A blog of random musings from the Inside magazine staff
It’s 11:00PM, do you know where your favorite band is?
On the heels of last week’s Pit Stop Music Marathon in Bloomington, along with a few other shows that have come into town in the past few months, I’ve found myself getting interested in a brand new form of mild celebrity stalking.
Basically, a lot of bands have Twitter accounts. Also, a lot of bands go on tour. Put those two together, and any regular music fan who has a Twitter account is bound to start noticing what his or her favorite bands think of Bloomington–or at least where they go to eat when they stop by.
For example, I couldn’t help but notice when this post popped up in my Twitter feed the day the band Surfer Blood from West Palm Beach, FL, played at the Bishop on Day 6 of the Pit Stop Music Marathon:
@SurferBlood Bloomington…time to eat at Roots!
A few days before that, I noticed another tweet by the band Fruit Bats, who performed at the Bishop on Day 2 of Pit Stop Music Marathon:
@fruitbatsmusic Show tonight in Bloomington, setting for one of my favorite movies: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078902
You don’t even have to click on the link to know that they were talking about “Breaking Away”.
A few weeks before the Philadelphia-based indie singer/songwriter Kurt Vile performed both an in-store performance at Landlocked Music and a later show at the Bluebird on Valentine’s Day, his record label, Matador Records, also made a comment about Bloomington and “Breaking Away”:
@matadorrecords “Breaking Away” is one of our favorite movies. And Kurt Vile is playing an instore in Bloomington on Sunday http://alturl.com/wo7x
While I understand this might seem like pretty irrelevant information to some people, I’ve found it pretty interesting to see what kind of perspective other people have of Bloomington–especially people of relative fame, or who are at least doing awesome things on a national level, like touring and making music.
I also just got back from a trip to New York City, where I met people who honestly asked me if there was “anything to do in Bloomington”. So, the fact that some up-and-coming bands are at least able to identify this place with something else besides a generic joke about corn is pretty reassuring.
Here are a few Twitter accounts of bands that are coming to Bloomington in the next few months, so you can see if they have anything to say when they stop by:
Rogue Wave – The Bluebird on April 18 @roguewaveband
Amos Lee – The Bluebird on April 20 @amoslee
The Flaming Lips – IU Auditorium on Aprill 22 @theflaminglips
Road Trip Games
Spring break is here, and for many of us, that means lots of time spent on the road. And let’s face it – 10+ hours sitting in a car can be intimidating. But with a little bit of creativity, the minutes will fly by and you’ll soon find yourself cruising into your sunny spring break destination. Need ideas? Channel your inner child and check out these links for road trip games:
http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/list/top10/121613/article.html
http://www.cookiemag.com/travel/2009/04/road-trip-games?currentPage=1
http://www.roadtripteam.com/road-trip-games.html
Elizabeth Eckert, who was profiled in the IDS, wrote this ode to Bloomington.
I especially love the Bear’s Place reference.
Music that makes you happy
In celebration of the sunny weather and all things spring break, here are some fun videos that use music to make you smile:
1) Elderly couple playing the piano, probably one of the cutest things you will ever watch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI-l0tK8Ok0
2) “Good Morning to You” from Singing in the Rain, check out this tap dancing! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA3OnIYW5u4
3) Not sure exactly what song this little girl is singing, but her facial expressions are fantastic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw1SnGvzX2g
Enjoy the beautiful weather, Inside readers! What are some of your favorite YouTube videos that make you smile?
One Part Music, One Part Engineering = One Amazing Video
Ok Go, the band who previously brought us “The Treadmill Music Video”, recently released a one shot wonder of a video. The video to the song “This too shall pass” was done in one shot, there are no cuts, no edits, and no cheating. The members of the band run around the set of the video singing while the worlds most complex “Rube Golberg” machine works itself out. Check it out.
New classics
Does anyone else have an instant flashback when they hear old video game and movie tunes? I used to have the Mario Bros. theme song as a ringtone on my phone, as well as several Disney themes. They say smell is the most powerful sense tied to memory, but I don’t think that’s necessarily always true.
Which is why it’s always awesome to hear an old favorite re-invented, or as in this case, started from scratch. Here’s one of my favorites. Who knew the brutal competitiveness of Mario Kart could be turned into a love song? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDBpQVhCMb8&feature=related
Also check out Bowser’s Reply: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBuwV-z5IbU&feature=channel
Cover songs that are actually good
We all make fun of cover bands for being unoriginal, but sometimes an amazing cover can blow the original out of the water (All Along the Watchtower, Hendrix fans?)
Blender Magazine has a story about cover songs that are better than the originals. Some of these are ones you might not have heard of, and they are definitely worth checking out. My personal favorite is Elvis Costello’s cover of Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful.” It’s amazing how two different voices can make one song sound so different!
