Lestermix

2013-01-07T21:49:00.001-05:00

I think it's time I got back into this random mp3 sharing business. Here's a new song from Iceage, via Matador:

http://matadorrecords.com/mpeg/iceage/iceage_coalition.mp3

Free Furlined Records Compilation Download (For a Limited Time)

2010-01-02T19:20:00.003-05:00

Our Athens friend and neighbor Laura Morgan announces that her label's "Furlined Records Compilation vol.2" is available for free download for about two weeks or so from the date of this post.

Remembering Vic Chesnutt

2009-12-28T04:26:00.004-05:00

You've likely heard by now that Vic Chesnutt left us over Christmas. I found a recording of my first introduction to his music, a demo version of "Mr. Reilly" that was included on a local compilation cassette called "Samizdat" in 1988.

This is actually the first time at Lestermix that I've actually linked to a song not my own that I uploaded myself. Considering that the friends who made the compilation didn't make any money and that they've made no effort to reissue it since then, I see no harm providing it, unless and until the family wishes otherwise.

"Memorial" by Abrasions

2009-12-28T00:16:00.002-05:00

Through a tweet from Shikhee of Android Lust, I was introduced to the latest album by Abrasions, "Memorial," which is available for free listening on their digital store page. I don't think I really knew about the band before but this is good stuff, and I really like the new trend of making complete albums available for listening through Flash players.

New Leerone Video

2009-10-27T17:58:00.001-04:00

Leerone has a new video, once again in collaboration with videographer and animator Hank Friedmann, for "Empty Houses:"

Leerone Live Webcast

2009-04-12T23:29:00.003-04:00

Our friend Leerone will be performing and interacting live on thestream.tv's "Raw Rhythms" show, Monday 13 April, 11:00PM EDT. She'll be performing with a string quartet, which will be the first I've heard her songs with that instrumentation.

Randy Bewley

2009-02-26T18:32:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we lost Pylon guitarist Randy Bewley all too soon.

As a lifelong resident growing up in the Athens area, Pylon was one local act that influenced me as much or more than my favorite international artists. While their reunions were frequent, we never know when we've already seen someone's last show. It's another reason to support live music, to see your favorite acts and your like-minded friends when you can, because everyone should enjoy times with others before the next unexpected loss.

A Song for Today

2009-01-19T20:04:00.002-05:00

Only a fan video exists for this 1986 OMD song from The Pacific Age but it will more than suffice for the occasion:

And as a bonus, here's a reminder of where we've been:

New Leerone Video

2009-01-04T21:40:00.002-05:00

Our friend Leerone has just uploaded a new official music video, "To Fill the Void," directed by Claire Carré:

New Ayria Live Video

2008-12-02T21:30:00.002-05:00

Just today, Ayria has posted a very well-recorded performance of "Analog Trash" from her 29 November performance at The Outback Lodge in Charlottesville, VA:

Amazon mp3's

2008-11-16T17:02:00.001-05:00

I have reissued the 2006 "Terry & Holly" EP for sale through Amazon's mp3 store. I used the CreateSpace service which allows authors to upload and submit music, video or text for sale and with no up-front costs. I have also submitted another EP with "The Bowman Draws" as its lead single, and I expect that to be available on Amazon as well within the next couple of days.

Leerone - Care for Some Whiskey

2008-08-20T20:06:00.005-04:00

Leerone introduced herself to me by e-mail this week. Before I saw how pretty she is, I already saw a very ambitious and successful stop-motion video unfolding:

You should go to the page on YouTube and see the credited talent that helped with producing the video, under "more info."

Imeem Playlist

2008-07-13T18:51:00.002-04:00

I recently began making use of imeem.com so I made a new playlist. It's a quick and easy way to put together an online demo so this list will be updated often.

dis-taste-r

Rare Radio:Tahiti

2008-04-13T14:04:00.002-04:00

Obscure as my old band, Radio:Tahiti, is, I finally found an even rarer song of ours, one I couldn't find for a long time. It's "Living Doll," written initially by Steve Fitzpatrick and with my original contribution of the guitar part. This was a B-side to our single, "One Step From the End," released locally in 2000. I believe it was recorded in 1994 but neither of us are entirely sure. I remember the day but not when it was, exactly.

This is the first of several promotional mp3's I'll be sharing as we assemble a comprehensive archive. Watch for more in the near future.

Carly Simon Returns

2008-04-03T13:42:00.002-04:00

Carly Simon is back after a 7 or 8 year hiatus with her new album, "This Kind of Love," to be released 29 April. Thanks to promoter Randi Kraemer, I have two streams of the single, "Island," in QuickTime and Windows Media formats.

Fans will also appreciate the rarities page on Carly's official site which includes mostly RealMedia audio and video and also an mp3 of "You're Where I Go" from the documentary, "Christa McAuliffe: Reach for the Stars."

Britney Has a Good Video!

2008-03-24T03:22:00.003-04:00

I think many would agree that a successful makeover for Britney Spears' career and image will call for everyone involved to "pull out all the stops" with great imagination and ingenuity. "Break the Ice" is a successful team effort for songwriters, producers, animators and coordinators, and we can enjoy it well enough as pop art and slightly detach ourselves from what's really going on with our homegirl behind the scenes. Maybe because Dad's in charge now?

