ChordStrike

Interview with Paul Miller a.k.a. DJ Spooky (Amazon Wire #76)

This week we're talking to musician and author DJ Spooky about his new book, Sound Unbound.

From composing award-winning movie scores to producing albums, from mastering the art of turntabling to writing books on the science of rhythm, DJ Spooky has become a world-wide expert on sound.

His latest book, Sound Unbound, features his own work as well as writings from other impressive artists such as Brian Eno, Saul Williams, Moby, and more. The book explores the role of sound and digital media in an information-based society. Amazon.com Music editor Lucas Hilbert recently spoke to DJ Spooky about his involvement in Sound Unbound.

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Sasquatch! 2008: Death Cab For Cutie and The Cure

Sunday's big headliners, Death Cab For Cutie and The Cure, both put on epic shows that kept the weary, sun-bleached, rain-kissed audience awake and excited.

Death Cab For Cutie

Before Death Cab's show, I briefly spotted the band backstage dressed in all black, prepping for their hour-and-a-half long set by stretching and having a quiet moment with each other. Singer Ben Gibbard, sporting a new longer haircut and missing his trademark nerdy glasses, along with his band blasted through a extended set of the band's hits as well as cuts from their newly released album Narrow Stairs. Highlights included "The Sound Of Settling", "Transatlanticism", and "I Will Posses Your Heart."

The Cure

I didn't know what to expect, but was anxiously awaiting the Cure's set. I (and I know I'm not alone here) have been a huge fan of the Cure for the greater part of my life, but had never had the opportunity to see them perform live. The audience by this point was seriously wiped, but once the Cure stepped out on stage, excitement trumped exhaustion and the crowd was on it's feet. Looking older and heavier, singer Robert Smith showed everyone that he still had it, playing songs spanning the band's entire career for nearly 3 hours--at least that's what I heard--I had finally reached a breaking point about 90 minutes into their set and made the nearly hour-long drive back to our home base in Ellensburg. Highlights included "A Forest," "The Walk," "Fascination Street," and "Boys Don't Cry."

Take a look at our photos from both sets after the jump. ~Alan Wiley

Sasquatch! 2008: Quote of the Day (So Far)

"It's great to be here, but it's also really f***ing hot. I'm not talking about the weather, either-- I'm talking about me." -- Pelle Almqvist of the Hives.

Sasquatch! 2008: Matt Costa and Thao

We're back for the final day of Sasquatch! and I've got reports from two of the festival's four stages.

Matt Costa struggled with some frustrating technical difficulties sound-wise at the beginning of his set. His vocals didn't come through until the second verse of his first song and his keyboards had weird feedback issues. Plus, the between-set filler music played through his first ten minutes. Still, the crowd, which consisted largely of high school-aged girls, seemed to barely notice and stuck it out for the duration.

I hightailed it from the main stage to the Wookie stage to catch some music by Thao Nguyen and the Get Down Stay Down. This may be the first time any large group of hippies has ever totally vibed out to a band on Kill Rock Stars. The earthy melodies and Thao's Cat Power-esque wail surprisingly seem to do it for the Birkenstock set. It's hard to resist the charm of a song like "Swimming Pools,"  for hippies, hipsters and normals alike. Dig the brand-new video below:

I'm off to interview the soulful, charming Jamie Lidell in a few minutes. Hopefully we'll have audio later in the day.

~ Jeff Reguilon

Sasquatch! 2008: Festival Etiquette

I'll tell you who I didn't see on Sunday: the Kooks. It's disappointing, since they were one of the handful of bands I truly wanted to see yesterday, but if you're a band playing in the middle of a festival, it is not cool to hit the stage 40 minutes late-- especially if you're only slated to play an hour-long set. You'll either upset your fans with a short set, enrage the promoters by throwing everything off schedule, or anger the bands playing afterwards by eating into their sets.

I've always felt like the Kooks sound like premature late '90s nostalgia, which is far from a bad thing as far as I'm concerned. Sadly, one of the areas of my expertise is Adult Alternative radio hits from the last four years of the last decade. I was particularly stoked on the Kooks because the quasi-hit from their last album, "Naive," sounds like the b-side to "Semi-Charmed Life." I've never been sure if anyone else felt this way, but with the 1998-style jams from Kid Rock and Sum-41 playing pre-set,  I got the impression I'm not alone.

