Get a Pet

Are you petless? Do you want a furry friend to bring to the Love Your Pet event on Saturday? I just discovered Stray Pig, and won a cute ass donkey in a lucky board, of which there are many. Free piggy racing game and mesh gator avie if you join the group.

My cute ass

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/sick/182/130/1301

omg piggie race!

Go win yourself a friend and bring him or her to Love Your Pet!

(P.S. I am not affiliated with this store, I just dig it.)

Lux Chiantelle: Song of the Week

Brooklyn-based band, My Best Fiend, released their debut album In Ghostlike Fading on the 21st. Listen to "Cracking Eggs" via vid & download their track "Higher Palms" here.

It's a noise that doesn't fit into one idea. It's the sound of bicycles whirring down the bridge, the vibration of trucks rumbling overhead, the quickly approaching whoosh of the subway, the snippets of noise you hear as street musicians stay still while you keep moving. 

It's the majesty of organs spilling out of a cathedral on a Sunday morning, it's the lonesome howl of a harmonica played in the park, it's the thud thud of taxis driving over loose man hole covers and the inexplicable booms of noise that swell through sky scraper canyons.

This, That and The Other

Pulling the playlist for tonight's 5 to 7 set, I didn't come up with any theme or central idea for my song selection. The songs come from so many genres that really, it's a musical salad. One common element is that they are songs I love and can listen to again and again without tiring of them. There's old songs like Kurt Weill's Pirate Jenny from Nina Simone and new songs like Goodbye, England from Laura Marling. It's a relatively quiet set, but I hope you will like it. It includes one of my favorite covers of The Beatles Oh Darling.

Exitmusic

Exitmusic is a recent discovery that has me patiently waiting for a full release to come out, very soon I hope.  The vocals might be compared to Lana Del Rey, but  for me it seems to have a bit more substance.  Here are a couple of quotes that sum up their style and sound much better than I can. 

"Stunning... Ghostly, methodical, but still approachable... EXITMUSIC is a local band that stands so far above the rest."_SURFING ON STEAM

"The freakishly talented duo of Aleksa Palladino & Devon Church always makes me think of two sweet kids strolling hand-in-hand into Armageddon. It feels ennobling, as reverb roars and Palladino warbles, “We are sparks of light, but we hide it” to suddenly bashful, suddenly human, us." _LOS ANGELES CITYBEAT 

They are on tour now, check out their website for a venue near you. 


Exitmusic - Shows

White Punks on Dope

Here's a bit of subversive perversity from those underground heroes The Tubes. Check Quay Lewd in 50 inch platforms, that bitch can barely stand! Eat your heart out Lady Gaga. Also, nice bit of thong-crack ass flashing at the end as he ODs on glam outrageousness. You'll be hearing from these guys in tonight's set from me 7-9pm at the Velvet, along with other weirdness from the 70s like Can, Nina Hagen and Suicid

Blog won't let me embed a video, so here's the link, sorry about that. Believe me it's worth the mouse strain : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP8nGNbk7oQ

Tatterdemalions

A friend asked me to join his new band called the Tatterdemalions. I thought it such a great name that I said yes. When I asked about musical direction I was given a vial which contained "the spirit of Moss Side circa 1986" and told to take two drops a day in a cup of tea until "you get it in your hips"

This story is mostly true.

Car Chase Fever

Music for me has always been more theatre than mechanics.  Not that I am into show tunes (god, no) but I tend to embrace music as a backdrop to an immediate moment, or an emotion felt - even drama unfolding.  As well, movies are the perfect medium in which to display the power of a song as it relates to the visual our senses experience.  It is an olive tapenade coating the perfectly cooked and flakey Halibut; the right scarf paired with an otherwise already splendid outfit - thereby giving it that extra flair of distinctive touch.  Would the last scene of Lost in Translation been as powerful without “Just Like Honey?”

But, let’s face it, for me -being a man - nothing beckons the power of music more than a Car Chase scene.  Fugitives, cops, heroes, villains, and fools all cast in a ballet of muscle and dust, the machinery of emotion at its finest.  Thus, my set this Saturday, my first set in-fact, will be just that, an exploration of what music I would use if I had the dream job of “Car Chase Choreographer.”  Think muscle cars and searing guitars.  Slow motion roll-overs and cliff-jumps cast in the glow of slow-haunting melodies.  Smokey and The Bandit amidst the twang of alt-country.  Every good car chase needs a song…this set will share my vision.