Counterintuitive Song of the Year

2007-12-26T13:17:00.002-05:00

Regular viewers of CNBC in the past year may have noticed frequent use of the word "counterintuitive" as that's how stocks and other trends played out this year. It's been true also of the sports world. This has been a year with few safe assumptions. Likewise, my choice for song of the year may seem counter to readers' expectations:

"Lestercast" Shoutcast Radio

2007-10-26T20:36:00.001-04:00

I have begun streaming audio through a Shoutcast server, audible with Winamp. These will be sporadic at first but more frequent and continuous in the coming days.

In the first test streams and in tonight's (Friday), I am looping the entire album, "X-mas," the first by my old band, Radio:Tahiti (which will get its own MySpace page soon), originally released 23 December 1992 and remastered with bonus tracks in 2005. In the near future I'll throw in more back catalog from R:T as well as Distaster, Broom Room Annex and other original things I've done over the years. This will also be a way to promote the new Distaster music I'll have out in a matter of days.

I thought the exact link for every cast would be different but I was able to tune right in to tonight's with the one I did as a test last night. If this is true for machines outside of my own wifi network, which I think it ought to be, then you can click here. Otherwise, you can search for keyword "lestercast" at Shoutcast or, better yet, if you're using Internet Explorer and have the Winamp toolbar installed, you can type "lestercast" into the search line and select "Shoutcast Radio" for your search engine.

Site Meter Removed

2007-10-05T22:19:00.001-04:00

I've been slow to learn about this. Apparently news of Site Meter sending spyware cookies is real, so I am now removing it from all of my blogs. I never want to facilitate any kind of malware problems for my visitors.

Lonely Gallon

2007-09-26T18:19:00.000-04:00

I was curious about the song in the new Norfolk Southern TV commercial, named "Lonely Gallon" because it features gas cans moving themselves across land, and it turns out to be a new and original tune called "You Don't Need Me." From the NS site:

This contemporary tune backs “Lonely Gallon.” Ravi Krishnaswami of Sacred Noise in New York and Steve Kolander of J. Walter Thompson in Atlanta composed it especially for NS.

NS also kindly provides the entire song for free download.

Sir Salvatore

2007-04-29T16:32:00.000-04:00

San Francisco's Sir Salvatore sent me a letter announcing their new EP, "These Men Are Not Astronauts." Their web site includes complete mp3's of "Hooray This Projector" and Public Key, and they also have a nifty video for "Hooray This Projector" full of Atomic Age footage, including a view of the nearly-forgotten X-15 aircraft, which is much more watchable than most videos out today.

I doubt if they'd prefer their sound to be called "80's" but the influences are obvious, and the guitar work really reminds one of both Randall Bewley of Pylon and the late Ricky Wilson of the B-52's, and I really don't think it's my Athens location that influences those comparisons. Most importantly, it's always refreshing to hear unpretentious music that must have been fun to create. I really like the drum sound, too, exactly because it wasn't made to sound like it was recorded in a subway tunnel or a castle, but more like someone performing at your house party.

At their MySpace page, you can also hear a demo version of "Townies," which is another word we use very much in Athens, though it's certainly not limited to any particular city. I'm sure I'll see many familiar parallels to life here when I finally visit the San Francisco scene.

Karaoke ends

2007-04-24T03:44:00.000-04:00

There will be no more of my Monday karaoke nights at Tasty World. I thank and apologize to those who came in past editions but my decision is final.

Mariajosé

2007-04-08T01:39:00.000-04:00

As I post, Univision is broadcasting an episode of "Otro Rollo" which apparently aired live on 20 March. This is Mariajosé performing her single "Quién Eres Tu" from the same broadcast. The single is also downloadable from her MySpace page as well as from the official site.

The male voice featured in the song belongs to Trey Songz.

Teddybears & Iggy Pop

2007-04-02T22:25:00.000-04:00

Like many of you, particularly if you've been watching the NCAA basketball championship, I saw a Cadillac commercial using an unfamiliar song with a familiar voice. Learning the song is "Punkrocker" by Teddybears, the next stop was a quick search for the band's MySpace page, where I found that the song features good old Iggy Pop. To make it even better, the embedded video for "Punkrocker" offers the option to copy its HTML code. Now you can watch it without leaving Lestermix.

No, I don't remember seeing this during the Super Bowl. It must have aired while I was at the store.

Nine Inch Nails New Release Preview

2007-03-30T22:38:00.000-04:00

I'm probably late coming into this news but maybe some of you missed it, too. The new NIN album, "Year Zero," is to be released 17 April. In the meantime, there are four complete songs from the album posted at NIN's MySpace page, "Survivalism," "My Violent Heart," "Me I'm Not" and "In This Twilight."

As a Gary Numan fan also (Trent Reznor's Numan influence is well known), "Me, I'm Not" is the first NIN song I can remember that has a direct musical resemblance to specific Numan work, particularly the sound of the "Pure" album. It reminded me a little of that album's track, "Walking With Shadows," but the resemblance is only partial and does not make "Me, I'm Not" sound any less like a NIN song in its own right.

It shows confidence on NIN's part that we're allowed so many songs as a preview, and songs that are very good, at that. These days one usually doesn't know if anybody's new release has as many as 4 songs that are any good in it at all.

For my sensibilities, it's good news that there are at least four tracks on this new album that are short enough to be singles. I like most of the other sonic adventurism in past NIN releases just fine but I'm happy to see a release more oriented towards shorter and more direct songs. I don't know how much material made in other styles to expect in the complete release but it ought to be a good listen. This is by no means a critique; it's just something I'm a little partial to as a music fan.

I'm just linking to the whole MySpace page this time; I see no need to attempt any direct-link to the songs when all of you will be hearing them within seconds of arriving at the site.