Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Recently Unearthed: Sam Pinkerton

Ok, this one's a newbie. I only have a few of her songs and I think that's really all that are available right now unless you are related to her. I recently downloaded Sam Pinkerton's EP Sampler from NoiseTrade and was instantly impressed. She doesn't have a lot of web presence yet, except Facebook and Twitter, but Baby Dinosaur understands that.

So far, I like her sound a lot. She's got a full-length coming that I'm curious to check out. Take a listen for yourself. I find myself craving to hear her sing Sara Swenson's Passing Cars, Passing Time.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Recently Unearthed: Peter Bradley Adams

Peter Bradley Adams' sound is great. I've had him on my list to blog about for a few weeks now. If you listen to all of his songs in a row, it can be a touch monotonous because his sound doesn't vary much between tracks. Yes, that is a criticism, but no one is perfect. It's okay to have the same sound if the sound is consistently good.

I first found Peter Bradley Adams on NoiseTrade and the song London Bridge is Falling Down got my attention. I also like Full Moon Song and I Cannot Settle Down.

He's had some tracks recently on Primetime TV although on shows I don't watch.

You can download from eMusic for a decent price.

Baby Dinosaur joins Facebook

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Thanks!

Friday, October 26, 2012

Recently Unearthed: Aloft Hotels for MUSIC

OK, I know this sounds maybe a little strange...I didn't believe it at first either, but I'm telling you: If you like music shows, you need to stop right now and check to see if there is an Aloft Hotel in your area because I have seen a couple of great, free shows there in the last few months.

Currently, Aloft is having the 2012 Fall Live at Aloft Hotels tour. Basically, the hotel "chain" hires on some bands to tour exclusively to their hotels and put on a mini, acoustic show. The local Aloft in Leawood, KS has their shows in their open bar area called W XYZ lounge. It's a hip, contemporary place with giant couches that no one truly can sit on all that comfortably and a beautiful patio overlooking the sights and smells of Town Center Plaza. If you wonder what I mean by sights AND SMELLS, just go there...you will understand. The hotel is surrounded by some great restaurants, from which pour the aroma of wonderful cuisine.

These music shows are very casual. There's no stage. The bands just mingle around with you before, during, and after. When was the last time you sat 5 feet from a band while they played and it was free?

Now, don't get me wrong...the bands are not Hall of Famers (yet), but don't dismiss the bands they choose. The bands I've seen so far are up & comers that are getting some airplay, getting their songs into primetime TV, etc.

The first show I went to earlier this summer was Green River Ordinance. They are a band I had downloaded from somewhere and actually was liking their music although I hadn't really done it consciously. When I heard they were having a show and checked my iTunes, I realized, I had been listening to their songs frequently and apparently enjoying them by the star ratings I was giving the music. None of my friends wanted to go to the show with me because it feels a little far south for most of my pack, so I went alone. THEY MISSED OUT. It was awesome. The small audience was well-behaved, but obviously contained many fans of the band.

Recently, Aloft Hotel in Leawood (I follow the local Aloft on Facebook to catch when shows are coming) announced another show: Martin Harley, Meiko, and The Dunwells.

I hadn't heard of Martin Harley, but on paper he sounded like someone I'd like. I have a couple of Meiko's songs from somewhere along my journey that I enjoy. I'd heard of The Dunwells, but to my knowledge hadn't heard their music. I decided to go. Again, none of my friends wanted to tag along.

I got there during their soundcheck due to a discrepancy on Facebook regarding the start time. There wasn't an audience forming like their had been for Green River Ordinance, but the soundcheck sounded like my type of music. I lingered around for an hour waiting for more audience -- even one of the local radio stations was there -- but it turned out only to be a very small audience. At one time, there were only about 4 or 5 of us hanging out on the long couches in front and I looked over and Meiko was lounging right next to me before her set.

Anyway, check it out. You won't be disappointed and even if you are, well, it's free.

While you are at it, check out the bands/performers: Green River Ordinance, Martin Harley, Meiko, and The Dunwells.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Baby Dinosaur's Tips for Making it in the Music Business

Before reading this, you may ask, what makes Baby Dinosaur qualified to give advice about being a successful musician? Well I have two qualifications: ears. As an avid fan of music for about as long as I can remember....all the way back to my music box mobile that played "Knick Knack Paddy Whack Give the Dog a Bone" I've known what type of music I like. Granted, not everyone likes the same music and that's fine with me. If I find music I don't like, I know how to hit NEXT, but some music is so unforgiveably bad, I wonder who in the world would allow some recordings to ever get made.

So, today I started thinking about the recipe for disaster for creating terrible music. Not all ingredients are necessary, but here are some good things to get you started:

1. Long intros. I will not sit and listen through a 3 minute intro for a 5 minute song. If the intro is actually entertaining and musical (preferably comprised of the music of more than one instrument, not necessarily counting a drum beat) you might be okay. If your intro contains roughly 25% of the entire length of the song and is mostly random clicking sounds, drumbeats, or repeating chords, I'm not going to stick around.

2. Too much cymbal. If you want to sound amateurish, start smacking around on your cymbals. Hi-hat is one thing, but just beating on your crash over and over is uncalled for. Your crash is meant for occasional accents, dummy. Do you need to look up occasional in the dictionary? Stop right now and count your cymbals. How many do you have? If you have only your hi-hat and one other cymbal, is it a crash or a ride? If it is a crash, ask your mommy to buy you a ride for Christmas or at least get a crash/ride. Stop crashing so much, dork.

