For a long time, it was my opinion that if you were to take a band fronted with a male and then take that same band fronted with a female, that the male band would be better nine times out of ten. Lately, I’m not so sure. In general, I do listen to more bands fronted by males than bands fronted by females and I don’t have any statistics, but I would assume that a lot of that has to do with the fact that there are more bands fronted by males than by females.

I’m not sure when I started to listen to more bands fronted by women, but I have definitely noticed a trend on the iPod. Kind of like when I noticed that I was listening to too much Iron & Wine and Calexico. But, unlike my waning interest in lo-fi, I am not all that embarrassed by listening to girl bands.

At last summer’s lollapalooza, some of my favorite acts were woman-fronted bands. Sleater-Kinney was the tightest group of the weekend. If you listen to some of their show from that weekend, it sounds like you were listening to the CD. Be Your Own Pet played early on the second day, and besides being entertaining, their lead singer also ended up dry-heaving on the stage from exhaustion. Considering that it was only a half-hour set, that’s impressive. I could also bring up Neko Case and her work with the New Pornographers, even though three people share lead-singing responsibilities in that band.

So, I figured that I’d play you some Sleater-Kinney. Sorry for the 2005 music lately. I’ve been slow in finding new music and figured I’d give you some good music from the last couple of years. Here’s Jumpers.

It’s always amusing to see a band live. Unless you’ve seen the band previously, you really don’t know what to expect. It’s fun to see the lead singer of your favorite band and say to yourself, “That guy looks nothing like what I envisioned that voice coming from.”

It’s also interesting to see how the live show affects your feelings about the CD. A good show can make that CD your favorite for the next weeks, but a bad show can change your opinion on the band and move them to the back of the playlist. I have two examples of this.

Within the span of two weeks in 2005, I went and saw two shows: Death Cab for Cutie with opener Youth Group, and Arcade Fire with opener Wolf Parade. When I went to the Death Cab show, I and the people I was with decided to have a drink at the Irish Pub across the street from First Ave. Sitting down the bar from us was the Death Cab. That was probably the highlight of the night.

Unfortunately, when we went across the street, the show wasn’t going to be starting until 10:30, and I had to be at work at 7 the next morning. Add to that two uninspiring shows, and the Death Cab CD has sat in my clock radio since October of 2005. Unfortunately, I listen to the radio waking up in the morning, so it doesn’t get much airplay.

The Arcade Fire show had the opposite effect. Wolf Parade started out by playing a good set with only one slip up. Their synthesizer player (not their keyboardist/lead singer) was a little inebriated and had to switch from his synth to a bass. After taking a little time getting to the other side of the stage and picking up the bass, he spent the next two songs tuning the bass and not actually playing. Hilarious, and made me enjoy them even more.

After that came the Arcade Fire. I don’t think I need to say much about the Arcade Fire’s live show. It was one of the most entertaining shows I’ve ever been to. We’ll just say that Wolf Parade and Arcade Fire were two CDs in my heavy rotation that fall.

And so I’ll let you listen to some Wolf Parade. Here’s I’ll Believe In Anything.

Here’s the second half of the two CDs that I bought on Tuesday because I couldn’t get the new Battles CD. It is What’s the Time Mr Wolf? by Noisettes. This CD starts out strong, with “Don’t Give Up” and “Scratch Your Name” being the two strongest songs on the CD, in my opinion.

I really appreciate the earnestness of lead singer Shingai Shoniwa. A lot of times, a lead singer will try and sound like she does, because that’s what they think they should sound like, but it doesn’t come across as natural. With her, it comes across as completely natural and really fits in with the music well.

Unfortunately, after the fifth track or so, the album starts to break down and sound more like open mic night at a poetry jam and doesn’t really work for me. But, the first five tracks are good enough to make up for it.

Today’s song is the opening track from the CD. Here’s Don’t Give Up.

