Tag Archives: Play

Mixest – The Best Way To Discover Indie Bands As They Surface

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Mixest

Name: Mixest
URL: http://www.mixest.com

By now, you probably have your favorite sites for finding independent talent. Maybe you resort to this one, or maybe you have bookmarked some other website that serves that purpose. There are enough of these spread all over the WWW to keep everybody happy. And you can argue whether or not the one I am reviewing now is indeed “the best way to discover indie bands” as I say in the title. But I frankly don’t think there is one which  is as easy to get to grips with as Mixest. When you land on its homepage a clip will start playing automatically for you to enjoy. When that song finishes, another will begin playing. And so on. You aren’t required to input anything or hit a single key if you don’t want to. You can head straight to the site and leave it open as you go your merry way. When (and if) something that has you tapping your feet and/or banging your head starts playing it is a mere matter of clicking on the window again to see who it is, and make a mental note.

But the best parts of the whole service are unearthed only when you are willing to interact a little with the service, of course. You can favorite each single track that you like, and you can even use a “Block” button in order to prevent someone who is as tuneful as The Vibrators ever coming through again.

In order to favorite anything you must first create your own account. That costs nothing – just pick a username and a password and you will become a Mixest user as quickly and sure as night follows day. From then on, you will be ready to start building a library of indie artists of its very own.

Tony-b.org – For The DJ In Everybody

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Tonyb

Name: Tony-b Machine
URL: http://www.tony-b.org

Every rock & roller has got a bit of a shady past that hangs like a sword of Damocles over his head. I am no exception. Before listening to The Who, before listening to Oasis, before listening to The Sex Pistols… can you ever dare to guess which artist I intently listened to?

DJ Bobo.

Those of you who are still reading (and who haven’t wiped MusicKO from their bookmarks after such debilitating news) would be less shocked when you learn I was that keen on DJ Bobo only because my older brother (always a role model to me) was a rabid fan of electronic music. And you will feel relieved when I tell you that I never, ever lay a hand on his Ace Of Base and 2 Unlimited CDs.

[My brother from behind my back:] Hey, have you seen my copy of “The Sign”? Wait, here it is, what was it doing in your backpack??

Shit, man!! Keep quiet for a second, will you?!

Ahem.

Before it gets any worse I am telling you about this new app.

Named the Tony-b Machine, it will let you create your very own piece of electronic music. And the way you can get around doing that is dead clever (and entertaining, too). You simply pick the relevant effects (”Kick”, “Snare”, “Hi Hat” and “Cymbal”) and push the pertinent keys as you go along.

Tonyb Console

The results are actually very impressive, and one of the best bits is that you can proceed to save and upload them for everybody to listen to. Continue reading →

The Fastest Violin Player On Earth (Video)

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This video just speaks for itself. It is from a German TV show, and the guy plays “Flight Of The Bumblebee” as if his life depended on it (it does to a certain extent, I guess).

I wish I knew what it is they say at the end, by the looks of it the guy broke a Guinness Record.  If some speaker of German can confirm/refute that, please do so by posting a comment below.

iMusicTweet – Sharing Your Songs Through Twitter & Facebook Simultaneously

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iMusicTweet

Name: iMusicTweet
URL: http://www.imusictweet.com

I think we all will agree that sharing music using services like Facebook and Twitter is the most natural step in the evolution of the Social Web. After all, what good is connecting with everybody and telling them about what you do if you can’t show it to them at the same time?

The startup I am reviewing right now enables you do exactly that: spread both individual songs and full albums around, and the best thing might as well be that Twitter and Facebook alike are supported. The way it works is by letting you upload the song or playlist and having it played in your Twitter’s profile page, or streamed from your Facebook wall.

Best of all, you can make your songs both downloadable and embeddable. If you are looking for maximum exposure that is always useful, although I can’t help but wonder (and worry) a little about the copyright of what you are sharing when it is your own work what you are putting about. Continue reading →

Music Matters – Combating Piracy In A Fair Way

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MusicMatters
Name: Music Matters
URL: http://www.whymusicmatters.org

Weighing the pros and the cons of the Internet and the way it has modified how music is consumed always boils down to two arguments. On the plus side, artists nobody would hear about otherwise are brought recognition beyond their wildest dreams. On the down side, music is pirated left, right and center because the act of downloading an album (not to mention a mere song) seems innocuous.

When companies try to impose a solution, they invariably add fuel to the fire. The attempt to close the Pirate Bay had the opposite effect – the number of torrent trackers shot through the roof. It has always been the same all through history – something is prohibited, and people just do it three times more. Just think of the US in 1920, when the Dry Law was enforced.

