Well, I’m on my 4th listen of The Velvet Teen’s “The Prize Fighter.” For me, as a recording engineer and producer that translates into “wow, I really dig this song!” I highly recommend checking out the video on their myspace - there’s a nice payoff at the end if you’re into the arty and poetic side of life.

The Velvet Teen has done an impressive amount of touring the globe since its inception 8 years ago and is currently on a North American tour with Say Hi and The A-Sides, appearing at SF’s very own Bottom of the Hill tonight! I find an infectious pop energy in all of their recordings. I also find a refreshing honesty - like they’re not trying to be something that’s gone before. And believe me, if the raw energy and honesty of a band can cut through on a recording, they’re going to be even more amazing live and in-person.

In the words of the Alternative Press - “There isn’t a band in the world who sounds anything like the Velvet Teen.”

Some of the best music isn’t being played on the radio airwaves. It’s not being played in the recording studios and it’s not on the television or in the CD section of Wal-Mart.

I firmly believe some of the best music in this world is being played on rooftops, in living rooms and on the street corners. It’s the music that may not be quite perfect but the raw talent echoing is undeniable. It’s the music that may have only one listener or a pair of twins waiting for sleep. It’s the music that has so much soul, so much love, so much passion - those who hear it can’t help but stop their busy lives and do nothing but listen.

It’s the music made by a tired rancher when he comes in at night, grabs his guitar and sings to his wife by the fireside. It’s the music made by a church pianist in front of a 20-person congregation. It’s the music no one hears.

If I had the funds to start my own business, I would start a recording studio.  And then I would wander all over this world and pull those raw talented gems from their living rooms, their kids’ bedsides, from the street corners and I would capture that passionate sound for all to hear.

I wouldn’t push them to do tours or to sell their soul to the music business. I would just capture a small piece of magic and share it with the world because some of the music I have heard could move mountains and I think that element is too often lost in the corporate-mad rush of today’s music.

I’ve noticed a recent trend in the music for commercials. (At least I think it’s recent but it could have something to do with the fact that I just recently started watching television again so it could really be quite old.)

A lot of big name artists are going the commercial route. It’s a way to get their music out there and to the public’s ear. It’s pretty typical to have your country hick-style music for big trucks and wranglers, a little bit ‘a AC/DC or Aerosmith-style for some sports commercials. But I’ve noticed something that I hadn’t heard before.

Artistic music. I’m talking Regina Spektor or some Ani DiFranco (minus the anger) - you know the type I’m talking about. Where the voice lilts and does fun musical stuff, where the accompaniment is very musical and not the same beat over and over again. Does this strike any one else as strange?

Or, as Jack’s Mannequin would say, “am I alone in a crowded room?”

What in the world is so freakin’ cool about bass? Bass as in music not bass as in fish. You know, the thumpety-thump-thumpness. That’s what I’m talkin’ about.

Now, I’m no hypocrite. I went through my “bass phase” where I couldn’t get enough of the stuff. I needed it. I craved it. It was my lifeblood.  I got a stereo system with great bass. When my college roommate was gone for the weekend, I’d sneak a listen on her even better bass sounding system. I bumped up my bass in my super-sweet Buick until I blew the speakers. You know, I was cool!

And then I grew up.

Sad, I know…and pretty hard to believe as well. Somewhere along the way, I lost my intense love for bass. Oh I still enjoy it but not at, say, 10:30 at night when I’m trying to write a blog post and thinking about some shut-eye. Or when I’m walking along the sidewalk and my eardrums are erupted by a car’s bass and my skirt flies up.

Bass is good - in moderation. Basis of life, moderation is. Same goes for bass. It has it’s place. It’s got the beat, the rhythm, the pulse of a song - I get that, I respect it. But seriously, does more bass equal more attitude, more “coolness,” more cred on the street? Big bass - what’s the big deal?

Intrigued by the title? Yep, me too.

I was hanging out with some friends and after our small group meeting, one of them invited me to go to Rico’s, the local pub, to listen to a group called Orjazzmic. Of course I was all in, how could I not be? It’s music, hello.

We arrived and settled ourselves in comfortable chairs, exchanging conversations about books, the music and life in general. (Yes, it’s one of those pubs…the kind where people talk about the finer things of life…it even has real-live books there.)  In the midst of all this conversation, I just sat and listened. The people around me probably thought I was in tune with their conversation but really, I was in tune with the music I was hearing.