I got to hear more than I ever cared to hear. After 30 minutes, I walked away. Allegedly, they went on 10 minutes later, so I suppose it wasn't a complete disappointment for the fans who stuck around, but it was still poor etiquette.

~ Jeff Reguilon

Sasquatch! 2008: Tegan and Sara

Sunday's highlight for me was Tegan & Sara's mainstage performance which kept the crowd energized and singing along to thier string of catchy, inspired songs. Playing cuts from each of their last three records: If It Was You, So Jealous, and my favorite album of last year, The Con, the Quin twins left no fan unsatisfied with their killer hooks and legendary stage banter (including dedicating a song to the neon green-bandannaed drunk guy in the front row). Highlights included "The Con," "Where Does The Good Go," and fan-favorite "Living Room." Take a look at more up-close pictures we took from the stage after the jump. ~Alan Wiley

Sasquatch! 2008: J. Tillman, Blue Scholars, and Cold War Kids

The wi-fi hath returned! Rejoice! Now I can tell you about the following bands live from the festival:

• J. Tillman is a busy man. Aside from playing two sets as the drummer from Fleet Foxes yesterday, he played an early solo set today to a throng of seated admirers. His soulful singer-songwritery soothed the listeners, who looked like they needed it. His set seemed to serve as a hangover recovery area. These people had clearly partied hard last night. Most of them looked zoned out like Marky Mark on the couch just before the drug-deal-gone-awry scene in Boogie Nights. Hopefully they were at least half awake, because they missed some decent jams if they weren't.
  
• I knew Blue Scholars, the Pacific Northwest hip hop group, were locally popular, but I absolutely didn't expect the crowd greeting them at the main stage to be so loud, nor so into it. I'm hoping to get a chance to talk to them about the '80s nostalgia in one of their jams and what it feels like to play in front of this many people, so stay tuned for that.
  
• Cold War Kids are faced with the difficult task of living up to the hype generated by their first album. They shared some of their new songs to an unfortunately unenthusiastic crowd. It's unfortunate foremost because they sounded fantastic, but also because the band itself was so enthusiastic. They looked more like they were throwing a party than a concert, while a handful of folks sang along and the rest watched on, barely interested until a wave of recognition washed over the crowd as the band started into "Hang Me up to Dry." They didn't do themselves any favors by starting with new song "Avalanche," which features a dirge-y, amelodic intro, was the wrong way to kick off their set. They're facing an uphill battle with this new record, but I'm pulling for them.

I'm heading off to see Tegan and Sara now. Look for more photos after the jump and keep it locked for more updates.

~Jeff Reguilon

Sasquatch! 2008: Destroyer

Canadian songsmith (and Amazon favorite) Dan Bejar's band Destroyer took over the Wookie stage slightly late but delivered a dense set of selections from his huge catalog of material. Fans were eager to catch one of the super-shy singer's two appearances--his other as a member of Canadian supergroup the New Pornographers, who incidentally played immediately following Destroyer's set at the other end of the festival. Take a look at more great photos we shot after the jump. ~Alan Wiley

Photos by Matt Conlon

Sasquatch! 2008: Throw Me The Statue

Seattle's Throw Me The Statue is one of the bands I'd been looking forward to seeing the most at the festival this weekend. I'd taken quite a shine to their densely layered debut Moonbeams and I was anxious to see how it would translate live. The band took the Yeti stage to a decent sized crowd and put on a short but wildly energetic set of their tightly constructed pop songs. The crowd seemed mostly unfamiliar with the band, but instant classics like the as-seen-on-TV track "Lolita" and my personal Summer jam "About To Walk" were standouts, while their lone cover, "My Valuable Hunting Knife" by Guided By Voices made the crowd go wild. Check out another photo of the band after the jump.
~Alan Wiley

Sasquatch! 2008: First Day Wrap-up

The first day of Sasquatch! 2008 was stellar, but thanks to a wi-fi connection that couldn't even be called spotty and cell phone reception only available  on a four-by-four square foot patch directly in front of one of the side stage's massive soundsystem, our live-blogging capabilities were significantly handicapped yesterday. Rumor has it that the Internets situation will be better today. In the meantime, here are some highlights from my Saturday Sasquatch! experience.

