Wednesday, October 31, 2007

VIDEO: Two Gallants



Check out the new video from Two Gallants for the track "Despite What You've Been Told" off their new self-titled (also seen as 2GS in some places) album. It was directed by Alexander Safdie and Ronald Schnetke while Doug McCann handled the director of photography duties. I'm enjoying it even though I've had this thing against clowns since It was on TV.

I last caught these local (SF) boys at the Treasure Island Music Festival, and they're as good as ever. The new album (released on Saddle Creek; love the hyphen in their web address) is a raucous collection of broken ballads and I consider it my perfect October 2007 album. If you're in Europe you might have a chance to catch them on their current extensive tour. Here's an mp3 for the video shown above.

::: Two Gallants - Despite What You've Been Told (f/ 2GS)

BONUS track from their The Scenery of Farewell EP of acoustic based songs released earlier this year. Also an enjoyable listen.

::: Two Gallants - Seems Like Home to Me (f/ The Scenery of Farewell)

You can buy all their albums here, and I suggest you do just that.

[Two Gallants official website.]
[Two Gallants on myspace.]
[Current Macktronic Contest.]
[Download Music from eMusic; free 25 song free trial.]
[Buy music from Insound.]
[Find/Listen/Download music at The Hype Machine.]

Labels: , , , ,

Monday, October 29, 2007

CONTEST: Split 7-inch Vinyl (Manchester Orchestra & Annuals)



UPDATE: This contest has ended, congratulations to Ricky of Brooklyn and Aleece of Santa Rosa, CA!!! You can always find a direct link to the latest contest using the "current contest" link found in the sidebar.

Ahhh, contest time! Up for grabs this time is a copy of the brand spanking new tour-only split 7-inch released by Manchester Orchestra and Annuals in celebration of their co-headlining tour (here's a list of the dates). Each artist covers a song by the other on it (great trend), and they've been kind enough to provide mp3's of the tracks.

::: Annuals - Where Have You Been (Manchester Orchestra cover)
::: Manchester Orchestra - Brother (Annuals cover)

I've actually got TWO copies to give away! To win one of the records, simply send an email to macktronic (at) gmail (dot) com with the subject line "SPLIT VINYL CONTEST" including your mailing address in the body of the email. Winners will be chosen at random on Friday November 9th. Good luck!

[Manchester Orchestra website.]
[Annuals website.]
[Download Music from eMusic; free 25 song free trial.]
[Buy music from Insound.]
[Find/Listen/Download music at The Hype Machine.]
[Photo credit goes to madradjessica.]

Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Thursday, October 25, 2007

VIDEO: The Good Fear



Great new video by a great band (and fellow Arkansans) The Good Fear. They've got a new album in the works, should be out soon so keep an eye on their websites. For the time being, check out these tracks (link directly to myspace, free downloads there).

::: The Good Fear - We've Got It All (myspace download)
::: The Good Fear - The Way You Were (myspace download)

You can still pick up their last full-length (Keep In Touch) for 10 bucks over at their website.

[The Good Fear official website.]
[The Good Fear on myspace.]
[Download Music from eMusic; free 25 song free trial.]
[Buy music from Insound.]
[Find/Listen/Download music at The Hype Machine.]

Labels: , , , ,

AGAIN: Chromatics



This new song from Chromatics is pretty effing fantastic. I've been keeping an eye on them for some while and still continue to thoroughly enjoy their strangely tragic sounds.

::: Chromatics - I Want Your Love

Reposting a couple tracks from a previous post that have since expired. The track using their previous moniker comes from the totally amazing Yeti 3 compilation (which is sold out, but you can get the equally great Yeti 4 here.).

::: Chromatics - Healer
::: KRMTX - Palace of Divinity

You can also download three more tracks over at their (generous) myspace.

Buy the new Chromatics album here, it's awesome.

[Chromatics on myspace.]
[Download Music from eMusic; free 25 song free trial.]
[Buy music from Insound.]
[Find/Listen/Download music at The Hype Machine.]
[Photo credit goes to moxiee.]

Labels: , , , ,

Monday, October 22, 2007

REMIXES: Bonde do Role (BBYYY) / Black Lips (Diplo)



Couple of remixes residing at the top of my "most played" list for the past week. Easy to understand considering I enjoy the stylings of all artists involved. Enjoy.

::: Bonde do Role - Solta O Frango (Bitchee Bitchee Ya Ya Ya Remix)
::: Black Lips - Veni Vedi Vici (Diplo Remix)

[Bonde do Role on myspace.]
[Bitchee Bitchee Ya Ya Ya on myspace.]
[Black Lips on myspace.]
[Diplo on myspace.]
[Download Music from eMusic; free 25 song free trial.]
[Buy music from Insound.]
[Find/Listen/Download music at The Hype Machine.]
[Photo credit goes to droob.]

Labels: , , , , , ,

Monday, October 15, 2007

MISC: Music Blogs



It's been an interesting internet world of late with most of the attention centered around a certain band's self-leaking of a new album. Admittedly, this new model of distribution excited the pants off of me; seems like I've devoted alot of time reading articles/posts/etc which investigate the state of the music industry, in particular the role of mp3 blogs. (Obviously, of interest to yours truly. Here's a couple links, followed by some thoughts.

Pretty Goes With Pretty's blog post
titled Can't Talk; Hyping
Check out this four-parter which looks at the changing roles (goals?) of music blogs.

NY Times Freakonomics blog article called What's the Future of the Music Industry?
I really have no idea how this digital vs physical battle will shake out.

