newsong notes

Serving up another edition of LETTERS FROM THE ROAD, our guest post series where we invite musicians we are utterly nuts about to take over and write whatever they like. 2 rules: it has to be in the form of a letter, it has to have something to do with music. This week’s LETTERS FROM THE ROAD guest author is one of our favorite singer songwriters, Tim Easton [...]

You know the drill. IN SHORT is our monthly hodgepodge selection of stuff we think’s worth mentioning… sometimes it’s about music, sometimes not. This month, three videos that have been forwarded our way multiple times — we got the hint . So here goes, one to make you laugh, one to make you ooo and ahh, one to perk your interest about the seedy inner insides of the music industry [...]

Live radio. Bit of a novelty these days for those of you who may not know… it’s basically all prerecorded, robotic. No theater-of-the-mind, no vibe, no dialogue. A jukebox dictated by charts and numbers, not humans. And certainly, no one behind the mic picking a song and playing it simply because they feel like it, keenly led by that two-way street between programmer and listener that has to happen for radio to be magic [...]

This week, LETTERS FROM THE ROAD features the legendary Pete Droge (OMG!)… we are MASSIVE fans here at Outlandos. Hopefully you will be, too. Incidentally, for a refresher, LETTERS FROM THE ROAD is our guest post series where we invite musicians we are utterly nuts about to take over and write whatever they like. Three rules: it has to be in the form of a letter, it has to have something to do with music, and the weirder the better [...]

I have kind of a strange New Year’s Eve tradition: I make a list of everything I’d like to be free of. Then, I burn it. And then I flush it. Double catharsis. On that note, I thought it might be handy to have a list of the Top 10 CUT THROUGH THE NOISE posts of 2009 to not burn/flush and to hopefully (!) reread/re-forward [...]

Generally, we stick to music here on the OUTLANDOS blog. But once a month, we digress. The idea being that if we share the same taste in music, we likely share the same taste in other stuff, lifestyle stuff. It’s kind of like what we do with THE DAILY DOSE; by associating music with “other stuff” — in this case wine and cheese — it adds a greater value to the music, an expanded aesthetic experience. So that’s the theme for IN SHORT, monthly recommendations of “other stuff” that we think you’ll like, will perk your interest or at the very least make you chuckle [...]

You read that right, it’s the Top 9. Two qualifiers: 1) an album totally worth the price, your money will be well spent and 2) an album that’s stood up on replay, ad infintinum. Hence, there were only nine. Trying to squeeze in a 10th felt like a copout. And we can’t have that. So, just in time for your shopping lists, our faves around Outlandos HQ for the past year [...]

Guest post this week from Michael “Mick” Flores of my new fave band, Gidgets Ga Ga, self-described as a “Midwestern powerpop trio with grit, wit, spirit and musicality. Imagine The Replacements getting jumped by The Beatles and The Monkees then molested by The Who & Nirvana.” I couldn’t have said it better. Take it away Mick [...]

Lately, I grumble a little less every time a school loan payment is due — even though, nearly 15 years later, I’m still paying the bugger off. Who knew that a degree in Fiction Writing would be so handy? Not just English but English with a relatable plot, a storyline rooted by emotion/connection? Now that everything’s online [...]

You know the drill. In Short this week at Outlandos focusing on, surprise surprise, thanks. For most of us, it’s easy to remember the big things: life, health, happiness, friends and family, the end of Oprah, leftover turkey sandwiches. But then there’s the day-to-day and the people who help us retain basic sanity. So I’m going to get all touchy-feely on you. Take a moment to thank the people who work with/for you. From your postman to your VP. Without them, you’d likely be screwed [...]