That was so last year . . .

In an effort to wrap-up my year in live music like a present for the holidays, I wanted to offer my superlatives for what was an eventful year in music (specifically for me and the purchase of my $1.00 records in Washington DC).  As with most past years, each and every month was filled with staples of my music collection, but also the opportunity to usher in “new to me” bands. 

So in addition to looking back on 2014 (please read below), I also want to offer some predictions for 2015 (in no particular order):  Royal Blood will develop themselves a following in the United States; people other than natives of New Orleans, LA will know who Benjamin Booker is; my home-state brethren Young Rising Sons are going to find a number of people to sing-along with their song “High”; everyone will continue to mix-up Red Hot Chili Pepper Chad Smith and his doppelganger Will Ferrell and I hope to continue to book and promote the occasional live music performances as well as continue to catch live music in places other than southwestern Pennsylvania.  Keep your eyes & ears open.

Thanks for reading, happy new year & for all of the readers of Heard But Not Seen - what are some of your "best of lists" for 2014?

•         Best live show, but not exactly a concert:  

“Once” at Benedum Center; Pittsburgh, PA on Tuesday, March 11, 2014

•         Best sound check ever:  

Bruce Springsteen & The Houserockers at Soldiers & Sailors; Pittsburgh, PA on Friday, May 23, 2014 

(Runner Up: Paul McCartney at CONSOL Energy Center; Pittsburgh, PA on Monday, July 7, 2014)

•         Best live show seen on a road trip:  

Soul Rebels at The Hamilton; Washington D.C. on Friday, June 6, 2014

•         Best concert seen within 24 hours of my birthday:  

Band of Horses at Stage AE; Pittsburgh, PA on Sunday, July 20, 2014

•         Bucket List Show for 2014:  

Smokey Robinson at The Meadows Racetrack & Casino; Washington, PA on Saturday, September 6, 2014

•         Best kid friendly concert that still had an edge (Tied): 

Cello Fury at Mellon Park; Pittsburgh, PA on Saturday, September 6, 2014

Rake at Stage AE; Pittsburgh on Saturday, November 8, 2014 

•         Concert of the Year:  

The Barr Brothers at Andy Warhol Museum; Pittsburgh, PA on Wednesday, November 12, 2014 

(Runner Up:  Jack White at Stage AE; Pittsburgh, PA on Sunday, July 27, 2014)

•         Top 5 “live” studio song/videos:

Johnnyswim – “Diamonds”

JoyKills Sorrow – “Was it You”

JRoddy Walston & The Business  - “Take it as Comes”

TheLone Bellow – “Then Came the Morning”

TheNew Basement Tapes “Kansas City”

That's one small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind.

Technology and music.  Music and technology.  These days those two terms seem to go better together than peanut butter and jelly or at least better than Spring House Brewing's Lil' Gruesome Peanut Butter Jelly Stout, but I am getting off topic.  As someone who enjoys listening and discovering music on multiple mediums (for example, I am still listening to cassettes), sometimes you just cannot pull up your Shazam app quickly enough on your smart-phone to figure out what that song is in that one commercial.  But new music is all around us and of course it is no longer limited to specific models.

Collectors of Sir Paul McCartney’s music may have to add a new format to their collections of music by The Beatles.  McCartney’s recent major project is the score for “Destiny”, the highly anticipated video game from Bungie and Activision, that was released earlier this month.  This is not exactly a huge stretch since Mr. McCartney has written four full-length orchestral scores, and several shorter classical pieces, since 1990, and has produced several albums of electronica under the name Fireman, but did “baby boomers” ever think that they would be shooting, looting and role playing on their PlayStation 4 or Xbox One while listening to “Macca”?

 

I was also reading the New York Times this past weekend (thanks to my neighbors) and I came across an article written by Ben Sisario that states Thom Yorke (Radiohead’s lead singer), “tried another unusual approach by releasing his solo album, “Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes,” through BitTorrent, a technology for transferring large files over the Internet. The data “bundle” that included the album cost $6.00, and in a statement, Mr. Yorke described the move as a test of a new way for artists to release their work online”.  With sales of CDs falling and vinyl growing, this avenue seems to be as good as any for the future of collecting music, but will fans of The Beatles be showing off their copy of the video game “Destiny” and will a listener be able to read the liner notes of “Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes”?

Unfortunately, I would agree with David Holmes’ statement from PandoDaily that “music appreciation has not effectively translated to the digital space”, but this is not because people do not want to share their tastes anymore.  Taking pride in one’s music collection has been around since the days of vinyl, but with the continued development of technology it is quite possible that you will walk into my house and not immediately get a sense of what type of music I listen to.  I really enjoy being able to reach into my CD collection and being able to throw on the 1995 self-titled album by Sweet Vine or the more recent studio album by the British band Fink, titled “Hard Believer”.   

Only time will tell, but I believe all of this development in music sounds like a good idea (pun intended), and let’s hope losing your Pandora wifi-connection before you are about to run a 10K is the only wrinkle as we move closer to 2015.

Thanks for reading.