The best course of action to me should be simply to remind people that what they are doing is wrong without sounding patronizing, and without doling an actual punishment. Because in 8 out of 10 cases these punishments end up affecting those who did go by the rules. Continue reading →

Spreaker – Social Radio Come True

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Spreaker

Name: Spreaker
URL: http://www.spreaker.com

Not every person with thoughts to share about his favorite artists will sit down and tend to a blog or a personal site. The thing is, there are not really that many other options, and none I can think of is as accessible as blogging.

Well, that is set to change thanks to a startup like Spreaker. We can call it a social web radio service. The site will empower just anybody to create his own radio and broadcast whenever he feels like doing it. There are no fees of any kind to be met, as both royalties and bandwidth expenses are covered by Spreaker.

This means that you can host your own talk show and (for example) invite people from you local music scene that you are in good terms with. You can also create a show devoted to your favorite band and play its songs left, right and center. Hint: if you tune in and catch a radio that plays The Who indiscriminately you know who is behind it. Continue reading →

DemoHero – A Community Site Devoted To Demo Recordings

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LODemoHero

Name: DemoHero
URL: http://www.demohero.com

There is nothing more thrilling for a fan than getting his hands on some demo recordings, although the actual substance of a demo changes from artist to artist. On the one hand, we have someone like Pete Townshend that used to assemble meticulous recordings where he insinuated the parts John Entwistle and Keith Moon would play. He was to release several collections when he went solo, and the public finally realized that what Keith Richards once said had more than an inkling of truth – “Peter Townshend made better Who music than The Who”.

On the other hand, demos are included unscrupulously as a bait to lure in collectors in compilation albums by certain artists. That kind of artist is the one described in the song “Box Set” by Barenaked Ladies, as the contents of the fictitious musician’s boxed set are enumerated disc by disc:

Disc Four
Never released before,
and you can tell why;
it’s just some demos
I recorded in my basement.

The fact remains that hardened fans don’t care where or when a demo was recorded. It could have been recorded by the singer while he was taking a shower. If it is a song that speaks to us, we are going to offer and arm and a leg in order to listen to it. Well, not any longer. Listening to these rough sketches has become very easy. This brand new site makes it a doodle. Continue reading →

Songbright – Choose Your Best Songs, Upload Them And Make Some Money If You Chose Right

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Songbright

Name: Songbright
URL: http://www.songbright.com

Songbright is a new service that will let any musician stream his own pieces online, and generate an income for doing so. The premise is to pay artists for the actual times their songs are played, and I think the system will specially cater for those who are beginning. I say so for two main reasons.

First, the pricing is very reasonable – there are four plans to go for, and signup actually starts for as little as $1 a month. That plan (“Basic”) will let you upload one song. There are three other plans available, too, and they will let you upload 3, 5 and 10 tunes and their respective names are “Plus”, “Pro” and “Rockstar”.

That brings me to the second reason why I think this will suit budding musicians best. Now, let’s get honest. How many good songs one really has? I mean, good songs. Not the ones we wrote for that girl we fancied in order to make her go weak at the knees, not the ones we love because they have a true sentimental value attached to them. Good ones. The ones that could let us crack it. Many of us don’t even think about it. Continue reading →

Ian Cox (DigiClef) – Interview (Part 2)

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This is the second part of my interview with Ian Cox from DigiClef. Remember to check part 1, as he introduced the company and its products there.

PART II

MUSIC & YOU


When did you become interested in music? What was the first album or single you ever purchased?

I have been interested in music since I started learning the classical guitar at the age of 10. I think my first popular music purchase was Kings of the Wild Frontier when I was 12 (the album had been out for a few years, but I liked it).
I mainly borrowed my brother’s music during my early teens which lead to an interest in goth and punk music. I think my first purchases of that genre were The Mission and The Cult.

Are you in a band yourself, or have you been in a band in the past? Is there a file on YouTube or elsewhere we could watch?

I am not currently in a band. I have been in a few bands but nothing more than just having fun with mates.
I did run an acid trance and techno night in Bristol called Lunacy in the early noughties for a while with some friends. The website for that is not available any more but you can find it on the internet archive. Continue reading →

Awdio – Bringing The Sound Of Clubs & Venues Into Your Computer

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AwdioName: Awdio
URL: http://www.awdio.com

Traditionally, if your favorite band was playing and you couldn’t get there for a reason or the other there was little you could do but sit in your room and sulk all night. Alternatively, you could take the Keith Moon approach and trash the room beyond recognition. Neither option was really healthy, so I am not surprised a system like Awdio was (finally) devised.

Basically, this French startup will let you listen to the sound of clubs and venues on your desktop. So far, something like 150 venues are supported and the list is growing fast. 150 clubs mean that through the site you will have access to roughly 5,000 events per month. Now the question will not be what to listen to but rather what to skip in order to keep up with your social life. Continue reading →