The Hippodrome

Lots and lots of social networks are out there, and many of them are centered around music and art. The particular one I’m talking about has a simple premise: act as a “word of mouth” radio. Pretty simple right? Exactly, and it’s executed really well. While some sites like The Hype Machine are run by the taste-maker bloggers, Fairtilizer is run by the users and listeners of the site. The site claims that it “filters” music by allowing the good stuff to go through and the bad stuff to stay behind. Of course this is a little elitist in it’s attitude, but then again, writing for my own blog, Tiny Mix Tapes, and The Hippodrome tends to make me kind of elitist too.

So elitism might just be necessary when it comes to divulging new music, especially when your taste is carefully groomed on a daily basis by fresh and original work. By observing the site’s chart, Fairtilizer looks to be a pretty pleasing collection of tracks all across the board. Of course the most popular tracks are those from bigger indie bands, which is typical from most social music networking sites. In a way, Fairtilizer is kind of like PureVolume without all the mall punk bands and with a bigger emphasis on user interaction.

Users are able to make and vote for each other’s playlists and can subscribe to music genres, artists, and labels, making Fairtilizer internet radio on crack. The simple site does its magic when users vote for the songs, putting them up the charts. You could say that Fairtilzer is a very democratic music service without any sort of hierarchal editing or promotion. Leaving it to the people yields different results than leaving it to the taste makers and that’s not always a bad thing, especially when it gives all of the musicians a fair chance, no matter how popular initially.

Musicians can sign up for free accounts and promote their music just like they’d do on MySpace or any similar social networking site. Fairtilzer may sound similar to other sites, but don’t let that fool you. Its simple premise and excellent execution is something you need to check out. This is no throwaway link; I can say I already plan to check back regularly. To top things off, the site is gorgeous and absolutely easy to use.

It doesn’t look hip at all. In fact, it looks stuck in the nineties but The Live Music Archive is one of the best places to find live bootlegs. They have almost everything you can think of and it’s all free! The legality could be questioned but when it comes to media legalities this days, what isn’t questioned?

The site is really easy to use! All you have to do is search for whatever artist you want. The results are quick and relevant unlike a lot of other “archive” sites out there. Just today I was able to find some awesome Beirut and Animal Collective bootlegs. You can even find free Creative Commons albums by boss artists like Dan Deacon! It’s a huge resource for the aural senses and I whole-heartedly recommend staying a while here, searching, and listening till your heart is content.

Some notable picks:

Animal Collective at Satellite Ballroom 05.30.07

Dan Deacon- Twacky Cats

Imagine yourself in an Animal Collective cover band. Most people look down on cover bands but it’d still be bad ass ’cause it’s an Animal Collective cover band, right? Right. The Netherfriends are kind of like that except they aren’t a cover band or identical to Animal Collective. The first time you hear the Netherfriends you’ll make the Animal Collective comparison but eventually realize that this trio is awesome in their own right. Did I mention they attend three different colleges in Chicago? Yep it’s true!

Silly facts aside, one of my favorite things about The Netherfriends is their emphasis on vocals. The group really knows how to sing and uses this to add to the music rather than detract from it. Often their sound is psychedelic tribal magic, but they occasionally slip into other genres which is never a bad thing since they do it well. Their chanting, “yeah yeahs”, and “ahhhhhs” are very welcome on top or beneath their instrumentals.

The band is so very young too; they just started last August! Their age doesn’t show through a bit thanks to the seasoned sound that takes careful stock of the current scene. If they’re able to achieve this kind of polished sound in less than a year, what magic will they brew given more time?

Audio: TAC TAC
Audio: Stop Smoking A$$hole, Cigarettes

Music criticism. Who needs it? This is what Fingertips is all about. It’s also about providing some of the best free and legal music on the internet. The site is like a lo-fi internet radio show where the DJ is intelligent and he never criticizes anything, only playing amazing music that you immediately download after hearing and/or reading about the track. The guy who runs the site has incredible taste in music and has created a huge archive of free work. He only posts three times a week with three songs since he feels his time should be spent elsewhere. The editor of Fingertips sincerely believes that music criticism is a waste of time and energy and that if it’s not something you like, you shouldn’t listen to it.

I almost agree with him — I’ve been too caught up in music criticism before but I’m not sure of his stance on its absolute irrelevance. Which is fine, we’re all definitely entitled to our own opinions and even the suppression of them in his case. Fingertips brings up such interesting points about the way people find out about music; it’s passionate in its stance against music criticism. Though possibly too extreme, it’s a wonderful sanctuary away from the elitism in music journalism and a great place to find some free and legal tracks.

Elitism for the win, because I’ve found the best social network in the world. ASMALLWORLD is indeed the world’s most exclusive social network and you must be invited to join by someone who was invited by someone else and so on. It’s a close-knit community of close people; so close it almost sounds cult-like, but since I’ve been invited, how would I know? Does this network cater to artists, musicians, entrepreneurs, snobs? Who knows? Oh wait, Wikipedia says that Quentin Tarantino and James Blunt are a part of the site. Awesome!

Have any of you been invited? I’d really like to review this site for real so, invite me please! If you haven’t been invited yet, check out this feature of the site:

“Unlike most other such services, ASMALLWORLD allows users to list multiple cities as their location of residence.”

I feel out.