Flock me, Baby.

Yes, I’ve fallen prey to list-mania.  I can’t resist it.  Here’s the new music I loved in 2009 (in no particular order).

A disclaimer: I don’t listen to a lot of new popular music because I’m weird and picky.  I’m sure there’s stuff that is better that I haven’t heard (or at least you think it’s better). These are my top songs, so take that as you will.

Them Crooked Vultures - No One Loves Me & Neither Do I

Choosing the best track off of Them Crooked Vultures was difficult.  If I were going for best groove I’d call out Gunman.  Most intruiging might be Bandoliers.  But No One Loves Me & Neither Do I is such a brilliant combination of pop, rock, and HEAVY that you can’t help but rock the hell out to it.  Just try.

Golden Shoulders - Little Nixon

Fantastic band from my hometown of Grass Valley.  Every song this guy writes is great, but this one stands out as one of the best on “Get Reasonable.”  Great digs at George Bush without being heavyhanded (like 95% of Bush songs).  Fantastic music that is hard to define from one moment to the next.  Makes me want to flail about.  Win, all the way.

(track can be heard at http://goldenshoulders.com/music.php)

Heartless Bastards - Could Be So Happy

There’s something so happy and beautiful about this song. It’s got a dark side, but the acceptance of one’s own issues is an important part of getting past them. Erika Wennerstrom’s vocals are not the most beautiful, but they strike me as completely honest and I can groove to that.  The Mountain was possibly the best surprise of the year.

Wilco - Wilco (the song)

Deny it all you want, but this song is great.  Wilco (The Album) is certainly not my favorite Wilco album, but “Wilco (the song)” is great.  For anyone who’s ever hid from the world in their headphones, this song proclaims “tired of being exposed to the cold/the stare of your stereo/put on your headphones/before you explode/Wilco’ll love you, baby”.  Amen.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Soft Shock (acoustic)

I was not a fan of the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs album.  I love the YYYs intensely, but I wasn’t a fan of their transition from raw and original to a ripoff of every hipster electronica band. However, the acoustic bonus tracks on the special edition of It’s Blitz! are strikingly beautiful in comparison to the fuzzy robotic tunes on the record proper.  “Soft Shock” has an incredibly unique set of instrumentation that suggests folks but then goes somewhere completely different with the melody.  I could listen to this song for a long time.

(acoustic version not available for streaming)

Monters are not Myths Song I’m Most Proud Of - Netcat

It’s impossible for me to objectively rate my own songs, but I’m extremely proud of how “Netcat” turned out on our new album, Corporate Grown.  Most of this is thanks to the brilliant band behind me, including the awesome banjo of Clide Lynne of The Paper Crocodiles.  Call me a shameless promoter, but I want everyone to hear it.

Hope you all a happy new year with lots of great music!

Hey folks,

In case you missed our podcast (for which I wouldn’t blame you), check out the new Monsters are not Myths demo, “She”.  It’s available on our MySpace page, thanks to a rather clever marketing move (you get 5 songs on MySpace if you add what is, essentially, an advertising platform as a friend).

It’s a bit rough but I’m rather excited about the new direction.

Also, don’t miss us at The Catalyst Atrium for the 2007 Battle of the Bands in Santa Cruz, CA on April 6th at 9pm.  Show us your ticket with a vote for us and get a free, recently re-designed bumper sticker.  Nifty!

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Tags: Monstersare not Myths” music “The Catalyst” atrium “Battle of the Bands” “Your Music Magazine” podcast She “Evan Hamilton” “Nick Giordano

I guess I thought I was a smart marketer/musician, but (as always) I still have more to learn.

From this point on I vow never to take money to support my music unless it is officially a gift (which means no-strings-attached) or a loan with a contract.  It’s impossible to deal with ambiguities amongst friends, fans, or even companies.  Until your band becomes incredibly successful, bartering, haggling and negotiating every dollar at the merch table (or at your office, or at the record store) is the name of the game.  Without it, your merch sales will plummet (not that ours are very high).

The guy at your show who only loved the last song but only has $4 isn’t going to go down the street to the ATM for the extra dollar, but if you give it to him for $4 he will wear that shirt everywhere and talk about how cool the guys in your band were.  He will evangelize you and generate more fans/sales than the $5 you would have charged for the shirt.

Bottom line is, when I’m dealing with merch and money I either need to know that I answer only to myself/my band or that I have a specific dollar amount I need to reach to not get my knees broken.

If that means I have to write “Monsters are not Myths” in sharpie on a thrift-shore shirt, so be it.

