Every strong argument for moving music to the cloud also has a negative consequence. But there is one specific positive/negative effect of our modern day access to music.

Positive: Music is always at our fingertips.
Most of us have smart phones. Whether it’s an iPhone or an Android, it really doesn’t matter. Music is easily uploaded to these devices and played in headphones.

We can also install mobile apps (and more options are coming) that gives us access to millions of songs streaming to our mobile device (check out Last.fm, Spotify, or Rdio). It’s mind blowing, really, to think that for a few bucks we gain access to Library of Congress sized music collections. And it’s always within reach as long as our phones are charged!

Negative: Constant access to music is cheapening it.
I learned something valuable working at a baseball card shop when I was 16. When a card was mass produced, it was worth less and few people wanted it. And when a card was incredibly rare, it was highly sought after and valuable. This lesson can be applied to almost anything, including music. Because of our constant access and exposure to music, we undervalue music.

Before music was recorded, the only way we could enjoy music was by performing it or being in the presence of someone performing it. It commanded our attention and our involvement. Because of this, music proficiency was much higher than it is now. When music became associated with a physical media, it brought an entirely new way to experience music. Today, music is melded down into digital bits. It isn’t rare to have hundreds or thousands of albums on one hard drive. Music has become that massive collection that we acquire. As music becomes accessed and streamed, we no longer feel like we’re experiencing something of immense value. Instead, it becomes disposable like plastic.

We see this devaluing in the falling prices people are willing to pay for music. A perfect example is that we consider it a wise marketing plan to offer access to millions of songs for $5 per month. Streaming music has the adverse affect of making it cheap.

It is the end of the year and it’s time to contemplate over the albums that we enjoyed the most during 2010. If you and I hang out long enough, music is bound to come up in our conversation. One thing that I’m likely to talk about is the relevance of an older album that is sweeping me away. So I though I might compile a short list of relevant albums that were recorded more than thirty years ago. Obviously this list could include fifty albums, but I’ve pared it down to just a few. The criteria I used to choose these albums was that they had to be albums that I listened to considerably in 2010. Here are a select few:

Neil Young – Harvest
My emotions swell when I hear Neil Young singing about packing it in and buying a pickup to take it down to Los Angeles, to find a place to call his own. That “lonely boy out on the weekend, trying to make it pay,” is such a relevant lyric for today’s economically struggling youth. I find the stripped-down nature of Harvest to be such a refreshing album to pull up. It’s one that makes me tear up as the slide guitar weeps with Neil. 39 years later, Harvest is at the top of my list of astonishing albums. “It keeps me searching for a heart of gold. I’m getting old.”

Neil Young – Out On The Weekend

Miles Davis Quintet – Workin’, Cookin’, Relaxin’, Steamin’
During a two day recording session, the Miles Davis Quintet recorded twenty-four songs that would be broken down into four albums:Workin’, Cookin’, Relaxin’, Steamin’. The albums were slowly released over several years, but taken as a whole they add up to 2.5 hours of some of the best recordings in jazz. Miles Davis Quintet was comprised of unknown artists, who would each become heavy hitters in jazz: John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones.

Their rendition of My Funny Valentine is astonishing (it has since appeared on 1,300 albums). Their take on the classic song It Never Entered My Mind is one of the most melancholic and stirring recordings I’ve heard. I find these four albums to be relevant because it reflects the abundance of music and creativity we’re seeing today. They’re inspiring for artists that wish to record frequently. Since more and more artists have recording studios in their basements, they’re capable of tracking more often, and release numerous albums each year. I find these albums to be relevant because of the increased opportunities to record.

