In which I discuss cool music stuff (and use too many brackets).

Music is entering a new and exciting phase.

The above statement is one I hope to be true. AND I HAVE EVIDENCES.

OK, I'm gonna talk to you about two things that I think are very cool. They are both projects that I feel are revolutionary in the field of musical creation. One is a collaboration between 3 musicians and an author. The other is one man's creativity expressed using new technology. Neither are conventional. One took an intense 12 hours, the other took a month of downtime.

I'm going to start with "the other," because why the face not?

'The other' is in fact the new Gorillaz album. Titled 'The Fall', this album was written and recorded between the 3rd of October 2010 and the 2nd of November of the same (hence the name - it was recorded in the fall (American for 'autumn')), during the band's North American tour.
Damon Albarn, Gorillaz' ringleader and touring veteran, wanted to make use of the gaping chasms of downtime that one (apparently) gets while on tour. So, using vocals and 21 iPad apps (as well as a guitar on two tracks and a bass&qanun on another) Mr Albarn, helped by a few friends, set about creating one of the least disappointing albums I've heard in the last year. The songs were written mostly about the town, state, or locale they were recorded in, where Gorillaz were on their tour. Annoyingly, I just noticed that the first track on the album, Phoner to Arizona, was recorded in Montreal... but anyway, the second track, Revolving Doors, was recorded in and is about Boston, and the last track, Seattle Yodel, was recorded in Seattle. &c, &c.
The amazing thing about this album is how good it is. It's not excellent, no, but I wasn't expecting studio quality. I know that seems like my previous plaudit that this was  "one of the least disappointing albums I've heard in the last year" is reduced by that expectation, but this is Gorillaz. I love Gorillaz, and expect good things whenever they put out new stuff.
This album excites me because of the immediacy in which it appeared. It's a full 15 tracks, was recorded in 30 days, and I was listening to it less than 2 months after recording finished. It took a further 4 months for it to go on sale, but because of the wonderfulness that is the internet, Gorillaz were able to put it out very quickly.

Talking of immediacy and internet magics: time to move on to 'one'.

'One' is 8in8, a collaboration between Ben Folds (of Ben Folds Five and Ben Folds), Amanda F-ing Palmer (of the Dresden Dolls, Evelyn Evelyn, and Amanda F-ing Palmer) Neil Gaiman (writer extraordinaire (American Gods, Sandman, ), and Damien Kulash (of OK Go). Each of the quartet was speaking (I do beleive (fact checking is effort)) on a panel at a conference addressing the relationship between music and the internet, or something similar. Instead of just hanging around eating, drinking, and/or being merry, they decided to lock themselves in a studio for 8 hours with the intention of creating an 8-track album. One song an hour. From scratch. Neil Gaiman took on the main songwriting duties (and sang on one track), while the 3 multi-instrumentalists multi-instrumentalised. They ended up in the studio for 12 hours, producing only 6 tracks, but that is still an impressive feat.

This just went through my brain:
- only 6 tracks in 12 hours?
- yes
- well that's rubbish!
- better than your 'no tracks in no hours'
- whatever

That 'well that's rubbish' was an hypothetical response - I am genuinely blown away by what they achieved.
I spoke of immediacy and internet magics? Let's start with the second: they streamed the whole session live. I watched part of it, and it was very cool, watching art being arted. Seeing part of the creative process of these 4 very talented people was a very special experience, and a privilege attained by a select few in the past. With internet magics, however, I was, in a way, right in the middle of it all. Very cool
Immediacy! The album that between 10:45 and 12:15 last night I was watching come into being is now online for free listening and purchase by donation. I'm not sure what the turnaround was, but it can't have been much more than 12 hours from album completion to being available to buy. The vocals I was watching Amanda record for the album opener, Nikola Tesla, I have already listened to in finished form less than a day later. Jeff-arseing brilliant! So very cool.

SO, what does all this have to do with music going to exciting places? Well, it hints at the possibility of a freer creation process, a made-for-fans-delivered-right-to-fans trend, a mindset of "bugger it, let's make some music". The Fall was recorded with very little budget (if any) in a month and was available to listen for free within 2 months, yet sounds amazing. Nighty Night (the name of 8in8's album) was recorded in 12 hours, and while it shows it, is a very good selection of songs. I just saw it described as 'a lot like looking at a sketchbook' - which I suppose is what The Fall is like. One was 4 people getting together to doodle for half a day, the other was a man expressing himself over the course of a tour.
Notebook music: I hope to see more of it.

One man quite possibly talking out of his derrier for just under 1000 words,
Sam D Grover

Nighty Night can be listened to for free and purchased for a minimum donation of $1 here. 

The Fall can be listened to here by signing up to the mailing list. Alternatively, it's available on Spotify. Or search iTunes or Amazon and probably some other places. Learn to find your own music, you degenerate.
I like both albums very much. Enjoy.

What a load of....

I keep sitting down, trying to write a blog post, failing, and giving up.

I'm not gonna do another "le blog est fini; adieu, mes amours". Those were silly, cos I ended up blogging again anyway. There just seems to be a lack of progress inOH MY GOODNESS I'M DOING A BLOG POST ABOUT NOT BLOGGING ENOUGH I'M SO SORRY


Sam D Grover