101

I just realized that that post was #100! Neato!

Vling!

One of my favorite websites for music and music accessory shopping is Insound. A little while ago I happened upon a cassette-shaped necklace made out of recycled vinyl. I ordered one right away, and now I've found that the brand who makes it also makes tons of other pendants and pins- all out of old records. There are tons of shapes to choose from (I love the tree, skull, gramophone, and headphones) and they even make limited edition pieces with colored vinyl. Order away!

CLICK!

Major Label Mayhem with Fleet Foxes

I love Fleet Foxes! :)
Fleet Foxes do not love major labels! :(

In a post to their MySpace, frontman Robin Pecknold expressed not-so-subtly his distaste for major labels after a Seattle journalist wrote that the FF's had not only signed to Virgin Records, but were planning on releasing a special edition of their debut album. Here's what Pecknold said:

So, I went to the (truly insane and heart-swelling) Dept of Eagles show at Neumo's tonight (sang along and bought a Tee) and a couple people said something about hearing we signed to Virgin Records and they are reissuing a "special edition" of the CD LP. This is false. I think a Seattle Weekly blog post started this fire, which I will now extinguish, with this statement - "Fleet Foxes will never, ever, under no circumstances, from now until the world chokes on gas fumes, sign to a major label. This includes all subsidiaries or permutations thereunder. Till we die." I just don't see the point. Most major labels seem anti-music. We've pursued no such deal with Virgin (or been pursued to my knowledge, I think it was just a bit of news they reported) and would be idiots to be unhappy with our fam of label folks. It is true though that all copies of the CD LP will now include a free copy of the EP (like it is currently with the vinyl), but that's not a "special limited edition," it'll be that way in perpetuity, no extra cost or packaging change. That's all! Also I cut all my hair off.

I think it's great that Fleet Foxes are sticking with Sub Pop, because it seems they've formed a great relationship. But, this opens the eternal question of whether the major or indie route is better for bands. Clearly, the FF's have their opinion. What's yours?

P.S. Here's Robin without his hair!


P.P.S. All this info snatched from Pitchfork!

NO.

NO NO NO NO NO.

"People Got A Lotta Nerve" by Neko Case- Free Download

Neko Case is probably my all-time favorite female singer, and she is in one of my all-time favorite bands, the New Pornographers. Her next album, Middle Cyclone comes out in a few months, but she's released a free single to tide her fans over til then.

"People Got A Lotta Nerve" is a really great song, and even greater is that for every blog that posts the song, $5 will be donated to the Best Friends Animal Society!

Download it here.

Jojo's "Too Little Too Late" Gets Covered!

Grizzly Bear's Daniel Rossen recently released an acoustic take on teen starlet Jojo's 2006 pop slow-burn, "Too Little Too Late." In the true Cat Power/Sun Kil Moon tradition of recording stripped-bare covers that are hardly recognizable from their pop and rock originals, Rossen's take is an moodily-buoyant acoustic jam with trembling vocals and layered harmonies. Rossen's perceived sincerity is funny when you note Jojo's feigned emotional distress of the original music video (linked above).

Apparantly, the cover was a birthday present to bandmate Edward Droste, who requested that Rossen sing the corny ballad with completely genuine emotion.

Download it here

"Her Morning Elegance" by Oren Lavie

Usually I don't pay much attention to the iTunes music video of the week, but this one is too good to resist. The song is a pretty basic singer-songwriter tune, but the video is a wonderfully imaginative stop-motion piece. The video's free until tomorrow so get it now!