Finally, a list of Car Chase tidbits as I see:

Three Best Songs for a High Speed Car Chase

Police on My Back-The Clash

Love Me-The Cramps

Breathless-Jerry Lee Lewis

Three Cars of Choice for a High Speed Chase

74’ Dodge Charger

68’ Shelby Mustang GT 500

64’ Porsche 356C

Three Best Locations for a High Speed Chase

San Francisco

Any Dirt Road in Mexico

Paris

Three Best Movie Car Chase Scenes

The French Connection

Ronin

Bullitt

Three Essential Things Every Man Needs For a Car Chase

A Good Song

A Full Tank of Gas

A Hot Girl in a Tank-Top, Cut-Off Shorts, and Cowboy Boots.

Hope to see you all for my first ever set on Saturday from 11:00AM – 1:00PM.  I will follow the lovely and talented Frequency Picnic, a set you must join, as well, to make for a perfect early Saturday feast of weekend fun. 

King Black Acid "Soul Systems Burn"

Just a song that's been on my mind lately.

Achingly, finely, irresistibly burning indeed.

Song o' the week

Band Alert!

Savages, a four piece all-girl band from the UK  premiered last month...I think they're gonna be hot. Hitched up on the Pop Noire label, I'm hoping for a release in the months to come.

Monday Gras

In a fit of early celebration, I will be playing some fabulous Zydeco with a bit of New Orleans blues tonight from 5 to 7 SLT. I have loved Zydeco ever since my sister-in-law introduced me to it as a child and can't resist the opportunity to play some of my faves.

2012 Oddyssey..

Three of the most beloved alternative darlings have released their  new albums and all three are really a pleasant surprise.

The ethereal voice of Montreal - based Claire Boucher a.k.a. GRIMES and her light electronic pop in her third and best lp ''Visions'' are not so simple things to deal with.

All the mainstream '80's pop,'00's r'n'b and the ''Liz Frazer'' catalyst, delicately mix with this talented young artist's weird but sweet  pop personality and style of writing, creating a potential classic for this decade. 

Born To Lose by Sleigh Bells

The noisy pop of SLEIGH BELLS   in their second and best lp '' Reign Of Terror'' is far more stronger and more powerful from their ''simple'' heavy debut '' Treats''. 

Derek Miller's layers of the best post-metal guitars I've heard lately, wrap Alexis Krauss's sugar,hazed, post-shoegaze and '90's bubble pop vocals,leaving the heavy post-hip-hop beats creating small earthwuakes in the back. 

The ''post'' factor is a transitional definition of a refreshed rock sound that I wish to grow strong in this decade.

School of Seven Bells - Lafaye by Vagrant Records

  School Of Seven Bells continue to give us warming waves of fine, crystal clear ,beautiful new wave pop,in their third album '' Ghostory''. 

No doomed stories,no dark paths.Only soothing,tripping,danceable,dreamwave pop of higher class. 

All these three plus tunes and artist of similar directions,older or new will be our stops in today's edition Chrisodd's Musical Oddyssey . Live from 3  to  5 slt at THE VELVET.

* Eno * Vocal * Wed * 02/22 * 5-7pm *

                Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno

Yes, that's his actual name. Best known for his work with Devo, Talking Heads, U2, Laurie Anderson, Ultravox, Coldplay, James, Jane Siberry, David Bowie, Robert Fripp, David Byrne, John Cale, Harold Budd, Cluster, Slowdive, Television, Roxy Music... OK, OK that's enuff. 

Anyway, Eno has influenced the stuffing out of music as we now know and love it.  He's everywhere, like bugs. Hmmm... that doesn't sound right... Oh well. Eno also made some of the most amazing music of the 20th century. He's also a pretty good vocalist. On Wednesday, which is usually the day I'm allowed to haunt The Velvet, I'll be playing 2 full hours of Mr. Eno's Twisted Pop - No Wave - Art Rock - Proto Punk - What Evah Ya Wanna Call It music. Oh, and you even can dance to it.

Tracks from the classic 70's albums, some BBC recordings, live stuff, some songs from his unreleased 1993 album 'My Squelchy Life', and not one but two versions of 'Baby's On Fire' you may not have heard before, one of them even more insane than the album version. Promise.

Velvet: home of award-winning photography

Last Thursday at Koi's set, a weird, wonderful thing happened.

It's a little hard to describe, but the whole club ended up floating and casting off bubbles to Koi's selections of Aquarium Songs. Anabelle Marquis was there, and snapped some pictures. The one below, she posted to the SL Facebook page and was awarded the Shot of the Day for her efforts. Congrats, Ana!

