Emerge Trends Weblog

Have You Heard This B(r)and?

Emerge Trends — 2008-05-06T18:36:29Z

With all the talk of the demise of the music industry, EMERGE's trip to Coachella a couple weeks ago had us thinking that music is very much alive and well. Hundreds of thousands of music lovers gathering for a weekend in the middle of nowhere was pretty inspiring...

Yet, it also got us thinking about the role brands play and will play in this evolving space. Sure, Starbucks has it's label and few tours happen without some corporate underwriting, but a recent article suggests that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Will we be seeing more partnerships like that between UK chart-toppers Groove Armada and Bacardi?

Or are we going to see something even more unprecedented. Some folks are pursuing new integrated deals in which investors advance money to artists through partnerships with management, taking a stake in 270 degrees of their output (everything but publishing), thus avoiding conflicts of interest and promoting higher rates of return for both artists and management on physical and digital releases, licensing, sync placements, touring and merchandising. Radiohead sort of set the tone for this by doing deals in various territories and selling In Rainbows online as well, but expect much more to come from the likes of This Is Music, who have just sold a share to ie:music, best known for their integrated deal on behalf of Robbie Williams a couple years ago.

Posted by James Friedman

Diddy Does WMC

Emerge Trends — 2008-03-25T13:32:33Z

A few years ago Diddy (aka P Diddy, Puff Daddy, etc) made a big splash at the annual Miami Winter Music Conference by making a few surprise appearances alongside legendary producer Felix Da Housecat and DJ Hell. There was a song called "Jack U" that Felix and Diddy had produced together and rumors were swirling around the industry that the hip-hop impresario was making a foray into dance music. No album seems to have materialized (though some videos on YouTube that appear to depict Diddy trying to buy ecstacy on the dancefloor in Ibiza have), but Diddy is heading back to the WMC this year after a two year absence. And best of all, he's posted a ranting and bizarre clip on YouTube announcing his party, which is couched as a battle between Diddy himself and a range of talents including big room dancefloor don Steve Angello, San Francisco tech funk phenomenon Claude Von Stroke, and the Bronx-based teen duo Martinez Brothers. It's an impressively tasteful lineup and a bizarre collision of the blindingly commercial ends of pop and dance music (Diddy and Angello) with some really significant underground talents (CVS and Martinez Brothers). Wish we were heading down to check this out on Friday...

Posted by James Friedman

Sound Of Light

Emerge Trends — 2008-03-03T18:31:42Z

Trendy hotels doing creative installations, hosting fabulous openings and parties, and even releasing CDs is nothing new. Hotel Costes in Paris might have been among the very first, but it is by no means alone in working to transform from a hospitality brand into a lifestyle brand. The latest, N ordic Light Hotel, which bills itself as "Stockholm's design hotel," has taken the concept of a private-label CD release to new heights by commissioning not simply a compilation, but an all original composition from the acclaimed electronic musician Axel Willner aka The Field. Willner is just the first artist in what promises to be an adventurous series translating the experience of Nordic Light into music. Best of all, the Sound Of Light disc isn't just available to guests at the hotel, but can be found on iTunes and in discriminating shops such as London's Phonica Records.

Posted by James Friedman

You May Have Seen This Already

Emerge Trends — 2008-01-23T17:06:06Z

But we're just digging through the deluge of emails we got yesterday (YES! We heard about Heath Ledger and it's indeed terrible... Please direct your condolences to his family and friends. EMERGE didn't know the guy personally...)

Our good buddy Shara over at Oh Have You Seen This!? blew our minds with this clip of the Bubblegum Sequencer, a really clever and simple demonstration of how electronic drum machines operate using (you guessed it) gumballs.

Check dis:

Posted by James Friedman

The Return of Strut Records

Emerge Trends — 2008-01-14T18:16:26Z

It was a sad day in 2003 when beloved cult reissue label Strut Records closed up shop, anticipating the ever-intensifying downturn in the music industry that has been roiling all levels of the business over the intervening 5 years. The imprint had risen to underground renown thanks to an unbroken string of classic compilations ranging from their Block Party Breaks series of rare groove classics and rarities to exhaustively researched compilations of African dance music including Club Africa and Nigeria 70. Adding to the label's stable of instant classics were compilations highlighting the influences and inspirations for groundbreaking DJs including Grand Master Flash, Bristol, England's Wild Bunch (aka Massive Attack), disco legend Danny Krivit, and house maestro Ashley Beedle. Strut had labored to produce expertly curated and assembled packages shining a light onto obscure corners of the music universe and it seemed that the emergence of iTunes and the continued popularity of illegal filesharing subverted their agenda, making just about anything available to those dilligent enough to seek it out. And without much fanfare, the label drifted into the obscurity it was seeking to rescue music from.