Miles Davis Quintet – It Never Entered My Mind

Bob Dylan – The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan
When Bob Dylan recorded The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan in 1963, it was his second album with Columbia Records. While his debut album only sold 5,000 copies, and Columbia considered dropping Dylan, he was still an unknown artist in 1963. Under pressure to record a successful album, the twenty-two year old was writing his own songs and was developing into one of the most influential singer-songwriters of all time. With this album Dylan began to venture into writing ‘protest music,’ and toured with Joan Baez to support the civil rights movement. His appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival catapulted his career, crowning him as ‘the voice of his generation.’ The songs in The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan are still relevant as they address issues such as nuclear warfare, racial discrimination, and corrupt politics… issues that still plague us 47 years later.

Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan opens with Blowin’ In The Wind, a song that asks questions that few were willing to voice in `63. Dylan asks, “How many years must some people exist before they’re allowed to be free,” and, “How many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry?” When Dylan wrote the these songs, the protest movement had not yet taken root, but in 1964 25,000 people marched on Washington DC in protest of the Vietnam War. He would sing this song on the stage when Martin Luther King would deliver his famous, “I have a dream” speech. Dylan’s message was a catalyst in the anti-war and civil rights movements, but he would walk away from three years later. I find all of this to be relevant today as protests take root across Europe, and people are becoming vocal in the United States. Just as in today’s society where the US government has kept us in perpetual war, Dylan wrote, “You that never done nothing’ but build to destroy. You play with my world like it’s your little toy.” These songs are just as relevant today as they were when they were penned.

Bob Dylan – Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right

Van Morrison – Moondance
Van Morrison is one of my favorite artists, and Moondance is one of his masterpiece albums. It is a timeless album that has become very personal to me. The songs are reflective and hopeful, and have caught me in moments of retrospect. Van Morrison reflects on his childhood in the opening track, And It Stoned Me, and his relationship with his wife in others. The depth of Into the Mystic has kept me mesmerized in late nights.

Brand New Day is a song of hope after being deeply disappointed:

“I’ve been lost and double crossed, with my hands behind my back. I was longtime hurt and thrown in the dirt, shoved out on the railroad track. I’ve been used, abused and so confused, and I had nowhere to run. But I stood and looked and my eyes got hooked on that beautiful morning sun.”

Van Morrison – Into the Mystic

What were some classic albums you listened to in 2010?

There is a new online music store and social network called Gogoyoko, and we’re quite excited about it. Through Gogoyoko, which has launched, artists receive 100% of the sales revenue and 40% of the advertising revenue, depending on the amount of music streaming each artist has. Their goal was to create a “fair music market place,” and it appears that they’ve succeeded.

In this video Georg (Sigur Rós) introduces Gogoyoko by explaining that they aim to address the problem where artists feel the need to get signed to a record label, yet do all the work and get a small cut of the profits. Their site is similar to Bandcamp where you can upload your music and sell or stream it right away. But unlike Bandcamp, Gogoyoko is centered on a cohesion between the store and the social networking experience.

Members can stream music, create playlists, browse charts, rate albums and songs, and purchase Mp3s (320kbps) at a price the artist sets. It also has Twitter and Facebook options integrated into the site, so you can share tracks or albums on Twitter or Facebook. You can also update your “Wire,” essentially your status updates on Gogoyoko. If you prefer, you can set it up to automatically update your Wire with your Twitter updates. But with the networking integrated seamlessly into the store, the focus is on the music and not on what you ate for breakfast.

We’re excited about Gogoyoko for a number of reasons. The most important reason is because it honors the artists. It’s quite clear that their desire is to enable artists to distribute their music digitally and not to milk them of their earnings.

Another reason we’re excited about Gogoyoko is that it originated in Iceland. Because of this, Gogoyoko is currently full of music from Iceland… and if you follow Puddlegum then you’ll know that Iceland is one of my favorite regions in world music. Let’s hope it maintains a high density of Icelandic wonder.

A final reason that we’re excited about Gogoyoko is their desire to raise money for charities (artists and labels have an option of contribution 10% of their music sales to Gogoyoko’s charity partners). I for one will be spending a lot of time on Gogoyoko.

