatre which unfortunately probably hurt the turnout a little because of weather concerns. However, there were about 60-70 people in attendance and the majority were obviously hyped to see one of their favorite bands. Personally, it was an interesting experience having never heard the band before. It is always different hearing a band for the first time live without ever having heard prerecorded songs.

Judging from their live performance they are a very energetic and musical band who have a great stage presence and know how to work a crowd, no matter how small. Although they are classified as ska I would almost put them in a genre all to themselves because of their unique blend of different styles which meld together to create a very danceable, fun sound. The bands heavy use of brass instruments was a unique touch and added to the experience. There was a lot of interaction between the band and the audience, and judging from the crowd’s reaction most were dedicated fans of the band.

One of the funniest moments of the concert was when one of the band members called a member of the crowd out for yawning. To get her moving they played one of their many up-tempo songs that just happened to be her favorite song. This excited her to no end and really got the crowd even more amped. The bands banter between each other was amusing as well and was appreciated by the crowd.

Overall the concert was an enjoyable experience and I would definitely see them again. After listening to their music on their MySpace page after the concert they seem like the type of band who are more interesting to see live than listen to on an iPod, just because of the energy and intensity of their music which lends itself more to a concert setting.

Tom Davidson

Disco Biscuits 4/20

I realize this blog is a little late, but better late than never. Plus I had to wait until Monday so I could write about my experience at the Disco Biscuits concert. That Monday was a very special Monday out of the year, being on a very perfect day in the middle of April, and the Disco Biscuits had come to celebrate what many call a holiday. After filling myself on beer and roast beef at a bar called Duffy's across the street, my two companions and I strolled over to the end of a massive line, which led to the doors of the 930 cluib. I was lucky enough to have two fine females on either arm, which was a smart move on my part since I anticipated the extensive night of dancing ahead of us. Once inside the doors the band was already playing its first set and a pulse was felt through the crowd as fans moved to the heavy beat. A sweet smell lingered in the air as lights swirled around the venue. The new $250.000 sound system blasted with a low end that gripped your heart but with a clear high end that articulated every beat. After doing several shots, the three of us were ready to dive into the bumping throng.
The Disco Biscuits are a simple four piece (keys, guitar, bass, and drums) but know how to keep the crowd moving with their as they slowly accelerate and build tension. The amazing thing about their grooves is that they never stop. One song blends into the other without missing a beat, so the crowd never gets a chance to take a break. Grinding and bumping for over an hour the first set finally ended. Drenched in sweat we ran to the bar to re-fuel before the next set. We were all feeling fatigued from the unending music but once the band was back on stage, the feeling melted away. The second set seemed longer than the first and my limbs became numb as they bounced weightlessly to the pulse of the band. Finally after a 20 minute encore, the show was over, after approximately four hours of solid music.
Although the band can get repetitive and tiring to listen to off a cd at home, the Disco Biscuits live shows are something you cannot miss. With the thumping jam-band-dance music style you will get more than you payed for. What a great way to celebrate 4/20.

Emerson