Yet five years on, Strut has announced that it is relaunching. Thanks to a partnership with vanguard German independant label !K7 Records, who have made a successful business out of helping smaller labels stay afloat through creative partnerships and distribution deals, Strut is relaunching in 2008 with a third edition of their highly sought-after series Disco Not Disco. Copies of the earlier editions regularly change hands for over $50. Soon to follow will be follow ups to Strut's earlier Grandmaster Flash comp as well as a look at the pioneering recordings made at Compass Point, the legendary recording studio in Nassau, Bahamas founded by Chris (I discovered Bob Marley) Blackwell of Island Records.

Given the consistently terrible news about the state of the record industry, we're tempering our excitement here at EMERGE with a bit of wait-and-see pragmatism. While we know first hand how good !K7 is (we used to work there if you must know...), so much of this stuff is no longer as obscure as it once was thanks to mp3 blogs and podcasts, which didn't even exist in any meaningful way back when Strut collapsed under pressures which to our eyes have only intensified. But then again, in this new world defined by the Long Tail, perhaps there is more room than ever for an ultra premium niche outlet that relies more on curation and context than simple marketing hype to sell music. Only time will tell...

Posted by James Friedman

Up In Smoke

Emerge Trends — 2008-01-10T17:29:47Z

Perhaps you heard about the scandalous advertorial insert in Rolling Stone's 40th Anniversary issue last November in which around 90 indie bands were featured in a large pull out sponsored by and endorsing Camel brand cigarettes. If not, check the EMERGE-approved site The Daily Swarm to read the article that broke the story and see loads of follow up info.

Even if you haven't been following this story, which has been big big news within the independent music scene for nearly two months now, the latest development is pretty fascinating. According to a an article in Toronto's weekly EYE newspaper, two of the bands featured in Camel's advertisement without their knowledge or prior consent have filed a massive class action lawsuit against both RJ Reynolds and Rolling Stone for uauthorized use of artist’s names for commercial advantage (right of publicity) and unfair business practices. The artists in the suit, art-punks Xiu Xiu and hardcore noisemakers Fucked Up have retained renowned intellectual property attorney Christopher J Hunt and are gunning for more than a simple apology from the corporate forces they believe took their names in vain.

While EMERGE certainly respects the rights of these and other artists to ensure that their names and likenesses are used only with their permission, the conflict over the blurring lines between content and advertising does highlight some difficult ambiguities. It can be argued that any advertising-supported medium is at its core a vehicle for delivering commercial messages and information. If Rolling Stone and Camel must seek approval before featuring artists in an advertorial section like the one in question, why do they not need to seek the same clearance to simply write about a band opposite a full page ad for Camel or any other product? Don't get us wrong here... We're not saying Fucked Up is wrong for feeling aggrieved. We're just wondering if this sort of suit will ultimately limit what can and cannot be published by setting a precedent requiring prior consent for anything that is underwritten through the sale of advertising. Comments are welcome, so please, don't be shy and chime in!

Posted by James Friedman

Untrue

Emerge Trends — 2007-12-20T15:42:19Z

Okay okay, so we're jumping on a bandwagon here, but EMERGE has literally been OBSESSED with the latest album from London's Burial, Untrue. Pitchfork gave it a pretty glowing 8.4 and MetaCritic puts it the number one best reviewed album of 2007. Those two facts, along with the cascade of love the album has gotten in other quarters should have ruled it out as a topic of discussion here, but we're simply too entranced to not urge you readers out there to seek this record out.

Burial makes dubstep, a style of dance music that is mostly defined by its own obscurity. Deep, dark and influenced by the druggy eccentricities of Jamaica's dub sound, it is first and foremost an outcropping of London's urban dance music scene, melding elements of jungle, drum n bass, 2step, breakbeat, house and r n b into something all its own. Since we spent a good bit of high school and college freaking out over all those stylistic antecedents (and even wound up releasing a 12" of dubby breakbeats and 2step back in 2001), Burial has a bit of nostalgic appeal. But more importantly, the anonymous producer behind Burial has managed to take something that most people (EMERGE included) had written off as a thing of the past and injected it with the grace, substance and depth to rise again. Instead of a dance record destined to please a few trainspotters in Brixton, he's made a brilliant bit of rainy day music, perfect for a quiet afternoon with the lights turned low. This is electronic music that appeals to all kinds of music fans thanks to its sparse arrangments, fractured melancholy and warped rhythm.

Since it's been somewhat cloudy and cold here at EMERGE headquarters for the past few days, you can only imagine how many times we've run through both Untrue and Burial's self titled debut...