Before I get on topic, there was a headline on digg today: “Creed’s Stapp arrested for assault; his crimes against music go unpunished” Ain’t it the truth?

Today I’m talking about the feeling that I’m going through today: Tuesday Aftertoon Album Disappointment. For those of you who don’t know, albums (and DVDs) come out on Tuesdays. Why Tuesdays? I’m not sure. Maybe Monday was just too early.

Actually, I did find the answer in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. I’m going to paraphrase because the answer is kind of long. Short answer: it used to be that way, but getting stuff shipped on Monday mornings was iffy, so now new CDs come out on Tuesday.

On to my story of disappointment. Today, Stars and Battles had new CDs come out. My first disappointment came when I found out that the Stars album, Do You Trust Your Friends? was a remix/cover CD of their 2005 release. High expectations were lowered. Then, I still got the CD, only to find out that the only good thing I can say about it is that it makes me want to listen to Set Yourself on Fire. Disappointment #1.

Disappointment #2: I can’t find the new Battles CD. I thought it would be on emusic, but it’s not, and it’s obviously not to be found in Rochester. I could iTunes it, but I’m not a fan of DRM and then I couldn’t play any songs on this site. Ouch.

So what did I do? Well, I impulse bought a CD or two to make up for it. I picked up Noisettes - What’s the Time, Mr Wolf? and Blonde Redhead 23. They’re very different albums. I’ll play some Blonde Redhead today, and some Noisettes on Friday so you can check out the differences.

Blonde Redhead is described as dream pop, which I think is a pretty good description. I could see myself turning off the lights, closing my eyes, and letting the music do it’s magic. Minds out of the gutters, people. Anyway, here is Top Ranking.

I had a dream last night that I wrote an MP3 blog but was too tired to come up with something to write about. Oh wait, that happened? Great.

So, even though I will not be surely brightening your day today with some sort of musings, I would like to brighten your day with the news that two CDs will be coming out on Tuesday. The first:

Stars – Do You Trust Your Friends? A clever name for a remix CD. Strange that the remix CD comes out two years after the original, but I’m not really complaining. Should be interesting. Apparently, I could have downloaded an advance copy from emusic.com. Oops. I should keep better track of these things.

Battles – This CD came out in the UK last week, so I was able to check it out in advance on nme.com, where each track is prefaced by guitarist/keyboardist Ian Williams with a description of the track, or a fun story. What about the music, right? Well, it’s math/prog rock and it’s pretty good.

Today’s song is from an interesting CD. It’s a live session of a group of artists that call themselves The North La Brea All Star Conquistadors. This group is made up of the combined effort of four musicians – Adrianne, Gabriel Mann, Garrison Starr, and Jay Nash. All four are independent artists, who get together to play each other’s songs. I come away impressed by all four of the artists, but I think Adrianne’s song writing is a step above the rest.

That’s why I’ve chosen World Won’t Wait for today’s song. I think it’s a good example of the atmosphere of the amazing CD. Even when they mess up on the words.

WARNING: This song is so much fun, I have been banned from singing it at home. Took about five minutes. Erin realized that if I sang it more than three times, I would be singing it three hundred times. So, if any of you have significant others that might find repetitive, nonsensical singing annoying. You may not want to listen to this song.

I’m looking in your direction Nate. That means I’m looking straight at the ground. Nate is in Korea, or as I like to call it, K-Town.

Today’s song is by Dan Deacon, an electronic artist from Baltimore. His music makes me think that he would be happy in a world of video games and Alvin and the Chipmunks. Apparently he doesn’t like bees. Here’s Snake Mistakes.

I hate them bees.

I read an interesting article on the New York Times online edition. It’s called “Sex, Drugs, and Updating Your Blog“. At first, I thought the article would be about people getting fired from their day jobs for the things they wrote on their personal blogs. Nope. It’s actually about the life of internet rock stars.