• After Fleet Foxes, I stuck around at the main stage to catch the Balkan-influenced sounds of Beriut and I'd be lying if I said I chose to see them for any reason other than laziness. I wasn't particularly invested in any of the bands playing at that time and hearing Beirut involved the least amount of walking. Once again, my laziness paid off, as Beirut put on the best set of the day. Since my brain only registers Beirut as a blog phenomenon of two years ago, it was bizarre to see them playing the main stage in front of a large crowd at a major festival. Even more bizarre: they had frat dudes in the audience dancing to an instrumental Gypsy song from the first second. Zach Condon's style as both a vocalist and a frontman brings to mind '40s swing band leaders, which suits the style very well. By the time he launched into a ukulele-driven ballad (by the way, Beirut's 8-piece band had easily the most interesting instrumentation of the festival), he had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. With the stage lights swaying in the breeze, it felt like even inanimate objects were into it. Awesome set.
• The Whigs brought straightforward, uncompromising, solid rock music to the Wookie stage. Playing roughly three billionty shows a year pays off apparently, because this hard-touring band nailed everything. Parker Gispert's twangy growl and the rest of the power trio's southern rock leanings make them sound like a louder, modern day Creedence.
• Ozomatli are first and foremost a party band. For years, they've also been one of my favorite live acts. They livened up the late afternoon with an enthusastic melange of hip hop, Latin rock and funk, which could easily have been a major turnoff for the mostly indie rock-loving crowd. The LA band threw them a bone, though, inserting a little "Love Will Tear Us Apart"" in "Ya Viene el Sol" and a little "Iron Man" in "Cumbia de los Muertos." They are nothing if not inclusive.
• The National, the act I most anticipated seeing yesterday, were supposed to follow Ozomatli on the main stage, but Rainn Wilson of The Office came out to inform us that the National had gotten stuck in Canada and wouldn't be here in time for their set.  Fleet Foxes played a second set to fill in. Though Fleet Foxes were okay, it was still a bummer to hear. Thankfully, though, the band would be there later and would play at 7:15 at the festival's smallest stage. This actually worked out well. The National absolutely killed it, howling in front of storm clouds at dusk. This all seemed much more appropriate than a 4:30 main stage set. I can't imagine hearing their music in the sunshine.
• M.I.A. was an absolute spectacle. Completely owning the stage, she had a sort of bewildering confidence. Shouting over Diplo's beats, it was kind of like she was daring the audience not to dance. Bringing a throng of audience members on the stage during the next to last song so they could flail spasmodically around her was surely a highlight for everyone involved. Side note: I'm pretty sure M.I.A. is from the future.

See more photos after the jump and check back later for more updates (we hope).

~Jeff Reguilon

(Photos: Matt Conlon)

Sasquatch! 2008: Fleet Foxes

Sub Pop's Fleet Foxes kicked off the Sasquatch! festivities, hitting the main stage at noon. Their vocal harmonies and gentle indie-folk-pop strumming sounded more at home backdropped by the serene Columbia River than it ever would in the dingy rock clubs they normally haunt. Shades of both the Shins and Crosby, Stills and Nash shone through in their 30-minute set, pleasing both the crowd's hipsters and the oldsters, getting the show off to a good-natured start.
~ Jeff Reguilon

(Photo Credit: Matt Conlon)

Sasquatch! 2008: On Our Way

It's just past 8:00 and your trusty Amazon MP3 editorial team is on its way from Seattle to Quincy, WA for this year's Sasquatch! Music Festival. It's nearly a three hour drive, so it's a nice mini-roadtrip and the wait is only helping to build our excitement to see the National, Flight of the Conchords, Death Cab for Cutie, Tegan and Sara, and all the other artists playing over the festival's three days. We'll be blogging our experiences, bringing you the sights and sounds of the Gorge through Monday, so fire up that RSS reader or check back often for updates.

-- Jeff Reguilon

P.S. I posted this from my iPhone in the car, so I apologize for typos. I love technology!

Blonde on Blonde

 

Artist on Artist: Scarlett Johansson & Debbie Harry

Watch Scarlett Johansson (on the circuit promoting her new album, Anywhere I Lay My Head) chat up her idol, Debbie Harry (pimping the 30^th anniversary of Parallel Lines).  I am curious to know what you die-hard Tom Waits fans think of Scarlett's interpretations? We have been enjoying them in the cube farm today, and I think its safe to say, we are pleasantly surprised.