Check out "Archangel" from Untrue HERE
Check out Burial's unbelievably good remix of Bloc Party's "Where Is Home" HERE

Posted by James Friedman

Art of Noise

Emerge Trends — 2007-11-28T18:05:29Z

A few years ago EMERGE was DJing at the now-defunct M3 Conference in Miami Beach alongside a bunch of DJs and seemingly random band called the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble a Chicago-based crew of percussionists and horn players who really blew the minds of some folks that were expecting nothing but non-stop bleeps and bloops from pasty, night-life loving DJs (like yours truly). Sadly, that was the last we heard about HBE until a random read through our RSS aggregator led us to a post by one-time FADER editor and all around good guy NIck Catchdubs.

To summarize, he posted a link on his excellent and funny blog to a zShare link of Hypnotic Brass Ensemble doing a live cover of "Moments In Love" by EMERGE-faves Art of Noise who you should know about if you don't already. Not only is it a great rendition of a truly classic piece of 80's avant garde pop, but it's a really cool bit of material for a brass band to cover (even if that brass band also plays shows with the likes of Mos Def, M.I.A., Madness, and Jeff Mills)

Even if you don't get down with Art of Noise or brass bands, do yourself a solid and check this group out.

Posted by James Friedman

Art of Noise

Emerge Trends — 2007-11-28T18:05:33Z

Why We're Heading To Mexico This Weekend

Emerge Trends — 2007-10-29T05:31:24Z

Yes, that's right. EMERGE will be in Monterrey, Mexico this weekend to DJ before Daft Punk in a 17,000 capacity arena. Yes we know it's tasteless to brag like this, but come on! Check out the m!@#$%^&*()! lightshow in this teaser clip of footage from their US Alive 2007 tour directed by Olivier Gondry. And please, forgive our immodesty...

Posted by James Friedman

EMERGE's CMJ Wrap Up

Emerge Trends — 2007-10-22T12:21:57Z

Thank heavens the annual CMJ Music Marathon has ended here in New York City. Last week saw pretty much every venue in town overrun with college radio djs, bands, and industry movers and shakers from all over the globe for indie rock's yearly shindig. EMERGE has been going to CMJ for about 10 years now, and sure, it's a great time. But it also feels a little bit unnecessary. Sure there are talent scouts all over the place searching for the next big thing, and a lot of the bands getting the buzz last week will surely be seeing more of the same in the mainstream in the months to come, but in the end, having too much to do and see in New York City just doesn't feel that special. It's like that all the time here.

That said, EMERGE had a busy week. We played a few gigs ourselves, sharing the stage with a bunch of incredible musicians. Last thursday, we were at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, a brand new venue owned by Bowery Presents, who have grown far beyond their namesake Bowery Ballroom in recent years to become the preeminent concert promoters of quality indie rock in New York City. We were there to perform with the droney two piece Invisible Conga People and the ace electronic act Simian Mobile Disco, which is helmed by the acclaimed producer James Ellis Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Klaxons). Friday we DJed at a party thrown by VLES, MTV Network's virtual world devoted to the Lower East Side and its many famed watering holes and nightclubs. The other performers included up-and-coming rappers Cool Kids as well as Inspectah Deck and the RZA from the Wu Tang Clan. On Saturday, the fun didn't stop as we played two separate events, one during the day, and one at night. The first was a low-key instore event organized by Adidas to celebrate five years of music events in their SoHo Originals boutique. There, we dropped a set in between Baltimore Club legend Scottie B and Ed Banger's Busy P, who was in town for the much-hyped Justice concert that night. Afterwards, we went out to Brooklyn to hit Glasslands Gallery, a renegade new venue in a converted warehouse. There we DJed alongside three members of The Rapture, Justin Broadrick (formerly of Napalm Death, currently of Jesu), the excellent MGMT and the band of CMJ 2007, New York's own Yeasayer.

Of all the shows we saw this week, it was this last performance that really got us. We had heard a bit of their set earlier in the day at the Fader Sideshow while we were checking out the gifting suite beneath the stage but that muffled preview was a poor indication of how awesome and eclectic this four-piece truly are. Their debut album comes out tomorrow, so rather than take our word for it, EMERGE recommends without reservation that anyone curious about who set the tone at CMJ this year get themselves to their local record shop or estore and purchase All Hour Cymbals. If you must know more, check out every blog and style mag of note. Everyone from Pitchfork to the Fader think these guys are destined for big things too.

Posted by James Friedman

Is Indie Rock Too White?

Emerge Trends — 2007-10-16T11:12:42Z

EMERGE doesn't really know what to say beyond: Read THIS and debate. Is Sasha Frere-Jones on to something here or is he simply retreading one of the oldest debates in rock criticism or actually illuminating something meaningful?

