The blog of Ryan Billingsley
- Alchemy Index
Thrice released their new album today and I have to say I like it. Firebreather is obviously to appease all the fans who cried and cried about Vheissu not being hard enough, completely overlooking the fact that the band has moved onto some much more intricate musicianship, which I think is a move for the better.This album seems to have more electronic elements in it than the previous release, which works sometimes, and sometimes I think it adds very little. I got a chuckle the first time I listened to ‘Night Diving.’ The electric piano sound that exists throughout the song is one of Apple’s loops they ship with Garage Band. Seems a little lazy to me.
The album is two parts of the four part Alchemy Index, with each segment being represented by an element. Listening to the first half of the album, the fire side, you will hear a very different emotion than the later, more subdued, half represented by water. You could also just look at the track titles, its pretty obvious.
I can only guess that the Earth section will feature some sort of acoustic theme, as Dustin, the lead singer, has been doing a lot of solo acoustic recently. Should be interesting to hear a side of Thrice that previously was just acoustic sets of music they had already recorded.
They should be starting their tour as I write this so look for them somewhere close. I saw them a couple years ago in Chicago and they were the show stealer for me.
- Rainbows and Videos
I think every blogger, no matter what they write about, has said something about In Rainbows, Radiohead’s latest release. All I am going to say is ‘get it.’ It is amazing and the more you listen to it the more you will realize just how good it is.
On a completely different note, ryanbillingsley.com just went up in the past week. Right now there is just three full screen videos for you to watch and enjoy.
Anna and I are off camping this weekend and enjoying this amazing fall weather.
- Coffee and Jazz
I love coffee. For a while I was a little snobbish toward it in favor of tea because I was on this whole “I wish I were British” thing, but I have come back to the fantastic drink. This morning I felt the need to go pick up a cup so I drove to the local coffee shop that is just around the corner from us. While waiting in line, which was for a while, I could hear the car behind me playing some jazz. It wasn’t smooth jazz, which I can’t stand, but a nice upbeat tune with a trumpet solo. I then realized that I really like the idea of listening to jazz while sitting and drinking coffee. I wish I could hang out with people like that way more often.
- Matt and Kim
Anna sent me a link to this video and I think they are great. Kim’s smile is addictive and they are just having fun, its wonderful.
- Last.fm
If you haven’t heard of it, then you should go check it out. Basically they have created a social site that revolves around what people are listening to. Last.fm has a program for both Windows and Mac that monitors what songs you listen too through iTunes and other music players. It then creates charts and recommendation based on what you listen to. Then, people can add you as a friend and see what you listen to, listen to your station, and get recommendations based on what you listen to as well as what they listen to. Best of all, it is free.
Let me know if you sign up and I will add you as a friend, I am always looking for new music.
Oh and the blog changed. I am going to split my personal day to day stuff from the “corporate” blog.
- The maddening stillness
If you know me then you probably are aware that I have this thing about moving. I need to do it. When I was a kid I rocked. Not just in a chair, but everywhere. I could rock in bed, in the car, on the couch; it didn’t matter as long as I was rocking. I have never figured out what causes it but I know that I feel much more at east when I am in motion. Stillness is like nails on a chalkboard for me. Even still air drives me crazy, which is why for the longest time I have had a fan running in my room and now my wife and I’s room year around. I will go back to the air thing in a moment.
To this day I still rock. Not as much as I used to but even as I write this at the office I am rocking. I do it all day. I used to have a rocking chair at my previous apartment and sometimes when I didn’t have anything to do I would turn some music on and just rock… for hours. It has always relaxed me, calmed me down. I would rock myself to sleep in my chair and then wake up and climb into bed. At the time, before we were married, Anna used to always scold me for falling asleep in my chair and now that we are married I fall asleep like normal people do.
Like I said, I still have the fan. Hotels drive me crazy. I usually will turn the air on and keep the fan on. The silence that occupies a hotel room without it is maddening. I feel better in an office when the air conditioning turns on. I am just not ok with nothing.
- Bum Rush the Charts
A good follow up to my last post, a group has organized what they call Bum Rush the Charts. They are encouraging as many supporters of new media, blogs, podcasts, etc., to go and purchase the song, which is by an independent band, so that it can be pushed to the top of the charts. More information at Bum Rush the Charts.
By the way, the song is actually pretty good.
- RIAA Worst Company in America
The Consumerists’ readers voted the RIAA the worst company in America, just beating out Haliburton. This shouldn’t be that surprising, anyone who cares about how the RIAA operates knows the horror stories about their desperate attempt to hold onto the “good ol’ days” when they had complete control of the distribution music and got to sit back and get crazy rich off consumers who they took for granted.
