New music reviews

Listening to kexp.org on the old internet and I heard some rockin tunes as usual. One song sort of stuck in my head for awhile so using the listen again function I was able to track down the tune.

Well the tune was from a newer band paramore. The band name ringed a bell since they had been on the Vans Warped Tour in 2006. Actually it appears that they will be on the 2007 Vans tour so they obviously are one newer group that is really attracting a good following with the youths.

In 2007 paramore will also be releasing a new album. They have just made their way into the studio to start recording some new tunes. With the tour lined up in the summer I’m sure the pressure will be building.

In case you have to known the tune was Emergency. No idea why this light weight pop-punk tune was stuck in my head but thats likely why they are doing well. The tunes rock just enough and they still have all the right hooks.

While searching for some music news I found this great web directory. While there are thousands of directories around the site-sift.com is unique in that its been around since 2004.

Ok you’re thinking its only be around since 2004. Well in the world of directories thats the same as being around since David Bowie was Ziggy Stardust. Or since campus radio actual was only campus radio and you couldn’t find it all over the internet.

On site-sift.com various websites are broken down into different categories. So you can easily find music on this web directory by looking at the Art section. Inside the art section there is a sub-section about music. The music section even has different categories to help you find the information that you might be looking for. There are section with links to various radio websites and a list of different music magazines in another section.

Besides listening to music online one other great activity is watching videos. One very easy way to view videos is by using MySpace Music Codes. By using this website you can easily view videos or use the music code information for online projects.

If you want to add some videos to your myspace page or add some videos to your blog posting you can get the myspace codes from the website. It makes adding videos extremely easy.

The database is massive so you can easily find your favorite artist’s MySpace Music Codes on the website. The site has different categories sorted by genre and by artists. I was able to find a Chet Baker video in the Jazz section.

The rock and pop sections are huge so I’m sure you can find whatever you like on the website. You can cruise through the dance, jazz, reggae and latin sections to find some more interesting videos. Just make sure you have alloted yourself some free time so you can look at all the videos that you find. Its a good way to test your internet connection speed!

One of the biggest things about listening to some shows is the fact that after one week they are gone from some sites. So I was looking for some software help and I discovered this dvd software website.

The site has information about various products. No matter what you are looking for you can find the right product information on the website. The website has different categories with sections about authoring, burning and ripping software.

One of the best and most helpful parts of the dvd software website is the forums section. You can find some helpful hints if you search through the various posts on the forums. Also if you can not find your solution you can easily post a request for some help and you will get some hopeful advise from someone who has likely already solved that very problem.

My Xmas song search also found another great music site that lists plenty of rock music bands.

When I was searching for the Clash and searching under rock music bands I found the sortmusic.com site. It lists all sorts of music with an easy to use file folders set up. I was able to find the Clash pretty easy and it listed a bunch of greatest hits albums from the band. I didn’t enough know about one of the albums so that info was pretty useful.

The site also has an RSS feed of popular music news stories which is kind of cool. I didn’t know that Vanessa Williams was one of the sexiest women on HDTV but I’m not going to disagree with that obvious statement of the physical facts.

While searching for some Xmas gifts online I found this great music lyrics website. I was trying to match a gift to some lyrics from an old Clash song that’s been stuck in my mind for several weeks. So I needed to find the lyrics from that song. The song was Straight to Hell one of the best rock and roll songs ever, take my word for it.

While the site statiksound.com has the usual popular hit song lyrics if you dig deeper you can find lyrics from almost any artist. The website listed 135 songs from the Clash which is pretty cool. I also found some lyrics to a Chemical Brothers tune that I always wondered about.

So if you need some help trying to figure out or remember some music lyrics check out the site statiksound.com. Just make sure you have some free time so you can look up all the old tunes you every wondered about.

So if you checked out the KXLU show in LA you’ve got a good start on the local college radio scene.

The other station is LA that is required listening is KCRW. Its reminds me of KEXP in that its run like a true commerical big business radio station but it still stays true to its indie music roots.

The station has a MASSIVE and fantastic online archive of shows that have been broadcast earlier. A few of my favs are the Gang of Four interview and set of music that they played. Another good one is the Dears set that was recorded live in the studio.

Like KEXP they have a great morning show but whats great is the time of the show. Its on the west coast like KEXP but the big morning show, Morning Becomes Eclectic, runs from 9-12am west coast time. So once you’ve listened to John in the morning in Seattle make the drive down the coast to LA. The shows host, Nic Harcourt, is another guy with a great knowledge of music. His show also has some great in studio guests.

Two other shows on the station are also must listen broadcasts. Metropolis with Jason Bentley is broadcast in the evening and he plays a wide range of music with some in studio special guests.

Also the show that runs after Metropolis which is called Nocturna is great. The host Raul Campos plays some great tunes and his mix is more dance oriented without really hitting it to hard. He also has some great in studio guests who with play sets of music.

So check out the station at www.kcrw.com and make sure you check out the program schedule. Like most US college stations they do load up with some public interest/news broadcasts so they might not be rocking the tunes with live broadcast. Thats why the listen again feature is great.

