The Hippodrome

With all the year end excitement going on over at Tiny Mix Tapes, I thought it might be fun to have a little 2007 fest on my own. I put together this mixtape consisting of ten of the many talented unsigned artists that we’ve come across this year. I’ve tried to organize these tracks stylistically, creating some type of bridge between each track. At the very least it’s a refresher course on some cool stuff The Hippodrome found in 2007.

So please dig in, and thanks for making The Hippodrome’s first year of life a good one! I hope you have a happier holiday than that Hippo. Back January first!

Jacob and I – Twelve Download
Dan Smart – Streak Download
Fisch Loops – The Magic Love Spell Download
Boy Crisis – Strawberries Download
The Ecstatic Suffering – An Empty Glass Half Full Download
Bruce Peninsula – Crabapples Download
Trevor Wilson – Bitter Passage Download
Va Va China – Action Trap Download
Zak and His Unhappy Guitar – Special Rider Blues Download
Bogs Visionary Orchestra — Times Are Hard Download

Glitchy grimey techno poured over concrete? No better way to enter the holiday season.

Fun Machine Download
Air Download

Splitting his time between Burlington, VT and New York City, David Hyman records some lovely psychedelic pop under the moniker Dog. There’s quite a bit to be said for the meditative pop song, and Hyman pulls this off repeatedly on his latest record, Karmageddon. The eleven track disc was produced by Hyman and Dougie Bowne. N.B. that Bowne has worked with the indisputably best band of all time, Cibo Matto.

Hyman says that “Dog places it emphasis on creating a musically transcendent experience that reflects his decade long commitment to meditation and self knowledge. Blah, blah, blah . . .” Having read about a million masturbatory press kits, this cynicism is more than welcome. From a few emails with Hyman, I can tell however that his sarcasm is expertly separated from his music, because despite the guise, attitudes don’t get you on stage with bands like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and The Slip.

Things that do secure desirable shows like the aforementioned ones that Dog takes credit for are notes like the one Hyman wrote on the back of his press kit. “Ben, thanks for the prompt response. I hope you enjoy the record . . . from a fellow tribe member (whatever that means) – David Hyman.”

Manu Delago is an Austrian musician that plays the Hang, a beautiful Swiss percussion instrument. Apparently, Hang drums are extremely hard to come by, since only two people in the world know how to make them. I don’t think Delago is one of them, but nonetheless, this solo performance is pretty sweet.

Although I have no knowledge of traditional Hang music, I think it’s really interesting how Delago seems to naturally gravitate toward a drum and bass/nu-jazz feel, even though he’s on his own. I don’t know if that was a conscious decision, but one could probably make a statement about how modern genres have permeated old ways and blah blah blah . . .

I just came across an article that Carlo Longino wrote for Techdirt at the beginning of this year in response to the MIDEM conference in France. Faced with the ever controversial DRM option, Longino points out that labels’ “revolutionary” idea to allow consumers to pay extra for DRM free music (as several distributors already do) is just another chapter in the book of mangled music industry logic.

I bring this relatively old news up in conjunction with Jammie Thomas’ recent ridiculous prosecution by the RIAA for $222,00, which was outlined more fully by Kyle Wallace on Tiny Mix Tapes a few hours ago. I found it interesting how these two facts frame the mindset of the corporate music business, and seem to be sardonic (and apocalyptic) capstones on a year that saw major labels flailing their drowning appendages more than ever.

I suppose what I’m trying to say is that I hope 2008 is a better year for the industry, because 2007 saw enough business as fucking usual to make Carson Daly sick.