For all his talk of prominent indie acts like the Shins and Arcade Fire, he ignores rhythmically intensive groups like LCD Soundsystem, !!! and The Rapture as well as afrobeat inflected newcomers like the much-hyped Vampire Weekend. What do you think about this whole premise and Frere-Jones' thesis?

Posted by James Friedman

Behind the Scenes

Emerge Trends — 2007-10-12T17:41:53Z

With the advent of blogs, traditional news outlets, publications, and broadcasters now offer a million ways for the public to peek behind the curtains and see how stories develop, how the editorial process works, and what goes into all the media we so fervently consume.

It's rare, however, that a respected outlet such as National Public Radio will air its dirty laundry via the internet, showing the dark underbelly of those slickly produced programs so many millions love to listen to in their cars, offices, and homes. Yet, that is precisely what Luke Burbank and Allison Stewart of The Bryant Park Project did by posting an excruciating clip of a an interview with the Icelandic band Sigur Ros gone horribly wrong. Now its not like the four dudes in the band got wasted in the studio, barfed on air, or spewed hate speech. They were all quite polite in fact. They just happened to be tremendously boring also. Hats off to Burbank for not losing his patience and getting mad. He really really tries to coax something wortwhile out of these guys, and they are really making it hard for him.

If you ever wondered what a bad day in broadcast journalism looks like, this is it.

Posted by James Friedman

Two Big Pieces of Music News For Today

Emerge Trends — 2007-10-01T16:36:15Z

These two tidbits are sparking major conversation amongst bloggers, music fans, and industry insiders today. If you want to know what to discuss with that Pitchforkmedia.com-loving guy or gal in your life, here are a couple good suggestions:

SNL vs. Aphex Twin: Everyone's favorite member of the SNL staff Adam Samberg sampled or interpolated "Avril 14" by Aphex Twin for his hilarious duet with Maroon 5's Adam Levine called "Iran So Far." NBC is claiming that SNL is exempt from having to get the rights from Aphex Twin's publisher for such use due to a "live television" exemption which allows for retroactive clearance, though many in the music industry are speculating that such an exemption does not apply to a prerecorded short broadcasted during an otherwise live program. Exactly how this shakes out between NBC and Chrysalis Music Publishing remains to be seen.

Compare and contrast the two compositions HERE

Radiohead Offers Presale Downloads of In Rainbows: Eschewing the major labels that made them one of the most important pop music groups (that name really doesn't do them justice does it?) of the past decade, Radiohead have gone ahead and announced a unique new distribution model for their upcoming album. Starting today, folks can pre-order a digitally downloaded version, paying whatever they feel is appropriate, or the 40 GBP discbox, which features In Rainbows on CD, 2xLP, along with a bonus disc, artwork and lyric books inside a collectible hardcover book with slipcase. No promotional advances are being offered to the press and there was next to no information about this leaked prior to this morning's announcement. Is this the end of traditional music PR, a brilliant marketing stunt, a new business model for established acts, a big F-U to the industry or all of the above. Who knows for sure, but it is definitely creating one hell of a conversation online (here are two pieces from bigtime music sites Stereogum and Pitchfork)

Posted by James Friedman

Lifes A Beach! The Music of The Studio

Emerge Trends — 2007-09-12T17:06:06Z

As regular readers probably realize, EMERGE has something of a musical obsession. Our Powerbook has close to 80 GB of mp3s and we're always hunting for something new and interesting to listen to. So it's been something of a surprise over the past few months to rediscover an album a more discerning friend had passed along late last year sitting in our iTunes library all this time.

The album is called "West Coast" and the artist is a two-piece band from Gothenberg, Sweden called The Studio. Having released some frightfully obscure recordings a few years ago on the cult indie label Service, Dan Lissvik and Rasmus Hagg have returned with their new label Information and a string of unbelievably listenable records that any discerning fan of unusual pop music should seek out. Describing exactly what to expect is not the easiest task unfortunately. Blending 70s krautrock (think Can and Neu!) and afrobeat with elements of disco, hazy 80s pop (the Cure perhaps) and the Factory Records vibe of Manchester, the Studio conjure something altogether their own, a sound the UK press are dubbing "nu-balearic" in homage to the dreamy, polyglot sounds DJs on Ibiza spun, inspiring the full spectrum of rave culture today.

Emerging with a super-limited single entitled "No Comply", The Studio quickly followed with a super-limted release of "West Coast," which spawned tremendous insider buzz, leading to a string of singles featuring remixes from neo-disco djs Prins Thomas, Todd Terje and Brennan Green, and finally a re-release late this past Summer of the album on CD and double vinyl for its ardent following in the DJ community. And now there are remixes surfacing, of fellow Swedes Shout Out Louds and Love Is All, and likeminded UK act A Mountain of One as well. Damn good stuff all of it too.

Check out "West Side" HERE

Posted by James Friedman