Apparently, the internet is capable of projecting a simple song-man into tomorrow’s next semi-popular rock star! Who would have thought a bunch of ones and zeros would be capable of such a feat? Well, probably me, but I’m just a humble music blog author. What do I know about such things?

The article speaks about both the positives and the negatives of internet popularity. Jonathan Coulton is a singer-songwriter from New York whose nine-to-five has become answering fan mail of the digital variety. He writes a blog where he posts an original song a week. He can then use the information on his readers to figure out what songs are popular and even where to play a show to guarantee himself a large crowd.

Because of the viral nature of the internet, musicians must also be more protected in what they say and do. Interviewed in the article is one of my favorite bands, The Hold Steady. In it, keyboard player Franz Nicolay states, “You can’t be the drunken guy who just got offstage anymore.”

So it seems that the preferred method of interaction with our musical idols now appears to be digital. As I read in a magazine a couple of weeks ago, the age where you go to a show with no idea what the band looks like is over. I remember seeing shows going, “That’s what the lead singer looks like? He looks nothing like I pictured from his voice on the CD.” Then again, I also remember finding out about Andy McKee through youtube. Apparently, I am bridging the gap between the past and the future.

In the summer of 2000, I went and saw Sunny Day Real Estate at First Avenue. We decided to pick up some merch before the show started to avoid the post-show lines. While waiting in line, one of my friends noticed that Jeremy Enigk was playing Golden Tee about fifteen feet from where we were standing. We got in line to be sharpeed and all got to meet the guy. I still wear that shirt.

Today’s song comes from Sunny Day Real Estate, although I’m tempted to play something off of Jeremy Enigk’s solo album. Nah, you’re getting One.

Ah lyrics. Something most songs can’t live without. Good lyrics are hard to come by. This is a story of how good itentions can make some sad, sad lyrics.

I took Erin out to Chipotle for lunch on Friday. I know what you’re thinking… “What special occasion were you celebrating to take Erin out to such a regal lunch?” No special occasion. Erin is just that special, that I’m willing to spend Chipotle money on her. That, and I really enjoy those burritos.

Anyway, on the walk back to work, I checked the coins in my pocket, and had a thought. In a perfect world, you should never receive more than one nickel for change. That’s the only coin you can say that about. You can get up to four pennies, three quarters, or two dimes, but only one nickel. Obviously, we’re ignoring fifty-cent pieces. Didn’t you read when I said we were talking about a perfect world?

I got back to work, and thought that the phrase “lonely as a nickel” sounded like a good theme for a song. Unfortunately, it is not a song that writes itself. It would have to have to either be an alt-country, or possibly self-depreciating pop-punk. Anyway, I figured the first verse would explain the concept, and then comes the refrain:

“Quarters can have three friends,
Dimes, they can have two,
I’m lonely as a nickel without you.
Yes, I’m lonely as a nickel without you.”

And that’s how good intentions can be turned into a bad song.

P.S. Never rhyme nickel with pickle. That’s just asking for trouble.

So where am I going with this? Just that it’s hard to write a great song. I think good lyrics are what The New Amsterdams do well. Technically The New Amsterdams started as a side project for The Get Up Kids‘ lead singer, Matt Pryor. Since then, he’s picked up a touring band and has re-written some of his original singer-songwriter material to include more than just him and his guitar.

Speaking of The New Amsterdams… apparently they came out with a re-release of Killed or Cured, a free EP offered on their website in the summer of 2005. Half of the album is the original, free recording, and the other half is reworking. So far, the two samples of the rework that I’ve heard have not impressed me. Today’s song comes from the original recording. Here’s Strangled By The Thought.

If you read Wednesday’s post, you’d already have heard that I was taking yet another journey to the Cedar on Cedar. Last night, it was to see a guy by the name of Andy McKee. Andy was playing with two people, fingerstyle guitarist Antoine Dufour and solo bassist Jeff Schmidt. There were plenty of bass jokes on the night.