3. Can you sing? Really, this is a serious question. If you can't sing, stop. Stop it right now. Learn an instrument or a trade, but don't sing. There are a lot of people in the world that are talented singers, I'd prefer to listen to them and not have to listen to you. Really, really, I want you to stop immediately. If you really want to sing, I give you permission to sing background vocals in a limited capacity. Mothers and grandmothers of the world, I charge you with informing your children if they are not good singers. Do not encourage them to sing if they cannot. I mean it, I really do. I can't emphasize this enough, people.

4. Do you think you're pretty, especially when you flip your hair around? Boys and girls, if this describes you, perhaps being a musician is not your calling. Hair is not an instrument. If your best feature is your hair, try to be a model and pose for Harlequin romance novel covers or something, Fabio.

5. It is our duty as the general public to stop people from creating more bad music. If music is bad don't listen to it, don't buy it. Don't sit at a bar and listen to that live band in the corner who bought their instruments at garage sales just because beer is $4 a bucket. If you really must stay for the cheap beer, I encourage you to shout out "YOU SUCK" as much as possible, with the goal being to make the offender(s) cry... a lot. It is important that you poll the crowd and make sure that at least 5 or 6 other people there also think the offender sucks in an effort from keeping you from getting your ass beat.

6. Instrumental music is for movies or Miami Vice, Jan Hammer. Even Moby has someone do some vocals now and then. You know why people make fun of elevator music? Because it is bad. Instrumentals are just really long intros and if you were paying attention, you already know how I feel about really long intros.

7. Weird sounds are weird. Hey, I've discovered I know how to make some weird sounds too and they're not always made with my butt. That doesn't mean I record the weird sounds and incorporate them with music and lyrics. If you do find a way to make a weird sound with something you have sitting around and you really must use it, don't over do it, ding dong. Once or twice is enough.

8. Shut up and sing. Have you established that you actually can "carry a tune in a bucket"? Good for you; let's hear it. I don't want to hear you yakking, especially in a recording. If I'm seeing you live, it's a little different situation, but after 9 or 10 times of listening to you cleverly rambling on about what a great crowd it is and how your mailman's aunt inspired you to write the little ditty you are about to perform on my iPod, I'm going to delete your song and I'm never going to listen to it again. This rule is not limited to amateurs; there are plenty of well-established musicians out there that break this rule and I hate you for it.

To sum it up, we all know that you want your 15 minutes of fame, but there are other ways of doing it; The Gong Show ain't one of them.



Recently Unearthed: Buried Beds

Life has calmed down a bit allowing me to get back to my music hobby. Timing is particularly good since Sound Supply just dropped #5. First, if you are not familiar with Sound Supply and are a music explorer like I am, you should check it out. I went whole hog and did the Year's Supply of music for $75 which totals up to 60 albums. You can choose to pay by drop, but there are bonuses for good sales, so if they don't reach their sales number, you might not get all the music for that drop. If you do the Year's Supply, you automatically get the bonus material even if the one-at-a-timers don't. Sounds more complicated than it is. If you can read this, you can read their website too.

Anyway, back to the point: Buried Beds. They got my attention right away, which is a tough call since I uploaded 348 new songs to my iPod last weekend. Needless to say, I spent much of my week trying to stay plugged in as much as I could, but I still didn't make it through all the new stuff yet. This Philadelphia group seems to have been around for awhile. Members take turns on vocals. I tend to prefer the songs where Eliza takes the lead. She has a great sound, similar to Regina Spektor. I love Regina's sound, but her songs are sometimes a bit too quirky for me. So with Eliza, you get the sound without some of that weirdness.

Some of their intros are a little long for my taste. I really get annoyed by long intros, but at least their intros are more than a random drumbeat for the first half of the song. Favorite songs so far are Breadcrumb Trail and Telegram.

Go get some...

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Rambling Around: Shauna Meek Presents: Friday Night Live!

A few weeks ago my friend let me know that her friend/acquaintance Dustin Kaufman was participating in a comedy show locally. I'd never heard of him, but he's from the area -- now in LA -- so I said sure.

The venue was Johnny's Tavern in Prairie Village, KS -- a sports bar. Cover was $10, but several local comics were performing, so price wasn't bad. Well drinks were about $3.50, also reasonable.

First, Johnny's Tavern does not have a stage...the performance took place standing in a tight corner of the bar/restaurant.

Host, Shauna Meek, a Johnny's Tavern employee was first to take the slightly raised platform -- er, stage. Wow, embarassing. I don't mind crude comedy, but if every joke you have is about you being a whore with a stretched-out vagina, snore.

The emcee ... name forgotten... took over, he was a little funny. Also performing was Andrea Caspari. She wasn't bad, but got distracted by a couple that sat up front and thought they were part of the show. HATE THAT! I'd give her another shot in a different location.

Eventually to take a turn was, Mr. Queue Cards himself, Teague Hayes. Seriously, you have about a 5 minute spot and you have to have queue cards to remember each of your poop jokes? Time for a patio break; it was unbearable.

Next: Rod Reyes. I was outside for a portion of his performance, but it was actually pretty funny. Rod is an older guy, a New Yorker.

Following Rod was Conrad Courtney. This guy was great. Seriously, so funny. Wish he'd had a longer set.

Headlining was Dustin Kaufman. He was enjoyable enough, but I was hoping for better following Conrad. Maybe he was off since his parents were front row...maybe he's just not for me.

All in all...for $10 it was okay...it's nice to help out some locals, but would I do it again? No.

Friday, October 5, 2012

I'm away, but not far away...

Due to serious family illness, I have been unable to publish new posts for awhile. I hope to be back at it soon. My family would appreciate any good thoughts you can send our way during this time.

Our thanks to the Kansas City Veterans Administration Medical Center for offering the best care anyone could imagine. The staff -- especially that of the MICU -- deserves a standing ovation. Thank you.