We've created a new group tag for those who achieve photographic excellence at Velvet. So come by and congratulate our new Velvet Shutterbug, Anabelle Marquis.

Get ready to laissez les bons temps rouler!

2/21/12 • 5-10pm slt

Come to the Velvet on Tuesday for five hours of great New Orleans music, dancing, and bead flinging with Koi and myself.

The Frequency Picnic for your morning music fix

If you come to the Velvet today, make sure you get there for The Frequency Picnic at 9AM! Seriously, we're closing after that for the opening day of Meatboy's new venue, Soundproof. I'll be playing an assortment of tunes from such bands as Skeletonbreath, the Replacements, Petty Booka, Tom Tom Club, Tame Impala, April March and Tim Curry.
<3 Freq!
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Downtown/223/38/23

I said I would

 I'll post more oddities as they come to me.

Song o' the Week

Is here.

All in a Name

How about some funny band names just for the hell of it?

Here are a bunch I've found that either exist now or in the recent past:

Tonto's Expanding Headband

Kung Foo Dykes

Gee That's a Large Beetle I Wonder if It's Poisonous

A Box of Fish With Tartar Sauce

Disgruntled Postal Workers

The Lee Harvey Keitel Band

Flock of A$$holes

Sorry About Your Daughter

Bimbo Toolshed

Moist Fist

Zombies Under Stress

Some Random Band

Once I Killed a Gopher With a Stick

Don Knotts Overdrive

Fearless Iranians From Hell

Tastes Like Chicken

Admiral Poopy Pants and His Dancing Teeth

Are These My Pants?

Aunt Clair’s Liver

Barnyard Slut

Boy Scouts of Annihilation

Candy Striper Death Orgy

Congratulations on Your Decision to Become a Pilot

Crippled Athletes

The Dancing French Liberals of ‘48

Dinner Is Ruined

Dumpster Juice

Elvis & The Shitheads

Fix My Head

Girl Scout Heroin

Haircuts That Kill

Here Are the Facts You Requested

House of Large Sizes

Ice Cream Headache

The Inflatable Jesus Love Dolls

Jehovah’s Witness Protection Program

Kill the Man Who Questions

Lesbian Boy

Lisa Gives Head

Midget Fetish

Monkeys With Handguns

My Friend the Chocolate Cake

Nocturnal Emissions

Paisley Brain Cells

Princess Tinymeat

Printed at Bismarck’s Death

Scoring Dope for the Ultimate Woman

Shower with Goats

Stiff Dead Cat

Willie Nelson Mandela

William Shatner’s Pants

Zen for Primates

MOBY TENENBAUM SPINS AT THE VELVET 7-9 FRIDAYS

Valentines Day

It wasn't supposed to be like this. I was supposed to get a bottle of vodka and drink heavily yesterday while I did my set.

You see, it's been about six months since my fiancee left my life and never came back. Just like that, six years of ups and downs, a house, a dog, a cat, etc, all just wiped out. On July 4th we were watching a baseball game in the stadium. I bought her a complete set of Josh Hamilton gear. On August 4th she was behaving like I was the worst person in the world.

Anyways, I got ready to play 2 hours of heartbreak and pain, and my heart just wasn't really in it. Which is funny because I had been plotting this for like a month.

I joined the Velvet staff to try and deal with my loneliness and my circumstances. Make friends, talk about music, etc. And so I found out that I just couldn't muster the grief and anguish to make the set as good as it could have been.

I had a post all lined up for this laying out just how shitty I've had it. But then a funny thing happened.

I met someone a week ago. She's gorgeous, incredibly shy, giggles a lot when I talk to her on the phone....things aren't going to be easy, but I think she likes me, and I'm willing to give it a shot.

Happy Valentines Day.

Dirty, Low Down and Bad

Seeing as tomorrow is Valentine's Day I wondered whether to just ignore it on my playlist or take a look at the other side. Opting for the latter, I have a fun playlist of songs highlighting the dirty, lowdown and bad side of love. My set starts at 5 and goes to 7 and will be followed by Maht Wuyts for 7 to 9 and Vivienne DuFaux from 9 to 11.

With a focus on the blues, I will be pulling from Gatemouth Brown, Keb' Mo, J.B. Lenoir and Byther Smith. However, it won't all be blues with some selections from Cat Power, Billy Preston, and Edith Frost to mention a few.

Song o' the week

It's about duct tape, natch.

Music Milestone

February 9th, 1964 

Four young men from Liverpool performed live on the Ed Sullivan Show

... and the rest, as they say, is history.