Orjazzmic is an eight-piece jazz group with guitar, bass, piano, tenor and alto sax, drums and vocals grouping together to form a melodious sound. Mostly, the group was instrumental…the music? Great. It was the perfect backdrop for the intellectual conversations I was supposed to be paying attention to.  And for any person in the establishment such as myself, the music was the centerpiece, not the background.

There’s just something about jazz and I don’t know quite how to explain it. It’s more than music.  It’s something that speaks to your soul. It is so full of feeling and emotion. Orjazzmic captures that with its music. Vocals weren’t present in every song and I liked that. Sometimes, you just need to experience the music without any words interrupting the purity of the music.

The group has been together for about five years now and is centered in Pullman, Wash., playing a couple times a month. It’s a talented group, the solos highlighting each musician are excellent and, while on breaks, they mingle with the crowd. I might have to whip out the khakis, slip on the spectacles, don a sweater and become a groupie.

I found a website that gives 10 pretty decent reasons why your demo tape got the big ‘ole R-E-J-E-C-T stamp on it. Kinda like going up for parole in Shawshank Redemption, isn’t it?

You know, maybe it was just some really bitter schmuck who wrote this website but even if he is, he made some valid points. Chris Knab lets it all hang out in his article 10 Reasons Why Your Demo Was Rejected. Way to get right to the point bud.

I’ll let you check the site out at your leisure but some of his points hit home. They at least hit hard enough for me not to ignore them.

Point Two - Lack of Originality. We, as normal, breathing human beings like to think we are the only one who came up with whatever it is we came up with. We also like to think we are the only hungry and starving artist on Planet Earth. Not true. My boy Chris backs me up on that.

Point Four - Poorly Recorded Material (That would be where the owner of this site comes in - I shall shamelessly plug her amazing abilities because she can put together some seriously awesome music for you.) But seriously, it goes for anything, not just music. If you have a bad resume, you sure aren’t getting called back for that killer cleaning job you applied for to supplement your starving artist habit. Same goes for music. If the quality is bad, it doesn’t get noticed.

Point Seven - Sending Unsolicited Tapes. Do you like telemarketers calling you? No, you hang up on them. Do you like the door-to-door sales people? No, you yell at your housemate to turn off the stereo, hit the lights and hide behind the sofa and pretend like you’re not home. Record labels don’t like it either. Instead of turning off the lights, they just don’t respond to you. Now don’t you feel sorry for those poor door-to-door dudes?

Point Ten - The Music Sucks.  This point is a catchall for everything that didn’t fit in Points 1-9. Everyone can play music but only some of us can play music that doesn’t suck. The rest of us, unfortunately, fall into the “sucks” category. My boy Chris says that nearly 90% of the music received by record labels is thrown in the “sucks” pile and immediately thereafter marked up with the Big Red Rejector Pencil. Look at the nine people sitting around you. They are your competition. You’re all trying to fight your way out of the Sucks Bin but only one of you is going to make it. You do the math on how great your odds are.

With all that said, I’m still an optimist. Keep hitting the garage with your buddies and keep ignoring the phone calls from your 80-year-old neighbor to “keep that racket down!” You gotta dream? You better get busy getting after it.

Woo - boy bands. Like, totally awesome! *Insert a blonde hair flip here.*

N’Sync, 98 Degrees, BoyzIIMen, New Kids on the Block, so on and so forth.

I don’t know what the big deal was about them - other than at age 12 and 13, they were sooooo hot. Oh please. Good-looking means nothing, can they sing and can they make some good music?  That is what I’m interested in. I have nothing against the idea of “boy bands.” I have a lot against some lousy groups who get together, beat some sticks on tin cans and wail into a microphone about their broken hearts. Go to a therapist, not a recording studio.

The reason I bring this up is because another boy wonder band is the Backstreet Boys. Note I said “is” - present tense - they won’t go away. Their new album hits stores soon and to give it a fair shake I listened to one of the songs on Yahoo - Inconsolable. It’s a touch more mature than stuff they have produced in the past but not by much.

Did I mention the title of this album?  Never Gone - so fitting.

   Image courtesy of Artist Direct

You know how all those old-timers gather for coffee at six in the morning to swap stories that always start with “Baaack in the day…”?  It’s like a gray-haired trademark and as much as we young’uns scoff and sometimes turn a deaf ear to any story beginning with that phrase, I have no doubt that all of us will one day be quoted as saying it.

