September 2009
15 posts
4 tags
Gig Review: Manic Street Preachers w/ Nico Vega,...
Well, this is the first gig I’ve been to since starting A Future in Noise, making this is the very first gig review as well! This is the most biased piece of music journalism you are likely to read here because I do deeply love the Manic Street Preachers and all. I went to see them at the Fillmore in San Francisco yesterday…seeing as they haven’t been here in 10 years! That and...
9 tags
A New Weird World?
Some free lo-fi pop from around the globe … Earlier in 2009 I was involved in putting together the virtual compilation album Crumby Lovers: A New Weird UK Sampler (Yeah yeah, we know can you please just STOP going on about it?). Well, anyway, it featured tracks that were a kind of quirky lo-fi pop that may or may not necessarily have done justice to the (now a little hackneyed) term ‘new...
7 tags
Keeping Watch on the Music Business: Copyright and...
This week’s topic is inspired by a comment from Kris (TLNOYL) on last week’s post, and his reference to this article on Wired: Free! Why $0.00 is the Future of Business. There are numerous issues involved in music and copyright and Creative Commons/copyleft that they can’t all be covered here, but here’s three of the big-time important ones and corresponding articles for...
18 tags
SYNTHSTRUMENTALS
A virtual mixtape of new wave instrumentals from the post punk/new romantic era. Sometimes amazingly great synth pop bands like Japan and even Duran Duran would put out some quite interesting instrumental (or nearly instrumental) tracks as b-sides or album fillers – here are some of them alongside some lesser known vocal free wonders. No doubt there are loads of notably absent tracks that I’ve...
3 tags
What's on the Horizon
Hello all you fabulous AFIN readers! Just putting a notice out there that I will be away for about a week (headed off to the Bay Area, and seeing the Manic Street Preachers on Thursday!). Meanwhile, there are a couple of fabulous contributor posts forthcoming - look out for them in the next few days! Also in the coming weeks are interviews with Dead Times and E.K. Wimmer, Independent Music...
3 tags
Movie - Closer to the Sun (Visions of the Winter...
Hey there, AFIN readers! Here’s a fantastic remix to tide you over until next week’s full-length Independent Music Discoveries post: New York band Movie’s “Closer to the Sun” (White Whales, was reviewed favorably here a couple months ago) remixed by the tentatively-named Visions of Winter: Download - “Closer to the Sun (Visions of the Winter Remix)”
3 tags
New Music Video: Jordan Galland - "Everyone Else...
Jordan Galland, who was featured here in June, along with his new album Airbrush (one of the best I’ve heard this year; available via CDBaby), has recently premiered the music video for “Everyone Else is Boring” (my favorite track from the album)! This stop-animation video fits the track perfectly, combining a surreal swirl of collage art with photos of Galland by Francois Hugon;...
3 tags
Just Wondering
We’re a few months away from the end of the decade, which I’m sure means a LOT of end-of-decade lists should start appearing soon (on sites apart from Pitchfork). Off the top of my head, I would probably include records by Radiohead, System of a Down, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, M.I.A., Kanye West (despite his being a gigantic tit) and Animal Collective on my list. What would you include on...
11 tags
Great Underrated Bands #2
Inspired by Marilyn’s recent article on the same theme I thought I’d have a go in the hope that this might become a regular feature on AFIN. It’s a difficult question… there’s so much music and so many obscure artists that one might like to mention for sake of namedropping them but, in all honestly, their minor cult status is perhaps ultimately proportionate to their contribution to pop music....
8 tags
Independent Music Discoveries, Issue #21
Another installment in our continuing series - recommend your indie favorites in the comments! —- *UPDATES ON PAST ARTISTS FEATURED!* Mojo Method - Psychedelic / Other / Rock - Louisiana, USA Mojo Method, which I previously described as “decidedly avant-garde”, have recently released their new EP Everything, Ever (Up Until this Point) on Bandcamp! These songs, including the...
4 tags
Keeping Watch on the Music Business: The Digital...
What do I know about making money from music? After all, I’ve given all of my own compositions away for free so far. That being said, I have been an avid purchaser of music for many years and grew up in a household loaded with records, tapes, and CDs, so I’d like to think I know a little something about what entices someone into wanting to own an album, physically as well as digitally....
4 tags
Weekend Listens: Memory Tapes and Dennis Diken...
Memory Tapes - Seek Magic Memory Tapes is the fusion of Dayve Hawk’s (“just some dude in southern New Jersey”; previously of Hail Social) previous musical output as Weird Tapes (psychedelic and trippy) and Memory Cassette (electro-poppier). Seek Magic, now available for vinyl pre-order and released on September 29th, makes for a strangely pleasant listening experience, evoking an...
5 tags
Independent Music Discoveries, Issue #20
Another Friday, another fresh round of independent talent! See also back issues in our continuing series, and as always, feel free to recommend your favorite indie artists in the comments. Captain Polaroid - Alternative / Indie / Pop - Midlands, UK Captain Polaroid is one of the many fine folks I’ve encountered because of the Manic Street Preachers forum Forever Delayed. While that...
4 tags
Keeping Watch on the Music Business: File-Sharing,...
Oddly enough, this is the first music business-specific post that I’ve done here. As a guest contributor on other sites, I’ve covered topics like music in the blogosphere, why independent artists should utilize Last.fm, youth and music journalism, and, most recently, initialized a series of tips for independent musicians on SleepWalKing Mag. This is all very well for the pioneering...
4 tags
Max Tannone's Beastie Boys Remixes - Doublecheck...
Doublecheck Your Head, a mash-up of vocals and samples the Beastie Boys’ Check Your Head, is the newest freely downloadable offering from remix-master Max Tannone, who we’ve previously featured here at AFIN for his Jay-Z x Radiohead mash-up Jaydiohead and sequel, Jaydiohead: The Encore. Doublecheck was released in celebration of the recent re-issue of Beastie classic Check Your Head,...