The Hippodrome

Humble Voice, honest to goodness, focuses on music and art. When I logged on, the featured band was an excellent group called Afrofreque that couldn’t be catchier, some bad ass afro-electro. I had never heard of Afroreque until I visited Humble Voice, so that was already one major point in their favor. In fact, through further listening, I can honestly say that Humble Voice has phenomenal taste in music and art. Everything I heard was varied and just downright fantastic.

The site has excellent design and programming. The design is quick, classy, and stylish, and actually a design critic’s nightmare because there’s little to criticize. It’s so incredibly easy to use, and unlike MySpace and Facebook, Humble Voice actually has some personality. You can customize your profile easily without sacrificing all the bells and whistles of a normal social network. So what makes it so special? The ridiculous emphasis on independent culture! Humble Voice features lesser known bands and artists instead of the big names, making it my new little sanctuary from all that mp3 blog hype, and a chance to get to know some small but insanely talented artists. I had almost given up on social networking sites, but Humble Voice has convinced me not to.

To top it all off, the site is still in beta which has me über-stoked for the final version. The community seems to be really great as well, not withstanding the typical pretentious network socialites that are now unfortunately ubiquitous. Besides that, this is an excellent place to find new music and art and to show off some of your own. If you’re looking to cure the social networking blues and actually focus on art instead of relationship status, then check out Humble Voice.

The Novel Ideas are a Boston based collective that stay true to their name and write songs about books. The band just released their debut LP, Say Hello, which features all the strings, horns, accordion, and mandolin you could possibly hope to eat at one sitting.

The Hippodrome’s featured track for download, “When Will This End? (I Wish I Knew),” sees Radin and company build reverb drenched drums into a slick brass explosion brought upon by Timothy Cronin. I’ve had the opportunity to see these folks live, and the attention to detail on the record is not compromised, thanks in part to each member’s proclivity for careful and level performance.

If you’re in the Boston area, you should make sure to catch the band tonight at T.T. The Bears in Cambridge, MA, at 830 PM. The band is touring while its members reside in Boston area colleges, so catch em while they’re around.

Audio: When Will This End? (I Wish I Knew)

I’m pretty excited about this. From the official website Record Store Day — it says that a ton of independent record stores across the country, from Newbury Comics to the corner vinyl shop, are invited to participate on April 19, 2008. Rumor suggests that “music, video and gaming will all take center stage with each store doing something different to celebrate including sales, in store performances, demonstrations, swap meets or an ‘afternoon at a record store’ promotion, as well as, provide info on new formats and releases. The goal is to showcase everything that makes an indie store unique.”

And omg omg omg omg, Brett Netson from Built To Spill offers his two cents also!:

“The local record store is a cultural event. Every purchase you make, every day, every year, it is a rich cultural history in the making. Go down to your favorite shop and grab some coffee, a nice pastry and then head in to the record store for the ultimate recorded experience. Maybe see some friends. Next thing you know you just had a nice afternoon.

Go to one of those big box stores and get the full assault.

Bright sterile fluorescent lights and all that fake, old timey crap on the walls that drives home the point that this is an approximation of an experience. You are one of a million cattle herded in and out of those crapholes. This history can easily be rewritten. And you sure as hell won’t talk to anyone there, cause everyone else is just as annoyed, alienated and lost as you are. And, as you get trapped in that endless parking lot it really seals the deal. I have precious memories of my favorite shops and so do many of my best friends. That’s shared history man. And buying my first Velvet Underground record or Love’s “Forever Changes” , or seeing my first “punk show” flyer, takes that whole experience deep into you. That lasts forever. That’s powerful stuff.”

Even if you’ve already seen your first “punk show flyer,” this is a great idea, so let’s all make it work. I know that Hype and Elbows kill, but go buy some independent (or even better, UNSIGNED) merchandise. I’ll see you there!

A couple good ones for you tonight and next weekend:

The Best, Phoebe Kreutz, Noah Britton, Air Waves, The Beets, Eskalators: Sputnik Bar, 2.8.08 (tonight)

Some nice work from a host of artists, especially notable are the Eskalators, who despite needing some more high fidelity recordings, show alot of promise. Sputnik Bar is located at 262 Taaffe Pl. Brooklyn by the Classon G stop. 8pm, and only $2!

Zombieville IX: Southpaw, 2.15.08

Zombieville doesn’t often feature unsigned bands, but is a major Hippodrome notable because of its focus on uniting the fragmented NYC music community. At the ninth installment, you’ll find luminaries such as Deer Tick, Doveman, the New York Howl, and Mark Denard. Free cookies if you show up on time. Southpaw is located at 125 Fifth ave. in Brooklyn. 8pm, $8.

Some social networks, such as MySpace, do too much, and other social networks don’t do enough, such as LiveJournal. Regardless of your poison, you’re probably signed up for some something. New ideas and new websites are popping up all the time but have any of them significantly changed the formula that MySpace originally started with? Most will say that Facebook is an excellent alternative to MySpace, but it’s a pretty boring place and usually only focuses on tagging pictures of you and your drunk friends and digitally stalking your ex-girlfriend. Regardless, social networks are obviously big news in our digital age. Especially in college, you’re either in or you’re out or in with the out crowd.

Let’s talk about another MySpace clone. Now I mean MySpace clone because this social networking site focuses on pop culture and music. The site is called Buzznet; the name is terrible but their logo is pretty cute. Yeah, whatever.

Let me get straight the point. Buzznet is the trashiest social networking site I’ve ever seen next to MySpace. It has no redeemable qualities to make it worth signing up for your 42nd social networking account. The front page of the site has stories such like “My Chemical Romance is defenseless towards haters” and a stories about celebrity TV couples. Disgusting. The user interface isn’t much to vouch for since people can mess up their pages pretty easily with horrible HTML templates.

Need more evidence to show how much this site sucks? You won’t be able to get away from dumb ass comments either. Check out this comment on some seventeen year old girl’s slightly happy emo pic:

xoxobrendonlovexoxo: 02/04/2008 4:22 PM
dayum u pretty

Balls on that’s it, this review is finished. I’m not saying all social networks suck and we shouldn’t use them but if I’m going to stick to one, It’ll probably be Facebook — at least it “appears” slightly more professional and mature. Do not sign up for Buzznet. You don’t need it, go tag yourself on someone’s Facebook instead. Much more fulfilling.

(This post was contributed by Kyle Wallace)