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Tags: merchandise”Monsters are not Myths” money marketing

I spent last Saturday at Nick’s house recording vocals for our demos and jamming on new music.  Additionally, in an attempt to catch up to the internet zeitgeist, Monsters are not Myths has recorded a podcast.

I have to warn you: it’s completely ridiculous.  We’re pretty ridiculous.  And mildly offensive..  Please keep this in mind.

If you’d just like to hear the new track we were working on, skip to the last fourth of the podcast.  I’m really excited about where the song is going and I hope you’ll enjoy it.

As mentioned in the podcast, we’ll be playing in the Your Music Magazine Battle of the Bands on April 6th at The Catalyst in Santa Cruz, CA.  Doors open at 8, the show starts at 9pm.  Admission is $7 and the show is open to those 21 and older.

Please come out and support us: we promise a thoroughly rocking show with Nate Brown of Windham Flat and some new songs.  And if you tell me that you read about the show on my blog, I will buy you a Pabst Blue Ribbon.

If you haven’t heard Monsters are not Myths and would like to give us a chance you can hear some of our songs on our MySpace page.  If you really like them, they’re available at the iTunes store or at a discounted price at our shows.


 

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Tags: Monstersare not Myths” “The Catalyst” “Your Music Magazine” “Battle of the Bands” “Evan Hamilton” “Nick Giordano” “Nate Brown” “Windham Flat” music podcast “MANMcast” Pabst “Pabst Blue Ribbon

Monsters are not Myths headed into a pint-sized practice space to record some demos this weekend.  We could barely move, but we got some good stuff I think. 3 songs in 5 hours is pretty impressive considering we’ve played with this drummer (Nate Brown) about 8 times total.

It’s always a bit weird for me to go through the first round of recording; aside from some keyboard work, I basically just give the rest of the band signals when we hit the chorus (choruses?  chorii?).  I didn’t do any singing…the bulk of my work lies before me. I don’t look forward to trying to recreate the energy of a live experience while listening to the tracks on headphones.

For those who’ve been to shows lately, you’ve heard the songs we committed to tape: Sunday Morning Nightmare, Stop (Singing Those Songs), Bits of Sins, and Addiction (which still needs to be renamed, if anyone has any ideas…perhaps I’ll post the lyrics later).  We miced the amps, put one mic above the drums, and then set up this cheap mic we got at a garage sale in the middle of the room.  We didn’t expect much of it (when we’ve recorded vocals into it before they come out scratchy and quiet), but it actually gave us a great ambient room sound.  When we took it out of the mix everything became a lot duller.  Who knew?

As vocals still need to be recorded, these tracks probably won’t surface for a few weeks.  In the meantime, check out the photos on my flickr.

-Evan

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Tags: Monstersare not Myths, recording, “Evan Hamilton, “Nick Giordano, “Nate Brown, microphone, guitar, drums, rock, “rock and roll

Amie Street, as reported on techcrunch, seems to be taking the high road in mp3 sales.  This is an amazing system designed to help independent bands sell their mp3’s.  Here’s how it works:

-Upload your songs
-Encourage people to download them for free
-As your tracks (hopefully) gain in popularity your prices are driven higher (with a 99cent cap).
-You get featured with other popular indie bands as your popularity grows even more.
-You keep 70% of revenues after the first $5, which is more than even the most popular bands get via record sales OR iTunes (though I think as an indie band, my band makes more like 60% from iTunes).

The greatest part about all this is that these are DRM-free mp3’s, which means you can upload to and play them on anything (unlike those pesky iTunes mp3’s, which only work on your iPod and start at 99cents).  I’m a firm believer in this, and so are most indie bands (we want that whole “viral” thing to work for our music…it’s not worth 99cents to deny someone that).

This isn’t to say that I don’t love my iPod nano. My band has it’s songs on iTunes; it’s where the business is. Do we get many purchases that way? No. This system definetly has potential. Will I put Monsters are not Myths‘ tracks on Amie Street? Not yet.
I think this is a great system, but for a very small and independent band like mine, I’m worried that our tracks never reach a popularity/price where we can make a profit. And with that alternative, we’ll get 0 downloads on iTunes. The alternative is selling mp3s on MySpace, which kind of makes me feel dirty inside (considering that MySpace is notoriously unstable and unsafe).

I’m not happy with our current situation, but I’m not convinced Amie Street is right for me (though I think it’ll be great for a bunch of indie musicians). I will be keeping a close eye on Amie Street and MySpace and returning to this debate in time.

-Evan

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Tags: AmieStreet” Amie “Monsters are not Myths” DRM “DRM-free” iTunes MySpace indie “indie bands” independent mp3