My favorite exchange of the night was between Antoine and Jeff. Antoine was taking a little while to get his guitar tuned. The conversation went a little something like this:

Antoine: Sorry, it’s taking so long to tune my guitar. If anyone would like to contribute to the tuning fund, maybe one day I’ll be able to tune properly.

Jeff: I only have five strings to tune.

Antoine: My guitar has six strings. That’s why it’s called a musical instrument.

Hilarious.

Overall, the show was very entertaining. All performers came across as fun people to be around who love to make the kind of music they’re making. It’s definitely a niche audience, and a lot of people find out about these guys through word of mouth. That, and youtube. Apparently, Andy McKee owns the top three rated music videos on youtube. Pretty impressive.

Before playing Drifting last night (youtube video1 from Wednesday’s post), Andy lamented that at one time, this had been the number one rated music video on youtube, which was pretty cool while it lasted. But then, another video surpassed it. Oh, yeah, that video was also by him, and was the song he had just finished playing.

Anyway, today’s song was uploaded on Wednesday, when I figured that it would be a late night. In 2005, the record label Verve released the third installment of the Verve Remixed series. Verve is known for its incredible vocal jazz collection, and decided that it would be fun to have some songs remixed by artists from the modern era. I also own the unmixed version of this CD. It’s interesting to hear what the remixers did to the songs. Anyway, today’s song is by Anita O’Day and was remixed by RSL. Here’s Sing, Sing, Sing [RSL remix].

Oh, and a quick shout out to Ben Glaros. You’ll remember him as the opening act for José González. Well, he managed to find his way to noeviltwin.com and left a nice comment on Monday’s post. Thanks, Ben! Check out his web site at www.benglaros.com

I read an interesting article today about our good friend eMusic.com. Apparently, several independent labels want out. They’re not happy with their cut of the big, stinky piece of cheese. From the article:

“After factoring in distribution costs and other expenses, some labels receive as little as 12 cents per song in profit, sources say — far less than the 60 cents to 65 cents per track received from iTunes.”

eMusic CEO David Pakman is quick to respond:

“…the average eMusic customer acquires 20 songs a month from the service, and he pays labels an average of $6 a month per subscriber. Compared with the average of 10 songs a year bought on iTunes, Pakman says the lower price ultimately results in more revenue through greater volume.”

Good volley, Pakman!

Here’s my thoughts… I see eMusic subscribers as the type of people who are willing to put down a little extra money to make sure that an artist isn’t starving. They’re the people who go to the neighborhood record store, because they’re the only one to have the rare B-side of the Scandanavian trio they’re currently grooving on. They’re willing to take more risks on music to have the chance to find the great CD that nobody has heard of.

eMusic furnishes this. I’m more willing to try new types of music because I’ve got 65 tracks to try and use each month. If I had to spend $10-$20 for a CD of a band that I had only heard 30-second samples of, I would buy a whole lot less music. I’d only focus on artists that I like and know well enough, and the money would not be spread around as much as it is on eMusic.

Here is my perfect world scenario for eMusic.com. It was mentioned earlier that the average eMusic subscriber downloads 20 songs per month. Since the smallest subscription available is 30 songs for $10 a month, that means that the average subscriber hands over $3.33 directly to eMusic. I think – and remember that this is my perfect world scenario – that it would be cool to see eMusic survive solely on this revenue, and use the other revenue to increase the amount of money going towards labels. 20 songs per month at a minimum of a $10 subscription equals 50 cents per song, right?

That’s just not going to happen, I know. That’s why it’s the perfect world scenario and not the realistic world scenario.

Wow, I just wrote a book.

Anyway, today’s song comes from Andy McKee. He’s the king of the fingerstyle. Ok, not the king, but the only guy I know who plays this way. Check out these videos: video1 and video2. Fun! He’ll be at the Cedar on Thursday. Guess who’ll be there? It starts with ‘m’ and ends with ‘e’. Me! Check out Art of Motion.