New album from Imperial Teen

Those who know me are aware of my fondness for sugary pop--as long as it's well-crafted sugary pop. That said, I've just heard the first really good album of 2012, "Feel the Sound," by Imperial Teen. It's hard to believe that this San Fran group has been around for 16 years now, but to me it sounds like their maturity is taking them in a great new direction--still upbeat as hell, but more...well....mature. For my money, every track on the album is solid.


--Moby Tenenbaum

Double Decker Tuesdays

So, today I had kind of a crazy idea. As I was looking through my "Recent Purchases" list (all 500 of them), I noticed when I organized by artist that they clumped into groups of 2-3 songs by one artist. So I decided to do 2 of each for today's set. And then I went freaking crazy and stacked in about three hours and 30 minutes worth. See...

I don't buy many albums. A song should stand or fall on its own. Asking me to buy an album and listen to a "gestalt" in order to get the meaning of a track is fairly absurd. If a track needs more explanation, make it 10-15 minutes long. Don't mix up the tracks. I mean, nobody likes the entirety of The Wall by Pink Floyd, just the absolutely most memorable ones.

Are you familiar with the anatomy of a music CD? http://cdn-i.dmdentertainment.com/funpages/cms_content/17075/everyalbum_final.jpg

Basically:

Tracks 1-4: The songs that received a bunch of airplay and made you go out and get it.

Tracks 5-6: Complete and utter crap.

Track 7: To keep you interested

Tracks 8-12: The mediocrity graveyard

Tracks 12-14: Stuff that nobody will ever listen to, which is a shame because it's so awesome.

I suppose that's why I like SomaFM. Even if I wanted to, I never hear more than one track per day from the bands I like. By comparison, I think I heard Helena Beat by Foster the People about 4 or 5 times yesterday on local alt-radio.

I mean, really.

Django Bop !

This is the band that impressed some distinguished guests, as i was finishing my Monday set at THE VELVET..
 A new ,odd, totally fresh band from Scotland. 
Django Django have released four singles so far and six,almost all,songs from them with seven more new,are included in their first excellent self titled debut. Roots music vapoured in the solid rhythmic background of the group,creating a worth listening album.... 
P.S. Thank you very much for coming to my set yesterday.It means a lot for me to carry on.Thank you for your support...

People were asking me for my playlist from last week (last week...2 weeks ago?  Time has been less than meaningful lately) but I was all sickly and didn't remember, but now I have so here it is!

Beatles Covers by Minnesota/Wisconsin Bands:

Wu Lyf

Dance Me to the End of Love

It's Leonard Cohen night tonight at The Velvet. From 5 to 8, I will be playing a three hour set of Cohen and Covers for fans, including a few songs from his recently released Old Ideas. There's a quote from the article I linked that seems to capture the essence of Cohen's appeal so perfectly that i want to share it with you.

In a pursuit like rock ’n’ roll, which is entirely devoted to redemption, Cohen’s ideas were not only old but radical. His peers all insisted that salvation was at hand. To go to a Doors concert was to stare at the lithe messiah undressing on stage and believe that it was entirely possible to break on through to the other side. To see Cohen play was to gawk at an aging Jew telling you that life was hard and laced with sorrow but that if we love each other and fuck one another and have the mad courage to laugh even when the sun is clearly setting, we’ll be just all right.

Conner Youngblood

I first learned of Conner Youngblood after hearing him on another music related blog.   I fell in love with the the song Australia after the first listen. I felt you could really hear the influence of Bon Iver anther artist I was enjoying at the time. It's soothing and mello with a hit of a slightly disturbing yet pleasing electronic distortion in the background. 


Here is his bio taken from his last.fm page. 

"Conner was born and raised in Dallas, Texas and currently attends Yale University.
With a pretty eclectic overall sound, his style is ambient and organic with some electric flair.
His music is influenced by the likes of Duncan Browne, Bon Iver, Elliott Smith, Sufjan Stevens, CSN&Y, Ray LaMontagne, Kid Cudi, Gorillaz, Sigur Ros, and Clarence Ashley.
He plays charango, ukulele, banjo, piano, and guitar. He plays around with accordion and oud and harp.  He wishes he could play bag pipes, sarod, and cello."

Here are a couple of tracks for your listening pleasure.  

Daydreams...

Once there were three girls ..Christa, Sarah and Stefanie from Austin, Texas. They had angelic voices but more angelic was their music.As  Sleep ∞ Over  they released two dreamy 7'' and two casettes with great success in the alternative circuit.

