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!
I know Pandora's been around for ages, but I never really got into it. However, the other day when I couldn't quite place the song I wanted to hear, I decided to give Pandora a chance. I plugged in "Elliott Smith," and the station that came up was truly great. I already knew most of the songs, but I got a few good Iron & Wine tunes I hadn't heard, and all in all Pandora put together a lovely little mix. I don't know how frequently I'll use it in the future, but using it this weekend I at least found some faith in its scientifically calculated playlist.
As evidenced by my previous posts on music sites like Pitchfork.tv and Daytrotter, I check a lot of music websites and blogs. If I find one that is habit-forming, chances are, I'll let you all know about it.
One blog I've been digging lately is the recently started Pigeons & Planes. It's got a simple format, but it's full of good MP3's, videos and news bits. Confusion, who runs the blog, scours about ten music blogs a day and weeds out the best picks from each site for P&P. P&P is updated constantly, which is a nice change from once-a-day MP3 blogs. Proof: The blog began Sept. 28 and there are already over 100 posts.
While I'm sometimes truly miffed by Pitchfork Media and their overtly obnoxious need to be the "indie" and "obscure" in all of their reviews, I must admit that I am a fan of the online TV channel they launched earlier this year, Pitchfork.tv.
Between interviews with Jay Reatard and Feist, live sessions on the top of buildings ("Don't Look Down") with Department of Eagles and Jose Gonzalez and multi-player bands like the Walkmen and Broken Social Scene crammed into a basement ("Juan's Basement"), Pitchfork.tv not only offers videos of the latest, brightest indie artists, but offers them in creative locales, such as the aforementioned building and basement, or the "random Brooklyn street" on which Jay Reatard was interviewed. These settings promote candid conversation and performance.
Pitchfork.tv also frequently updates their music video library, hosting a broad spectrum of videos, from the atmospheric Animal Collective to lo-fi punkers No Age.
Department of Eagles, "No One Does It Like You," from Don't Look Down
MP3's are for purely sampling purposes! If you like a song you hear, please buy the artist's albums of MP3's on iTunes, Amazon, or at your local record store. If you are an artist or represent an artist and would like me to take MP3's down, please contact me at nmsles@gmail.com.
