The Aluminum Group

The first time I caught The Aluminum Group
live was at the Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco sometime in 2002. 
The two brothers that make up this ensemble are John and Frank
Navin.  They took the stage like two art professors preparing for
a lecture.  One brother, John I believe, unfurled a calming ocean
scenery backdrop.  No drums, guitars or even keyboards were
needed, just an ipod.  I watched in awe as these two flamboyant
brothers wowed the crowed with their elegant pop but inside I couldn’t
help but criticize their ‘cojones’ for not even apologizing for doing
their thing ‘karaoke’ style.  For weeks I denied how much I really
enjoyed their sound because of their lack of a backup band (I mean
these guys have recorded with Chicago music legends Sean O’Hagen, Jim
O’Rourke, Bundy K. Brown, John McEntire, just to name a few).  I
was hoping for just one special guest or even just one damn
keyboard!  But no, these guys got away with it and absolutely
charmed the crowd (my wife became a huge fan).  So two years later
I attend a free show at Amoeba music (telling myself I won’t pay to see them unless
they have some kind of back up band) and lo and behold they pull out the
ipod again. But this time they had no background and simply sat at a
table as if they were preparing for a press conference.  Regardless, they were great.

Well, to
be honest, I’ve contemplated stealing their ‘karaoke’ ipod idea for my
own performance project (if it ever happens).  But at least I’d
bring along a guitar to accompany MY ipod.

Here are some tracks The Aluminum Group have generously offered us:

The Aluminum Group : Pop
The Aluminum Group : Tiny Decision
The Aluminum Group : Motorcycles
The Aluminum Group : Snowflake

Podcasting?

A friend and veteran ‘blogger’ has been urging me to get into this podcasting thing as a new
way to promote music I like to a wider audience.  I’m not sure
it’s something I can invest time into now, but it’s worth checking
out.  For those of you that have no clue what I’m talking about,
no worries, I rarely know what I ‘m talking about.  Here’s the
lowdown:  Podcasting is the same as “broadcasting” a radio
show.  You can use your ipod to import a news show you’ve created
and then upload it to your blog that lists the shows and their content.  What
makes this thing unique is that you can give your podcast it’s own RSS
address so that your listeners can get updates through their RSS Readers, download your shows and listen to them whenever. 
NPR and smaller organizations have been experimenting with this idea
and it’s slowly gaining favor. 

Here’s a list of podcasts you
could listen to right now as a quicktime feed or investigate further on
how to subscribe to it through your RSS reader (I use the fantastic OS
X provider, NetNewsWire–they offer a decent free trial).

If you have no clue what I’m talking about go here or here for a better description.
For those of you ready to check out some podcasts, go to these places:

• iPodder.org (http://www.ipodder.org/): The resource for the iPod platform
• indiefeed
• Aruntx
  Newswire (http://www.aruntx.com/podcast/shows/): iPodcasting Syndication
• PodCasting
  Avenue (http://podcasters.blogspot.com/). Blog about podCasting and its
  impact
• I Love Radio .org (http://www.iloveradio.org/). Podcasting, radio, and blogging.
• Audioblogs.info (http://www.audioblogs.info/). Info on podcasting and audioblogs.
• Podcast (http://www.livejournal.com/community/podcast/). LiveJournal Podcast Community.
• Starfrosch
  Audioblog (http://audioblog.starfrosch.ch). Netaudio music releases.
• PaulCMusic.com (http://paulcmusic.com/feeds): Free Drum and Bass music written by UK based artist Paul
  C.

Mark Kozelek

My i-pod has re-educated my listening behavior.  I have over 3,000
songs that play randomly from A.C. Newman to the Zombies. 
At times I come across songs I’d never heard before and some I’m sick
of hearing, but one album I never seem to tire of is the amazing “What’s Next to the Moon” by Mark Kozelek.  If you know nothing about Kozelek’s other projects, the Red House Painters and Sun Kil Moon,
you must investigate that here.  The story behind “What’s Next to
the Moon” is Kozelek’s love for the music that many of us 30-somethings
grew up with, KISS, AC/DC, Neil Young, the Pointer Sisters
(kidding).  In “What’s Next to the Moon” Kozelek covers 10 AC/DC
songs, but I would go as far as saying he “improves” some. 
Kozelek’s unique sense of melody and phrasing is simply beautiful and has rightly become his signature
trademark (his songs are immediately recognizable).  Here are some
partial tracks made possible by Badman Records that put out “What’s Next to the Moon” from San Francisco:

Mark Kozeleck : Love at First Feel
Mark Kozelek : Up to My Neck You