Every blog of the world loved their pure,ethereal sound,everyone had to say something good for their voices and their song.

But soon Stefanie was left alone and the other two formed Boy Friend. A band similar,identical,to their first group.

Last year Stefanie  as Sleep ∞ Over released a hazy ,foggy, dreamy album and a 7''. The rest as Boy Friend two E,p.s and a 7'' .Both acts were among my lovelys of 2011.

Today Boy Friend release their debut LP ''Egyptian Wrinkle' and as a taste they give us the title track.

As a tribute ,waiting impatiently for the album to land in my land, Chrisodd's Musical Oddyssey Monday's edition 3-5 slt,for the first half an hour will be sailing in ether with the two dream bands we mentioned, plus Keep Shelly In Athens,Trust, Austra,Cocteau Twins even Julee Cruise. 

As for the rest Oddyssey,some new releases from alternative scene,some Lana Del Ray and The Men's new track.

So prepare for some special mood tonight/today,according your rl timezone, at The Velvet. The club with the most devoted music fans in sl.Yeah!

Official video for Austra's Spellwork

Since it's been a super-busy week for me, I just want to share the link to the official video of Austra's stunning song "Spellwork", which I played avidly in my end-of-the-year sets. I think the video came out a couple of weeks ago.
 

Wake Up With Freq is now The Frequency Picnic!

Come bask on the sunny shore of Downtown, on the Velvet's spacious patio 9-11AM Saturdays.  I didn't even know we had a patio.  Come to think of it, I didn't know we had a bathroom, either. But we have music, oh yes we do!  Tom Waits, Stereolab, Jonathan Richman, Daniel Johnston, Buffalo Daughter, lots of other goodies. Just bring yourselves, we've got ants and blankets and apparently TONS of watermelon.
<3 freq!
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Downtown/222/31/23

Labyrinth of Sex

This week I shall be playing a few new songs by some of the most intriguing electronic artists around, some old and new punky sounds, some trippy stuff with guitars and some 70s Glam rock and some utterly perfect pop. The new record The Horror by Pop.1280 has been played to death Chez moi this week, as has the Digital EP Il Labirinto Del Sesso (labyrinth of sex) by the Afghan originated Mater Suspiria Vision.
My favourite new sounds have been from the super cool Italian duo Crisne, the album is called Albedo, and it is wonderful stuff. Here is a sampler

And Utterly Perfect Pop is a state of mind and being and should always be nothing less than utterly perfect.

In my dreams I am running with them, in a white suit, only mine is much shabbier.

When Saints Go Machine

 I want to personally thank Moby for playing this track earlier tonight. It's flippin' genius

song o' the week

Notes on Top 25 Most Played lists—by Moby Tenenbaum

I’ve never paid any attention whatsoever to my “Top 25 Most Played” list in iTunes, but for some reason I decided to check it out this morning and…what a surprise!

The Number One song on my list, the tune I’ve played more frequently than any other of the 12,000-odd tunes on my hard drive was…

(drumroll)

…. “Salvation,” by Scanners.

Ever heard of it? Ever heard of Scanners?

For the record, I’d say “Salvation,” by Scanners is a solid rock tune about romantic obsession. They’re a British four-piece, headed by lead singer Sarah Daly, and this dark-hued tune builds nicely to a big climax.

But Number One?

Then I looked further down the list and noticed that one band has claimed more slots in the top 25 than any other. No, I’m not talking the likes of Radiohead or Interpol or Arcade Fire. The most popular band in my top 25 is Faunts.

Yes, Faunts—a moderately well known, not exactly critically acclaimed electronic five-piece from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Then I looked further down the list and identified a bunch of other relative unknowns: Ocelot, We Were the States, Kap Bambino, Lone Wolf, Black Helicopter.

Oh, there was a Sonic Youth tune, and one by Radiohead and one by Arcade Fire. But it looks to me like my Top 25 List is basically a compilation of skilled utility players, if you’ll excuse a sports metaphor. And my guess is that a lot of Second Life DJs probably have similar lists. There’s a certain category of song that we call upon, again and again, to fill a need—mostly a transitional one—when we craft our playlists. We know that they have just the right mood, the right sound, and we turn to them because we know they’ll come through for us again—just as they have many times before.

I think that for a lot of Second Life DJs, our Top 25 Most Played list is not a ranking of our favorite songs. It’s a ranking of our most useful songs.

Son of a bitch, I forgot this last night

Warning: This song may break your heart