Lestermix

New Leerone Video

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Lester) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:00:25 PDT

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

Leerone Live Webcast

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Lester) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:22:58 PDT

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Lester) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:35:33 PST

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:07:38 PST

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Lester) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 18:45:49 PST

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

New Ayria Live Video

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Lester) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:43:17 PST

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Lester) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 14:02:45 PST

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:13:39 PDT

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 15:55:28 PDT

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 11:08:19 PDT

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 10:53:38 PDT

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!

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 00:31:01 PDT

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:38:11 PDT

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:36:57 PDT

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 19:19:16 PDT

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 15:26:13 PDT

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 13:49:38 PDT

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 00:45:25 PDT

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 23:03:37 PDT

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 19:44:48 PDT

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 20:03:27 PDT

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.

Dexateens

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 19:45:11 PST

Alabama's Dexateens will finally have their new album available in wide release soon. A new song, "Naked Ground," is available on their music page, which also includes a number of older songs and live recordings.

Android Lust Rare Track

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 17:08:24 PST

Revisiting the Android Lust site tonight, I noticed Shihkee has made the song, "Cherished Agony (Last Drops mix)" available in its entirety as a 192kbps mp3. This one is originally from the "Evolution" remix CD from 1999, currently out of print.

Be sure to visit the AL music page for the many reasons why you should add Android Lust to your collection.

Don Chambers

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 22:47:31 PST

This is someone I should have featured here a long time ago. Local favorite Don Chambers has been doing well lately; perhaps you saw him on Turner South with the Drive-By Truckers. He played Tasty World last night and has no less than three upcoming shows in Athens: 25 November at the Caledonia and 27 November and 2 December at the 40 Watt.

Through his site you can download and hear four songs, "GOAT" and "Devil Bucket," from "Don Chambers and GOAT," and "Back in the Woods" and "Uncle Raymond," from "Back in the Woods."

If you're in Athens any of those nights, you really should catch him live while he's here. Look him up on MySpace, too.

Wolfmusic and current email

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 09:50:02 PDT

First of all, if anyone sent email to my old address and never got a reply, please note the new address posted and send again. This is the one and only reason you didn't hear back from me.

I got mail today from Wolfmusic, who has 10 songs on his download page. You can listen to individual songs or you can stream all 10 together.

I noticed that of all the quotes on the front page from other music blogs' comments, nobody seems to have picked up on a clear Leonard Cohen influence. I thought people of all ages would know that when they hear it but maybe not.

In other news, I never mentioned that I added FreeIndie to the links recently. I've also added Gorilla vs. Bear, not just because it's a great blog I was overdue to link to but also because I bought an advertisement there for my own recent single. I got a very good deal and I thank them for it.