3/26/09

Albums I Would PURCHASE if I had the Money

Now I don't judge any of you for downloading free music (hell, I do it on the daily when perusing music blogs), but it is a personal choice that if I want a full album I will go buy it. Not just the MP3s (I don't even own an iPod, I know...pathetic), but the actual physical version you can chew on and even throw out your car window if it's not up to par. Though I'll probably have to wait for my tax returns here is my list of CDs I plan on purchasing when I can...someday.

Brother Ali - "The Truth is Here" EP



Bon Iver - "Blood Band" EP










The Decemberists - "The Hazards of Love"



Jake One - "White Van Music"










Ben Folds - "Stems and Seeds"


Coldplay - "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends"











POS - "Never Better"


U2 - "No Line on the Horizon"











N.A.S.A. - "The Spirit of Apollo"

Grandmaster Flash - "The Bridge"












So what albums are worth your hard earned money?

-Tooth




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3/23/09

Band Logos

Recently I've been doing a lot of thinking about bands and their logos. My own band is going through the process of trying to create that perfect image. That one symbol that may not even have text in it, but people still know what it represents...a kick ass band. I'll let you know this is a painstaking process, especially in a band with 7 members (7 schizophrenic sets of opinions).

So if you don't have a publicist or creative director to do the brunt work, how does an artist/band (or company) go about creating their logo? What questions do they ask? With my marketing background the big ones I think about are "what will people/fans/consumers feel when they see the image?", "what thoughts does it provoke?" and "how well does it represent your brand?".

For example, below is a rough idea for my band's logo.


It's a take on Prince Buster's "Voice of the People" record label graphic. Presently we're discussing whether or not we should replace the tribal figure with the silhouette of a prizefighter. I understand the relevance of the tribal figure with the original logo, but I feel like only true ska-heads will even make the connection between ours and the old one.

Taking into account the above questions I would argue that with this present design fans may get confused (or even angry) about seeing a dark figure on the logo for an almost-all-white band that plays Jamaican music. I would also argue that with the addition of a prizefighter image it will further represent our name and increase the connection between the image and the band in the minds of the consumers. Just my two cents...

What thoughts do these popular band logos provoke in you? Besides the artists' music what else make these symbols so mem0rarable and prevalent? Or is it mainly the music that makes these logos effective?


-Tooth

P.s. I'm a proud Minnesotan and all, but WTF?




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3/13/09

Collab with ya Favorite Artists (John Legend)


Indabamusic.com recently came with an interesting new contest to do a song with John Legend. I haven’t used Indaba's services much, but I follow them on RSS and I think that this contest is a great way to find new talent, or at least find new creative ideas as Legend is one of the judges who will listen to your work.


If anybody else finds any new kool contest ideas from websites let people know!

From the mind of
Keveeno Reeverts
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3/10/09

The Silent "I" in T(i)eam


A team is a compilation of "I"s. I do not believe the phrase “there is no I in team”, which means we all work together and are only as strong as our weakest link. If that is true, than every team sport would completely fail. If there is no “I” than why do we hold stats? What are we bee’s, or ants? No. We are a whole lotta “I”s and until we realize that most DIY’s involving solely one person will fail.

Partnerships
2 guys (or girls or a mix) of "I"s working towards one goal. That's 2 heads that are usually so incompatible with each other that if it was anything else it would not work. With one goal and 2 different objectives to reach it, it could work.

Groups
3 or more people striving towards one goal. Every person though has their own “I”, their own life. While working toward one thing they are a team but every ceo/ leader/ whoevers in charge sometimes has trouble looking at every person…as a person. That is why everything is in a bracket where their are leaders leading down to the lowest positions.

so what?

One thing when I talk to people, I stress the need to work with other people. A lot of artists love working alone, they book their own shows, they do everything themselves. That works fine but as work builds up, so does tension and everything that goes with added workloads. I have a few artists/Dj’s, and other people who read my blog so this is mostly to them.

Find somebody to work with, a mentor, somebody you can trust. Somebody who can help you with your load so you can be the best at the position your at. Multitasking is alright, but we need people for specific jobs otherwise your career will be considerably short or some part of your job will not be as full as it should be.

There should be an "I" in team, because not one person can do everything… well at least anyway.

Open for discussion, let me know what yall think

From the mind of
Keveeno Reeverts

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3/9/09

Music that Makes you Dumb?

A study performed by a CalTech grad student compared SAT scores with people's musical preferences (favorite artists). According to it, smart people listen to Beethoven and dumbies listen to Lil' Wayne. Wow, ground breaking findings! :)

*Click the image to enlarge

*Read some more on beatcrave.com


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3/6/09

Kevin's Top 5 (#2)

1. Say Hi - Barsuk, Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh...
2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Hysteric
3. Eminem - Crack A Bottle (DiscoTech Remix)
4. Phoenix - 1901
5. MSTRKRFT vs. Deadmau5 - The Reward Is Bounce (Lights Over LA Mashup)

Love, Kev
(MP3s COMING SOON....)



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