An article on Medialoper reporting on NPR’s outrage at a recent ruling that allows the RIAA to charge much higher royalties on internet broadcasting, highlights some of the critical mistakes the RIAA has made in recent years. Sitting on the sidelines while Internet distribution exploded has to be one of the biggest mistakes. However, the true cause of so much animosity toward the RIAA is their refusal to evolve. Once music hit the Internet, everything changed, and with it the business model that had sustained the executives of the RIAA, became no longer feasible. Everyone could see this, of course, except them. The RIAA reacted like a cat backed into a corner, lashing out at anything they could, clawing and scratching to get back to their beloved days of having ultimate control.
Now, the RIAA will tell you that the poor victims of all this change are the artists. Oh the poor, poor, artists. They were getting so much money before and having great lives and now they are eating ramen from the bottom of trash bins, sleeping in shelters, just living really terrible lives. Right. First, the artists were never getting a lot of money, especially not from record sales. It has been well documented that artists get a very small percent of the overall record sales. Artists really get more money from shirt sales than they do for record sales. One commenter on Digg stated he would much rather give the artist $10 for a record, than let it go to the RIAA. The truth is the only person the RIAA is concerned with is itself. They want to be super rich again, they want control over the market again, they want it their way and they don’t want to change for anyone.
So, how have they dealt with this new way of doing business? Suing. Suing everyone and everything. Another Digg commenter said the RIAA would start suing people who just don’t buy any music just because they aren’t giving them money. The internet community is sick of all the lawsuits, the bullying, and the RIAA. People call for boycotts of any record put out on a label that is part of the RIAA and encouraging others to pirate it and send money to the artist. Consumers are looking for the artists to step up and refute the claims that they are the ones who will benefit from suing a mother of three or a twelve year old. When artists make it known that the witch hunts are just to further the record executives and not the music, then the RIAA will have nothing to hide behind. It will be shallow, it will be ugly, and maybe finally the RIAA will change or go away, which many people would be happy to see go.
On the subject of the artists, what keeps them from leaving a label and going on their own? The cost for production has continued to drop with new technology. The Internet is an amazing publicity engine that costs a fraction of what traditional marketing models have in the past. Facebook, MySpace, etc. all allow musicians to spread their music at a very affordable price.
Are artists not willing to make a sacrifice for the greater good of music? I could see how they would rather hold onto the old ways, sitting back and letting the label handle all the details so they can go and spend money, that they don’t really have, i.e. M.C. Hammer, and live the glamorous life. Part of me wants to believe though that their are artists that really do enjoy making music. They could live in a normal sized house, drive a Honda, but make really great music and have a strong connection with their fans and not care if they don’t own three Hummers.
Obviously, some artists are just hacks, pretty faces that are packaged and sold and have absolutely no tie to the music they make, because quite honestly, they don’t make music. I could care less if they lost everything and had to get a real job. They aren’t artists. They represent one of the most unattractive sides of America. You can clearly see, I don’t think much of them.
- The People’s Car
This weekend I kick off an 8 month documentary project titled “The People’s Car.” The concept behind the documentary is to capture what it means to be a VW enthusiast. I plan on filming 9 events, including traveling there and back, get togethers, as well as interviews with members of my local club chronicling how they came to be an enthusiast, why they do it, and what challenges they face financially, socially, etc., to keep their passion going.
I am really excited about this project. I haven’t really had a chance to take a concept through to completion. I have done event coverage in the past, but it wasn’t structured and didn’t try to convey anything besides capturing the event. This feels much more story driven which means I have to actively think about everything that I am filming and how it will fit into the greater picture. I also like the idea of filming a documentary because try all you will to shape it, the content has a tendency to shape itself.
I am also excited to work on a project with a broader target audience. Typically projects I have done in the past apply to a very niche group, which makes it easy when it comes to gathering content and editing, but you don’t really get the same satisfaction as something anyone can watch. I will certainly have to keep reminding myself who I am shooting for and make sure I don’t wander one way too much, but again, I only have so much control as to where the project goes.
I have also never worked on a project that is this long. When doing the events coverage I have done in the past, I shoot for that day and only think about that day as far as what I am shooting. This will be a little different. I will still cover an event but it will need to tie in with the project to provide cohesiveness.
This leads to probably the best part of the project; it’s a challenge. I have been searching for something to work on that would provide a challenge to me and help push me further in my trade and this is shaping up to be a really great opportunity. It will be hard to keep the drive going for so long; the project probably won’t be truly finished until December of this year, which is a long way away. The other challenging aspect is producing, directing, writing, filming, and editing the entire project by myself. I am not sure I fully understand the amount of work that this will involve.
I will try and post up clips throughout the project so keep checking back.