~Renata

Watch This Space: Sasquatch! Festival Coverage

Heads up! We'll be breaking out the sunscreen and chowing down on chili fries covering this year's Sasquatch! Festival live from The Gorge in lovely George, Washington this weekend--Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Check back for our impressions of the performances, interviews with artists, and much more--also, don't miss our Summer Festivals Store, where we're highlighting the best festivals happening all around the world. Wish us luck (and pray for no freak hail/wind/thunder storms like we've seen in years past).  ~Alan Wiley

Ööbikuorg and Such

Every so often artists drop by our offices to perform and talk about their new albums. Today, we were fortunate enough to have the Estonian nymph Kerli in our midst. The diminutive beauty, dressed in a corset and white mini-tutu, performed three songs from her upcoming eponymous release. Her voice kinda reminds me of Björk’s, crossed with Amy Lee’s. Her aura: decidedly goth princess. If you like Tim Burton and/or the pop-surrealist painter, Mark Ryden, you will love her new video, "Walking on Air." Bonus: a travel recommendation. She suggested I veer off to Ööbikuorg (Valley of the Nightingales) whilst on my summer trip to the Baltics. I wonder if its full of Kerli-like pixies?

~Renata

Brooke White

For those of you who absolutely can't wait until tonight's dubious, predictable crowning ceremony, we've got news on the American Idol front. Did you know that emotional 2008 also-ran Brooke White already has an album out? That's right, AI-junkies, before your votes bounced her to the basement, White released Songs from the Attic, which includes a soft-core take on Aerosmith's iconic "Dream On." Meanwhile, as White watches from the sidelines tonight, Songs from the Attic is doing a brisk business online, and Amazon is currently the  only major retailer that's got it. Take a listen, and if you like, download "Come to My Rescue" for free.

(Illustration courtesy of VoteForTheWorst.com.)

Win a Trip to See Coldplay in the U.K.

Get excited, Coldplay fans. We're giving away a Grand Prize trip for two to see the band play live in London, a First Place Prize trip for two to see a Coldplay show in New York, and 100 Concert Prize Packs that include an autographed Viva la Vida CD booklet and Coldplay t-shirt. No purchase necessary, just enter for a chance to win!

Country Music Awards in Las Vegas

After shining their cowboy boots and tuning up their telecasters for the big night, the stars are out at this evening's Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards from Las Vegas. Things got underway with a live performance from Carrie Underwood who looked a little like one of Charlie's Angels in her white body suit, but hey, the fans up front didn't seem to mind. Reba hosts her 10th ACM Award show and she opened up in good spirits with plenty a joke for the house. Tune in to CBS to watch the night unfold and see who wins.

~Lucas Hilbert

Ahead of the Game

As the halcyon days of the brick-and-mortar music store fade into the collective memory of music fans who once lined up on city sidewalks for midnight Monday sales on new releases, we do what we can to maintain the old thrill. Enter: “First to Know,” our new platform for keeping you in the loop on upcoming records worth getting excited about well in advance.

The premise is simple. Sign up to receive an email when your favorite musicians solidify plans to drop new albums, and we keep you in the loop. The moment a new record by an artist of your choosing is available for purchase, you get the news.

Of course, this year’s Idol finalists are among the most popular “First to Know” performers, but we’ve also gotten early word about new albums from Nine Inch Nails (The Slip), Beck (Modern Guilt), Neil Young (Toast), Metallica, Stone Temple Pilots, Jennifer Hudson, and more.

So check out “First to Know,” tell your friends, and as always, keep us posted on how we can improve the process.

~Jason K

 

Amazon wins big again at NARM

We're pleased to announce that for the second year in a row, the Amazon.com Music Site has been awarded the Large Retailer of the Year Award by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM). Amazon was nominated along with six other large online/physical music retailers in the category. Twelve members of the Amazon Music Team were on hand to accept the award at this year's NARM Gala Dinner as the association celebrated its 50th Annual Convention.

Top musician awards were also presented to Jackson Browne, who received the Harry Chapin Memorial Humanitarian Award, and to B.B. King who received the Chairman's Award for Sustained Creative Achievement. In addition to the award, B.B. King brought everyone to their feet when he treated the crowd to a live performance with Michael McDonald at the award show.

Each year NARM also features live performances from up-and-coming developing artists who are about to break out on the scene. This year was no exception with incredible live performances from Naturally 7, Esperanza Spalding, Rev Theory, Ludo, Delta Goodrem, Will Hoge, and many, many others. We are amped and excited to help introduce these artists to larger audiences and customers like you. Watch for them in 2008 and beyond.

Pictured left to right: Esperanza Spalding, Schwayze, Rev Theory, Ludo, Delta Goodrem

 

~Lucas Hilbert