Vinyl Notes

I’m sure many writers can attest to the fact that the having the right music playing while they’re writing can make the difference between inspired and creative writing or writing that reads like it was a chore. Over at ThePublishingSpot, author Jason Boog asked what kind of music keeps you writing and pointed readers to a 52 Project’s post about the best music to write to.

For me it really depends. Writing, like music, is largely about mood. Not whether or not I’m in the mood to write or listen but rather what I’m in the mood for or what mood I need to create.

kmmad 

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Looks like Diddy is dancing to the bank with reports rolling in that Danity Kane’s sophomore LP Welcome to the Dollhouse at No. 1 on the Billboard charts. The first single of the new album “Damaged,” is an infectious track guaranteed to get you to the dance floor.

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The digital revolution is upsetting mass media. From movies to news, from books to music, the way we consume media has changed over the last 10 years. The music industry is in turmoil and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has a tenuous relationship with consumers at best. The old media models are not working anymore; the music industry is hemorrhaging money as consumers continue to flock to new formats.

Despite the apparent war against consumers for file sharing and supposed piracy, the reality is that the vast majority of consumers still purchase their music in music shops and through legitimate digital downloads. In fact, digital sales make up approximately 10 percent of all music sales in the US, with Apple iTunes (NASDAQ:APPL) as the No. 2 music retailer next to Wal-Mart.

Although many consumers still purchase CDs, the digital market is growing by leaps and bounds — particularly among people between the ages of 35 and 50. One draw of digital download is the ability to choose to buy one song at a time as opposed to an entire CD. According to PC World, nearly 50 percent of US teens purchase songs individually and about 1 million buys left the CD buyer market — and this trend is growing.

kmmad

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I already talked about the joy of a good mix and outlined some rules. Well, one of my favorite types of mixes is something to drive to. I like the music to be high energy, loud and rockin’. I've made several but this one is my favorite thus far. Here’s my most recent Drive mix, with videos included when possible.

A View From the Afternoon – Arctic Monkeys

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Nine Inch Nails is now a big time rouge band - since its contract with Interscope expired in October - with a cult following and in what many have likened to a Radiohead-esque move, has released their latest ablum Ghosts I-IV, on their official website only. Ghosts is an instrumental collection of “almost two hours of new music composed and recorded over an intense ten week period” and Trent Reznor called it “a soundtrack for daydreams.”

While there are certainly parallels to Radiohead’s In Rainbows release, how quickly people forget that just under a year ago, NIN made a revolutionary move by making Year Zero available for streaming on their website as well as allowing fans the opportunity to “listen. Change the tempo. Add new loops. Chop up the vocals. Turn me into a woman. Replay the guitar. Anything you’d like.” Make no mistake, NIN is no stranger to pushing the boundaries of the music distribution.

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Erykah Badu's has always demonstrated Afrocetrism, higher consciousness and introspection. While her first album was perhaps the most spiritual but her music has always had a conceptual nature, layered with meaning deeper than what appears on the surface to be abstract ramblings. Over the years, Erykah’s music has become increasingly more political, with New AmErykah, Part I (4th World War) being the most political by far. However, for all her artistry and theory, one has to wonder how many will be able to decipher her message.

Like other albums before it New AmErykah is about a concept complete from the title to the album cover, from the opening song to the one that closes the album. On the cover Erykah is depicted with an afro burdened with Black fists, embryos (one of which has a bar code on its head), the all seeing eye, hypodermic needles, satellites, mutated chains flowers, the tree of life…I could go on and on in an ISpy like discovery. Metephorically speaking, the world is on Erykah’s shoulders…er…in her afro rather; an image both magnificent and unsettling.

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