Correction: I mistakingly thought Georg was behind the development of Gogoyoko after viewing the video, but he is merely expressing his excitement for it.

Visit: Gogoyoko.com
Follow Puddlegum on Gogoyoko

Caribou is releasing Swim Remixes today in the UK (fans in the US will have to wait till November 2nd). This comes as Caribou finishes a South American and North American tour, and will tour Europe in November and December. Remixes on Swim Remix were spun by heavy hitters such as Junior Boys, Gold Panda, and Motor City Drum Ensemble.
Caribou – Leave House (Motor City Drum Ensemble Remix)

Junip is preparing to tour North America in November with nineteen dates planned across the continent. Led by Jose González, the Swedish band has been posting track by track reflection videos, talking about the songs and the process of recording Fields. It’s a wonderful album if you haven’t checked it out yet.
Junip – Rope and Summit

Ivan & Alyosha are releasing Fathers Be Kind EP on February 1st, 2011, and this is the first song from the EP they’re sharing. Tim Wilson of Ivan & Alyosha recently had a child with his wife, and this EP reflects, “the age-old struggle of trying to balance the desire to make music with the pull of home and family.”
Ivan & Alyosha – Glorify

Rubblebucket began with Kalmia Travers and Alex Toth, and soon turned into an eight piece act. They released their Triangular Daisies EP last week, and are currently touring the East Coast.

Rubblebucket – Triangular Daisies

Rubblebucket tour dates:
10/27: Syracuse, NY @ The Wescott Theater
10/28: Saratoga, NY @ Putnam Den
10/29: Philadelphia, PA @ Blockley Pourhouse
10/30: Portland, ME @ Port City Music Hall
10/31: Burlington, VT @ Club Metronome w/Hack Interactive
11/01: Burlington, VT @ Club Metronome w/Hack Interactive
11/02: Unity, ME @ Unity Center for the Performing Arts
11/03: Newmarket, NH @ Stone Church
11/04: Boston, ME @ The Middle East
11/05: New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom w/Hack Interactive
11/06: Northampton, MA @ Peral Street Club Room
11/07: Washington, DC @ The Red Palace
11/08: Baltimore, MD @ The 8×10
11/09: Carrboro, NY @ Cat’s Cradle
11/13: Live Oak, FL @ Bear Creek Music Festival

Several members of Beirut have formed a side project called Soft Landing. The band is comprised of Paul Collins, Perrin Cloutier, and Mike Lawless, and their debut album was released on October 12th, via Ba Da Bing (the same label Beirut is signed to). Stylistically it is a pop version of Beirut, heavy on the instrumentation and layers, with catchy melodies.

Soft Landing – Baptism

Due to the band’s side project, a lot of people are wondering about Beirut’s next album. We were curious and contacted Beirut’s record label, Ba Da Bing, asking them if Beirut was recording. This was their response:

“Indeed, the band is recording. Basically, Zach [Condon] is going back and forth between doing recording sessions in a studio with the whole band, then taking the materials back home and editing them as well as working on vocals. He wants to take the rest of the year to make sure it’s all up to snuff, so there will definitely be a Beirut record next year, but not sure when yet!”

Beirut began as Zach Condon’s project. His story has taken a legendary status, of a teenage kid from Santa Fe, New Mexico escaping to Europe. During his travels he hears a Balkan Gypsy band perform in a bar and falls in love. He spends his time learning about Balkan folk music and returns to the United States. He then records with Jeremy Barnes (Neutral Milk Hotel, A Hawk and a Hacksaw), the two of them performing numerous instruments. The debut album, Gulag Orkestar, blows up around the world and Zach Condon, only twenty years old at this time, finds himself touring the world.

The new Beirut album will be their fourth full-length, following the double-disc March of the Zapotec. Condon now has a dedicated band of musicians, which include Paul Collins, Perrin Cloutier, and Mike Lawless… of Soft Landing.