Music downloading - the debates on it have raged back and forth, up and down for years. It’s taken some twists and turns and after its initial spark has generally settled down into a fixture of the music world’s landscape.

So - baaack in the days of my rosy youth, Napster had just made it big. It was huge. Everyone used Napster. (Except for myself, of course. No, seriously. I didn’t. My family didn’t even have a color television until I was in my later years of high school let alone a computer or the Internet.) But I heard about my friends using it and I saw the fruits of their labors in the form of ripped CD’s on those long bus trips.

The musicians say one thing, the recording industry says another, the consumers would probably boost the CDs right out of Wal-Mart and no doubt some of them try. They tried to close Napster down but its offspring didn’t fall far from the tree and they are still shooting up in 2007.

The latest? SpiralFrog. SpiralFrog is the latest in a long line of efforts to provide music for Joe Consumer. SpiralFrog allows users to download music videos and tunes with a few strings attached such as advertisements, regulated log-ins (something like a visit to the website once a month or the music files lock up), putting the files in a format compatible with only a select assortment of music players. You get the point.

Honestly, it sounds like a lot of trouble to me but I’m a person who doesn’t care for advertisements. Besides, I think the beauty of the music gets lost somewhere along the way. How can you call yourself a true fan if you’re not willing to dip into the piggy bank a bit and pull a CD off the rack instead of off the ‘net?

Every kid has a dream. Every person has a dream, actually. Those dreams evolve as we grow up. When I was in third grade, I wanted to be a teacher (really original, I know). But now, I find my life taking a bit of a School of Rock turn. My current dream of the day is to start a band. And I want that band to be called The The’s.

Think about it. Think about all the bands with “the” as their common factor. The Shins, The Clash, The Used, The Temptations, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Doors, The Cure, The Ramones, The Bee Gees, The Offspring, The Monkees, The Sex Pistols…I could go on forever but I’ve probably gone on far too long as it is.  Oh, one more!  The Who - officially one of the most generic, John Doe band names of all time. I typed in “the” on Yahoo’s music page. It showed five results and then had a link that said “See All 1,000 Matches”.  Wow.

In an age where everyone is hyped on originality, where simple baby names such as Bill and Sarah are spelled “Byl” and “Cerah”, a reflection on the “the” phenomenon is one I take seriously. The is, by nature, simple. It’s three letters. It’s probably one of the most used words in the English language (I just used it three times in this sentence) and it is sprinkled liberally over the music world.

I like to think the music-makers of our universe are trying to send a message through their name selections. Maybe they are trying to tell us to slow down a bit, to enjoy life a bit more, to take note of the simple things in life and how wonderful those little things really are.

Or they could just be trying to sell albums and think of something catchy that also fits on a T-shirt. Yeah, that’s much closer to the truth than my little rose-colored dream. Also exiting the rose-colored dream world is my three-hours old dream of starting up The The’s.  A band entitled *drum roll* The The already exists in the United Kingdom.  Maybe I could make a United States chapter?

I had an interview to be a radio DJ this morning. Only in the music business would you meet at the local java joint and discuss radio, music and the art of DJ’ing for 45 minutes.

I had been animatedly discussing the possibilities of the position and all the wonderful ideas I had jotted down, punctuating each point with arm waves and jabbing holes in the air around me with my fingers in my excitement when my potential boss stopped me with this statement.

“You’re really all about the music, aren’t you.”

That stopped me in midsentence. Everything else I had lined up to say was gone. Of course it is about the music! How could it not be? This particular station is a rock station and I love rock music. I love alternative, punk, light and hard rock - I love it and I get excited about it. To have someone stare at me and so simply state - “You’re all about the music.” - well, it just floored me that the owner of a radio station would pick out that detail and get hung up on it.

I think that is one of the best qualities music holds. It takes you over. It sucks you in and creates a whole new world. Ask someone to explain music to you and I think you’ll find they have a hard time doing it. Music is an enigmatic phantom. A single song can mean something different to each ear listening to it and it is for that reason I’m body and soul about the music.

I still don’t know whether I got the job or not. I think I would be amazing at it and precisely because I am all about the music. When you have a passion for something, it shows. It comes across in your voice and, in my case, it’s quite apparent by my arms seemingly becoming unattached from my body.