Moving back to the west coast of North Amewrica is a great show broadcast on KXLU out of Los Angeles, California. The station plays a complete mix of music which is common with USA college/university stations.

One show really stands out in its ability to really capture the LA community. If you have ever been to southern California you’ve seen the large and vibrant Hispanic community. Its unlike most Spanish speaking communities because of its cultural mixes and history.

Besides the geo-political analysis of the situation the music that the area creates is fantastic.

The Alma Del Barrio show broadcast every Saturday and Sunday for 12 hours each day makes for some great listening. Unlike most shows reviewed here this station does not have a listen again feature but with 24 hours of broadcasting every weekend you should be able to tune in at some point. With the time zone differences you should still be able to pick up the show at some point.

The show ranges in its music selections but its a great program that highlights the unique southern Cali experience without the trip to the west coast. Sometimes the music selection is the perfect solution to another snowy/rainy cold winters day for those of us stuck well north of sunny California. Check it out at KXLU.com.

One more crack at the BBC before we move away. You have to dig deep into the BBC website to find another good quality funky show. But if you dig really deep you’ll find one of the best shows on the internet if you like old funk.

So if you dig way down on the BBC site you’ll find BBC London. They have a few shows on that are available with a play it again option.

You’ll find the Norman Jay Giant 45 show on that station. Norman Jay is another world class DJ that is available every week on the internet and the show has the play it again option. He has a fanastic knowledge of older music. Sometimes he hits that old disco groove a little bit to much for some people’s liking but his older soul and funk selections are top notch.

Norman is “the man” in the sense that once he plays some older tunes the message boards on his own website Normanjay light up with posts about the tunes that he plays. I’ve seen a few albums posted for sale on Ebay that mention Norman Jay approved. Plus you’ll likely hear some great tunes that you have never heard before.

His website also contains playlists from the shows so if you hear something that you really liked you can find out the name from his website. The problem is you’ll spend a couple of hundred hours actually trying to find the vinyl!!

Although the BBC put the programming knife into the Blue Room they couldn’t finish off another one of their better shows.

They moved the Gilles Peterson show, Worldwide show, from its nice midnight Sunday slot to some crazy 2:00am Thursday morning time slot. Maybe they’re trying to get Peterson to quit but all those years of club DJing seems to have allowed Peterson the ability to adjust to that crazy time slot.

I’m sure the BBC is trying to get the knife in on the Worldwide show since its actually good and no matter what the BBC says they only want music on BBC1 that is aimed at 14-18 year olds.

But back to the show which as per my life schedule requires that it be available in a listen again format. Actually with the new BBC schedule the show plays on Wednesday evening all across North America so the new time slot works for North Americans. But if you miss the Worldwide shows live broadcast it is available from the BBC site for one week after broadcast. We’ll have some more info about other broadcasts from Monsieur Peterson in the future.

Anyways the Worldwide show is great because although Peterson still knows whats up with modern music he has a vast knowledge of what was good over the past few decades. He owns a MASSIVE vinyl library which he digs into on almost every show. He also has some Brownswood specials where he only plays older stuff. Lots of old funk and some very nice tunes that help pass the time in front of the computer. Plus he loves the Brazilian grooves so its nice to hear that sometimes.

So I suggest you listen to the show on the BBC and check out all the links from the Gilles Peterson section of the BBC website.

Ok I’m pretty much ready to fly over to London and kick some ass at the BBC. They canned one great show several weekends ago, the Blue Room, and the replacement show is plan and simple a joke. Its crap. I hope my English friends understand that - bloody crap.

I know Chris Coco was busy flying around the world spinning tunes and making bank on the Robbo Williams tour. But hell the weekends are not the same.

Poor Rob Da bank is left to pick up the slack with his Sunday night show but he’s not able to fill the bill. I think the fact that the Blue Room was on at 5:00am every Saturday and Sunday actually helped. Rob and Chris where likely half asleep or half way out of their minds so the tunes flowed better.

Moral of the story is. If you can get your hands on some old broadcasts go ahead and grap them. Some are better than others but you’ll likely never hear another show like it in the near future.

We’ll start off the reviews with one of the best online radio stations according to the station and everyone who listens to them. Out in Seattle the folks at kexp.org really have a good format.

I think most of the stations success might be tied into the time zones and the morning and afternoon show formats. While some east coast stations might be tied into some public interest broadcasting KEXP is just playing the tunes. The John in the Morning show starts off slow since it starts at 6:00am Seattle time but thats when thousands of folks are just pulling up their chairs at the office on the east coast. So the format works for the folks stuck in the offices. You can’t really be rocking Black Flag at your desk first thing on Monday morning.

The station has plenty of good shows and they offer the ability to listen again to most of the shows.

They also have a complete playlist which is updated during the live shows so its useful to help find some tracks. You can listen again and check the playlist so you find out exactly what the song was and march on down to your local indie record shop and pick it up. You wouldn’t be buying it on Itunes and killing your local shop would you??