looking for something specific? search our archives:
[2016 Recap] A Few Of My Favorite Things
bless Topsters for assembling this graphic infinitely easier than prior years
Surpriiiiseee!! I'm going to do my year end wrap up differently than most of the ones I've seen. Mostly because I have so many to share, but mostly because I like to let the music do the talking and help you get better connected to the artists themselves. Instead of recaps of each record, I'm going to point you to my favorite tracks so if any of these are new to your ears you'll have the best starting point I can give you.
Personal Observations for 2016
This was a weird year for me in terms of listening/discovery habits. Instead of fighting against music consumption trends, I decided to play along. I dove head first into my Discover Weekly playlist. I even followed some of my friends' in order to see what I would find and set up an IFTTT recipe to archive everything recommended to me so I could go back and reference it later if I wanted. I barely touched my SKOA inbox, which probably upset a lot of publicists. Anyway, according to Last.FM's data (since Spotify never ended up sending me mine), I listened to 1,919 new artists this year, which is ABSOLUTELY INSANE. But really when you think about how much music Discover Weekly puts in front of you, it's really less than what everyone had the potential to check out (which is 1,560 if you figure we get 30 new tracks a week for a year). I am in the 98th percentile in music listening per Last.FM (meaning I listen to more music than 98% of people who still scrobble to Last.FM) and I found myself panicky and overwhelmed by the sheer volume of music that Spotify thinks I can get through on TOP of the music I already love and want to enjoy, or the random rabbit holes I end up falling into that typically bring me great new baby bands. I guess most people approach Discover Weekly differently than I do, letting artists come and go as they please, but knowing the transformative power that music possesses, I'm always wary of passing on an opportunity to be affected and share those experiences with others.
It's crazy to think that 20% of what stuck with me this year was randomly generated by The Algorithm and not delivered to me by humans. I almost said that the human delivery was through cosmic forces, but really, if music finds its way to your ears/hearts by friend or by Algorithm, both are cosmic in a way, no?
This is my struggle at present. I value the connection that happens when a humans experience music together, whether it be by recommendation or attending shows together. I worry this experience will continue to be diminished the more we silo ourselves into our algorithm-based echo chambers. I really hope I'm just out of touch and someone will point me to where this is the opposite, but I can't ignore how self-serving shows feel now every time I treat myself to a Night Out. This has been on my heart/mind too much lately to ignore it, so expect some changes to how things go down on the site (starting with making more time for this now that my new job isn't crazy busy for awhile).
What music moved you this year? Did you like some of these records but different tracks? I'd honestly love to know so please drop me a comment. Also if you want more than favorite tracks out of me for these records, feel free to bug me on Twitter I am happy to share!
My Favorite Things Of 2016
[Watch] Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield Covers David Bowie's "Space Oddity" in Outer Space
It's always good to know that taxpayer dollars are being well spent. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield took some time out of his busy schedule aboard the International Space Station to film his fantastic interpretation of David Bowie's classic "Space Oddity." It's the perfect setting for the song, and Hadfield doles it out with odd charm. Watch the first-ever music video made in space below.
[News] Record Store Day Unveils Full List Of 2012 Releases
With just a little under a month to go until Record Store Day, today the full list of 2012 releases has been announced. Highlights from the list include releases from The White Stripes, Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr, David Bowie, Brendan Benson, Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Garbage, Sigur Ros, Grouplove, m83, Mariachi El Bronx/The Bronx, and more.
You can head over to Record Store Day's official website for the full list of releases.
[Download] Wazu - "Murder 1"
Fans of Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Talking Heads, and David Bowie will want to have a listen and grab "Murder 1" from Australian-born, now NYC-based duo Wazu. The track combines elements of glam, grunge, electronic, pop and goth to create a dark, danceable atmosphere and comes from their upcoming self-titled EP, which drops on January 10th, courtesy of Anti-Language Recordings.
Wazu is comprised of Matt and Rizz, who wrote and performed together in several influential Syndey bands (Open The Gates, Captains) before they decided to venture out on their own as a duo and see what kind of chemistry the two had together. The band's self-titled EP was produced by Kevin McMahon (Titus Andronicus, Real Estate, Swans, The Walkmen), who also worked on their upcoming full-length album which is slated for a May 29, 2012 release.
NYers can catch Wazu at Cameo Gallery in Brooklyn on the night of the release of their EP (1/10/2012).
[Watch] The Horrors - "Suffragette City" (David Bowie Cover)
This time last year we posted a video of the lovely Robyn covering none other the the purple king, Prince. The session was recorded as part of SEAT's On Track series and today comes another delightful cover for us to enjoy. The Horrors take on David Bowie's "Suffragette City" in a one take to vinyl recording at Metropolis Studios. The results can be enjoyed at the top of the page and they're pretty darn good. What do you guys think?
The Horrors' latest LP Skying is out now.
[Watch] The Shins Cover David Bowie's "Ashes To Ashes" x Debut New Song
The Shins returned to our attentions yesterday when after a break to focus on other things, the band's all new line up mad either first live performance in Oregon. It was also the time for James Mercer and the band to offer up this delightful cover of David Bowie's 1980 smash hit, "Ashes To Ashes" (via 130BPM.) The band are said to be releasing new material soon and The NJ Underground have stumbled across a video of the band performing an as yet untitled track which is nice to hear. You can watch footage of them covering Bowie at the top and the new untitled jam after the jump. Excited?
The Shins returned to our attentions yesterday when after a break to focus on other things, the band's all new line up mad either first live performance in Oregon. It was also the time for James Mercer and the band to offer up this delightful cover of David Bowie's 1980 smash hit, "Ashes To Ashes" (via 130BPM.) The band are said to be releasing new material soon and The NJ Underground have stumbled across a video of the band performing an as yet untitled track which is nice to hear. You can watch footage of them covering Bowie at the top and the new untitled jam after the jump. Excited?
[Watch] David Bowie and Trent Reznor perform Nine Inch Nails’ "Hurt" in 1995
Let's go back to 1995 when David Bowie and Nine Inch Nails co-headlined The Outside Tour. During this amazing tour Bowie and his bandmates joined forces with Trent Reznor and Co. (who were touring in support of The Downward Spiral) to perform a handful of Bowie tunes and a couple NIN songs together, before rocking into Bowie's ending set.
For years, fans have clamored for high-quality video from the trek, and as fan site The NIN Hotline notes, some finally emerged two months ago on the Vimeo page of David Williams, a film editor who apparently worked on a pro-shot film of the Bowie/NIN tour.
Above you’ll see a superb clip of Bowie and Reznor playing NIN’s “Hurt” (with a killer guitar intro by Reeves Gabrels), part of the transition between the two sets; after the jump are clips of Nine Inch Nails and Bowie performing the latter’s “Hallo Spaceboy” together, and clips of Bowie doing “The Heart’s Filthy Lesson” and Reznor and his bandmates ripping through “Wish” (that video is labeled “David Bowie,” but it’s all NIN). - Via Slicing Up Eyeballs
Check out the other 3 video at Slicing Up Eyeballs website, linked above. Also, shouts to our friend's Twentyfourbit for this awesome news.