Check out the link here: http://www.blender.com/blender-blog/87145/ten-covers-that-better-than-originals.html
What do you think, Inside readers? What are some cover songs you think are worth checking out?
Crazy Sounds
I got a chance to sit down with junior Robert Lyon. He is in the Individualized Major Program, working towards a bachelor’s in experimental music and sonic arts while also receiving a degree in computer science and minoring in mathematics. He allows all of his worlds to collide in order to make his music. Here he explains to INSIDE, how he creates his own sound and how what he does, is in fact, actually music. Read on and decide for yourself!
Q: What type of music do you create?
A: When I’m making music, more recently, it has been installation based. So, they have been like ambient soundscape type things. They will have interesting technology aspects to them. Not necessarily, lyric generative. There is an algorythym behind the musical producing that generates the notes. When I have time to make music that’s what I’m doing. … I produce music that you cannot necessarily put on your Ipod. … Think about if you are watching a scary movie. If you did conciously listen to what is sonically happening you hear things that are out of place. It is adding to the theatrical experience. I’m doing that without the movies.
Q: How do you get or create your sounds? What inspires your music?
A: I’m recording everyday sounds and doing field reporing. And I use design software and add interesting sound. I change the sounds a lot to the point of them being unrecognizable. I change the pitch on them. I am directly changing the sound. If I slow a bird’s sound from five seconds to 30 seconds the sound is lower.
“I produce music that you cannot necessarily put on your Ipod.”
Q: How did you decide to create your major, experimental music and sonic arts?
A: I’ve always in been in bands and I started doing composition stuff and that still influences the way I look at music and sound. I’m interested in sound and mathematics and I combine the two.
Q: What do you say to people who argue that you are not creating music?
A: Some people would tend to thing more of what I do among the lines of music than sound because I try to convey some sort of a pitch. It’s a huge argument.
Q: What is one of the best classes you have taken?
A: I took a Class Ensemble at IUPUI. The teacher wanted to use the software Mac/MSB program and we essentially programmed experimental multimedia performances. And so we would use the iPod Touch and Wii remote. And both of those had capabalitities of communicating from your computer wirelessly. So we would write these programs and essentially use the Mac to read the data from each device. And interpret it from our software. … And with that, we were able to create certain effects. We had some pretty weird performances.
Here is Lyon’s Web site. Check it out! http://robertlyon.info/
Noisy Neighbors
I’m not one to study with music. Actually, I usually end up reading the same sentence four times in a row if there’s the slightest bit of noise. This year, though, I’m getting plenty of practice combining reading and rock ‘n’ roll – when you live next door to a band, you’ve got no choice.
One night as I was enjoying my neighbors’ rendition of “Sex On Fire” that was blaring into our apartment (more entertaining than my biology textbook), I wondered how others who live with and around the band members feel about so often being surrounded by live music. Is the band members’ passion for the jams shared by their non-musician roommates? By the guys or girls next door? Just how do bands keep the peace?
On one calm, quiet day in apartment 507, I decided to ask around. The band that practices there, The Warmth, practices about three or four times a week, and performs at a local venue about once a week.
The Roommate
“I don’t mind it. I’m a person who likes noise when I’m studying. It’s good music to listen to while you’re relaxing. But I know our other roommate, Nick, goes to the library to study.
We’ve thrown two parties where they’ve played, and people liked them. So I guess that’s a perk.”
- David Malos, sophomore.
The Neighbor
“ It occasionally interrupts my study habits because I require a pretty quiet environment to study in. We text them once in awhile and ask them to quiet down, and they do. It’s not like they’re disrespectful about it at all.
I like going over there every once in awhile when they’re having a party and Gordy’s band is actually playing. It’s cool to know someone who’s going out and playing.
Our neighborhood is pretty quiet – if we lived in the Villas this wouldn’t even be a problem.”
- Claire Daniel, sophomore
The Lead Singer
“No one really complains, so we keep going. Our friends like to go to the shows and have a good time. They enjoy it.
There’s been a couple points where it’ll be three in the morning and we’re drunk and want to jam. And it’s probably not a good idea. Sometimes we’ll get a text that we probably shouldn’t be banging on drums…”
- Gordon Buchanan, senior
So what do you think… is living around a band a pain or a pleasure?
YouTube jams in B flat
YouTube is filled with videos of lonely-looking people playing their instruments in front of Web cams at home. That’s great for them and all, but sometimes they look like they just need someone to jam with them.
Well, lonely YouTube users, fear not. Apparently, someone had the idea to create an entirely virtual jam session, via individually embedded YouTube videos, all in the key of B flat.
Check it out at www.inbflat.net.
Play a few of the videos at once, or play all of them. Either way, the result is pretty mind blowing.
You can even send in your own contribution, as long as it follows a few specific guidelines.Or, just sit back and enjoy.
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