NY Magazine article on what the music business actually sells, called Facing the Music

SaveNetRadio.org runs a good blog, all about their plight

Heck, even Popular Science is weighing in.

Obviously, this is just a short list of the many, many which exist out there. (I'd be interested in reading more if you want to leave some in the comments below). Many thanks to catbirdseat which got me started with the Freakonomics blog post linked above.

As it pertains to this particular endeavor (Macktronic), it's been fun to see the shifts/problems/paradoxes firsthand. When I first started this thing, I would get a kick out seeing how many hits a certain post could garner. Not so much so anymore. Similar to what was pointed out in the Pretty Goes With Pretty article, I get tired of reading about the same bands over and over and over in other blogs; entries stacked upon entries, mostly filler.

The goal of this thing has always been to easily share some of my musical fascinations with my friends (and, by extension, a wider audience). Some of the bands are popular, some aren't, but that's kind of the point of the exercise. (Being, "I like this, do you?"). I also enjoy listening to new stuff, whether I stumble upon it on my own or by way of a promotions department. I think many blogs feel pressure to post everything that passes through their inbox, even if it doesn't interest them. That's a bad habit. And although I'm a fairly horrid writer, I try to at least lay down a framework for why I post a track.

I'm sure that the focus/scope of this blog will continue to evolve based on my interests/tastes; Ideally not becoming a dreaded "filler blog".

+++++++++++

In return for putting up with that rant/discussion, here's the first product of the Meanest Man Contest remix contest we're doing over at Gold Robot Records. Check it out.

::: Meanest Man Contest - They Do (Roman Ruins Remix)

+++++++++++

[Download Music from eMusic; free 25 song free trial.]
[Buy music from Insound.]
[Find/Listen/Download music at The Hype Machine.]
[Photo credit goes to (kerry).]

Labels: , , , , ,

Thursday, October 11, 2007

MUSIC: New Meanest Man Contest EP



The talented boys of MMC have released a new digital EP on Plug Research titled Some People. The cover art comes courtesy of Jeff Hurlow. They've been kind enough to offer the title track as a free download, so enjoy the heck out of it.

::: Meanest Man Contest - Some People (Just Get Off On Breaking Hearts)

Details and ordering information can be found here.

(Disclaimer/Reminder: Gold Robot Records has just released a limited edition 7" single by MMC; see the particulars here.)
And a bonus track from that cut.

::: Meanest Man Contest - Throwing Away Broken Electronics

And, you can pick up the nicely-reviewed-by-Pitchfork debut album from MMC over at Insound.

[Meanest Man Contest blog.]
[Meanest Man Contest on myspace.]
[Download Music from eMusic; free 25 song free trial.]
[Buy music from Insound.]
[Find/Listen/Download music at The Hype Machine.]
[Photo credit goes to box of birds.]

Labels: , , , , , ,

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

ODDS: and ENDS



Couple of things for you fine folks:

ONE - Gold Robot Records Now on iTunes & Emusic
We've finally gone digital! You can download tracks by Meanest Man Contest, Panther, and Roman Ruins at iTunes or Emusic. Links below! You can sign up for Emusic and get 25 free downloads by clicking here!!!
GRR003 - Meanest Man Contest (iTunes) (Emusic)
GRR002 - Panther (iTunes) (Emusic)
GRR001 - Roman Ruins (iTunes) (Emusic)
(And, of course, you can get vinyl editions here.)

TWO - Macktronic iMix on iTunes
If you're into mixes, and I think you are, I posted one up on iTunes just for fun. Although, as savvy blog readers, you might realize that most of those tracks have been posted on Macktronic at one point or another.

THREE - Uh Oh shirt
Fantastic t-shirt can be found here; designed by Baltimoreanite Katherine Hill, by day a cake-maker seen on the Food network's Ace of Cakes, by night a human-pyramid-maker in the experimental band or whatever it is known as the Lexie Mountain Boys.

[Download Music from eMusic; free 25 song free trial.]
[Buy music from Insound.]
[Find/Listen/Download music at The Hype Machine.]
[Photo credit goes to questionmark.]

Labels: , , ,

MUSIC: Emily Jane White



For me, it's kind of hard to listen to SF singer/songwriter Emily Jane White without immediately recalling the work of Chan Marshall. However, due to the talent of EJW, she is able to stand comfortably on her own; she doesn't need to ride Ms. Marshall's coattails. By way of an introduction, check out this entry from the recently released Rolling Stone's Hot List:

"Thanks to Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom and a billion bearded dudes with guitars, California's new folk movement is already blowing up. But now Emily Jane White is bringing the darker side to that scene. The twenty-six-year-old Northern California native's debut CD comes alive with enough gothic imagery for an Edgar Allan Poe novel. On Dark Undercoat, White pierces her characters with bullets ("Two Shots to the Head"), sticks them with voodoo pins ("Hole in the Middle") and pushes them into blades ("Dagger"). The twist is that with her woeful delivery, the violence is more cathartic than cruel."

Here's a track off her new release Dark Undercoat, out November 6th on Double Negative Records. (My personal favorite is "Dagger", but they haven't released that to the public just yet!)

::: Emily Jane White - Hole In The Middle
::: Emily Jane White - Wild Tigers I Have Known

You can pre-order the album for only 10 bucks here.

[Emily Jane White website.]
[Emily Jane White on myspace.]
[Download Music from eMusic; free 25 song free trial.]
[Buy music from Insound.]
[Find/Listen/Download music at The Hype Machine.]
[Photo credit goes to mayu.]

Labels: , , , , , ,